NOVEL NEXT 2.55 - A Step Too Far
There are moments in every war which define the outcome. Sometimes, winning a battle means losing the war.
-Excerpt from 'Power and Influence: How to Run a Nation' by Sea-Emperor Vadaris Neptuna
As Rose predicted, the next few moments were agonising. Every bone in her body broke and then was mended by the divine energy surging from her core.
After that it was the turn of her muscles and sinews. Tendons followed. Even her organs weren't spared from the refinement.
It felt like an eternity, but she realised as she returned to awareness that it had only been a few moments. She clenched and unclenched her fist, feeling the power surging through her body.
It was the difference between night and day. Before, she'd still lacked in physical strength, having to rely on arcane energy to bridge the gap against most of her opponents.
Now her body itself had been forged with divine energy. She was no longer an ordinary mortal. Not that she'd ever been, not really.
When she returned home, she would be having a much longer and more intense conversation with her father. She had to know everything.
As much as she was grateful to Sylack for showing her the path to taking control of her own power, she still didn't trust the god. Not fully.
Before returning to the ship, where the others were no doubt worrying about her, Rose took a moment to read through all the whorls she'd been forced to ignore. The sheer quantity was overwhelming.
Skill up!
Toxin Resistance 8 > 13
Blades 29 > 31
Focus 19 > 20
Whispers of the Deep 3 > 4
Unarmed Combat 9 > 11
Arcane Attunement 28 > 31
Water Attunement 7 > 16
Divine Attunement 11 > 15
Arcane Resistance 24 > 27
Divine Resistance 4 > 5
You have earned a new skill!
Electric Resistance 0 > 1
Skill up!
Electric Resistance 1 > 5
You have slain [Leria Excalor]!
Accumulated merit:
3 Occupations Completed
5 Titles Acquired
2 Soulbound Items
3★ Earned
Flowing Core
You have earned a new trait!
Anti-toxin: After suffering a variety of toxic afflictions, your body has learned to adapt and will naturally resist toxic, venomous, or corrosive attacks and substances.
Amateur Pugilist: There is no better way to train yourself in the art of martial combat than through pain. By repeatedly destroying the body, it repairs itself ever stronger. Your strikes are tougher than the average person's.
Lifeblood: Water is the building block of life. Of all the elements, learning to wield water brings a greater degree of control over oneself. Water responds a little better to your touch.
Arcane Shield: Repeatedly suffering the barrage of arcane energy has tempered your body to its limits. All forms of arcane energy will find it harder to damage your flesh and circuits.
You have earned a new title!
Divine Sculptor: From divine energy a divine body is created. Through your own efforts you have created a spark of divine energy and used it to forge your flesh. Divine energy will be more easily created and transferred through your body. Your flesh is difficult to pierce or break with mortal means. When this title is active, you are able to use divine energy to twist flesh that isn't your own, at great personal cost. Use at your own risk.
Rose did a double take once she reached the end. It was an information overload. Four new traits and a title, topping off dozens of skill levels and the boost from defeating the rear admiral.
She noticed that she didn't have whorls for defeating the two commodores. Which meant that someone else must have done so while she was knocked out.
Was it Everyn or Axel? Or someone else. She would be able to find out once she returned to the ship. First though, she opened her status to see the changes laid out in a cleaner format.
Name: Rose Everblue
Blessings: Blessing [Sylack]
Race: Human
Occupation: Apprentice Scholar 65
Title: Quintessential Skill
Available Titles: Slaughterer, Apprentice, Quintessential Skill, Ambitious Harvester, Godtouched, Traitor, Arcane Adept, Divine Sculptor
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Bound Items: Sunsplitter 51 (Damaged), Divine Serpent's Lure ★27
Skills:
[General]: Cleaning 12, Fishing 26, Butchery 10, Cooking 8, Herding 2, Crafting 12, Sailing 17, Arcane Field Medicine 3
[Cerebral]: Reading 22, Writing 27, Focus 20, Drawing 31, Appraisal 3, Precision 12, Whispers of the Deep 4, Arcane Engineering 3
[Physical]: Swimming 10, Endurance 16, Athletics 20, Toxin Resistance 2, Climbing 6, Stealth 8, Acrobatics 5, Toxin Resistance 13
[Arcane]: Arcane Attunement 31, Light Attunement 22, Arcane Resistance 27, Water Attunement 16, Frost Resistance 1, Beast Attunement 6, Electric Resistance 5
[Divine]: Divine Attunement 15, Divine Resistance 5
Traits: Sensitive Line, Deft Hand, Good as New, Tunnel Vision, Endless Inkwell, Quick Consumption, Knot my Problem, Reliable Duelist, Steady Slash, Smooth Strokes, Agile, With the Grain, Ambidextrous, Thick Skin, Energetic, Inventor, Seductive Lure, Keen Eye, Radiant, Acolyte, Favoured Strike, Studious, Worldtouched, Arcane Body, Anti-toxin, Amateur Pugilist, Lifeblood, Arcane Shield
The description of her new title scared her a little. She knew that it was related to the reforging of her body she'd undergone, but to do that to others with the intent to harm? It was terrifying.
Rose doubted she would use it except in the most extreme circumstances. Additionally, she could only change her active title once every day.She was happy for it to remain Quintessential Skill for now.
After marvelling at her progress and feeling somewhat frustrated that she was still stuck on her first occupation, Rose took a deep breath and then shot forwards. Her new body was powerful enough to swim faster than a shark and with more force than a whale.
She closed the gap between herself and the rapidly escaping ship, before kicking up and out of the ocean. She breached the surface with barely a splash, soaring high into the air.
For a moment, she hung there in the first light of dawn, before falling towards the deck below. Daniel, Jason, and Everyn were standing by the railings. They turned to stare as she touched down on the deck, jaws on the floor.
"DId you miss me?" she asked with a mischievous grin.
***
A wrinkled fist smashed against the metal hull of a ship, splitting the toughened steel and shattering the delicate workings of the engine contained within. The ship Elmer Saff had been working on for the past week was ruined in a moment of rage.
"How can the navy be so fucking USELESS!?" he roared, startling the nearby workers, none more so than the one who'd brought him the bad news.
One even fell off the ladder he was on, but he didn't dare make a sound of pain lest he draw the ire of his boss. The Saff & Company shipyard had been a torturous workplace ever since the death of the old man's two sons.
"I gave them the greatest ship ever created in this backwater hell, when they failed in their invasion of a single damned village. Malthax will answer for this, mark my words," he snarled, before turning around and marching off.
As he passed by the foreman, he hissed, "Make sure the damage is repaired by the time I return. I don't want a scrap of steel wasted."
The man saluted and replied, "Yes, boss," despite internally sweating buckets. Even though Elmer was asking the impossible, only an idiot would tell him that to his face.
***
"Elmer, to what do I owe the pleasure?" King Malthax asked as old man Saff marched into the throne room, interrupting a meeting between the king, his advisors, and two of the navy's admirals.
"Don't you dare fuck with me, Malthax. Pleasure? Are you out of your damn mind? How can you call your endless series of catastrophic attacks pleasurable? What will it take to defeat one tiny island and a band of rag-tag defenders?" Elmer Saff snarled, shocking everyone into silence.
None of them would dare to speak to the king in that way, not even the two admirals who led his navy. Some said that Elmer Saff was second only to the king, due to the fact that he practically built the entire navy's fleet himself.
"Alright, this meeting is adjourned until further notice," Malthax said, taking his old friend's rage in stride and dismissing the others.
They all threw the pair of old men worried looks as they left, but didn't dare disobey the king's direct order. Once the doors of the throne room had shut behind them, Malthax let his gentle facade fall away.
His brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed. "Elmer, I understand how you feel, but don't you dare speak to me that way in front of my subjects again. Remember who is the ruler between the two of us," Malthax snarled.
"Oh, I know all too well the answer to that, Malthax. One is a weak and cowardly old man who sits on a golden chair, a shell of the warrior he once was. The other forged the blade which built this empire. You would do well to appreciate reality," Elmer retorted, now standing directly in front of the king.
"What would you have me do? Send the entire pantheon damned fleet to wipe out the weakest nation in the Bluestone Sea? How pathetic would that make us look to the other nations? You promised me invincible ships, but it seems your prized creations were a failure."
"The only failure is that of the idiots who were sailing them. My ships are the greatest in this corner of the world."
"Even if that's true, again I ask. What would you have me do?"
"The time for your game of war is done. You wanted conquest, but I have no interest in such politicking. I have a weapon. It will end this nonsense with the Emerlan Isle for good. If you do this, I won't ask you for a thing again. Your navy will have all the ships it needs to to conquer the Bluestone Sea and beyond until the end of my days," Old Man Saff declared, serving the king his ultimatum.
King Malthax stared at his old friend and tenuous rival for a few seconds, the time stretching on and feeling heavy as the weight of the world. Eventually he sighed. Losing Elmer's support would be a lethal blow to Minenblum's naval forces, one he couldn't swallow.
"I accept, Elmer. Tell me about this weapon. However, after this, all personal ties between us are broken. You have taken a step too far," the King replied.
Elmer broke out into an insidious grin. He didn't care about his severed relationship with the king if it meant getting his revenge.