NOVEL NEXT Chapter 202: Black Myth Ruins (9), Esoteric Power Arts
Chapter 202: Black Myth Ruins (9), Esoteric Power Arts
[You have explored 3 high-tier islands. You cannot explore any more high-tier islands.]
'Tsk, so the limit is three instead of five like in the mid-tier island zone.'
Each high-tier island gave him 45 resource treasure chest after completing 3 challenges and additional random rewards from Dangerous Encounters.
Total loot acquired so far:
-Resource Treasure Chests x 300.
-Resource Treasure Crates x 11. (For breaking damage records eleven times).
-One Paragon-rank Set (mid-grade).
-Enlightenment Stone x 3.
-Random Equipment Chest x 3.
-Paragon-rank items and equipment x 8.
-Innate Gears x 6.
From the dangerous encounter with three high-tier Island, Aleron got a total of 3 Enlightenment Stons, 3 random Equipment chests, and 3 Innate Gears.
The first high-tier island's dangerous encounter gave him a total of 4 items as a reward as he got a Spirit Beast Summoning Scroll, but the next two high-tier islands only gave him 3 items as rewards after winning against their dangerous encounters.
Finally, it was time to enter the central tower and he was the first one.
[You have arrived at the Black Myth Island and acquired first rank in the Event. But the event is not over yet.]
[This central island is for bonus rewards. Here, you will find Esoteric Shrines at various spots, each bearing a challenge and a reward-Esoteric Power Arts.]
[Esoteric Power Arts are a lesser version of Mystic Paths belonging to various forces in the upper cosmos. You can learn Esoteric Power Arts as an Ascension-rank powerhouse to increase your combat power.]
[You can take a look at multiple shrines to know about their Esoteric Power Arts, but you may only pick a single Esoteric Power Art.]
'Ohhh, that's interesting. It did mention Esoteric Power Arts in the information panel when the event started, but this thing never appeared so far. But it turns out, this is only for those who manage to reach the the central island.'
[Gachapi: Yeah. This is good for Warlords in general. They can learn an Esoteric Power Art here, then if they ascend, they would have an easier time building their first Mystic Path since it would be related to their Esoteric Power Art. More so if they get support from a Faction there.]
'That's good indeed. Let's see how they are then,' Aleron spread his Monitor Dome, which was limited to a 100-meter radius.
He was in a thick bamboo forest on a mountain at the edge of the island and sensed a single strange power source within his radar.
With a teleport, Aleron arrived there and saw a small shrine with a statue of a lizardman with two long antennae, a muscled physique, and a spear in his hand that pointed as if attacking the sky.
As he looked at this shrine, a window panel popped up in front of the shrine.
[Hazeflame Drake Spear Art]-1-star Esoteric Power Art.
'Nah, I don't even want to check it. Let's find some higher star shrines.'
Aleron continuously teleported deeper into the island and the second shrine he encountered had a 2-star Esotic Power Art.
He went even deeper before encountering a 3-star Esotic Power Art shrine.
In the end, it turned out that 3-star was the limit.
Aleron had arrived at the center area of the island, and all the shrines he checked here had 3- star Esotic Power Arts.
'I'll pick the coolest 3-star Esotic Power Art. Fuck it,' Aleron teleported and arrived in front of a black shrine with a wolf's statue of ink-like purple patterns on black fur.
[Shattered Sky Broken Light Art]-3-star Esoteric Power Art.
Aleron touched the statue and a notification popped up.
[Do you wish to challenge the shrine?]
'Yes.'
In the next second, a portal opened before the statue, and understanding it, Aleron entered.
A dreadful howl rang in the dark forest without light, with a bright light blue and purple moon in the night sky.
Aleron felt waves of energy and air trembling in the atmosphere as the howl rang.
[You have 1 hour to catch the Dream Wolf. If you win, you will gain the rune containing knowledge of Shattered Sky Broken Light power art.]
'So it's this kind of challenge?' Aleron's eyes glinted as he fully activated his Monitor Dome to detect and scout stuff before he started teleporting in the direction of the wolf howl he heard.
*Awoooo!!*
'Huh?' Aleron stopped as he found the howl in a completely different direction.
[Astral: Unga Bunga happened, Mastah.]
[Gachapi: The distance between both howls is big. It's going to be tricky to find the Dream Wolf.]
'There should be a trick to find that Dream Wolf if it's this crazy and we have 1 hour for it.' Aleron explored the dark forest while hearing howls from random directions every 10 or 20 seconds.
The forest was lively because the plants, trees, and various wildlife he saw were magical.
Since the magic beasts here didn't attack him even after seeing him, Aleron didn't do anything and just curiously observed them and interacted with them while exploring the
forest.
'Crap, fifty minutes passed by.'
[Astral: Mastah, you have been playing and having a picnic here. Time just flew by while we
became forest friends.]
[Gachapi: Master, you got any idea?]
Aleron sat down near a river, his arm crossed and legs in the river to feel the running cold
water.
'I've got to know a lot of things during the past fifty minutes,' Aleron's expression was thoughtful. 'But I feel there was some anomaly or like a pattern I observed.'
[Gachapi: Oh? What's that?]
'I don't know. I just feel like that, so I have to close my eyes for a bit and find it,' Aleron grinned and closed his eyes, entering deep research mode regarding the details he absorbed
of this forest.
Time flew by and as Astral and Gachapi were getting fidgety due to only less than 2 minutes remaining, Aleron finally opened his eyes with a big grin.
'Time to get our Dream Wolf.'
Aleron teleported a few times and arrived in front of a flowering plant with a beautiful dark blue flower having purple and silver patterns, glowing in the dark forest.
Such flowers weren't anything special in this forest because all things were like this. Nature gave the light in the darkness of this thick forest that blocked the moon's glow from entering. 'We've visited many places we believed to be the source of Dream Wolf's howl. We couldn't pinpoint the exact location, but every time we went there, a flower like this would be chewed
on.
'There was only one place where this flower's petal was found on the ground while at other places, these flowers were always eaten away and only their plants remained.'
'At first, I just ignored that petal because many flowers were like that, but upon some brainstorming, that petal was there because we heard that howl nearby at that time and that wolf dropped a petal while eating and escaping upon sensing us.'
Aleron vanished from his spot and completely isolated himself in a space layer nearby.
[Astral: Ayo, Mastah. Are you saying we will wait for it to come? We only have one and a half
minutes left.]
Gachapi also felt that the time was against them.
But Aleron only chuckled in response.
'That wolf is coming here, I am 100% sure,' Aleron grinned, his glinting, 'Because this is the
only flower of its kind remaining in this forest.'
'Maybe there's one or two more somewhere, but I am pretty confident because although there are many colorful flowers, this particular one is very scarce since that Dream Wolf has been
eating one or more flowers every 10 or 20 seconds.'
*Awooo!*
Suddenly, a dreamy mist appeared near that flower and a beautiful and majestic wolf formed there. Opening its mouth, the wolf was about to eat the flower with a delightful look in its
eyes.
But in the next second, a fireball struck the wolf from behind, causing it to release a yelp of pure surprise, albeit an unpleasant one.
[You have successfully caught the Dream Wolf. Congratulations.]
In the next second, the Dream Wolf turned into a magical sparkling mist that condensed into a rune and shot toward Aleron.
[Astral: Holy shit. What if that wolf didn't drop that petal, Mastah? Wouldn't you have failed
then?]
'Hahaha, I might have, I don't know. But that doesn't matter because we won,' Aleron grinned as he arrived outside after getting the rune containing knowledge of Shattered Sky
Broken Light Art.
[Gachapi: Nah, that wolf would still drop that petal in my opinion. Either that or something other. This challenge always intended to give the challenger a hint to win, so it's up to the challenger to find the hint and pave the path to winning.]
[Astral: Makes sense, big bro! You are so awesome.]
[Gachapi: No matter how much you bootlick me, I am not going to give you access to Master's
memories.]
[Astral: Mastah!! Boohoo T-T, tell Gachapi please.]
Aleron was ignoring the squabble as usual as he had sat cross-legged to look at this so-called
Esoteric Power Art.
[Gachapi: Master, you must not side with him. I am just teaching him some manners. I'll give
access after 5 days.]
[Astral: Really?! Okie, I'll wait for 5 days!]
'This Esoteric Power Art is interesting. The training style and the way to create its power
core...one of its aspects is similar to how I create my unique energies for different types of
skills.'
[Gachapi: Yes. Mystic Path is a completely different style of power that utilizes aspects of all three paths in unimaginable ways, however, training in the Esoteric Power Art, which is for Ascension-rank lifeforms, can give them some affinity and speed up the development of their first Mystic Path.]
[Shattered Sky Broken Light]-3-star Esoteric Power Art.
-Step 1: Create the power source of this art, Dream Wolf Force, by following the details on the
Power Source Page.
-Step 2: After creating its power source, follow up with the objectives set in the Training
Page.
-Step 3: Once you have reached the required amount of control for the Dream Wolf Force after
completing the tasks in the Training Page, the information rune will unlock the Skill Learning
Page for you to learn the skill.
[Information Pages]
-> Page 1: Power Source-Dream Wolf Force.