CHAPTER 129.
The first skill that had hit 5th Rank was none other than Quick Dash.
[Quick Dash has reached 5th Rank — level 1.
Your prayers have been answered and you’ve obtained a proper dash skill after using your bash skill to dash. You may now use it wrongly and bash things instead. Gain a quick burst of speed upon use.
2nd Rank — At a moderate mana cost double the speed of the dash.
3rd Rank — At a considerable mana cost you may teleport the distance of the enhanced dash.
4th Rank — the teleport cooldown has been halved.
5th Rank — At the cost of doubling the mana consumption you may teleport a second time after the first teleport.]
Amber smiled at the description, it hadn’t changed since she had gotten it, and it was slightly nostalgic. It reminded her how far she had come as a person, how much stronger she had gotten. A lot of her early experiences now looked laughable to her, and maybe they were, but they were part of what made her.
She was happy. And the 5th Rank of Quick Dash was good. It wasn’t fancy like others, but it would allow her to do a second teleport before the skill entered cooldown, which was great.
The next skills to hit 5th Rank were none other than Inexorable Momentum and Inexorable Body.
[Inexorable Body has reached 5th Rank — level 1
You’ve embodied the path of a Cused Chosen Berserker and now have become an Inexorable existence. Your body is more receptive to curses. Pain becomes trivial and your body is 200% stronger, (50% before class bonus).
2nd Rank — Your body has an inexorable constitution making it 100% tougher. You can consume mana to increase this to 200%.
3rd Rank — Expended resources, whether it be mana, stamina, Primordial Power or something else, are reduced by one third.
4th Rank — Your body remembers the attacks of an enemy, same attacks lose 30% effectiveness each time they are made.
5th Rank — Powerful attacks will cause your body to regenerate the resource you’re most lacking.
The 5th Rank of Inexorable Body was rather oddly worded. But in a long explanation, it would give her mana, stamina, primordial energy (Essence), or even vitality, depending on what the skill deemed she needed the most when being attacked by something strong. Which was nothing short of amazing. Of course, it wouldn’t suddenly fill her core from having nothing to full, but it would still save her life.
It was a great 5th Rank.
Then there was Inexorable Momentum.
[Inexorable Momentum has reached 5th Rank — level 1.
You’ve taken momentum to the next level reaching the level of Inexorable. Now, you are always in momentum, curses that affect you are affected by this momentum. Increasing momentum no longer consumes stamina, but has a time limit of twenty minutes per two hours. This skill increases your stats by 300% (75% before Class bonus)
2nd Rank — You can consume stamina to increase your stats up to 400% (100% before class bonus).
3rd Rank — Curses applied will now build up momentum during battle, allowing up to a 200% increase in strength, (50% before class bonus).
4th Rank — Inexorable Skills will now build up momentum during battle, allowing up to a 200% increase in strength, (50% before class bonus).
5th Rank — Your vitality will gradually increase during battle, building momentum and allowing up to a 30% increase in vitality.
Considering the 30% represented over 300 vitality, it was also great.
Amber smirked. She was already getting excited and her advancements had yet to come. She still had more 5th Rank skills to go through, and also Legacy Branch rank ups. It was a lot.
[Cursed Rage Synergy has reached 5th Rank — level 1.
You store attacks you receive as your own rage. Stored rage does not disappear. You can unleash your rage in a single attack or transfer it to improve your skills: Cursed Momentum, granting it great build up or Recovery of Curses granting it increased recovery.
At higher levels the skill may be more effective at improving your skills.
2nd Rank — Rage builds up twice as fast.
3rd Rank — Twice more rage can be stored.
4th Rank — Rage is twice as strong.
5th Rank — You now have two instances of rage.]
In simple terms. She could now use the skill twice. Each charge would accumulate separately, but given the amount of beatings she went through, that wouldn’t be a problem.
[Inexorable Manipulation has reached 5th Rank — level 1.
You’ve been fighting with curses with a very long time and have learned to control them. Now, they submit to your will and will act as you desire. Now, curses are 200% stronger. This skill is intrinsic to you and does not consume mana.
2nd Rank — You can now project the curses you bear.
3rd Rank — You can manipulate other people’s curses.
4th Rank — You can fuse now temporarily fuse curses together, causing new effects.
5th Rank — You can now completely extinguish or flare your curses at will. The limit to this effect is 10 minutes a day and curses can only reach twice their original strength.]
It was… amazing.
Amber could see the potential already, extinguishing her curses then instantly using Accursed Strength, then flaring them then using Cursed Ignition— her strength would go through the roof if she did that.
And maybe the skill will allow me to ignore the curse extinguishing ability that the Saints of Truth have.
Then there were her resistances. They were well, resistances.
5th Rank — Magical attacks are weaker against you.
5th Rank — Physical attacks are weaker against you.
5th Rank — Elemental attacks are weaker against you.
And lastly, for 5th Rank skills there was Sharp Instincts. Whose other ranks, essentially gave her a sense of danger, trap predictability, and loose attack predictability. Then there was the 5th Rank, which Amber didn’t know how to feel about.
5th Rank — Higher level presences are easier to detect.
And lastly, there were the Legacy Branch skills that had hit 3rd Rank.
[Crimson Fuel has reached 3rd Rank — level 1
You have been in contact with blood time and time again. Now you can use it to fuel you. When in contact with foreign blood you can extract its life-force to increase your regeneration. When in contact with your own blood you can burn it to enhance your physical attributes by 175% (50% before class bonuses).
2nd Rank — You can burn your own blood, or extract the life-force of foreign blood without having to shed it.
3rd Rank — Foreign blood can be consumed twice as fast.
[Crimson Fervor has reached 3rd Rank — level 1
You have been in the presence of blood and entrails to the point you've grown numb to them. And now, they are your fuel to grow. The longer you are in the presence of blood, the stronger, more durable and agile you become. This skill reaches its peak at twenty minutes increasing your stats by 350% (100% before class bonus).
2nd Rank — Shedding blood speeds the build up drastically.
3rd Rank — Momentum will now be applied to other Legacy Branch skills, allowing up to a 50% increase in strength.
This skill takes twice the time in comparison to normal skills to level.]
Amber smiled. All of the rank ups were great, but she also felt slightly overwhelmed. After all, her Class Advancement was next. Amber took a breath and looked around. Right now, they were inside of Remmel’s carriage, it was just as luxurious as she remembered. She had also gotten payment from Remmel for the operation, which amounted to an astonishing five thousand gold coins.
That said, the assassin was pissed, and had been silent the entire time. Aveline on the other hand, ended up in an awkward position where she ultimately ended up being dragged with Frei and talked to. And lastly there was herself, Amber.
She was at the very back, the same seat she had taken in the past. Right now, there was no particular destination in mind other than the closest town in the Republic of Mercenaries. Because after all, they were mainly focusing on leaving the Sacred Forest behind.
That said, Amber knew she had to make decisions.
Decisions in regards to what to pursue next, what to do now, and what to focus on. Whether it was to try to find one of Ishtar’s journals — whose existence she had learned about from Frei — or to research about the chained primordial. In the end, she couldn’t wander around with no goal. Not when the Saints of Truth would come after her, and not when she was a wanted criminal.
There was also a chance of the Arcane Council coming after her, but Amber wasn’t entirely sure about that one.
In the end, there were a lot of things that she had to think about.
“Though for now… I should focus on what I can do now.”
She nodded to herself and finally turned to the floating notification.
[Legacy Branch advancement is now Available!
You may now evolve your Legacy Branch.]
“I wish to advance my Legacy Branch,” Amber said to the air.
[Very well.]
Frei turned from her spot and smiled. “Good luck.”
Amber nodded and a moment later the outside world began to slow down as the environment peeled away. The latter was familiar to her, the former was a new thing. Something she made note of for later. Maybe she could undertake advancements mid battle? That would certainly be something she was very curious about.
But Amber shoved those thoughts about and instead watched as the environment became a black void. She observed as a white doorway was made, and Amber remembered her previous advancement.
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Mainly thinking about her stronger connection to the System; nothing much had changed. She had a clear understanding about her skills and minor control over her status. She could somewhat tune some skills, and she could also make notes— which she had been doing to add her Essence skills.
Well, maybe eventually she’d understand the intricacies of Legacy Branch Advancements and Class Advancements. It didn’t matter too much.
Amber stood up, and headed towards the black doorway as the System resounded.
[Your feats after obtaining a Legacy Branch have been taken into account for evolution.
Defeat an enemy four advancements above you.
Possess three objects of primordial origin.
Obtain a title.
Obtain Primordial Power.
There are three evolutions that are offered to you. Legacy Branches. An evolution specializes your Legacy Branch but also mutates it, opening new paths and roads to take. Like an ever expanding tree branch, however it is not infinite. These evolutions have been offered based on your records and your achievements. So pick carefully.]
Amber blinked. There were more things now. Still… three objects of primordial origin? She had Cursewelder, she had Arkara’s Staff, and… the necklace? She grabbed the object on her neck and stared at it for a few moments. It was as inert as ever.
And then she paused, feeling the scar on her neck, and then let out a deep breath as she dismissed all her thoughts and finally, she passed through the doorway. All while she began to wonder how these feats would affect her Class Advancement.
The surroundings became white and Amber found herself standing once more on an expanse with a bloody floor. The sea of it went as far as the eye could see. And awaiting her were four pillars made out of fancy red marble, and resting at the top of each were different things.
One contained a chalice. One had a floating crystallized red droplet. One was a floating red horn. And the last had a floating monster’s skull. The last pillar was darker than the rest.
“This is new.”
She stared at the different options, she was sure one of them was demon themed, the question lied between the horn and the skull. But there was only one way to find out.
Every time she had entered the white room for her branch advancement it was different. It was something that she took note of and that interested her. She kind of wondered how much the Legacy Branch room would change as she advanced. And by extension, she also found herself looking forward to seeing if her Class Advancement was any different.
Amber looked around and seeing the advancements for her Legacy Branch gave her different feelings. That was also new.
The chalice made her feel calm. The red droplet made her feel frenzy. Bloodlust in simple terms. The red horn made her feel some sense of urgency — not in a bad way — and the bone made her feel dread slash bleakness. The different sights made her smile, there simply was so much variety.
Finally, after a moment of deliberation, she approached the first, object and the most familiar one.
The chalice.
She took a breath, and then peered down into the red liquid within.
“What will you offer me?”
The inert red blood within quickly expanded to fill her whole field of view as her vision was engulfed in crimson. And just like last time, she saw it.
She saw herself, resolute, facing an incredibly large army as she tore through it, her calm unwavering. There was no hesitation, there was no reservations, there was simply a tranquil feeling along with it all. And then, there was her Essence and her Legacy Branch, which were going wild.
She could feel it, how her state of mind influenced it all, how it affected her. And how it made her stronger. A lot stronger.
A moment later she returned, she was back to staring down at the chalice and her heart was rushing. Rushing from the power she had felt.
[Would you like to evolve Crimson Nexus to Primordial Crimson Calm?
You have greatly familiarized yourself with Crimson Nexus, and now it is time to take the granted connection to new heights. Your connected mind will now influence your primordial power and your Legacy Branch. Allowing you to bring out their potential.
Acquiring this Legacy Branch will allow you to reach greater heights.
You will receive an extra 5 attribute points per level up to distribute after taking this evolution.]
The advancement, or rather, evolution, was great. Amber quite liked the idea, and it was an advancement that would certainly work the best when she was pushing her limits. The thought of facing strong foes and resolving herself on whether it is her or them, was nothing short of exhilarating.
The Legacy Branch evolution itself didn’t demand complete calm, so much so as just a lack of panic. Meaning that so long as she kept on trying harder and harder, it would make her unstoppable.
Plus, panicking and then regaining my bearings mid battle sounds exciting too.
She chuckled at that thought, knowing that it sounded ridiculous, but it really was how she felt in regards to the Legacy Branch evolution. Plus, if it already opened like this, how would her Class Advancement be? She wanted to see.
“Time for the next one.”
Amber turned to look at the crystallized droplet and moved to its front.
“And what will you offer me?” she asked, staring at it intently.
It was an odd thing, or rather, it was beautiful; a beautiful object that could be used in the finest of all jewelry, and one that she was enchanted by immediately as her vision was once more engulfed in red.
And a moment later, once more she saw a vision. She saw lakes of blood. She saw corpses. She saw herself slashing someone and feeling power. It was almost overwhelming and as she took notice of the surroundings it became something more. It became power. Her Essence itself regenerated faster than with God’s Dynamo at full efficiency.
And then there were her emotions, they were unbridled. There was a level of excitement that rivaled the high of achieving a new peak in her life. But it was a constant feeling that was addicting, and she felt great. She felt powerful, she wanted more, to kill more.
And it ended.
[Would you like to evolve Crimson Nexus to Primordial Crimson Frenzy?
You have greatly familiarized yourself with Crimson Nexus, and now it is time to take the granted connection to new heights. Now, attuning yourself to the base of what your Legacy Branch is, you can bring out the peak of it. Allowing you to truly bring out what Crimson Fervency
Acquiring this Legacy Branch will allow you to reach greater heights.
You will receive an extra 5 attribute points per level up to distribute after taking this evolution.]
Amber let out a breath as she stared at the droplet and a deep breath left her.
“Now, that is something I may not be able to control…” It was a hard reality to take in, but it was a fact. “Still… its enhancements are…”
They were nothing short of great. She could already tell. She could tell it was going to be like getting yet another bodily enhancement skill again, but better. Not exactly in offering more enhancements, but rather on the number of things it would enhance.
Amber gulped.
“It’s like every single advancement I take snowballs into an even better one…”
And maybe that was the truth of the world. That was why level 300s felt so hard to kill. And she could only imagine that every single advancement after that would be like a hill to climb past. But it also excited her, because it potentially meant that level 500s were a lot stronger than she had initially anticipated.
Seriously, if her Legacy Branch advancement was already playing out like this, how would her Class Advancement be?
Her heart rushed and finally, she turned to the other two pedestals. The one with the red horn and the one with the skull.
Like always, she did them in order, she just liked it.
Amber reached the red horn in no time, and it gave her the same feeling as before. Urgency. Not in a bad way, but in an excited way. In a measured way.
She peered at it and a moment later she was immersed in its redness. The red became darkness, and a moment later she found herself pointing Cursewelder at herself, and just like many times before she stabbed it— but this time it went through her body completely and went out her back fully.
Blood spilled on the ground, and along with the pain came… strength. A primal surge. Then, a moment later a twisted monster pounced on her, a demonic being and she crushed it with her bare hands as its blood bathed her and at that moment her Essence was roused.
The more she bled the stronger she seemed to become, the more blood of her enemies she spilled the Essence she regenerated.
And the feeling of power was exhilarating.
Then it ended.
Amber took a deep breath, on paper it was similar than the previous evolution slash advancement.
But there was a key difference.
[Would you like to evolve Crimson Nexus to Primordial Demonic Blood?
You have greatly familiarized yourself with Crimson Nexus, and now it is time to take the granted connection to new heights. Now it is time to make use of your other connections. Attuning yourself to this type of blood allows you to bring the best of yourself and the blood of others’.
Acquiring this Legacy Branch will allow you to reach greater heights.
You will receive an extra 5 attribute points per level up to distribute after taking this evolution.]
It was demonic.
But at the same time, it wasn’t evil in nature. There was no temptation, there was nothing of the sort. There was simply a power that was demonic in origin but nothing more. Just like her demonic mana stone, it was simply something to be used.
And yet, when staring at it, Amber felt— she wanted to feel a sense of wrongness. Of the fact that she would be betraying her friends. But it wasn’t there. Because it wasn’t that kind of power. It was one that; certainly, Sid’fril would give her shit about, but nothing more.
And there was also the fact that she wanted it. Adding to that, she had a feeling that this one wasn’t related to Ishtar at all.
It was only slightly weaker than Primordial Crimson Frenzy, except it offered more control. And it didn’t need the presence of other beings for it to be strong.
“Still…” She took a deep breath, closing her eyes momentarily before looking towards the skull. “There is one last option to take a look at.”
Amber approached the skull and peered into its white surface.
Unlike all the others her vision darkened, and a moment later she slashed. She took off a part of a monster as blood splattered and it knelt before her panting. Blood littered her surroundings as the monster began to look frailer and frailer.
It was a two legged minotaur, kneeling in front of her, and Amber simply slashed again, more blood falling into the ground as its vitality drained. And what she felt over the monster was power. Superiority over it. And that was because its vitality was slowly dwindling.
Until it hit nothing.
The vision ended as the monster died, and the feeling of control never went away.
[Would you like to evolve Crimson Nexus to Primordial Crimson Drain?
You have greatly familiarized yourself with Crimson Nexus, and now it is time to take the granted connection to new heights. Now that you’ve been brought back from the dead by a reaper; someone who interacts with both elements on the daily. You will now be able to borrow their powers, draining your enemies.
Acquiring this Legacy Branch will allow you to reach greater heights.
You will receive an extra 5 attribute points per level up to distribute after taking this evolution.]
It was… life steal. But better.
She touched her chest, feeling her beating heart.
She could drain vitality off her enemies until there was none left. And there was also the fact that this was related to Frei that enticed her. But lastly, there was also the fact that this Legacy Branch was broken.
Not literally, but figuratively. It could allow her to even take down a Primordial Spirit — in theory — given enough time. If that wasn’t damn strong, she didn’t know what was. That… excited her a lot.
And finally, with an indecisive heart, Amber turned to the rest of the advancements.
It was time to make her choice. To choose how she was going to progress from now on, and what would her life look like.
She turned towards the chalice.
First is pushing my limits, allowing me to push myself to even greater heights.
Then she turned towards the crystallized drop of blood.
Second is embracing what I am, a berserker, and allowing me to become unrivaled in battles where I could truly go loose.
And then, she turned towards the red horn.
Third is accepting that demonic things aren’t inherently bad, allowing me to gain great control over my Legacy Branch and its perks.
Finally, she faced the skull.
Last is taking my Legacy Branch in a new direction, one that is more closely tied to Frei’s own Legacy Branch.
At least from what she could tell.
But what did she truly want? All of the Legacy Branches offered her power, some more than others.
What do I want? she asked herself. Do I want to push my limits with a smile on my face not fearing death? Do I want to embrace the frenzied nature of berserkers? Do I want to tread the line between messiah and pariah? Or do I want to be able to kill anything I set out to kill?
Each question belonged to each branch, and for a moment, she didn’t know which one to choose.
They were all great.
They were all amazing.
But she could only choose one.
And this time, Amber knew what she wanted.
She wanted the Legacy Branch that would allow her to carve her own path.
She let out a deep breath, wondering if it was the right choice, but she squashed them as she focused on one thing and one thing only.
Future potential.
Just like any other advancement, it would decide her future fate. It would dictate how she battled and handled things from now on, and while she wasn’t entirely sure in her decision, Amber knew that if she didn’t take it now she’d be left unsatisfied.
There was also the fact that it may affect her Class Advancement. The one she kept thinking about, and the one that she was most excited about.
She grinned.
“Besides, I’m sure it’ll open a lot of doors for me to do something unprecedented.”
Amber grabbed the red horn and shattered it, the possibility of it influencing her class pushing her to do it.
[ You have gained the Legacy Branch of Primordial Demonic Blood
Vitality +100
Strength +100
Dexterity +100
Endurance +100
Intelligence +100
Wisdom +100
Natural recovery has increased by 300%.
Your physical stats increase by 50% in battle.
Wounds heal four times in battle. ]
Amber returned to the carriage and ignored the following notifications as she heard a small gasp coming from Frei out of all people.
“What is that Legacy Branch—”
But Amber didn’t pay her any mind, instead she focused on what came next. She focused on carrying her excitement, and her desire to see the end results of all her advancements. She focused on the knowledge that this Class Advancement, just like her Legacy Branch may offer her something unique that she never considered before.
She focused on the fact that the Legacy Branch may affect her options too.
And she wanted to see it.
She wanted to see it badly.
Amber brought the other notification into her vision as her anticipation reached a new peak.
[Class Advancement is now Available!
You may now evolve your class.]
“I want to undergo my Class Advancement,” she commanded.
And a moment later, her vision went dark as the Class Advancement, began.