Ashley

Huh. He really is just trying to take over a fortress from the kobolds.

I can’t help but stare in some shock at the screen as I fly through the air towards a nest I just found. Because on the screen shows Blake as he casually uses his strongest magic, spatial magic, to tear the kobolds to shreds. And I can’t help but admire the efficiency he does it at.

But I guess that’s just par for the course with him. Especially with his Perfect Spatial Mana Manipulation.

The highest class of mana manipulation skill that gives every rune in existence, including the ability to discover and even make your own runes.

In fact, the System Forums mentioned that having a Perfect Mana Manipulation skill was a requirement to be even considered for the position of Successor of Magic by Etheria.

I close out of the screen when I reach the nest, finding some spiders peeking outside of it already. Then I take a deep breath and close my eyes, focusing on the new runes I can sense in my mind. The runes attached to my Mid Stage Destruction Mana Manipulation skill.

Of the runes, there are the usual five that I got in the previous Low Stage Mana Manipulation skills, along with five new ones. One new one that lets me coat my body in destruction mana to act as a personal barrier, one to coat my body in destruction mana to destroy the concepts of gravity and allow me to float in the air, one to create semi-solid structures of destruction mana that I can control, one to create bullets that can shatter runes before a spell is cast so long as I use more mana than the caster of the runes, and one that lets me send out a pulse that targets a single thing and doesn’t damage anything else.

Overall, some rather nice runes.

But the one I use right now summons forth several arrows of destruction mana around me. Following which I open my eyes, activate Assimilate, and launch them straight at the two spiders leaving the nest.

And when they hit them, the spiders let out loud screeches as parts of their bodies begin to disintegrate without a trace around where the arrows strike. Not being anywhere near as strong as the UM’s Domain-wide attacks, but still proving rather useful.

I smile as I convert more mana into destruction mana before creating more arrows and sending them flying at the spiders until both spiders are dead.

{You have been granted 3 Skill Points for killing a monster within a Unique Domain.} x2

{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Drachne} x2

{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Destruction-Touched Silk Creation, is now unlocked for your usage.}

{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Destruction-Touched Silk Creation, is now unlocked for your usage.} – [ERROR – Destruction-Touched Silk Creation is already unlocked. No skills are unlocked. New skills will now be added and made available to purchase to the preexisting Skill Tree: Destruction-Touched Drachne.]

Before I can celebrate the new skills, I feel a major wave of pain assault me from my mid-section. Warning me very immediately that this is a mutation skill. A skill that requires physical traits from the source to use.

So I don’t hesitate before erasing the Skill Tree.

Because I am not going to let myself be mutated into a spider lady.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

The first time this happened was when I accidentally killed grass of all things while Assimilate was active back at the park. Where the grass gave me photosynthesis as a single-skill Skill Tree. And tried mutating my flesh to give me bark skin and leaves.

Then the mutation went away after I removed the skill, returning me to normal. And showing me that I very much do not want to mutate.

It just feels wrong when I do.

Although I guess some mutations may be okay. If the skill is powerful enough, and it doesn’t have too weird a look.

“The Unique Monster will likely have a root skill tied to a physical trait as well, so if you want its Skill Tree should you manage to kill it, you’ll likely end up with one of its physical traits,” Chaos comments, surprising me. “And you may want to keep that trait, since the root skills of UMs are always True Damage dealing skills.”

Well, yeah, that is definitely a skill I can see myself keeping.

I just hope the mutation isn’t bad.

Fortunately, most skills are tied to magic and not the user’s physical form. So I’m good for most Skill Trees.

I also already have wings, so wing related mutation skills won’t be a problem either.

In fact, Feather Shot is probably one of those very wing related mutation skills. But I didn’t mutate because I already have wings.

On another note, I can’t help but frown at the nest now, briefly wondering what to do. And after a few seconds, I let out a sigh and just mark the spiders mentally as creatures that I don’t want to assimilate. Which worked when it came to natural plants.

Then I head inside of the nest.

And immediately end up attacked by three more spiders, prompting me to send three arrows of destruction mana at them before jumping up into the air and flapping my wings to send feathers at them while they’re distracted by my bolts of mana. But it doesn’t prove to be that easy as they manage to dodge the mana before striking at my feathers with their claws, knocking them away.

I feel the corners of my lips tilting down in a frown while I fly around them, only for silk to suddenly shoot out of their spinnerets with a faint, glowing crimson light to it. Silk that immediately homes in on me and wraps around my person, pushing me up against the wall and tying me up.

But when the spiders turn around to move over and finish me off, a whirlwind of crimson, purple, and black chaos energy begins to shoot out of me, ripping apart the webbing and shocking them.

As Unchained finally proves useful here.

And while they’re surprised, I rush forwards with my blades raised before slicing straight through the front-most limbs of the closest spider that it rushes to raise in order to block my blades. Following it up by stabbing straight down into the spider’s head, killing it.

Then the other two spiders rush at me, with five more coming out from deeper down their nest. Making me begin to feel a little cramped here.

But I quickly cast a couple more arrows of destruction mana at the two spiders here, followed by another blade to the skull for one of the spiders, then a wave of destruction breath at the approaching five spiders. Torching the front two in the process before the other three simply crawl over the red ashes remaining of their brethren.

I grit my teeth a little as I sense my mana beginning to get close to half full. But I keep pushing as I send feathers out at all of the spiders while raising my blades to block the claws of two of them. Only for their claws to knock one of my blades out of my hand with the sheer force behind it. Making me realize this particular spider is a higher level than the others.

Despite that, I just take the stab by moving my wing in the way, letting it stab my wing instead of my arm. Mutating its leg in the process as it screeches.

Then I use a different destruction magic rune to send out a burst of destruction mana all around me in a wave. One that knocks the spiders a couple meters away while disintegrating some of their legs that try to block most of it.

And in the process of doing that, I decrease my remaining mana even more. Because those bursts cost quite a bit more than making a small arrow does.

I glance at my wing to find it regenerating before I focus on the spiders, each of whom amongst the survivors try to web me up again. With that failing just like the first time and giving me another opening in the confusion to rush away, grab my lost blade, and send over a dozen Silver Spikes down on their heads like an avalanche.

Half of the remaining spiders die from that, leaving the other half injured, the spikes having missed their heads.

But now I have breathing room.

Literally, in the sense that I send a destruction breath their way, finishing off the other half that’s too injured now to move fast enough to get out of the way.

Leaving me in silence once more while panting in exhaustion and down to about a quarter of my mana.

I begin to dismiss my blades back into my ring, only to hear more spiders beginning to approach. No doubt attracted by the noise.

So I fly up into the air and begin to leave their nest. Only to find drakes filling the skies and lizardmen and kobolds running around on the ground. With the kobolds for some reason holding bows and arrows now.

Fuck.