After Kal’s outburst, Nyx said she was going to sleep and promptly ended the conversation. Kal had the distinct feeling that he had just been tested. What had Dalen been telling people about him? The man bloody well better not have been saying he would lead them when he got back.
Kal sighed and walked to the entrance of the cave, taking a seat just beyond the point where he would be visible from outside. Since he had at least a few hours before the others would wake up Kal figured now was the time to finally get around to his last available skill guidance.
It had been a long time coming. Kal had been over level seventy for well over a month by now and now that he was fighting in normal combat again he wanted another tool for his arsenal. The loss of Wrath Incarnate was a problem he would need to solve soon as well but for now, a new skill would do.
But before he could do that he needed to vent some of his built-up wrath. It was going to be hard to manage without Wrath Incarnate unless he wanted to construct another core to dump it into. He may very well need to eventually but for now he could do it the painful way.
Kal stepped outside and placed his hand on the ground channeling as much of his wrath into the ground as he could without being too noticeable while stabled his thigh with Karthian dagger. Was it pleasant? No. Was it effective? Yes. At least effective enough for now.
Finally free of wrath for now Kal opened his status and selected the skill guidance notification.
Kalum Lesta
Status
Class:
Slayer of Fate [Epic] [Anomalous]
Level:
72
Race:
Human?
Health:
4190
Stamina:
7960
Wrath:
0
Attributes
Strength:
810
Agility:
502
Endurance:
796
Vitality:
419
Intellect:
561
Perception:
519
Will:
1250
Wisdom:
496
Available:
24
Titles
Ascendant, Core Bane, Core Smith, Defier of Dhinir, Planeswalker, Planar Appetite, Slayer of the Strong, Endurance Elite, Strength Elite, Will Paragon, Demon Slayer, Paragon of Man, Planar Binding I, Soul Seer, True Slayer of Demonkind, Thief of Ages, Fate Diviner, Exemplar of Defiance, Disciple of Destruction
Skills
Soul Forge [Rare], Wrathful Regeneration [Uncommon], Wrath Incarnate [Uncommon], Abyssal Consumption [Rare], Flames of Wrath[Uncommon] [Soul Forged], Slayer’s Intent [Rare] [Soul Forged], Slayer’s Apathy [Rare] [Soul Forged], Edge of Malice [Common] [Soul Forged], Flesh of Iron [Rare], Eyes of the Slayer [Mythic] [Spiritbound]
Race
Birthright: Confined
Slayer of Fate [Epic] [Anomalous]
Something deep within you cries out for blood but through force of will you remain in control. You are a Slayer of Fate, though your power may stem from darker sources you do not lust for the kill but see it as a necessity despite your inner ferocity to break the chains that bind. Wade through your enemies as a bulwark of death, your will unyielding, your might indomitable. The Slayer of Fate is not bound by the archetypes of the lesser classes. Forge your own path through the blood of your enemies and stand apart from all as a paragon of man, your potential as vast as your will.
Level benefits: +5 Strength, Endurance, Will, +2 Vitality, +6 Free points.
Anomalous: Your path is of your own making. From this point forward you will no longer be offered a skill selection every 10 levels, instead, you will be offered guidance in the creation of one of three skills that you have witnessed used, have sufficient knowledge of, or are judged to be predisposed to based on previously forged skills. Whether the inquired skill is forged is up to you. Additionally, your self-forged core allows such skills to be forged to a rarity up to the rarity of your Soul Forge skill. The amount of skills possible to incorporate into one’s core is dependent on the quality of your core and the efficiency of the skill created.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Future Class Evolutions: All future evolutions will be directly associated with the quality of the newly forged core and the skill incorporated at that time.
Unbound Will [Spirit Bound] Reaching beyond one’s shell requires will far beyond the capabilities of a tier 1 entity but a Slayer of Fate is bound by no such rules. Forge beyond yourself, Soul Smith. Rend the threads of all, Slayer of Fate.
Skill Capacity: 8/10
Skill Guidance Available: 1
He was still annoyed about losing the guidance from last time due to the lack of a compatible guide pool but at least this time he wasn’t getting the warning.
Select One:
Planar Linguist [Epic]
Your experiences with a multitude of entities from different planes of existence the power has primed you for this skill. This skill allows the user to understand and speak all spoken and written languages of all entities.
<>~<>?.<~ [Rare] [Mythic]
<>~?<~?/~~<~?<~?><~?>~>?><~?<~?><<~?>?><~?><~~?><~?><~?><~~?><~~?><~?><~~/.,~?/><~??~<~?<>?><~/.,~?><<~?><~<~?><~?><~?>/~>.,/`./~?>/.`,?><~?>~>/,~,~<~?><`>,`.,/><.~.,`,.?>~>~>`
Bloodshed [Rare]
Carve your enemy in twain on mass. This skill drastically increases the range of your melee strikes with bladed weapons. Scales with Strength, Agility, and Will.
Kal sighed when he finished reading the options. Was it always going to be this bloody hard? Obviously, he wouldn’t be choosing the corrupted void entity skill again, he had already wasted one guidance doing that. Of course, it also happened to be the highest rarity option just to tempt him. Kal was sure the system was messing with him.
Wasn’t the skill pool meant to be generated from things in the plane he was currently in or at least ones of a similar nature? Why was it still even an option? Was there a void entity loose in this layer? Or was it just a holdover from the last guidance? The system did tend to repeat its options a few times so it was possible but Kal didn’t remember there being a mythic skill to choose last time.
To even further convince Kal that the system was still paying attention was the fact he was offered Planar Linguist. It was almost too useful and exactly what he needed to pass himself off as a shadow for the time being.
That pissed Kal off. He had sat down wanting a good combat skill. He got one but the system was obviously hinting that he should take the language skill. Kal really wasn’t that interested in conversing with the demons. They were the enemy. He couldn’t care less if they wanted to speak to him, his few conversations with them had all been either for their personal gain or as a ploy to lower his guard.
But Kal couldn’t ignore the utility of the skill. If it truly meant all languages it could be incredibly useful in a variety of situations. Everyone back home spoke the common tongue but knowing elvish or dwarvish still couldn’t hurt but the true advantage of knowing all languages was that there would be no language barrier for anything he wanted to learn.
A few books he had come across were enchanted to adjust to his known languages but there was no guarantee that would always be the case especially if he found anything in the abyss. There was no reason for anything they made to also be readable by mortals. Of course that advantage relied on the assumption that the demons created anything.
It was possible that they simply stole everything from the worlds they conquered. It would explain how they acquired stones of mana acuity that had mana not found in their own corrupted worlds.
Kal really wanted to just take the combat skill, it sounded like a great addition to his fighting style. Fighting hordes would be a whole lot easier and faster if he could strike at a larger radius. It would also certainly help him build wrath faster simply due to the increase in killing speed. There were nothing but advantages to his taking either skill but Kal couldn’t help but keep drifting back to Planar Linguist.
Kal read through each of the skills one last time, this time in reverse hoping it would help keep him less biased.
Obviously, he still couldn’t read the second one-
“Damn it…” Kal grumbled internally. The system was definitely taunting him. If he could read, understand, and speak all languages, more specifically all languages from all entities did that mean he could read or understand the void entities as well?
Kal frowned as he glared out into the blue-washed world. With everything he had experienced with the system since entering the abyss, he had no doubt the system intended for him to see the connection. Why exactly he had no idea. He had faced two trials by this point, one tied to his class and another tied to his spirit.
What did it want from him? Did it even want anything at all? Or was his anomalous class, ascension, and location just drawing its attention? Its help, if it had indeed helped him, was all through the unspoken words of his quests and notifications. Kal didn’t believe it was actually helping him, more that it was guiding him towards something, and whatever that was he needed to be strong. For Kal to be strong he needed to face greater and greater challenges.
He had a god to kill after all…
Bloodshed would give him short-term strength. He could improve upon it but at the same time he could manage without it and if he truly needed the help he could rely upon his Soul Forging to improve his strength. Planar Linguist was not something he thought he would have a chance at forging himself anytime soon and its utility would likely last him indefinitely.
Kal wasn’t particularly happy with the fact he was about to follow the system’s hints again but he also knew it was the smart choice. With one last deep breath, Kal made his choice and the world around him shattered like glass to reveal the blinding light of all.
Instantly Kal felt like his entire being crushed beneath the weight of worlds as he felt himself dragged across a single thread among the infinite. A tapestry of golden spread out before him in an endless sea and just glimpsing it warped Kal’s sight and mind. But even with the warping of his mind and sight his gaze fell onto a single golden thread and he felt as if he was at the brink of understanding, the edge of an epiphany.
His mind quaked as he held onto that edge of knowledge with everything he had. The skill he was attempting to receive guidance for may very well be granted by the system but learning of its construction was not something he would be given for free. Pain radiated through his mind as he felt his grip loosen and the knowledge fade but Kal growled hardened will.
The weight doubled and Kal grunted as a lance of burning agony speared through the center of his mind. He felt the clarity slip even further but by reflex, he felt Eyes of The Slayer activate on its own and the almost imperceptible thread burned so brightly he almost completely let go.
Like the times before a voice stretched across the infinite to whisper into his mind, “A weaver is granted knowledge, but a forger takes it.”
Kal flinched as the words seemed to burrow into his mind painfully but at the same time the thread before him twisted and turned. Its shape was nothing like the sphere he was expecting but still, it glowed in his sight and he knew it for what it was.
It was a core.
Warning: Due to high conception of the guided thread you have been linked to the skill’s creator.
Now witness the knowledge bringer.
The tapestry warped and shifted as he felt himself fall into the strange core and an eerily familiar world.
Countless cities dotted a lively world of monsters and men, filled with the young and hopeful as well as the elderly and jaded. Ascendants explored the vast world in the hopes of reaching beyond themselves to a future at the top of existence.
Quotz sat among her closest friends and family at the Academy of Ascension. The place she had spent countless decades honing her knowledge and weaving. Fyborh sat next to her left with a large grin on his face as usual and somehow had failed to get some of the monster blood from his hair before their gathering but that was to be expected.
[Fyborh Kaladan| Blood Soaked Slaughterer 193| Human]
Dhoerin sat to her right and was in the middle of devouring some kind of rare meat he had brought for them all to share between his usual quips. Quotz didn’t normally like gatherings like this but she would never miss the chance to see her friends, especially when she had made such a grand discovery.