A few minutes became hours as Kal carefully examined every portion of the skill he could locate. It was harder than he thought it would be. Even with a perfectly functional skill in front of him to copy from it was nothing like the guidance the system granted him.

Both the obfuscation of Nyx’s body and the glare of his barrier didn’t help things either but he was still slowly making progress. He did run into the usual issues, however. Basically, every channel required mana to flow through it so as usual nearly everything had to be reinforced multiple times over so he could be sure he wouldn’t spring a leak again.

Along with the general strength problem was also a problem with the mechanics of the skill in general. In basic terms, the Shadow’s Cloak fed mana into a conversion construct that changed its affinity to shadow mana but not exactly. The information Kal could glean from focusing on each construct was lacking compared to the ones of his own skills but he could tell that it wasn’t really converting it into shadow mana but instead imprinted the properties of shadow mana onto it, or maybe it removed the unnecessary properties.

It was hard to say but Kal was confident it did one of those two things. Seeing this reminded Kal of The Butcher’s lesson on affinities and specifically what it had said about mortal mana. Mortal mana could be used for almost any kind of skill but it would never be quite as good as if it were the same quantity of the target affinity.

The construct he could see was probably an example of that exchange. It was quite possible that in the future Nyx might get the choice to fully convert to shadow mana instead of normal mana. In her case, it may even be more worthwhile since it would increase the potency of the few mana skills she had. But that isn’t what Kal needed to know right now.

What he needed to know was whether or not his wrath could act as if it were shadow mana. In the case of Arcane Hunter’s Mark and Slayer’s Intent wrath worked fine with a few changes but it left its mark on the skill. The same was true with Slayer’s Apathy wrath replaced mana easily but the skill’s effect was quite different. Not only protecting him from outside mental attacks but also blocking out the pain and allowing the urges of his wrath and soul to manipulate his mind.

Something told him it would work but he wasn’t sure what his wrath would do to the outcome of the skill.

“Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out…”

Ultimately besides the new conversion-like imprinting construct, it was relatively simple to make once he figured everything out. Threads of perception, intellect, and will formed into a projecting construct like Slayer’s Apathy but instead of a guide construct it used his eyes for target selection to project what Kal hoped would be shadow mana.

Once it was all in place Kal forged the linking construct and exited his core to find Ander snoring on the ground next to him and Nyx staring into his face.

“Sorry. That took longer than I expected but I think I’m finished,” Kal said before climbing to his feet and stretching his back out.

Nyx shrugged,” I spent most of the time trying to figure out what you were doing. I could feel something but not like when you protected us from the abyssal mana,” she said clearly frustrated in not actually figuring out what he did.

Kal smirked, “Well, hopefully, this will be enough to explain it to you.”

“Assuming it works at all…” Kal already connected it to his core to lessen the mental strain he was feeling but he would still have to test it first to see if it worked.

Nyx stared at him carefully and Kal started to feel a little self-conscious with her gaze so focused on him but he tried to ignore it and activated his new skill.

The effect took hold instantly and Kal felt a sudden heat grasp his body as his wrath was projected onto him. It was painful but it felt hostile somehow. Kal looked back to Nyx’s face to see her scrambling backward, her face ashen with fear and a sudden howling from Ander’s small form on the ground next to him made Kal jump to the side and deactivate the skill.

As the skill’s effects faded Ander’s cry stopped and Nyx stopped her scrambling, “Gods! What?! What was that?! Kalum?!”

A pang of guilt shot through Kal at their reactions, “Sorry! Sorry. It was just the effect of my new skill. I didn't know it would have that effect, though I suppose I should have guessed it would have a fear effect,” Kal knelt down to put a hand on Ander’s shoulder, ”Sorry kid.”

Nyx shot to her feet,” What?! Wait?! How did you get another new skill-” Nyx face paled but a smile appeared on her face, ”You copied it… you copied my skill! That's incredible. It's just as the prophecy said.”

Kal grimaced but he couldn’t refute her words,” Yes I copied it but as you can see, it wasn’t perfect. Not even close.”

“How?! How is it possible?!” Nyx exclaimed, completely ignoring Kal’s comment.

Kal waved his hand and showed both of them the description of Soul Forge with a sigh. He had only been with them for a day and he already let the cat out of the bag…

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Soul Forge [Rare]

You have gained a modicum of control with your soul space, and have brought this control beyond your core. You now walk whole but altered into the cosmos. Depending on the rarity of this skill your energy constructs will become more easily controlled by your will and require less resource investment to maintain. +3 to Perception, Will, and Wisdom per level. Tread the dark waters of your soul, and the matter of your shell, forging your own path. Your potential unlimited.

Nyx’s gaze ran over the description several times before she started staring blankly into the middle distance for several seconds while Ander stared wide-eyed at Kal’s skill display.

“Wooow… It’s red too, just like your eyes in that strange place.” Ander said.

Kal chuckled at that. He had forgotten that most people’s displays were probably blue.

Finally, after a few more seconds Nyx finally came back around, “So that's how you cleansed us. You created a skill specifically for it didn’t you?”

Kal nodded,” Yeah it took me a while since I hadn’t needed to create one like that before but in the end, it was easy enough.”

Kal’s words didn’t seem to help Nyx’s state of mind, “How… How many skills do you have?!”

“I haven’t really counted,” Kal shrugged. It was a lie but he didn’t really feel like explaining all of the‘half skills’ he had laying around in his body, “We can talk about it later. Judging by your reactions just now my new skill didn’t work as intended.”

Nyx let out a short breathless laugh with a tinge of frustration but she nodded, ”Yeah, you could say that. It was terrifying,” Ander nodded almost violently in agreement.

“Was I at least invisible?” Kal asked.

“No. Your normal body vanished but a cloud of crimson appeared in its place. It looked like a man on fire. The only thing I think looked similar to you were its glowing golden eyes,” Nyx said while Ander continued to nod along.

Kal frowned. Apparently, his wrath twisted the skill even further than he had expected but what he had learned in mind he opened the new notification in his log.

Cloak of the Wrathful Spectre [Rare] [Soul Forged]

A slayer need not hide from its enemy but anonymity has its uses. The targets of this skill are shrouded in wrathful shadows that obfuscate their true form and grant them a fear aura with a potency that scales with Perception, Intellect, and Will. Shroud yourself in wrathful shadows and appear as your inner self.

Kal grunted, “Well it certainly isn’t a stealth skill…”

He guessed he shouldn’t have been surprised, stealth wasn’t exactly his style but he thought it could still be useful.

“I’m going to use the skill on the two of you and see what it looks like for myself.”

Ander’s smile widened, “Yes! This is going to be so cool!”

Kal chuckled as he focused on the two of them and activated the skill.

Nyx was right. It certainly wasn’t stealthy. Two wraiths of crimson flame stood before him, their true bodies completely replaced by what appeared to Kal to be exactly like his cloud form from within his core space.

He had to admit that they did look intimidating. However, Kal felt no fear as he looked at them but he supposed it shouldn’t affect him considering he was the one keeping the skill active. Kal used Identify on the two of them and smiled when he read the results.

[Spectre of Wrath]

[Spectre of Wrath]

It wasn’t stealthy but it did change the result returned by identification. Ander still looked child-sized but otherwise, his body shape and proportions were identical to Nyx’s. Kal glanced at his status to check its wrath usage.

It dropped faster than he would have liked at around fifty wrath a second. By siphoning he could manage it easily enough but he would have to monitor it carefully. But was it worth the risk bringing them along? He either had to cut them off and leave them stuck within an array which with the trickle that still made it into the circle would put him on yet another timer, or he brought them along and hoped the fear aura and the difficulty to identify them made the demons keep a wide berth.

Nyx’s form started waving her arms trying to get his attention.

“What?” Kal asked confused for a moment before he realized he couldn’t hear either of them. He deactivated the skill and the crimson wraiths dissipated instantly to reveal a nervous-looking Nyx and a grinning Ander.

“That was amazing! Couldn’t you hear my menacing laugh?” Ander said in a rush,” Can we do it again?!”

Nyx looked less thrilled with the experience, ”Yes. Could you not hear us?”

Kal shook his head, “No I didn’t hear a thing. That could be an issue but either way, I think the skill will work. But now comes the choice. I could leave you both here under the protection of an array. It won’t be perfect and I will need to return quickly otherwise the abyssal mana will reach your cores again. Or you can come with me at least until we get close to the tower.”

Ander jumped in first, ”Well! You know my vote!”

Nyx frowned at the boy but didn’t dismiss the idea,” I know I said it would be wise to remain in the cave but the thought of being trapped inside of the array has dissuaded me of that choice. Though I am concerned about how you think this new skill you… crafted? Will help us.”

Kal realized he hadn’t actually voiced most of his thoughts out loud, “The fear effect should take care of that for the most part. My resource seems to work particularly well against demons.”

Nyx nodded but she was clearly not quite convinced, “Then if you are certain I will trust your judgment but let me finish Ander’s armor before we leave.”

“Yessss!” Ander cheered before running over to plop himself down, ready for Nyx to continue her work.

Kal nodded and Nyx went to continue working the hydra skin. Kal though was distracted by something he had seen in notification logs and he suddenly got the urge to punch himself.

The Forgotten One Complete!

Uncover the mystery of the Mountains of Revenge.

Rewards: Uncommon Chest, Title

Kal had never accepted the rewards. He had been too distracted by his hunger and everything Fyborh had told him to the point he completely glossed over the reward.