CHAPTER 235: FRAMES (Obelisk Acquisition Arc - Prelude)
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With Dutan's disappearance, the tension in the space reduced considerably. The Sentinel Commander, a towering figure with the body of a humanoid tiger and the grace of a seasoned warrior, prepared for their return.
His armour, a blend of intricate black and gold plates, gleamed under the ambient light, each piece meticulously crafted to fit his powerful frame. His eyes were sharp and alert as he oversaw the final preparations.
He brought forth a massive Stellar Spacecraft, a marvel of Spirit Engineering that dwarfed everything around it.
The craft's sleek, silver exterior stretched into the horizon, its colossal size capable of accommodating a million Sentinels, much less the several thousand assembled here.
Its engines hummed with a low, steady thrum, promising a swift journey back to Sentinel Nexus, the home base of the Sentinel order.
Everyone moved in an orderly fashion. As the last of the Sentinels boarded, a young trainee flew towards the Sentinel Commander. She landed lightly before him and called out, "Great Grandpa."
The middle-aged Commander's stern expression softened as he looked at his great-granddaughter.
She was the pride of their clan, her talent surpassing even his own. Her golden-brown fur, marked with black stripes, mirrored his own; her hair was styled in twin braids that framed her determined face.
She wore a suit of armour similar to his, adorned with fur and intricate details, but it also had the elegant appearance of a noble's dress, blending the functionality of battle gear with the regal air of aristocracy.
{A/N: I added image references to how they would look at the end of the chapter. Give them a look.}
"What is it, Little Shurie?" the Sentinel Commander doted on her, his deep voice filled with affection.
She pouted, her whiskers twitching in annoyance. "Please don't call me that; it's embarrassing."
He chuckled, a deep, resonant sound that echoed through the cavernous bay of the spacecraft. "Hahha…..whatever Little Shurie says."
She sighed, a mix of exasperation and affection in her gaze. It was a helpless cause to stop him from using the nickname that had followed her since childhood. She was just grateful that there weren't many around to witness it this time.
Shurianne let go of that and brought up what she wanted to ask, "Great Grandpa, what do you think the punishment Lord Dutan mentioned at the end will be?"
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The middle-aged Commander frowned, his brows furrowing deeply as he quickly asked, "Have you harmed any of the Trial Participants?"
"Geez….It wasn't me," Shurianne replied, her tone exasperated. "Katia used Tier Suppression on the participants to identify the strongest ones, but a few of them badmouthed her, leading her to put them in their place. Fortunately, I intervened before things escalated further, or she might have killed a few." She spoke in a single breath, her words tumbling over each other in her haste to explain.
The Sentinel Commander's expression darkened at her words, his lips pressing into a thin line. "Hot-headedness will be the undoing of that lass. Don't associate with her; nothing good will come of it," he grumbled, his tone carrying a weight of authority and concern.
Shurianne, impatient and determined to get to the bottom of her query, asked, "Now tell me what this punishment could be?"
The Commander clicked his tongue in annoyance, clearly frustrated that his great-granddaughter wasn't taking his words seriously. Still, he answered her, "I don't think the punishment would be severe. Least being a Planetary Guard for a year or two and at most having to patrol the outer rung of the Battlefield Border."
Shurianne sighed in relief, knowing that her friend wouldn't face anything too severe. She then asked something that had been bugging her mind, "Great Grandpa, why did Lord Dutan react that way? They were just some insignificant Trial Participants after all."
The Commander shook his head, a tad bit disappointed at his granddaughter's perspective. "Don't look down on them. Do you know the title Lord Dutan held before he became a Sovereign?....KADAR's ALPHA PRIME."
Shurianne went silent for a moment, the weight of his words sinking in. Her eyes widened in realization before she spoke again, confusion clouding her mind. "Wait a minute, doesn't Lord Dutan possess a Grade-10 Space Innate Talent? Shouldn't he be an Omega Chosen?"
The Commander looked around, ensuring they were not overheard, before casting a bubble of Energy around them. The barrier shimmered briefly before settling into an almost invisible shield.
"You know very little about the significance of an Alpha Prime. Keep what I'm about to say to yourself; not many are privy to this information."
Shurianne pricked up her ears and listened with curiosity as the Commander continued. "There exists a discreet hierarchy among the Alpha Primes. The determining factor is not one's Tier, Innate Talent, or anything substantial, but rather the strength of their FRAMES. You know how challenging it is to synthesize one, right?"
Shurianne nodded intensely. She knew that one would need to merge five or more Level 100 Skills to synthesize a FRAME. The synergy between the maxed-out passive skills dictated the probability of the synthesis. If it failed, the skills used could no longer be used to synthesize another FRAME.
The most commonly used passive skills for synthesis were the Resistance-type skills, as they could be levelled up as long as one consistently received a certain type of damage and recovered from it.
If one needs to level up their
Living in a rich fire-elemental environment would reduce the time needed, and if it was someone with a Fire Innate Talent, that would further speed up the process of levelling up a Resistance-type skill.
The number of Level 100 skills used in the synthesis dictates the Class of the FRAME: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Crown.
The FRAME resulting from the bare minimum of five Lv. 100 skills will be classified as Bronze-Class. On the other hand, the one resulting from the maximum of ten Lv. 100 skills will be hailed as Crown-Class, the highest possible Class for a FRAME.
Even her Great Grandpa, a mighty Tier-9 Powerhouse, only had two Silver-Class FRAMES and a Gold-Class FRAME.
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