With a house secured, we spent a few hours familiarizing ourselves with our new bodies. At first, we had thought that would be enough time.
We greatly underestimated how hard it would be to adapt to our bodies. It was nothing like integrating a new Grade of physical stats. It was almost as hard as adjusting to a totally different body plan. My balance, strength, and reflexes were all completely different from my previous aging body. Even for simple things, like dodging or swinging a weapon, I needed to relearn everything from the beginning.
In the end, we needed a full day and a half to finish getting used to our physical abilities. After a day, I started to feel anxiety. My Keyword abilities would disappear if I didn't buy them within 72 hours. But even though I wanted to rush, we needed to get used to fighting again. Last time we had attacked a higher level shop in the Market, we had run into a fairly powerful magical creature. We needed to be ready for another big fight, just in case.
Of course, I didn't only reacquaint myself with my body. I also worked on building up my magical abilities again.
Power: Form a [Basic] Grade attunement
Achievement +100
Power: Condense your first rune out of absorption essence
Achievement +80
My first rune and my [Basic] Grade attunement weren’t too hard for me to rebuild. After multiple lifetimes of using both magic systems, I was very familiar with them. Thus, it only took me a few hours to get both set up. I even managed to push a bit further with my attunement during our second day of training.
Power: Form an [Intermediate] Grade attunement
Achievement +200
Combined, this gave me 380 Achievement, for a new Achievement count of 22,728.63. I had lost a little bit of Achievement for being in the Market, but it wasn't much. I was losing about one Achievement a day - just like always.
For my first rune ability, I decided to go with teleportation again. It was useful against projectile attacks, and I was also very familiar with the ability now. I was confident that I could use it well after spending an entire lifetime handling it.
At Sallia’s insistence, I also rebuilt [Basic] Grade one-handed Swordsmanship. After decades of disuse, my sword skills were quite rusty. Sallia relearned her combat skills much faster than I did... and then proceeded to chase all of us around our training room with her sword while constantly whacking us in the head. It had been a long time since I had gotten beaten up by Sallia during training. It felt nostalgic, and also painful.
Skill: Gain [Basic] Mastery of a one-handed swordsmanship technique.
Achievement +30
This brought my Achievement from 22,728.63 to 22,758.57.
Due to your {Basic One-Handed Swordsmanship} Ability, reaching Basic Grade in one-handed swordsmanship gives extra rewards
Strength +5, Agility+5, Fortitude +5
The others also used this time to rebuild their own strengths and abilities. Sallia went for her usual mix of body-enhancing spells for her manifestation spellcasting. However, she opted for something rather new for her first rune ability. According to Sallia's description, she was trying to create a sort of anti-magic rune ability. It was an ability aimed at disrupting essence itself. She wasn't entirely sure how well it would work in real combat... but I felt it was a good direction for her. If Sallia learned how to disrupt essence manipulation, it could become an incredible tool later.
Felix focused on acquainting himself with his new ability. Unlike me, he had plenty of open glut penalty, so he bought his new ability the moment we returned to the Market. Then, instead of trying to make prosthetics, he started making electricity bombs. They weren't anywhere near as good as the bombs from our last world, but they were serviceable. Felix made them from the computer we had found in the house, before using an affixation to substitute actual gunpowder. The bomb that he tested ended up about as effective as a small, poorly made grenade.
These grenades were then handed off to Anise. After all, Anise didn't have quite time to rebuild her spell maps. For now, Anise was going to lob bombs at enemies, and rely on her items. With her {Shadow Dryad’s Eyes}, {Phoenix Sword}, and {Finger of Magic Missiles}, she was set up to do something in a fight.
I suspected that we were actually a bit weaker than when we left the Market last time, but it should be good enough for now. Since time was ticking, after 36 hours of training and bomb-making, we set off. I needed to buy my stats and get enough glut for my ability before 72 hours passed. Otherwise, I would lose {Eldritch Soul} forever.
Our journey towards the less important districts of the Market was smooth. We found a few skeletons on the road, but now that we were familiar with our bodies again, they posed little threat to us. We took turns killing the skeletons, in order to maximize our group’s Achievement gain. The skeletons were sparse, but they were still enough for each of us to get a few kills.
You have slain an invading low-level troop. As defined in article two of the emergency city defense fund act, Eluxia distributes your rightful rewards.
(Error – Entity ‘Eluxia’ cannot be found.)
Achievement distribution failed. For further information, please contact the administrator of your current city.
Slaughter: Killed a skeletal foot soldier for the first time. Assist in Killing a Skeletal Foot Soldier for the first time.
Influence: Contributed to the defense of the Market by an [extremely negligible] amount.
Achievement +20, Achievement +2, Achievement +0.00
The extra 22 Achievement brought me from 22,758.57 Achievement to 22,770.51. It wasn’t a substantial increase, but it was better than nothing.
Since we were in a rush, we skipped smaller shops. Normally, we would attack them and loot them for Achievement, but we weren't sure how much time we needed to get {Eldritch Soul}. Smaller shops might not have Tier 2 and Tier 3 Soul Fragments... in which case the essence we spent clearing out a small shop might cost us.
After a few hours of searching, we finally found a promising looking shop. It was on the smaller side, but it looked large enough to support Tier 2 and Tier 3 soul fragments.
It was named “Saul’s Soul Solace - the Emporium for the new, successful transmigrator!” It looked well off, at least for a shop in the outer district of the nursery. It was promising enough for our intents and purposes. Just as we had feared, it was guarded by an odd monster that we had never seen before.
This monster looked like a giant, moving colony of moss. I could see little bits and pieces of its body crawling around as it moved. It didn't look human at all - it looked like a mound of green. When I looked at it with soul-sight, I realized that I wasn't looking at moss. Instead, the creature was probably some sort of... animated fungus. There was also a chance that it was a golem of some sort. Either way, I had never seen anything quite like it. Rather than a single enemy, the creature was a colony of small creatures. Through soul-sight, it looked like billions of tiny little souls clumped together.
“It’s a colony of monsters,” I said. “Extinguish isn’t going to be very useful against it, since I can only target one living creature at a time. I doubt it would even notice if I spent days hitting it with extinguish. I'm going to swap to {Breath of the Storm}. Lightning should cook a lot of the creatures with each hit," I said.
Sallia also grimaced. “If it’s a giant colony, I’m not sure how useful swordsmanship is. I wish I knew more fire spells." Sallia squinted at the creature, before she grinned. "Actually, it looks like essence plays an important role in its biology. Maybe my essence disruption ability can get its first proper field test.”
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Felix frowned. "I only have metal manipulation right now. I don't think there's much I can do here. If we need to box it in, maybe I can whip something up?" Felix shrugged. "I'll see if there's somewhere I can help once the fight starts."
The four of us spent a few minutes trying to work out a battle plan. Since we didn't know what abilities the creature had, it was a bit hard. However, after a few minutes of planning, I felt that we had a reasonable battle plan. After that, the four of us marched up to the side of the shop, before we glanced at our surroundings one more time. There weren't any other creatures in our surroundings.
I nodded. Anise counted to three, and threw in a lightning bomb. A moment later, I used most of my alteration essence to chuck a massive bolt of lightning at the fungus golem.
With a roar of fire, half of the creature disappeared. The mound of moss quivered for a moment... before its entire body seemed to dissolve into thin air. I blinked in surprise. Had it died? That had been incredibly easy.
Then, I realized I hadn't gotten a kill notification. I turned on my soul sight.
“It’s not dead! Its body is in the air all around us," I said. "Felix, get me a wall. It doesn't need to be thick. Just keep that thing from touching us. The air around us is filled with spores. Sallia, I'm going to share my vision with you. If you see any spores get too close to us, use your anti-essence sword and see what you can do." I said. At the same time, I started sharing my vision via communication bracelet.
Felix immediately erected a metal wall in front of us. It was barely a thin sheet of metal, and it was only half as tall as me... but it did succeed in blocking off some of the spores. A moment later, Sallia stepped forward, activated her rune ability, and swung her sword. I noticed that a clump of the fungal spores near her blade seemed to wither and die... but it was nowhere near enough. It was like trying to put out a forest fire with a cup of water.
I felt the urge to curse, before I realized something. The spores drifting through the air... were not moving very quickly.
A moment later, a clump of spores landed on Felix's wall. In seconds, they ate through the thin sheet of metal like they were made of acid. My eyes widened.
They might be slow, but if a group of them touched us, it would be bad news.
"New plan. Just back up and shoot them," I said, as I glanced behind us. There still weren't any other souls near us.
From there, the fight became much simpler. Since I could track the fungal spores, and we moved much faster than them, we just kept backing away. After a while, the creature seemed to get irritated, so it started clumping its spores together again. That made it faster... but it also made it much more vulnerable to attacks. Anise immediately tossed another fire bomb at any clumps of spores. I occasionally used small lightning bolts to take down smaller clumps of spores. Sallia also darted to the edges of the battle and used her anti-essence sword to kill a few smaller groups of spores.
The battle was tense... but only in the sense that a mistake would cost us dearly. However, the creature lacked any way to close the distance with us. We stayed out of range, while the creature grew smaller and smaller, and more and more spores died. Finally, when it was over 70% dead, the final spores grouped together, and tried one last, desperate charge at us. One lightning bolt, followed by a few swings from Sallia, ended the last of the creature. I held my breath, waiting to see if the creature was finally gone, and breathed a sigh of relief after I got a System notification.
Slaughter: Killed a Fungal Menace for the first time. Influence: Contributed to the defense of the Market by an [extremely negligible] amount.
Achievement +60, Achievement +0.02
Endless Hunger of the Ocean has devoured Fungal Golem for the first time. New Skill created.
Fungal Resilience - Parts of your body can survive without any connection to your ‘main’ body for a much longer period of time.
The reward brought me from 22,770.44 Achievement to 22,830.46 Achievement.
I decided to equip the skill that I had gotten. I had no particular use for it right now, but maybe it would come in handy later. Then, we made our way back to the shop and entered. I only needed to look for a few moments, before I found my target. I grinned.
Saul’s Soul Emporium did, indeed, sell Tier 2 and Tier 3 Soul Fragments.
I pulled up the System notification for {Eldritch Soul} one last time, just to double check how much Glut I needed to get it.
Since you have trained Eldritch Soul to [Basic] Grade for the first time, upon your death you will have the option to purchase [Eldritch Soul] as an ability, for the cost of 2000 Achievement.
Note: because this ability permanently modifies your soul, you may NEVER remove this ability if you take it.
This Ability has the following effects:
Keywords: Soul, Space, Madness (3 keywords).
Your soul is changed in the following ways:
You may divide your soul into smaller fragments. You may attach these soul fragments to any type of water within your surroundings. These soul fragments retain some of your intelligence and personality. They can move, think, and attack autonomously, and they lose essence every second. They create lesser copies of your abilities.
Glut Penalty: 30
Note 1: This ability permanently modifies your soul away from the ‘basic humanoid’ template. It will not severely impact what species you reincarnate as in the future on its own, but with more abilities, this might change. If your base species changes beyond recognition, you will be moved to a more suitable nursery.
Note 2: Turning your soul into fragments means peeling off a small layer of the outermost layer of your soul. It is best to avoid doing this more than once every few months. If you use this ability more frequently, it may cost Achievement. If you do so without enough Achievement, permanent soul damage may occur.
Currently, I was at 68/68 Glut Penalty. I needed 30 more to buy {Eldritch Soul}. I started doing math in my head.
Each soul fragment cost 80 Achievement Grade 2 fragments, and 130 Achievement for Grade 3. Bringing a stat up to Grade 2 would give me 3 glut, and I would get another 15 for making all of my stats grade 2 or higher. If I first brought all of my stats up to Grade 2, it would take 5,600 Achievement. Then, I just needed to bring one stat to Grade 3, which would cost another 2,600 Achievement. That would let me purchase the Ability I wanted. Then, I needed to actually buy the Ability I wanted, which would take 2,000 Achievement…
So I was looking at a total of 10,200 Achievement to get this ability and bring my stats up.
The stat I would prioritize was obviously Alteration. It was my primary stat, and it empowered my Extinguishes and my healing abilities. There was no other stat that I would consider prioritizing over more Alteration.
After purchasing all of my Soul Fragments and absorbing them, then buying my new ability, my status screen changed dramatically.
Physical
Mental
Essence
Strength: (40+100+5)
Grade 7
Intelligence: (40+100+20)
Grade 8
Absorption: (40+100)
Grade 7
Agility: (40+100+5)
Grade 7
Willpower: (40+100+20)
Grade 8
Manifestation: (40+100)
Grade 7
Fortitude: (40+100+5)
Grade 7
Perception: (40+100+20)
Grade 8
Binding: (40+100)
Grade 7
Alteration: (60+100)
Grade 8
Lives Remaining: 2
9/10 Keyword Slots used
Glut: 98/99
Abilities:
Keyword Abilities:
Endless Hunger of the Ocean (Ocean, Madness) (2 Keywords) (40 Glut Penalty) (Intermediate Grade)
Echoes of the Deep (Ocean, Death, Duality, Alteration) (Basic Grade) (25 Glut Penalty)
Held Abilities:
1. Fungal Resilience
2.
3.
Eldritch Soul (Soul, Space, Madness) (Basic Grade) (30 Glut Penalty)
Weapon Abilities:
Basic one-Handed Swordsmanship (No Keywords) (2 Glut Penalty) (Basic Grade)
Birth related Abilities:
Body Control (0 Glut Penalty)
Identity (1 Glut Penalty)
Achievement: 12,630.45
With half of my Achievement spent, and only one glut open, I thought about my remaining Achievement. I had been somewhat interested in the healing Skill I earned last life… but did I actually want to buy it? Getting the glut for it would cost another 2600 Achievement. That would drop me to about 10,000 left. Normally, I wouldn't have hesitated. However, we were about to raid the inner districts of the city. Once we got there, I had no idea what we would want to buy. Spending all of my Achievement before getting there would be pretty silly. If I bought the medical skill, I might regret it right after we entered the inner district.
After a few seconds of thinking, I sighed and shook my head. A few more stats, as well as the [Basic] Grade medicine skill from last life, weren’t that important. I had great hopes for whatever we would find in the inner districts of the nursery. I decided to save the rest of my Achievement for later. It felt like a bit of a shame, but I could always re-earn the healing skill later. I glanced at my friends, and saw that they were still thinking about their own purchases. I had already finished mine, so I walked out of the store. There still weren't any other enemies near us, so I grinned. It was time to try experimenting with my new ability.