To glimpse at the grandness of Fire was to lose herself in it. One moment, Alicia had been looking at the flames in her fireballs. The next, she had become one with Fire.
She became the hotness of a billion suns and the warmth of a summer breeze.
She became the light released by the birth of a universe and the brightness of a campfire protecting humanity from predators at night.
She became the blaze that sought to consume all existence to fuel its glory and the tiny flame lighting a cigar.
Alicia couldn't be Fire for more than an instant. Instead, she was limited to the small part of the mysteries of Fire existence that resonated with her.
Alicia found out she knew Destruction intimately.
It was the Destruction of her life when her parents had died; of her innocence when his boyfriend had shown he wanted her for nothing more than her body; of her future when her relatives had stolen all her money.
Maybe that wasn't the kind of Destruction found in Fire itself, but it was close enough for her to see it in the pain her fireballs caused, the damage they caused, the ruin they left in their wake.
Her Fire Destroyed.
She never wielded it for any other purpose. She had tried to use it for protection once but had failed to protect Shen. She could argue she was defending herself in some fights, but that was just a beautiful twist of the truth: she was Destroying her enemies.
Destruction resonated with her past, was plenty in her present, and Alicia… Alicia had to admit she wanted more of it in her future.
She frowned then. Alicia didn't seek more Destruction of herself. She wanted to crush others. Kill them and their allies until only her and hers remained.
Maybe it wasn't mere Destruction that she liked, after all. There had to be a way to select the target of her ire.
In eradicating those who sought to destroy her, she found unique satisfaction. In quenching her fears, she found sweet release. There was nothing like burning every obstacle in her way to cinders. She didn't even leave ashes behind because the tutorial turned everything into motes of light. Her flames brought ultimate Destruction to her weaknesses and her foes both.
Alicia learned the secrets of pushing the Destruction of her magic to new heights.
All who stood in her way would crumble.
She decided to walk a Path. Yes, she had heard Shen say that word before, and it fit what she was going through. Her Path was simultaneously old and new. A new take on what she had gone through—a way of pushing onto others all the suffering that had once been visited upon her.
She might have felt insecure about that before she had met Shen, but now she knew better than to be merciful toward her enemies. Yet even then, some rules had to be respected to avoid affecting the innocent.
Her Path might not sound cool, but it felt right.
Alicia would walk the Path of Selective Destruction.
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Evelyn had could describe that stage in three words: waste of time.
She couldn't find enlightenment by meditating or training by herself. She found it in battle. Being here was just a waste of her time, nothing else. She could only do so much planning for her guild on Earth with Sandra and Elam before they actually got back to the planet and could move some things forth.
Still, she kept training, and at last, one week passed.
It was middle boss time.
Tutorial - Void Spawn
This stage's middle boss is a Void Hatchling.
The Guardian System cannot precisely determine the power of Void Spawn, for the Void interfere with some of its functions. Statistical data and advanced sensory inputs allow for an estimated range, which is almost always correct.
Beware, however: the Void can be highly volatile.
When Inspecting a Void Spawn, you'll be shown the estimated range of its power. Its name will be the most common function that Void Spawn in that power range is known to perform.
If you slay a Void Spawn, you'll receive the same AP you would have received if you killed a being in the maximum rank of the estimated range.
For instance, Void Hatchlings have power ranging from G-rank to F-rank. Thus, if you kill your middle boss, you'll receive the 10 AP you would get for killing an F-rank.
Evelyn hadn't known about the power and AP stuff. She hadn't killed any Void Spawn in the second stage; the damn things recovered from any injury with ridiculous ease.
The good news was that the system proceeded to tell her just how to deal with them.
Tutorial - Void Spawn
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The only way to kill Void Spawn is by using the special knowledge required to reach the E-rank.
We haven't named that knowledge before now to prevent it from affecting your enlightenment, but it is called a Concept. It relates to the grander truths of Reality.
Your stats now contain the Concept category. Unlike other stats, you cannot purchase tier-ups for your Concepts.
"Concept," Evelyn tasted the word, repeating it a few times. "It fits."
She controlled the Concept of Gravity.
Tutorial - Void Spawn
The only way to accurately evaluate the strength of a Void Spawn is by striking it with a Concept-enhanced attack.
If it is instantly destroyed, it means it had a rank lower than the tier of your Concept.
If it survives with damage, it has the same rank as your Concept's tier.
If it takes no damage, it is of a higher rank.
Void Spawn can sometimes grow more powerful between attacks; defeat them as quickly as possible. They never grow weaker; escape from them if you can't beat them.
All your Concepts are at the E tier and will remain so until you master them.
Evelyn felt insulted.
The system told her that either her Concept of Gravity would make killing Void Spawn trivial, or their strength would be such that her Concept wouldn't matter. How pitiful was such a situation?
She couldn't even hope to have a long fight against an E-rank Void Spawn because they might grow stronger. If that happened, none in her team would survive.
Tutorial - 4th Stage - Middle Boss
Those who came alone must survive a fight against a Void Hatchling for ten minutes. If you fail, you can only blame your arrogance in venturing alone where you should've brought company.
Those who came in groups must kill the Void Hatchling. You won't be able to do so if none in your team has understood a Concept. If that happens, you can only blame your lack of foresight in assembling your team.
In both cases, in the unlikely event of the Void Hatchling being at or reaching the D-rank, you'll get a free pass.
The last sentence gave Evelyn hope of getting some fun at last. She could take the fight slowly, after all. If the Hatchling grew too strong, she would pass anyway.
As soon as the message disappeared, a black lightning bolt hit the island. Somehow, a white Void Hatchling had traveled through it and was now standing where it had struck.
'Why fight?' she thought and instantly recognized the alien thought for what it was: the creature was affecting her mind. 'Gravity matters not in front of the Void. Why pursue something so meaningless when I can embrace the ultimate greatness?'
"Inspect," she said.
| VOID HATCHLING (G ~ F) | ??? / ???
Evelyn willed some of her mana to increase the gravity below the Hatchling. Then she very gently used some of the principles of the Concept of Gravity—
The Void Spawn exploded into white smoke.
| Void Hatchling (G ~ F) | 23,729 → 23,739 AP
"Goddamit," she cursed.
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Shen had killed a Hatchling before, so he knew what to expect from the fight.
First came the stupid thoughts. He did his best to ignore them. Then he experimented with Zephyr.
He could currently push Zephyr Qi a few inches away from his body or spear. That was enough to improve some techniques, but he attempted to do more. He tried to push it further and maybe even create an artificial aura of sorts.
He failed in his ultimate goal but succeeded in pushing the qi further away from his body. It was only a few extra inches, but it was enough to improve his defenses and make him safer.
The gentle breeze traveled calmly around him, caressing his robe ever so slightly. It felt good on his bald head. Well, maybe not bald; his hair was growing back faster than any mortal's.
Meanwhile, the Hatchling approached. Shen did nothing as it raised its hand to touch him. When the white hand met his Qi, the creature dissipated into white smoke.
| Void Hatchling (G ~ F) | 402,964 → 402,974 AP
A successful experiment, he concluded.
Then he went back to his training.
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Alicia felt delightful satisfaction when a single fireball destroyed the Void Spawn.
For her enemies to turn into nothingness was just right.
| Void Hatchling (G ~ F) | 10,233 → 10,243 AP
She almost went back to thinking of ways to use her Destruction to improve her spells or develop new ones, but she stopped herself. She had been lost in that ever since she had comprehended the Concept of Destruction. Everything had felt so marvelous that she had forgotten to rank up.
She had just enough AP to rank up. She almost called it luck, but she knew better. It was naive to take it as happenstance when, for all she knew, an advanced AI controlled the tutorial under the supervision of Stage Overseers.
Alicia reckoned the tutorial had all but told her to save AP to rank up. She hadn't known she needed to learn a Concept at all, so it had seemed the best thing to spend her AP on not to be left behind by Shen's rapid advancement. She certainly hadn't been the only one to go for it. If anything, seeing Shen, an E-rank, crush everyone in the middle boss had likely made a lot of people greedy for that power.
Only those too immersed in themselves would've ignored those signs, and the tutorial would punish them for it.
Maybe that was another thing the tutorial wanted to teach them. Well, that, or they just had to learn to save AP for a pinch. That was simple yet great wisdom too.
"Rank up," she said.
| Attempting to increase rank to E
| Requirement met: Knowledge of a Concept
| Purchased: Rank Up (E) | -10,000 AP
| Remaining AP: 243 AP
Then the system turned her into a new, stronger version of herself.
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The second half of the stage was as uneventful as the first for Shen.
Saturating his body with qi was about the same as cultivating in the Core Formation realm: he moved qi through his body. The difference was the mystical pattern he used. It was a more robust design because his body could take it. It let him push three times as much qi into his body without damaging it.
He didn't advance his Path. He could improve his battle style without fighting, but the Path of the Spear was created for and forged through battle. Without challenges to overcome, progress would take much longer.
As for Mastering his Concepts, he made a few strides in it. He put his chance to master a Concept before the end of the tutorial at around fifty percent, at least if the following stages were more or less what the ones until now had been.
Finally, after two weeks of lonely training, the final boss was upon him.
Tutorial - 4th Stage - Final Boss
All lone fighters who didn't reach the E-rank and groups with less than 5 E-ranks were expelled.
The final boss is simple: defeat the Void Scout.
Reminder: the Guardian System cannot precisely determine the power of Void Spawn, which can increase at a fast pace.
If the Void Scout you're fighting arrives at or reaches the D-rank, you can only blame your bad luck.
Black lightning hit his island, placing a new Void Spawn in there.
| VOID SCOUT (F ~ D) | ??? / ???
The Scout looked the same as the middle boss, a white humanoid. Shen hoped it would be at the E-rank and be strong—
It sprinted at Shen so fast that any mortal would see it as a blur.
Shen smiled as he filled his body with Boundless Qi and his spear with Sharp Qi.
That might be fun.