I stared at the screen, sullen.
Congratulations, you are the 59th being from the newly Integrated Planet of Earth to reach Level 100!
New Class - Voidborn Abyssal Prince III
The second milestone of the path of the Abyssal King.
+75% Void/Abyss Damage Bonus
+13 All Stats Per Level
+2 Skills
I sighed. “Seriously? The class just assigned itself. Can I be a Battlemage yet?” Systie bonked me on the head, annoyed with my question. “Fine. Anyways, the Statuses.”
Status : Jason
Name : Jason Andromeda (Bonded)
Level 100 | Tier 4
Race : Voidborn Abyssal
Health : 934080/934080 (46704 Health/Min | 778.4/s)
Mana : 934080/934080 (70056 Mana/Min | 1167.6/s)
Class : Voidborn Abyssal Prince II (Unique)
Bond : Miana Andromeda, Systie
Stats
Strength : 2919 (Base : 834 Effectiveness : 350%)
Dexterity : 2919 (Base : 834 Effectiveness : 350%)
Endurance : 2919 (Base : 834 Effectiveness : 350%)
Vitality : 2919 (Base : 834 Effectiveness : 350%)
Mana : 2919 (Base : 834 Effectiveness : 350%)
Intelligence : 2919 (Base : 834 Effectiveness : 350%)
Free Points : 0
Titles : The Top of Humanity…?, Abyss Enhanced, One Tier Ahead!, Speedrunner II, Global Powerhouse, Dungeon Break Clear I
Skills : All Seeing Eye of the Abyss - Tier 4, Abyss Touch - Level 73 | Tier 2, Void Armor - Level 60 | Tier 2, Wreath of Destruction - Level 53 | Tier 1, Void Manipulation - Level 60 | Tier 2, Avatar of Destruction - Tier 4, Void Rip (Portal) - Level 43 | Tier 1, Partial Draconic Form - Tier 4, Shard of Oblivion - Level 31 | Tier 1, Void Storage - Tier 4, Void Blade - Level 23 | Tier 0
Growth Item Creation Uses : 2
Bond Status : Mia
Name : Miana Andromeda (Bonded)
Level 100 | Tier 4
Race : Abyss Blizzard Serpent (Lightning Attuned) (Humanoid Form)
Health : 1494528/1494528 (74726 Health/Min | 1245.44/s)
Mana : 747264/747264 (56045 Mana/Min | 934.08/s)
Bond : Jason Andromeda
Stats
Strength : 2335
Dexterity : 2335
Endurance : 5838 (Base : 2335 Effectiveness : 250%)
Vitality : 5838 (Base : 2335 Effectiveness : 250%)
Mana : 2335
Intelligence : 2335
Titles : Unique Bond
Skills : Lightning Manipulation - Level 60 | Tier 2, Ice Manipulation - Level 56 | Tier 2, Electrical Freeze - Level 51 | Tier 2, Domain of Ice and Lightning - Level 50 | Tier 2, Draconic Form - Tier 4, Glacier Fall - Level 40 | Tier 1, Heavenly Discharge - Level 23 | Tier 0,
Evolution Level : I
Bond Status : Systie
Name : [Redacted] Nickname : Systie
Level 100 | Tier 4
Race : System’s Eye
Mana Capacity : 2989056/2989056*
Bond : Jason Andromeda
Stats
Dexterity : 9341
Mana : 4670
*Mana cannot be regenerated normally. Mana can only be restored by Bond.
Skills*
Split - Level 54 | Tier 2, Void Aura - Tier 4, Substitute Combustion - Level 40 | Tier 1
*Some Skills are shared with Bond
Shared Skills
Abyss Manipulation, Bonded Battling II
Bond Level : III
I raised my eyebrows before looking at Mia, who purposefully looked away. With a small smile I put my hand on her head. She looked back at me, embarrassed.
I shook my head. “Don’t worry too much about it. Plus, look on the bright side: Treia’s Level 80!”
Both Systie and Mia gave me flat expressions. I frowned at them.
“Why do you both dislike Treia so much?” I inquired, tilting my head. “She’s a perfectly fine person.”
She’s a liability, Jason, Systie said, clearly frustrated.
“Uh huh. Like I don’t know that. Also, why is the Skill choice always so delayed?”
Systie didn’t answer as I stared at the Skill picker, noticing that there were far more Skills than usual.
“There’s also twelve Skills to choose from,” I muttered. “Fair enough.”
To not completely overwhelm myself, I chose [Abyss Tendrils] immediately, knowing that they’d be useful, especially for utility.
Abyss Tendrils - Level 25 | Tier 1
Condensing Abyss Mana, you can create tendril-like objects, originating from your hands. They can hold onto various objects and lift them up into the air at a maximum weight based on your Strength. Additionally, you can detach them and anchor them to almost any surface to keep something or someone pinned or lifted into the air.
Cost : 20 Mana/s per Tendril
Maximum tendrils : 15
Anchor Cost : 1200 Mana
I nodded at this and looked through the other Skills for a few moments.
Suddenly, Systie butt in.
I’d suggest [Black Hole]. It’s a great spell, especially if you want to keep everything grouped up in one area.
I shook my head. “I don’t really need to worry about things in a singular area just yet. Plus, Treia already has it, so it’s useless to get. I was thinking about maybe getting [Siphon]. I don’t have anything that can reliably restore Mana.”
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Restore? If you need extra Mana, I’m literally a Mana bank. Plus, I’m sure Mia’s willing to share hers with you.
Mia nodded along with Systie. I, however, sighed.
“And what happens when neither of you can do that?”
No response.
“Exactly.”
Picking the Skill, I sighed.
Siphon - Level 25 | Tier 1
Create a figurative siphon effect, able to regenerate Mana from opponents. When hitting an opponent, it temporarily decreases their Mana Regen and increases their Damage taken multiplier by +0.05, stacking up to 10 times.
Cost : 5 Mana/s
Siphoning : Damage dealt/5 Mana per hit
Cooldown per hit : 1.5s
Mana Regen Decrease : 20%
I nodded and looked at Treia, who was poking at my horns with a satisfied expression. She blinked as I looked at her before clearing her throat.
“Uh-”
“Are you ready to go back?” I asked her.
She tilted her head. “I’d be lying if I said yes, but we can’t stay here forever. We both have to get back.”
She groaned before immediately placing her head on my shoulder and sighing. We sat like this for a while as I kept up a steady stream of muffins for the strangely hungry Mia. About half an hour later, I was about to stand when I realized Treia was dead asleep.
“Ah,” I breathed, freezing in place. I slowly lowered myself back onto the ground, relieved I hadn’t woken Treia up.
Mia looked at Treia for a few seconds, clearly debating on whether or not she should sleep as well. Naturally, as Mia does, she crawled onto my lap and fell asleep. I held back a groan before I simply just began to stare at the nearest tree.
~~~
That’s actually pretty useful, Systie begrudgingly admitted as I lifted Mia from the ground using [Abyss Tendrils]. I needed only three of the fifteen to lift Mia, and five to lift Treia, who had protested to be lifted until I’d lifted her up nearly ten yards into the air, where she flailed around until she grabbed a branch and held on for dear life.
Mia giggled as I lifted her into the air, threw her up and caught her again easily. I then pulled her over to me and directly into my arms.
“Interesting,” I said, admiring the usefulness of the Skill. “It is useful. I really only got it on a whim. Especially when I was wrangling with that damned Elemental.”
Treia, coming up next to me, rolled her eyes. “That ‘damned Elemental’ likes you for some reason.”
Probably because Abyssals are technically Elementals. You’re also an Elemental, but you naturally have less Mana concentration than an Abyssal. This is without considering the fact that he’s Voidborn, which is a subject even I have trouble understanding, Systie said, bobbing around my head as I waved the Tendrils around.
“We’re Elementals?” Treia asked in surprise. “It doesn’t mention that in the Race description.”
Well, of course not. It’s non-consequential information. If you don’t know, it literally doesn’t matter. The only thing that’s interesting is that your little familiar seems to be terrified of Miana.
I rolled my eyes as Mia tilted her head in confusion. “She’s a Dragon-” Mia hit my horn. “-Serpent. I’m about ninety percent sure they eat Elementals.”
Systie racked her memory for a few moments, which I knew she was doing as she’d dim slightly.
You’re right. Ung, I hate having so little memory. A few thousand years I can call up at once is so damn limiting. Then there’s things that I know I know, but I can’t call up since my base code doesn’t want me to-
RESTRICTED INFORMATION DETECTED
UNIDENTIFIED RECIPIENT DETECTED : Treia Kia
It was silent for a few moments. We all simply stared at the notification we could all see for the next minute.
Well, I guess that settles that then. Can’t say anything else while Treia’s around.
Treia scowled. “Why is it always me?”
I shrugged. “Can’t tell you. It’s probably just a coincidence.”
“Coincidence my ass,” she grumbled. “Whatever. We’re almost in the city, so you should probably hide your horns.”
I sighed. “I hate being off balance.”
Mia patted my horn and I smiled at her. “But, oh well.”
***
Mia poked her head out of the window to watch her Bond scale the side of the Palace with his newest Skill while the many people who had noticed this waved below for him to stop.
Clearly. Also, how many times do I have to tell you my name is Systie, not Eyeball? “Systie” said, annoyed.
…Fair enough. But still! My name is Systie!
No response.
Of course I know my real name! I just like Systie better.
Not everyone has a mother who cares about them.
Mia frowned before looking down at her Bond, who Big Sister was yelling at for being stupid, clearly being the only person who could talk sense into him. Then again, it wasn’t like he’d not do it again. Bond was too stubborn to not try out things that were clearly dangerous. He was like that.
Mia then yawned.
As Mia hopped onto the bed and curled up under the blanket, Eyeball grumbled, It’s not even nighttime.
However, Mia was already fast asleep.
***
“Climbing capabilities: check. Carrying capabilities: check. Restraining capabilities: yet to be tested. Combat capabilities…”
I looked over to the boulder next to me, looked in all directions around me to check if anyone was nearby, then shot the Tendrils from my fingertips and punctured the rock before lifting the entire rock into the air.
“Oh shit, that’s a lot of Mana,” I hissed, dispelling the Skill after a few seconds. “Nearly 3k Mana a second to lift that up, net regeneration of negative 2 thousand a second. Hmm. Can I rip things out of the ground?”
I then shot a few into the ground below and ripped out a chunk of earth the size of my body before throwing it about forty meters.
“Interesting. I could do that myself though. But if I could reduce the tendrils needed to three or even two, I could throw up to four at a time-”
“Jason, what are you doing throwing rocks around?”
I twitched and spun around to see Treia standing behind me, clearly having been waiting for me.
“Testing my new Skill?” I said innocently.
“We’re supposed to be meeting the Queen soon. Mia’s refusing to take a bath again. I need to go to my room and change. And you need to hurry up and figure out what to say to the Queen later. I’m not going to speak to her the entire time this time around,” she said, clearly annoyed.
I blinked at her. “Right… you sound like you have something else to say.”
She glared at me. “Why would you ever think that?”
Confused, I shrugged. “I dunno. I’ve had sisters before, and I can tell if they’re annoyed or frustrated with me. Which, let’s be honest, happened quite often.”
With a frown, Treia shook her head. “Whatever. Just… be polite towards the Queen.”
I watched as she walked off, trying to figure out what had just happened.
Well, that was weird. Anyways, I should deal with Mia.
~~~
After giving Mia a bath, which was far easier than Treia made it out to be, we were on our way to the Throne Room (why’d I capitalize that?). I fed Mia yet another of my now replenished stash of muffins and looked at Systie, who floated around my head, pleased about something.
Treia walked next to me, deep in thought while occasionally glancing up at Systie who would seemingly pretend not to notice.
Mia, who was being carried by Treia, simply threw a shard of ice at Systie.
I looked over to Systie with a flat expression. “Seriously?”
Treia frowned at me before realizing I was speaking to Systie. She then shrugged.
“No one gave you the right to say that. If anyone had the right to say anything, it’d be Mia.”
The Serpent in question seemed confused, but she nodded with a determined expression. I rolled my eyes at her antics before frowning at Systie, who’d already poofed out of existence.
I sighed. “Fine. I’ll talk to you later.”
I side-eyed Treia, who was still frowning at me, though she looked away.
Yeah, this is probably the most volatile relationship I could possibly imagine. Though I can probably think of a worse one, if I gave it some thought.
With a shrug, I decided I’d talk to Treia later as well… is what I’d like to say if she didn’t have the “I-really-want-to-talk-but-I’m-going-to-wait-for-you-to-start-the-conversation-first” look on her face.
“Yes, Treia?” I said, defeated.
“She told you what she said to me right?” she asked immediately.
“Getting right to it, huh?” I mumbled. Then I nodded. “Yep. Not the most happy with her. Though, I’m not happy with much in general at the moment. I’m tired of this Kingdom already; I could have my horns on full display and I’d get less attention.” I put two fingers up, one on either side of my head and pointed them back slightly.
Treia rolled her eyes. “Good point. Anyways, back to the subject.”
“No, no, there’s more. I just know that whenever I’m ‘purifying’ someone, someone else is watching me. I just get this uncanny feeling sometimes. I know that I’m being watched, but I don’t know where from. I mean, I had the same feeling before Systie, but it was far more oppressive.”
Treia gave me a bored expression, Mia copying her, looking less bored and more adorable than anything.
I deflated and blew my hair out of my face. “Okay, fine.”
Her face contorted slightly. “You know what, I am completely done with this. You better get your hair cut or I’ll do it myself.”
I looked at her in horror as we walked down a staircase. “I like my hair though!”
She glared at me. “You promised many times to cut your hair. This time around, I’m going to make sure you do that.”
I groaned.
~~~
The Queen was completely absent. I frowned at the empty seat, with the same boy-Prince next to it. This time, however, he seemed nervous and slightly anxious. When we entered the room, I could tell that it was a tense situation immediately. I tensed slightly and Mia hopped out of Treia’s arms and walked next to me.
After entering, my fellow Prince looked at me with momentarily disdain. Then he shook his head and briskly walked to us.
“You’re back far too late,” he said, with none of his normal snark.
I frowned and looked at my wrist before realizing I didn’t have a watch.
It’s noon, almost exactly. The same time you were supposed to be here, Systie offered.
He glared at me. “The Queen, my mother, is now under the influence of the {Corruption}, you-” He took a breath. “Anyways, the Kingdom is in need of your help. I beg of you-”
I sighed. “Don’t beg me for anything. Just go back to the snark. It’s slightly better on you.”
He stared at me for a good four seconds as Treia kicked my shin to no avail. Then he snorted. “Fair enough. Just ‘purify’ her or whatever it’s called.”
Why do I get the feeling that the word “purify” is never going to have the same meaning to me again after this?
~~~
“I have a really bad feeling about this,” I muttered, fidgeting with my sleeve. “These are some powerful runes.”
The guard next to me snorted. “Of course they are. They’re used to keep people in, Dark Elf.”
“That clearly doesn’t bode well for my well being,” I mumbled, looking over my shoulder at the nervous face of Mia, who Treia held.
Mia hissed, shaking the hall.
Treia pat Mia on the head as the serpent glared at the escort, clearly debating whether she should eat them or not.
“Don’t do anything dumb while I’m gone, Mia,” I said waving my hand as I opened the door and was immediately pulled into the room by some unknown force before I could even process what was happening.
Of fucking course I was.