CHAPTER 23 - FIRST ASCENSION AND NEW SKILLS
I woke up a while later, back in my original potato body. The slimy liquid that once covered me was now gone, replaced by Winter’s white ribbon. I was surprised that no one had reprimanded me about leaving the safety of the barrier. When I asked Edith about it, he simply shrugged and said: “Nothing bad happened, so why bother punishing you? I’m sure you learnt your lesson.”
I had to give it to him, I had learnt my lesson. Being constantly eaten alive wasn’t something I particularly wanted to experience again- wait.
Didn’t I say that the last time???
Were potatoes really that tasty?
Anyways, back to what I was saying. According to Mox- who actually wanted to dissect me at that time, my human body had dried out and crumbled into dust about ten minutes after I’d left it. The little piece of flesh that he’d managed to extract wasn’t actually the same as human flesh. It was a flammable organic substance and the structure of my body was held together by roots and a carved stone in the shape of bones.
It wasn’t long, but I had been human. Just the thought excited me tremendously. With that body, I had the chance to potentially reintegrate into human society, and actually reclaim my position as baron! However, a part of me also felt guilty. That body was my body at peak performance. If I’d worked harder back then, just a little harder, then maybe my downfall could’ve been avoided. Maybe things would be different.
Maybe I would’ve been happy.
For now, though, I wasn’t able to embrace the pleasures of being human, due to the skill’s stupid cooldown of six hours. Six hours! I wanted to insult Kearan so bad, but refrained myself since I didn’t want to be turned into a mash potato.
While the others were packing up and preparing to leave, they’d stored me away to make sure I didn’t cause any more trouble. Honestly, they treated me like some kind of little kid. Snuggling myself deeper into the bag of e-potatoes, which was now empty apart from the one I’d used as an imposter, I opened up my status window.
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Winston June
Title: L’Der Potato (Stage 1)
Race: Ascended Potato
Path: Path to Potato Godhood
Faith: 131
Xera: 200/200
Path Skills:
* [Divine Being] (Passive) {Maxed}
* [Xera Transfer] (Active) {3/10}
* [Potato God’s Eye] (Passive) {Maxed}
L’Der Skills:
* [Set Quest] (Active) {N/A}
Race Skills:
* [Germinate] (Active) {7/30}
* [Potato Battery] (Passive) {8/40}
* [Potato Body] (Active) {1/20}
* [Hull] (Active) {1/10}
Misc. Skills:
* [Mind Speech] (Active) {14/20}
* [Not So Weak Telekinesis] (Active) {3/5}
* [Area Of Awareness] (Passive) {17/25}
[20 Skill Points Available]
[3 Instant Evolution Available]
[1 Skill Unlock Available]
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Oh, wow. Many things had changed since I’d ascended. I had a lot of questions, and thought it would be useful to use A.S.S once in a while.
‘A.S.S., what does ascending do?’
[Ascension is a milestone. Once a specific number of path quests have been accomplished, a particularly challenging one will be initiated, with ascension as a reward. Ascending boosts your general physical body in every aspect, as well as doubling your xera capacity. It offers a random set of bonuses which can be used to increase skill levels or unlock new skills.]
So that explained the notifications at the bottom of the status window. It was quite a handy thing, allowing me to raise my skill level without having to spend time training it. I assumed the instant evolutions would automatically level up a specific skill until it evolved, and the skill points would add just one level onto them. But just what skills could I unlock? I was curious.
‘Use skill unlock.’ I mentally commanded.
The status window disappeared, and three separate walls of texts appeared around me.
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Artificial Army
Lvl: 1/10
Category: Race
Type: Active
Xera Cost: 10 on activation (per soldier), 1/m to sustain
Potatoes you have produced with the skill {Germinate} will gain minimal sentience and act as basic soldiers. They will be able to follow orders and retain the host potato’s misc skills and a random selection of the other skills. This skill also activates a ranking system on all e-potatoes which can be viewed through {Eye Of The Potato God}. Once this skill deactivates, the consciousness of the potatoes will disappear.
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Transfer Consciousness
Lvl: 1/20
Category: Path
Type: Active
Xera Cost: None
Enables the user to transfer their consciousness to another non sentient potato’s body (must be produced by the user). This skill can only be used on ‘identical’ potatoes. This skill is paired to {Germinate}. This skill will automatically activate when death is inevitable.
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Mutation
Lvl: 1/15
Category: Misc
Type: Active
Xera Cost: 450
Mutates random aspects of your current form. This skill is completely random and cannot be controlled. This mutation can form limbs, weapons and allow you to use special abilities. A twenty minute countdown will commence once the mutation is complete. Once the countdown has begun, you will be unable to change form or revert your mutation back to normal. Once the timer ends, your body will revert back to normal, resetting any injuries you have sustained during the mutation time period. This skill can be used to unlock different species of potatoes produced via {Germinate}.
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[Please pick a skill to unlock.]
The three skills each had their own positives in different ways, and I wanted all of them in my skill arsenal. Unfortunately, I was only allowed to pick one. This was the first time I actually had a choice in what skill I wanted to have, and I didn’t want to make a bad decision.
First, I needed to dissect each skill and its usefulness.
The very first skill, ‘Artificial Army’ allowed me to basically create temporary soldiers to fight for me. It would be useful, I won’t lie, but it solely depended on the number of e-potatoes I had at the ready. Also, it’d only be effective if I had many soldiers. The more soldiers awakened, the more xera it consumed. This skill was quite effective for someone like me who had an insanely high xera regeneration rate, but even that amount I most likely wouldn’t be able to sustain.
Next up was the ‘Transfer Consciousness’ skill. Again, it also relied on having spare, uneaten e-potatoes at the ready. Although this wasn't a combat skill, instead an escape one, it would still come in handy in certain situations. Just like the one I’d just been in, less than twenty minutes ago. If I ever got separated from the group or was kidnapped, I could easily transfer my consciousness away. It was something like teleporting, which was very, very useful. However, I expected an immensely long cooldown on this skill.
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And finally, the ‘Mutation’ skill. This was the strangest of them all. It seemed more of a last resort skill at first, but as I read more into it, I felt like it’d also be useful in combat. For twenty minutes, I’d have access to a random selection of weapons and whatnot, and after that I’d be healed completely. It was almost as useful as ‘Transfer Consciousness’ in terms of escape, but actually had potential to increase my combat power. And in case you hadn’t realised, I was seriously lacking in terms of combat power.
I took a figurative deep breath in and took one last, long look at the three skill windows in front of me.
After weighing up all the positives and negatives, there was only one clear choice.
‘Mutation.’
[You have selected the skill {Mutation}.]
[You have unlocked the ‘Misc’ skill {Mutation}.]
And now, I had a backup attack method. Finally.
Now then, I was eager to test out this new skill, but didn’t due to the destructive possibility. I didn’t particularly want to annoy Kearan any further.
And all of a sudden, I realised I'd made a grave mistake.
Mutation's xera cost was four hundred and fifty. Not fourty five like I thought it'd been.
Aw shi-
You know what? That was a problem for later. I had other things I wanted to do now. With a couple more ascensions, I was sure that I'd reach the amount needed in no time.
‘Let’s see…’ I said to myself. Now that choosing the skill was out of the way, there were only two things left I needed to do. I decided to use my three skill evolutions first.
Now, any other person might have randomly chosen which skills to evolve or leveled up their most useful skills, but I had already decided which ones to evolve. The ones that had the highest amount of levels needed to level up. And these were germinate, area of awareness, and potato battery. Since the ‘skill evolutions’ disregarded the amount of levels needed to evolve, it was simply the most efficient to choose those to use it on.
‘Use skill evolutions.’ I commanded.
[You have 3 skill evolutions available.]
[Please select a skill to evolve.]
‘Area Of Awareness.’
[You have used a skill evolution. You have 2 skill evolutions available.]
[{Area Of Awareness} has evolved into {Perceive Domain}.]
‘Show skill window for Perceive Domain .’
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Perceive Domain
Lvl: 1/35
Category: Miscellaneous
Type: Passive/Active
Xera Cost: Varies
Buffs: Heightened Sense
A more powerful form of the human’s senses. Allows the user to see and hear in a radius around them. Current radius: 100m. Several other advanced methods of sense are available for use in your domain at the cost of xera. Methods of sense:
* Xera Vision (10/s)
* Foresight (200/s)
* Night Vision (10/s)
* Slow Motion (1/s/second slowed)
As level rises, range and strength of sense will increase. Upon reaching the required level, the skill will evolve.
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Xera vision? Night vision? Even foresight?
I was overwhelmed. So this was how overpowered skill evolutions were. I would’ve definitely been proud if I had slowly leveled up to reach this point, but doing it with a cheat felt even better.
Speechless, I closed the window and stared intensely at the confinements of the unofficial potato storage bag. My eyesight was far more powerful than before, allowing me to almost see each defining leather fiber intertwined with one another. If I had progressed naturally, I might not have noticed the difference, but this sudden jump made it all too easy to see how much sharper my vision was.
‘Xera vision.’ I commanded.
The world dimmed considerably till a point where I could barely make out the shape of the e-potato beside me. And then all of a sudden, the outlines of every living creature came alive, glowing a bright red. The walls were dark grey and transparent, allowing me to see through them. The horse’s form, which I now stared intently at, was a light shade of grey compared to the rest of the environment. Strange green circuits ran through the horse's body and a gleaming white sphere floated in the place where its heart was supposed to be. At first, I assumed those circuits were veins, but they didn’t connect to the heart at all, rather seemed to circle around it. I made a mental note to ask Mox about it later.
Behind the horse, a male figure dropped to his knees as he stretched open a bluish grey gap in the air. It was like the tear in a piece of clothing. Several figures surrounded him, touching their hands to every part of his body. The green colour flowing in their circuits left their body at their fingertips, being transferred to the kneeling figure.
Switching off my xera vision, I forcefully tore open the sack and lifted the flap of the saddle bag. Immediately, I recognized the figure on the floor as Kearan, and the fluorescent, rift-like thing as magic. Seeping out from the space in the air was darkness, which seemed to coil and writhe as it spilled over his body. Sweat dripped down Kearan’s forehead and his muscles were clenched so tight that veins were visible.
The others weren’t having much of a fun time either. Their faces were pale and their eyes bloodshot. Verity stood to the side, constantly drenching everyone in glowing water- I assumed it had healing properties of some kind.
I was seriously concerned. ‘Um, guys? Is everything ok?’
Through gritted teeth, Verity responded; “No! Since we’re missing three people we don’t have enough xera to make a big enough gate!”
Xera? So they too had a xera transferral skill. If that was the case, then maybe I could help.
‘Xera vision.’
The world turned grey again, and I focused on the glowing sphere were Kearan’s heart should’ve been. At first, I’d assumed it simply was his heart, but on a second look, I wasn’t so sure. Now that I had a better look, I noticed murky, black substances swimming in the milky white glow, causing it to dim.
The other’s cores were the same, with some varying purities. Verity and Edith’s were by far the darkest, with only a little glow visible from within the murkiness.
And then I realised with the power of ‘Perceive Domain’, I could actually look at my own core.
So I did.
I was surprised to see those white, vein-like circuits running through my potato body too, but even more at what lay hidden beneath them.
A core.
Brilliantly white.
Without a speck of darkness.
Why? I didn’t know, and nor did I ask.
I had more important things to worry about now.
Snapping out of the xera vision mode, I hurriedly flew off the horse to where the others were crowded. They needed xera, and thankfully, that was the one thing I had more than enough of to give.
‘Verity! Let me help!’ I shouted, finding a resting spot by Kearan’s left foot.
“I’m sorry, June, but I can’t afford to use any more healing on you.” She dropped to one knee, still firing off spell after spell.
‘That’s okay.’ I mentally took a deep breath and opened my status window
‘Xera transfer!’
Instantly, my xera count plummeted to zero. However, there was no noticeable effect on Kearan. In a second, the number was back up to two hundred.
‘Xera transfer!’
Again.
‘Xera transfer!’
Again.
‘Xera transfer!’
Again.
‘Xera transfer!’
And slowly, very slowly, the rift that Kearan was pulling open grew bigger. It was now large enough to crawl through. However, there was a new problem.
A trickle of crimson blood oozed out from one of his nostrils, dripping silently onto the already red sand.
The others were either too preoccupied to notice, or ignored it.
‘Kearan? Kearan, your nose is bleeding. Should we stop?’ I asked.
He didn’t reply for a few seconds, and all I could hear was everyone’s ragged, sporadic gasping. Just as I was about to stop, he clutched my body firmly and held me up to his chest.
‘Don’t. Keep going.’ Was all he managed to blurt out.
I looked up at his face, watching the blood dribble out of his mouth and nodded. Even if I had a neck to nod with, I doubted that he’d have seen me since his eyes were half closed in a daze.
Even Cherry was helping, pressed up against Kearan’s leg. Tendrils of vines wrapped around his leg, tying it to the floor, either supplying xera or healing him. Either way, he needed all the help he could get.
After another few minutes of intense strain, the portal was finally big enough for a whole person to walk through.
“Hold.” Kearan bubbled, the blood now flowing steadily. He collapsed face first into the sand moments later.
The rest of them, tired as they were, clambered to their feet.
“Let’s get going, June.” Winter said hoarsely, beckoning me into her pocket. “The gate won’t hold for long.”
Edith hefted up Kearan’s limp body and stood by the portal, waiting.
‘What about the horses?’
As I asked, I noticed cracks starting to appear in the barrier that kept the raggles from entering.
“Leave them. There’s no way we can take them through with us. The raggles will probably stop being aggressive once we leave anyways.”
I glanced at the innocent horses tied to the tree. They had long since calmed down and were now peacefully grazing on what was left of the grass.
‘Alright. Cherry?’
‘Here papa!’ She bounded into Winter’s other pocket.
Taking one last look at the creatures that were so desperate to feast on our remains, I too sunk into Winter’s pocket.
The darkness had fully seeped out of the portal now, revealing an empty blue sky and an infinite expanse of red sand. Everyone had already gone through.
Where did it lead?
What lay ahead?
All I knew was that this was the next part of my adventure as a potato, dreaming to be a god.
At least, that was what I thought, until a loud, powerful voice rang out for everyone to hear.
“Well, well, well. Look what the rats dragged in.”
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[Potato Body is on cooldown. 5:49:41]