The next morning, I took the time to check my Status as we were breaking down our hastily erected camp on the edges of the plateau. While my Outer Ring was yanking out pegs and folding the canvas, my Core was contemplating my gains.
You have gained seven levels! You are now level 142. You have gained the General Talent, Flight! Flight has reached level 1! General Weapons Proficiency has reached level 3! You have 70 unspent Virtue points. Level 140 Class ability inherited. Would you like to review your Status? Y/N.
A flying Talent. I was…a bit surprised to see that, to be honest. To my understanding, flying was a pretty damn rare ability for most classers to have. Grey didn’t have one, I believe, while Honoka did. That was the level of strength where incredibly profound abilities could manifest that would allow you to take to the sky. But apparently, there was an associated General Talent with the ability to fly. I shouldn’t have been surprised, though. If there was a degree of physical skill and complexity to a task, then there was a Talent associated with it.
For all of its flaws, the System was inclined to elevate such things.
As I noted the increase in General Weapons Proficiency with a sense of satisfaction, I got the relatively mundane act of allocating my Virtue points out of the way.
Then, I could see what my new Class ability was.
Name: Nathaniel Eugene Hart Titles: Unbound Liberator, Calamity Slayer Level: 142 Age: 25 Sol Race: Human (Precursor) Affinity: Terrestrial/Celestial Classes: Thornblade Acolyte (Uncommon) Professions: Aetherial Melding Health: 2010/2010 Mana: 64% Vitality: 201 Strength: 100 Spirit: 60 Dexterity: 342 Perception: 201 Intelligence: 463 Wisdom: 463 Free Points: 0 Options: [Talent Page], [Skill Page], [Profession Page]
I grimaced to see that even after hours of rest, my Mana was still only at sixty-four percent. Even with all of my points in Wisdom, with all of its ability to increase the well of Mana available to me and regenerate it, the pool was still that low. It made me wonder just how much I had used last night maintaining my ethereal sword-staff, powered by The Scintillant Blade. I could only chalk that up to my poor ability to channel the refined Aether.
However…
Something curious I had noted ever since I’d breached the level one-hundred mark was that every new Virtue point I gained just…didn’t feel the same anymore. As the numbers on my Status sheet pumped up higher and higher, the impact just wasn’t as stark as it had been. Sure, I still felt stronger, mentally quicker, and more powerful in general with each level up. But the difference wasn’t as stark as it used to be. When I had just gained my Status, and hell, even months afterward. Whenever I gained just one level, the increase in overall strength had been a nearly euphoric sensation. Not anymore, though. Now it was starting to feel like more of a noticeable surge through my body and soul, not unlike caffeine which was being injected into the firmament of my existence.
It made me wonder if Virtues had diminishing returns.
A thought for later, though.
Time to see what new present the System had gifted to me. Hopefully, it was a Skill this time. Some of my older ones saw limited use, these days, and I could use more options in combat. That was especially true because I was having my difficulties in channeling my Mana, even though I was now a true Mage.
Thankfully, the System didn’t disappoint.
Just…not in the way I was expecting.
Level 140 Class Ability (Thornblade Acolyte) Manifestation of Agony (Skill): Grasp heaven and earth, and produce it before the wicked.
What the fuck did that mean? That was such an incredibly odd description for a Skill of mine, beyond even the strangeness I’d received in the past. I had no idea what this Skill was, or what it did. The vagueness of the description was the most extreme example I had seen from the System yet.
“Screw it,” I said aloud, as my companions and I finished packing up the rest of our camp with Liora being the last holdover. Once again, the former assassin had been brewing another kettle of travel tea for those of us inclined. I was waiting for my own cup to be finished, so I was standing closest to the Gnoll woman as she crouched next to the embers of our campfire in the open air of the plateau. At her curious look, I smiled wryly at her. “I have to test a new Skill. You know how it is.”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Understanding crossed Liora’s furred face, and she gave me an expectant look as she poured a cup of tea for herself.
Ha. I guess I was the morning entertainment.
Fine by me.
I called on my new Skill, pointing off in the direction of the plateau’s edge, just to be safe.
Manifestation of Agony.
In the palm of my hand, a ball of ghostly blue fire erupted into being, roughly as large as a baseball. I was so startled by this that my hand instinctively flinched away and somehow…dropped the fire. But it didn’t dissipate like I was expecting it to. Instead, it floated away to hover in front of me and began to shift and morph before my eyes. To my astonishment, the ball of fire contorted until it was vaguely human-shaped, if not a featureless kind. Four limbs, a torso, and a head shaped from strangely familiar blue flames floated in the air, and then it changed even more.
Crimson red thorns erupted from its back, rapidly shaping into what looked like a pair of tiny bird wings. From the chest, or rather heart area, more of the familiar crimson barbs sprouted to crawl up and down the thing's body. They spiraled up and down its minuscule limbs, giving more definition to whatever this was. When the thorns were finished, the resulting creature almost looked like a flaming blue fairy, imprisoned by bloody thorns.
It floated in front of me, and to my astonishment…
I could control it.
There was an odd mental link emerging from the creation connecting itself to my mind, born by an invisible thread of Mana. Through it, I could feel the thing and give it rudimentary commands. At my urging, it flapped its wings, sending it to hover over everyone’s head. They stopped their preparations for travel to look up at the ball of fire and thorns, watching as I did my best to do a figure eight with it. The thing trailed blue sparks through the air, in an oddly enchanting manner.
Renauld wandered up to me, looking at my creation inquisitively. “Hey, a Sprite Skill. Don’t see those every day.”
The apparent ‘Sprite’ stopped in midair, as I turned to my Healer friend with a raised eyebrow. “You know what this thing is?”
The Gnollish man nodded, accepting a cup of tea from Liora. “Yeah, I’ve seen a few of these before. They’re almost always a Rare quality Skill, so, you know. They’re a bit rare. Sprites are a Skill manifestation that can happen with Magi classes, used mostly as helpers. People who are really good at Animancy Magic can kinda sorta copy Sprites, but they’re not as good. I don’t have one myself. Healers don’t usually get them, unfortunately. But I’ve always wanted one.”
I nodded to show my understanding, while Liora gazed up thoughtfully at my apparent Sprite. Her eyes flickered my way curiously. “But why blue flames? This is not the fire of your Racial, nor is it the common theming of your bloody thorns.”
I blinked at the question, looking at the Sprite again. I…
I think I knew why.
“It…probably has to do with my Ascension Ritual,” I mused, studying the Sprite as it hovered in midair.
I had never spoken about how Grey had needed to essentially save me, during the process of sparking my Mana. His own Celestial aspected Mana had been needed as a counterweight when we had made a mistake in designing my ritual. The result was that I had spontaneously acquired a secondary Celestial Affinity. Deep within my soul, the space was dominated as much by a ghostly blue fire as it was by the crimson red of my thorns.
In fact, they were much like the flames that comprised the body of my Sprite.
Huh.
I guess the System was paying attention to changes like that.
It was as I was explaining the odd circumstances of my ritual to my companions that something…odd happened.
Completely out of my control, the mental connection I had with it shifted somehow. It was as if the anchor had attached to something else.
The flaming figure jerked in midair and began to move around in a much more humanlike manner, raising its tiny bethorned fists to gaze at them in apparent astonishment. It fluttered through the air like a bird, drifting down to float in front of me. It waved as I realized what was happening. I couldn’t help but laugh.
I had lost control of it. Or rather…
My Outer Ring had.
But not my Core Ring. Somehow, control over the Sprite had shifted towards my inner self. I couldn’t feel it within my mind, leaving me feeling oddly empty inside. The Core though process granted to me by Ringed Mind had entirely migrated over to inhabit the fiery Sprite. To better prove that fact it visibly concentrated and definition appeared on its flaming fists, creating thorny fingers.
The little shit raised both middle ones and zoomed around me, appearing almost to cackle as it reveled in its freedom.
In response, I canceled the Skill, causing the Sprite to dissolve into a haze of blue and red mana. Moments later, I felt the now sulking Core Ring reappear within myself.
Ha.
Serves you right.
Renauld blinked at the odd display, while Liora just handed me my own cup of tea. I sipped at it as the rest of my companions wandered up to join us, feeling very satisfied with myself.
That seemed like a pretty good Skill, if I did say so myself. I could see plenty of uses for an extra body, such as it was, that my Core Ring could occupy. Possibly even in combat.
I wonder what else the Sprite could do…
Still, it had one drawback. Keeping the Sprite active put a drain on my Mana. Even in the brief amount of time that the Skill had been running, I had felt it. It was slight, and nowhere near what the enhanced form of The Scintillant Blade required of me. But it was there, and it meant I couldn’t just leave the Skill running at all times if I wanted to be ready for anything.
My Core Ring was terribly disappointed by that.
My attention was stolen from my self-congratulation when Azarus nodded behind me. I turned just in time to watch as a figure exited from the ring of tents in the distance, on the other side of the plateau. From the familiar green and red battle robe the person was wearing, I could take a good guess as to who it was.
We stood together quietly, as the rising form of Tarus on the horizon cast a green pall through the ever-present storm clouds.
Kazuma came to a stop in front of us, looking…incredibly exhausted, honestly. It looked like the samurai had been up all night, and after all the battle yesterday, I probably would have been wiped out as well if I didn’t get any rest. Even though Kazuma had been acting as a bodyguard for Renauld, that didn’t mean the other man hadn’t been fighting just as much as the rest of us.
Conspicuously, I noticed that the wrapped form of the Shōmetsu no Kiba was no longer on his back.
I suppose the Lord of the Higanashi Clan had made his decision on if he was going along with all of this.
He took a deep breath, and to my surprise, bowed slightly at the waist to us. “I…apologize for all the trouble,” He said tiredly. “I assure you, I had no idea as to my apparent plans of my…‘ancestor’.”
To my right, Bella snorted sarcastically. “Yeah, I think we could all tell.”
Kazuma ignored her. The two of them had never gotten along. Instead, he looked up, his eyes briefly lingering on Venix, before meeting my own. I held the gaze steadily. “The officers of the Order of Solstice’s Flame have been appraised and affirmed their loyalty. The Order is preparing to do battle with Tatsugan, and there is no room for us in those plans. He has bid me to say that we should leave, and soon, if only to get a head start on the mountain.”
I nodded at that and exchanged a glance with my companions. Seeing no objections, I turned back to face him. “Will you be joining us?”
Kazuma was quiet for a moment, but he eventually nodded. “If you will have me.”
“I have no problem with that,” I said, bending down, picking up my pack, and swinging it onto my back to rest next to my staff. “C’mon, let’s go. Venix, if you don’t mind, could you lead the way? Since we’re closer to the mountain, I’m guessing you’re more familiar with the terrain.”
Venix tore his eyes off Kazuma long enough to nod at me. “Yes. Be aware, though, that although the Oni appear to have been culled, the danger has not yet passed. As we draw closer to the mountain, we shall begin to see more and more of the Wyrmkin. They are capable of evolving further than the Devouts we encountered in the jungles. That includes the spawning of Primes.”
We all nodded at his warning and followed after the Antium man as he led the way across the plateau.
Away from the Order encampment.