CHAPTER 29: LEVELING UP (3)

Among many other things he had understood from these information, the terms path and class stood out the most to him, as they were directly associated to his transformation… and they made him feel extremely flustered…

Of course, by now, he knew why casting the spell morphing had changed him so drastically.

Turns out, the artifacts come in many types and not just one! And in his case, he had acquired the bloodline type artifact.

And what did the bloodline artifact mean...?

It simply meant that the moment the user of this particular type of artifact chooses to cast the spell morphing, which according to the absorbed knowledge, was the standard first spell in all of the bloodline artifact types, then the artifact around the wrist would injected a pre-stored bloodline essence of a specific exceptional type of beasts into the blood of the artifact user! Thus, triggering an evolution process in the body, in which the newly inserted bloodline essence is integrated in the body to allow the user to acquire and use spells that are exclusive to that particular bloodline.

Of course, the side effect would include the introduction of certain physical traits on the user distinctive to that bloodline, which could be anything… from a simple change, such as the eyes colors to a full body reformation.

Needlessly to say, Ramie fell under the later…

This change was not because of a simple magic spell, but by the introduction of additional genes into the body! That is to say, this change was not a simple effect produced by the spell itself, but by the introducing of inhuman bloodline into the body, which causes a fundamental change that occurs on a genetic level with the spell morphing as medium to safely delete particular segments of the user's genes and insert new ones!

In short, it meant that right now; he was no longer considered completely human…! But instead, half human half beast…!

'How did things ended up this way…?'

There was no way to describe how heavy and disturbed his heart was right now… he didn't even know what to feel about this fact...

Although, when he first saw the effect of casting the morphing spell, he didn't take it well at all… but by then, he still subtly thought it to be the result of a mystical spell.

So, to a certain extent, he believed that if a spell could bring about this kind of change, then there might be another spell that could reverse this effect!

But now, and knowing that this change was actually on a genetic level, that small ray of hope was mercilessly shattered.

The information was clear on this regard. At least, there was not a single mention of a way to reverse this transformation.

Ramie had no idea what to exactly feel in this regard. After all, the modern medical field was far from being able to induce such drastic change in the human body through genetic means, not to mention reversing it. As such, it was useless to lay any hope in restoring his human form through medical means.

'If by some miracle I escape this city and successfully reach the capital, would the military allow me in with such form? Or will they shoot me on sight, or will they conduct experiments on me?' gloomy thoughts poured to Ramie's mind.

Meanwhile, Lance, Neil, Jeffry, and Reem were still waiting in their spot, anxious to know just what kind of spell did he got.

Right now, Ramie was sitting still. With his face covered, there was no way to tell his expression… Not to mention, that he no longer actually breathe through his non-existent nose nor his mouth. So, he was as still as a corpse. They only way for them to tell that he was alive were through his minor movements and shifts in his sitting posture, which conveyed an inner struggle of some sort stirring in him.

Jeffry and Reem were yet to be made aware of his special 'transformation.'

Among the four of them, Reem was the first to reach her limit, unable to hold herself back anymore, she started coughing few times first, before asking: "Ra-Ramie… is it possible for me to ask what kind of spell did you exchange your skill point for?"

The skill point that she was referring to was something that the artifact holder's get whenever they level up! And using this skill point, they can exchange it to get a spell.

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Having leveled up twice, this was something she had experienced in her two times of leveling up.

Having heard her question, Ramie snapped back to present. Sweeping the four people in front with a glance, the looks of anticipation in their eyes was especially radiating, as it reflected their inner anxiety to an answer that might mean the difference between their life and death. After all, it was needless to say of how much one powerful spell would boast their surviving chances.

Having seen their expressions, Ramie laughed bitterly in his heart. The situation they were in was the closest thing to a death sentence. And the odds were that they might all die here tragically in this city and turn into beast's feces in no time.

Yet, here he was, sinking in his own thought, even though there was a high chance that a tier-2 or higher beast finds them and devour them at any given time. By then, the way he looks wouldn't mean a thing to these monsters… just a different flavor of food.

The world outside had already descended in hellish abyss, and their survival odds were already extremely ugly. And this artifact around his wrist was the only thing that might provide them with a way!

Thus, having arrived at this conclusion, Ramie tried to calm his heart, and push away these thought and not ponder over them anymore, not until he reaches a safer place.

"Just give me a minute." He said to Reem in a low voice, to calm them down a bit.

Then, willing it in his mind, the stats were projected in his mind.

- Name: Ramie

- Lv.2 Magic Artifact (7%)

- Path: Bloodline Magician

- Class: Subterranean Ghost Tree (Special)

- Magic Energy: 29

- Innate Spell: Unknown

- Spells: Morphing (permanent)

- Unused skill points: 1

As the screen of information popped up in his mind, he first inspected the magic artifact percent, which was 7%. Then, pulling out the core from his glove, he saw that the magic core had completely lost its magic energy, turning dull in color and then breaking apart into small pieces.

According to his current knowledge, this magical core was no longer a mystery.

Apparently, this core was something that all the magical beasts had. And it serves as a battery to store the magic energy these beasts absorb. The magical beasts then use the energy in these cores to fuel casting their own innate spells.

At this point, Ramie couldn't help but to recall the first beast they fought back in building they hid in. At that time, Neil was suddenly paralyzed the moment the beast glared at him with shining eyes, causing him to fall defenselessly during that life and death confrontation. Back then, that was an inexplicable event, and Ramie had only assumed at the time that Neil's falling to that state had something to do with the beast. It was only a guess and he had no idea on how did the beast done that in the first place…?

But now… that event was no longer a mystery. Apparently, that beast was considered a magical beast, which is why that when he had delivered the killing blow, his artifact had extracted the beast's magical core and brought it to him. Unlike the snake-headed beast that Neil had killed, which was considered as a normal beast… and not magical beast.

Next, comes the class; which contained the name of the creature that the bloodline essence was extracted from.

The title 'subterranean ghost tree' did not make Ramie feel comfortable at all, which was understandable. After all, the term 'ghost' was there. Not to mention the term 'subterranean!' As for the 'tree' term, it made sense to him. After all, with the hat-like, black flower atop his head, and the deep green, wood patterned skin of his… it was kind of hard not to make that association. And even the ghost term did not seem very out of place. After all, with his black sclera's, black pupils and the frightening yellow irises that could make even the most steel-hearted experts flinch with terror, it wasn't hard to see why the ghost term was there in the bloodline's name.

Clearly, there was no part of those eyes that can be considered human? And even if the class title contained the word hellish instead of ghost, it could still pass as believable with those demonic eyes!

However, it wasn't as if the bloodline artifact users didn't have advantages of their own…

First; bloodline magicians will be able to cast strong spells unique to their bloodline that the other magic paths can't use. And second, all the bloodline magicians gain the ability to sense the magical aura and life energy aura of both humans and beasts… which is a tremendous life saving advantage by itself.

This particularity made Ramie feel a bit less gloomy about his form.

Sighing inwardly with a heavy heart, Ramie shifted his focus to the term 'special' in the class.

This term meant that the beast that the bloodline was extracted from was considered beyond rare! Also, according to the information, the rarity grades of the artifacts were; Common, Rare, Special, and Epic!

Needlessly to say, the rarer the grade of the artifact, the better the spells it can unlock…

Next up, was the magic energy segment in the stats.

The information he received regarding the magic energy contained a very interesting facts. According to the information, the magic energy was something that everyone with magic talent can absorb and store in their bodies.

Prior to the catastrophe, there was a sort of restrictions that obstructed this process. And these restrictions weren't just applied to humans, but to everything else in earth…

But now, this was no longer the case.

As Ramie processed this part, he immediately remembered the words of the voice, which mentioned something about lifting some sort of restriction, and associating it with life energy and magic artifacts.

According to this new knowledge, people with talent for magic can now absorb this energy and use it to cast the spells inscribed in their artifacts.

But first, they'd have to absorb the magic energy stored in the magical beast cores, which was of different nature from the human's magic energy, and use it to increase the level of their artifacts, and the capacity of their bodies to store magic energy. By doing so, they can unlock the different spells in their artifacts. Afterward, they can use their own magic energy to cast these unlocked spells.

Reaching this point, Ramie was now sure that this artifact around his wrist was basically a weapon, and a one that could potentially save his life.

As for where did these artifacts really came from, this was not the time to ponder upon such issue. Instead, he decided to focus on how to properly use it to survive through this catastrophe.

The magic energy value that he had was now 29, way more than Neil's 5 points, which made him hope to obtain a spell similar to Neil's fire burst.

What came after that; was the innate spell. This particularity however gave him a headache. As according to the acquired knowledge, an innate spell was something that every human with magic talent have. So, as long as he had magic energy, he should definitely then have an innate spell… however, the innate spell field in his stats contained the term 'unknown,' which meant that either his artifact couldn't identify his innate spell, meaning that this artifact wasn't suitable for him, or that he didn't have one in the first place… which didn't make sense, as the knowledge he had absorbed was very clear on this aspect.

In any case, he didn't want to loiter any further, as the day light was starting to retract itself, announcing the impendency of the night, and by extension, the activity of the beasts. Not to mention the other nervous four who waited the outcome of his level up.

Thus, not wasting any more time, Ramie shifted his intent to the new entry in his stats… the unused skill points. And, the moment he focused on it, a new lines of information pooped up in his mind.

< Skill points can be used to unlock new spell or to advance an existing spell! >

< Unlock new spell… >

< Advance existing spell… >

As the new lines of information appeared in his mind, Ramie was no longer ignorant to its significant, or the way to deal with it.

He immediately chose 'unlock new spell…'

At once, new line of information appeared…

…