Domison spent the next several hours explaining what he knew of cultivation to his teammates. He also informed them of the enhanced system link that had been established just prior as well. “From what I can tell, the system somewhat hinders the individuals' ability to absorb naturally occurring mana. For instance, I can just absorb mana and process it through meditation, which would be akin to you gaining XP.” Three sets of wide eyes just stared at the man in shock and near disbelief, no member felt inclined to ask any clarifying questions at this point so he continued, “With this enhanced system, while I haven’t been able to test this theory yet, it should boost my absorption of mana even further.”
“Apologies for interrupting Mister Wolfe,” Craig’s gravelly voice rumbled throughout the apartment as he raised a burly arm in polite interruption, “This all sounds… Impossible. The system is what provides XP…Mana is just the energy that we generate and use to invoke our abilities and spells.” The large Urketh shifted his gaze towards the ground, throwing shy glances towards Domison, “I do not intend offense, please forgive my rudeness.”
“No need to apologize, Craig, it is totally fine. As I said, I just wanted to make you all aware.” Domison swept his gaze across all of his teammates, resolute in his decision. “Also… RAZE! Get out here. No reason to stay hidden now.” Mel looked confused and opened her mouth to speak, but her jaw unhinged as an imp-like creature, sporting a pinstripe suit and top hat floated out from behind Domison’s head. His red eyes were smoldering like coals, and his Cheshire grin was flipped upside down creating a comical crescent frown filled with razor teeth.
‘Idiot man-child.’ Raze’s voice ripped through the minds of everyone in the room and every member besides Domison winced at the sudden intrusion in their minds. ‘I told you this would need to be kept a secret. The Omnicrux will turn the whole world against you.’ With every word the impression of anger behind the guide’s words grew, and he slid ever closer toward Domison until he was eye to eye with the man.
“Let it.” Domison leaned forward and stared down the little shadowling, “High risk, high reward.” Domison pushed the little guide out of the way and locked eyes with his group, regaining their attention. “He’s right. And by the way, this is Raze, let's just say he is a guide provided by a generous sponsor. The same sponsor that started me on this path of cultivation." Domison paused for a moment and blew out a heavy breath, "But he is right about this being a hard path. I promise to do my best to make you all stronger, we will need to be strong to make a change in this world and I plan to be the strongest. That means I need you all to be strong too.”
After a few minutes of turmoil and shock, every single member of the group affirmed their decision to stay. Each had their reasons, Mike for idolization, Craig for comradery, and Mel for gratitude, but all that mattered now was that they reach the pinnacle together. It would be a difficult journey, they all knew, so shortly after finishing the conversation and washing up, they all made their way to bed. Domison sank deeply into sleep in his bed, with Pabu curled up beside him while the other three rested on individual mattresses that had been looted from surrounding apartments.
The next several days passed in a blur. In the mornings Domison and Pabu would wake up together and Domison would meditate and draw in the natural mana flowing through the world. After an hour or so of this, the sun would rise and the man would gather his trainees. It didn’t matter who went with him at what time, but typically he decided to take Craig first to clear the area decently and come back with Mike and Mel. Craig had grown up with the system and had been trained to fight since he was young, so he didn’t need many pointers, but Mel and Mike were abysmal when it came to combat, and many hours were spent showing them proper form. That wasn’t the only issue for them however, as they had never been subject to a life of violence and battle, but Domison was taking it one day at a time.
To end each day Domison would enter his inner world and practice abilities there. He found that inside his inner domain, he had a much better handle on mana and was able to manipulate it much more easily. After the first two days, he could even make the shadows tremble throughout the cavern and his connection with his blade seemed to be easier for him to conceptualize. Days blended together and eventually, they all fell into a rhythm. Train, scout, fortify, eat, sleep, repeat. It was this way that the group ended their first week in the tutorial and the days continued to bleed together until they reached the morning of the fourteenth-day post-system-advent.
Unlike previous mornings, this one started a bit differently for Domison, to be precise it started with an interview. Raze was floating around the man’s room and asking him various questions surrounding his abilities, system usage, and the layout of his system user interface. Apparently, this was a Beta version of his version of the Omnicrux system and Raze would be making continual updates. After the week and a half of continuous training and time spent attuning himself to his powers, Domison was starting to shine on the battlefield and had begun developing a fairly unique fighting style.
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The man had discovered that if he circulated energy to his left arm he was able to enact several changes. The first change was a defensive boon, in which he could harden the skin and bones of his arm causing a wispy shell of shadow armor to spring up around it. The second change he had begun to form in this technique was a more offensive one, by manipulating the shadowy shroud around his arm and feeding some mana into it he was able to manifest talons at the end of the shadow armor. After several days of incorporating this technique, Domison was like a wild animal as he ripped through the manaborn beasts within the forest. Once he was able to get past nausea caused by continual shadow stepping, he was even more formidable.
Although the newly developed technique and increased proficiency with shadow step were indeed fantastic progress, both achievements paled in comparison to his increase in attribute and skill levels.
Name: Domison Wolfe
Attribute Points
Strength: 25
Agility: 15
Constitution: 27
Intelligence: 11
Wisdom: 10
Spirit: 12
Mana: 5,000/5,000
Skills:
Shadow Manipulation (Beginner V) - Ability to manipulate and control shadows for various uses. (Upgradeable)
Swordsmanship (Novice IV) - Basic proficiency in sword techniques and combat. (Upgradeable)
Shadow Walk (Novice II) - Ability to step across the boundaries of the Shadow World. (Upgradable)
Mana Sense (Beginner II) - Ability to sense and perceive mana energy in the environment.
Abyssal Armament (Beginner VII) - Ability to create weapons and armor by dedicating Abyssal Energies. Current slots used: 1/2. (Upgradeable)
‘Eventually, I will integrate the ability to better visualize your cultivation levels as well. For now though, once you have fully developed a technique it should automatically configure into an ability and populate in the interface, in theory.’
The information bled away from in front of Domison’s eyes as Raze began to speak, a claw-tipped finger tapping upon his pointy chin. Domison had discovered he was able to alter the way information was displayed at will, and he was relieved by this fact. For one he was happy that he wouldn’t have to dig through screen after screen for the information he wanted, but also it allowed him to hide the information displayed that made him uneasy. He hadn’t discussed with Raze the oddity surrounding his race, which should have been shown as human. For the time being he was just happy that he could hide the change from his interface, glad to just ignore the seemingly small worry that was worming within his belly.
‘I will continue to work on updating the interface for quality of life, but I also plan to implement more impactful changes in the future.’ Raze’s shoulders shrugged slightly as he finished speaking, and he waved Domison away, dismissing the man from his own room.
“Yes your majesty,” Domison said sarcastically with a half bow, “I will be taking my leave then, much to do after all.”
Much had changed in the short time the group had been occupying the Old Town street. As Domison exited his apartment building, he was greeted by a cleared street walled off at each end by a variety of objects. Using their enhanced strength, Mike and Craig had been able to shift many of the broken-down vehicles lining the roads into a semi-functional wall. They also had the wherewithal to create an alternate exit, not sacrificing the integrity of their makeshift fortification with a gate. Instead, the two had carved a doorway through a wall in a building opposite their sleeping quarters.
While the group had yet to find any other survivors, other than the child Domison had encountered in the forest, the group still did their best to plan for possible hostile groups. Other than the entrance built between the building up against their fortified wall of cars, every other window and doorway facing outward from their territory was blocked. While Domison was admiring the fortifications that had been put up in such a short time, Mel made her way from the little butcher shop the group had been using to store food. When she caught sight of the man standing at the entrance to his apartment, she waved to get his attention.
As soon as he looked up she hollered across the street, “Dom! We’re getting ready to head out, anything, in particular, we should look for?”
The man looked up into the sky for a moment before answering, then a grin spread across his face and he spoke, “See if you can find any tools for leatherworking.” She only stared at him, perplexed for a moment.
“What the hell would you need leatherworking tools for?”
“Well,” The man looked down from the orange-tinted sky and locked eyes with the woman, “For one, we should start looking into crafting gear and weaponry. The higher leveled creatures should give us high-quality materials. That and I’ve killed enough of the small stuff in the forest, I think it’s time I go slaughter the big one.”