“Umm… I… I am not sure how much I should say.” Hannah conveyed after remembering the tiny detail Lee Ping mentioned about her Awakening being sponsored by his aunt, yet, the very moment she remembered that fact, she noted a few discrepancies. Namely, regarding her father’s actions because they too were enigmatic from her current point of view, much less everything she had undergone through his enigmatic plans. In the end, Hannah simply shook her head and stuck with the simplest answer she could. “All I can tell you is that my father prepared everything for me, so all I had to do was not mess it up.”
With that said Hannah looked away from the black Sanguine and his brilliant red eyes as if embarrassed that she felt she should not disclose more. Only, unlike her inner feelings, Cain’s were much more pragmatic when he noticed the girl shrugging off the effects of his red eyes, and that only intrigued him further because Hannah had no Skill for that, and her Ability dealt with Summons, which in turn only deepened the enigma.
Regardless of that, Cain sensed he could only move forward to his second question. “If your father was able to do that much for you, I am curious about his identity. Who is your father?”
“Umm… Heinrich Blackwood?” Hannah answered hesitantly.
“Does not ring any bells to me.” Cain commented. “What is his actual Name?”
“Heinrich…”
“No… That would be the name of his Shell here on Gaia’s Womb.” Cain corrected. “Any Dreamer who can guide somebody to a Grand Awakenings has to be somebody knowledgeable, and therefore famous, therefore they must have a Name.”
“I… I don't follow?”
“Ha… Nevermind… You will learn about it later.” Cain admitted slight defeat. “How about this? I will delay my second and third questions. However, next time we meet, I hope you can provide me with an answer for the second one. The third question will have to wait till then. What do you think? Is that acceptable to you?”
Not replying to anything immediately, Hannah rethought the problem for a second and agreed. “I don't mind.”
“Excellent.” Cain added with a beaming smile and glowing red eyes, before switching his sight at his current Party members. “Let's stop here. We should not interrupt their Commune by chance.”
“Ok!”
After the agreement, Hannah took a glance at her… escort, if the terminology was correct.
Only, the more she switched between them, the more she felt herself becoming nervous for some reason. Eventually, the nervousness urged her to act, to move away from where she stood. As if by instinct, Hannah grabbed Behold by one of its side tentacles and dragged it to stand beside Lee Ping all while ignoring its cry. Once there, she turned silent, not that Hannah was very vocal, to begin with, and simply awaited the time they would continue moving onward.
Meanwhile, with nothing else to do, Hannah’s brown eyes moved along her visual field to notice a familiar icon, an anvil-like icon she had only seen once before as it had left her with a profound experience.
Focusing on it for a single moment, it surfaced to her awareness, and with said awareness, Hannah felt herself swell before eventually condensing into a tiny dot only to explode into three individual parts.
Having already experienced it once, Hannah knew what each of those three parts did, with the first filling her Soul while the second and third awaited her direct input before being allowed to infuse themselves somewhere.
Right after that, a pop-up screen appeared in the middle of her vision detailing the leveling process.
----------------------------------------
System Alert!!!
*
Potential Forge has been Initiated!
*
Identifying Experience Resources Input;
First Convalescence - Complete,
First Emergence - Entrance,
First Item Equip,
First Flow Augment - Eye,
First Ability Point Distribution - Utility,
First Dreamon Teaching Lesson - Behold,
First Party Inclusion,
First Combat Inclusion,
First Nightmare Takedown - Spawn,
*
Applying Positive Experience Modifiers;
Genesis Soul,
Dreamon Trainer,
Emergence - Third Class,
Party Experience Share,
Solo Nightmare Takedown - Spawn,
*
Applying Negative Experience Modifiers;
Dreamon Trainer,
Party Experience Share,
Solo Nightmare Takedown - Item Guide,
*
Maximum Experience Potential Limit Determined!
*
Potential Forge Ignition Ensuing in 3, 2, 1!
*
Forging
↻
*
Forging Process Successful!
*
Congratulations, User; Hannah Blackwood.
You have reached Level 2!
*
Tap CONFIRM to view the results!
----------------------------------------
Taking note of everything said, Hannah tapped the Confirm button to view her Level Up rewards, yet just seeing it, her mind betrayed a flabbergasted expression between the contrast of her previous Level Up and her current one.
----------------------------------------
System Alert!!!
*
Congratulations User; Hannah Blackwood. You have earned the following rewards;
1 Free Stat Point
1 Ability Point
6 Special Action Point
----------------------------------------
Naturally, it made sense, as her Awakening had been an accumulation of many years, acquired through her father’s machinations to achieve an S-Ranked Dream. However, that did not help when Hannah took into account the number of times the word ‘first’ had appeared within the report. Therefore, it was only Logical that the amount of Special Action Points would only dwindle down further as she leveled, thus in turn requiring more effort to acquire them, and with that being the case, Hannah could finally understand what Lee Ping, the man with the female face, meant by a colossal waste.
Shaking her head, Hannah dismissed the report and called up her Status before focusing on just her stats, though not without first recognizing the external resource description within her Status.
----------------------------------------
Character
.
Name; Hannah Blackwood [Level 2]
Species; Spirit
Spirit Age; 0 [Spawn]
Spirit Trait - Brown [Unyielding Will]
Physical Species - Human
Physical Gender - Female
Physical Age; 15 [Adolescent]
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Titles
.
Dreamer
Novice
Dreamon Trainer
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Affiliations
.
None
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Status
.
Vessel - 10 [+]
Instinct - 10 [+]
Will - 10 [+]
Logic - 10 [+]
Insight - 10 [+]
Ego - 10 [+]
.
Free Stat Points - 2
Special Action Points - 8
Ability Point - 1
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Resources
.Health - 8/10
Stamina - 6/10
Regen - 0.5 [x3]
Focus - 3/5
Flow - 1.5
Power - 6/10
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
External Resources
.
Dream Coins - 24 - E Grade
Potion of Power Regeneration - Timer; 20 min - 34 sec
----------------------------------------
Twenty-four? Hannah voiced in her mind. Did I really kill that many giant ants? She asked herself, clearly not quite that aware that she had even used the gun that many times.
Right after that recognition, she paid attention to the Potion given to her. However, only after another quick reminder of what external means, via Lee Ping's previous explanation, did she search for an icon on her visual field indicating its presence. When she discovered it, it was beside the bars representing her Internal Resources with an icon depicting a slightly oval glass bottle without a cap on it.
Similar to how she just knew what her bars represented, in the potion icon’s case, Hannah simply knew the amount of remaining time for the potion’s effect to wear off.
----------------------------------------
Done indulging her little bit of curiosity, Hannah focused on her Stats, namely where to put them.
After a quick internal debate, where it was impossible to continue the balanced distribution, Hannah chose to spend everything, with every SAP going into Ego and the two FSPs going into Insight.
Obviously, after every distribution there was a notable difference in Hannah’s Soul, namely with her Spark of Life becoming far more sparky, if that was a correct interpretation. As if her Spark, or better said, her Ego was trying its best to become something. On the other hand, the two points in Insight barely generated any apparent and noticeable difference, yet it was there that Hannah was sure.
A quick look at her Stats and Internal Resources affirmed that change.
----------------------------------------
Status
.
Vessel - 10
Instinct - 10
Will - 10
Logic - 10
Insight - 12
Ego - 18
.
Free Stat Points - 0
Special Action Points - 0
Ability Point - 1
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Resources
.Health - 8/10
Stamina - 6/10
Regen - 0.5 [x3]
Focus - 3/5
Flow - 1.7
Power - 14/18
----------------------------------------
Hnn… Now I don't have to be as careful when shooting. Hannah mused in her head before noting nothing else on her Status screen besides the Ability Point being present, but for that, she needed a different screen before distributing it.
As such, Hannah dismissed her Status screen and called up her Ability screen, specifically the Ability Distribution Screen and the options offered.
----------------------------------------
System Alert!!!
*
Ability Point Allocation is in progress!
*
General Ability Point Distribution Options;
Utility - Internal - Pocket Dimension - 0/5 +
Utility - Zone - Translocation - 0/5 +
Utility - Savvy - Illusion of Serenity - 0/5 +
Utility - Recovery - Illusion of Serenity - 1/5 +
Utility - Endurance - Rapid Mutation - 0/5 +
Utility - Adaptation - Rapid Mutation - 0/5 +
Utility - Cognition - Rapid Mutation - 0/5 +
Utility - Conception - Rapid Mutation - 0/5 +
*
Unique Ability Point Distribution Options;
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Utility - Extra Dreamon Ball - 0/5 +
----------------------------------------
Somewhat undecided on what to pick, Hannah pondered on the little she knew. Pocket Dimension should be about the size of the internal space Behold occupies when inside. Glancing at her Summon in question, specifically at its size, Hannah dismissed this option for the moment. Translocation? It should be about the red jagged lightning, so… distance at which I can summon or call back Behold or any other Dreamon.
Hnn… Useless as well for now.
Illusion of Serenity - Savvy? Hannah wondered for a second. If Recovery was for a healing environment, then Savvy should be for something else. Savvy… Savvy… Wait… Considering how Recovery worked, Savvy should be for Behold’s comfort. Cringing immediately at the thought, Hannah dismissed it, at least for the moment. Perhaps in the future, it will be more important, but now she dismissed it. Rapid Mutation - Endurance should be about enduring Trauma during a Nightmare’s transmutation. Adaptation then should ease the transmutation process, or quicken it.
Hnn… Something like that.
Cognition and Conception… Mmm… I feel like these two should be about the Template for a Dreamon. Mmm… Yes… Template. I will need a Template for any future Dreamon, and I won't get any help from my father again. For a brief moment, Hannah again sensed herself having strange feelings about her father, not only because of what he had done to her but also of what he had done for her. In the end, the only thing she could do was shake her head and ignore him for the time being. That leaves me with either continuing Recovery or picking the Unique option, the option favoring more Dreamon Balls.
With the summary of her options narrowed down, and Recovery not quite being what she had imagined, Hannah chose to press the plus sign for her Ability Uniqueness.
When she did, just like with the Recovery function, a change occurred within her First Ability Slot. Besides tingling and growing slightly, next to the already existing Dreamon Ball, a new slot manifested, like a miniature replica of the First Ability Slot, a room within a room within the house that was her Soul.
Anyhow, with its appearance, Hannah simply became aware of its significance since only five such slots could be had. Although, when such slots would be generated was of no consequence, so this extra slot generation could be accomplished with the next four Ability Points or it could be done in ten years.
It all depended on Hannah and her needs.
As for what the extra slot signified.
It was simple.
By infusing one Power Point, Hannah could Conjure a new Dreamon Ball, an exact replica of the first one. However, there was one difference. If more Power Points were infused, then Hannah would have the option to customize the new Dreamon Ball, such that every new Conjured Dreamon Ball could be specialized for one purpose instead of being an all-purpose capturing device.
Naturally, that specialization would only display its usefulness after Hannah had unlocked the needed General Ability Point Options since, at this moment, only Recovery [1/5] existed. Luckily, just like with the extra slot generation, it was up to Hannah on when and where she would choose to Conjure her next Dreamon Ball, and right now was definitely not one of those moments.
Instead, Hannah simply shook her head in slight disappointment, but only slightly because the future offered plenty, she just had to arrive there.
In the end, after being done with distributing everything she had, Hannah simply chose to sit down on the ground beside Lee Ping. However, when that became stale and boring, Hannah centered her attention on her SUmmon and simply grabbed one tentacular limb before dragging Behold to her eye level.
“Beho!” Behold cried out in surprise before one pair of hands grabbed its round body and turned its giant blue eye to face Hannah’s face. “Beho!”
“Stay still!” Hannah commanded and Behold obeyed as it had no choice before its Master’s Radiance.
----------------------------------------
Communing with Everything Else was an action of digging your own grave pit in which you could fall easily if not careful.
Communing with strangers around you? Well, that was like having already set one foot inside the grave, hence a Code of Ethics had been created for the benefit of all Divers, and in this one, a line stated that whoever breaks a fellow Dreamers Commune will be intensely punished for it by those who witnessed said action and without much prejudice, and if said attempt led to Death, a reciprocation of Death was only natural.
Due to that, Lee Ping had much less scruples about Communing with fellow Divers present. Still, in honor of caution, all Divers like him chose to go for the shallow Commune. As such, Lee Ping had been aware that Hannah had interacted with the Sanguine, though the details were a bit hard to recall at the moment. Regardless, after ceasing his Commune, he stared at the girl in question as she held Behold in her lap to stare at its big eye and the violet markings on its sides and top.
Then, after observing her for a few moments, he noted a tiny discrepancy, and a very familiar one.
Glancing at his own visual interface, he saw the girl’s level indicator having changed, which did not truly surprise him since the earliest ten levels were fairly easy to achieve. It was a bit of a shame though, since those ten levels could be easily attained through Skill development before combat was needed to accelerate the later half of the Novice Rank as those were harder to attain because difficulty increased every increment of ten levels with the Rankups every twenty levels being the true major difficulty threshold.
“What did you pick?” He inquired of her by interrupting whatever she searched for on the pink Summon’s body. “Anything useful?”
Seeing her consider her reply became a simple nod. Only, that it took so long, proved that there was more to it. “Now or the future?”
“Future.”
Rolling his eyes before inwardly cursing sleeper builds and their existences, and all Grand Dreams where sleeper builds in some shape or form, Lee Ping stood up to await his Party Members waking.
When they did, a brief exchange occurred to confirm if everything was up to standard, and when it was confirmed as such, it was time to move on.
“Alright… Considering how we created your campsite, I will be solely creating the pathway this time.” Lee Ping explained. “When it's completed, rush to the other side. After that, however, it will be back to Plan A to find a Sub-Boss for our much-needed escape from the Emergence.”
“Ready?” With the nods sent his way, Lee Ping turned toward the crumbled wall he and Mira had made.
Calling for his Foxfire and by using his two Abilities, he shaped the white part of the flame into a paper talisman with the purpose of said talisman being the word ’Tunnel’ written with the blue part of the flame. Naturally, there was more to it since his Skills had been carefully chosen to accommodate his current Ability usage. Then, he simply threw the white/blue talisman at the crumbled wall to watch his FoxFire burn a wide hole all the way through before the blue/white flame retreated to the walls and created a flaming tunnel through which one could step.
“GO!”
Lee Ping yelled, and as discussed before, Henry, Cain, and Sendy rushed out first. Mira and Hannah followed after, while Lee Ping went last. Once he was through, he ignored the already ensuing battle to dismiss the fiery tunnel he had made, thus causing another little cave-in.
After that, everything went as planned.
The Party dived into the ant maze.
Along the way they killed every Spawn and any Juvenile Class Nightmare, Juvenile being any Nightmare which had actualized its Spark of Life thus evolving past the Spawn Class. However, since they had only met workers so far, all Juvenile Terminid Nightmares were just bigger specimens of the hip-sized versions. Nevertheless, due to their numbers after six tunnels, Lee Ping noted that they were not having any luck in moving any closer to their target, which was the inner nest, the true Terminid Nest because everything so far had been simple and small tunnels for the workers to expand a nest and nothing more.
It was with that behavior that Terminid Nests could get very huge, with some rivaling Mortal countries. Luckily, a Third Class Emergence was nowhere near that scale. That was why Lee Ping thought his fox ears would do a good enough job that he would not have too much trouble finding a Sub-Boss.
Glancing at his own Map, after using his FoxFire to burn away another ant, he examined the chain of progress they had made through the underground maze. Did I make an initial mistake or has the Emergence only clipped part of the Inner Nest?
Not receiving an answer, he did what he could before announcing another break.
With the announcement, Hannah now knew it meant another two cave-ins to divide and protect them from the horde of worker ant-shaped nightmares.
Once that was done, Hannah saw Lee Ping and the others drink another Potion of Power Regeneration before one was shared with her. Naturally, being more familiar with the routine, her Party Members began another Commune with Everything Else, though with a small difference.
This time, Cain did the same instead of just standing aside.
That left Hannah as the only individual not caught up with something, so she searched for something, and she even found it.
----------------------------------------
System Alert!!!
*
Potential Forge has been Initiated!
*
Identifying Experience Resources Input;
Continues Combat
Nightmare Takedown - Terminid Spawn x 26
*
Applying Positive Experience Modifiers;
Genesis Soul,
Dreamon Trainer,
Emergence - Third Class,
Party Experience Share,
Solo Nightmare Takedown - Spawn,
*
Applying Negative Experience Modifiers;
Party Experience Share,
Solo Nightmare Takedown - Item Guide,
*
Maximum Experience Potential Limit Determined!
*
Potential Forge Ignition Ensuing in 3, 2, 1!
*
Forging
↻
*
Forging Process Successful!
*
Congratulations, User; Hannah Blackwood.
You have reached Level 3!
*
Tap CONFIRM to view the results!
----------------------------------------
Just like the previous two times, Hannah felt herself swell up before being compacted and eventually splitting into three, only even without reading the results, she knew this time that the results were much, much more meager than before.
----------------------------------------
System Alert!!!
*
Congratulations User; Hannah Blackwood. You have earned the following rewards;
1 Free Stat Point
1 Ability Point
----------------------------------------
Yet, when she read the results, the rewards were far, far more than meager. No, they were the standard. Just like her father had told her. Meaning, that the previous two Level Ups were the bountiful harvests, and to reach such bounty again, she would have to do many new things instead of doing the same over and over again, even if it brought her up the leveling ladder.
Regardless, the Free Stat Point went to Insight, changing it from 12 to 13, thus increasing her Flow by another 0.1, from 1.7 to 1.8.
While doing that, she noticed the increased counter for her earned D-Coins which now rested at 51, meaning she had killed twenty-seven ant-shaped Nightmares this time around. Unfortunately, how many she had killed helped her nothing in utilizing her Flow better, such that all she knew now was to magnify her vision, only that was useless deep underground.
On the other hand, assigning the Ability Point was both easier and harder than before. Easier because now she had a rough feeling of what each General Option did and harder because she was unsure of what to pick since none of it would help the immediate situation.
That being the case, Hannah shrugged her shoulders and simply choose one of the options connected to Rapid Mutation. Particularly, one of the two that she posited dealt with Dreamon Templates, General Option - Conception.
----------------------------------------
With its activation, her First Ability Slot tingled for a few moments before the same tingle occurred within her only Dreamon Ball resting there. When it was over, nothing too obvious reached Hannah’s awareness, but she was sure that now her Dreamon Ball could do things it could not do before.
Conjuring her Dreamon Ball into her right hand, Hannah observed no obvious outer changes, which made sense. As such, there could only be one solution to figuring it out, and that was to infuse a Power Point inside.
This made her a bit hesitant but her recent upgrade to Ego deepened her Power Point Reserve somewhat, so she spared one point and infused it into her Dreamon ball. When she did, she got the distinct impression of having a choice between two options. One she was familiar with, and the other she was not, therefore, the unknown was the goal.
Only, the moment she did, Hannah noted a clear absence of missing feedback that should be there.
Frowning for a moment, it came to her.
Pointing her Ball at her Summon, Hannah spoke up softly. “Behold! Return!”
The jagged red lighting instantly enveloped Behold, surprising the heck out of it. But when it found itself within a void-like environment lacking any obvious environmental input flooding its existence, ever since waking up, it felt itself loosen up as if it had finally reached safe territory, similar to being back within its nest, only much more suitable.
This would have prompted Behold to enter another hibernation state had it not been for the incoming probing sensations coming from its surroundings, examining it from every single angle and probably more. This lasted for a few moments before Behold heard another command echo over its existence via its Master’s Radiance.
“Behold! Come out!”
“Beho?” Behold produced when his giant eye witnessed itself back within that narrow tunnel, with creatures similar to its Master only bigger and deadlier, much much deadlier if less influential than its Master.
At least, toward Behold.
Meanwhile, while ignoring Behold, Hannah frowned as she processed what she'd just discovered.
At its core, just like Recovery, Rapid Mutation - Conception elevated her Scrying, resulting in Hannah receiving many more impressions from Behold. However, compared to Recovery which detailed Behold’s current state, Conception delivered its future possible state, almost like she could sense directions… yes, directions for Behold’s development.
It was vague but it was there, and that could only mean one thing, she needed more Ability Points to gain more details.
Still, even one Ability Point had been enough for Hannah to recognize her Summon ready to progress onto its next step. What that entailed, however, was the true problem. With everybody busy, Hannah had no one to ask. The only thing she could do was use what she had been through so far as an example and go on from there.
As such, if her conclusions were correct, Behold, her Summon, was ready to Level Up.
How do Summons Level Up? Hannah wondered for a moment before going what she knew of Souls and Leveling Up, forwards and backward. After that, she went over her father’s words regarding Dreamon and her First Ability. When she did, her brown eyes settled on the other three General Options for Rapid Mutation.
Adaptability… Yes. No doubt about it… It's the key to Behold’s growth and not just during the initial transmutation from Nightmare into Dreamon. Nodding at the Logic she had just discovered, Hannah knew the next General Options she would choose, and that meant the only thing stopping her would be the lack of experience.
That figured out, Hannah quitted her thoughts to await her Party Members to rise and make another attempt at finding a Sub-Boss, as they called it since Hannah had never seen one before.
A small part of her even felt eager to witness just what a Sub-Boss entailed, after all, Hannah now knew that just seeing it would give her more Experience, much less killing it. Not that she was able to do so, but her Party Members could, and the Level Up report had pointed to a thing called Party Experience Share.
Indeed, the only thing that mattered was the small hope that it was not too grotesque in appearance since Hannah disliked seeing giant ants with their brown/green exoskeleton, many limbs, antennas, and black bead-like compound eyes.
After everybody woke up from their Commune, Hannah witnessed more of the same.
Lee Ping made a flaming tunnel for the Party.
The Party went through before fighting and killing the many, many ants coming at them that seemed to have no end to their numbers. Only right now that somehow suited Hannah’s expectations just fine as she had a goal right now, and the goal was to use the Colt in her right hand to slay as many ants as she could before their next break.
Luckily, the Potions she had consumed had done their miracles and regenerated some Power Points back, though not as many as Hannah would have liked, but it was better than nothing.
At the same time, perhaps due to the exposure, Hannah no longer feared the hip-sized ants. With the lack of Fear and the consecutive shooting, her aim precision only increased further. The result of both was Hannah counting the 31st ant-shaped Nightmare flaking away into nothing, in this round, which made for a total of 82 since that very first kill just an hour or so prior.
That was when she heard Lee Ping call for another break, which meant two more cave-ins to protect them.
“This is taking longer than I thought it would.” Henry, the big ginger-haired man, commented after seating himself on the ground before staring at Lee Ping. “Are you sure we are going in the right direction?”
With the inquiry in the air, every member stared at their Party Leader. “Sigh… Been asking that very question myself.” Lee Ping replied. “Every crossing we went through, I've been mapping our progress, and so far we have not been circling around or anything like that. Instead, we have been steadily going down as down in the ground is the most likely chance for the Inner Nest to appear.” Blinking a bit at the term Inner Nest, Hannah refused to ask for clarification since that would interrupt the man’s explanation. “So either we have missed the right direction early on, or the Emergence has only clipped part of the Inner Nest.”
“Or it's both!” Sandy proclaimed by joining the conversation only to stare at Henry. “Ignoring the chances for that, which of those two would be the better for us? Big man, you are the veteran here. Tell me.”
“Both suck, obviously.” Henry retorted back at the women, still his tone held no apparent malice. “The first will exhaust us to the ground while the second will present us with no choice but to fight a Queen and her Royal Guards at the same time.” Shaking his head at the scenario in question, he continued laying out his opinion. “Look… I am all in for fighting strong opponents, but if there are more Royal Guards, I won't be able to occupy all their attention as I am not a dedicated Tank. Not with a Queen present.”
“What if it's both?” Hannah suddenly voiced her concerns.
Hearing the question, Lee Ping replied. “It means the Shroud is still expanding rapidly.
Ugh… Think of an Emergence as two flat sheets of paper bending towards each other and touching. One is our Layer of the Rift and the other is the Layer that has connected with this one.
At the point of contact, something becomes the anchor sustaining the Emergence.
Usually speaking, the anchor is a Nightmare, but sometimes an item gets chosen as well. When it does, it becomes an Item of Power with its grade depending on the Emergence and for how long the Emergence has sustained itself.
Once an Emergence is identified, a Shroud is established by somebody to prevent the Emergence from growing further. The problem is, if the Shroud placement is wrong, its strength too weak, or its size too small, the containment process gets skewed and the result turns… well, unfavorable, let us say, to the one establishing the Shroud.
Does not matter that much to the silver bastards up on the ground since none of them have the power to call down a Shroud. Their boss however can, and he is… Actually, never mind him.
The result of this skewing can vary, but the most common is that the Emergence still continues its growth, it is just much slower than it used to be.”
“And that is bad?” Hannah inquired again.
“Like everything else, it depends on a lot of factors.” Lee Ping answered. “Problem is. If the anchor is a Nightmare, the said Nightmare will grow in strength proportional to the Class of said Emergence.”
“Girl…” Henry suddenly called for her attention. “This means that there is a chance of us facing a Fourth-Stage Boss, an Elder Nightmare.” Only, the moment Hannah tilted her head in confusion, Henry simply shook his head and ignored her, but not before saying one simple line. “Just hope it is not happening.”
Still not quite understanding the significance, yet getting enough of the message, Hannah nodded and simply turned silent.
That was when Lee Ping spoke up. “I propose one last attempt before we have to take a longer break. At that point, we can consider brainstorming a different approach. Any problems with that?”
“Fine with me!” Henry remarked.
Sandy and Mira looked at themselves for a second before replying. “Us as well.”
That left only Cain and Hannah. But while Cain’s opinion was cherished even if he nodded, Hannah’s nod was glossed over so people could further engage in recovering through Commune.
----------------------------------------
Feeling her soul swell and compact to produce 1 Free Stat Point and 1 Ability Point, Hannah quickly used her sole Free Stat point to increase her Insight once more, which set it at 14, which in turn, increased her Flow to 1.9, whatever that truly meant.
One more and I will focus on Logic or Will next. Hannah determined for herself.
That done, she took note of her current Power Point Reserve and ignored it to focus on the just gained Ability Point.
----------------------------------------
System Alert!!!
*
Ability Point Allocation is in progress!
*
General Ability Point Distribution Options;
Utility - Internal - Pocket Dimension - 0/5 +
Utility - Zone - Translocation - 0/5 +
Utility - Savvy - Illusion of Serenity - 0/5 +
Utility - Recovery - Illusion of Serenity - 1/5 +
Utility - Endurance - Rapid Mutation - 0/5 +
Utility - Adaptation - Rapid Mutation - 0/5 +
Utility - Cognition - Rapid Mutation - 0/5 +
Utility - Conception - Rapid Mutation - 1/5 +
*
Unique Ability Point Distribution Options;
Utility - Extra Dreamon Ball - 1/5 +
----------------------------------------
Staring at the visual interface in her sight, Hannah concentrated on the plus sign she needed and it happened.
Her First Ability Slot tingled as it resonated with the Dreamon Ball within it to produce a certain effect she needed. Then when it was done, Hannah Conjured the pink ball, with black and white clouds as decorations on its surface, before quickly recalling Behold back within.
Then, she poured one Power Point into her Dreamon Ball to once again discover an unknown with two known options. Picking the unknown, Hannah noted everything it told her as a result of its purpose. Only, it was not as she expected it.
Behold did not Level Up as she had imagined, but the way her Scrying focused on delivering yet another strange side of perception regarding her Summon, Hannah understood that she was on the right track. It was just that, she could not be the one to initiate the Level Up. No, only Behold could do that.
That being the case, and with one more puzzle piece available, reasoned that the answer lay in the third General Option for Rapid Mutation, option Cognition.
Nevertheless, that was not all Hannah discovered.
On the contrary, what she sensed only enlightened her more and more to what Rapid Mutation truly did, and what her father had Templated for her future.
Specifically, if Rapid Mutation - Conception allowed her to sense all the possible directions for Behold to improve and Level Up, probably even more with more Ability Points involved, then Rapid Mutation - Adaptation allowed Hannah to discover Behold’s current limitations and just how much those limitations could be flexed. Naturally, just like Conception, Adaptation was clouded by her inexperience to shift through what she sensed, but Hannah had this nagging feeling that, when combined with Conception, that inexperience could be substituted with… Insight and Logic.
Oh… Is that what he meant with Stat Synergies?
Regardless of the sudden discovery, Hannah tossed it aside as she was certain that Cognition was the key to guiding Behold to where he needed to go while Endurance was there to make it succeed in reaching the goal.
Two more Levels before I can test it out, provided I have the Power Points needed at that point, that is.