Ah. You never forget the first Skill you make. Mainly because you quickly discover it is a piece of garbage that needs to be improved in many ways. But it’s also a seed of promise. Promise that you might just be able to forge something useful. Promise that you can use it to overcome something you couldn’t before.

Don't be surprised if your first skill is disappointing.

Most usually are, at first.

You have no idea how many people who attain the concept core of fires think simply, yes, an idea of a large thermodynamic ball that detonates and chars everything in a 12-meter radius will certainly be entirely novel and unique.

Ah, but such is the way of people.

So often do we want to dream.

But ah, if you're lucky to be one such as I, the holder of a system and the bearer of your own original concepts, then perhaps the skill you just might create won't be so banal.

-Mepheleon the Harbinger

62

Form of the Harvester (I)

"I'm starting to feel like I'm taking advantage of you," Agnesia said as she drew her bone-made blade free from the molten heart of a colossal demon.

The beast she had slain was a chimera the size of a small hill. It sported diseased hooves, a goat's head, a scorpion's tail, and three lashing arms. It had put up a good fight, all things considered, and its aspects were far higher than the girl's. So high, in fact, that she really had no chance of winning.

So Wei, being the magnanimous patriarch that he was, simply evened out the competition. As it turns out, when speed and strength were equalized, the party with greater aggression and bloodlust tended to win, and in that, Agnesia had the beast beaten.

Chimera of Bloodshed: Lv. 15

The flames around the girl burned brighter than ever before, and her wings, ashen and black, flared with new power.

"Leveled up?" Wei asked, regarding the girl with a wry look of interest. Agnesia only returned the smirk.

"At 11 now. I think I'm going to put all my three points into strength."

The young master struggled not to sneer with disgust. "You best not. You're slow enough as you are."

Not once had the arrogance left her, replaced only by indignation. "Slow? Slow? That thing didn't even hit me once."

Wei squinted at her. "Yes, not once, provided we discount the time it sent you through that wall with the swipe of its tail, or that time you skidded and rolled along the length of one of its arms, or how you caught a full blast of fire to your face when you unwisely ignored my warning and stood in front of its exposed heart."

"It didn't even hurt," Agnesia complained. "It made me stronger. How does that count?"

"Suppose it doesn't then," Wei said, his voice growing thinner. "I suppose that you'll just have to use your pyrokinesis to overcome every single foe you face. I'm sure your path to greatness will be ever easy and without any burdens."

"Can't you just bloody celebrate with me this one time?" Exasperation consumed the girl. But Wei had to admit it was fun agitating her. She was easy to provoke.

"Very well," Wei sighed. "Good job."

A smirk returned to Agnesia's face. "Good job."

"And special thanks to me for doing the bulk of the work and making this creature easy enough for you to kill. Surely, you are a fearsome eagle chick, capable of eating any worm I catch for you."

A slab of obsidian sailed at his head. Wei saw the throw coming through a dilation echo and evaded the strike with a slight tilt.

"Fine, then," Agnesia said, stomping. The new armored boots she bought crushed through the disintegrating form. "Thank you, Master Wei, for everything you've done. Truly, I could not have gotten so far without you. Is that what you want to hear? Does your ego feel better now?"

"Yes," Wei replied. "It does."

The princess simply snorted. "You're incorrigible, Wei."

Shaking off the banter, the young master turned his attention skyward again and sought the vague form of an Archdevil enshrouded by a thinning atmosphere. The Moongrave they resided in was another one of Wrath, but this one existed at the very end among the Trials of Charity.

Nearly kilometers away, Wei could see the black tower rising high, the length of its massive form piercing deep and through the flesh of an Archdevil. Coiling veins of Sin-Incubators spilled down the length of the structure. The limits of Wei's Omniscience couldn't reach that far, but he could still see the vague form of the Archdevil looming behind the broken clouds.

Theirs was a twisted visage, a massive moving eye with an open maw filled with fanged teeth rather than an iris, and flapping wings that sported tongues and other festering orifices. The Archdevil's disgusting form was bathed in light with each flashing bolt of crimson lightning.

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And Wei regarded a long spire that projected the needle-thin spatial rift up into the Archdevil near the far end of the Moongrave. This was his objective for being here. He wished to behold the face of an Archdevil and to witness the embodiment of a so-called Hearted Realm.

Even now, its presence was crushing, like a constantly falling waterfall hammering against his spirit. But with his advancements, he found himself more capable of weathering its torrential power, even if he still couldn't perceive its true level.

Wei wasn’t sure why Mepheleon revealed his true level when they first met, or how certain demons had their potential fully disguised. The harbinger didn't seem to have any fear regarding matters of betrayal or betraying their limits to some form of rival. But then, there were also demons like the Riftblade that Wei couldn't even perceive before it cut him down. And now, there was this Archdevil. The habits of hell and the rules seemed to be ill-defined at the best of times.

Further, it disquieted him to know where he was going. The Hearted Realms were located within the Archdevils, and in essence, they were fundamentally their concept cores as well. Cores passing through those domains would feed and nourish the Archdevils with their experiences, their struggles, and through what was taken, new demons would be formed. New skills, titles, and powers would flow through the sin-incubators, empowering Mepheleon in an endless enterprise of ascension.

Such was the true architecture of Hell, revealed by the Knight of Lust. Wei had interrogated his former foe a few more times before coming here. On matters related to the Inheritors, she was of little use. Apparently, they enforced a magical compulsion upon her mind, rendering her unable to admit or even remember essential details related to their organization. Rafael called it a geas, and Wei tried to break it with his System.

That also ended in failure, as the source of this compulsion did not exist within her, but rather within the Inheritors themselves. However, this power worked, it was quite potent, according to the lich, and could only be dispelled if one understood the inner workings of the cipher used to create it.

Other details, such as the capabilities of Wei's concept core, were also sought after. But after initial questioning, he found her less and less useful compared to the Trespasser's Compendium.

In truth, the longer he talked to the Knight of Lust, the more he pitied her, and the stronger his desire to kill her grew. She was a cruel creature, a slaver of men, degenerate through and through, but she had also been broken by these claimed hells, had her own core torn free from her being, for some offense against her own circle or another, and now, whenever she could, whenever he spoke to her, she begged him to give her death. And after the tenth time she asked, he simply took her back into his inventory, leaving her with the other three slaves.

Rafael had suggested that they trade her back to the Circle of Lust. With her will destroyed, she would never be a threat again, but Wei didn't like that idea. There were only so many ways one could lose their will.

Fewer people knew about his system, the better, and considering the Inheritors wanted it for themselves, they weren't likely to tell anyone either. So the Knight was going to be a loose end; she would get her wish when the time came. And that was if he managed to survive the Hearted Realm.

According to the Knight of Lust, and excerpts from the Trespassers' Compendium, delving into a Hearted Realm is akin to entering a world molded from pure madness. Within the Archdevils of Wrath, Pride, Gluttony, Envy, Sloth, Lust, and Greed were ceaseless demons and terrors all created from the concepts of their existence. Within their depths did the Trial of Despair begin. And it was despair because no sinner could contend against an Archdevil's might. No sinner was greater than the collective sins harvested from so many.

You could get far, you could get deep, but apparently, the path ahead was always slightly beyond. Always and forever. And only by invoking altars, the Seven Circles of Hell, could you gain the aid to overcome the overwhelming adversity experienced within the Hearted Realm. Ultimately, the outcome was twofold.

The first bound a newly arriving sinner to the Circles, ensuring a sort of mandatory citizenship in more ways than one. The second was the collective struggle. The Knights dispatched to chase the sinners, the sins committed during their ascent, beyond the Trial of Despair, into the last leg of naturalization for the claimed hells.

This, however, was not what Wei wanted. He had no desire to bind himself or his newly returned sect to the will of another, and so he was here, gazing upon the face of his great, mutilated foe.

The Archdevil of Gluttony was the first he faced, according to the Trespasser's Compendium. It was supposedly the easiest among the Archdevils, unleashing only creatures that sought to devour or inflicting one with curses of hunger as they passed through its depths. Wei wished to avoid more esoteric Archdevils such as Lust or Greed, for they were simply harder to face in direct combat.

Once again, he found himself picking from seven choices, and while he ruminated on the path ahead, his chat function rang within his mind as a message from Rogi came through.

Roggi -> Wei: “Wei. Rafael managed to find them.”

It took the young master a few seconds to realize what the Oathbearer was saying.

Wei -> Roggi: “Your brothers? Your Trine? Rafael managed his trace?”

Roggi -> Wei: “Aye. The Lich did some pixie dove shite, drew a few pictures, and now he seems to have a graph leading to them. Don't fully trust the bag of bones, but hey, if he gets the job done, he gets the job done. Besides, he's not exactly Unfallen.”

Wei -> Roggi: “I understand—”

Roggi -> Wei: “Aw, shite. Just got another message from them. Better hurry back—there’s a hunter after them.

Wei -> Roggi: “I understand. You wish to secure them?”

Roggi -> Wei: “Yeah, I'd prefer that. But Wei, I need you to hurry. I think there's a hunter after them.”

The young master closed his eyes and tried not to sigh. Of course there was. Nothing could ever be easy.

Wei: “I'll be right there.”

Turning to Agnesia, he saw the girl eyeing some distant demon and shook his head. "We're going back. Rogi's found his brothers in the Trine."

"Oh?" she said, perking up. "That sounds good."

"There's also a hunter after them."

Her exuberance only multiplied. "Even better," she said.

Well, the princess was growing ever more enthusiastic, if nothing else.

Memories of Harvest obtained. Recommend creation of Path of Harvest Skill.

Concept Core: Harvest (Minor)

>Invest Masteries – Form of the Manicore

>Invest Experience — 51%

>Infuse Aspect — Source Eruption

>>[Define Skill]

>>[Define Title]

And in another respect, so was Wei. The experiences he gave his Concept Core of Destruction had cultivated his Harvest Core was well. Now, the emptiness that once existed within his soul was beginning to fill. He just needed to take a few more things from his foes to nourish it some more; harvest some source as well.

Producing his Spatial Navigator, Wei made for the rift. “Come on, girl. We have some new Oathbearers to recruit.”