It took time, a long time before he managed to successfully use his fire affinity without killing himself in the process. He now split his time equally between working on containing his Death affinity, being able to use his fire affinity and also being able to adjust and fight with his new Nephilim form. He was well aware of time bearing down on him, the longer it took for him to get control of all the things that changed the higher the chance he would end up exposing himself when he got back.
Although he was now able to use his fire affinity that didn’t mean that there wasn’t issues. When he summoned his affinity it was nothing like it should be. It was so heavily tainted with death affinity that the fire was grey and see through and was now a Ghost Flame, at least according to Azreal.
Until he got the Death affinity sorted all of his other affinity would be changed, once he got adequate control over Death though he would be able to turn this effect on and off. Until then he was stuck with it. What he was learning was how to control his other affinity while also tinged with Death.
Once he was able to use his fire affinity without any issues he moved on to his other affinity until he could use each and every one with no issues. This also helped him a lot in cleaning up his mana channels, this was still the thing that was taking up most of his time though and he would be lucky if he would be done before his time was up.
When he obtained an adequate ability to move and fight, with Azreal as his opponent he never got in a hit but he did learn a lot of new techniques and manoeuvres with his blade, he was then instructed in how to shift from his Nephilim form to his human one, something that again took time and was not an instinctual process.
He didn’t rest for a moment though and pushed himself as hard as he could in the time he had left. His fire affinity was the first affinity that he successfully cleansed off the death affinity, a tedious process that brought him insights into both elements and how they interacted with each other. High on his success he moved onto his other basic affinity, cleaning every single one till they shone like tiny little lights in his otherwise pitch black mana channels.
His advanced affinity took a great deal longer but the process didn’t change, time passed in the blink of an eye and before he knew it his mana channels were mostly cleaned up, he was able to shift his form on command and he could use all of his affinity without issue.
He had even started testing and using his skills in different ways. His Titan’s Body skill was insane. He first tested the skill out in increments of 10,000 mana and the more he used the crazier the skill got. At 10,000 mana there was not much of a visible difference, but his stats increased by 5% and he grew a few inches. He moved quicker and he felt stronger and that only increased the more mana he used. At 50,000 mana he grew to three times his height and his stats increased by 25%.
When he fought like this he felt incredible, his speed was off the charts and he started to really understand how overpowered the skill was. At half of his mana usage he had some backlash from the skill, about 10 minutes of feeling warn out and sore, he would be able to fight through it but not with any where his normal physical power.
He tested out using it with 75% of his mana only once, growing to nearly 20 metres tall and having so much extra strength imbued into him that he thought he would be able to destroy a fortress with his bare hands with no issue. It only lasted a minute and when it ended he was practically comatose for 30 minutes. He was left completely exposed and if he did this in a fight he would need to ensure that it was a finishing move and that he was safe afterwards.
He didn’t test the skill with 100% mana, it would kill him and he knew it. After a lot of testing they found that the sweet spot of the skill was using around 35% of his mana and keeping up a consistent feed of mana to the skill, he didn’t experience too much back lash and it boosted his abilities by enough that it would be able to turn the tide of any battle.
When they started testing Elemental Metamorphosis things became very interesting. Azreal knew what to expect but didn’t spoil anything for him and let him figure out all the different forms on his own.
Using lightning gave him a tail and horns, on top of that, if he also brought out his wings they changed shade and texture and coursed with electricity with each flap. Ice was similar except he turned the palest blue, with his wings turning to ice, his hair became frosted and he grew spikes from his arms and along his spine. Magma turned him into a molten golem like thing, he became more bulky and with every step he shook the earth while melting anything he came near.
His basic affinity were also interesting, like magma, his earth affinity turned him into a rock golem, his Nature affinity turned his skin to bark and he ended up looking like a treant, water literally turned him into a scaled mer like creature. When he did this he fell to the ground, legs turned into a tail and he flopped around like an idiot for a while until he remembered to turn the skill off.
When he used air his body became partially covered in feathers and his wing span grew, he also formed talons on his hands and his feet became clamed. When using fire his form was somewhat similar to lightning, he grew thorns and a tail but his hair turned to fire and his body turned red.
The most terrifying of them all though was when he used the skill with death. His wings turned black, his body became hollow and his skin turned ashen. He was at first confused why he appeared weaker but when he waved his hand in this form he immediately felt that if anything living was near him he would easily be able to suck the life from it and kill it in an instant. That would only be true though if they were weak enough, otherwise they would just feel like they were being drained. In this form he felt like a reaper of souls and didn’t care for it all that such, even though he knew it would have a lot of benefits in large scale fights.
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He didn’t yet have enough control ”ver ’Ither of his two new skills to be able to use them together, but Azreal assured him that when he managed to level them both up to significant enough levels that he would be able to. He looked forward to that day, until then though he would just need to train each of them individually.
After all of the training had come to an end they had only days, if not hours, left, he knew that time was coming to an end as Azreal’s form had become so transparent that he could no longer effect anything around him. They had come to a point where all he could do was speak, even then it was like a faint whisper.
“When did you intend to leave your planet and move to The Alliance?” They hadn’t spoken much about life after this but he guessed now that it was coming to an end it would be important to do so.
“Mostly I will sort out a few things with the settlement, after that I will leave. So within a month or two.”
“Good, smart choice. I agree with your plans for the school, I also think it is wise to leave what you can behind and cut communications for the time being. Have you considered whether you will see the legacy through? Will you seek our people at A grade or will you choose not to?”
“I plan on seeing it through, reaching A grade and bringing our people back is the priority. But I have to ask, you have mentioned several times that Earth is a Nexus planet, what does that mean?” Azreal had said it a few times but hadn’t explained further, he also didn’t push until now as Azreal had been clear that training must come first and answers would happen later.
“A nexus planet is very rare, when one appears it is fought over by all factions. A nexus planet is unlike other planets as at its core it holds a great amount of power that bleeds out and empowers everything that lives there. Tell me, what is the average grade of people on Earth?”
He though about it for a moment before answering, wanting to provide an accurate figure. “I would say early E grade. A decent amount of people would have hit mid E grade too.”
“The standard for newly integrated planets is that only the elite would have hit anywhere nearly low to mid E grade by the time the year is up. Over the course of your life on Earth you would never have noticed it but the Nexus would have bled into everyone and everything, so that once you were integrated, if you applied yourself, you would have grown much quicker. Even those that came after the integration through the planet wide terraforming would have received some benefits due to just being there for a short period.
For those that grew up on a nexus planet they form a connection to the nexus and get the most benefit. But anyone that comes later will still reap rewards from it. These nexus planet are usually coveted as capital planets for factions. Those that grew up there also find themselves reaching higher grades before they peak out.
So if you were wondering why the factions seem to want the planet so much, that is why. The faction who has the world leader will have many benefits by having another Nexus planet under their control. And, if what you said is correct, the winner of this event will grow that much stronger.
When you reach A grade, you will need to do so on your planet as the nexus will boost your progression that much further and help you succeed in going to our kin. When you bring them back though, you will also appear on back on your planet. Keep that all in mind, the location of your planet and who is on it will play a great role in what occurs afterwards.”
With all that information now in hand he wondered if he had made a mistake of not claiming the planet rather than Viv. When he voiced his concern he was assured that his choice was the right one. He would need to travel far to reach the A grade and he could not be bound to any one place without the help of The Alliance. It would stunt his growth and leave him open to further scrutiny by the other factions.
“As you are still young there are a few things I would advise. The first, cultivate a good party, a small one, but a strong one. Form bonds with people you can trust with everything. I would advise at least having a Fae and Dragon by your side. Doing everything alone can lead to consequences you don’t want to face. You will go through a lot before the time comes to get our people and having people you can confide in is important.
Second, take advantage of every situation you can. There are trials across the multiverse that will help you grow, one that I must stress is the Trial of Succession. Almost everyone will do it at some stage, but doing so while in the C grade is the best time, you will reap the most rewards at this level and if you make it to the end you will find that the rewards are better than anything you can imagine. I advise brining this up when you reach The Alliance again, they will be able to guide you better than I as much would have changed in regards to the requirements to enter.
And finally, stop doing things that you don’t understand! You were lucky that you didn’t die because of the foolishness you did at the event, the consequences of that will be far reaching and you will need to uncover what they are and deal with them as they rise. In the future use your head and weigh up the risks of doing such foolish things. You are no use to anyone if your dead or locked up in one of the factions dungeons. Understood?”
He took down mental notes of every”hing’Azreal said, even though his linking to his group had worked out in the end he knew that it could have gone much, much worse. “I understand all of it, I will do my best.”
“Good, that is all I ask. Now are you ready? Is there any other questions you may have or anything you want to do before you go?”
He spent a moment thinking if there was anything further, clearly Azreal didn’t think so, not if he was asking him if he was ready to go. There was something he wanted to ask, but he knew it may push boundaries.
“Is there anything you want me to tell our kin when I get to them, or even any message you want me to pass along to anyone in The Alliance?”
“No, there is no need for messages. You being there to see our people will be message enough. You may repeat what you have learnt here to only the King and Queen and those that can be trusted. Do not going spreading information that doesn’t need to be known. If there is nothing else, our time is up and I pray that you make it, Shaun. My hope will be with you, always.”
He tried to reply, to say something. But the last thing he saw was Azreal smile at him and then darkness. Azreal had ended his time here, he would never get to see or speak to him again.