Status: Konstantin Yurievich
Name: Konstantin
Race: ??hum???
Level: 44
Titles: Hero; Inaudible Assassin; Night Master; Knocked by Thunder; Seer of the Legend; Killer of the Legend; Withstood; Sighted Mentor; Persistent Guy; Seasoned; Soul of the Mocker; Marathoner; Unseen Mentor; Walking Through Enemy Formation; Giver of Fear; Clinging to Shadows; Beyond the Existence; Step Beyond the Edge (Shadow); One Against Many; Anti-Hero; Embracing the Shadow; The Price of Humanity; Right to Power; Size Doesn't Matter; Face Taker; Step Beyond the Edge (Dream); Killer of Heroes; Creator of Legend (Fall of Stone); The Great Mocker; Kidnapper of Kings; Rejector of Hell; Deceiver of Hell; Hell Raider; Lord of the Wildlands; Great Free Alchemist; Destroyer of Monsters; Shackler a Legend: The Higher Shadow; The Genius Mentor; The World on Your Palm; The Invisible Puppeteer; Room Nostradamus; Self-Star; Deceiving the Great Ones; The One Who Is Not; Cursing the Legends
Characteristics Points: 0
Class Points: 1
Characteristics (standard):
Strength: 160
Dexterity: 240
Endurance: 190
Perception: 229
Concentration: 330
Energy: 359 (1to2)
Characteristics (class):
Shadow: 203
Dreams: 192
Inspiration: 141
Class: Overlord of Shadows
Rank: 3
Basic characteristics: shadows, dexterity, perception.
Abilities:
Shadow Control: 5/5
Allows you to masterfully control shadows in your field of vision, giving them full physical embodiment; shadows can freely take solid form and are suitable for creating obstacles and barriers; the range, speed, control, and stretching of shadows is greatly increased; shadow density is greatly increased; shadows can inflict energy damage and impose effects that reduce target characteristics; wounds from shadows are worse; with maximum tension and concentration of the shadow on a certain area, you can turn the shadow into a door to another plane; increases the Shadow's characteristic by +5.
Shadow Sense: 5/5
Allows you to sense all shadows within a large radius; allows you to clearly sense shadow movement and affiliation; allows you to control shadows freely even outside your direct line of sight; allows you to sense invisible persons touching shadows; allows you to see and hear through shadows; shadows within your perception zone are easier to submit to your will; shadows can point out targets you highlight or dangerous to you; if you wish, you can hear voices of shadow inhabitants distantly and vaguely; increases the Shadow characteristic by +5; increases the perception characteristic by +5.
Steps of the shadows: 7/7
Allows the user to step into a shadow and go directly to the shadow realm at will, with the ability to linger there for a long time, depending on the user's reserve and the actions they take; allows the user to choose a shadow for back passage directly while applying the skill; the distance of movement is limited only by the user's reserve, and the effort and concentration is low; extremely effective for use in combat; while in the other plane, the user's body gets the ability to pass through unenchanted and insufficiently enchanted obstacles; allows the body to merge with the Shadow, developing great speed of movement; allows to accumulate shadow energy right in the moment of step; levitation when in the other plane is available; allows, under certain conditions, to enter the deeper layers of the Shadow; allows limited effects on the material world without falling back into reality; allows instant movement within perception; increases the Shadow characteristic by +10; increases the Dexterity characteristic by +10.
Stealing of the Shadow: 7/7
Allows to take someone else's shadow, thus taking the form of a stolen shadow; allows to pass off someone else's shadow as your own, fooling most standard, exotic and unique status assessment abilities; allows to leave a subordinate shadow on the original host, exerting a wide range of effects on him; a stolen shadow is not disembodied by sudden movements; the shadow is not disembodied by any shadow manipulation, except for those that require maximum concentration; under the direct influence of enemy skills, the shadow has a high chance to preserve its integrity and not disembodied; allows to fill a stolen shadow with Shadow energy, partially incarnating the recipient as a Shadow and thus enhancing his characteristics and abilities; allows a stolen shadow to take some of the impacts on the real body, up to the application of this technique in combat; allows you to transfer some damage to the shadows of undead objects in a small radius from itself; allows you to prepare in advance up to seven stolen shadows, on whose owners can be transferred any standard and most of the unique attacks; increases the characteristic Shadow by +10; increases the characteristic concentration by +10; increases the characteristic Perception by +5.
Summon of the Shadow: 7/7
Allows you to summon and impose your will on several inferior, weak, full, Senior, or even Higher Shadows; the summoner's powers are spent on subduing and controlling the Shadow; a summoned Shadow can linger in reality without feeding the summoner for a significant time; allows you to force Shadows to serve as material for shadow abilities; allows you to use Shadows as anchors for using shadow abilities, as well as using their senses; allows you to easily understand Shadows and communicate your commands to them; allows you to better coordinate Shadows when working in a group and even take them under direct control; reduces Shadow aggression and increases their fear of the skill owner; allows, with luck, to enter into long-term contracts with fairly intelligent Shadows; increases the Shadow characteristic by +10; increases the Energy characteristic by +10; increases the Concentration characteristic by +5.
Form of Shadow: 7/9
Allows you to give your entire body the properties of the Shadow, while in the material world; allows you to skillfully manipulate the shape of your own body when in shadow form; allows you to completely ignore any physical and even the strongest magical damage if it is inflicted on the part of the body that has taken the form of the Shadow; allows you to freely navigate the deep layers of the Shadow, taking a more suitable form for staying there; allows you to take almost non-anthropomorphic forms when in reality; allows you to significantly increase the amount of the shadow form, which can be used as a form of the Shadow. characteristics are enhanced depending on the degree of change; allows you to instinctively sense the degree and moment of form transition, using it to defend against sudden strikes; allows you to form areas of maximally concentrated Shadow on your body, using your body as a weapon; attacks with this weapon can ignore virtually any defense, including exotic, unique and legendary; in the case when a single blow is not enough to overcome the defense, the concentrated Form is guaranteed to damage and weaken any
Aegis of Shadow: 7/9
Allows you to manifest a planar incarnation of Shadow around you, using it to ignore the effects on body, mind, and soul; completely negates the effects of skills designed to counter shadow classes, except for the highest ranked and most powerful; catastrophically increases stealth when used; allows you to screen out huge values of damage, redirecting it to the Shadow plane with virtually no wasted energy; if the force of the hit is not high enough, it will be completely ignored, without additional energy expenditure; when using the Shadow Form, the cost of maintaining the Aegis becomes extremely low; allows the surface of the body covered with the Aegis to be used as a breach to the deeper layers of the Shadow, sending dangerous attacks into oblivion; allows, at a certain cost, to activate full invulnerability, making one's body a full-fledged moving spatial breach to the deeper layers of the Shadow; when the Aegis is in invulnerability mode, it can, with considerable effort, repel even divine attacks, depending on the power and character of the Aegis.
Creation of Shadow: 4/9
Allows you to use inferior, weak, and full-fledged Shadows as material, changing their essence with your will in wide ranges; allows you to plant obtained entities into stolen shadows; allows you to work quite extensively with the concluded contracts, throwing the summoning loop on material carriers or thin bodies of allies; allows you to change contracts, intercept or make adjustments to others and discreetly distort contractual artifacts of shadow type; allows you, with some effort, to create Shadows from stolen images, lives, and souls, giving them the essence you want, to a limited extent; allows you, at the limit of your strength, to create Shadows from pure energy or completely change the essence of existing ones; such molding is extremely harmful to the Shadows and without constant feeding and supervision they are very likely to disintegrate and disappear.
Manifestation of Shadow: 5/9
Allows for extremely fast recuperation in battle and afterward, drawing energy directly from the Shadow; allows to significantly increase the Shadow's influence on reality in a certain area; allows to bind areas of reality to the Shadow, breaking the metrics of space; allows to use the connection with the Shadow to counteract spatial techniques, pockets, and distortions; with some effort, allows to create complex constructs of shadow energy; allows, with considerable difficulty, to create permanent barriers or auras in certain areas; the created effects require no rituals, no preparation, no materials, only reserve, and control, but can be enhanced with the above tools.
[undisclosed]
Bonuses:
Shadowborn: stealth skills grow five times faster; in case of danger, shadows will shelter you as their brethren.
Dexterous: Dexterity grows faster.
Shadow Seer: This allows you to apply a special type of vision that allows you to superimpose the shadow plan on reality; allows you to see through disguises, obscurations, and illusions; the power of the gaze depends on characteristics and class ability development.
Blood of Shadows: Other blood flows in your veins, giving you a piece of its power; increases the characteristic of Shadow by +5, making it easier to communicate and negotiate with the inhabitants of Shadow.
Depth of Shadows: makes it easier to move to the deep plans of the Shadow, freely navigating in these places; increases the characteristic of the Shadow by +5, makes it easier to inspire fear in the inhabitants of the Shadow.
Flesh of the Shadow: greatly simplifies and cheapens the use of class skills; can affect appearance when actively using shadow skills; increases Shadow's characteristic by +5.
Marked by Shadow: Being in the Shadow heals wounds and speeds up the removal of negative effects up to the regeneration of limbs; increases the stat of the Shadow by +5.
[undisclosed]
Class: Overlord of Dreams and Reflections
Rank: 3
Basic characteristics: dreams, concentration, perception
Abilities:
Create a Dream: 5/5
Allows you to control the dream you are in by influencing the passage of time; allows you to directly control the situations and plot of the dream; allows you to create complex, intricate, and variable scenarios for individual and group dreams; allows you to understand which scenes will elicit the most response from the sleeper; allows you to create complex scenarios for multiple dreams that follow the victim over time; allows you to perfectly control dream matter and confront the control of other people's dreams, even when the dreamer is active opposition; allows you to strike entities in Dream and chase them if they escape; allows you to create individual constructs that can have a limited effect on the dreams you create; increases the Grezas characteristic by +5.
Sent a Dream: 5/5
Allows you to instantly immerse yourself in a dream, as well as to clearly recognize the boundaries of reality and dream; allows you to easily enter the dream of a sentient being near you if it is asleep; allows you to masterfully collect information from other people's dreams; allows you to know the character and thoughts of sleeping beings; allows you to easily intercept the control over another person's dream and keep the sleeper in the dream world, not allowing him to wake up; allows you to skillfully influence the subconscious mind of the sleeper, putting the necessary ideas and behavioral matrices; allows you to create common dreams for several sleepers; allows you to leave anchors in other people's dreams with the help of which you can find the marked person, provided that he is asleep, even at very considerable distances; allows you to create complex structures and independent long-lasting scenarios in dreams; allows you to kill the sleeper right in the dream with effort; increases the Dream +5; increases the Concentration +5.
Soaring in the Dreams: 7/7
Allows you to pull Dream energy into Reality, freely accumulate it, control it, and apply it to the widest list of effects; the accumulated energy is highly malleable and has a high degree of variation in its effect on Reality; allows you to use the accumulated energy as a bridge to interact with the Dream World while remaining in Reality; allows you to distort the metrics of Reality, using the stored energy as a shield, blade, or tool; allows you to masterfully disguise your stored powers against most sensory skills, including many unique and exotic ones; allows you to keep the energy of Dream in reality for long periods of time without parasitic loss; the stored power of Dreams can be incorporated into the Reality, giving it many special properties; increases the Dream +10; increases the Concentration +10.
Edge of Reflections: 7/7
Allows to use absolutely any reflective surface as a window for observation of the specified target; the choice of the target is determined with the help of clairvoyance skills; allows to penetrate through almost any defense, including exotic, unique, and even legendary; the distance to the target of observation does not play any role; allows to exert the widest range of influences on the observed through the reflection; allows to use the reflection as a passage to the Dream Realm; allows you to use the reflection as a passageway to the Dream plane with your material body; allows you to capture intangible manifestations with your mirrors, redirecting or manipulating them within a wide range; allows you to intercept control over enemy reflections, causing them wounds and injuries that will affect their bodies in Yavis; allows you to use mirrors as an accumulator of Dream power; processed mirrors can serve as portals for their creator and those he takes with him; increases the Dream +10; increases the Concentration +10; increases the Perception +10
Weaving of Dreams: 7/7
Allows you to create incredibly complex and multidimensional structures in the world of dreams; allows you to create animated Dreams within the dreams you have woven; allows you to endow the generation of Dreams with will; allows you to subordinate the vast majority of Dreams to your will, giving them a variable list of orders; allows you to change the essence and basis of the inhabitants of Dreams you meet at your discretion, reshaping them at your will; allows you to work with the matter of Dreams, creating protective and attacking structures; allows you to weave bridges between Dream and Reality, creating stable links between reality and Dream; allows you to transfer your consciousness into an avatar woven from Greza and matter, able to fully utilize the class techniques of the Overlord of Dreams and Reflections; allows you to inhabit woven or subjugated dream spawns in avatars you create, thus creating a servant, warrior, and assassin; increases the Dream +10; increases the Energy +10; increases the Concentration +5.
Broken Edge: 3/9
Allows you to break facets of reflected reality, reversing basic events that have already occurred, making them unhappened; allows you, with effort, to break some aspects of reflected reality belonging to the existence of other beings; allows you, with great effort and expense, to maintain a few prepared facets to apply them at the right moment; allows you to strengthen the effect of Broken Edge when interacting with mirrors processed in the right way.
Reflected Image: 1/9
Extremely enhances clairvoyant powers, especially in the use of mirrors, allowing, with effort, a glimpse into the past and future of any objects that have ever been reflected; allows, at the limit of effort, the reflection of various physical or magical effects, for a few seconds receiving at one's disposal weakened copies of them; the reflected effects feel similar to the original and can fool standard, advanced, and most exotic expertise.
Mirror Cloak: 1/9
Allows you to turn mirror shards into magical robes that cover the user and make it extremely easy to work with Dream matter; makes it easier to control Dream spawns and stay in the reflected world together with the material body; allows you to catch enemy attacks and the simplest conceptual influences at the limit of effort, and then seal them in the particles of the Cloak.
Web of Souls: 0/9
[undisclosed]
Bonuses:
Dreamer: class-related social and magical skills grow five times faster; no one has power over your dreams but yourself.
Undeterred: concentration grows faster.
In dream and reality: allows you to work with the matter of the Dream while being in the real world; allows you to intensify the manifestation of Dreams in certain parts of reality, but only if the necessary conditions are met.
Reflected: reflections in mirrors have a definite chance to show you more than reality itself, revealing to you the past, present, and even the coming.
Authority over Mirrors: your reflection in the mirror cannot become a weapon directed against you; the inhabitants of the looking glass are in fear and awe of your image; increases the Dream +5.
Coming in Dreams: your influence on other people's dreams is almost impossible to notice and incredibly difficult to repel, even with knowledge of it; the changes you make to the minds, souls, and dreams of your victims are very difficult to notice and recognize; increases the Dream +5.
Undistortable: the matter of Dreams has notable difficulty in distorting and altering your body and essence without your will; makes it easier to stay in the Dream along with your material body; increases the Dream +5.
[undisclosed]
Class: Mystic Alchemist
Rank: 2
Basic characteristics: inspiration, perception, energy
Abilities:
Creating a compound: 5/5
Allows you to create complex alchemical compounds from available reagents, instinctively understanding the creation process; allows you to adjust the desired result and understand the purpose for which a particular reagent is suitable; allows you to work with the aggregate state of the resulting mixtures; allows you to create exotic mixtures that can cause complex and lasting status effects; allows you to combine different effects, including exotic, in one potion, without increasing the toxicity of the compound; increases the characteristic Inspiration by +5.
Reagent breakdown: 5/5
Allows easy extraction of essences from alchemical reagents; complexity depends on the rank of the reagent, its quantity, characteristics and skills of the user; allows to hold and manipulate collected essences; allows to understand the nature and origin of essences; compositions created from pure essences are guaranteed to be of higher quality; Compositions created with essence get a higher grade or additional effects (the effect depends on the original reagents); allows to collect and analyze essence in finished compositions or their leftovers; allows to restore the recipe and effect of a composition by its leftovers or effects; increases Inspiration by +5; increases Perception by +5.
Concentration of Composition: 6/7
Allows you to amplify the qualities of already prepared compositions by spending essence on a huge scale; allows you to extremely amplify compositions by spending additional reagents and essence; allows the widest variability in the use of essence; allows you to concentrate essence into a more favorable form for use; allows you to translate into essences only the part of the magic you need in the reagents, getting rid of any toxic aspects; allows you to combine all kinds of essence groups to further strengthen or weaken certain effects, even if the original aspects of these essences do not fit or even contradict each other; allows, with effort, to reassemble essence groups directly in their material state.
Consolidation of effect: 4/7
Allows you to easily create formulations whose effects can have multiple permanent effects on Status; allows you, given the right reagents, to create formulations of high-grade essence that permanently increase stats, skills, abilities, or grant new talents; allows manipulating the concepts of harm and benefit, removing intoxication, leveling side effects or redirecting them in the right direction; allows, with some difficulty, to reduce the quantity and quality of side effects from the taken permanent compositions, with a small chance to get rid of them completely.
Vessel of the Essence: 6/7
Allows you to accumulate vast amounts of essence in your own body; allows you to create compounds from stored essence; the vessel, with very few exceptions, cannot be detected even by divine scanning skills; the vessel, with very few exceptions, cannot be emptied by specialized skills even of divine rank; allows you to easily sort and filter the essence in the vessel; allows you to put stored essence in stasis, not allowing it to change its concepts or mix them; allows you to create finished compounds from pure essence directly inside the vessel without mixing them; allows you to consume the created compounds directly through the vessel, without the necessary material component, which reduces toxicity to zero; allows you to fill and empty the vessel with great speed, greatly increasing the efficiency of creating new compounds and allowing for limited use of the skill in combat.
[undisclosed]
Bonuses:
Understanding of the essence: the ability to see and, with reservations, understand magic in things and reagents; all craft skills related to alchemy grow five times faster.
Attentive: Perception grows faster.
Touch of Mystique: Allows you to use even items that are not alchemical reagents to create alchemical compositions, endowing them with minimal mystical properties, or enhancing the already existing properties of normal reagents.
Look Inside: Your alchemical sense gives you a glimpse even inside your own body; allows you, within certain limits, depending on characteristics and skills, to decompose compounds that have entered your body or blood into essences, changing their essence; allows you to deactivate a drunk poison, nullify intoxication from a powerful potion or increase the effect of a strengthening composition; increases the Inspiration characteristic by +5.
[undisclosed]
Special:
Limit of Excellence (from the title Hero): raises the maximum character development limit to 50 (Now: 60), speeds up the learning curve, and increases the amount of experience gained.
Hero's Will: mind-affecting skills of ranks below your class have no effect.
Hero's Gaze: allows you to see a certain amount of information about those around you; depends on your level.
Mythic: character development limit raised by 10 (Now: 60), allows you to choose three classes at once.
Silence in the Hall (rare; from the title Inaudible Assassin): an active skill that completely silences sounds in a small area. Duration and area of effect depend on the user's level and energy level.
Improved Coordination (common): improves coordination and fine motor skills.
Improved Hearing (common): improves hearing, allows you to distinguish previously inaudible whispers and rustles, and makes it easier to distinguish and identify the sources of sounds.
Increase Energy Quality (common): makes your energy more saturated and dense than increases the power of your enchantments, and reduces the cost of creating them.
Bone Strengthening (common): makes bones sturdier, allowing them to bear loads better.
Combat Concentration (common): makes it easier to hold concentration on something during combat or other active actions; pain and injury have a reduced chance of interrupting the spell.
Perfect Coordination (rare): grants perfect coordination and fine motor skills; allows you to have complete control over your body; slightly lessens the effects of stun and injury effects; makes it harder to use Lie Detection and Cold Reading skills on you.
Active Reinforcement (common): allows you to increase your Strength score by a quarter every three hours for forty minutes (depending on your magic score), followed by a rollback that reduces your Strength score by half for an hour.
Thickening of Magic (rare): increases the effect of charms and slightly increases reserve; significantly reduces the cost of creating charms and increases defense against negative magical effects and curses.
Shadow Awakening (epic): Gives a permanent effect that simplifies shadow control by a certain amount, depending on the level and value of the Shadow characteristic. May have other effects when interacting with shadows.
Natural Control (rare): allows you to perceive your magical energy like another part of your body, making it easier to work with any energy manipulation and class abilities.
Inquisitive gaze (rare; active/passive)
Leaf on the wind (epic)
Magic Pulse (epic)
Right of the Shadowborn (legendary)
Dream Weave (epic);
Metabolic overdrive (rare)
Shadow's Grip (mythical; active)
Breath of Magic (legendary; active)
Chilled Blood (epic);
Inspired Trance (epic; active);
Impact Amplification (rare);
Moment of Eternity (legendary; active);
Vulnerability highlighting (epic);
Hiding in Mirrors (Legendary);
Iron Body (epic);
Jewelry Control (Legendary);
Reflection of the Sleeper (mythical; active-passive);
Explosive Power (epic; active);
Eye of the Observer (legendary; active);
Own Magic (Mythical);
Unlimited Potential (mythical);
Instant Cleansing (legendary; active);
Armada of Overlord (mythical; active);
Skills:
Provocation: 69 (great master)
Running: 30 (journeyman)
Stealth: 76 (legend)
Swimming: 15 (apprentice)
Alchemy: 71 (legend)
Herbalism: 53 (great master)
Gathering: 51 (great master)
Fishing: 13 (journeyman)
Spear Mastery: 9 (apprentice)
Infiltration: 66 (great master)
Danger sense:72 (legend)
Deathstroke: 64 (great master)
Dagger Mastery: 69 (great master)
Hand-to-hand combat: 33 (master)
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Energy Flow Management: 71 (legend)
Two-Handed Combat: 49 (master)
Throwing Weapon: 38 (master)
Clairvoyance: 79 (legend)
Disarming traps: 40 (master)
Pickpocketing: 31 (master)
Trap Making: 22 (journeyman)
Poisoner: 24 (apprentice)
Essentialism: 69 (great master)
Unexistence: 65 (great master)
Riding: 8 (apprentice)
Reading footprints: 33 (master)
Night Master (rare): you have, willingly or unwillingly, met the standard for the title of a professional assassin. Proving you have this title will get you a job in any shadow guild. If you don't get slaughtered for good measure. Effect: +5 to Dexterity; +2 to all stats except class stats.
Thunderstruck (rare): you've been charged with many millions of volts, but you've managed to survive this gift. You must be quite stupid to be struck by lightning, but you also have endurance. Effect: +5 Endurance.
Seer of the Legend (legendary): The Skin Taker, or as the local tribes called him, Sa'Shai Garhmnul, very rarely shows his face and even more rarely leaves those who see him alive. Be that as it may, you were among those who survived the encounter. Luck or stupidity, but something like that can't be left unrewarded. Bonus: +5 to all stats except class stats.
Killer of the Legend (legendary): in order to become a Legend, the Skin Taker lived a long life and cut off countless lives of strangers. But all his power didn't help him when he met you. Luck and stupidity, we'll say, but we'll give you the reward. After all, it's not every day that someone proves that sometimes even Legends die. Bonus (halved): +5 to all stats except class stats, +1 free ability point.
Withstood (epic): you went out alone, or with a very small squad, against an enemy outnumbered and outclassed, bringing death to all living things. We have no idea if you have brains or where they are located, but we're giving you a reward just in case. Bonus: +5 to Endurance and Dexterity.
Sighted Mentor (rare): It's hard to walk the line between helping little things gain combat experience and not letting them die in the process. Not everyone has the endurance and skill to do that, but you do. Bonus: +5 to Perception.
Persistent Guy (epic): you haven't wasted a single characterization point by fully unlocking your full potential and only then proceeding to supplement it. Is this foolish or a forward-thinking action? We don't know, but we're issuing a reward just in case. Bonus: +5 to all stats except class stats.
Seasoned (legendary): Most mortals live and die without ever meeting a Legend. Some are unlucky enough to meet her, after which their lives are cut short. A few could boast of what they had seen. But you have defied all the laws of statistics and common sense. You managed to meet three legendary monsters in less than a month and survived each of these encounters! Your fearless stupidity will be rewarded! Bonus: +5 to all stats except class stats, +1 free ability point.
Soul of Mocker (unique): you are one of the few who are used to finding other people's sore spots and enjoy hitting them as hard as you can. Whether it's for the sake of justice, your own beliefs, or just for fun, you've come a long way from a scavenger afraid to show his face to the victims, capable only of insulting them, to a true maestro who can even face-to-face and gracefully dunk his interlocutor's face in filth. Bonus: you have an intuitive sense of the best way to poke your interlocutor with both harmless irony and extremely cruel mockery.
Marathoner (rare): you have endured a long battle against a difficult opponent. You are tired, exhausted, and depleted of reserves but continued to fight stubbornly, refusing to recognize your weakness. Such persistence and fortitude are worthy of reward. Bonus: +5 to Endurance.
Shadow Luck (epic): you, displaying unparalleled dementia, took a step too far, falling completely into the Shadow, being unprepared for it. Despite a minuscule chance of survival, you managed to come out the same way you went in. Moreover, despite your underdeveloped ability, you were not torn to pieces on the way back! The odds of survival were one in a thousand, but Fate preserves fools! We'll just keep silent, refrain from commenting, and give you a reward. Bonus: +1 additional development point to your Shadow Steps ability.
Invisible Mentor (epic): It's hard to walk the line between helping minors gain combat experience and not letting them die in the process. It's even harder to do it in such a way that the victory remains entirely in the hands of the minutiae, and that there is no risk to the minutiae. Such a thing can only be real geniuses of pedagogy, well, and just lucky fools. In any case, get the bonus. Bonus: +10 to Perception.
Walking Through Enemy Lines (Epic): Fast movement abilities are quite common. But only a few can reach the level you have reached. Fighting an entire group of inferior opponents in a confined space with no room to maneuver? That's insane! To do it twice in one 24-hour period? Idiotic! Not getting a single scratch in these fights, evading all attacks, only to reappear in reality a split second later and strike from a seemingly impossible position? Talent! Take your well-deserved reward. Bonus: +10 to Dexterity.
Giver of fear: There are beings in this universe who do not know fears and doubts. Trying to confuse them is as foolish as scooping out the sea or making ropes out of sand. But you have succeeded! Unknowingly, you can find and pull out long-forgotten memories, reopening old wounds. Bonus: you intuitively sense the fears, doubts, and worries of your interlocutor, as well as ways to hurt them, +5 to Provocation and Clairvoyance skills.
Clinging to Shadows: you can move to and from the Shadow plane more easily, and it becomes much harder to break you out of the Shadow back into reality against your will; it is much harder to cut you off from the Shadow plane without stepping onto it against your will; staying on the Shadow plane consumes much less energy; your movement speed in intangible form is increased.
Beyond the Existence: confrontations between two clairvoyants are very rare. It is even rarer for these battles to reach their logical conclusion. You managed to win this battle, so get the reward you deserve. Bonus: +5 to the Unexistence skill.
Step Beyond the Edge (Shadow): there are many places that are best whispered about. There are places that are dangerous to even think about. Places that are almost impossible to get to and from which no one comes back to tell about the horrors waiting there. And yet, sometimes there are people who survive even there. You have become one such person, which gives an unflattering indication of your intellectual development. The Shadow Plan has always been considered one of the most unfriendly, what to speak of the really deep layers of it, where those before time itself dwell. We will not comment on your intelligence, but simply give you your reward. Bonus: +10 to all stats, +15 to Shadow, +2 points of class ability.
One Against Many: even one-on-one combat requires courage, it's hard to win against a dozen, almost impossible to win against a full hundred, but you ignored statistical probabilities and went out to fight against a small army. It may not have been a full-fledged army, and the battle was not face-to-face, but you emerged victorious. A strength worthy of respect and deserving of reward. Bonus: +10 to all stats except class stats, +1 free ability point.
Antihero: from the very first day you were in the new world, you had to challenge the whole world. Your very appearance was a challenge! You could hide, you could hide, you could abandon your role, but you still made your choice. It was in that moment that you stood up to your fellow Heroes. You will be called Evil. You will be branded with every stigma they can think of. You and those who follow you will most likely die all hated, persecuted, and driven. But that will be your decision. You get no reward other than the realization of the loss and pain to come. However, you chose them for yourself, didn't you?
In the embrace of the Shadow: many have tried to harness some of the power of this place, and many have paid for it, even if some have been lucky enough to survive and even gain something. But only complete madmen and fools would dare to come into such close contact with the very essence of the Shadow as a separate plan of the universe. The risks are simply incomparable to the reward, but that won't stop you! Bonus: +5 to all stats except class stats, +5 to Shadow stats.
Price of Humanity: If you dive too sharply and deeply into your own power, scooping up more of it than you can handle, you will undoubtedly get into trouble. The essence of other plans is too alien to a human being, and once you get to know it better, you will simply cease to be one. Nevertheless, you were not only stupid and lacking in self-preservation instincts but also very lucky! A sharp increase in one of your classes, multiplied by going into battle without preparation, then using a new ability in battle, should have been guaranteed to change your nature. And yet you are still you. You receive no enhancements or performance bonuses, but from now on, the effects of other plans on your mind will be lessened. Bonus: greatly reduces the danger of your mind being influenced by your own abilities.
Right to Authority: The Shadow Dwellers are very dangerous, and few will risk summoning them. Even fewer would be willing to make a pact with them. But you were among those who not only made a pact with them but managed to impose their rules while remaining alive and well. You cannot call such a risk smart, but you cannot consider it useless, either. We'll leave the choice of point of view to your conscience, and instead of empty words, we'll give you your deserved reward. Bonus: Shadow dwellers feel more fear in your presence. The process of contracting is simplified; +5 to the Shadow.
Size doesn't matter: using disguise skills tied to shape-shifting has always been a challenge. Using these skills while pretending to be something much smaller than yourself is considered impossible by the general public. You, however, know all too well how to cram in the incrampable. Bonus: disguise skills work better; disguise skills can be used on smaller animals.
Face Taker: a few can pretend to be someone so well that they steal their very soul, forever keeping all that their victim had. Image Stealers, they are called, telling terrible legends and half-forgotten myths around campfires. But you, somehow, were able to replicate some of their accomplishments without profile skills or the right class! Combining the control of shadow aspects with higher alchemy, and getting the same result as you did, without dying a stupid death, is a worthy deed. Foolish, but worthy. Your deed has stumped us, but we can't ungive you a reward. Bonus: +10 to all stats except class stats, +1 free ability point; stealing and appropriating other people's faces and fates is easier.
Step Beyond the Edge (Dream): there are many places that are best whispered about. There are places that are dangerous to even think about. Places whose very essence will reshape you into something that doesn't even have a name or description. And yet, sometimes there are people who have even been there and come back. You have become one of such people, which gives an unflattering testimony to your intellectual development. The Dream Realm can appear to be something different from what it really is, and very few people are able to get out of this place the same way they got there. We won't comment on your idiocy, we'll just give you your reward while trying not to smash your face against the wall. Bonus: +10 to all stats, +15 to Dream's stats, +2 class ability points.
Hero Killer: They say that Heroes don't die, but you didn't believe that maxim. When you met your more powerful counterpart in battle, you not only managed to resist, but you won, despising wounds, fatigue, and common sense. Such battles are always put on the line when two points of view, two truths, and two ways of looking at the world collide, seeking to refute all that your enemy has become. A regular Tuesday for those who were able to reach your heights, but how can we not give out a legitimate reward? Bonus: +10 to all stats, +5 to all class stats, +2 class ability points.
Creator of Legend (The Fall of Stone): Few people get to be part of the legends, let's face it. Heroes are forgotten, feats are devalued, and the inexorable passage of time erases memory just as the flames of wars burn books that record things that memory will forget. There are scarcely many who will tell of your deed, and you will be silent ahead of them all. But the deed was done, the battle was fought, and the victory was won. The fortress, which was called the Stone, was a stronghold that even a mighty army could not crush, and whoever proposed to storm it would have been called a madman. Are you and the handful of those who came to the battle with you to be called mad? Your future is vague, your prospects are blurred, and your chances of survival are elusive, but you have created this legend yourself. Bonus: +5 to all stats, including class stats; +1 class ability point. Note: Your reward as a Hero is significantly reduced.
Great Mocker: someone's jokes are found funny. Somebody else's jokes are found outrageous. And your jokes change the political climate and start military conflicts! You don't just have the ability to inject profanity into a conversation, you have the ability to set up a whole chain of consequences for your humor by intuitively sensing the possible outcome of your actions. Bonus: you're more likely to guess the outcome of your jokes.
Kidnapper of Kings: let the wretched rogues and brigands work as slavecatchers on the roads, stealing and selling into slavery simple travelers. You are as superior to them as a dragon is to a mere lizard! You steal the royal bloodline at once. Whether for ransom, revenge, or lulz, you commit a crime punishable only by a painful death. Are you a fool? Debatable! Are you worthy of reward? Undoubtedly! Bonus: Endurance +15; displaying this title increases your prestige among criminal elements.
Denier of Hell: Many fools are so addicted to the promises and promises of perverts that they try their best to lure their future slaves into their service. Often they even get what they were promised, but each time the price gets higher and higher until it becomes completely unacceptable and unaffordable. However, the something that the servants of Hell turn by that point doesn't care about such trifles anymore. For a change, no one will belittle your intelligence for the fact that you yourself refused such an alliance, showing enviable endurance and attention. Get a well-deserved reward, which, of course, will not compare to the gifts of Pekla, but at least it won't take your soul. Bonus: +10 to the Perception; +5 to the Concentration; Hell's temptations affect you less; the increased chance to recognize Hell's influence on reality or reasonable people.
Deceiver of Hell: It is commonplace in all worlds that the inhabitants of Hell were known to be the most treacherous and vile creatures in the observable universe, or at least one of them. You, being illiterate and feeble-minded, apparently did not hear about it and did it your own way. You not only voluntarily entered into contact with the high-ranking Devil, but also managed to finish this contact in such a way that the eruption fell into oblivion, and you survived. Alas, we recognize the fact that such an act requires not only phenomenal stupidity but also outstanding endurance. Take the reward, it's yours by right. Bonus: +10 to Concentration; +5 to Perception; you can more easily recognize deception or manipulation; you instinctively sense when the intrigue is over, turning to brute, but effective, forceful confrontation.
Hell Raider: This title is usually bestowed upon those of the slaves of Hells who have created stable portals to reality, allowing their masters to pass into their home dimension to bring torment and agony with them. However, as the practice has shown, this title would also suit those who raided the Pekla itself, whether intentionally or against their will. Any attempt by a fool to take Hell by storm was always good news for its inhabitants because it meant new souls, new suffering, new prisoners in the Chambers of Pain, and a new chance to stab a badly wounded ally or rival in the back... But you did find a way to make a raid like this unpleasant for the devils. Planar creatures in general are a very unpleasant opponent for the Devils. An enemy that is too hard to break by pain, torment, or temptation. And the Shadows are triply, if not tenfold, unpleasant to them. Your raid made quite an impression on the perverts be proud of it! We'll just give you a reward without mentioning the stupidity of your actions. Bonus: displaying this title (with a full description of it!) guarantees you honor and respect among the Inquisitors and Templars; you have an understanding of how to close planar breaches of all kinds and sizes.
Lord of the Wildlands (legendary): in the lands of the frontier, where only monsters and monstrosities live, even a short raid can end in death. What to speak of constant survival deep within this cursed territory? You went further, not just by living in these places for a long time but also by becoming the strongest monster in the whole tribe of those monsters that were supposed to cut your life short. It's the kind of foolishness and indiscretion that's still there, but your strength was enough to turn it into a success rather than an ignominious disappearance. Bonus: +10 to all stats.
Great Free Alchemist (legendary): Many essence masters, even very experienced ones, spend many years creating permanent enhancers, but in their entire lives, they create no more than a dozen of them. Most of them are not able to create such a thing, even when working in a cohesive group, let alone working alone. The creation of each such mixture requires an excellent laboratory and carefully selected and prepared reagents. You, obviously, are about all these truths no one has ever told, so you create masterpieces with minimal help, from what you have to and almost on an industrial scale. It's as amazing as it is ridiculous, but one thing we can say for sure is that you don't need an alchemists' guild because you are your own guild. Free Guild. Bonus: +10 to Concentration and Perception; + 1 class ability point; working in the field is easier; reduced requirements for the quality of processing and storage of compounds.
Destroyer of Monsters (epic): professional hunters of monsters, behemoths, and creatures often allow themselves to boast, saying that they have not only had the opportunity to cut up small things on contracts but also really serious nasties to kill. You would certainly be surprised to hear such boasts because it somehow did not occur to you that it is possible to hunt not only deadly, even against the background of other monsters, spawns of the wild lands. For not too long, you fought only and only the most powerful creatures within reach. Not too clever, but quite an impressive achievement. Bonus: +10 to Endurance; you can more easily find vulnerabilities in all sorts of creatures and monsters.
Shackler of Legend: Higher Shadow (Legendary): Few have the courage or stupidity to send a call over the edge, summoning an entity of the rank at which it can rightfully be called Legend. Even fewer among the brave are those who will call for the attention of the Shadow Dweller, whose children are always cruel and hungry in a measure far greater than mortal man can imagine. But how many among these units are there who will not only dare to call, not only manage, to their misfortune, to call, not only survive this foolishness? How many among those who call are there whose malice is enough to eclipse that of the Higher Shadow?
How many are there whose hunger would frighten even such a fearsome creature? Your will has been enough to instill genuine terror in your summoned, to make them submit. But can you keep the fear at bay by looking at yourself? Bonus: greatly eases the summoning process; greatly increases the number of contracts available to enforce; ability to break and intercept other people's contracts; all complex techniques based on Shadow summoning become more effective.
Genius Mentor (legendary): teaching, especially at high levels, usually requires thoughtful work, a quality plan, a pre-designed program, a whole team of support staff, and, of course, insurance against accidents. You wouldn't have been hired to teach at an academy because you teach exclusively by kicking them off a cliff, hoping that the student will be able to master flight in the seconds that are left to him. It is all the more amazing that your method not only works with amazing efficiency but has not yet ended in the death of your students! Your pedagogical talent is quite unorthodox, but we have to admit that it works. Bonus: +5 to all characteristics; +2 class ability points; you can more easily perceive the potential of your students and see their strengths and weaknesses.
The World on Your Palm (Legendary): Among the various factions of seers, they like to say that they alone have the power and authority to realize the entire world in their minds as if it were placed right in the palm of their hands. A boast, of course, but a beautiful boast, and not without some truth. You are one of those who have actually come close to this impossible goal of holding the world in the palm of your hand. Your gaze will not be stopped by defense, distance, or common sense, and that deserves to be rewarded. Bonus: +5 to all stats; +1 class skill point; reduction of clairvoyance rolls.
Invisible Puppeteer (legendary): nobody likes mentalists - it's an axiom. Subtle mentalists, whose influence can be invisible neither to the victim nor his surroundings, are disliked three times as much - this is also an axiom. But what can be said of the master of thought-altering, whose will can reach anyone even without direct contact, without an anchor for guidance, and without the slightest trace, from a distance of many kilometers from the carefully guarded home of the target? This is a talent terrible in its power and the consequences of its use, a monstrous scope for all sorts of deeds and entertainment. You can rightfully consider yourself a real nightmare, but the reward for becoming one cannot be ungiven. Bonus: +15 to Concentration and Energy; +1 class ability point; influencing another's mind, will, and behavior is much easier.
Roomy Nostradamus: your clairvoyance skill has developed to such an extent that you have been able to create for yourself an individual and unique superstructure of your essence, allowing you to intensify your attempts to know. Often such a gift turns out to be a problem, hindering you in life and battle\ often it becomes a true curse, bringing only agony and pain. Each prophet will have his gift, his pain. And their pain will be their own. And so will you. Bonus: +5 to the clairvoyance skill; when in a prophetic trance, your skill is greatly enhanced; the skill is controllable, but using it brings pain; you intuitively see and understand the nature of what you are looking at, understanding the weaknesses of planar and conceptual mechanisms and phenomena of almost any level of complexity, as long as you can hold the kickback.
Your own star: you have single-handedly served as an entire star mage for a long time. Tactical combat enchantments, a long series of attacks from a protected position, a covering barrier of the highest order - few will repeat even one such item. You, on the other hand, have accomplished them all and a bit more, which proves your power and valor. Or recklessness and stupidity. Bonus: Energy, Concentration +10, creation and maintenance of tactical charms simplified, their efficiency slightly increased.
Deceiving the Great: you stood before the eye of one of those whose name is neither mentioned nor remembered but whose will can break even the most resilient. And though you were barely glanced at with a glance that carried no threat or danger, you were able to withstand that glance without surrendering yourself to the gaze of the beholder. A deception that could be the cause of your death. A deception that resisted the will of something that cannot be stopped. A deception is unequaled in a long time. So take your reward, which you rightfully deserve. Bonus: +10 to all stats, + 1 free ability point; all cloaking skills and abilities become significantly stronger.
The one who does not exist: there are few who can hide their existence from the invisible eye of the true Seers, who can understand another's fate as fully as ordinary people cannot understand even themselves. But still, they exist, hiding in the shadows of past events and unfulfilled stories. But you are not. Or rather, you are able to convince the world that you do not exist. This is a dangerous endeavor, because the world may believe it just as your enemies have believed it, for whom a blow from nowhere will be the last revelation in their lives. Bonus: allows you to completely or partially erase yourself from the picture of Reality, making you temporarily invulnerable to most clairvoyance methods up to and including divine ones; using this technique involves tremendous risk and tension, which is worth considering when using it.
Curser of Legends: Among all the pathetic and ridiculous handicrafts of various artisans stand apart true masterpieces, the equal and similar to which are not to be found. Legendary artifacts are capable of many things that ordinary endowed can only dream of. A unique relic, an asset to the nation, a priceless treasure.... for everyone but you. You didn't just manage to destroy a legendary artifact, no! You cursed it, making it dangerous to its owners for years to come. However, even a cursed Legend remains a Legend. Bonus: +10 to Perception; +10 to Concentration.
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Bonuses for characteristics (timeskip):
Characteristic Strength has reached 150 points! Choose a perk!
- Explosive Power (epic; active);
- Stable Power (epic);
Explosive Power doubles Strength for a short time, but after the end of the boost, you will receive a debuff for one-quarter of your Strength. The duration of the debuff depends on the regeneration rate. For MC with Shadow Form, this debuff is absent, as they simply regenerate faster than they injure themselves.
Stable Power allows every three points of power invested to get two free. In addition, slightly increases the resistance to curses. For MC, who does not pump Strength at all, this perk is useless because he has a defense against harmful effects and is so close to ideal. Actually, the perk is pretty cool, one of the coolest of all possible options for epic perk. On the other hand, for MC is much more useful exactly Explosive Power due to the almost complete absence of rollback.
The choice was, as you might guess, Explosive Power.
Perception characteristic has reached 200 points! Choose a perk!
- Cognition of essence (legendary; active);
- Eye of the Observer (legendary; active);
The next perk will be available when you gain 300 Perception points.
Cognition of essence allows the MC's gaze to see not only level and class but also the last few points on the list of titles, the highest and lowest characteristics, and some class skills. The lower the level, the more is seen, down to the entire Status in its entirety. The higher the level, the correspondingly less the character notices. The perk is active and has a negligible rollback. Also, not too useful due to the fact MC clairvoyant understands if and less, then not too much. And so - this is the perk that almost all interrogators and their kind rely on - if used correctly, it is an awesome tool, quite worthy of legendary status.
Eye of the Observer allows when activated, which consumes reserve, as well as keeping the skill active, to see through the eyes of those who are within the radius of the skill. The radius is five hundred meters if anything. The skill is already good, but it is not so easy to defend against it, which makes it not only a tool of espionage and infiltration but also a great tool against ambushes. The Eye can only be sensed by those with inexcusably high perception or concentration. And that's only if you're careful. High level and disguise like Kostik's Shadow Stealing can cross you off the list of the skill's victims, but it's powerful as it is.
The Eye of the Observer is chosen.
Characteristic Concentration has reached 300 points! Choose a perk!
- Own Magic (Mythic);
- Taken Magic (Mythic);
The next perk will be available when you gain 500 points of Concentration.
Own Magic greatly increases the control over the created spells, strengthens them, very much increases the penetration through the defenses, and even reduces the light on the sensors. But most importantly, with this skill, your spells are yours alone - a stronger plane user or a guy like Ferer Roche won't be able to intercept your spells and send them back. They won't be able to use the energy invested in them for their spells.
Not full protection, of course, but close to it. That is, even the Ancient Shadow will not be able to stop and devour the spell of MC, not even a metamage like Roche, at most will block it with a shield but will not deflect it to the side. Only something with the level of a strong Mythic and above will be able to push through this "ownership", but it will require so much power that it will be easier to hit yourself. Ah yes, it also allows you to uproot almost any curse from your energy, but MC is already hard to curse.
Taken Magic gave the same invulnerability to curses, even more, and the ability to deceive sensory fields, but to a lesser extent. The main power was the ability to steal other people's spells. And if you can deflect or intercept a fireball flying into your face, as Roche did, you can do it only with weak spells, but the rest! Even taking a lightning bolt to the chest, MC would be able to drink it faster than it would take damage. And in Shadow Form, even faster. He touched the handle and sold an indestructible barrier, restoring some of his strength.
That's it.
It is strong and powerful, but you must not overdo it, because you may burst. Plus, even if the reserve will not sit down, the long passage of energy flows through you will not do any good. In some ways, the skill is even stronger than the previous one, but it is very easy to endanger yourself with it. Also, using absorption does not allow you to activate Aegis normally. The delay is small, but it is there, plus Aegis automatically disables absorption and vice versa.
MC, remembering being kicked by Roche and not wanting to lose his strongest defense technique, chose Own Magic.
Characteristic Energy has reached 300 points! Choose a perk!
- Unlimited Potential (mythical);
- Bottomless Well (mythical; active);
The next perk will be available when you gain 500 points of Energy.
Unlimited Potential gives only one bonus, but it is very strong. For every point invested in the energy, an additional point will be added. It's like Ygra with strength and endurance, only better. Because for every fifteen points of energy, including points from titles (but, like in Ygra, they count 1 to 1, not 1 to 2), MC will receive plus five points of energy and plus five points of free stats, which can be invested anywhere but energy. And this potential cannot be underestimated.
I'll clarify.
Only one invested point counts, even if two points are added. That is: Kostik invests five points, increasing his energy from 300 to 310. But Potential counted only 5 of these points, i.e. only the real ones, not the bonus ones.
The Bottomless Well instantly expends the entire reserve of MC, creating a kind of super-dense carcass on his thin body, and then turns on a kind of planar pump. For a small amount of time, literally one second per two points of energy, MC has no reserve, only bandwidth. Yes, yes, like a mythical creature, only without the drop into the realm. The carcass protects the thin body from overstressing, turning MC into a natural reusable nuclear bomb. The amount of magic he can produce during this period will be enough to shake even the Eternal, despite all its defenses and barriers. The same Tavimark would be atomized into pebbles. The Well also boosts reserve regen even when inactive. On the downside, the stress of planar energies on the mind does not go anywhere - MC uses pure planar energy rather than his reserve because it's all gone into the framework of the well, so the marbles can roll away.
The characteristic Inspiration has reached 100 points! Choose a perk!
- Instant Cleansing (legendary; active);
- Replacement of Concept (Legendary);
Instant cleansing allows you to throw in any non-permanent compositions, even if their amount will be lethal (even for MC lethal!). Once a week you can simply clean out all the accumulated crap from the body and subtle bodies. And if you do it right in battle, you can even spit out a stream of inky-black essence into someone's face and admire how that someone spreads a puddle of slime. In the passive state even more strongly raises the limit of intoxication, which for MC and without it is almost cheating. If you try very hard, you can use it on someone other than yourself, but it's very easy to cripple the patient.
Analogous to Second Breath, but for alchemists and with a large cooldown. But if you count the number of potions MC can pour into himself without caring about the consequences, it's not even funny. There the horror comes out. It is important to remember that the skill gets rid of toxins but does not heal! But MC can easily pour into himself healer (now you can again!) or just take the Form.
Concept Replacement is a crafting skill, similar to a laboratory. It allows MC not only to understand a little better what reagents fit where but also to change aspects of essence directly in the reagents. I mean, literally, plant carrots, treat them with more seeds, and then grow them throughout the harvest season, and as a result, you have a legendary reagent. Or raise legendary chickens. Of course, it's not all that simple, but the main point is to turn fairly ordinary grassroots into those of a higher grade. And the longer you work with them, the higher this grade is and the easier it is to use them in the process of creating potions. And if you initially work with an already legendary reagent! No, it may still be "just" a legend, but it will have a lot of additional bonuses and no side effects. And you can even raise it to mythic if you sit in place for a few years.
MC, as you can easily guess, can not afford to sit still. That's why he chose Cleansing.
Shadow's characteristic has reached 200 points! Choose a perk!
- Ancient Alliance (mythical);
- Armada of the Overlord (mythical; active);
The next perk will be available when you gain 300 Shadow points.
As you can see, so far MC has two mythics to choose from, although I would call them mythic+, an enhanced version of the previous, by no means weak, mythics. But in the next stage, there will be not mythic, but somewhat different gifts of the System. I thought for a long time whether it is worth it, but I came to the conclusion that it was not worth hurrying the horses.
So.
The Alliance allows one to merge oneself with the Ancient Shadow, becoming, for a short time, the very thing MC was afraid of becoming in the battle with Ferer. Power, damage, and survivability are at a level where one can even look unkindly in the direction of some Avatars. If one can't take him down, one can run away with near certainty.
The merger levels the weaknesses and strengthens the strengths of both the Overlord and the Ancient Shadow. This is what will allow such a duo to kick on equal terms with Avatars for a limited and short time and have a chance to retreat in a battle with an incarnate God or a comparable power nasty. That's why, in fact, the average Ancient will agree to the Alliance and temporary submission to the Overlord - it is beneficial to Shadow, among other things. Beneficial because those killed and eaten in the state of Alliance will give a lot of experience and free stats. It's like Shadow's Grip but at the highest maximums - almost a hundred percent of the devoured will go to work. And let almost all of it go into the jaws of the Ancient One, but MC will also get some.
The consequences are also unpleasant, and I think you could have guessed them yourself. Rapid "creaturefication", flushing of endowment down the toilet, and constant pressure from the Ancient One checking the user for power, who, of course, doesn't mind eating, but the very necessity to obey the Overlord makes her feel fierce anger.
Armada is also a cheat, and on no lesser scale, albeit expressed in a different way.
What's the point?
I'm going to make a digression here.
In nature, even if the Shadow can get through a breach in reality created by someone or something, it will have a very hard time staying in the real world, just like any non-material creature. Especially away from the breach. It can be helped by its reserve, the ability to dive back into the Shadow, but not so deep as to be able to surface immediately, and, undoubtedly, by killing all living things, devouring their essences, and powering themselves. Even very powerful creatures, unless they are supported by a summoner, sacrificial circle, and ritual reinforcement (or a replacement for the Overlord's power), lose a lot of power.
So.
Armada, which has a long (three weeks) cooldown, can partially solve this problem. You open a breach, summon shadows, and give a very powerful, almost unique, buff. The point is not in the pluses to stats, although they will also be. The point is that the Armada of Shadows will have the ability to not get debuffs from being in reality. No summoning, no sacrifices, no rituals, no blessings. And all this hateful and hungry crowd, passing through the breach and receiving the order of the Overlord, are forced to seize a kind of contract, forcing limited to follow the will of the summoner. And the stronger the Shadow, the less pressure of the contract.
In passive mode, it makes it even easier to work the rifts into Shadow, making them wider and deeper. It can also, under certain circumstances, force a couple of Avatars to retreat or give time to retreat before the incarnate God while the Celestials deal with a rabid horde. Though, in purely combat terms, the Alliance is still noticeably stronger.
MC chose the option where merging his soul with the Ancient Shadow is not necessary, that is - Armada.
In total, during the time skip MC, gained 5 levels and 16 skill points. Of these, three for the fortieth level, five for titles (and one more for Deceiving the Greats after the time skip), and the rest, mainly alchemy, he pumped on his own.
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