[ Electro ]
Apprentice
Flash Lvl.▲
38
Skill: [ Aspect ]
Electrokinetic Resonance
Elemental Resonance
50
[ Electro ]
Acolyte
Slithering Strikes Lvl.6
111
Name
H.P
A.P
W.P
Aspect
Lesser Aspect
Mist Stalker
67▼/79
249▼/375
0.8
Morphogenesis
Aeromorphism
Cryomorphism
Elemental Master
Aqualis
[ Electro ]
Apprentice
Thunderspear Lvl.7
76
[ Aero ]
Apprentice
Galestrike Spear Lvl.2
38
Name
H.P
A.P
W.P
Aspect
Lesser Aspect
Mist Stalker
31▼/79
249▼/375
0.8
Morphogenesis
Aeromorphism
Cryomorphism
Elemental Master
Aqualis
“Not enough?”
[ Aero ]
Apprentice
Galestrike Spear Lvl.2
38
[ Electro ]
Apprentice
Thunderspear Lvl.9
119
A salvo of Odo spears were hurled at a swift pace by Dream, creating a sharp whistling noise as they zipped through the air. They were aimed at the candid feline creature that had been overly reliant on its mist. The creature fell to the ground with a thud, its mist dispersing in a hiss of steam.
But before it could regain its footing, it was struck heavily by Dream's second [Thunder Spear], accompanied by a crackling sound of electricity. The impact of the spear became Dream's finishing blow, propelling the creature with force and blasting it into the distance. A resounding "boom" echoed through the gray wasteland as it collided, followed by a series of echoing "thuds" as debris scattered upon impact.
Name
H.P
A.P
W.P
Aspect
Lesser Aspect
Mist Stalker
0▼/79
449▼/976
0.5
Morphogenesis
Aeromorphism
Cryomorphism
Elemental Arcana
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Aqualis
Blessing of the Guardian Dragon: Synergy initiated…
Blessing of the Guardian Dragon: Synergy completed.
Blessing of the Guardian Dragon: Absorption initiated…
Blessing of the Guardian Dragon: Absorption completed.
Blessing of the Guardian Dragon: Integration initiated…
Blessing of the Guardian Dragon: Integration completed.
[ Nexus Alert]
Mist Stalker’s Lesser-Aspect [Elemental Arcana] / [Morphogenesis] Absorbed
H.P▲
A.P▲
W.P▲
20.54
253
0.2▲ / 0.2 / 0.5▲
Name
H.P
P.P
O.P
O.M.P
A.P
Level
Dream
301▲/327▲
3017▲/3269▲
4994/5214▲
1036▲
839▼/927
19
At the sight of his system screen, Dream watched his stats rising, a testament to his victory, and he sighed. It had been a few days since he had parted ways with Men'ma. With all the valkyries out of the way, he had regained his beloved peace. He was now finally back to his old routine of monster slaughtering. He was back at it, yet something was different.
He stared at his newly acquired gains and let out another sigh. "Something has changed. If this had been a few weeks ago, I would've been all giddy at the sight of this new 'aspect.' But here, I don't feel like I've won a great victory or anything." He sighed once again and looked up at the sky. "What's wrong with me? I feel like sleeping or simply doing nothing right now."
As he gazed at the sky, he noticed the Skyshriekers flying above the gray fog, seemingly interested in the large corpse of the Mist Stalker. He cast his gaze at the corpse of the enlightened beast left behind by Dream's Blessing of the Guardian Dragon.
“I don't particularly care about the corpse, but I kind of want to battle one of these creatures now that I'm all geared up.” Not only did Dream think it could be a great opportunity to learn how to properly battle airborne opponents, which he was bound to encounter again in the future, but he also thought it could alleviate the boredom and numbness he felt right now.
As Dream gazed up at the gray sky, he suddenly caught sight of a large shadow gliding from above the gray clouds. "What the hell is that?" The silhouette was easily the size of a small mountain, and it glided above the Skyshriekers, which started screeching like seagulls in a harbor before disappearing into the distance.
From this distance, it was impossible to discern the creature's stats, but he could clearly tell that it was something beyond his abilities to handle. His attention returned to the screeching Skyshriekers, which had calmed down and were making a slow but coordinated descent towards him.
Dream made a decision, “You know what, nevermind. I'll focus on leaving this place. This must be what's making me feel so off. That's right, I'm being numbed by this gray and dead place. How could I not be, with all this ashy color?” he declared, wasting no time, turning and heading further southward.
As Dream ventured further southward over the course of a few days, he found himself muttering under his breath to pass the time, “Dead tree, dead tree, a boulder, boulder, ah… another dead tree…” In the midst of counting dead trees and boulders, he shifted his focus to something more productive. Dream began to check his skill list, pondering ways to become more efficient in terms of skill, power, and tool management.
Skills
Draconic / Godling
Aspect
Blessing
Blessing of the Guardian Dragon
Nexus System
Golden Blessing
Odo Leveling
Morphogenesis [0.2]
Elemental Resonance [0.5]
Elemental Arcana [0.5]
Dream was acutely aware of his recent growth in strength. It wasn't mere arrogance on his part; he acknowledged the factual improvement he had achieved. However, despite this progress, he remained cautious about not overestimating his invincibility. He understood that he was not impervious, as he had faced challenging situations before. The memory of being cornered twice in the past lingered in his mind, and even the thought of it made him irrationally angry.
To counteract this feeling, he recognized a couple of steps he could take. First, he could continue his approach of eliminating any threats he encountered to bolster his overall stats. The second was the approach he was currently engaged in: honing his strategies and maximizing the utilization of his skills, tools, and powers. He knew that refining his approach would be crucial to maintaining his edge and increasing his chances of success in the future.
Skills [Aspect]
Aspect
Lesser Aspect
W.P
Nexus System
⥈
⥈
Morphogenesis
Aquamorphism
0.2
Cryomorphism
0.2
Photomorphism
0.5
Elemental Resonance
Electrokinetic Resonance
0.5
Electrokinetic Dissonance
0.5
Elemental Arcana
Aqualis
0.5
Since his initial arrival in the gray wasteland, Dream had accumulated an extensive repertoire of skills. It was an undeniable testament to his progress and growth during his time in this desolate landscape. When he had first arrived, he possessed only one lesser aspect: Aquamorphism. However, he had managed to acquire several more since then, including one he had previously been unable to obtain from the Boomwinger: Photomorphism.
“Neat skill, but I guess I understand why exploding oneself was the most effective way for the boomwingers to wield this lesser aspect,” Dream mumbled to himself.
After failing to acquire it once from the Boomwinger, the Photomorphism skill was now in hand, but just like the limitations of Cryomorphism and Aquamorphism, it had its own set of drawbacks—Huge drawbacks.
Cryomorphism was singularly effective on aqueous objects like mud but nearly useless in transforming air, while Aquamorphism excelled at changing solids to liquids but was rather ineffective at turning gasses into liquid, it could but what would be the point in producing mist in the air. Photomorphism, as he had witnessed during his encounter with the boomwinger, was undoubtedly a potent aspect in their hands, but Dream quickly discovered how impractical it was in his own use, even more so than Aquamorphism and Cryomorphism.
Unlike Boomwinger's use of the lesser aspect, which seemed to involve altering solid objects—their own bodies—into powerful explosions, which could suggest that the lesser aspect was all about explosion, like Aquamorphism was about liquid, it was not. Photomorphism was more about altering an object’s state to another. It transformed solids, liquids, or gasses into something related to light, energy, or similar concepts. This idea resonated with his electro-elemental powers, but the execution was markedly distinct, especially considering its potency.
While the lesser aspect didn't require him to explode himself like the boomwingers did, it might as well have been the case. Photomorphism, despite not necessitating self-destruction, was still A.P-devouring and incredibly ineffective. With as much as 150 points of arcane reserves at his disposal, the best he could make out of the lesser aspect was a blinding effect that barely rivaled his least favorite mantra, "Spark." Dream didn’t even dare call that an explosion.
While it proved impractical for explosive applications on most solid, gaseous, or even liquid objects, oddly enough, one of the most compatible objects for this lesser aspect, as is liquid for cryomorphism and solid for aquamorphism, turned out to be Odo. Discovering this fact would have cost Dream an arm had he not already lost it.
With an arcanic cost of 150 points that barely managed to summon a short-lived combustion that didn't even come close to rivaling “Spark” with Photomorphism, Dream was, when using Odo as a catalyst of some sort, now capable of conjuring an explosion that, if not outright overwhelming, surpassed the potency of a simpleton's self-destructive blast.
“While, for now, the rapport of cost-benefit for this lesser aspect in terms of AP remains highly questionable,” he mumbled, “I guess I should be thankful it's not entirely useless. So long as I raise my A.P high enough, I suppose my reservations toward this skill will simply disappear. I just need to defeat stronger and stronger enlightened beasts to increase my AP. Wait a minute, wouldn't that mean that by the time I'm able to comfortably afford casually using this lesser aspect, the enemies I'll be facing then would be ones against which this lesser aspect would be completely obsolete against?” He suddenly came to realize.
Dream sighed, running his hand through his long golden antlers. “Well, that's a skill issue for my future self to figure out. No use stressing over it now,” he muttered to himself, returning his full attention to the illusory screen before him, as he continued his journey through the gray wasteland.
Aside from that lesser aspect, and excluding the Elemental Resonance's lesser aspect he acquired from the Nagadread, Dream also gained a new lesser aspect from the mist stalker: [Aqualis]. This aspect seemed to grant him dominion over water and ice, allowing him control over various forms of liquid. At first glance, the skill didn't appear to be particularly useful, especially in the barren, gray wasteland where water sources were scarce. However, when combined with cryomorphism, it could potentially create various mists he could freely control, just like its previous owner, the Mist Stalker did.
Dream sighed as he assessed the skill's usefulness: “Well, it's a useful skill, I guess, but not particularly impressive,” Dream commented to himself.
What Dream truly desired was a skill that would be as reliable as Odo leveling. He didn't plan on getting cornered again, much less relying on that skill ever again, but he had to admit that the skill was particularly useful under the right circumstances, having already saved him more than once.
Shame, the only way to acquire a Godling or Draconic skill was to defeat a Lord of Old or Godsent or an equivalent, which I’m too far away from strength-wise, but I’m coming there, but for now, no Godling skill or Draconic skill for me... arrgh, shame, truly a shame," Dream lamented, shaking his head.
Then, as he opened his eyes to the illusory screen, he suddenly raised them, squinting at something in the distance. Across the horizon, as usual, everything was a depressing gray, but there at the end of it, far, far away and barely discernible, was something that Dream, thanks to the gray above, had almost forgotten. “The blue sky…” Dream muttered to himself, dispelling the illusory screen in front of him and rushing towards the visible sky's direction.
Perhaps it was the excitement, perhaps it was just the fact that the distance between them was too great, preventing any ripples from the visible threads. In that moment, as he rushed toward the sky that hinted at a way out of the gray wasteland, Dream failed to notice the presence closing in on him at astonishing speed.