Vincent and Gildarts skidded to a halt roughly seven miles from where their journey began. Vincent was panting heavily but he quickly schooled his features. It had taken them less than ten minutes to arrive at their destination whereas usually it would take Vincent an hour or more to travel such a distance. And the Orc had established that he was merely 'walking' and he was 'extremely uncomfortable' going any slower.
"Still.." Gildarts began, carefully observing the huffing man. "It is honestly amazing that at level one you can keep up with even this level of speed. How high are your stats and skills?"
Vincent for his part looked sheepish. "Pretty high I guess.. I've been struggling to survive this place every day of my life for a year." Gildarnts nodded seemingly satisfied with the explanation. "That makes sense. Its much easier to learn new skills eithout a class, and sense you've not had one for a year you've surely accumulated a lot of useful abilities. There's no limit to how many skills one can possess but most wait no longer than their 13th birthday to pick a class, as it is hard to become truly fearsome without the unique boosts provided by one."
Vincent caught himself glancing up frequently at the giant beside him. There was something about the man that made Vincent want to garner his approval. Maybe it was the man's strength but it felt like something.. more. Like he wanted to be enthralled to the man's service.
Gesturing one sweeping tree trunk of an arm the Orc demanded. "Explain to me your skills." Vincent hesitated. His survival instinct somewhat shaped him into a.. less than trusting individual over the years. What if this were some sort of trap to get him to lower his guard and expose his skills? He quickly squashed the thought. The being before him needed no handicap should he choose to end the man's life..
He took a deep breath. "Well.. are you sure you want me to do that? I have a ton of skills and we could be here a while." He warned. The Orc shrugged his massive shoulders and crossed his arms. "I have time."
Vincent shook his head and sighed. "These first ones are some skills I received in a relatively short time frame of me being here. Within two months I had amassed fourteen skills. I'll start with those…
"First I have sixth sense which is an improved form of my predatory instincts. It was my first ever skill. I obtained it completely by accident while running for my life from some…" he paused. Picturing how harshly Gildarts Would tease him if he told him he was nearly pecked to death by birds.
".. from something. It basically allows me to sense danger and determine how best to avoid it. In rare circumstances I can freeze enemies weaker than me." As he finished the explanation of his first skill the Orc merely nodded so he took that as a sign to continue.
"Next I have Ecology which is an improved form of my identify. It's the general skill I use to understand objects and their basic properties." At this Gildarts was visibly perplexed. "Identify is the skill used commonly by all beings of the nexus, even those lacking communication skills..." He paused, seemingly chewing over his next words carefully.
"But never in all my thirty years of living have I heard of a skill evolving into a higher rarity or form. You say you can now sense the energy within objects and how it functions? That is truly astonishing. Many warlocks believe the entire Nexus is shaped by how the energies of the world behaves and what purposes they serve. To be able to read and manipulate those flows is their lifelong ambition.. For doing so would essentially give one the key to reshaping reality on a whim. Only God should have such power."
Vincint shook his head. "Let's not go saying crazy things like that. I'm certainly no God and if there is one, he's a huge dick. The skill merely helps me understand what things are made of and how they work. It's also pretty damn convenient when trying to create or master new skills." The man explained.
This too seemed extremely unusual to the man. Gildarts mentioned that for most beings they simply 'learned' the skills that were well known and passed down. It wasn't entirely unheard-of for new skills to be created but it was certainly rare and took years of practice and effort with clear focus and intent. Only the masters of their arts typically achieved such things. Of course there were very general skills like 'farming' and 'cooking' that anyone could learn rather quickly but they were basically common knowledge.
Vincent explained that it always felt more like he was creating a skill tham discovering it, because as the basic shape of the skill was forming, he could change its energy patterns to better suit his various needs. "Based on how I manipulate energy, different effects can be achieved either within my own body or the environment around me." He finished thinking about how fascinating it always seemed to watch a skill take shape in front of his eyes. The multitude of colors blending together, forming various patterns that would give way to a tool that he could use for his ambition.
Vincent couldn't create new skills entirely from nothing yet, instead having to rely on the system giving him something to work with when he had a specific task in mind. But still whilst the skill was on the cusp of development his Ecology combined with his perks allowed him to constantly impose his will while it formed, and steer the direction of developing energies within him. The problem was, there were so many combinations of energies and patterns to understand.. not to mention the purity of intent and strength of desire of the user largely played a role in developing new skills.. It was hard to focus while processing so much information sometimes. He was afraid he would someday end up creating a skill that was legitimately useless or worse, had negative effects. If that were even possible..
Gildarts crossed his arms, closing his eyes and nodding. "Truly fascinating. Even one such as I, the legendary and mighty Gildarts do not possess such an ability. You have potential. Please continue. I should like to hear more of your skills. Surely there is more to even your measly self than two skills." Vincent's head grew a tick mark but he obliged the Orc nonetheless.
"Right.. well next is my complete tranquility which more or less is a fancy way of saying my meditation skill. It doubles my intelligence stat and improves my regeneration. It also makes it easier to solve complex problems and plan the next steps of my ascension." Gildarts cocked an eyebrow as the shorter man finished the explanation for his third skill.
The reason for his bemused expression wasn't because of the skill itself however, but rather how the young man had worded it. "Your 'Ascension'?" He couldn't help but ask. Vincent nodded and fixed the giant with a smirk.
"I'm going to be king of this blasted jungle before I leave to explore the rest of the world." This caused
Several intense moments of silence as neither one seemed willing to break their staredown. All at once the two burst into spontaneous laughter, clutching their stomachs as the pair's humor mounted.
After they regained their composure and wiped away stray tears, Gildarts prompted Vincent to continue his explanation of his skills. "Next I'm going to explain four skills at once because, well frankly they're pretty straight forward and I kind of consider them a set. They all benefit from one another in various ways. I have smithing, cooking, farming, and alchemy." He held up four fingers, dropping one with each named skill as he went.
"Smithing allows me to craft potentially any physical item. cooking allows me to.. well cook. Farming allows me to grow both edible items and poisonous ones, as well as everything in between. I'm sure I could handle livestock just fine as well but that's not really a factor here. And finally there's my alchemy, it allows me to create potions out of just about any combination of any types of ingredients."
Maintaining pace, he barely sucked in a breath before continuing. "Then I have my sneak and improved Dash skills. Pretty straight forward. Originally Sneak just allowed me to move more quickly but finally after I started to truly grasp the potential of the skill I'm learning to hide my presence all together even without altering my movements."
"Ingenious.." Gildarts muttered under his breath, although Vincent would never have claimed to have heard it lest he start a boasting match and subject himself to any number of degrading titles. "Improved Dash lets me move roughly a hundred feet in literally any direction but I have to be aware of my surroundings because I will collide with any physical objects in my path and its never fun." He explained, rubbing various invisible bruises from a multitude of mishaps when he was learning to master his skill.
"I can also move just a fraction of the total distance and use a proportional amount of mana." He paused, realizing only now that he had already counted out nine skills and he was less than half way through the list. 'Maybe I have a problem..' He thought to himself sheepishly. Was skill addiction a thing? Would he wake up someday to find himself on the next episode of skill hoarders? Probably.
"Then I have acid, ice and fire resistance which.. pretty much do just that but they have some weird branches to their growths." He said making a strange face as if he had tasted something bitter. Grinding his ice resistance had been a real pain. Honestly they all had but only the ice during the harsh but brief winter a few months ago resulted in certain extremities getting frozen solid to the side of his leg. That was.. an uncomfortable day.
"Then I have planta/Plante which basically means young tree I think.. don't let it fool you, I'm not even close to creating trees. Sometimes I can make a pretty big stick I guess." He sort of only half joked. Gildarts remained entirely stone faced, clearly not seeing the humor in Vincent's lack of flashy abilities. Vincent sighed, thinking 'tough crowd' sheepishly to himself before he continued on.
"I have my Sword and shield skill, which is probably my personal favorite. Something about a sword in my hand just feels right, you know?" He asked rhetorically. Gildarts answered anyway. "Because a sword is tiny and pathetic like you. Nothing like my mighty club." Vincent resisted the urge to see just how long he would last in a fight against the behemoth because.. he imagined it wasn't long.
Rubbing the bridge of his nose he began again. "Next I have my Unyielding strike and Unwavering guard, the first of which allows me to basically strike with unnatural force depending on how much stamina and mana I consume. The other allows me to negate significant amounts of incoming damage at a very steep cost of stamina and mana consumption." Gildarts seemed satisfied with his explanation so far. Taking his silence as a good sign, he continued.
Then I acquired courage which was more or less useless to me at the time. It provides bonuses to my allies and party members. Then there was fireball and Ice bolt which strangely enough came about as results of completing the fire and ice resistance trials. Told you they had weird growths." He opened his mouth to continue but was cut off. "What in the name of a Carsidion is a trial?"
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The equally confused Vincent wanted to ask what a carsidion was but came to the conclusion it didn't really matter anyways. "You don't.. have trials?" He asked, raising an eyebrow, but another question quickly sprang to mind. "Wait.. are there more of you?" He asked. Gildarts for his part huffed as if insulted.
"Preposterous! I am the only me! There can be no one mightier! There can be only oooone! Hahaha!" He yelled, causing Vincent to grimace. "Yeah no, highlander, that's not what I meant. Calm down. Jesus. I meant are there more of your people? Orcs?" He clarified.
This in turn caused Gildarts to pause and scratch his chin. "Well yes of course. There is my home village of course and roughly a hundred other Orc settlements in this country alone. I do not pretend to be geographically inclined but I know the world is much bigger than our one country.. there must be more Orcs out there."
He said with a focused expression. He shook his head. "Bah. Anyways.. Orcs do not leave the country. Something dangerous lies beyond the safety of the sea. The jungle covers roughly half of the country, the mountain another third and the rest is open plateaus. Far to the east of us, past my village, and past the royal castle, lies the endless sea. And beyond that.. we do not know… Here, where Orc has lived peacefully for 1000 years, we have no natural enemies.. we are not the strongest.. but we are mighty."
To hear the powerful Orc claim that there were species whose power far eclipsed his own was hard to believe. He couldn't imagine what sort of monsters lurked in the bowels of the Nexus. Gildarts continued, seemingly predicting Vincent's next line of thought. "Before you ask, no you may not see mine, nor any other Orc village. You are too weak. They would kill you merely for the sport of it. But also.. I can assure you none of my people have ever heard of these.. trials. You shall explain them. But first.. what of your own people?"
Vincent thought about pressing the subject seeing as the self declared strongest Orc was sitting here having a conversation with his 'pathetic self' but he dropped it deciding it wasn't worth the energy. Besides.. Where were his people? "I.. don't know. I haven't seen anyone from my past life since coming here. But my people definitely weren't born here like yours. We never would have survived as we were back home." He finished, mind reeling with more questions than answers.
Not having much else to say he decided to answer the second part of the question. "Anyways trials are like.. tests that sometimes become available upon reaching certain skill levels. Usually 25 and I suspect 50 but it seems there's a massive XP wall every tenth level."
Gildarts nodded, confirmed as much "indeed. There is an even larger wall every 25 levels, the typical threshold for an evolution.." The large man explained with a nonchalant expression.
Vincent sweatdropped. He had figured as much but knowing things only got harder from here on in was a daunting thought. "Well.." He sighed. ".. in some of these trials you have to fight against overwhelming odds. Others you have to be patient or clever. Sometimes it's as simple as reliving a memory or making a choice between two outcomes. It's difficult to describe.. but a lot of them can give you permanent perks and attribute bonuses." He said, shifting his weight and running his fingers through his hair.
"But lately I haven't been doing any trials, I've just been letting them pile up. I have a really strong feeling that if I just wait and push my skill levels higher before attempting the trials, I can get much better rewards at the cost of a much more difficult challenge. Which is all the same to me, I love pushing my limits." As he finished his explanation Gildarts nodded.
"And that is one of the things that kept me from slaughtering you that day. I admire your grit and determination. You may be pathetic but you are certainly no coward. It's just as well. There is no place in this world for those with weak hearts." Vincent didn't know whether to feel insulted due to the frequently used nickname or to be flattered due to the semi compliment he had received.
"Still.. These trials you describe are strange.. I have never heard of such a phenomenon. Then again the entirety of your situation seems very abnormal. This does explain why your stats are not entirely pitiful despite your level being so." As the Orc spoke, Vincent tried and failed to observe the energy of the man before him. If he could compare what he saw from the Orc to what he saw from himself, he could at least get a feeling for whether or not they were composed of the same elemental and energetic components.
It seemed every species had its own unique energy field around it. And the density, complexity and shape of that.. aura was generally a good indicator of how powerful something was compared to other things. But if a creature or being such as the one before him, completely outclassed him, then he could garner no details from looking at them aside from their physical appearance.
"Is it possible the system made a mistake and I'm not supposed to be here? You know like a glitch? Maybe I'm supposed to be across the sea with my own people.." the Orc quickly shook his head in denial of the prospect.
"The system does not make mistakes." He grunted. "The system is all powerful and we all must abide by its rules. If one were to live with the intent to defy the system's will, one's life would be proportionally harder to their defiance. The system does not tolerate disobedience. You must recognize it as the only and most absolute truth."
Vincent began to feel uneasy as the man continued speaking about the system as if it were some sort of sentient deity. Or maybe that's the problem.. maybe it was alive. Vincent had been keenly aware for some time now that an individual could impose their very will on the world once it had become a segment of the system.
So what if the reverse were also true? What if the system was constantly making a conscious effort to impose its will on you, only allowing you to grow in ways that it saw fit? He had noticed quite a bit of resistance anytime he tried to shape a skill that allowed him to interact with matter or energy. Some skills also leveled a lot slower. Ecology was a primary example of such a skill. What if those were purposeful restrictions imposed by a sentient system? How do you even fight against something that effectively constitutes the very universe around you?
Vincent decided he had had enough of this sketchy dialog so he switched subjects back to his numerable skills. "Anyways.. I digress.. where were we? Ah yes so after fireball and Ice bolt, I managed to achieve my first ever legendary skill. That was probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my entire life aside from surviving in and of itself." Gildarts leaned in closer, particularly interested in hearing how a level 1 had managed to achieve a legendary skill.
Legendary skills often took years of mastery in one's profession whether it be swordsmanship, wizardry, farming anything you could think of. One had to understand the complexity of the function and composition of such a skill. Even then, when a being had dedicated their entire lives to a skill or practice, the system sometimes never saw fit to reward some with such a powerful tool.
Much like the reality he had been used to before, it seemed the chances of success leaned heavily in the favor of some individuals above others. But why had the system seen fit to reward him with such an advantage? Was it this place, pushing him to the edge of his limits and beyond day after day or something more? He truly didn't know.
"It's called bleeding heart. It was right around the one year mark of my system integration. The life I live now could not have been more opposed to the life of ease and safety I took for granted before. As I struggled to survive over the past year the trauma and isolation began to unravel my sanity. I nearly gave up.. so many times…" He explained, trailing off slightly. Then determination filled his eyes like fire. "But I didn't." His fist clenched as he continued, getting more passionate as he described the intense feelings he had in those hellish, disorganized early days
"I learned that focusing on specific desires, placing one's life on the line and harnessing the power of emotions fueled skill growth and development. By channeling all my pain and anger into a singular purpose, I began to sense the development of a skill more complex than any I had previously witnessed. I spent nearly two months developing those dense, unstable energies. The stronger the skill became the more damaging it was to my body and mind, but I refused to release control of the pent up energy I had been slowly accumulating with the significance of my will and emotions."
"My feelings themselves seemed to intensify by the day. I didn't think my body nor mind could last much longer. The pain continued building to the point that I could barely function until one day.. An explosion of energy occured and it finally happened.. "
Congratulations! The intensity of your emotions and your indomitable will have resulted in the birth of the unique feat: Emotional singularity.
Emotional singularity: grants the perk 'A wailing significance is born unto the Nexus.'
A wailing significance is born unto the Nexus. The weight of your feelings and will demand to be witnessed by others. Activate your skill: bleeding heart, with the phrase 'feel my pain. Bleeding heart!' User shares half of all damage received with the target. +100 vitality. +25 endurance
Bleeding heart (legendary) User's target shares half of all damage received during the duration of the spell. Due to the 'legendary' rarity gain a large reduction in mana consumed per level. Remains active until target dies or user cancels its effects (Active skill) (consumes 2500 mana)
The effects of the skill itself were phenomenal. His mind whirled with possibilities. If he cast the ability on an enemy then even if he couldn't hit them it wouldn't matter because every time Vincent sustained damage they would take just as much. All he would have to do is make sure he had enough health and heals to outlast them. At least in theory. But it was the plus 100 to vitality that truly set this skill apart from others.
The extra boost to endurance was also incredibly beneficial. It allowed him to train for a lot longer under much harsher conditions. If someone consumed too much stamina and continued pushing themselves you could actually begin to lose HP. But push himself he did.. to the brink every single day, which played a large part in what eventually led him to achieving his second legendary skill..
Congratulations! Skill: Unparalleled physical fitness (legendary) achieved!
Unparalleled physical fitness (legendary) Only obtainable by one who has shattered their limits day after day merely to survive and hence has evolved to inhuman levels of physical capabilities. This is a unique skill that grows based upon skill level and all stats. Grants the perk: Unparalleled physical fitness
Unparalleled physical fitness. Grants the user 1 point of strength, endurance, and agility per level. Grants the user 2 points of vitality per level.
"The skill itself didn't really seem to do anything. But the perk that it grants. I've never seen anything like it. I unlocked it after months of intense physical training." Gildarts seemed to take the information in stride.
"Though it is uncommon..it is not entirely unheard-of for skills to grant perks rather than having any real function themselves. However.. that particular perk seems especially powerful." He finished with a serious expression.
"Be Careful who you reveal your abilities to.. there are some within the Nexus who grow stronger by devouring others. They will hunt down and murder anyone with a particularly powerful skill. Those are truly nasty beasts. We call them.. the depraved. Most of them lack consciousness, but some do not and they are very sneaky."
Vincent considered such a possibility. If the system allowed for damn near any play style there had to have been someone out there running a vampire build right? He supposed if he were ever to encounter one such individual.. he would probably use improved Dash to get the hell out of there.
How do you even block that? He pictured some unnaturally thin creature with pointed ears, sharp fangs and pale skin, darting around sucking skills out of people's necks while their backs were turned. He wasn't about to lose his hard earned skills because of a hickey. With a shudder he decided to continue on with the tedious task of explaining his abilities.
"I have a geographical inclination which more or less lets me always know which direction is which and I never forget how to navigate places I've seen at least once before." He explained shrugging. It was a skill of convenience more than anything.
"My Dodge ability well.. makes it easier to precisely time my dodges. Even if I can't necessarily keep up with something's speed. Mostly I use it to Dodge those damn birds if a few of them catch up to me on my travels." Gildarts nodded sagely. "A wise decision. The hellspawm terrorize all creatures of the Nexus." He replied somberly.
After a moment of silence Vincent continued. "The next three abilities I unlocked all at once. It wasn't exactly the most honorable training I'd ever done but.. I was hoping to increase my defense enough to survive at least one hit from.. literally anything." He explained.
Thinking back on it, it made sense why even a slight graze had always taken extremely large portions of his health. Every enemy he faced was a bare minimum of level 25 apparently.
"Essentially all I did was let my companion hit me with our strongest attack over and over until I unlocked a few skills that would increase my survivability." He meant to explain further but Gildarts grunted, signaling whatever he had to say was clearly more important. "You said you could locate no others of your kind. How then, do you have a companion?" He questioned.
Vincent scratched his head trying to think of how best to put into words what exactly his companion was. Actually now that he thought about it, the man honestly had no idea what the plant-like creature represented. "Umm well.. he's not a human like I am.. he's actually from a skill or a trial rather.. it's a little complicated." Gildarts for his part nodded, seemingly appeased with the information given and requiring no further explanation.
"Anyways the skills are Enhanced toughness. Hardened skin. And Reinforced bones. They all have extremely similar calorific flows.. uhh the flows of their energy. Because they all served about the same function for different stats."
Enhanced toughness. (Rare) your muscles, fueled by the energies of the nexus and repeatedly torn asunder through intense hard work have now mutated to become more dense and flexible! Due to the 'rare' rarity gain a moderate bonus to the effectiveness of the strength stat per skill level. (Passive skill)
Hardened skin. (Uncommon) your skin, fueled by the energies of the nexus and repeatedly torn asunder through intense hard work has now mutated to become thicker and more conductive of natural energies! Due to the 'uncommon' rarity gain a small bonus to the effectiveness of the endurance stat per skill level. (Passive skill)
Reinforced bones. (Uncommon) your bones, fueled by the energies of the nexus and repeatedly ground to dust through intense hard work, have now mutated to become stronger yet lighter. Due to the 'uncommon' rarity gain a small bonus to the effectiveness of the agility stat per skill level. (Passive skill)
A brief break had to be taken so that a certain green skinned hulk of a creature could relieve himself. As he made his way back over with lumbering steps Vincent shook his head and continued...
End of chapter 12 1/2