Ethan sat and cultivated. The flow of Qi through his body provided almost enough sustenance for him to survive, and he only had to head out to find food once a week.
He pushed his anger, frustration and doubt down and ignored the unpleasant emotions as he cultivated.
Between cultivation sessions, he hunted and fought. There were no strong monsters nearby, but quantity has its own quality. After a week of dedicated cultivation, Ethan broke through to Qi Infusion.
It was a simple process, as it only required him to build enough pressure to expand his core space capacity. He placed the ten stat points into Spirit and Mind, focusing on storage and efficiency.
Name:
Ethan Marshall
Race:
Human
Class:
N/A
Level:
5
Stage:
2 - Qi Infusion
Stats
Body:
Strength
5
Agility
6
Vitality
6
Mind:
Intelligence
5
Wisdom
4
Willpower
3
Spirit:
Essence
10
Harmony
3
Attunement
10
After that, he began focusing on his levels, and after two months, he reached level twenty-five.
“Not strong monsters,” Ethan grumbled. “No real challenge. Nothing since that Dire Bear. What’s going on?”
He missed the rush of a close victory, but he’d make do with what he had.
“Void Step makes me near untouchable,” Ethan smiled as he stretched. “And my increasing capacity means I can go all out for far longer than before. Anyway, let’s continue with capacity and efficiency. My skills are potent enough, as is.”
He allocated the points as evenly as he could among his Body, Mind and Spirit stats.
Name:
Ethan Marshall
Race:
Human
Class:
N/A
Level:
25
Stage:
2 - Qi Infusion
Stats
Body:
Strength
11
Agility
18
Vitality
18
Mind:
Intelligence
19
Wisdom
18
Willpower
10
Spirit:
Essence
24
Harmony
10
Attunement
24
“My body feels so light and strong,” Ethan smiled as he jumped around a bit. “This is incredible.”
He walked around the area a little, taking in the sights. Between hunting and cultivating, he’d worked hard and had cleared much of the rubble from the ruined palace. Most of the stones were piled in a corner of the peak, revealing some of the structure beneath. He’d found no other cellars or hidden chambers, but the cleared space looked a lot better than the piles of stone.
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“I wonder why nobody has shown up?” he wondered. “It’s been a while since I broke from the group, but I’d expected the Celestial Heart to send some people to find me. If for no other reason than revenge for the rejection and humiliation. Perhaps they’ve got other things to worry about. I wonder if they’re responsible for the lack of strong monsters.”
It had been peaceful for Ethan, except when he went out to hunt. Ethan took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and sighed.
“Let’s do this,” he nodded and returned to the underground chamber. “It’s time.”
He’d felt it for a few days; he was ready to break through to the next stage. The Essence Coalescence stage, or the core formation stage.
“So,” Ethan went over the details as he held the cultivation crystal close. “Draw a lot of Qi and compress it. The further I can compress it, the better. I have some ideas for how to do this, so let’s get started.”
He closed his eyes and began drawing the Qi from the crystal. As he focused on cultivation, his senses and perception of the internal flow of Qi improved. He could now follow the two streams of Qi flowing through his body.
He grasped them and began weaving them together, putting pressure and compacting the two streams into a robust and tight braid as the Qi circulated.
His core space was packed, which meant he had to fight to get the braided Qi into it, but it was a part of the plan. The pressure within the space would help him compact the Qi he was using further, and as he started forming the braid into a ball, he began spinning it. The spin increased in speed, and the Qi was drawn through his body faster and faster.
Ethan was sweating and panting as his focus bore down on the building pressure within his core space, and the rest of the world faded from his perception. Ethan felt the strain as his core space rebelled against the building pressure, but he clamped down on it and held it firm.
For hours, Ethan battled the various issues that popped up until, with a surge of strength, the core stopped drawing Qi and sucked all the remaining Qi in the core space into the central orb.
A pressure descended on Ethan, pushing his shoulders toward the ground. He opened his eyes, but he sat in perfect darkness. There was no light, no sounds or any sensations at all. It was empty.
Then, an eye opened before him. The eye was impossibly large, taking up his entire vision as the pressure redoubled and Ethan collapsed.
Insidious energy flooded his body, manifesting as purple and black streams of Qi flowing through his veins and injecting into his core.
Ethan couldn’t form a coherent thought as pain assaulted his mind. His skin began rippling and squirming as if worms moved under it, and Ethan despaired.
For what felt like hours, Ethan lay helpless against the intrusion. Suddenly, a wave of golden energy flowed through the darkness, pushing the tendrils away. The eyes squinted, and Ethan heard a deep, rumbling growl as it, too, was pushed away.
The golden light bathed Ethan as the pain faded. The squirming continued, though, and with a flash of light, his consciousness faded.
***
Flashes passed through Ethan’s mind. A forest, dark, purple claws savaging a multitude of creatures. A gnawing hunger and rage that threatened to overwhelm him. Gorging on the flesh of his prey and roaring at the skies.
Ethan had lost track of time or how many visions he’d seen when another wave of energy washed over him, followed by golden lightning striking him. He was brought low knocked to the ground, as his body was torn apart by the forces of the lightning. He didn’t feel the pain, but his mind was overwhelmed by a searing rage as he clawed at the lightning that struck him, to no avail.
Ethan slumped to the ground, exhausted, injured and bleeding. Everything faded to black just as he heard the sound of a series of notifications.
***
Ethan blinked his eyes open and jerked up as he recalled the previous events. His vision felt strange, his entire body felt off, but his muddled mind struggled to figure out what it was.
Several notifications drew his attention.
[Stage advanced. Essence Coalescence!]
[Fifteen Stat points Earned.]
[Intrusion Detected!]
[Void assailant encountered.]
[Bloodline awakened: Void’s descendant.]
[Draconic Heritage activated.]
[Ejecting Intruding Ego.]
[Ejection partially successful.]
[Affinities merged/mutated. Void + Spatial -> Eldritch.]
[Race Changed: Human -> Eldritch Dragon.]
[Levels reset.]
[Ego successfully subdued.]
[Title gained: Strength of Self.]
Strength of Self: Successfully fend off the will of an alien ego far stronger than yourself.
[Skill Lost: Void Step.]
[Skills Gained: Eldritch Breath, Void Skin, Eldritch Eye, Shapechange, Roar.]
Eldritch Breath: Breathe a line of Eldritch energy, which causes either erasure or mass mutations.
Void Scales: Coat your scales in Void Qi, erasing anything you touch at the cost of Qi.
Eldritch Eye: Manifest an Eldritch Eye, which can cause debilitating effects. Effects include madness, fear, rage, and more.
Shapechange: Transform yourself into another creature. Limited to transforming between draconic and humanoid forms.
Roar: Fill your lungs and bellow. A dragon's roar strikes terror in lesser creatures.
Name:
Ethan Marshall
Race:
Dragon
Type
Eldritch
Level:
1
Stage:
Lesser Core(Draconic)
Stats
Body:
Strength
11
Agility
18
Vitality
18
Mind:
Intelligence
19
Wisdom
18
Willpower
10
Spirit:
Essence
24
Harmony
10
Attunement
24
Ethan stood frozen, his thoughts jumbled as he struggled to comprehend the scenario.
“What?” Ethan read and re-read the notifications several times. “My stats haven’t changed, but what the fuck?! Dragon? Eldritch? What the fuck is going on?! How is this possible? What was that eye, thing, and the golden light and lightning?”
No answers appeared, and Ethan spent several minutes trying to regain control of his breathing.
“Fucking hell!” he growled. It erupted from his chest as a deep, bass rumble. “This is so messed up! Was I doomed from the start? How the hell could I have avoided this?”
There was a flash of light, and Ethan appeared in the white room he remembered as the Trials room. Sitting at the table was the same pale, purple-haired woman. She smiled at him.
“Ethan Marshall,” she said. “I am here to apologise on behalf of the System.”
“Apologise?” his voice was rough. It sounded more like a growl than a normal voice. “Apologise!?”
“Yes,” she nodded and kept talking calmly. “When it granted you the dual affinity for Void and Spatial, it understood the risks but didn’t anticipate them unfolding as they did. The Void and Spatial affinity can only be possessed by someone with draconic heritage; as such, the System also granted you said heritage. The intrusion of the Void Dragon was unforeseen, and the System was too slow to react; as such, you were transformed against your will.”
“Against my will?” Ethan asked as he squinted his eyes. Speaking felt weird, as his mouth and throat felt vastly different from before. “Do you mean I would have had a choice?”
“Yes,” she nodded again. “Normally, the System doesn’t force anything upon the cultivators. The only time it does that is through the initial trials and affinities, but that is purely for your benefit, I assure you. You would have gotten a choice of empowerment upon reaching Essence Coalescence. Lean toward the draconic heritage, take some draconic features, and strengthen yourself, or avoid it and gain more abilities regarding unattuned Qi.”
“Hmph,” Ethan shook his head. His long neck made the motion send his head soaring back and forth. “So, what now? Can you change me back?”
“I’m afraid not,” the woman shook her head and sighed. “The Void Dragon is a powerful being outside of the System’s scope. The System attempted to cut out its influence on you but only managed to strip away the main parts of its ego. Unfortunately, you will remain an eldritch dragon and have to handle the remnants of the dragon's ego.”
“Fuck!” Ethan roared as purple flames blowed from his mouth. A barrier appeared before the woman, and Ethan tamped down on the rage engendering in his chest. “Shit. Alright. So, I’m fucked, then?”
“No, you are not,” she said as the barrier disappeared. “The System managed to protect your ego, meaning you can fight and strive to retain your sense of self. I advise you to accept and use the changes to the best of your abilities. Dragons are apex predators, at the top of the food chains in whatever areas they claim as their own. Should you manage to avoid the madness, you will become a formidable being by merit of your race alone.”
“Urgh,” Ethan slumped. “Fine. Fuck it. It’s not like my life’s been easy and straightforward before. I’ll deal, somehow.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” the woman smiled. “I wish you luck-”
“Wait,” Ethan interrupted her. “Am I safe from the Void Dragon now?”
“Oh, yes,” the woman nodded after a brief flash of anger. “The System has allocated significant resources to shielding you from its gaze. Don’t venture into the Void anytime soon, and you’ll be safe.”
“Fine,” Ethan nodded. “Sorry for interrupting.”
“It’s fine,” her smile looked strained, but she nodded. “I wish you luck on your future endeavours, Ethan Marshall. Strive to Thrive, ascendant.”
With a flick of her hand, Ethan was returned to the mountain peak and watched the sun rise over the horizon.
“Hmph,” he grumbled. “This should be interesting if nothing else.”