Alistair glanced up from his hand, letting the warm sensation of the scale wash over him before fixing his gaze on the crystalline treasure. Its twisted, shriveled form seemed... off, subtly different in a way he couldn’t quite define. Hesitant, he studied it, trying to pinpoint the change, but the moment his focus shifted, the crystal seemed to subtly warp again.
It twisted and contorted, moving as if it only dared to shift when unwatched—eerily reminiscent of the Hirsin. Even so, he doubted they were eldritch in nature, though the similarities weren't lost on him.
Countless eyes peered back at him from its dark surface, their flickering emotions creating an unsettling chaos. Amid the turmoil, two feelings stood out above all others—dismay and unbridled rage.
King landed heavily beside him, his cautious gaze fixed on the strange treasure. Though the crystal was now barely larger than Fluffy’s childlike form, its cursed eldritch aura was unsettling but contained.
Riseth circled the crystal with measured steps, keeping a healthy distance as she examined it. Her tail flicked sharply before she let out an annoyed tsk. “This isn’t the result I was hoping for. It’s taken on far more eldritch qualities than I expected,” she muttered, frustration clear in her tone.
“We should sell it, destroy it, or seal it somewhere,” King cut in, his voice firm as he regarded the crystal with disdain. “I refuse to use that thing to cultivate my powers.”
“It seems almost alive,” Fluffy murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. Alistair could feel her shudder slightly as she perched on his shoulders.
Riseth stepped forward, her expression unreadable, before waving her hand and storing the blackened crystal in her storage. “I’m beat, and I think we can all agree it’s time to leave this realm and relax for a bit,” she announced with a heavy sigh, exhaustion creeping into her tone.
Definitely enough excitement for a while," Alistair agreed, his voice carrying a mix of relief and weariness.
They spent only a little more time exploring the remains of the realm, taking the opportunity to store some of the unique plants and trees for good measure. With their task complete, they took to the skies, heading back toward the stormy edge of the pocket realm.
After passing through the storm, they made their way toward the portal; Alistair turned his gaze toward the ever-churning storm that encased the realm. A flash of lightning illuminated the outline of a truly gargantuan sea creature, its massive form briefly visible through the tempest before vanishing into the roiling storm.
A shiver ran through him as he sensed its presence—a deep dread mingling with an overwhelming aura of power. Whatever it was, it radiated a strength nearing grade 3 or even 2, a level far beyond his current capabilities. He knew it was something he wouldn’t be able to face for perhaps hundreds of years—a timeline that still felt surreal. Living that long was a concept he had never expected or dared to hope for.
This realization only deepened his resolve. Alistair had always worked tirelessly to make his life meaningful and memorable, striving to achieve his goals. That mindset hadn’t changed, even after the initiation; if anything, it had strengthened.
A quiet chuckle escaped him, drawing Fluffy’s curious gaze as she turned to look at the fleeting outline of the leviathan in the storm.
He petted her head gently as he began descending toward the portal. "Nothing to worry about. Not yet, at least," he murmured.
Once back in their room, Alistair sank into the couch, letting out a sigh as his thoughts shifted to the present. He knew rest wouldn’t last long, not with the turbulent times ahead.
"I’m ordering from the Ficheras. Want anything?" Riseth asked, plopping down next to him with an easy grace.
"LomLom Pizza would be great," Alistair replied, eyeing her warily. "And please tell me you’re not ordering pasta after all that."
Riseth snickered, a teasing smile playing on her lips. "Maybe I am."
Alistair shook his head, a wry smile playing on his lips as he pulled up his skills. Beside him, Fluffy shifted back into her serpent form, curling up on Riseth’s lap. A soft hiss of contentment escaped her as Riseth idly ran her fingers through Fluffy’s feathered body.
Tier: [Supreme]
Name: Mental Fortress
Description: This skill passively increases the user's resilience against [Mind] attacks by a massive degree, scaling with the user's [Mind] statistic. The skill can further protect the user by creating a series of mental barriers shielding the user at a slight energy reserve cost of either [Qi] or [MP]. The user's heavenly purity, serenity, and clarity augmentations greatly increase the user's resilience against any type of manipulation or corruption, such as eldritch influence, curses, and other ailments that could possibly afflict the mind and alleviate most kinds of pressures afflicting the mind, even self-inflicted through skills or overstraining of the user's focus.
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Tier: [Supreme]
Name: Arcane Energy Manipulation
Description: Increases the efficiency and speed at which the user converts and transfers energies such as Mana into Qi by a massive degree using arcane means. The user may rapidly convert one energy into another at a slight loss of efficiency. Reduces overall energy loss from transferring and converting energies within the user's body by a large amount. Significantly Improves the conversion of [Power] into any type of energy and vice versa. The skill scales with the [Control] Statistic at a high efficiency. The user's augmented physiology greatly optimizes the conversion process within their body, albeit at a slightly reduced rate outside the body compared to internal conversion.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
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Tier: [Supreme]
Name: Cold Rage
Description: Enter a state of controlled cold rage. When active, the skill increases the user's resilience to damage both physical and mental by a very large degree. It also increases [Power] & [Control] by a significant degree while continuously draining the users [Qi] by a small amount based on the energy expended and damage taken. After extended use, the user becomes weary and exhausted, with all affected stats temporarily reduced for a brief period depending on how long the skill was maintained.
Alistair was pleased with his progress. His recent gains in levels and skill upgrades were far greater than he had expected, almost reminiscent of the rapid growth he had experienced during the trial. If they could sustain this rate of advancement, they would have a reliable means of growing stronger without stepping on anyone’s toes—though he fully intended to continue bounty hunting. The thought brought a spark of excitement. Knowing it would also serve to clean house and contribute to making his fledgling universe a better place was merely the cherry on top.
He had reached level 141, tantalizingly close to his next skill selection. As he reviewed his newly upgraded abilities, he noted with some surprise that Blazing Edge and Kinetic Poleaxe Proficiency were still not among them, despite their frequent use. Perhaps it was because those skills didn’t yet scale with any of his statistics—one of the key reasons why Mental Fortress had upgraded. Its advancement owed much to his steadily increasing Mental stat and his careful brain augmentations, which had fortified his defenses against mental assaults while enhancing his ability to maintain clarity in the chaos of battle.
His gaze lingered on Cold Rage, now upgraded, though the feeling it brought was far from satisfaction. It was a decent boosting skill, but he had always resented how it left him feeling detached, stripping away the joy and thrill of combat. It reduced him to a cold, calculating machine of death, suppressing his personality save for rare, fleeting moments when his true self shone through. He longed for the day when he could render the skill entirely obsolete.
Regarding his last skill upgrade, it wasn’t overly surprising—it was a skill he mostly used passively at this point. For a while, Arcane Energy Manipulation had even served as a makeshift healing ability, but with his ongoing work on a Regeneration Augmentation, he wouldn’t need to rely on it for that purpose anymore. The fact that the skill now scaled with Control was a significant boon. This alignment would allow it to grow naturally through the grades without requiring him to drastically improve its efficiency or add redundant effects to what he already considered an ideal skill.
Considering Blazing Edge and Kinetic Poleaxe Proficiency, Alistair decided it was time to dedicate effort to pushing these skills to the next tier. Both were on the cusp of an upgrade due to his continuous refinement in combat techniques, and he was nearing a breakthrough into a higher tier of weapon mastery. His movements had become significantly smoother, and his intuition for countering and reacting to various weapons had improved greatly.
However, one critical element still held him back from fully elevating his skills to the Epic or even Supreme level for his grade. His cuts lacked the consistent ability to extend beyond the reach of his weapon, a foundational capability for any weapon master of his tier. While he had compensated for this gap with the use of his magical abilities, he knew that true mastery would require integrating this ability into his weapon techniques rather than relying on his magic. This was the final hurdle he needed to overcome at this grade.
Having reviewed his skills and allocated his stat points, Alistair crossed a significant milestone—his Mental Stat finally breaking past the 2000 threshold, the last of his stats to do so. It made sense, given the low multiplier of only 55%, which had been holding it back. There just weren’t many beasts out there that specialized in mental attributes, making it difficult to find reliable sources to boost it.
He mulled over the idea of finding public hunting grounds maintained by the Coalition. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it might give him what he needed to fix the imbalance.
Alistair was just about to focus on the finale, eagerly navigating to his title section, when a drone arrived with their pizza. The delivery briefly disrupted his flow, but he didn't mind as he joined Riseth in setting the table, pleased to see she had opted for pizza over pasta today. Grabbing a slice, he pulled up his newly acquired title.
Tier: [Supreme]
Name: Abyssborn Slayer
Effect:
Grants a 20% bonus to [Mind] statistics. Greatly increases mental fortitude against Eldritch influences and protects the Slayer from Abyssal ailments such as mutations and madness.
Origin: Acquired by slaying multiple remnants of extremely high-tier abyssal monstrosities.
"Did you get the Abyssborn Slayer title too?" Alistair leaned forward, his interest evident.
"Yeah," Riseth replied after taking the last bite of her slice. "I also got the Eldritch Binder title."
Alistair's eyes narrowed slightly, intrigued. "Eldritch Binder? What's that do?"
"It's a mix of combat and crafting," Riseth explained, her tone steady but with a hint of pride. "It gives me a 10% multiplier to my control and mind stats, plus bonuses for subduing and sealing. On top of that, it boosts crafting and enchanting with cursed and eldritch essences and beings."
Alistair gave her a sidelong glance as she snatched one of his pizza slices. "Your tendency to pick up skills and abilities that are suspiciously evil hasn’t changed," he remarked, sliding one of her Lirsaross slices onto his plate in retaliation.
Riseth let out a laugh. "You’re not entirely wrong," she admitted, a teasing smile lighting up her face. "Though a lot of it comes from Earth’s preconceived notions about what’s considered evil or sketchy."
Alistair raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "Crafting with cursed and eldritch beings?"
"Yeah, no, that’s sketchy as fuck," she agreed without hesitation.
Before Alistair could continue the conversation, he felt Viv’s presence approaching. Turning his head toward the stairs leading to their plateau that housed the Peak and Heavenly Purity Ginkgo, he caught sight of her.
Viv, the size of a panther, was struggling to drag the oversized body of a Lirsaross through the far-too-narrow corridor.
Alistair stared in disbelief and was very thankful for the self-cleaning enchantments on their apartment as blood smeared everywhere. The sound of crunching echoed through the space as Viv finally managed to wedge part of the carcass through the corridor, though it thoroughly blocked the passage with what remained.
She pranced forward, clearly proud of her kill, and dropped the massive head along with part of the torso—still attached to one of the sickle-like clawed arms—right in front of them.
"For fuck's sake, Alistair, just give her the Pill of Enlightenment already," Riseth said, shaking her head. She lightly facepalmed before covering her mouth, barely suppressing a snicker.
