Chapter 432: Core (1/2)
‘ding’ ‘Sentinel Reconstruction reaches 3rd lvl 28’
‘ding’ ‘Azarinth Awakening reaches 3rdlvl 25’
‘ding’ ‘Sentinel Core reaches 3rd lvl 22’
‘ding’ ‘Armor of Ash reaches 3rd lvl 27’
‘ding’ ‘Aspect of Ash reaches 3rd lvl 24’
‘ding’ ‘Avatar of Ash reaches 3rd lvl 19’
‘ding’ ‘Arcane Magic Resistance reaches 3rd lvl 7’
…
‘ding’ ‘Arcane Magic Resistance reaches 3rd lvl 10’
‘ding’ ‘Mental Resistance reaches 3rd lvl 3’
…
‘ding’ ‘Mental Resistance reaches 3rd lvl 5’
‘ding’ ‘Pain Tolerance reaches 2nd lvl 11’
…
‘ding’ ‘Pain Tolerance reaches 2nd lvl 20’
‘ding’ ‘Pain Tolerance reaches 3rd lvl 1’
Pain Tolerance – 3rd lvl 1
Being a bit of a masochist, you have learned to ignore some of the pain. No, only physical pain. You’re feeling a little more numb towards pain but careful...the damage is still being done!
2nd stage: You’ve been through more pain than most others. You are now able to completely turn off your perception of pain. Be wary as there is a reason pain exists.
3rd stage: Pain comes in many forms. Pain to your body which you have learned to ignore. Pain to the mind itself which you have resisted. Pain to your soul, which you have endured. A pain coming with the forces of magic, the arcane, tearing and cutting at the core of what you are. You have experienced pain beyond which can be survived. And yet you live. A testament of resilience and perseverance, regeneration and a powerful mind. Let it fuel you, empower you. Pain now lets you focus, clears your mind instead of distracting it. You shall not be broken.
‘ding’ ‘Pain Tolerance reaches 3rd lvl 2’
‘ding’ ‘Soul Magic Resistance reaches lvl 9’
…
‘ding’ ‘Soul Magic Resistance reaches 2nd lvl 1’
Soul Magic Resistance – 2nd lvl 1
The fleeting conscience of man and beast. Flesh, energy, motion and thought. The Soul stands separate entirely, yet intertwined all the same. Through hardship you have learned understanding, not through meditation and study. A brutal yet comforting truth, strengthening that which cannot be grasped.
2nd stage: Battered and cracked. Challenged and near broken. Your Soul has endured through sheer tenacity against that which meant to bring its end. A serene calm now sways through your very essence, changed and evolved, grounded and calm.
‘ding’ ‘Soul Magic Resistance reaches 2nd lvl 2’
‘ding’ ‘Soul Magic Resistance reaches 2nd lvl 3’
‘ding’ ‘Space Magic Resistance reaches 2nd lvl 9’
...
‘ding’ ‘Space Magic Resistance reaches 2nd lvl 14’
‘ding’ ‘Void Magic Resistance reaches lvl 10’
...
‘ding’ ‘Void Magic Resistance reaches 2nd lvl 1’
Void Magic Resistance – 2nd lvl 1
The mystical magic usually used to enchant high level items applied as a form of combat magic. It’s as deadly as it is silent. How exactly you survived is unclear, perhaps the caster willed it so. Next time it might work against a true enemy as well.
2nd stage: You have resisted the true magic of the Void, your body and will showing unrelenting grit. More than a simple spell will be required to invade your body with the void. Your very existence and all of its parts are connected to you through the threads of magic.
‘ding’ ‘Void Magic Resistance reaches 2nd lvl 2’
...
‘ding’ ‘Void Magic Resistance reaches 2nd lvl 9’
‘ding’ ‘One third tier General skill point awarded’
Ilea read through it all in passing, noticing how her mind focused as soon as her Pain Tolerance reached the third tier, keeping her calm and ready, her mind analyzing the changes. She understood why it had reached the third tier without a point necessary, the breakthrough possible thanks to her assisting abilities and the unique situation presented by the dense mana around her, collected for thousands of years and now funneled into her by the ancient being with destructive power. The fact that neither the Elemental or Trakorov attacking her had led to the same result made it even more meaningful.
She understood the change to her Soul, on a level she could not quite describe. The tears did not stop but she smiled when it advanced, as if she watched her child make its first friend, as if she was an innocent prisoner finally finding freedom after a decade long sentence. Neither applied to her and yet she felt them all the same. It was beautiful and confusing until the pain moved once again to the foreground of her thoughts and mind.
The change to her Void Magic Resistance was by far the most graspable and simple, the pain coming from that part of the arcane torrent flowing into her, moving to the background as she meditated.
Slowly, the power fizzled out and she was left with a feeling of lightness she had never experienced before.
For the first time in what felt like a lifetime, she breathed in, filling her lungs as her mind relaxed. Her eyes opened slowly, blinking as she looked at the Fae. A slight smile spread on her lips as her ash wiped away the tears, snot and blood covering her.
The Fae bowed deeply.
Friend
Pain
It added a thought of deep respect and relief.
“It’s alright now, little one.” She felt the mana around them had normalized. It was still dense and powerful, as all mana in the north, but a mere puddle to the ocean it had been before.
“We did it. Are you okay?” she asked.
The Fae nodded.
“What exactly happened anyway? It felt like the mana pushed into me just like a mana intrusion spell.”
The creature nodded again.
Destruction
Merging
Dispersion
“But energy can’t be destroyed, right? So it should still be somewhere around here, no? Even if it flowed into me.”
The Fae shook its head.
Complicated
“Hmm… as many things huh, little guy?” Ilea said and laid back, looking up at the ceiling and the runes covering all the metal.
“It’s like a huge battery, storage of energy… and you just sent all that energy into me?”
Yes
“Can I use it?”
No
Destructive
It pointed at her.
Ash
Healing
Ilea huffed. “I see. Kind of a waste then, eh? If I could just take that then it probably wasn’t a lot either.”
Wrong
Four
“Four what?” she asked.
Day
“Are you telling me four days have passed since you started?” she asked but couldn’t quite bring herself to care right now. She felt serene, calm.
The Fae nodded.
Apology
Pause
Dangerous
“Don’t worry about it. If people can’t be without me for a couple weeks, I did something wrong,” she said and chuckled. “That might change for a while though… if I finally start up that healing organization.”
The Fae sent a questioning thought.
“Hmm? I have quite a lot of wealth now, buildings as well as influence. I know compared to a Trakorov of you I’m pretty weak but for a human I’m very powerful. I should at least try to help out some people.”
Knight!
“I hate that you understand that concept,” she said and chuckled.
The Fae giggled into her mind.
Why?
“Why what?”
Help
“Seems right to me. Plenty of assholes around that cause misery and shit. I won’t involve myself too much. As soon as we have a class and some baselines, I’ll leave Trian to run it.”
Knight?
“Eh… not exactly. He’s an alright guy though. I hope he won’t put righteousness and law over our interests though.”
Dark
Knight
She formed a ball of ash and threw it at the giggling creature.
“How do you know all that anyway?” She didn’t expect an answer but it came nonetheless.
Travel
Watch
Talk
Read
“Are all Fae like that?” she asked.
Many
Knowledge
Important
“That it is. Cool that you get us, being what I assume to be immortal creatures and all.”
Understanding
Key
Ilea threw another ash ball but this time upwards, catching it again. “Never had a psychiatrist. I guess you kind of count.”
The Fae sadly didn’t lie down on a magical couch with a pen and notebook.
“It really hurt… you know.”
Know, the Fae sent, the thought laced with enough emotion to bring home the truth of its simple statement.
“Do you have classes as well? With skills that you have and can level?” she asked.
One
“And ten skills? Five active, five passive?”
The Fae nodded.
“Interesting… what about general skills? Like resistances. You weren’t taken by the corruption so you must have at least something like that.”
Yes
Healing
No
Pain
Difficult
“Yeah… it helps. You could join with the training if you want. I can heal you as you take damage.”
No
Body
Different
Dangerous
“I see. Well the offer stands. My future students are certainly going to participate in that.”
Sympathy