53 Difference in Status 3 - Decision and Future Action (1/2)
'What the hell, more shit to worry about....'
When Stigma checked his status out of curiosity, a notification appeared, contents that should be something to cause him some joy only to stop and think for a moment. After thinking it through, rather than a sort of blessing, it just gave him more of a headache.
But at the same time thankful for the current choices, if he added the other skills he had stored, a severe migraine will appear if they all appeared at once.
'Hmmm, Essence Reader, Poltergeist, Soul Eater, Taboo, Demon's Soul, I have to choose among these...'
First of, out of the five, two should be taken out without question, namely Taboo and Poltergeist.
Taboo was a skill that just spells trouble when Stigma first learned about it, although he had it for sometime, it's actual use has yet to be discovered. What concerned him more was that it only levels up when he absorbs souls of still living beings, so he really wanted to to avoid using it and seal it in the future.
Poltergeist on the other hand was a skill Stigma was against force evolving it when he first heard about the upgrade; going by how it works, he can just let it evolve on its own, as long as he lets Dusk kill some prey, while slowly understanding what Dusk was really capable of.
During his free time, he experimented with Dusk and 'Essence Reader' to help level both of them, contrary to what he initially thought, Dusk didn't level up by just following orders. But by letting it kill a bunch of Beast it helps get stronger in a way, what concerned him was that if he kept on force evolving on its own, Dusk won't be flexible to most orders from now on.
He always did wonder as to why Dusk was still around and didn't disappear, but Stigma expected that everything will be explained once he asked the Demon when he has the chance.
So his choices had been limited to three left.
'Essence Reader' was a skill that allows Stigma to check his surrounding along with viewing his and others status, depending on the level the range increases by the radius in two meters each, so he needs it to level up no matter what. But he can just reuse the skill over and over since it was getting close to ranking up on its own.
'Soul Eater' was a skill that allows him to gain, separate and stores the surrounding energies and skills from deceased being, with no problem; like the 'Essence Reader' the levels equals the distance of kilometers. But the issue was, he wanted to find a way to get souls one by one, to avoid another incident where he overeats again, he had a feeling the Demon would be more difficult to handle in the future if he were to attempt another breakthrough.
As for the last one, Demon's Soul was from the Little Demons, so he had to study it carefully, if he wasn't careful he would go down the wrong path; since he had just recently received it, so immediately leveling it would be a waste. But if he were to choose it now, he can find out more about its use.
...
'....Only one comes to mind, and I think it's the right one!' Out of all the options Stigma made his choice, it might be a waste but he just had to bear with the consequences later.
”I choose, Essence Reader!”
*BING!*
[Congratulation Dear Host, you have use the excess energy from the Demon's Soul to rank up 'Essence Reader' to IV]
[Due to excess energy, skill has ranked up once more to Rank V]
[Congratulation Dear Host, you have broken the boundaries of skill 'Essence Reader' into Rank V, from then on, all information will be reevaluated to suit the Host needs.]
[Processing new status format....]
*BING!*
[Name: Stigma Falsus
Age: 10
Rank: Unique (I)(Early stage)
0 / 10000
Strength: 10 - > 160
Agility:10 - > 180
Vitality: 10 - > 260
Zen Reserves: 1700 / 1700
Skill:
Essence Reader(V) 0%, Poltergeist (III) (1) 60%, Soul Eater (V) 0%,Taboo(III) 45%, Demon's Soul 5%
*
Current Souls Absorbed: Soul of Impurity (I), Wolf Soul (II), Snake Soul (I), Stag Soul
(I), Bear Soul (I), Eagle Soul (I), Bull Soul (I), Boar Soul (I), Monkey Soul (I), Cheetah
Soul (I), Rabbit Soul (I), Rat Soul (I), Goat Soul (I), Bat Soul (I)
*
Pure Energy: 220%
Grudge Energy: 104%
Wrath Energy: 140%
Fire Energy: 104%
Earth Energy: 103%
Water Energy: 20%
Light Energy: 4%
***
Stock Piled Souls:
Soul of Wrath:(Complete - 100%)
Tiger Soul: 30%
Snake Soul: 80%
*Familiars:*
1. Dusk (I)(1) (270 / 2500)
2. Brunhilda (I) (300 / 3000)
3. Kirin (I) (180 / 2000)
*
***
After reading the status and comparing the past one, he finally understood what changes had happened.
'I finally have states to work with!' Uncontrollable joy overcame Stigma, he always wondered if he was imbalanced or not, and he somehow gained new information on his new status window. The anxiety of not knowing always bothered him, but now he had something to work with.
But that wasn't the only thing that made him jump for joy, since he gained the Demon's soul, a stream of information entered his head before his could ask.
The changes are as follows; His previously empty stage and tier had turned into the Early Stage and First Tier, it just shows that he still had to follow the laws of the world, but it only proves that he really did broke through all the way from the Zero Tier to the next Tier.
Below the ranking is something similar to the Exp. Bar in RPG games, from what he can understand, as long as he has full reserves, he can convert any excess Zen energy to be his reserves for his future break through. At the same time he can use it during his future battles, which makes it more difficult to have an easy break through.
But that wasn't the only thing he discovered, information entered his head and apparently the rank in his status screen dictates the reserves he can have after each break through, but that also means he has got to have larger reserves from now own.
When he saw his reserves, being in the unique rank wasn't just some form of exaggeration, along with his familiar's breakthrough points, that means they were monsters in their own category.
”That means I can tell when we can go through a break through! Nice!” As for the Demon Soul, it only levels up when he beast the Demon from time to time, depending on his Tier the more he can increases it level.
But that would also mean he could use his reserves to train in his cultivation method: 'Way of the Caged Soul: Demon's Release'.
If he only meditated to accumulate his reserve, he would be able to have a breakthrough at an earlier date but immediately ignores his training and experience; if he were only go through battles, then all his movements and skills would be polished, but then he would be dying earlier than usual if he had fought a powerful opponent out of nowhere. If he only trains, no experience was gained through combat and he will exhaust his reserves more than usual without seeing actual progress.
So going by what the Demons said, the cultivation method Stigma was going through was the 'High Risk and High Return' type. All he had to do was to accumulate his reserves, then enter the 'Inner World', train like he was in hell and gain experience in actual combat, without the risk of dying, sort of deal.
Finally, the one thing that could help him with all his troubles, his physical stats.
”But how are they calculated?” Closing his eyes for a moment, he thought of only one possibility. Moving his finger towards the tabs full of beast souls got his answer.
*Strength = Attack + Defense
*Agility= Speed + Reflexes
*Vitality = Endurance + Stamina + Dexterity