153 What Once Was (2/2)

It was a simple but effective tree. I lifted my left hand, creating a well of gravity. It molded easier and stronger than before. I nodded, satisfied with the tree's result. I opened Force of Nature, curious about its increased effects.

Force of Nature(lvl 2,068) - You are nature-given fury. Enhances all techniques and application of skills within this ability, including but not limited too: Close Range Combat, Runic skills, Telekinesis, Gravitation, Sensory Abilities, Bearing, and Draining Abilities.

Bonus Attributes: 240 Strength, 240 Dexterity, 96 Constitution, 96 intelligence, 48 Perception. +24 to all attributes for having a 2,000 total in a legendary skill.

Ability Bonus: +180%

Mana Cost Reduction: 36%

The awards stacked up. The attributes helped round out my build a bit. The real money makers were the ability bonus and mana cost reduction. They enhanced my abilities dramatically. Making the gravitational singularities would be more natural now for instance.

After reading through those bonuses, I checked out my cipher enhancements next.

[Modifications - The dimensional fabric composing this structure has been modified with code from the dimensional cipher. With mana, further bonuses can be applied. The bonuses are as follows:

+72 Strength

+72 Dexterity

+6,080 Endurance

+100% to effect of legacies

+3,040 Willpower

+50% to internal motivation]

As usual, the cipher never disappointed me. The sheer volume of free stats really mounted at this point, and my build was snowballing out of control. With all that finished, I finally checked out my status.

Dimension-C138(Level 5,653)

Strength – 5,902 | Constitution – 10,352 | Endurance – 42,195

Dexterity – 2,349 | Willpower – 24,133 | Intelligence – 8,767

Charisma – 832 | Luck – 2,943 | Perception – 931

Health: 7.15 Million/7.15 Million | Health Regen: 16.8 Million/min or 280,637/sec

Stamina: 4.60 Million/ 4.60 Million | Stamina Regen: 66,268/sec

Living Dimension: 1.03 Trillion/4.30 Trillion

Mass: 484,310 pounds(220,427.5 kilos~) | Height: Actual -12'4(3.76 meters)Current - 9'10

Damage Res - 98.5% | Dimensional Res - 49.25%

Phys Dam Bonus – 533,147% | Damage Bonus – 40%

Event Horizon – 20,000 + (100% of your total health)/min

My attributes crawled up over time. The main difference was in my physical damage. It and my mass increased by over a tenth. With the status work handled, I jogged back towards the village. Halfway there, I realized something.

My disguise was in tatters.

I facepalmed. Of course it was. I just fought a level 5,000 monster. There wasn't really armor on the galactic market that could handle that kind of stress. I opened my status, sending Torix a message on what happened. Within minutes, he replied,

Torix Worm, of Darkhill(lvl 5,000 | Guild: Harbinger's Legion | Time: 7:34 P.M. 0/25/31) - Ah yes, of course....you destroyed your armor within the first day. Fret not! I made sure to pack dozens of extras. Do be more careful, if that is at all possible.

I laughed at the message. Torix knew me like the back of his hand. The letter uploaded a few coordinates into my mini-map. I followed them, reaching a ravine two miles from the village. Bushes lined the top of it, and a sunset glowed in the distance. I waited by watching the creek flowing in the middle of the ravine.

Bubbles of glowing, blue mana rose from the ground. Fish swam up from the crystal clear water, gobbling up these bits of mana. Every once in a while, birds swooped down and tried their luck at catching one. About five minutes into watching the spectacle, Torix walked out of a portal.

He turned towards me, brushing himself off,

”Ah, good to see you've been fighting giant monsters. I told the others you wouldn't relax a single moment while here. You didn't rest while on Earth. Why would Giess be any different?”

I raised an eyebrow, ”What? I relax all the time. I was just watching some fish.”

Torix rolled his eyes, ”While waiting for me. Otherwise, you'd be finished with this quest and hunting for more.”

I shrugged, ”Why waste my time?”

Torix pulled a gray ring from his robe, tossing it at me, ”The classic saying of a workaholic.”

I caught the disc while standing up. I tore my broken armor off, setting the new exosuit on my chest. It formed over me, an exact replica of the previous ones. Torix pointed at the portal,

”Want a shortcut back to the village?”

I grinned, ”Of course.”

I walked through the black portal and back into the town square.Far more people walked outside than before, most of them espen. The amphibians were made every color of the rainbow. At the same time, all of them followed a simple pattern of appearance.

Their skin was one color except for the patterns running down their sides. They all had amber eyes. Lastly,their hair was mostly a tail colored like their pattern and skin shade mixed together.

They all wore some mixture of leather and carbon nanofiber. Mist covered some parts of them, and they showed more skin than people would in the same weather. All in all, they were interesting to look at.

Torix leaned towards me, ”They're actually nocturnal for the most part. That's why we saw none of the natives prancing around. If you think of their biology-”

I cut in, ”They'd avoid light since it would dry them out. It probably stresses the mana requirements for their mist clouds too.”

Torix raised an eyebrow, ”Ah, are you doing research as well?”

I shook my head, ”Not yet. Just observations.”

Torix pointed at Althea and Kessiah walking out of a wizarding shop, ”Then observe the change there as well.”

I cupped my chin, ”Ah yes, noted.”

Althea wore a flowing garment, something that covered her but showed her curves. It looked like something worn in the desserts back on earth. She kept a veil over her face, showing the outline of her features and her eyes. I couldn't make out her face through it though, even with my sharp sight.

Kessiah wore a tighter outfit, more fitted to her figure. She wore a veil too, keeping herself covered. Unlike Althea, Kessiah didn't let her hair flow down her back. My guess was because of the white color, and her height would give away her revenant status.

I waved at them, and they walked over. As the lovely ladies reached us, I smiled under my gray helmet at Althea,

”You look stunning.”

Kessiah put a hand on her chest, ”Oh thank you, darling.”

Althea rolled her eyes, ”Thanks. Torix said something about replacing your armor?”

I nodded, ”I finished off something called a yana cluster.”

Althea raised both her hands, ”Ew. Sounds pretty gross.”

I raised my hands, waving my fingers, ”Oh it was. A bunch of orange worms took over the corpse of a gialgathen.”

Something grabbed my shoulder. As I turned around, a thin, lanky alien starred back at me. He had black pupils and pale green skin. His ornate robe was a mixture of furs from native wildlife. Behind him, two bodyguards held rifles in hand.

The lanky alien smiled at me, ”Are you the stranger I've heard so much about? It's good to meet you. If you wouldn't mind, come this way?”

The bodyguards stiffened, grasping their rifles. The green alien squeezed my suit,

”The Empire would like a word with you.”