"Besides that," Rakna changed the subject. "What about Echo and Ruin? What do they do?"
"Hm, it's a bit hard to explain. Summarized, Echo is a very powerful support-type affinity that can repeat the effects of a spell or a physical attack, in an echoing pattern; with each echo weaker than the previous. It's my favorite magic. As for Ruin, it's a rare element falling under the categorization of 'Destruction'."
The therian hummed as he listened. There were certain branches of magic that had been given a name due to their intrinsic nature. The most notorious were Black, White, Green, Craft, Elemental, Destruction, Creation, Conception, and Model Magic.
In concerns to Destruction Magic, for instance, things like Fang's Corrosion were part of it. Atomic dispersion, the act of disassembling atoms or molecules, represents half of that branch.
"Then what is your Ruin used for exactly? Decomposition? Rapid aging?"
"Close. It's actually a bit of a mix with conceptual magic. What I can do is apply the state of 'ruin' to a target. But the thing is, ruin can mean different things based on what or who it is used on."
"Sounds hard to control."
"It is," Higure nodded exasperatingly. "But it is powerful. I also rarely use it alone. The thing I was known for back in the day wasn't either Echo or Ruin, it was the combination of both. My Union Magic, Echoes of Ruin."
"What are its characteristics?"
The lioness smiled. "It's a surprise. When I reach level 100, I can spar with you if you want. You might need to prepare yourself in case you lose a leg or two."
"Sure," Rakna snorted. "Anyway, enough chit-chat. Go back to the others."
"Eh?! Why?!"
"I'm going to be testing 'that' and I can't bring you with me."
Higure scowled and jumped off his shoulder to stand in midair with a bastardized version of Air Step made with only raw mana. "Are you sure? It's kind of risky. I did say it was possible… but it's a conjecture at best."
"Well, we're about to see, no?" Rakna retorted and transformed into a werewolf. He then deployed his four wings. With a closer look, you could see that his first pair sprouted from the middle of his back while his most recent one was located a bit below that. One could deduce that the last pair of wings would grow higher, closer to his shoulders.
"Fine…" The lioness reluctantly agreed. "But you better--"
"Yes, yes, I'll call you if it's needed. The good thing about my Imperial Guard is that I can call you from across all Plateaus," he said. "Also, tell my clone to not spend his day humoring Kaelith. I'm sure she will be persistent."
"Right…" Higure mumbled as she recalled the moment she woke up; she almost fainted when she saw two Rakna's standing together. One of them only had one tail so it was easy to tell what had happened. Even she knew of the Nine-Tailed Clan's most famous talents. The Tailed Pearl was of course the most popular, but the Tail Clone didn't rank too far from it.
"It was a good idea to leave it there to pacify the girls."
"No, they're probably still mad since they don't where I, the original, is."
"…true. By the way, where's the second one?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. "You shed two of your tails. I didn't see the second when I woke up."
"I sent him out early. He's testing in-depth our new body and the privileges we share or not. I'll be joining him right now," Rakna replied and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his pupils had turned into crosses and dimensional energy was gathering around him.
"[Rift Shuttle,]" he whispered and his wings began to move around him. "See you later. Go hunt and train with my clone. Even with only a fifth of myself, he's still strong."
Higure scoffed. "Of course, he is." As she uttered that, the black wings outlined by silver and red entirely covered Rakna. They started glowing with an invisible power and a voice resounded.
"[Wings of Spatial Collapse.]"
Then, the feathered cocoon rotated immensely fast. It was to a point it gave the illusion of a black drill. In the blink of an eye, it shrunk to nothingness and vanished, leaving a small depression in the atmosphere that was quickly filled by a gust of wind.
Higure squinted her eyes as she concentrated on her connection to her 'master'. After a minute or two, she sighed. "Okay, he's not dead. That's that, at least," she mumbled sarcastically and used an imitation of Flash Step to dash away. She had evidently possessed that skill in the past.
But if she wanted to re-learn it without a Skill Card, she would need to practice it until it was consolidated by the System. This was how Locals or Wilden learned a skill without a Card; practice until you are sick of it.
"Now that I think about it, he should almost be done with his decryption," she recalled the fact that Rakna had started to study the formation of Flash Step a few days ago in order to make Skill Cards for his group.
She mused and landed in front of the apartment. She latched onto the door's handle and fished out an electronic card from a spatial ring hidden by her fur. She swung the door open and leaped inside as it closed behind her.
"Hey, brats! I'm back. Are you awake yet?" She raised her voice.
"What do you mean 'he left'?!" The vixen's voice boomed. "Aaaah! You're annoying! No, wait, he's annoying! No, you are both annoying!"
"Stop shaking me… I'm weaker right now."
Higure entered the bedroom with a deadpan face as she beheld Kaelith shaking a one-tailed Rakna around like he was a doll. His face was so empty it looked like he had given up on life.
'Poor him,' the lioness thought and glanced at the others who were a bit confused about what was happening. Aside from Nyx, who had been awake when Rakna detached two tails from his body and made them morph into clones of himself.
"Tch, and here I wanted to force him on a date…" The vixen muttered.
"Force, you say…" Rakna reacted blankly. "Also, technically, I'm still him," he retorted.
"Yes, yes, I know," Kaelith rolled her eyes and let go of him. "Don't worry, we are used to dealing with Tail Clones back in the Clan. I'm not going to say you're inferior to the original. For all intents and purposes, you are Rakna… But the fact is that you… 'he' made 'you' stay here because 'he' didn't want us to be worried. But 'he' still went to god knows where!"
"Give myself some slack," the therian jested with a small smile. "I need to get stronger and I'm not used to relaxing when I'm in that mindset. That's why I thought Tail Clone would be handy to deal with, you know, social stuff? I can do several things at the same time with this. How can I not use it to its full extent?"
"…" Everyone in the room stared at him.
His eyebrow rose. "…what?"
"Is this what they call a workaholic?" Nyx commented amusingly.
Flavia sighed. "I think you might be right…"
"What is your original-self doing anyway if he's not climbing Plateaus?" Kaelith inquired.
"Experimenting and searching for something," Rakna shrugged. "More importantly, what did you guys want to do today? If you really want to take a break, I don't mind. But Pronos is close to hitting level 100. He might be able to evolve today."
"Evolve?" Flavia tilted her head.
"Pets are capable of evolving when they reach the 100th level," Kaelith explained and observed the little snake dozing off on one of the beds. "I do admit to being curious since I was told he possesses the Hydra bloodline… I can't predict his evolution paths at all."
"What about Tyran and Higure?" Evelyn asked curiously. "Can they evolve?"
"We can," the lioness immediately replied. "As long as a pet gets a potential rank, it has the ability to evolve. The fledgling Asura and I have S ranks. However, compared to those two, I will probably have a weaker evolution because my innate power is, in a way, already actualized. The only thing it will do to me is getting me closer to my prime but for them," she pointed her paw at Tyran and Pronos. "It's another story."
Kaelith nodded. "As she says, they each hold untapped potential in the form of 'Anti-Magic Asura' and 'Hydra'. Especially Pronos. His abilities are incredibly unique."
"Does that mean you're curious enough to not force me anywhere today?" Rakna asked with a hopeful tone and she huffed with a faint blush.
"Barely. I'll even tag along and cancel my plans. What is your highest current Plateau?"
"We reached the 50th yesterday."
"Then we'll go there."
"Before that," Flavia interrupted them with a smile. "Let's eat breakfast, shall we?" She said whilst heading out of the room to get to the kitchen.
"I'll help you," the vixen followed after her and Rakna scowled.
"You can cook?"
"Of course."
The therian squinted his eyes.
"…why do you look so doubtful? I can cook perfectly well, all right?"
"…"
"Stop looking at me like that!"
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* * *
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Meanwhile, a few moments earlier, on a meadow full of greenery, a distortion in the air appeared and two pairs of wings faded into existence as they unfurled themselves. The werewolf that was veiled under them grunted and shrunk to a therian form.
Rakna staggered forward a bit and groaned. He put a hand to his temple and then used the other to wipe the pinkish blood flowing from his nose and the corner of his mouth. He clicked his tongue and looked at his finger. "Looks like even the color of my blood changed."
[| Purified Composition. Improves Nutriment Storage and Transportation. |] The Eye of Symphony abruptly explained without a question being voiced.
"Uh," Rakna uttered. "I guess I asked unconsciously," he muttered and flexed his shoulders along with his wings a few times before retracting them inside his body.
He exhaled and let go of the small amounts of dimensional energy around him; it had taken a huge toll on him to use the teleportation skill and break through the boundaries between Plateaus.
"I got minor internal injuries and broken bones but it was healed fast enough," he muttered and clenched his hand. "This body isn't bad."
"{Not bad, he says,}" Fray said sardonically. "{Do you hear him, Lady Cerestia?}"
[I do. But I have adapted to Rakna's lack of common sense. Or rather, his blatant disregard for it.]
"{Hahaha! You, Lady, have become so much more fascinating. I wonder what happened to cause such a drastic change. Even if you are an S Class AI, there must have been a very impactful stimulus for you to develop this way.}"
[That is not my place to answer.]
"Don't bother Ceres, Fray," Rakna uttered before looking around. This was the 45th Plateau at the exact location he imagined when he used his Nirvana Skill. "So, it worked. And it only took 500 MP with the full 50% reduction. There were a few complications but I can probably resolve them after a few more tries."
"{You can be proud of yourself. Very few people can break through the boundaries of Plateaus on their own,}" Fray praised. "{Especially at your level; it is unheard of.}"
"I can see that," Rakna said as he looked over a certain system window in front of him.
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❮ ◈ ❯
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You have traveled Plateaus through your own strength!
You receive 1 Skill Point, 10 Volatile Points, 20 Free Points, and 5 000 exp for this feat!
Level up!
Level up!
Level up!
Level up!
+0.4 STR, SPD, INT
+5 Free Points
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You have gained the Title; Limitless Traveler!
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Limitless Traveler
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A title bestowed to the most audacious of travelers who have dared to challenge the most daunting of paths and destinations. The bearer of this medal will become insusceptible to all sorts of physical or spatial incarcerations. Their teleportation or movement abilities won't be able to be disrupted by anyone at their level.
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❮ ◈ ❯
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"Hm, there is no numerical effect for this one but I guess it means that no regular magic array can stop me from using Wings of Collapse," Rakna muttered. "The Skill and Volatile Points are a nice bonus too. I reached a total of 200 points saved... I have more than enough to get all my attributes to 100 at the same time."
"{Will you carry through your First Ascent now?}"
"Maybe later. But for now, there are things that take higher priority," he retorted and eyed the sky where he saw a blue light resembling a shooting star approaching his location.