I knelt like that, in a field of blood and gore, for a long time. As I did, a multitude of emotions rose up within me, most of which I didn't recognize. But slowly, they faded away, replaced by a chilling calm. The calm wasn't exactly comforting, but it was familiar, like a book I had read cover to cover many times over.
I dragged my tired body to its feet and turned around. The light of dawn glinted off the many pools of blood that lay scattered on the battlefield. I began to walk towards the fortifications. By the time I reached them, the calm had completely taken hold. I had just enough energy to climb over the earth walls and into the camp. I was greeted by cheering and hollering. It made sense, I had just saved them from certain demise.
I made my way to the commander's tent. My rank wasn't high enough to enter, but the guards didn't dare stop me. In their eyes, I could see a mixture of respect and fear. I pushed aside the tent flap and found lord James collapsed in a chair, he looked up as I entered. His face was a portrait of grief, his once strong and determined gaze replaced with deep-set helplessness.
"When do we leave"
He looked confused for a moment, as if he hadn't heard me, but quickly gathered himself.
"We leave at first light tomorrow, I need a day to organize the troops"
His voice sounded weak. I nodded and left the tent. I made my way back to the chair I had formed the previous night, sat down, and fell into a light sleep.
Hours later, I felt a presence approach me. My body moved by its own in my half-conscious state of rest. To a common observer, it would look as if I simply appeared in front of the presence, my dagger at Its throat. I unconjured my weapon when I found that it was just a soldier, now trembling in fear. After a few seconds the solider, a boy my age, spoke up,
"L-L-Lo-ord J-J-James in-informed me to w-wake you"
I nodded my head slightly and the boy scurried off. The camp had disappeared, replaced by rows of soldiers preparing to march. It was still dim, the sun barely risen, I had slept for almost an entire day. As I waited for the army to move, my thoughts turned to the day before. Only now did I realize that I had been surrounded by a storm of essence during my crazed slaughter. I mentally summoned my system screen and looked at the recent notifications.
[New skill devised, Rage of The Elements]
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[Rage of The Elements]
Rank SS
As a child of the world, your emotions strongly affect the essence around you. In a time of immense rage, you can call upon nature itself to ravage your foes.
-you can activate this skill without being in a state of rage, but doing so will force you into one
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'This could be useful in a pinch'
After another 20 minutes, the army departed
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The first two weeks of the return trip were completely uneventful. We dropped off most of the army at Monolith, Lord James only kept a few hundred troops for the trip to Dragon's Perch. As I had no new books to read, I passed the time training. I practiced with my glaive, chain cast spells, and sprinted through the wasteland and forest. I didn't bother to join the rest of the special forces in surveying the perimeter, I couldn't care less if there was an ambush.
Only a few days away from the capital, it happened, I reached rank 4. This time my body did not reforge itself. There was only a slight warmth in my head, and then my surroundings sharpened. In a radius of about ten feet(3m) around me, I could truly 𝘴𝘦𝘦 everything. It was different from my sense skills. Closer to sight, but not sight either. I just somehow knew what was there.
It took a few minutes to get used to it, but once I did, I realized its power. Every single tiny insect, bit of dust, falling leaf, I saw it all. I also saw that I had new notifications.
[New stat, sense, has been added to status screen]
[Sense has been merged with identification module. Raising the stat will increase the power of the module]
I opened my status screen.
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[Magnus Witherthorn]
Rank 4 - Mortal
Essence - 2041
Essence type - Myriad Elemental
[Strength] - 1242(+100)
[Agility] - 1538(+20)
[Dexterity] - 1294
[Intelligence] - 1388
[Spirit] - 140
[Sense] - 10
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Active skills:
[SS] - [Rage of The Elements]
[S] - [Sky Steps], [Sacrifice]
[A] - [Identify], [Wind Dash], [Assassinate], [Wind Bolt], [Earth Manipulation], [Summon Greater Scholar's Domain], [Carnage Pinwheel], [Shadow Cloak]
[B] - [Essence Boost], [Heat Sense], [Higher Speed Enhancement], [Conjure Ice Armament], [Seismic Sense], [Healing Orb]
[C] - [Conjure Shadow Dagger], [Reinforcement], [Flame lash], [Light Discharge]
[D] - [Fire Starter]
Passive skills:
[SS] - [The Blessing of Myriad elements]
[S] - [Pinnacle Dagger Mastery]
[A] - [Greater Arithmetic Mastery], [Greater calligraphy Mastery], [Danger Sense], [Greater Acrobatics Mastery], [Accelerated Regeneration], [Diamond Skin], [Essence Perception], [Greater Glaive Mastery] , [Giant's Endowment], [Greater Etiquette Mastery]
[B] - [Keen Senses], [Swift Steps], [Conceal Presence], [Higher Close Quarters Combat Mastery], [Uncanny Eyesight]
[C] - [Balance], [Movement Style: Silent Wisp], [Burn resistance], [Median Cooking Mastery]
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My stats continued their meteoric rise, even [Spirit] had gone up by twenty points. But I was more concerned with the new stat.
'The number most likely represents the range of the talent, as the other stats are all numerical representations of the strength of my mind and body. It will probably grow much slower than the other stats. The omnipresent sage must have been many ranks above me to have a range in the miles. Well, I suppose that's the only way he could have a brain that could handle so much information at once'
When we finally reached the capital, Lord James led me to the castle, It was huge, imposing, a behemoth of ruby red bricks and steel. I took no notice of its grandeur as I was led inside. A servant soon took Lord James's place and directed me to a large room, almost an indoor estate. He then took my measurements and left. I took a cold shower in the marble-tiled bathroom full of expensive, enchanted fixtures. I lay on the massive bed in a robe for an hour before the servant returned carrying many articles of formal dress. The servant fussed over me for about 15 minutes before he was satisfied.
I stood in front of a full-length mirror. I wore black silk pants, thread made from pure gold weaving through them like falling stars on a moonless night. A similarly midnight black shirt with long sleeves was tucked into a white leather belt with a silver buckle. It was the least fancy of the many outfits the servant had procured.
"Sir, I have been instructed to inform you of the manner in which you must conduct yourself during the audience"
"I've learned these things already, bring me to the king"
The servant looked like he was about to say something, but then a flash of fear passed through his eyes. The rumors must have already spread.
"Right this way sir"
The servant once more led me through the maze-like halls, though I memorized the path we took, until he stopped before a pair of grand doors. They were big, at least 15 feet tall, and inlaid with golden carvings of dragons with ruby eyes.
"His majesty awaits"
The servant bowed deeply to me and then walked away, moving faster than before. I stood silently before the door for a moment and then reached out to grab the thick silver handles. But before my hands could reach them, the doors swung inward on their own volition.
The room, which I assumed was the throne room, was full of activity. A crowd of people dressed in expensive clothing stood in rows before a dais. The dais held four chairs. In the center was a large throne, carved out of a single piece of what looked like black marble. On it sat the king, who was supposed to be over seventy but looked barely forty. Behind him stood a tall and fully armored man, the captain of the imperial guard. To the right of the king sat his wife and to his left, he two children.
All the whispering and commotion ground to a halt when the doors opened. I walked forward, knelt down on one knee, and bowed. My motions were graceful and fluid, like I had done them hundreds of times before. After a brief moment, the king's deep voice sounded.
"Rise, savior of my people and my kingdom"
I stood up and met his gaze with mine.
"Greetings, your Majesty"
He seemed momentarily startled, but barely let it show.
"I have called you here to reward you for your brave and selfless actions"
He couldn't have been farther off, but I didn't care to correct him.
"Naturally, I will be promoting you to the highest level of the special forces and giving you a large sum of gold. But this is not nearly enough of a reward, is there anything you desire?"
I had heard that question before.
"I have two requests, your Majesty. If you have any especially rare books, ones that can not be found in the royal library, I would like to read them. And I would also like to be released from military service while retaining access to the library"
The king's expression didn't change when he heard my first request, but I could see reluctance on his face when I stated the second. He wanted my power, but he knew he couldn't refuse, it would ruin his image. But more importantly, he knew I would leave anyway, and he was powerless to stop me.
"A humble request, it shall be done. You may return to your room, I will have the castle scoured for rare texts and have them delivered to you"
I bowed once more, turned around, and walked out of the room. The faces of the crowd held many emotions as their wearers glanced at me, but I ignored them entirely. When I arrived back in my room, I laid on the wide bed and soon entered my half-asleep state. I hadn't slept normally since the battle.
A few hours later, I awoke to the sound of knocking at my door. I stood up and opened it. A servant stood in the hall holding something wrapped in cloth. He bowed, handed it to me, and walked off without a word. After closing the door and sitting down in a large armchair I unwrapped the object. The king did not disappoint.
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[Theory of the Soul]
Rank SS
The final work of the great academic Clarence Fallen. It details and explains an advanced theory on the existence of souls and their purpose.
-Comprehend the truths behind this text to enhance your mind
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The book lived up to its rank. I didn't understand all of the specific terms, but it didn't impede my reading experience. Clarence thought that soul were semi tangible vessels in the brain that held the consciousness. He believed that the soul was directly linked to the body but invisible. He ran many experiments on small animals to see if he could find the soul. He even had powerful ascenders use detection skills on his brain to try and find something that could prove the existence of souls. In the end, he was unsuccessful, but his research greatly enhanced the mundane medical field. I realised as I read it that the book wasn't just a collection of his works, it was a diary and also a plea. A plea to any who read it to continue his research. It was a good read and I finally relaxed while reading It. I lost my self in it and the sun was already rising on a new day when I finished. But I didn't entirely notice, as my focus was on my new skill.
'I can't call this anything but overpowered'
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[Accelerated Cognitive Planning]
Rank SS
For a second, accelerate the speed of your thoughts by hundreds of times, allowing you to predict movements and plan a series of actions that will be carried out with zero delay.
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During a fight, every action and movement requires a split-second decision. To be able to entirely remove the need to make those decisions is different from just moving a little faster. It would be like my attacks were coming all at once, it would overwhelm even experts.
'Rank S skills are powerful, but rank SS skills are simply absurd'
I wasn't tired, as I had rested earlier, so I decided to finaily get to the library. As I walked through the castle I thought about my next move.
'The continent of Ebon is a large place. I'm on the southern end of it, a place inhabited by weak human countries. There are four powerful countries in the center of the continent competing over resources, I should head there. The Heizen demon kingdom's ruling family are sheep horned demons. From what I've read, sheep horned demons are notorious for being scholars'
I had exited the castle and was making my way through the now busying streets when I stopped and turned around. A man had appeared in the range of my sense, bypassing my other detection skills. But when I looked at him, I realized he wasn't really a man at all, he wasn't human. He seemed to waver before me, like he was just a mirage. His eyes were a solid sheet of forest green, having no pupil. His brown hair was actually a collection of thin roots growing out of his head. His thin lips parted and he spoke.
"My Lord wishes to speak with you"
It wasn't a request.