Over the next month and a half, Zee was extremely busy. It felt like every waking hour was spent either studying or preparing for her upcoming tests. Her one-day-a-week break didn't give her time to relax either, as they kept up their monster-hunting contracts.
It was not all bad. All the monster hunting was proving lucrative. Her skills were already at one hundred percent mastery, but her body wouldn't rank up until she opened one more inner gate.
Thirty-nine inner gates were already opened, and she just needed to open one more to reach peak E grade. Zee would have opened the gate months ago if not for her extremely busy schedule. But now, after the contract earlier that day, it was finally time to rank up to peak E grade. Sitting on the floor of her bathroom, she focused all of her energy on the gate near her neck. The gate was right next to the vortex that housed the burning energy for the avatar of dominion.
She had been preparing for this step for a while now. After evolving her spark of compression to an ember, she had gotten Bastion to acquire her and spiritual natural treasure. They were not nearly as hard to find as a treasure based on gravity, so it hadn't taken more than a few weeks for him to find one. The treasure had cost most of her remaining fortune, but it was worth it. Now she had an ember of compression, and an ember of ebb and flow.
With two embers and constant practice, her energy control was better than ever.
There was a loud crack, and pain shot through her neck. It felt like getting stabbed in the throat, and she coughed up blood. Zee blinked back tears tossing a high purity healing pill into her mouth.
The fortieth gate was smashed open, the sharp pain a reminder of how difficult the later gates would be. The efficacy of the top quality healing pill soothed the pain, and healed the internal damage, allowing her to focus on the benefits of opening the gate.
Her energy coursed through her body, a lot smoother now, flowing along the new channels. There were still twenty more gates to go before the pathways were complete, but she was content to enjoy her success for the moment. She was elated to reach this far.
There were huge benefits to reaching this milestone. With her latest gate opened, she could feel that she could channel energy faster, and her pool of energy was at least twenty percent larger. It was a huge leap forward, and she could expect another leap forward for opening the last twenty gates.
This was why there was such a huge gap in power between cultivators of different ranks. Every rank up in the higher grade was a huge leap forward in power. By the time she reached the end of peak E grade her energy stores were forty percent larger than middle E grade. Not only that, but now she could choose a new skill.
Zee had been patiently waiting for this for years now. Ignoring the acrid smell of the post rank up gunk covering her body, she excitedly pulled up her status.
A smile tugged at her lips as a list of five skills flowed into her mind. The skills did not disappoint.
(Gravity Well. Form a miniature singularity, creating an area of extreme gravity that drags anything and everything into its center)
The first choice was a finisher skill that sounded incredibly potent.
She was incredibly tempted to choose it without even looking at the others, but refrained, barely. Might as well at least look at the other choices first.
(Soul Burn. Burn the life force of captured souls to enhance your power for a short time)
It was a berserker skill, and a soul related one at that. Given its requirements, aka captured souls, it had to be incredibly powerful. Getting such a skill would be incredibly useful, though Dern wouldn't like sharing..
With a growing sense of uncertainty, she moved on to the next one.
(Spectral Plains. Open a rift to the spirit plane, unleashing an army of specters to fight for you)
It sounded like a spiritual domain skill, which could be handy, though it wasn't as exciting as the first two. Not too enthusiastic about that one, she moved one to the third.
(Cauterize. Infuse your wounds with spiritual flames, mending flesh and bone at the cost of energy)
Well, that's unexpected, Zee thought. It was a healing skill. Zee would have been more excited if not for the method. Setting her wounds on fire sounded incredibly painful, even if it did heal her.
She wasn't a stranger to pain, but Zee was no masochist. She might have considered picking the skill, but Allison got one just like it at middle E grade.
Having her injuries heal with flames looked extremely unpleasant. Zee would rather wait and hope a better healing skill appeared in the future.
Taylor, and her mothers healing pills would have to suffice until then.
She turned her mental gaze to the last skill. (Abyssal Tower. Summon a tower of anguish from the depths of the abyssal plane. All who dare lay their eyes on the tower will have their souls dragged into its loving embrace)
Zee shuddered upon reading the description of that last skill. Was it just her imagination, or were her skills getting more evil sounding.
She shook the thought off. Skills themselves were not evil, no it was how you use them that decided that.
So what if her skill sounded evil if she used it to safeguard her own, and her friends' live's.
The problem was that all of her new skills sounded incredibly useful. The question was, which one should she take?
Having a second finisher skill was something she really wanted, but was it the right decision?
She was a cultivator that relied on evasion and ambushing opponents. Killing opponents before they knew what was happening was a good strategy. Especially since she lacked any real defensive skills.
The only problem was that it didn't always work. Sometimes her enemies didn't die in the first exchange, and that's where things got hairy.
Unlike Bastion or Dern, she couldn't take powerful hits head on without being severely injured.
It was her biggest weakness. Shrouding her body with spirit echo helped somewhat, but it wasn't a truly defensive skill. It blunted some of the force of attacks, but not all.
Her body was covered in a network of scars, which were a grim reminder of all the attacks she couldn't avoid. Saying I don't need a defensive skill because I won't get hit was a stupid sentiment.
The only problem was that ranking up to peak E grade hadn't offered any purely defensive skills. It was regrettable, but that also meant that she could choose an offensive skill.
Zee wasn't too heartbroken about that. Now, which skill to choose? Soul Burn, and Abyssal Tower, sounded good, but Zee didn't like the implications of using them. It sounded like they both would involve her absorbing souls.
Zee couldn't afford to risk her aura getting inflicted with taboo, also those skills taking the souls would make it a lot harder to keep Dern fed. He was already hard to keep fed, no point in making it more difficult. Removing those two, not to mention cauterize, left only two.
Gravity Well, and Spectral Plains. At this point in her cultivation, Zee had to consider the nature of her new skills and what energy they used. Skills were the best way to constantly increase her body's attunement to different energies. She already had Spirit Echo to channel spiritual energy, and did need one for gravity.
Who was she kidding? Zee just really wanted the Gravity Well skill because it sounded destructive. Since no one was around to argue otherwise, she made her choice. Dern sent her a mental roll of his eyes.
"Alright Zul, i win, you are on guard duty," Dern said happily.
The ghost didn't say anything, but she could feel his annoyance as he hid nearby.
"Where are you going Dern?" Zee asked.
"Yukna and I are testing some of her hunter killer bombs. You should come check out the project sometime. It's a unique invention that could revolutionize warfare," Dern said.
"That sounds interesting. Maybe some other time. I am going to go to the academy jobs hall. I think I will do a solo monster hunting contract. I want to test my new skill, and my bloodline talent with no one around," Zee said.
Dern sent her a mental nod. "You two have fun with that. Get me some fresh souls while you're out there, I'm getting hungry," Dern said.
Zee called him out, " Sure thing, don't get blown up again," Zee said.
The small suit of armor ran across the floor, giving her a rude gesture as he disappeared from sight.
Zee intended to go hunt monsters, but first things first. She had a shower, scrubbing furiously to get the post rank up gunk off. It smelled atrocious, like a lizard got sick, and had violent diarrhea all over her.
Twenty minutes later, she was clean, her cloths she ranked up in were in the trash, and she was dressed in her combat gear. The gear still looked tattered and worn, but Zee didn't have any better protection. More aptly, she didn't have the money to afford a proper set of war regalia.
On the bright side, she did have enough money to rent out a skimmer. It was a piece of junk compared to Taylor's, but it was still a lot faster than walking.
She acquired a standard monster cleanup contract from the jobs hall, in the academy. She received a lot of curious glances from other students, but Zee ignored them.
She had long ago started ignoring their hushed gossiping, which they thought she couldn't hear.
At least the whispering was better than people trying to approach and talk to her. By now she was well known to have a black token and to be the granddaughter of Julian. She was still mad at Grandpa for spilling the beans on that. Thankfully, she got out of the job hall before anyone tried to approach her.
The contract was based out of a small town about an hour south by Skimmer. Based on the information, it was a small clackson hive. It was rated for a team of early E-grade cultivators, so it should be a piece of cake for her to clean them up.
From what the missive said, the hive kept stealing nearby farmer's livestock, and needed to be exterminated. At most, the hive queen should be only peak E grade. It was a perfect opportunity to let loose and cause some mayhem. She met with a few farmers, and after a bit of aerial searching, she found her quarry.
One of the head-sized bugs let out a chittering cry of alarm as it spotted her. Zee smiled as the forest around her echoed with chittering. It was a cacophony of clacking mandibles and the sharp clack of carapace on wood. Leaping from the hovering skimmer, she fell fifty feet. Her boots thudded softly on the hard dirt as she crouched low. Zee let the sounds of angry beetles wash over her. By the angry racket they were making, the hive did not appreciate her invading their territory.
Zee smiled, It was time to inflict some carnage on the wildlife. With brutal ferocity, the workers of the clackson hive attacked without any care for their lives. Flooding from the trees, they charged her on mass. The monsters tried to swarm her, but Zee was ready. She was elusive, like fog, never in one place for long. Zee was like a ghost, appearing throughout the forest without sound nor warning.
A hail of razor metal roiled around her as she appeared amidst a group of the bugs, turning the bugs into small chunks of meat that burned with azure flames. A trail of death lay in her wake, the corpses burning with the decaying effects of spirit echo. Zee didn't wait around, vanishing as the hoard leapt over the dead to get at her. The heart of fire burned in her chest, filling her body with boundless energy.
Her aura blanketed the area, and the ember of ebb and flow created a storm of spiritual energy. The clackson hive workers charging her on mass were ripped apart by an unseen enemy as Zee flitted through the storm unseen. She was killing them by the dozens, but it didn't seem to matter.
Like a never-ending tide, the monsters kept charging from all sides. Hundreds lay dead already and yet they just kept coming. They were not strong individually, but the sheer numbers were proving to much..
Like a tide, the chittering bugs swarmed her, leaping at her from every angle. They clambered over the corpses of the dead, leaping off trees, rocks, and branches overhead. Even with her spatial ripple skill giving her a three hundred and sixty degrees view, the numbers threaten to overwhelm her.
More than one bug bit her armor, and tore her battle robes before she could kill them. Getting bit by those barbed mandibles hurt like hell but she endured the pain. The swarming bugs were getting a lot worse than a few welts. Still, she could see no end to them. There was an army of the things, rolling towards her in a mass of chittering. They had her surrounded, and if things kept up as they were they might overrun her.
Zee smiled at the development. That should be enough. Zee flared her aura, and the surrounding air was compressed to an incredible degree. Within twenty meters around her, the swarm was crushed under their own weight, their legs and shells crunching loudly.
It hardly even dented the numbers, but that wasn't the point. She just needed a second or two of breathing room. In the next second, a small orb of radiant blue fire appeared above her head. It glowed with vibrant splendor, releasing terrifying waves of spirituality that lit the forest with a haunting glow.
The chittering clamor grew to a feverish pitch as a domineering pressure washed over the massed bugs. Streamers of spiritual energy were suddenly ripped from the massed monsters and dragged towards the orb of spiritual fire above her head.
Zee watched on with wide-eyed curiosity as the Avatar of Dominion unleashed devastation around her. In seconds, the closest bugs withered and turned to dust, their spirituality dragged into the ball of fire.
Crackling, it swelled in size, growing from the size of her fist to the size of her torso in a few seconds.
With each second, the area of decay grew around her, and so did the sun above. Everything the flickering blue light touched was decayed. Nothing around her was spared, not the trees, the grass, the fallen corpses, or even the ichor on the ground.
All the while, the burgeoning sun above her grew, its area of effect growing with it. The hive didn't stand a chance. It only took ten seconds to leave naught but devastation in a hundred-meter circle around her.
That was when Zee learned something new. The drain stopped, and her connection to the cart-sized ball of spiritual fire above her solidified. A wide grin crossed her face as her gaze settled on the forest just passed her ring of death.
There was still the hive queen and her squad of elite soldiers left, a perfect target. Being connected to the flame above, Zee understood her bloodline talent a lot more than before.
The utter decay around her wasn't the main function of her bloodline talent. No, all that spiritual energy was the fuel to help the avatar reach its full potential.
Zee raised both hands above her head with palms towards the sky. She touched the ball of radiant flames, and it welcomed her. It was not a separate thing, no it was a part of her.
Being formed through her power, the Avatar of Dominion was an expression of her will.
All she had to do was impose her desire and the Avatar would respond. Zee gave the avatar a mental nudge of what she wanted and the avatar responded. A river of radiant blue fire shot from the orb, incinerating a good fifty meters of the tree line. The crackling sun above dimmed by over half, but the damage was incredible.
That one attack turned the hive queen and her soldiers into smoking piles of meat and bone.
The craziest part was that Zee could sense enough energy left for another attack almost just as powerful. Her bloodline talent was far more powerful than she expected.
It seemed to have drawbacks, like the indiscriminate decay of her surroundings. Not to mention the three days to gather enough energy to use the talent. That was heavily outweighed by the level of destruction and death it caused.
Zee would need to be very careful with this talent. It didn't seem to care what it used as fuel, draining the spirituality from every living source around her. There was also a heavy drain on her mental energy.
Even with half of its power expended, it was becoming mentally draining to keep a tight grip on the ball of spiritual flames above.
Instead of letting it explode, she let the energy dissipate into the world river around her.
It made the energy in the air even more chaotic than before, but that was better than wiping out more forest for no good reason.
She had already left a hundred-meter-wide circle of decay in the forest. Hopefully, the foliage would grow back.
Zee still hadn't had the chance to test out her Gravity Well skill, but she was more than pleased with her bloodline talent. It was just a shame that her new talent turned all the corpses to dust.
That was like burning money, especially since it seemed to destroy even the beast fragments. The power of the attack was exciting, but also a bit concerning.
Zee knew she was strong for her grade, but there were doubtless others who could match her.
There were doubtlessly noble scions with extremely powerful bloodlines who expended mountains of resources to help them get stronger.
Zee herself had received no small amount of help from her family, whether you count training with the sword, cultivation techniques, or treasures. No small amount of her success could be attributed to her backing.
Money and treasures can only get you so far. A lot of stuck-up scions squandered the resources their clans dumped into them, but just as many worked hard to grow stronger.
There were doubtlessly people her age out there amongst the top clans of the peak factions in the universe who could squash her like a bug. She could hardly imagine the shocking amount of resources an A-grade faction could dedicate to their most talented cultivators.
Everything from the highest quality natural treasures to the best cultivation techniques, the highest rarity classes, ancient bloodlines, and enough money to make the emperor look like a vagrant. Zee had to keep all this in mind. Just because she was getting more powerful, didn't mean she could slack off, or relax her guard.
In the upcoming expedition into the shallows of the cosmic river, she might run into people with that kind of backing. More concerning, some of them would be D grade, and have vast stores of energy in their cores.
If she ran into young noble scions in the D grade, she would need a lot more than her bloodline talent to win. As she is now, she might be a lizard on the chopping block. If she didn't want that to happen, she would need to keep pushing herself.