Royal Road
SomethingOtherThanRain
Path to Transcendence - [Isekai/Litrpg] by l-Ryn-l
Chapter 18: Curiosity Killed the Cat
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It was an interesting-sounding skill. Based on the information he received after he evolved the skill, it seemed like it was a skill that utilized [Brutal Strike] and [Combat Trance] to augment his close combat ability. It was his second rare skill and if [Spatial Perception] was any indicator, it was going to be a very useful skill.
However, as much as he wanted to at the moment, Julius couldn't just experiment with his new skill. He had to find another location for the night. The scent of blood would attract who knows what. Furthermore, changing locations was easier than moving the entire carcass. After a little while, he found a spot a couple of miles away that seemed safe. It was a small alcove between the creek and some rocks. It was much more hidden than his last camp.
Julius also brought with him the rabbit. It was still dirty but he managed to remove most of the dirt from it. Plus, he was still really hungry and a little grime wasn't going to get in the way of it.
He gave it another once over before he created a small flame to heat it and kill any bacteria that might be on it. Once it was nice and charred again, he bit into it.
It was gritty and slightly earthy from the dirt marinating its surface. Sadly, it wasn't the most pleasant of meals, especially compared to how it was before he got attacked, but it was still the first thing he ate today. Julius polished off the rabbit in quick order and then got ready for bed.
The rest of the night was uneventful, except for the occasional distant loud roars and the sound of trees falling that woke him up periodically.
When he woke up he went to the creek and washed himself up. He thought about going back to check on the corpse but was conflicted. On one hand, he was curious as to what that thing looked like in the daylight but also thought there might be other predators attracted to it. The mana core inside of it would be valuable normally, but with him being in the middle of nowhere it didn't hold much value unless he found civilization.
On second thought, he didn't have any money on him. Nor did he have anything of value to trade for. Now that he was thinking about it, that core would be able to pay for information or supplies if he found a town.
A couple miles later he arrived at his old campsite. The corpse was still where he left it much to his surprise. He had really thought the corpse would have been eaten by now, but it was pristine. Not even scavengers had touched it. It was very odd and made him wary.
Quietly checking the surroundings, Julius stooped down and inspected the monster closer. He was correct in assuming it was similar to a wolf. Its features were distinctly canine. It had a beautiful coat of pure black that absorbed the light and was soft to the touch. Julius would estimate it to measure around six feet long from head to tail. The massive claws are what grabbed his attention.
The claws were closer to small swords. He was very fortunate he wasn't sliced by those things, it would not have taken much for them to bisect him.
Julius bent down and searched for the monster's mana core. The location was slightly different depending on the species, but it typically was found in the chest or head of most monsters.
Monster cores were used in a variety of ways. The most common is ground down to make pure essence, which could be used to make items that increase skill progression and growth toward the next tier.
Since Julius was a Tier 1 now, he needed to work towards his advancement to Tier 2. Tier 1 was about creating a mana core, but Tier 2 was about becoming one with that mana. This process would physically enhance individuals past mortal limits and once they were completely infused with their mana, they would undergo an evolution.
Their bodies will adapt and change to better reflect their core's mana. For example, those with earth affinities will often have bodies that are more robust and rigid. Also, those with water affinities become more flexible and adaptable.
It was commonly seen by wealthy families to use cores with the same affinities to create potions or supplements that increased their advancement. With that being said, it was known that those who used cores as a way to progress were on average, weaker than their peers. Additionally, those who choose to go this route become bottlenecked at the next tiers. Therefore, this method is used for people who are non-combatants and those with crafting professions.
Julius still didn't have a knife so that forced him to take a step back and use a [Firebolt] to open the chest cavity more. Expectedly, it was a gruesome scene, blood and internal organs were scattered about. Luckily, due to it being at least a Tier 2, the mana had preserved its flesh still and it wasn't starting to putrify. Unluckily, he still needed to jam his arm into its disgusting chest.
After a bit of rummaging, he finally found what he was looking for. It was a small marble-sized sphere that contained pure air affinity essence. Julius did have a medium air affinity, but he didn't choose to use any air mana in his core and had no other plans to do so.
I already have enough on my plate, no need to get greedy, he told himself.
At the last moment, he also ended up removing the claws from the monster. They weren't exactly a knife, but they would do until he found or bought one himself. Then he left the scene, one core, and several claws richer.
Julius made his way back to his second camp and decided to make himself a quick breakfast before he headed out. He was still pretty hungry and could also use another bath since he was covered in blood. He found another rabbit and dispatched it in the same manner as before. This time he was able to enjoy it and wasn't interrupted by anything that was trying to eat him.
It wasn't until several more hours of walking that Julius finally saw a change in scenery. The forest ahead had a massive clearing. Julius walked out of the forest and into the open field. About a few hundred paces later, he saw a small dip in the grass up ahead and got closer.
What he saw astonished him. In front of him was a ginormous bowl, that looked like a crater you would see from a meteor or like he had seen in dormant volcanos. The inside of the hole was completely made up of dark-colored rock and slate. He would estimate the bowl was about a few hundred feet deep and at the bottom of it was a glowing light emanating a soft blue hue.
Julius was naturally curious and decided to work his way down the slightly steep incline to get a closer look. He took his time climbing down and was careful where he stepped, some pieces of rock were loose and he could easily fall if he wasn't paying attention.
Once he got close to the bottom, he could see what was the source of the blue light. It was a swirling mass of energy, radiating a warm heat from its base.
Julius was curious about what this object was and was very tempted to touch it but he knew it would be a stupid idea. However, something kept trying to convince him to get closer. It was like a small voice in the back of his head that was telling him to touch it. Feeling something was off about the situation, Julius immediately tried to back off and get as far away from it. Suddenly the energy lashed out with small tendrils and grasped him by the arms.
Julius quickly attempted to pull away as hard as he could, but it was fruitless. Even with kinetic mana being discharged from his limbs, he wasn't able to get free. It had him in a vice grip and was pulling him closer to its center. He tried everything he could think of to escape but it was pointless, it inevitably pulled him in.
Julius landed on his face, feeling a grassy surface beneath him, he got up and scanned around him. What just happened? One moment he was being sucked into the glowing blue sphere and the next he was here on some sort of grassy plain. Unexpectantly, he received a notification.
You have entered a Rift. Alert! Rift is reaching the overflow stage. You will not be able to leave until the Rift is cleared.
Rift? That blue thing was a rift? I never thought rifts could forcibly bring in people, Julius thought.
Rifts were created by the uninterrupted accumulation of mana, converging onto a location over a long period of time, which was why they were usually found in the wilderness or far away from large populations. Rifts were pocket dimensions that contained monsters and resources. It was the main responsibility of the Adventurer's Guild to find and clear as many rifts as they could. Rifts were responsible for monster floods, which are caused when rifts aren't regularly cleared in a specific timeframe. This can cause mana to start leaking out of the rifts and creating an escape point for the monsters contained.
Monster floods happen quite frequently, and it was the only time when everybody regardless of political affiliations or animosity put it aside, all to combat the horde of monsters.
Julius had never heard of rifts sucking people in like it did with him. It also appeared that he wouldn't be able to leave until he cleared the rift. That was going to be the big problem. Rifts were sometimes maintained for their useful resources and for training young practitioners. However, you would be able to leave whenever it got too dangerous.
I don't think that is going to be an option for me. Me and my stupid curiosity. I could have walked away without investigating, but no I wanted to see what the ominous blue light was, Julius mentally berated himself.
Julius didn't even know the Tier or details of the rift. The Adventurer's Guild had a standardized procedure to analyze rifts to see what Tier they were and how dangerous amongst that Tier they estimated it.
For all he knew, this was a Tier 5 A-rank rift. Unlikely, but still, Julius had no idea. On the bright side, he hasn't been attacked by any monsters yet and he couldn't sense any in his immediate vicinity.
Nevertheless, it was still a very dangerous situation he found himself in. He needed to create some sort of plan or at least prioritize something like gathering as much information as he could before he got himself into any confrontations. If this rift was anything Tier 2 or above, which it most likely was, Julius would need to use everything he had at his disposal.
First, he took a look at his status to get an idea of his own condition.
Name: Julius Von Hyperius
Tier: 1
Skills:
[Spatial Perception lvl 18] (Rare)
[Savage Dance lvl 1] (Rare)
[Thermal Compression lvl 3] (Uncommon)
[Firebolt lvl 2] (Uncommon)
[Kinetic Release lvl 4]
[Heal lvl 1]
Julius was happy with his current skills, especially considering he was still Tier 1. However, he wanted to create a defensive skill on top of improving his healing skill. One would help him avoid taking damage and the other would help him recover from damage. He was already expecting that he would be in this rift for a good while, as such having these types of skills would save his life at several moments.
He already had some ideas for both of them. For the defensive skill he had thought that instead of releasing kinetic energy, he would absorb it. He would effectively, nullify the impact of an attack from an opponent. That being said, he didn't think that would cancel out elemental effects such as heat.
Wait… or could I? Fire or rather heat is created by the intense movement of the molecules. So when I burn something, I should be hypothetically generating kinetic energy from the movement of the molecules. That could mean by removing kinetic energy I could remove heat, Julius realized after thinking about it.
That was important because while Julius could control fire that occurred naturally as well as he did with natural kinetic energy, controlling fire created by another person was much more difficult. The addition of willpower came into play and taking control of someone else's fire would require him to subvert their will before he could steal their flames.
However, if he was able to steal or absorb the kinetic energy of the fire itself, that might work. It was an interesting theory that he would have to try when he met another fire user in the future. Moreover, a present application he could use this idea for would be to add kinetic energy to [Firebolt].
If he increased the movement of the molecules of the fire, theoretically it should increase the heat being produced. Julius was already condensing it but what would happen if he made the fire itself hotter? Would it be an additive effect or a multiplicative effect?
He knew he shouldn't be this excited and should be more worried about what his plans were, instead of theorizing about skills considering his dire circumstances, but he truly loved magic and once ideas like this started he couldn't stop them or himself. He became obsessed and there wasn't anything else that mattered in these moments. It was like all his worries disappeared for a little bit.
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Royal Road
SomethingOtherThanRain
Path to Transcendence - [Isekai/Litrpg] by l-Ryn-l
Chapter 19: Angry Troll
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Julius was still sitting in the same spot that he arrived at. Presently, he was holding a [Firebolt] over his palm and was slowly adding more kinetic energy to the flame. He was also trying to spin it as fast as he could, gaining more momentum that he could use to further empower the [Firebolt]. The skill already provided the projectile with a soft rotation when it was shot, but it was not enough to generate the amount of kinetic energy he needed.
He didn't know how long he sat there, all that mattered was trying out his new idea. He wasn't completely reckless though, he was still checking his surroundings with [Spatial Perception]. However, the majority of his concentration was being used to experiment with this potentially useful application of kinetic energy and fire.
Julius knew he was originally trying to think of a defensive skill, but his mind always gravitated to offensive techniques. In his mind, the best defense is a good offense. He hadn't quite figured out how to use kinetic energy to make his flames hotter, but he felt he was on the right track. He even got some skill levels already for his experimentation.
[Firebolt lvl 2 -> lvl 3]
[Kinetic Release lvl 4 -> lvl 5]
He believed that this was a sign that he was on the right track.
At the edge of his senses, he felt something approaching. It was a very large humanoid creature, probably one of the rift's residents if he had to guess. It was slowly heading in his direction and seemed like it knew exactly where Julius was, even though he was slightly hidden by the tall grass.
Getting to his feet, Julius got ready for a fight. His [Firebolt] was still hovering over his palm, waiting to be released at the target. Normally, Julius would have had second thoughts, attacking a humanoid without saying a word to them, but a monster inside of a rift was a different story. He was going to have to shoot first and ask questions later.
The monster got closer and Julius could make out some of its details more clearly. It was a massive creature with stone-gray skin and chiseled muscles he could make out from here. It was probably standing over seven feet tall and resembled what he imagined an orc would look like. Compared to his five-and-a-half-foot frame, it was quite intimidating.
Julius had not seen any orcs in this world yet, but this one looked like what he would expect from one. Not waiting, for it to get any closer he released the condensed [Firebolt] and it was sent screaming toward the monster.
The attack came as a total surprise and smashed into its chest, detonating with a loud boom. It staggered the monster and left a large burn across its torso but the creature otherwise appeared fine. Julius had sent that attack out as a tester to compare it to the wolf he fought last night. So far, he determined that this monster was much more resilient than the wolf but also was slower.
It was still over fifty paces away and he couldn't quite determine its aura from this distance, but it was at least at the level of strength as the wolf and most likely stronger based on the initial confrontation. Then to his astonishment, the wound on its chest was visibly going away even from far away. In mere seconds, the injury was nowhere to be seen.
There was another creature from his world's stories that matched this monster's description, Trolls. Trolls were similar to orcs except they were known for their ridiculous ability to heal themselves.
This thing's physical resilience and regeneration might put it at a Tier 3. Julius anxiously thought.
He would be able to tell for sure once it got closer, but Julius had no plans on letting this thing any closer to him. The troll now fully healed, roared, shaking Julius's eardrums and sprinting directly at him.
It does not seem happy, he thought as the enraged monster stampeded at him. He activated his new skill [Savage Dance] and his worldview narrowed to a fine edge. It was like his entire being was honed to a sharp blade and the only thought in his mind was destroying this monster.
He immediately created another [Firebolt] but this time he crammed as much kinetic energy into it, changing its color to a violet hue, and then once it was ready he sent it with as much speed as he could. This time, the projectile actually screamed with a piercing whistle as it shot toward the troll. It hit the troll with immense force that blasted it off of its feet, leaving a gaping hole in its chest.
However, that wasn't enough to put it down it seemed. Julius started to create another kinetically enhanced [Firebolt] as quickly as he could. Unfortunately, by the time he finished it, the troll was back on its feet looking angrier than ever, its red eyes displaying its rage. The chest wound was deeper than the last, but it was still rapidly healing. Julius sent out his attack as soon as it was ready, but the troll stuck out its hand to block it. The resulting explosion mangled the thing's arm, pieces of bone and flesh flayed out in every direction. Despite this, the troll was not knocked off its feet and charged Julius with its crippled arm visibly healing at its side.
At this distance, Julius could tell it was definitely Tier 3. Two whole tiers above himself.
The troll reached within arm's length soon after. It swung at Julius's head with surprising speed for something that size, and he just managed to duck beneath it, blasting himself away with a kinetic burst.
[Savage Dance] was keeping him deadly calm in this chaos and was informing Julius of the most vulnerable spots on the troll. It was highlighting the troll's head and its feet. The head was self-explanatory, but the feet were odd. The skill, wanted Julius to target the feet so that it was unable to move properly, giving him time to charge a strike to damage it as much as he could.
The troll's strength was immense, he could feel the vibrations whenever its arm passed by him, and as he said, it was deceptively fast. Fortunately, it fought like an animal, there was no technique to its attacks, it was straight uncontrolled violence, and that made it easier to avoid its strikes.
Julius would occasionally, land a kinetic strike, which did nothing except disrupt its momentum. But his main focus, other than dodging, was creating another kinetically enhanced [Firebolt]. It was the most powerful attack he could create.
Creating the plain [Firebolt] was quick, it was condensing it while also adding kinetic energy that took time. This was why skills were so vital. A skill that did all these things would have been able to simultaneously combine all these separate aspects into a single moment. Whereas, Julius had to do it manually, much more slowly.
After a few more dodges, he tried to get as much distance between himself and the troll as he could, sending a lot of mana into his legs to dash behind it. Then he sent the [Firebolt] at the troll's left leg. It managed to hit it dead on the mark and butchered the troll's entire leg from the knee down.
The troll, missing its leg, collapsed to the ground. Then Julius, creating another enhanced [Firebolt], jumped toward it. He proceeded to land a kick right on the downed troll's head, loading it with a large amount of kinetic force.
The kick snapped the troll's head back but it also managed to bring its arm around and nick Julius with its arm. Although it barely hit him, he was sent flying backward. He miraculously managed to keep his construct intact but his shoulder was definitely broken. [Savage Dance] allowed him to maintain focus, and numbed the pain he should be feeling to a dull throb, but it still hurt.
If he had been hit directly, there was a chance that he would've had his chest crushed. Julius got up and saw that the troll's leg was healing, but it seemed like healing bone took more time than just flesh. Therefore, it was still on the ground roaring in pain, not even paying attention to Julius anymore.
His enhanced [Firebolt] was ready and he swiftly sent it at the back of the troll's skull. The violet-colored attack ruptured an entire third of the monster's head, creating a massive spray of blood and brains.
To his horror, the troll was unmoving but he could see attempts to heal its brain, small bits of flesh were connecting via its regeneration skill. Julius promptly charged right where it was lying down
He started to throw strike after strike at the exposed flesh trying to put down this monster for good. However, no matter what he did, it was continuing to regenerate.
Whatever skill it had, must've been a higher rarity. Getting an idea, he continued to hit it and investigated how mana was interacting with this thing's flesh.
He was trying to see how its skill worked and if he could maybe replicate some of its abilities. He had [Heal] himself, but there was a large difference between his healing skill and this thing's. The sheer speed of its regeneration was impressive but its mana efficiency was also incredible.
Julius could have probably killed it with a couple more enhanced [Firebolts] but he didn't want to give up this opportunity. So he continued to damage it enough so that it wouldn't gain consciousness but also not too much, where he might kill it.
Julius was very aware of the moral quandary he was committing. If it wasn't that this monster had just tried to kill him and that it was unconscious throughout the entire time, he would have stopped.
But if he could learn something from this monster's skill, he might come out of this rift alive. There were undoubtedly more of these trolls roaming around and who knows what else. There might even be something stronger than this monster around.
And so Julius stayed there for a long time, just keeping it in a coma while learning about its skill. After some time, he figured out something. The troll's skill was much more aggressive than Julius's own. For his own skill, he concentrated on handling the mana delicately and with gentleness. The troll's skill was practically the opposite. It was violently twisting and rotating mana in a loop around the injury.
It was fast and it somehow wasted practically no mana. It was completely wrong according to his earlier thoughts about how life mana worked. But it seemed that Julius still had much to learn about his own mana.
Feeling like he finally understood enough of the technique, Julius put the troll to rest. He unleashed a powerful violet [Firebolt] at the monster's face and he felt its mana stop pumping into its skill.
The troll was finally dead… hopefully. He kept an eye on it for a few minutes just to make sure.
Once he was absolutely convinced, he let out a breath and felt [Savage Dance] deactivate. The skill's effects started to wear off and he began to feel some of the emotions that were blocked rise up to the surface.
At first, he felt relief that he survived a fight against an opponent two tiers above him, but then he felt guilt at his actions afterward. At the time, when the skill was running, he was able to rationally understand why it was the correct choice. Despite that, he still felt like he was cruelly experimenting on the creature for a gain of power.
The skill was undoubtedly one of the strongest skills he currently had. It was able to hone his focus to a razor's edge in a fight, control his body with uncanny precision, allow him to effectively break down his opponent's weaknesses, and exponentially increase his proficiency with his skills when he was in combat. However, it seemed that he became a tad detached from reality and his humanity. It was a double-edged sword and something he was going to have to think twice about in the future.
With that being said, Julius took a deep calming breath to center himself. He managed to accrue some improvement to his skills during that fight as well.
[Firebolt lvl 3 -> lvl 5]
[Thermal Compression lvl 3 -> lvl 4]
[Savage Dance lvl 1 -> lvl 2]
[Kinetic Release lvl 5 -> lvl 8]
[Firebolt] had increased by two levels, [Savage Dance] by one, and [Kinetic Release] by a surprising three levels. However, these improvements made sense, he was using his skills in challenging ways while in life-threatening scenarios. It was why fighting monsters was the quickest way to advance one's skills.
A small shift had Julius groaning in pain. There had been so much going on, that he completely forgot about his broken shoulder. [Savage Dance] had been dulling the pain from the injury, but now it was slightly painful. It didn't hurt that much, it was more like he couldn't feel his entire arm, and it only hurt when he moved it.
Still, this was a perfect time to try healing it using the methods he learned from the troll's skill.
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