Things had been progressing well. We were almost finished in our preparations to go save those elves.
"I'm done." I straightened my back and looked towards Talia with pride. It was finally finished.
I'd done a lot to complete the foundation of my Skills to something that could be worthy of looking at.
Using many different methods to evolve my abilities.
[Name: Pal Weldone
Job: UnLife Rioter (Jobless)
Personal Skills: Word Enchanter (Uni),
Mixed Martial Arts (Physical), Strike (Physical), Grapple (Physical), Hold (Physical), Throw (Physical), Amalgamation Orb (Uni), Manual Enchantment (Uni), Status Scan (System), Affinity Application (Uni), Concussive Property, Adhesive Property, Slippery Property, Entangling Property, Magic Blast (Uni), Mana Circulation (Mana), Mana Moulding (Uni)
Intrinsic Skills: Riot Hysteria (Passive Evil), Abyss Core (Passive Dark/Death), Skill Acquisition (Special), Power Sharpening (Active Fire), Artes Lines (4 Attributes)
Power: D(Average
Agility: B (Rare)
Speed: D(Average)
Defence: E (Common)
Magic: E (Dark/Evil/Death/Fire)]
This is what used to be my status screen. Over the time I'd trained, many of these Skills were fused.
After all, less Skills meant easier mastery.
It was the reason mastering Amalgamation Orb was better than going through each Extra Skill at a time.
In respect to this, I combined 'Magic Blast' and 'Mana Moulding' into the new Skill: 'Magic Arrow'.
A far more advanced projectile attack than Blasts.
The second thing I did after mastering Manual Enchantment was decide what to do with the other.
'Word Enchanter' was pretty good as it had both range and ease in application. Triggering my body's ability to use magic with words was better than having to directly touch everything to improve them.
However, the decision wasn't in making it easier.
Manual Enchantment might look less amazing compared to it, but a mastered Skill was easier to use and improve compared to an acquired one. 'Word Enchanter' simply had a limit of how far it grew.
That mostly had to do with its incompatibility.
No matter how much I used it, there wasn't much I could do to substitute for not having the same Innate Gift as that 'Priest Lark' guy. With a heavy heart, I decided to fuse it away to improve another Skill.
It wasn't a useless Skill, but I had to make a choice.
Either hold onto it in hopes that I could probably find the right Intrinsic Skill to bring out its value.
Or discard it altogether.
To prepare myself for what I'd do next, I broke my Intrinsic Skill: 'Power Sharpening' into a property.
Disassembling it rather than directly degrading it.
With the fusion of 'Affinity Application' and 'Power Sharpening', I got 'Empower Property' and 'Sharpen Property'. Adding them to the list of magic properties I was collecting for the big finish.
My affinity for Fire still existed despite losing the Skill. It looked like I didn't need to worry about that.
I gathered all the collected properties and 'Mana Circulation', then fused it with my Artes Lines.
The result was as expected.
I created the Intrinsic Skill: 'Magic Pathways', which improved my capacity and directly ranked it up.
Even adding a new Attribute into the mix: 'Pure'.
Able to take on the properties fused into it in return for blocking my ability to apply affinities to them.
After many different fusions, I had a new status.
[Name: Pal Weldone
Job: UnLife Rioter (Jobless)
Personal Skills: Mixed Martial Arts (Physical), Amalgamation Style (Uni), Willpower Enchantment (Uni), Status Scan (System), Magic Arrow (Uni)
Intrinsic Skills: Riot Hysteria (Passive Evil), Abyss Core (Passive Dark/Death), Skill Acquisition (Special), Magic Pathways (Pure)
Power: D (Average)
Agility: B (Rare)
Speed: D (Average)
Defence: E (Common)
Magic: D (Dark/Evil/Death/Fire/Pure)]
With that finally finished, I talked to Talia about our future plans. She was idling while I was working.
"Is this your strongest?" Her words were a test, and I didn't see a need to fall into an obvious pitfall.
"This is just the start." I gestured for victory.
Or was it a peace hand sigh?
Whatever.
"Where's Simon?" It was weird he wasn't walking around aimlessly like usual, so I just asked.
"Sleeping." Talia shrugged it off. It didn't seem like she was lying, so I had no reason to complain.
Well… He better have a good rest here.
Gotta go save some helpless damsels.
…Wait.
"What about the demon girl?" I'd forgotten about it.
"We can summon 'that' later when you've actually saved my people." Talia looked really annoyed.
I decided to shut up. Putting on my magic proof vest and dressing in all black to fade into the darkness.
Behind me, Shia also got her gear.
Wearing a similar outfit, but the only difference was a new treasure sword that seemed to simply appear.
I could tell without using Status Scan that it was something akin to an Imaginary Engine. A kind of Compliant Star that improved base capabilities beyond the norm. Similar to her ice specialisation.
I decided to forget about that and watched Talia as she started to move the dungeon through space.
There was several things about the plan I was told.
The first was that she could connect the inside of the dungeon to a door nearby her people for a time.
The duration would be a bit more than a day.
In that time frame, I had to grab as many of her people and get them through that door quickly.
If possible, without raising any of the place's alarms.
None of us knew what would happen once we left this dungeon, but we were adaptive enough to assist.
So long as they weren't all dead, me and Shia could do something about them. It just needed some faith.
Let the operation start.
…..
….
…
..
.
Before the liberation operation, me and Talia decided to have a 'girl talk' between us two. In light of our cooperation, she gave me space to be more than the 'wife of her initial plan to save elf kind'.
"If you have something, then I'm all ears." Her pointy ears had shook as if to gesture to me.
Her kind absorbed with her current goal in mind.
Connecting the Dungeon into enemy lines was already a feat that would take tremendous effort.
Once initiated, she'd stay concentrated on it.
It was a safe way to enter New Faustus without raising an alarm, but I feared she may die as well.
"What are your plans beyond the present?" These words caused the originally lax elf to look at me.
She raised from the sofa and looked into my eyes.
"Go on." I could tell that she was interested, but I knew an elf fit for negotiations weren't so simple.
Time had an irreversible effect on the mind.
Even those who were initially fools would become cunning over time. Their innocence fading away.
It was the price of living for so long.
Jaded. Skeptic. Believing that they had already seen a lot of the world and knew how it worked innately.
The first words I spoke had to be the strongest.
"I was once a 'Regressor'." My words caused her to widen her eyes, but she managed to compose herself.
Showing nothing more than the initial reaction.
"Regressor… You mean a person who regresses back in time? You say you've seen the future already?" A sharpness appeared in her eyes. Likely thinking some dangerous thought, but had given them up.
If I indeed saw her future myself, then the conversation would be skewed in my favour. Talia wouldn't risk me manipulating information to cause her family's demise. It was far too important to her.
At least, that's if I saw HER future specifically.
Unfortunately, that was actually wrong.
"I'm sorry. The future I saw have no relation to the present. I've already lived past my 'foreseen' events from the time. Right now, I'm no different than a capable strongman." I rested my hand on my sword.
I'm glad I'd kept it safe in my Spatial Pouch.
"Then what use are you to me?" Her words turned cold, but she understood that I wasn't cheating her.
The fact that I didn't lie and showed sincerity, even to my detriment, had made her think twice of me.
And that much was enough.
It's why this conversation could still continue.
"Let me introduce myself. I am Shia of the now forgotten Ice Palace. A sect that existed beyond what you'd call 'ancient times'." I made sure to make myself sound an intimidatingly strong presence.
But my act was seen through in an instant.
"Pfft~" A breath of air puffed through her nose. It was with a mocking smile, she spoke: "Right."
Affirming, but not believing what I told her.
"I came from a time before the terraformation of Earth. Before it became known as the Earthland Domain." Her laughter stopped at the sincerity behind my words. I awaited the obvious question.
"So you saw the real 'First Cataclysm'?" Talia had more knowledge than I'd expected about the topic.
"I do." (Shia)
"You know about the Calamity Crusher." (Talia)
"Yes." (Shia)
"Is that why you attacked your saviour?" Talia had a different mood about her whenever Simon was brought up. I knew this was an act created solely for politics, but it really caught me off-guard.
If I hadn't gotten to know her over the two and a half years here, then I might have fallen for her act.
"You're the one who put him in stasis." I argued.
"This is this and that is that." (Talia)
"Let's not change the subject. There's something I can give you and one thing I want in return." (Shia)
"Does it have to do with why you struck your own master?" Talia continuously brought that up.
I took a deep breath and recollected my thoughts before my mind went haywire. It was too much.
"…How much do you know about the Cataclysm?" I knew we couldn't talk for real until this was spoken.
"That humanity faced the threat of extinction once in the past, and that the '12 Calamities' that follow each cataclysm can each level a city." There was a dark hatred in her heart when bringing those guys up.
At one time in history, the Elves fought a Calamity.
"Humanity DID go extinct." I broke her expectation.
The world seemed to stop. Everything seemed meaningless when the ultimate truth was revealed.
The words I'd spoken was a truth known only to me and the Graces. Everyone else was too young.
As for Talia herself, she and her kind came to this world at the start of the second cataclysm. Not first.
She had no idea of what I faced back then.
It took a while for Talia to get a grip on herself and accept my truth. Believing that I wasn't crazy.
Even if what I spoke sounded so.
"…Then why do they exist right now?" That was the normal thing one would ask after hearing me.
If humanity went extinct, then what were 'they'?
Those living outside this Dungeon.
"Firstly, let's get the number of calamities right. It wasn't 12 calamities, it was 13 of them." I corrected her previous take, and she realised the implications of how strong the 13th Calamity truly was.
It's true. It completely wiped out humanity.
"You sound familiar with the number." Talia spoke as if she was finally starting to read my mind.
Uncovering all my secrets.
"Because there were 13 calamities in my time too. I died so many times trying to save humanity." (Shia)
"But you ended up failing." (Talia)
"WE did. Both me and Simon Rainglow." (Shia)
"Is there a consistency?" (Talia)
"From what I saw, they're popping up with roughly the same types of abilities in order. The bodies of these Calamities now Sacred Treasures." I gave her new information that she would likely want.
Then hit the nail on the head by saying: "One of those treasures is a large spaceship that could fit your entire race. It can traverse across dimensions and space. The best reward I can offer you."
"What do you want in return for that." Talia spoke.
"I need the information that eluded me from the creator of the current 'Humanity'. The former Calamity Crusher of the past, Simon Rainglow." I needed to know the secrets he had been hiding.
"What information?" Talia glared.
"I never got to see the 13th Calamity, but it was definitely the worst kind. Moreover, he's hiding information of the 13th Calamity that appeared more recently." My curiosity couldn't be reigned.
In the last era and the one I came from, the 12th Calamity was different from the 13th Calamity.
All the ones before that was different from 13th.
That's why we had a nickname for it.
"I need information on the 'Calamity of the End'. A being that made humanity extinct." I revealed.
This was my purpose.
His strength might have declined, but Simon was the only one with any information on the last calamity.
I needed to know.