(Freya POV)
Unlike Ottar however Alex had strained his vessel much more than I had even thought possible. After discovering the "limit" of stats could be surpassed and that it was actually necessary in fact to reach higher levels I had all my children try and reach what I believed to be the true limit of rank SS 1500. Ottar and two others however were the only ones capable of doing so in any reasonable amount of time. It took a very special mix of personality and conditions to reach that point however which I unfortunately learned my familias environment was not the best at nurturing.-
To be honest most of my familia was comprised of mortals that had fallen victim to my charm and wanted nothing more than to possess me for their own. This as a result led to a lot of infighting and cut throat competition to earn my favor that also stifled their talents in the process. The falna unfortunately doesn't work well under those conditions so very rarely do any of my children ever reach above 999 S. Alex somehow had pushed even further than SS and his vessel was in terrible shape as a result, for now though I will watch with bated breath.-
(Normal POV)
Even with the higher quality of the smoke given by the monsters the further down I went I still didn't have as much liquid as I did from that single minotaur. This alone showed just how wide the qualitative difference between a level one and two was. To be honest I knew that the only reason I had even managed to kill that minotaur was because of black flash or perhaps it would be better to call it luck. I got lucky, the exact thing I needed at the exact moment i needed it to survive. That was practically the story of cursed energy in a nutshell.-
Ironically the falna was the perfect compliment to my cursed energy as through effort and pressure it allowed one to grow which was very synergistic with cursed energy. Perhaps that was why my growth was so rapid? I was gaining improvement from two sources at once so obviously I would grow much faster than the vast majority of adventurers. I couldn't help but wonder if that would change after I leveled up. -
Hear me out, so the falna is a representation of the path to godhood with the higher level you go the closer you got to it. At the moment my cursed energy and falna were working to allow me to grow both together and separately at different points. But after leveling up the two will more likely than not fuse even further as cursed energy is now integral part of myself. It's kinda like when a video game developer puts out a game and updates it with a patch to fix a bug. Right now i am pre-patch but after I level up I had a gut feeling that I was going to get a hefty restriction placed on me.-
Don't get me wrong the falna NEVER applies a debuff without some sort of big upside as well but I was rather nervous to find out what that was exactly. Still I spent my next few days delving and building up more and more liquid until finally at the two and a half month mark since I became an adventurer I was ready to get my last update at level one as well as my level up to two.-
"Are you sure about this? We could just level you up and not risk it?" Hestia asked concerned and very worried for my safety.
"I am afraid of what may happen if we do this but I know that if we don't I would likely regret it for the rest of my days, do it." I said steeling myself for what was undoubtedly going to be an agonizing process.
Hestia nodded seriously and as Bell watched from the side as she updated my falna for the last time at this level.
Name: Alexander Drake
Race: Human
Level:1+(can level up)
Strength:927(S)-> 1500(SS)-> 2000(X)-> 3000(~)
Endurance:1036(SS)->1500(SS)-> 2000(X)->3000(~)
Agility:859(A)-> 999(S)-> 1500(SS)-> 2000(X)-> 3000(~)
Dexterity:801(A)-> 999(S)-> 1500(SS)-> 2000(X)-> 3000(~)
Magic:3000(~)
Spells: Hell's forge(Innate technique): Can use anything from a living being and reshape or refine it per ones will.(Incantation: Hell's forge)(Extension: Hell fire)
Skills: Heavenly restriction: In exchange for the ability to wield mana and magic one gains access to cursed energy and cursed techniques.
Blessing of black: Permanently increases cursed energy efficiency, amount and control. Magic will always start at G rank after leveling up.
At first it was a pleasant warm spreading through my body that I had come to recognize was the falna updating but then came the pain. Agony like thousands of fire ants chewing on every inch of my flesh and my blood boiling in my veins. Speaking of blood the stuff started to seep out of my pores, eyes and nose as my body began to collapse and fail under the pressure. Hestia panicked and immediately leveled me up causing all hell to brake loose. Remember that massive amount of passive cursed energy just floating about over the city?
It resonated with me when I leveled up and for the briefest moment became visible to everyone in the city as it became active. It turned invisible almost immediately but the damage was done as all the people in Orario were after answers now. As for myself I was entirely unconscious after getting leveled up as my brain went into self preservation mode. I was quite thankful that I had told Hestia what I wanted as a developmental skill already so she had been able to take it for me. I was entirely out for a whole week after that as my vessel refined itself based on my values at level one.-
Name: Alexander Drake
Race: Cursed Human
Level:2
Strength:0(I)
Endurance:0(I)
Agility:0(I)
Dexterity:0(I)
Magic:200(G)
Spells: Hell's forge(Innate technique): Can use anything from a living being and reshape or refine it per ones will.(Incantation: Hell's forge)(Extensions: Hell fire, cursed tool creation)
Skills: Heavenly restriction: In exchange for the ability to wield mana and magic one gains access to cursed energy and cursed techniques.
Blessing of black: Permanently increases cursed energy efficiency, amount and control. Magic will always start at G rank after leveling up.
Vessel of Sin: Hells forgemaster carries the burden of all mortal sin and is tasked to purify it from the souls of the dead. Permanent increase to crafting with cursed energy. Permanent decrease to all stats for each innocent soul killed and increase for each sinful soul killed. Grants skill: Soul gaze.
Soul gaze: See the souls of all things and their sins.
Developmental Skills: Curse-smith: Cursed energy specific variant of the blacksmith skill.
Mostly positive more than negative if I do say so myself but there was certainly quite a lot that I was less than pleased about.