"You've constantly been compressing energy and simply releasing it in a direction you want. It's like putting a mint into a full bottle of soda: The moment you let go, it's going to all burst out. What we need is a way to ensure that the soda- i mean Astra stays compressed until it hits its target"
Zen thought a bit. Although Theia's example was a bit misleading,it made sense.
After thinking for a few seconds, Zen had an idea.
What if he just put up a thin layer of energy around the blast. It would be like using a lot of snow to make a small hard ball, and covering it in tight-fitting latex and throwing it as hard as you could. The latex would keep it from breaking apart on impact, and it would still retain its previous attack power.
Zen immediately put this new theory to use as he prepared another compressed shot, creating a light thin layer of Astra around the original attack, making sure it covered it completely.
What Zen got was translucent marble with black swirling energy inside.
He also decided to change the way the way he launched it. Usually he just stretched out his hand and released it, but this time he took a stance that looked like he was about to throw a baseball, and using his Astra to control it,threw it as hard as he could.
The marble took off at an even faster speed, slamming straight into the target in less than a second destroyed the thing, going right through it and going much farther than the target and slamming into another mountain before exploding.
[-7 Astra]
"Direct hit! Told ya it would work"
Zen ignored Theia's celebration and re-evaluated the effect of the attack. The marble had struck at the center of the rock, and cracks spread from the point of impact, running so deep that the rock was already partially destroyed, the marble ramming into it only finished the job.
At Theia's request, Zen decided to do the opposite, letting the energy accumulate and causing the ball to grow larger and larger until he had used fifty points. Although he could make it bigger, Zen was starting to have trouble controlling the Soul blast that was now ten times bigger than a regular one. Using ten more Astra, Zen launched it towards a target, creating a vastly different effect.
Unlike the pure destructive power of the other one, this blast was more like a floating wrecking ball as it floated slowly, passing through the rock and leaving a giant round hole in it. When it reached the other mountain, it began to drill into it, leaving no remains of the the parts it touched. It kept going for a few more seconds before disappearing halfway through the mountain.
Zen watched it go and was suprised by how durable and steady it was. Despite this,it looked like it was useless in a fight unless he could restrain his opponent.
Zen watched the attack disappear and prepared to try something else with soul gun,but this time, it was his idea.
Zen pointed his index finger towards one of the few remaining large rocks and took a deep breath as he activated his weakened version of Soul blast, only this time, with a few changes.
A thin continuous beam of energy shot out of Zen's finger, and unlike the others that were singular blasts,this one kept going.
Zen saw his Astra reduce by one every second and nodded. His theory was right.
Swiping his finger, Zen moved the thin laser, cutting the bolder down with surgical precision before stopping.
"Interesting"
Not yet done with his experiment, Zen aimed his palm at it, curious as to what the effect would be if he used this concept with the actual skill.
The energy built up in front of his palm for a few seconds before a larger column of energy fired towards the rock, completely punching a hole into it.
Zen stopped, but the beam didn't stop and kept going until all the energy was dissipated . A few seconds later, the boulder crumbled, unable to take the damage.
Zen asked Theia and she confirmed he was losing five Astra every second.
A notification that suprised Zen suddenly popped up.
[Learned new skill: Soul beam]
"Congrats"
[Congratulations!]
[Hidden quest completed: Create your own skill]
[Reward: 10pp, 20 Skill Points]
Zen was surprised by the completion of the hidden quest, but had learned to accept it.
He knew what skill points were, but what was pp
"Pal points" Theia replied,no doubt reading his mind.
"What are they?"
Theia looked like she was in thought for a few seconds before suddenly looking at Zen with the eyes children used to look at their parents when they wanted to ask for something.
"Please can you let me be in control of pal points?"
Zen was confused but Theia continued pleading
"Please Please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please "
"Um..."
"I'll make sure to manage them properly, and they're useless when it comes to battle anyway "
"Okay"
Theia burst out celebrating in a happy mood, hugging Zen's face to show appreciation.
"Thank yoooouuuuu"
"Can you at least tell me what they-?"
"Nope"
Theia said and disappeared into the system to hide.
Zen ignored it for now. As long as it wouldn't affect his fighting,he could focus on it later.
Zen used the twenty skill points to level up Soul beam twice, ending up left with six skill points in total.
There was one more thing Zen wanted to try.
[Charge]
Zen only activated the skill for a second before turning feeling the effect. He stood in place as the Astra in his body raged. It was hard to explain, like all his Astra had been activated. He felt like he had just taken an adrenaline shot to the heart. His heart started beating faster, his breath quickened, and his senses sharpened. It was a rather pleasant feeling.
Zen saw something that looked like a dial on the screen in front of him. Turning it with his mind, Zen felt the effect rapidly increase till he could barely stand in place without the urge to jump around.
"Stats"
[Strength: 10](×1.5)
[Agility: 15](×1.5)
[Endurance: 10](×1.5)
[Intelligence: 15](×1.5)
Zen watched as his Astra started going down rapidly, making a few moves to test his new strength.
As soon as it emptied, Zen almost fell to the ground. He was panting slightly and his heart beat was erratic. It felt like the sudden drop after an adrenaline rush,or the exhaustion after you had just taken ten pounds of sugar.
"So it's like a second wind skill"
Zen took a deep breath, steadying himself before sitting down to meditate.
A few minutes later he got up and tried it again.
He jumped on the spot a bit as the thrilling feeling of energy came back.
He extended his palm and decided to try something else with the skill.
[Soul gun]
The ball of energy formed in front of his palm, this time much quicker. Zen felt something different as the ball of energy was much brighter and harder to control than last time. The ball fired off with a bang, forcing his entire arm back from the recoil as it flew erraticly in the air, swerving and tilting before it eventually exploded.
Zen deactivated the skill, looking at the small burn mark on his palm.
It still costed the same amount of Astra, but it was so much more violent.
The difference was insane. It was like the difference between throwing water at someone, and boiling the water to be scalding hot,then throwing it at someone.
Zen tried again, and although he was able to keep his hand steady,the attack still misfired. This was going to take a while.
Zen started practicing with the new skills as much as possible, trying to increase his accuracy and dexterity with the skills. Most of all he was looking for a way to incorporate the new skills into his fighting style, shadow boxing while using soul blades and throwing blasts at his "opponent" to try to find a fluid way to fight while using this. Once his Astra was emptied, he'd meditate until it was full and repeat the cycle.
He did this for a few hours until he recieved a notification.
[Good morning host]
[Daily quests reset]
Zen stopped. It was midnight,at least by earth time,it was still night here.
Zen took another breath and was about to continue when he suddenly heard Theia.
"Oh no you don't"
She materialized in front of him.
"You've been doing this nonstop for over seven hours, it's time for a rest"
"I'm not tired"
"Yes, but you are crazy. Besides,you haven't eaten anything except breakfast and those gross food pills you ate yesterday "
"I'm not hungry either"
"Why do you think that is?" Theia snapped her fingers and Zen's daily quests appeared in front of him, strangely he noticed that the food quest was gone.
"Appearantly, your species isn't very reliant on food. They are however, reliant on something else "
"Souls?"
Zen was a bit confused.
"I have to eat souls?"
Theia sighed and decided to just show him.
"Pull out a beast core, and don't touch it with your bare hands"
Zen did as she said, having Black cover his hand while he held the crystal.
"Now eat it "
"How?"
"You'll figure it out, it's all instinct"
Zen looked at the brown crystal and slowly brought it to his mouth. The moment it was about to touch his lips, his eye turned completely black as something took over him.
He wasn't sure how he was doing it, but a brown wisp of energy started coming out.
Zen's mouth opened wide as the wisp of energy was guided into his mouth.
Once the whole process was complete , Zen's eyes returned to normal. He cleaned the drool at the side of his mouth, having come back to his senses.
"Oh, that's too bad. No soul" Theia said.
Zen received a notification similar to what he got whenever he touched something with his bare hands.
"Your body is sustained on energy, life force. If you had consumed it using your mutation, although you'd get the benefits, the life force itself would disappear"
Theia could read his mind,so he wasn't suprised she knew what he was thinking. He suddenly felt the urge to take another.
"Go ahead. It's good for you "
Zen obliged and took another.
[Endurance: +0.05]
[Earth elemental affinity: +0.2]
Zen licked his lips
"It tastes a bit dry, like old bread"
"Yeah, that's your soul senses. You can probably tell what it smells like too. Though, your taste buds might change a bit"
"Is that all it does"
"No. There are some things that humans can't see and hear that you'll be able to , same with the other senses, but like I said before, there'll be a few changes "
Zen had the urge to try the ice core in his ring and see what it would taste like, but stopped himself, remembering it was Jade's.
"You can feed on anything, living or not,as long as it possesses life force, even human food. However, without energy,it won't be enough to satiate your hunger"
"So basically an energy vampire?"
"Yes and no. You'll be able to survive a very long time without any sustenance if you meditate as there is life force in Astra, although it is very minute and almost negligable "
Zen didn't ask any more questions, knowing what the answer would be.
"Alright, how about practicing some theory now?"
"Hmm?"
"Come on. Lotus position, eyes closed,gaze inward and all that "
Zen did as she said, waiting for more instructions.
"Now. Enter a state similar to the meditative state, but this time, when you see the orb containing your soul realm, don't enter it, focus on the appearance, and after a while,it should change. You should see two glowing dots of light resembling stars, focus your will into one of them to see what happens "
Zen nodded and did as she said. For about thirty minutes, his eyes were closed as he meditated.
When he finally opened his eyes,Theia started asking questions.
"What happened? Did you see them? The two glowing lights should represent the souls you have in your possession"
Zen looked a bit confused, but he nodded.
"I did... but there are three of them"
Thiea paused, confusion evident in her eyes.
"Three? But that's not possible. You only have two souls"
Theia opened the stat screen to show that it indeed only said two "
"I understand that, but there are three"
Zen suddenly remembered that voice in his mind that had spoken before and told Theia about it.
Theia was even more confused, but managed to keep calm.
She asked Zen if he could tell which ones were Freya and Lilith, and he answered positively.
She then told him to infuse his will and Astra into the third star, that way they could see what exactly it was, and if they were lucky,be able to use its power.
Zen closed his eyes for a much shorter time this time as he opened his eyes after a few minutes, his hands glowing with an eerie light.
Zen looked around at what he was doing, and even he was shocked.
Theia watched,utter suprise in her face as she witnessed Zen's display.
Zen quickly stopped.
"Theia,what was that?"
Theia looked a bit confused as well as she thought hard about it.
"Did you hear any voices this time? Anything?"
Zen shook his head.
"It looks like something or someone with a unique ability attached themselves to you somehow. That's probably why you can't see them in your soul realm, but can still sense them"
"So what do I do?"
"Nothing. They aren't harming you in any way, and you get an ability you can use for free,so the best thing to do now is see how well you can"
Zen nodded and closed his eyes to meditate again, planning on practicing with this ability as much as possible.
******************
After a few hours, Zen opened his eyes and opened his palm, using the ability.
"Congrats. You haven't mastered it, but you're not a complete novice anymore"
Zen closed his palm, deactivating it.
"All that's left is to practice until it can be used in a fight"
"Hold up, you're not planning on using your new skills against people, right?"
Zen was a bit confused at the question.
"I am"
"But people are going to see you. You're part of a race that has managed to stay hidden for...forever ,you don't wanna be the one to ruin it"
Zen shrugged.
"I'll just use on of the souls and say it's an ability... and I think I know just the one " Zen said, thinking about the mysterious ability.
"And as for the soul skills,if it's so important i keep them secret, then I just have to make sure no one sees me use them, and lives"