'Could it be that these incubation cocoons are meant to accelerate their growth?'
It made sense—if demons naturally aged slowly, these cocoons could be a means of speeding up their physical development, preparing them for survival in the harsh, abyssal environment.
The demons might have devised this method to ensure their young were strong and capable as soon as they emerged…or probably to gain more soldiers faster.
Xaren thought the latter was the more likely reason—especially given the fighting knowledge in the Survival Guide they imprinted in their souls.
He then moved his eyes down to the next thing on his status. His Level.
'50? That's surprising…'
He'd heard rumours about some people being born with high levels from birth; mostly children of High-Ranking elves and dragons, but it seemed it applied to demons as well.
50 wasn't worth much in the grand scheme of things, but for a newborn, that was a lot.
'I feel a bit sad having to work my level back up again though…'
In his past life, he was an Intermediate Grandmaster at Level 390. Among the Existence Realms he knew of, that was the fifth one, with the Master, Gold, Silver and Bronze realms under it in descending order.
What kind of power did Grandmasters possess? If you gave the previous Xaren an average city of around two to three thousand square kilometres, he could have turned it into a pile of ruins in a few minutes.
While that sounded strong, it was nothing when compared to Transcendent Realm existences that could vaporize entire countries.
'The ability to destroy a city is insignificant next to the power of a Transcendent.'
Xaren thought this as he remembered the General of the army division that he was a part of had to order a full retreat for all twenty thousand men of the division when their base was attacked by a demon.
Just 1 High-Rank Demon.
From what he saw that day, Xaren became convinced that High-Ranked Demons and Angels all possessed god-like power.
Coming out of his reminisce, he returned his focus to his stat values.
Normally, Levels 1-20 (Bronze Realm) had 'F' rank stats, Levels 20-50 (Silver Realm) had 'E' rank stats, and Levels 50-100 (Gold Realm) had 'D' rank stats.
Each Stat had three sub ranks, the Negative sub ranks 'X-', the Neutral sub ranks 'X', and the Positive sub ranks 'X+'.
His having a 'D+' stat at Level 50 was already high, as that was the kind of stat he'd expect to have at around Level 80 instead.
Moving on, his gaze went to his Magic Tiers and he couldn't help but react with surprise at the sight of the two rare attributes there.
In his past life, he had four elements; Water, Earth, Wind and Fire. However, they all remained Tier 1 until he died, and since they were Tier 1, he was stuck at using basic spells.
Trying to use anything higher than one's Tier usually resulted in a backlash on failure, which would prevent one from casting spells for a short time since their energy circuits—the network of circuits that sends energy from one's energy core throughout one's body and soul, just like how the heart sends blood throughout the body via veins and arteries—would be fried.
Next up, was the Skill tab.
'I have 7 skills?! That's a lot to start with!'
Previously, he started with just 3, and in the years of fighting, he gained other skills, totalling a number of 9 by his death.
All of them were common and uncommon skills, with the only Ultra-Rare skill he had being 'Tenacity'.
Perhaps due to his will to survive and his efforts to drag himself out of close shaves with death, he gained a skill that embodied having 'cockroach-like' vitality.
The Tenacity skill was the reason why despite having his arms severed, his eye blinded, and his innards spilling out onto his legs, he was still alive for over 20 minutes before his body finally lost too much blood and was unable to sustain itself.
In this life, he retained this skill and he was very happy about it.
'My other skills…to think I would see the day that I'd have not only a 'Peak' Grade skill but also a 'Transcendent' Grade.
Skills had Ranks and Grades to them.
The Ranks were Normal>Uncommon>Rare>Ultra-Rare>Unique.
The Grades were Low-L>Mid-M>High-H>Extreme-E>Peak-P>Transcendent-T.
Certain skills below the Unique Rank could have Grade modifiers attached to them. For example, Fire Magic(L) or Fire Magic (Low).
In Xaren's case, the 'T' beside his Gravity Magic skill was enough to let him know which attribute was going to be his main affinity.
'It's a rare attribute and all, but my information on it is limited…I'd have to be self-taught until I can get out of here…wherever here is.'
Xaren thought of this before pondering his other skills which were all pretty self-explanatory.
Energy Control made energy manipulation easier, and faster and allowed him to do more complex things; Energy Blast condensed energy and fired it out as a projectile; Swordsmanship basically amplified everything he did with a sword, from increasing his damage to reducing the strain and cost of using techniques.
If the languages imprinted in his mind not too long ago were the Basic and Intermediate textbooks for those languages, then the Language Comprehension skill added the Advanced and Expert textbooks on top of that. With it, even if he encountered a language not in his default repository, he wouldn't take long to learn the language.
Understanding forgotten languages and the like would also be easier with this skill.
The Gravity Magic skill was the same as his Swordsmanship skill, just for that particular school of magic.
He didn't know what 'Gravity Sphere' did so he took a look at the description to see and his jaw dropped.
|Gravity Sphere;
Type: Rare Active Skill
Description;
Conjures a dense, pulsating orb of gravity magic that attracts enemies within a certain radius. Once drawn to the orb, enemies are enveloped in a constricting sphere of gravitational force. The sphere then rapidly contracts, intensifying the gravitational pressure and crushing the trapped foes with overwhelming force.
This skill not only inflicts substantial physical damage but also can incapacitate enemies by distorting their spatial awareness and mobility. |
"Wow…just wow."
That was all Xaren had to say to the sight of this skill's description which was far greater than whatever he could have expected.
Finally, Xaren's eyes went to the last tab of his status board. He previously didn't have this tab as he didn't have any Unique Skills, but now, his story has changed.
"Gravity again, huh?"
He looked through the Unique Skill's Description, noting that its type was 'Unique Series Skill' and not just 'Unique Skill'.
"Is that a special type of Unique Skill?"
Just as he asked himself that question, he heard a noise coming from the outside and moved to peek out of his cocoon in an attempt to see what was going on.
However, before his head could even come out, a newborn demon spotted him through the tear in the flesh cocoon, before picking up one of the stones on the ground and charging towards him with a roar.
"?!"
Xaren was momentarily shocked at being attacked unprovoked, but that didn't dull his reactions.
The attacking demon jumped in the air and slammed the giant stone down towards his head, however, Xaren shifted his body to the side, allowing the demon to hit the floor of the cocoon instead.
Before the demon could even get up, Xaren threw his right fist forward, punching the side of its head.
The force knocked its body to the wall of the cocoon opposite him, but due to its size, Xaren was still well within the reach of the demon's hands.
Xaren quickly kicked the demon out of the cocoon and got out of it, before looking around to see that almost all the demons in sight were fighting each other.
'But why? Is this some sort of newborn ritual?'
He asked himself this as he turned to the demon he had punched and saw it was still unresponsive. Xaren leaned in a bit for closer inspection, all whilst keeping his fist pulled back in case he needed to throw out another punch.
This proved to be unnecessary as the little demon was completely knocked out!
'In one punch?'