Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.
It was dull. Really dull. Lilith had decided against sleep for the time being, figuring that it would add another layer to her fast and speed things up. So, she waited. She had taken up meditating as Kali had suggested, but it was still a monotonous experience. She wished she could –
No. She was getting distracted. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d been meditating. Eyes closed, focused only on her breath. Something had been at the edge of her awareness for the past…while, but she paid it no mind. Best to keep on with the meditation.
Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.
The thing at the edge of her awareness had been increasing in intensity from time to time. Not a slow, gradual change, but one that came in bursts. Each burst added an imperceptible amount to the thing, but it wasn’t to the level where she couldn’t handle it.
Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.
An indeterminate amount of time later, the pressure to pay attention to the thing became much, much larger. The sudden spike of sensation snapped her out of her trance, and she refocused, now paying attention to the windows in front of her.
Congratulations, you have obtained the Meditation Skill! Meditation Congratulations, Meditation has leveled up! (x9) Congratulations, Meditation has reached maximum level! Please inspect the Skill to see evolution options! For abandoning all worldly desires and focusing on meditation and self-reflection for a night, you have obtained the Title Acolyte of Abstinence. As you are the first to gain this title, you gain the Achievement Original Virtue: Abstinence and the Title Original Virtue: Abstinence. Because you have the Title Original Virtue: Abstinence, and there is no one currently holding Virtue: Abstinence, you gain the Title Virtue: Abstinence. Because you have the Title Virtue: Abstinence, you gain the Titles Disciple of Abstinence and Embodiment of Abstinence while ignoring the usual requirements. For holding both Sin: Gluttony and Virtue: Abstinence, you have obtained the Title Arbiter of Gluttony and Abstinence! Congratulations, you have obtained the Skill Absent Alarm! Absent Alarm |
Lilith happily left the room and found Kali and Siph playing cards. Lilith raised an eyebrow as she watched the two. “Mom, I thought you weren’t very fond of Kali after the whole “losing me” thing.”
Siph smiled. “Well, when she was talking to me about coming here, she explained everything. Now that I know that she knew where you were the whole time and only let you out of her sight so you could meet me, I’m fine with it. Anyway, now that you’re done with your fast, would you like something to eat? I’m sure you must be starving.”
“Sure.” Lilith said, taking a seat at the small table they had set up.
“Alright, give me one minute to go grab that!” Siph said, hurriedly standing up and leaving via a door Lilith swore wasn’t there last night. Sneaking a peak at Siph’s cards, Lilith found that she was losing. Badly.
“I swear I’m not using magic.” Kali said. “She’s just really bad. Hasn’t played a game in her life.”
“I didn’t say you were.” Lilith replied, hiding a smile. “By the way, about the flavor text, do you write all of it?”
Kali grinned. “Only for Exclusive and Unique things. Most of the other text is auto-generated, but I’ll write it for things that catch my eye. For now, that means basically whatever you have, so I guess for your purposes, yes, I write all of it.”
“I figured as much. So, what’s the plan?”
“I had Siph gather a group of animals weak enough that you could wipe them all out with a single breath attack. We’ll have you go there and take them out, and you’ll be set.”
Lilith frowned. “Why not like, a bunch of ants or something? Surely that’d count.”
Kali shook her head. “Ants would count as a swarm kill for you. At least the little ones. If you were a bug, maybe they wouldn’t, but you’re out of their league right now. Well, until some of them start to evolve. Then it’s different.”
“So, animals and monsters can evolve?”
“Yup! They just level up their Racial Class enough and it can evolve, just like your Skills. And no, you can’t evolve your racial classes. You already have those evolutions. I guess, unless it’s something that’s not in the system yet. Huh. Didn’t think of that. Oh well, you probably don’t need to worry about it for now. That’s going to be at the end of some pretty high-level stuff…although…we might be able to work towards that while training. I’ll have to give it some thought.”
“But that’s later. While we’re on the subject, you haven’t evolved your Skills yet, right? Look over them, but aside from Meditation I would advise you don’t evolve them until after you get Wrath. I designed them to have compatibility with the Title you’ll get after you have all the Sins and Virtues, which should increase their power by a large margin. Probably should have let you know before everything, but as you weren’t going to do it anyway it just slipped my mind. Besides, once you max out the evolved Skill, you’ll be able to get the other one anyway, so it shouldn’t be a big deal. Take a look and think about what you’ll want to do over breakfast, alright? ”
Lilith went ahead and opened her menu to locate the skills that were waiting to be evolved. Fortunately, a menu explicitly for evolving skills came up, saving having to dig through her whole Status to find them.
Evolution Alpha and Omega First and Foremost First Come, First Serve Journey of 1000 Miles Meditation The Early Bird Gets the Worm. |
Deciding to start at the top and work her way down, Lilith peeked at Alpha and Omega.
Alpha and Omega Judge, Jury, Executioner First and Last |
Lilith gulped. That first Skill was…ominous. Would the rest be like that?
First and Foremost Fall from Grace The Original |
Well, Lilith thought, I suppose that answers that question. I’m willing to bet the other Skills will be similar. Siph walked up to Lilith, offering a piece of toast. Lilith accepted absentmindedly, opening the remaining Skills from Progenitor. She ignored the second evolution of each, looking only at the one she would gain after receiving the High Arbiter title.
From First Come, First Serve came Smite.
Smite Level 1: 0/1000 EXP (Gain EXP by passing judgement on a person) Rank: Unique Warning: Title “High Arbiter” required! Once per day you may smite a target’s, sealing a portion of their stats. For every 100 mana spent in using this Skill, 1 point is sealed in each of the main six stats, and 10 points are sealed in HP, Mana, and Stamina. Sealed may be lifted by fulfilling conditions you choose, leveling up 100 times, or whenever you please. Stats reduced in this way may not fall below 1. This ability may be used as punishment for a geas, in which case the mana costs are reduced by 50%. All effects of First Come, First Serve are retained. Prayer won’t help you here. |
Journey of 1000 Miles gave Arbiter’s Manacles.
Arbiter’s Manacles Level 1: 0/1000 EXP (Gain EXP by passing judgement on a person. You may also gain EXP by obtaining new Skills, but experience gained in this fashion is reduced.) Rank: Unique Warning: Title “High Arbiter” required! Once a day, you may spend mana to lock a target’s Skills. Every 500 mana spent will lock 1 level of a Skill. Levels may be unlocked by fulfilling conditions you choose, whenever you please, or by earning the EXP needed to gain that level. If a Skill would hit 0 this way, you may spend an extra 1000 mana to devolve the Skill if it has been evolved. Devolution cannot be undone. This ability may be used as punishment for a geas, in which case the mana costs are reduced by 50%. All effects of Journey of 1000 Miles are retained. Ordinary manacles shackle the body. Yours shackle the soul. |
And, finally, The Early Bird Gets the Worm would turn into Wipe the Slate.
Wipe the Slate Level 1: 0/1000 EXP (Gain EXP by passing judgement on a person) Rank: Unique Warning: Title “High Arbiter” required! Once per day you may spend mana to lock levels of a target’s Class, at the rate of 250 mana per level. If you would reduce their Class level to 0 in this way, you may choose to reset their Class manually by spending an extra 1000 mana. Levels may be unlocked by fulfilling conditions you choose, whenever you please, or by earning the EXP needed to gain that level. Resets cannot be undone. This ability may be used as punishment for a geas, in which case mana costs are reduced by 50%. All effects of The Early Bird Gets the Worm are retained. Make better choices next time. |
Having finished looking those over, Lilith went to check out Meditation.
Meditation Background Meditation Restorative Meditation |
Lilith puzzled over this one for a while and decided to take a look down the list of abilities these meditations would eventually unlock. Unfortunately, all she was able to see was “data not found” under possible evolutions.
“Hey, Kali, why is the display telling me that data isn’t found when I’m trying to look down Meditation’s possible evolutions?”
Kali blushed. “Ah, right. So. That’s…sort of my fault? King’s Knowledge should tell you everything, but that’s only everything that exists at the moment. For Skills, that’s pretty limited because…well, the only ones that currently exist are ones you have and those they can evolve into. When I send the system out into the world, it’ll take stock of everyone’s abilities, even do a deep dive into history and see what people would have had, but it can’t do that until live release. I have a pretty good idea of what’ll happen, but not specifics. For Meditation in particular, Background Meditation will lead you down a path that lets you meditate in combat and will probably give some sort of buff while you’re meditating, and Restorative Meditation will focus on increasing the regeneration and health bonuses Meditation gives.”
“What would you two suggest?” Lilith asked.
“I, for one, think aiming for combat use is the right way to go.” Siph said immediately. “If you have time to take that break, you’ll have access to a healer or something. It’s best to have that edge.”
Kali thought about it for a moment. “She brings a valid point. However, I disagree with the availability of a healer. If you happen to be raiding a particularly nasty dungeon, are in the middle of a war or infiltration or something, there’s a chance you won’t have access to that healer, or they’ll be out of mana. It’s good to be self-sufficient. There are some other ways to go about this, though. While the evolution path branches, you can go back and pick up the other branches and have both at the same time instead of doubling up on the evolution you want. Or, you could try and manually figure out the Skill like you did with Meditation, but that’s a lot harder and has a chance to give a Skill that is inferior to what you would otherwise get. Or superior, but that’s all up to how you do it.”
“Once you become able to evolve the Skill after that, you would likely end up with three branching paths, the old two, and a new one for the variant you made. The new one might end up intersecting the old ones at some point, though.” She paused. “Well, that’s how it would normally work. For you, I’m not exactly sure. King’s Knowledge throws what I know completely out of the window, since, as far as I’m aware, you’re the only non-admin to have something like this, and it works differently than stuff the admins have.”
“I think I get it. Kind of.” Lilith said. “I can get Skill evolutions, or something close to them, by figuring out how to do it myself.”
“Right. But it’s harder. A lot harder. You have to really ingrain what you’re training yourself to do, you can’t just chance on the solution and get the Skill.” Kali paused again, thinking. “Ok, I can’t actually rule that out for you in particular, but I find it pretty unlikely. Fortunately, for this Skill in particular, you’ve got a shortcut. Well, will have a shortcut.” She winked. “We’ll get to that later, but I think I’ve got a way to get around the whole ‘hard to use while doing something else’ aspect of meditation, so if you’re going that route do it because you want the buffs, not because you want to meditate while doing other things.”
Lilith nodded. To her, it was becoming increasingly clear that Restorative Meditation was the better choice. Figuring out how to do Background Meditation on her own seemed easier – just practice meditating and doing other things – but she wouldn’t even know where to start on Restorative Meditation, and having reliable self-healing was attractive. So, she went ahead and got that skill, watching as the messages rolled in.
Congratulations, Meditation has evolved into Restorative Meditation! Congratulations, Restorative Meditation has leveled up! |
Lilith nodded in satisfaction. “Alright, I picked Restorative Meditation. I think that’ll come in handy in the future. But, more importantly, what’s up with the evolutions to Progenitor’s Skills? They seem…” She paused, struggling for the right word.
“Intense?” Kali offered.
“Yeah. The flavor text you put in makes them almost seem like something a villain would have.”
“I…might have gotten carried away.” Kali admitted sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. “Still, I think those will go a long way towards keeping the peace.”
“We’re going to have to raise my mana if we want me to be able to get any significant effects from this.”
Kali looked away. “Right. All the more important we get you that last Sin, then. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes, I’ve got the teleports ready to go.” A glowing circle materialized where she was looking, and Lilith put down her half-finished piece of toast. The circle closed. “No. Finish eating. Remember that from now on, no matter where you are, things move according to your schedule. The only exception is if I directly tell you otherwise. You’re the most important person in the room, understood?”
“Fine. Then, as the most important person in the room, I want to leave now. If it’ll only take a couple of minutes I can come back and look over what I get over breakfast.”
Kali smirked. “I’ll let it slide this once. But, in the future, you’re going to take your time, got it? You’re going to have to get used to this. A certain amount of posturing is needed if you want people to take you seriously.” The circle reopened, and Lilith stepped through. There was a moment of disorientation, and then she was suddenly in the middle of rocky, barren ground. Directly in front of her was a hole filled with animals, all standing stock still and looking vacantly forward.
You should be able to get them all in one fire breath. Torch them and then be on your way back.
Obediently, Lilith drew back and exhaled a stream of fire into the hole, watching her stamina and mana deplete as she did. A few seconds later she stopped and confirmed that she had received the Title. She turned around and walked back through another magic circle, appearing back in the room. “See, faster than taking a trip to the bathroom.” She said, sitting back down and grabbing the toast while she looked over the messages.
You have killed 50 assorted animals! Due to the proximity in time of the kills, the EXP has been merged and a bonus given. After all relevant effects are applied, you gain 103 EXP! For killing 50 living creatures within 10 minutes, you have gained the Title Acolyte of Wrath. As you are the first to gain this Title, you gain the Achievement Original Sin: Wrath and the Title Original Sin: Wrath. Because you have the Title Original Sin: Wrath and there is no one currently holding Sin: Wrath, you gain the Title Sin: Wrath. Because you have the Title Sin: Wrath, you gain the Titles Disciple of Wrath and Embodiment of Wrath while ignoring the usual requirements. As you currently hold both Sin: Wrath and Virtue: Patience, you gain the Title Arbiter of Wrath and Patience! You are eligible for the Title High Arbiter! Once the administrator has approved you, you will automatically gain the Title! Congratulations, you have obtained the Skill Wrath’s Will! Wrath’s Will |
Lilith looked to Kali, swallowing her bite of toast. “So, I need your approval or something?”
Kali nodded. “Yes. Before we go any further, though, I need to make sure you understand what you’re getting into. As a wise man once said, with great power comes great responsibility. Yours will be ensuring the transition is as smooth as possible. No one group will be allowed to rule over the others, and if it comes to it, you’ll be the only thing stopping them. You’ll have to make hard choices, possibly even fight those you’ve come to call friends in your short time at Tunem’s academy. You may have to kill one to save ten others. You will be a target of hatred, fear, gratitude, and perhaps even worship. After accepting this, your life will forever change. This is your last chance to turn back.”
Siph gently squeezed Lilith’s shoulder. “No matter what happens, I won’t treat you any different. I love you.”
Lilith turned to Siph, smiling. “Thanks, mom.” Turning back to Kali, she nodded. “In for a penny, in for a pound. I’ll do it.”
Congratulations, you have obtained the Title High Arbiter! Due to the presence of the Title High Arbiter, all Acolyte, Disciple, Embodiment, Sin, Virtue, and Arbiter Titles have been removed! All Sin and Virtue Skills have merged into “Arbiter’s Arsenal”! You have temporarily regained the Sin, Virtue, and Arbiter series of Titles until someone more fitting for their position comes along! You have gained access to the Class High Arbiter! Massive soul restructuring in progress! For your safety, you will lose consciousness until the process finishes! |
Reading those skill description and was practically seeing when Lilith goes back (to whatever plane the school happens to be on) and all she sees is something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feSDLljuMkE
Since they share titles wouldn’t all the parallels also be high arbitrators? And have all the broken skills snd titles?
That is correct, but until Kali reconnects Lilith and Carmen, Carmen won't have any.
But, yes, once they're reconnected Carmen will get all that fun stuff.
The levels of the skills are missing.
Dangit >_>
I was doing some editing with how I displayed Skills and musta missed these. It's been fixed.
"at the rate of 250 EXP per level" I think the EXP here is supposed to be MP/mana
Yeah, it was supposed to be 250 mana per level. It's been fixed.
sorry for grammar english is not my native language
his system has a form of class evolution such as being an apprentice magician, and once he reaches level 100 in that class he can acquire the work of a magician, and he is also available with respectful trades according to his completion of the skills obtained or something. than of a reason to leave the class level to release a smaller class
Thanks for chappy!
Thanks fer the chapter.
EXP (Fain EXP by meditating - Gain EXP
You have killed 50 assorted animals! - This as the paragraph below it should be in boxes, since they are system messages.
Congratulations, you have obtained the Title High Arbiter! - should also be in a box
than the volution, and a lot - the evolution
Fixed, along with a few other minor errors I noticed while editing. Thanks!
Having been reborn and living a completely different life didn't get her any titles or skills toward reincarnation or life/death magic?
That's mostly due to it being less of a rebirth and more of a transformation similar to Alex's. Darragh tweaked the form Lucas would be transforming into slightly, and Perfect Chimera locked it in as his new base form. I forget how much of this I've explained in detail, but this happens to all Perfect Chimeras. Because Domains (and now Racial Classes) are so heavily tied to the physical body, having so many directly contradicting ones pulls the body in all sorts of weird, unpleasant directions and so Perfect Chimera's base form is locked to what it is directly after their transformation so that their body doesn't implode simply by existing. I'm going to post a quick not-a-chapter in a bit for unrelated reasons that will include the Skill description of Form Anchoring because I forgot to do so previously and it's important enough to warrant being in that not-a-chapter and not as an edit.
I'd also argue that she has obtained Titles and Skills for living this new life, but that mostly manifested in the direction her wish to be a great mage took or were already covered in some fashion (such as Jekyll and Hyde). While that was influenced in no small degree by Kali, many things in the system (when it comes to Lilith, anyway) are.
That being said, it does bring up the question of what Racial Class(es) someone like Alex who's had their base form permanently changed would have. In this case I would give Alex the Catkin Racial Class in addition to the Human Racial Class, treating her as if her parents were a human and a catkin (instead of them both being human, which is currently the case).
While this sounds incredibly abusable, and is, keep in mind that if you don't include Perfect Chimeras, there's a grand total of maybe 5 people who can permanently alter someone's base form to this degree. Yamato (The Council member briefly mentioned by Tunem), The queen and king of the fae, and one or two advanced transformation mages. And for most of that list it's either a big mana expense, something they'd be unwilling to do without good reason, or both.
@Fighterman481 It still sounds busted if they get to keep the racial classes of their previous forms like Alex. They could basically pick up a person from the street, shift them into a bunch of different forms over a period of time and nurture them. Rise and repeat and you have a squad of super soldiers.
Especially when you take into account how people are gonna get stronger due to the system, meaning there will probably be more people capable of that level of transformation magic in the future unless Kali intervenes.
@Thorium in that case, aside from the dump a chimera is, incompatible skills should lock out as useless or recompile as the closest match when forced racial changes occur, unless the changes are cosmetic and fail to be inheritable in which the new race is not what shows on the status page.
@Thorium They keep their "base" Racial Class and whatever they are currently shifted into. If Alex was to be transformed again, she would lose access to Catkin and all bonuses gained from that unless she was shifted again. I probably should have mentioned that lol