Chapter 119: Changing
“Wait, shouldn"t we let someone else kill me?” Francis asked. He was a mixture of excited and resigned right now. It was finally time. After handling a few minor things shortly after waking up, they were ready. Just in case, all the levelers were called back temporarily. They had avoided any accidents thus far and were quite unhappy about being coddled, but thankfully Frederick spoke in favor of being careful.
“Who then?”
“I would say Mom, but I think the memory would bother her. I’d rather give a t.i.tle to Luna and get her some experience for another cla.s.s. We should get her as many attribute points as possible.”
Rainer wanted to say the same thing would apply, but he doubted Luna would even blink at the request. The little Fairy was currently sleeping in his coat as usual. From what he learned about her creation from Yulia, there was a bit of dragon in her, so her love of sleep was not a surprise. Tiamat slept much of her time as well, even as she grew older. Especially without her favorite undead playmate around all the time.
“But if it’s not a real fight…” Rainer said with a frown. He had long since learned why powerful experts didn’t just powerlevel others.
They needed an outside opinion on how to do this. After all, if you could simply capture monsters and let others kill them, then powerleveling anyone would be easy. Even leveling dozens of cla.s.ses in just a year would be easy. There would be no danger in it like with hunting.
Hunting areas with monsters were giant meat grinders in terms of loss of life. Hunting Parties which together reached the peak of the 2nd Tier were truly rare and fearsome. Many of them would be joining higher-ups of nations and guilds in the formation of Dungeon Parties. Though Rainer realized he may have a full group with all the added family and the addition of at least one of Talvara’s Void Lords.
Kara made for an excellent tank due to her Demon-half, and Furtak fit that as well given his intangibility as a Flame-Touched along with the general pain and annoyance of being burnt by a short flying Goblin would cause. Amer would be bringing in his Avatar as a ‘Familiar’, so there was the scout. Mira, Elru, and Laneth as Fae had millenia-spanning knowledge on Dungeons, and Rainer’s mother and Luna were more than enough in the healing department. Everyone else fit in the role of damage dealer. It was just a question if Sarah would reach Tier 2, or rather [Enchantment Manipulation] to level 10, prior to the Dungeon Meet. They could technically delay it, but missing out on the first rewards defeated a lot of the point.
“I can fake a fight? But even if she doesn’t get any experience, shouldn’t she get a t.i.tle for killing a level 24 2nd Tier at Tier 1?”
“We’ll ask around.”
“No need, t.i.tles cannot be gained in such a manner,” Amer said as he walked in, having been called a bit ago to oversee the process. Frederick walked in beside him alongside Sophia for the same reason.
With everyone ready and informed in case of emergency, Rainer positioned his Avatar next to Francis, prepared to reabsorb the Soul from them one after the other to ease the process and bolster the part of his Soul around his [Sleep Learning] s.p.a.ce. He didn’t bother re-checking if Francis was sure; the peaceful look on his face told it all.
It was surprising that his other self never tried to work on fixing that hole on his Soul. Perhaps it was so bad that he never even considered it possible? Rainer let out his last sigh on the subject, ashamed he ever created a being whose sole purpose seemed to be to suffer. But at least Francis seemed happy with the conclusion, though Rainer got the feeling his former Avatar was hiding something.
“Ready?” Francis asked, a bit amused at the prospect of Void-Calling himself.
“Yes.”
“See you next time you look in a mirror,” Francis smirked, and his entire body vanished in a [Void-Call].
Rainer focused, [Soul Manipulation] and [Void Manipulation] in turn grabbing onto the freed Soul, a pa.s.sive [Arcane Presence] covering the room from Divine eyes. As if returning home, the Soul needed only the gentlest of prods before it flew into Rainer, merging seamlessly and carrying Void Will with it. His Soul seemed to glow with power as it far surpa.s.sed what it was. On top of what his practice resisting Arcane and Void did to strengthen his Soul, Rainer guessed he could easily create two Avatars at once now.
Giving himself a moment to deal with any errant memories or emotions, Rainer pushed it all to the back of his mind as he went to the next step. He didn’t feel any different, but that meant little. And the rush of Skill changes and gains across his vision meant it was definitely more than a paper-thin merger. Unfortunately, no experience came with it.
He attacked his Soul with [Devil’s Soul Language], and then pulled both his Arcane Power and Mana Pool, and then his Void Will, closer to his Soul. With Arcane on the left and Void on the right, they merged into his Soul. All his practice proved true as they did so without issue. With a wave from him, Frederick then destroyed his Avatar, and Rainer absorbed that bit of lost Soul into the Area around his [Sleep Learning] s.p.a.ce, strengthening the buffer.
With the energies now leaking into his body from his Soul, Rainer used his manipulation skills to use a facsimile of both [Arcane Rage] and [Void Suppression], momentarily marveling at how easy it was to do both at the same time.
He panicked for a brief moment as the energies collided in his body, but soon notice that, apart from some pain and damage, nothing else occured. His forearm looked like a gory mess though, and his mother quickly rushed over to heal his arm. He had mentioned he wouldn’t be able to heal himself during this time.
Where was the grey energy? He was almost tempted to see what would happen if the energies merged within his Soul collided.
Shaking away this line of thinking, he went back to focusing on his body and Soul. It would be a long and boring couple of days until he could function normally again.
Hours pa.s.sed and things went just as expected. With a gain of Talent in the form of [Low Void Affinity], Rainer found the task far easier and far more boring. He was a bit confused at the lack of t.i.tle in the gaining of the Affinity but brushed it off. Perhaps he’d get one in the future as he changed his body more and more and that Talent increased with it. His Arcane one would increase as well, he ventured.
Instead, he tried to understand why no grey energy from before occured when the energies collided. He searched through his memories, now inevitably paying attention to the ‘new’ ones. The only problem was they didn’t feel new per say. They felt like they had always been there, so it was hard to focus on them. They weren’t special, they were just daily life. Though admittedly without being dampened by Void Will they had to be different than what Francis experienced.
Oddly enough, he didn’t feel guilty for the women ‘Francis’ slept with, it just felt like something he did when he wasn’t with Kara or Luna.
And Francis’ unique way of dealing with the giant hole in his Soul - namely by redirecting his emotions about death towards s.e.x, magic, or Talvara - also proved useful for dealing with guilt. Instead of feeling guilty over the death of his Earthen Soul Marks or the ma.s.sive army he killed, he felt indignation towards the people who forced it, be it the Council, Divine Avatar, or the society which enslaved Mages. Whether that was good or bad, he couldn’t say.
Speaking of Talvara… hadn’t she mentioned to Francis, or himself he supposed, that the [Sleep Learning] s.p.a.ce was everything but perfect?
Was it that minute imperfection that allowed that impossible light or grey energy to occur rather than just normal destruction?
[Const.i.tution +1]
[Strength +1]
Rainer stared at the messages and flexed his arm. That was interesting. He never heard of something like this happening to Furtak as he became Flame-Touched nor was anything like this mentioned in the [Great Sage]’s notes. And since it had happened before in his [Sleep Learning] s.p.a.ce, he never noticed the increase without the visible attribute change. Then again, Rainer wasn’t just becoming of Arcane and Void, he was leaving a small part of himself untouched in both Soul and Body. Who knew what the end result would be?
Wait… Talvara…
s.h.i.t.
Rainer flexed his fingers as [Arcane Awakening] covered his body. It had been two days and his Soul was completely stabilized. Now, only intentionally pulling at it would release the energy into his body. Something to test out, especially since he could now create two Avatars.
He pushed the issue of Talvara to the far back of his mind, having no idea what to do about those inherited feelings that were far stronger without Void Will suppressing them. It was just good luck he was sure she didn’t feel the same so there was no pressure on him to immediately resolve it. At least he could just let time fix the problem.
Both his Strength and Const.i.tution had improved by a total of 9 points, a welcome surprise as the violet runic lines currently running across his skin meant that was really 18.
He glanced in the mirror; apart from slightly sharper features and half an inch in height he was unchanged. His eyes seemed to have gained a natural glow, contrasting his ever darker hair and pupils. At least, that was what Kara said before jumping on him after a couple days apart.
He flew out into the night sky to test something else once more.
[Arcanium Descent], [Void Descent].
The two presences collided where he aimed them. A sharp scratching noise echoed as s.p.a.ce loosened and the resulting power exploded the air sending a wave of force outwards as both skills forcibly ended. Not particularly strong, but once he could do it on a grander scale it would certainly be far more effective. But still there was no strange energy produced.
He then sent out crisscrossing [Arcane Lance]s while at the same time using a [Void Call]. His multi-affected Soul meant he was no longer limited in using one or the other in combat. While he couldn’t do so freely, and it lowered his efficiency, it was still a huge boon.
However, that impossible light… it would be his sooner or later.
Elizabeth stretched her arms as she sat in a cave. They had finally been ‘allowed’ to go out and hunt again. She personally thought her nephew was being overprotective, but since Frederick and Art agreed - though it seemed like her great-grandfather just wanted to be on Rainer’s good side - she wasn’t in any position to argue. Nor the rest of her family.
Speaking of her nephew, she hadn’t gotten a chance to really meet him since coming here. His… well, she never thought she’d be calling any magic weird after all she’s seen, but his sentient Avatar was definitely weird. And his friends certainly shared that weird quality.
What the h.e.l.l was that thing? And why did it find everything and anything funny? She thought while scooting away from the shadow sniffing her hair.
But even amongst all this weirdness, she couldn’t help but be excited about this world. Back home she was a talentless waste - at least by her family’s standards - who was lucky enough to live off the family’s dime without having any real responsibilities, but here…
Well, things weren’t that much different here. But at least she wasn’t talentless!
[Excellent Light Affinity]
The only problem was she didn’t know any ‘Light’ magic. And, in fact, the only spell her family knew of on Earth was several attempts at a ‘laser’ type spell that was more likely to melt off your own face than your target’s. So of course she had never been tested for a talent in this school of magic.
It gave her one of those very rare +100% bonus cla.s.ses, but that was it. She still used her family’s fire magic to hunt with everyone, though mostly she killed whatever they injured. Level 9 had been easy enough to gain since even she was far stronger than what her level suggested.
“Gramps, have you thought about it anymore?”
Art scowled at her but just shook his head.
“Have you tried asking Gunthar?” her elder sister suggested.
“Why?”
“Well, he was a Paladin. Not sure if that means what I think it does…”
The 26 year-old’s eyes lit up. The quiet Undead who hunted Souls used to be a holy warrior of light? How exciting!
Or rather, what a good chance for her to learn magic.
Elizabeth watched patiently as he carved the spell formula into the cave floor. She was a bit surprised at how freely he gave it out, but supposed if he was close enough to Rainer it made some sense.
“So explain to me what this spell does again?”
The Undead gave tired sigh, having been asked this repeatedly, and mumbled something she couldn’t quite hear, before he explained again what [Spear of Holy Light] did. He also gave her a basic healing spell called [Healing Palm]. None of them made any sense. [Shield of Holy Light] was even worse. How could light function like this? And why was it ‘Holy’?
“Are you sure these work?”
“I have cast them myself in the past.”
“You aren’t pulling my leg?”
“If I pulled your leg it wouldn’t reattach as easily as mine.”
Elizabeth chuckled.
“You understood that?” Gunthar asked her, confused. He had a.s.sumed ‘pulling my leg’ was only what he heard through the translation to match his homeland’s saying.
“Why wouldn’t- Oh. Because of the translation? It must be horrible for no one to understand your jokes.”
“I knew the Sorcerer’s family would be as understanding as him.” He hadn’t had much of a chance to interact with Frederick and Sophia, but the rest seemed a bit dull and hyperfocused on leveling. Not that he blamed them for that as he himself was busy with the same most of the time.
“Sorcerer? You mean Rainer? Well, I admit I’m more of the black sheep of this side of the family, so don’t count on having fun with them.”
“You consume your insane and bloodthirsty relatives for power?”
“That… that chimera-goat-sheep-shadow thing really does that?”
“It is a gesture of love.”