“Remley nodded before taking a seat on the floor, cross-legged with palms on his knees. “That’s because it is,” he replied. “Earlier, you slayed a creature and absorbed its soul essence, yes? Now, that essence is floating around inside of you, waiting to be refined.”
Roy gave the adept a blank stare. “And how exactly do I do that?”
“Why through meditation of course!” Remley replied. “Now, join me.”
Roy shrugged then made his way to the floor, mimicking Remley’s posture as he crossed his legs.
“Good,” Remley said. “Now, go back to your place of calm. Picture your spirit aura, envision it flowing through you like an endless river.”
Roy closed his eyes and visualized the black-violet aura coursing through his channels, its power wrapping him like a cloak of pure energy. “Ok, I’ve got it. Now what?”
“Now, press your spiritual senses even further. Search within yourself for any foreign entities, for spirit energy lurking outside the confines of your aura.”
Again, Roy looked within as he strained to follow Rem’s instructions. He searched his spirit for several seconds and found nothing but the continuous flow of his own aura. Soon, sweat began to build on his brow and his knuckles went white as his fists clenched at his sides. “Damnit!” he growled.
“Release a bit of that anger, Roy.” Remley urged. “Believe me, once you refine those essences, you’ll feel much better.”
Roy nodded, pushing back on his emotions as he took a series of deep, calming breaths. He doubled down on his focus, using his will to finally center on the foreign bits of energy floating around inside him.
There were five of these soul essences, each taken from an enemy he had defeated since his arrival on Eon. Unlike his black-violet spirit aura, these swirling masses of energy had lost their unique properties. They were raw and unrefined, moving about his body like a ship lost at sea. With a deep breath, he pulled the energy into his own aura, absorbing the soul essence and compounding his own power in the process…
And it felt amazing.
Just by absorbing the five soul essence, Roy already felt stronger, sturdier. He felt as if his pool of spirit energy had been expanded, as if he could launch a void blast twice the size of the one he’d fired before.
“And that Roy, is soul essence refinement,” Remley said, clearly noticing the smile now forming on the man’s face. “Refine enough of those and you can achieve a higher rank. Rank up high enough and well... even the gods won’t be able to stop you.”
“Then I need more,” Roy replied, clenching a raised fist. This is how he did it, this is how he grew in strength!
Slowly Roy’s gaze shifted back over to Remley, who still sat cross-legged on the floor. “Ya know, you don’t have to worry about me, Rem. I’m gonna pull my weight.”
“I know,” he replied with a grin. “That’s why I picked you after all. Well, one of the reasons at least.”
“And the others?” Roy prodded, brow raised.
Remley placed a hand on the former officer’s shoulder. “To be honest, what you did in the market was rather... remarkable. You see, in Eon, there isn’t just a veil outside the city walls... there’s one inside as well. It often goes unspoken, but if you look hard enough you can see it plain as day. Everyone shuffles around in their daily lives, too afraid to speak out against blatant injustice, too worried about upsetting this guild or that, too wrapped up in what that perceive as honor to understand what honor really is. Terrible things happen to people who are far too weak to protect themselves, and nobody has the gall to do anything about it. At least, that’s what I thought until I saw you march up and punch that butcher right in the face!”
Roy couldn’t help but grin,” I couldn’t just let him kill that kid. No way. I used to shut that shit down for a living.”
“Well, it suits you,” Remley replied as rose to leave. “You have an angry soul, my friend, but an honorable one.”
Roy grimaced. “I’ve done some things that were less than honorable in my past.”
“We all have,” Remley replied. “But it’s what we do now that’ll define us. Now get some rest, Sky Wolf. You’re going to need it.”
Roy leaned back into his cot, as Remley exited his sleeping quarters, the strange feeling of unrefined soul essence finally gone. Hell, he actually thought he might be able to grab a few hours’ sleep. There was just one more thing he wanted to do. He was certain that there was more information to be discovered in that manual of his, and he wanted it.
Focusing inward, Roy concentrated on his dormant aura and activated his spirit scan. Suddenly, a status screen appeared in his vision.
//////////
Roy Skyworth
Void Adept
Rank: 1st
Specialization: None
Divine Power: None acquired
//////////
Roy used his finger to flick away the translucent screen, revealing another page of information.
//////////
Base Skills (the pillars of the adept):
Body Reinforcement
Aura Blast
Spirit Evocation
Meditation
Void skills:
Aura Bullet (tier 1)
Specialized skills:
None obtained
//////////
Spirit Growth:
5 Lesser Soul Essence refined
Aura Growth at 5%
(Refine more essence types to strengthen your aura and advance your rank)
//////////
The spirit scan even kept track of his inventory.
//////////
Inventory:
1 Phoenix City Police Badge
1 Baton
1 Police Taser
1 Common Adept’s Attire
//////////
Roy scrolled back to the first screen and pressed his fingers to the translucent window, hovering over the word specialization... he still hasn’t chosen a spec, hadn’t even learned how to and yet here he was just a day away from entering his first dungeon with a damn disadvantage.
“Damnit,” he growled in frustration. “How the hell do I find a spec?!” suddenly the screens in his vision faded as another materialized in front of him with a single question.
//////////
Would you like to preview the specializations available in the void manual?
//////////
“Hell yes!” Roy said, causing the translucent screen to diminish once more. Suddenly, another window of translucent data appeared in his vision, but this one was far different than anything he’d ever seen. It appeared as if he was looking at some sort of skill tree, like one used in video games to track character progression.
At the center of the screen was a small orb etched with the words ‘Void Adept’. From there, the tree branched out in several directions, indicating the multitude of paths available to him. Some of them had no data, which likely meant his manual didn’t provide the necessary knowledge for that particular specialization. Still, a number of them were readily available for his choosing.
Roy’s eyes scanned over the different paths, gathering data from each of them as he pondered their choices. There was the Warden, a defensive adept reliant on body reinforcement skills, and the mystic, a path focused nearly entirely on overwhelming its foe with powerful aura blasts. There were also a number of paths focused on specific weapon enhancements like the soulblade, but none of those really appealed to him. He didn’t just want to enhance his skills, he wanted to crush his foes.
Roy manipulated the skill tree with his hand until he was staring at something else... paths of power exclusive to the void adept. His eyes scanned over each of the spheres, drawing out their information.
//////////
The Void Knight
The void knight is a stalwart in battle, standing face to face with its foes as it uses its spirit aura to enhance both its sword and shield. This specialization employs both offensive and defensive skills and relies heavily
on body reinforcement techniques.
The Spirit Stalker
The spirit stalker is a hunter that uses its spirit aura to track and bring down its foes. The path uses aura evocation techniques to create traps and snares before overwhelming opponents with a variety of exotic weapons.
The Void Vanguard
The Void vanguard is the first to enter battle, tearing down enemies and clearing a path for his allies to charge in. The path focuses on a combination of powerful body reinforcement techniques to take down foes in single combat coupled with supporting aura blasts to stave off other attackers. Vanguard skills work well with a number of martial weapons.
//////////
Roy paused as he looked over the choices left before him. Each of these specs were like gateways to power, and with his spirit scan, their knowledge was at the tip of his fingers. It was almost like cheating the system, being able to forego extensive training by sapping the knowledge directly into his mind. Now, he just had to make the right decision.
The former officer considered each of the paths laid before him, carefully weighing his options as the translucent screen flickered in his vision. He was certain that each of them had their own benefits, but one in particular was calling to him far stronger than the others.
//////////
You have selected the path of Vanguard.
Uploading data…
Opening gateways…
Beginning your specialization…
//////////
The translucent screen in Roy’s vision faded as the black-violet diamond of the void manual reappeared. Pages began to flip at a rapid pace as the knowledge within began to slide off the page and swirl around his head.
Suddenly Roy seized as a mass of data began to pour into his mind, etching knowledge into his very aura itself. Visions flickered in his mind's eye, images of mighty vanguards felling rows of enemies with near earth-shattering attacks. His muscles tightened as the visions faded and more waves of data stretched his mind to the brink. He wanted to scream out in pain so badly but knew he couldn’t less he look like a crazed fool to his new companions.
After several seconds of torture, Roy’s spirit aura erupted with a violent blast of black-violet energy, briefly illuminating his room clear as day… and then it was over. Breathing heavily, the man sat back in his cot and lifted his hands into the air, inspecting them for any clear differences. His body didn’t appear any different, but his spirit appeared… sharper, like a longsword fresh from the whetstone.
Swirling in Roy’s thoughts were bits of history from the vanguard spec… teachings that one would learn when beginning such a journey. One such new memory fascinated him, a memory of a great vanguard… Toko’ren, The One-Man Army. He had dismantled an entire guild with a series of body reinforcement techniques before his allies had even arrived at the battle.
Roy grinned. He could achieve strength like that, he had to if he was going to survive in this hellish realm. Exhausted, the former officer laid back in his cot, falling into a meditative resting state as he let his newly gained knowledge permeate into the deepest recesses of his spirit. Another window appeared, displaying a new specialization skill that was now open to him, but he dismissed it. He would review his newly acquired skill in the morning, he would master it, master everything he could. And then, when they arrived in this dungeon Leila had spoken of, he would put them to deadly use.
****
Twilight, outside the walls of Athreune City
Varyon Risen sat quietly atop one of the large, charcoal colored trees as the all-encompassing veil passed through the forest. Normally, an adept of his level would have drawn the attention of dozens of darkbeasts by now, but masking your aura was one of the first things you learned in the thousand-legged spiders guild.
Hours ago, Varyon had spoken with his master, a powerful shadow adept and guild leader of the spider’s themselves. Using living shadow as a form of communication, he had given Varyon the go ahead to enter the dungeon and retrieve the relic, an item that would prove quite useful in the spider’s future endeavors.
And like a devoted follower, Varyon was eager to comply.
Varyon’s eyes darted back and forth as he watched for movement on the ground below, waiting patiently for his prey to make its presence known. Vile screeches and strange, eerie noises came from the veil as the cloud of darkness passed over the area but none of them stifled the man’s concentration. Even in the deepest bowels of danger, Varyon always proved to be the superior hunter.
The adept’s eyes widened as the crunching of leaves caught his ear. The creature was nearby, he knew it. Now he just had to take what he needed. It’s how he had always operated, moving fast and light, disarming his opponents before turning their own tools against them.
The crunching grew louder as a strange beast passed just below Varyon’s location. Walking on two legs, the creature lumbered about with massive paws that could smash a man’s skull and a jaw strong enough to bite through metal. Its body was covered in grayish colored fur, though what was remarkable about the creature was the soft glow emanating from its flesh… the trademark sign of a spirit beast.
Wasting no time, Varyon leaped from his perch and dove into the creature’s presence, landing in a crouch directly in front of its hulking form. The spirit beast roared in confusion, claws suddenly poised and ready to strike.
Though Varyon would never allow that to happen.
The fierce adept launched a blast of his temporal spirit aura, slowing the creature’s movements to a crawl. He then withdrew a curved blade from his waist and struck out once, twice, three times in quick succession.
The spirit beast’s eyes went wide as its lifeblood spilled from the massive gash in its neck before falling to the ground, quite dead. Varyon moved quickly, cutting away one of the beast’s burly arms before hoisting the limb over his shoulder.
A special property of the spirit beasts was the overly-bright glow of their aura. Even after death, the creature’s body would glow for many days until finally dissolving into essence. Varyon had hunted this particular creature down for that particular reason. After all, he had a dungeon to delve, and one didn’t go delving into dark places without a torch.
Throwing his stolen blade to the ground, Varyon lifted the glowing arm of the spirit beast into the air to light his path and made his way deeper into the forest.
****
Jericho and Merrick sat in silence atop Atherune’s city walls, watching as the veil swirled around the city like a dark cloud. It was a rather boring job guarding the walls at night, especially with all of the magical safeguards the city elders had installed to keep the darkbeasts at bay. In fact, Jericho was mere seconds from dosing off at his post when a sudden gust of wind at his back brought him sudden alarm.
Together, the guards turned to see an imposing figure looming over them, his face concealed in shadow. “H-Headmaster Zion,” Jericho mumbled, recognizing the man’s majestic blue and white tunic. “D-do what do we owe the pleasure?”
Zion remained silent for several seconds, as if he enjoyed watching the guards squirm at his feet. “I have an opportunity for both of you… one that can make you a fair amount of coin.”
“M-most certainly!” Merrick chimed in, a toothy grin forming on his otherwise nervous face.
“I need you to be my eyes and ears,” the headmaster continued. “Id like you to keep a lookout for a specific group of adepts… the Sky Wolves.”
“Certainly,” Jericho added. “Anything you’d like, Headmaster.”
“Good,” Zion said. “Report back to me and only me whenever the group leaves or enters the city and you may find yourselves a handsome reward.”
Both of the guards gave Zion an overzealous nod. “Is there anything else, Headmaster?” Merrick asked, perhaps hoping to earn himself even more coin.
Zion nodded. “Yes. One more thing… do not let me catch you nodding off again,” a thin bolt of lightning flew out of the headmaster’s palm before bo
uncing between the guards, electrifying their armor and causing a sudden, painful shock. And then, just like that, he disappeared back into the night.
Merrick and Jericho immediately postured themselves against the edge of the wall and began surveying the area, afraid to even blink.
Chapter 13
Kimoura’s Wisdom
Home of the Sky Wolves, Atherune City
Roy sat in a meditative form, channeling spirit aura throughout his body as the first rays of the worldstar began to shine over the city. The early morning was always his time of peace, a time to clear his thoughts and gather his strength for the coming day. On earth, Roy would’ve spent the time hitting the heavy bag, but becoming an adept had opened him up to far better uses of his time.
And so, as the breeze blew through his short black hair and the spiky grass scratched at the soles of his bare feet, he continued to channel his aura. Spirit energy courses through his meridians, flowing through his limbs and gathering at his center before expanding outwards and encompassing his body like a cloak.
This method of meditation was unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. In his mind, he felt a sense of serenity and a heightened sense of awareness to the world around him. In his body, Roy felt the familiar, welcomed pain of a vigorous workout. His muscles tightened as he channeled his aura through them, as if his spirit energy was tempering his muscles like cold steel.
Roy closed his eyes and let himself fall deeper into his meditation. He pushed his spirit aura even further, drawing in essence from the world around him and cycling it into his channels. Several moments passed as he continued the technique until his muscles felt firm like steel and his aura felt like a raging fire. Then we felt like he could no longer hold the meditative state, he opened his eyes.
Roy’s spirit immediately settled and the tension his muscles faded, bringing a sudden sense of relief. Satisfied, he lifted a fist into the air and channeled aura into it. He couldn’t be certain, but he was sure that he felt the slightest increase in control of his aura. Perhaps if he continued to work it like a muscle then-
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