Mythshaper
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Chapter 34 - Improvement
🕑 Added 2024-03-06 20:57:25 +0000 UTCShai paid little attention to System Grandpa's voice, her gaze fixated on the mesmerizing script, suspended in mid-air, emitting a soft, ethereal glow. Finally, I have succeeded.
Overwhelmed with joy, Shai leapt into the air, hissing madly in ecstatic celebration. As the moments passed, she redirected her focus to the script, still radiating a dim glow.
The script was a whole lot smaller. Moreover, she hadn't tested it yet.
Shai inched closer to the spell script and leapt onto its surface. The octagonal script was fragile in appearance, but it exerted an attracting force the very moment she leapt onto it, being absorbed into her body. Instantly, Shai felt her blood exhilarating, her vigour rising, her body toughening.
It works. I succeeded. Shai bounced in triumph.
[Synergy detected between your Skill Empower, and the Tier-I script Empower.]
[Would you like to combine and evolve them into an Aspect?]
[Accept | Decline]
[The evolution process may cost varying numbers of evolution points. The incorporation of an E-rank Aspect usually costs 4 Evolution Points.]
The spell broke, and Shai tumbled to the ground, breaking out of her exhilaration. She stared suspiciously at the green text. Currently, she had zero evolution points, but she did have some unallocated points which should be enough to complete this incorporation.
But if I do that now, I won't get the extra attribute points from mastering empower, do I?
While the prospect of an Aspect was welcoming, considering how useful all three of her aspects had been, she couldn't just abandon free attribute points. She would just need a few more days to achieve full mastery in Empower (E). Not to mention her Empower Script was merely a Tier-I.
She wanted to do better than that. The path to mastering scripts involved stacking them both horizontally and vertically. The more scripts she could stack, the greater their collective power would become.
Shai forged another script, achieving success on her second attempt. Once again, she absorbed the empowering script feeling herself uplifted to a new height.
Satisfied, Shai retrieved her meal from the inventory, while also opening her system page.
[Shai]
Rank: Foundation (F)
Path: Favoured Hatchling Lvl 20
Laws: Concept of Hunger (Early)
Mark: Fatemarked. Blessed by Kismet (Lesser). Predator.
Attributes:
Primary Attribute:
- Physique: 34
- Mind: 44 (+20%)
- Soul: 52
- Recovery: 35 (+10%)
Special Attributes:
- Insight: 2
- Evolution: 0
- Fortune: 9
Unallocated points: 11
Aspect:
Golden Eyes (A) | Poison Affinity (D) | Essence Eater (B)
Skills[8/8]:
Advanced Meditation (E) - 90% | Predatory Instinct (D) - 58% | Arcane Shot (D) - 55% | Essence Weaving (E) - 66% | Force Shield (E) - 35% | Empower (E) - 79% | Mental Corrosion Resistance (D) - 92% | Spellforging (D) - 1%
Boon:
Inventory | Lingual Comprehension
Remark:
I promise I won't eat you...
[System Log] [Active Quest] [Skill Reservoir]
For a moment she basked in the glorious improvements she made. From a tiny little snake, she had come a long way... and that too in just--
It had to be longer than two days. To confirm, she accessed her Active Quest, [Advancement - I], which revealed that the time limit had been reduced to 6 days.
Holy hell! For how long have I been spellforging?
The answer was eight days straight. She thought it was more like three or four days at worst. But then again, looking at the improvements she had made, it kind of made sense.
Shai hadn't caught much sleep in that time. The meditation did help, and that was the only reason she was still levelheaded, even if her internal clock was screwed.
Shai cringed when System Grandpa got to the part of the new Remark. She wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a joke about her hunger, but it sure wasn't funny. Come on, Grandpa, I'm not that bad.
Nonetheless, all things considered, Shai's attributes grew at a remarkable rate just as her skills.
Six days and only 5 levels left. It seemed highly doable even if it was harder to grow levels as she was levelling up. But Shai still would like to become the [Apex Predator] before advancement. While the quest only asked to slay higher-rank creatures, Shai deemed Copper rank to be the easiest option. She couldn't imagine getting mixed with the spider mama, or the dreaded basilisk even when she ranks up.
With that in mind, Shai prepared herself to return to the pits. Six more copper-ranked creatures to go.
Conveniently, Shai had been dwelling near the first pit she had operated. It had been eight days, and much of its structure seemed to have changed in her absence. She discovered some creatures didn't require any bait to fall into the pit; the leftover corpses of her hunts were enough. Those were already devoured, replaced by a few wounded centipedes, lizards, and many savagely eaten corpses piled up within its depths.
Those that survived the fall or managed to climb down eagerly feasted upon dead creatures. However, there were too few dead creatures to quench the hunger of those tainted creatures. The infested feast only fueled a sense of dissatisfaction among them, leading them to fight amongst themselves to determine whose appetite was the strongest.
To her delight, two copper-ranked creatures were still alive and kicking among them. Well, only one looked alive and kicking, while the other seemed to be on the verge of death just from overeating.
[Centipede – Corrupt Chilopod Lvl 29.]
[Skink - Corrupt ??? Lvl 44]
While the centipede battled its way to gain more food, the huge disgusting-looking skink just lay flat in its flabby form. The Centipede seemed right up the alley for what Shai was looking for. But Shai let it struggle for a while, watching from a hole above the wall.
The copper advancement had granted the Chilopod a tougher exoskeleton, carapace hard as a rock, and potent poison bite. The Chilopod's poison should be slightly more potent than hers, though not as deadly.
Shai wondered what it would take to advance her poison affinity. Poison was extremely effective in battle. Should I consume poisonous substances to trigger its advancement? No, that isn't how it is supposed to work.
As Shai mused, she noticed an opening in the centipede's defences she could exploit. A level 20 lizard had breached its tough carapace in the midsection, leaving it vulnerable.
Shai's predatory eyes gleamed with a cold glow, as she swiftly formed an [Arcane Shot], infusing it with all the liquid poison she was capable of.
Shai released the attack, as it whispered through the still air and struck precisely where she aimed—at the very crack of the centipede's wound. A piercing shriek erupted from the centipede. Caught off guard by the attack, it couldn't fend off its enemies in time, as the lizard's jaws gnashed against its thick carapace, nearly breaking through.
The other Chilopods collided with the wounded centipede, overturning it. The prolonged battle had taken its toll on the centipede's body, rendering it more exposed to the toxins coursing through its system.
Shai didn't leave it all to fate. As more wounds appeared in other parts of the centipede's body, she swiftly launched a couple more [Arcane Shots]. The struggle would go on for an extended time. While it might emerge victorious against most of the odds, it would not win against the white serpent lurking in the shadows.
Exhausted and heavily injured, the copper-ranked creature struggled to deal with the remaining enemies. Its once agile movements were now sluggish. Dozens of its legs faltered, barely able to support its massive segmented body. Purple liquid seeped from multiple wounds when it finally dealt with the last one of its mad brethren.
The little white snake finally came into its view.
The insectoid screeched at her, finally understanding what went wrong with its approach to the fight. Well, perhaps it understood nothing, considering it lurched at Shai the very next moment.
Don't worry, I'll finish this quickly, Shai thought to herself, and set to work.
Unsurprisingly, the corrupt chilopod turned out to be the easiest opponent she had encountered at the copper rank. With her essence weaving skill improving and [Empower] far surpassing creatures of this calibre, Shai tore through its wounds, almost dissecting it.
[You have defeated a Corrupt Chilopod Level 30.]
Grandpa came with a victorious message, but Shai didn't act like she achieved something great. What surprised her was how the creature gained a level.
Regardless, it was the fifth higher-ranked creature she hunted. Shai was getting the hang of it.
