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Chapter 300: Eyes of the Soul

🕑 Added 2025-05-15 14:00:06 +0000 UTC

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Tim Burget

That's an interesting chapter title. (Also, I forgot to predict the paths were so long last chapter because the main part of the class evolution would be only one chapter long. Oh well.) > “Weapon, shield, or unarmed,” Ali offered. > “Actually, it says ‘shields’. Plural,” Calen said, quirking his eyebrow in puzzlement. Interesting... > Like a walking tank tortoise? Not sure about that one, she thought immediately, before quashing that sarcastic inner voice. LUL > “Mato is a good primary tank for us, I don’t mind being the secondary tank when needed,” Malika said, reasoning out her intuition carefully. “Calen and Ali have damage covered well enough. I think that the soul magic path sounds the most interesting.” So she's making the choice I thought she would, but I also didn't really give the other options a fair shake. > +1 foot base range to Soul skills. Cost: 2 Interesting... > “I think it’s pretty straightforward,” Calen said. “And, very strong. Anything that has a range will increase by one foot before modifiers.” > “Like Soul Sight?” she asked. That was a pretty mediocre benefit if so – her sight skill had a range that was nearly eighty feet already. And it costs two Authority points. > “What about your Soul Strike?” Calen said. > “That doesn’t have range, I have to touch something to release it,” Malika said. “It even says the range is ‘touch’ in the description. Wait… you don’t mean…” Oh. Oh my. > “I can punch through walls?” > “Looks that way. More importantly, you can probably punch through armor with your magic.” Sweet! > Right before the end of the path, it once again switched. Range again? Even though she had not gained any fancy keystone advancements, a range boost to her touch skills would be nothing short of transformational. No new cool thing at the very end? Dang. > The Resolute Instructor
> You have set many students on the path of martial arts and spread the instruction of the Ahn Khen beyond your ancestral lands. Follow in the footsteps of your mentor, Rezan Jin, taking disciples and training them to the pinnacle of their skills. Gain enhanced skills for training and instruction. 
> Traits: Mastery, Knowledge, Tithe, Wisdom, Teaching.
> Path Length: 17
> Reachable Nodes:
> +10% spell power to Knowledge skills. Cost: 1 
> Quality: Rare
> Path – Class Woah. A rare class path! And man, that is long. Unfortunately, I don't think Malika wants to devote herself fully to teaching. > The Relentless Fist
> You are relentless in battle, growing more and more powerful as combat draws on.
> Traits: Stamina, Endurance, Regeneration, Mastery
> Path Length: 9
> Reachable Nodes:
> +25% to stamina regeneration. Cost: 1
> Quality: Uncommon
> Path – Aptitude This one is only an uncommon aptitude path, but it seems to fit Malika much better. > To her surprise, the original paths still remained, perhaps tempting her to take them. Interesting... > “Vivian had better watch out; you could take her job with that path,” Mato said, chuckling. LUL > “You like being an instructor,” Ali said. > “I do…” she answered, considering it carefully. “But this would make it my entire focus, I think. I don’t want to give up teaching, but I’m not sure I want it to be my entire life. I also want to be strong and help bring good to the world. Clearing the Temple of Aman Rak was important to me – I want to be able to do that again if it’s needed.” Heh. Woah. Eight +25% to stamina regeneration nodes! That's +200% to stamina regeneration! > Second tier Relentless (Whenever you spend or reserve stamina, you can spend more to increase the effect) Cost: 3 Nice! > [The Relentless Fist 9/9] Your Relentless aptitude is improved. Interesting... > “It progressively reduces the stamina cost of her abilities as the fight gets longer,” Calen said, his eyes widening as he said it. > Mato just let out a low whistle. > “Oh, wow,” Ali said. “So you can get progressively stronger instead of just having cheaper abilities?” Sweet! > “Yup, that,” Calen said. “You can just keep spending the normal amount, and as the cost reduces, the effects get stronger. It looks like it will work for everything you have.” Nice! > She had been considering a single boost to an attack, much like Calen’s ambush or power shot – but what he said made more sense; the aptitude was called Relentless after all. Heh. > The longer the fight went, the more powerful she would become. And faster too, she thought, realizing it would apply to Divine Step. And tougher. Assuming she could boost her defensive skills too. Neat! > Infinite Grace
> Upgrade your Divine Step to the bloodline skill, Infinite Grace, empowering your haste beyond legend. 
> Traits: Bloodline (Ahn Khen), Haste, Dexterity, Soul
> Path Length: 8
> Reachable Nodes:
> +10% to melee haste. Cost: 1
> Quality: Rare
> Path – Keystone Oh man! A rare keystone path that grants a bloodline skill?! That sounds really good! > Eyes of the Soul
> Enhance your Soul Sight with potent eye magic, taking your first step toward the lost arts. 
> Traits: Bloodline (Ahn Khen), Soul, Wisdom, Perception.
> Path Length: 4
> Reachable Nodes:
> +2% to the range and power of your Ahn Khen bloodline skills. Cost: 1
> Quality: Rare
> Path – Keystone There's the chapter title drop! And it's a rare keystone path, finally! But does that mean she won't get any unique or class paths? That's a bit of an outlier.... That mention of "lost arts" and the first node seem really cool, though! > She had always been drawn to the legends and stories of eye magic when she was younger, and the Eyes of the Soul path looked incredible to her. But haste was her fundamental advantage in combat compared to all her friends and turning Divine Step into Infinite Grace would grant her a third bloodline skill – an unheard-of achievement in the modern age. Hmmm... I bet Eyes of the Soul will grant her a bloodline skill too, actually. I think thats what the "lost arts" it's referring to are. > “I don’t know,” she said finally. “I want the eyes so badly, but I need the haste.” > “Eyes,” Ali said, instantly. > “Yup,” Calen and Mato both echoed. > “Why?” she asked, genuinely curious how they could all be so certain. > “Because you want it,” Ali said. “You’ll regret it forever if you don’t take it. You’ll always feel like you settled for the safe option.” Heh. > “I…” she said and stopped, actually considering what Ali had said. She was right, of course, but really, she felt like she somehow would be indulging herself if she picked her most desired option – like somehow, she wasn’t worth it or didn’t deserve it. She pressed her lips together and frowned. Oof. > “Why are my paths so linear?” she asked as the first three points offered no diverging choices. > “You’re pretty straightforward,” Mato said, waggling his eyebrows at her. > Despite his jocular attitude, she found herself bristling a little. “Are you calling me boring?” LUL > [Eyes of the Soul 1/4] +2% to the range and power of your Ahn Khen bloodline skills. 
> [Eyes of the Soul 2/4] +3% to the range and power of your Ahn Khen bloodline skills.
> [Eyes of the Soul 3/4] +5% to the range and power of your Ahn Khen bloodline skills. Nice! > Soul Sight gains Martial Disruption. (Attack the stamina energy of a martial skill directly to disrupt it) Cost: 4 Ooh, that sounds really good! > Martial Disruption was a remarkably rare eye magic that had always captured her imagination. A skill for the heroes of the stories, disrupting the attacks of their foes and denying their adversaries their most powerful moves. She smiled, suddenly experiencing a rush of relief and a fresh flood of excitement over her chosen path. Sweet! > “Wow, you’re growing a real denial build,” Calen exclaimed when she shared it. “Fighting you is going to suck, no mana, no stamina, and no big finishing moves.” > “Boring never sounded so epic,” Mato grinned. He must have noticed her annoyance and was offering the peacebloom wreath. LUL > The strength of your bloodline has unlocked a hidden continuation for the Eyes of the Soul path. That's a thing that can happen?! > Path Length: 4/8
> Reachable Nodes:
> +10% to the range and power of your Ahn Khen bloodline skills. Cost: 2
> Quality: Unique
> Path – Class Ah, there we go! A unique class path! That means Calen's the only main party member without a unique class now. (He got at least one unique path, but his class path was only Rare. Everyone else got class paths that were Unique.) "Eyes of the Soul" doesn't really sound like the name of a class, though.... > “Whoa,” Calen said. “It upgraded to a class path!” > “Unique too,” Ali said. “That’s incredible. There was nothing like this in Val’korr’s book.” > “Maybe she’s not so boring after all,” Mato said in a faux whisper to Calen. LUL > [Eyes of the Soul 5/8] +10% to the range and power of your Ahn Khen bloodline skills.
> [Eyes of the Soul 6/8] +15% to the range and power of your Ahn Khen bloodline skills.
> [Eyes of the Soul 7/8] +20% to the range and power of your Ahn Khen bloodline skills. Nice! > Soul Sight gains Infinite Perception. (Your perception and understanding of martial skills are greatly enhanced.) Cost: 5 > She had heard of the rare Martial Disruption skill in the list of bloodline skills of the Ahn Khen heroes, but she had never heard of Infinite Perception – and she had read every story she could lay her hands on. Greatly enhanced? She had no idea how it worked, but it sounded extraordinary. Interesting... I bet it's a martial-arts version of Ali's brand of Mana Sight. > New path found.
>Nine Paths of Ahn Khen
> You have helped save the Nine Paths of Ahn Khen. You have studied its wisdom. Now walk the path of your ancestors and grow ever stronger.
> Traits: Vitality, Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, Perception, Intelligence, Wisdom.
> Path Length: 2
> Reachable Nodes:
> +1 to all attributes every nine class levels above 100. Cost: 1
> Quality: Unique
> Path – Attribute What do you mean "nine paths"? That's only a single path. I don't think she even got nine paths this entire evolution. In all seriousness, though, this sounds really good! And it's unique! > There was a deep lurch within her heart as the changes took effect. The memory of her terror and pain at the feeling of her bloodline unraveling crashed back into her mind, but the sensation passed, leaving her sweating and breathing heavily. Phew! > She did feel quite different – for one thing, Soul Sight had substantially enhanced range, and the clarity with which she could perceive mana and stamina flowing around them was extraordinary. Interesting... > Hopefully, her weird passing sensation was just her bloodline growing stronger, but Rezan had cautioned her to return when she advanced, and she wasn’t about to let it go so long this time. Ah, so Rezan wanted her to visit him for safety, not to help her with her evolution.

Lijwent

I mean the guy must be pissing himself now, with like 5 zone announcements in a week...

Robert Mullins

I wonder if Kieran Mori is going to feel like a dumb ass when he sees Vivian's zone announcement and realizes that her class was so hampered she decided it was worth reverting back to 100.


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