MaeveMcCarthy
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Chapter 93 – Finger
🕑 Added 2024-10-29 22:19:55 +0000 UTCTalia held her breath as she read the notifications.
[Your Skills are resonating.]
[Your Skills are about to undergo a Fusion Evolution.]
[Auxiliary Skill - Bloodbath has been consumed]
[Auxiliary Skill - Bloody Tracks has been consumed]
[Auxiliary Skill - Blood Fortress has been consumed]
[New Auxiliary Skill obtained!]
[Ika Toto - Blood Tide]
[Ika Toto - Blood Tide reaches Level 6!]
Talia felt the knowledge of the Skill entering her brain and widened her eyes.
Previously, Bloodbath had enhanced her Strength, Bloody Tracks her Agility, Blood Fortress her Constitution.
Now, [Ika Toto - Blood Tide] would enhance all of her Attributes as soon as she started delivering damage to her enemies.
She immediately told Keanu about her new Skill, which had him scoff and rub his face.
“Every time you say stuff like this, I lose all motivation to train and level up,” he said, depressed. “How is it fair that you get such a strong Skill? Moreover, do you realize what this means?”
“Huh?” Talia looked up distractedly from her hands.
She had been contemplating how much stronger this would have made her.
“If the Skill increases your Charisma as well, the more you use [Ravenous Wounds], the more control you’ll have over it in the span of a battle.”
“Right,” Talia nodded thoughtfully. “Well, let’s go test it out.”
*
Talia dove back into the murky waters, her eyes clearing a path thanks to [Eyes of the Abyss].
She soon spotted three Abyssal Jaws circling lazilynearby.
She gripped her glaive tightly and surged forward with [Missile Swimming].
The first Abyssal Jaw sensed her approach and immediately summoned a cluster of Mud Water Sprites. The slender, spiky constructs darted towards Talia, forcing her to alter her course.
Talia swatted two Sprites aside with quick strikes of her glaive, but their distraction allowed the Abyssal Jaw to lunge. She twisted, narrowly avoiding its snapping jaws.
The second Abyssal Jaw attacked from below. Talia kicked hard, propelling herself upward. She felt the rush of water as the monster's jaws closed inches from her feet.
The third circled warily, watching for an opening. Talia knew she couldn't let them coordinate their attacks. She focused on the nearest one, channeling her Mana into the glaive. The crystallized weapon pierced the Abyssal Jaw's tough skin, drawing first blood.
[Ika Toto - Blood Tide] activated, enhancing Talia's attributes. She felt a surge of strength and speed. Her next strike landed true, opening a deep gash along the monster's flank.
Talia felt exhilaration as the Skill activated. Not only did it empower all of her Attributes, with her feeling her Mana reserves and potency increase, but she could also feel its effect much more marked than the old three Skills on her physical Attributes.
Her body clearly felt much stronger than it had before, meaning that [Ika Toto - Blood Tide] wasn’t just encompassing all the Attributes, but that it also had a bigger effect on the individual Attributes compared to [Bloodbath], [Bloody Tracks], and [Blood Fortress].
It appeared as if the Abyssal Jaws, seeing her alone, hadn’t summoned many Mud Water Sprites at first, clearly not considering her a great threat.
However, the moment she had drawn blood, the three giant crocodiles changed their approach.
Now, Talia saw them summon a dozen and more Mud Water Sprites, keeping a distance from her.
As if I would let you do that, Talia snorted internally.
Talia injected more Mana into [Missile Swimming]. She cut through the water that was so muddy that without [Eyes of the Abyss], she wouldn't have been able to see anything in front of her, much less the Mud Water Sprites that were slashing at her with their thin, sharp limbs. She tightened her grip on the blade of the glaive, feeling the enhanced strength from [Ika Toto - Blood Tide] coursing through her muscles.
The first sprite on her path to one of the Abyssal Jaws lunged, aiming for her face. Talia swung the glaive in a small arc, slicing the construct in half. It dissipated into a cloud of dark Mana that she barreled through without stopping. But two more went in her way to the monster. The sprites came at her from all angles now. There were so many of them. Talia could only swing her glaive so much as she surged toward the Abyssal Jaw that had now started fleeing from her. It seemed like the Charisma-based monsters weren't willing to trade blows with her like the first Abyssal Jaw that she had killed. Yet they kept summoning endless amounts of sprites.
Suddenly, a sharp pain lanced across her thigh. She looked down to see a sprite's limb retracting, leaving a thin trail of blood in the muddy waters. The wound was shallow, mostly blocked by her Constitution, but it stung. Talia punched the sprite out of existence but also decided that she had to put an end to this battle. She was starting to run out of oxygen. She needed to reach the Abyssal Jaws. The sprites were just distractions, nuisances meant to wear her down.
And so she grabbed the glaive with two hands and used it to spearhead a charge toward the nearest Abyssal Jaw. She barreled through several sprites, taking more wounds, but charging relentlessly until she had reached the Abyssal Jaw, who couldn't swim as fast as her. No other Water Rider would have probably been this fast at her Level. But thankfully, Talia got [Missile Swimming] from the Abyssal Cuda back in Solara, which made her faster than anyone else at her level, including Abyssal Creatures.
The beast sensed her approach. Its massive tail whipped through the water, aimed at her. Talia fought the drag generated from the current and angled her body to cut through the flow. She slashed the tail in two with her glaive covered by Mana crystal. The monster screeched through the water and turned at her, furious, snapping at her with its jaw open wide. Talia feinted left and then immediately darted right, leaving the Abyssal Jaw snapping at empty water. She aimed her glaive at the creature's eye, hoping to impale its head, but only left a grievous wound on its snout.
Another sprite, now caught up with her, slashed at her shoulder. She ignored the pain and punched the sprite, snapping it out of existence. Talia channeled more Mana into her weapon, and this time, she used her Hemomancy to create a bloodsicle and throw it at the monster. The thin, sharp sickle of blood pierced flesh on the flank of the Abyssal Jaw, which immediately started thrashing. The blood of the monster billowed into the water, and Talia felt [Ika Toto - Blood Tide] empowering her further.
She saw the other two Abyssal Jaws followed by a veritable swarm of Mud Water Sprites closing in on her. They had probably smelled blood in the water and thought that by helping the other Abyssal Jaw, they might be able to kill her. Out of patience and knowing that she had to put an end to this battle, Talia activated [Ravenous Wounds].
Immediately, a profound hunger engulfed her. It was as if a void had opened inside, demanding to be filled. The water around her became darker. Tendrils of blood started extending from her body. Surprisingly, the tendrils latched onto the sprites closest to her, siphoning away their essence, dissolving as their Mana was absorbed inside of Talia. She felt a surge of vitality and the pain of her wounds dulling. It appeared that [Ravenous Wounds] didn't just affect blood, but could consume vitality of any kind. And now the hunger pushed her to seek more of that vitality to make it hers.
The tendrils stretched farther, reaching the closest Abyssal Jaw, the one she had wounded. Talia watched as life force drained from the creature, unable to escape the tendrils that were now growing in size, becoming tentacle-like appendages that kept departing from her body. Empowered by the damage she was delivering and leaving behind a lifeless Abyssal Jaw, she sped toward the remaining two monsters.
She slashed at the first with twice as much power as she had before, bisecting the monster in two and feeling [Ravenous Wounds] sinking its teeth into the monster's vitality as it died. The last Abyssal Jaw turned away, desperate. It tried running, but the tendrils, now more material than ever, pierced through the beast's armor, stopping it and dragging it towards her.
Talia, not content with the effect of [Ravenous Wounds], sought more. She punched her fist through the armor of the monster, feeling the soft flesh beneath squelching at her touch, and then activated [Blood Siphon], absorbing the Affinity of the monster. Soon, it was over. Talia watched as life force drained from the creature, its movements slowing down, the strength fading from its massive body. She felt its energy flowing into her, an intoxicating sensation.
When it was over, the water stood eerily still. The corpses of the Abyssal Jaws hung suspended, the sprites gone, but the tendrils didn't retract. The hunger wasn't sated. Talia, thanks to the effect of [Ika Toto - Blood Tide], could still feel the rational part of her mind steering her toward the surface. She didn't need to breathe after having absorbed so much vitality, but she knew that she couldn't go on a rampage and get too far from Keanu and completely lose her mind.
So she went above water, trying to keep the blood tendrils at bay. As soon as she emerged, breaking the surface, she heard a shout.
"Talia!" She turned toward Keanu, but only felt hunger for him.
Keanu didn't hesitate. He extended his hands and ropes of luminescent water flowed from his palms. The glowing strands wrapped around her wrists and waist, securing her out of the water and moving her toward another piece of land. Talia felt the bindings tighten as she was deposited on land. The energy from [Ravenous Wounds] was still there, and she knew the restraints were necessary. Keanu waited from afar until the blood tendrils slowly retracted into her body.
[You have slain Abyssal Jaw Level 25!]
[You have slain Abyssal Jaw Level 25!]
[You have slain Abyssal Jaw Level 25!]
[Lifestealer reaches Level 22!]
[You gain two Free Attributes!]
[You have absorbed Lv. 25 Abyssal Jaw Life Force.]
[+3 to your Primary Mana Channel (50/200 to Level Five)]
[+3 to your Charisma (3/3 to 1 Charisma)]
[You have absorbed Lv. 25 Abyssal Jaw Life Force.]
[+3 to your Primary Mana Channel (53/200 to Level Five)]
[+3 to your Charisma (3/6 to 1 Charisma)]
[You have absorbed Lv. 25 Abyssal Jaw Life Force.]
[+3 to your Primary Mana Channel (56/200 to Level Five)]
[+3 to your Charisma (5/6 to 1 Charisma)]
[You have gained 1 Charisma]
[Missile Swimming reaches Level 10!]
[Ika Toto - Blood Tide reaches Level 7!]
[Blood Siphon reaches Level 15!]
[Hemomancy reaches Level 20!]
[You have gained one Talent Tree Point!]
[You have fed Star Glaive excess Vitality!]
[Ravenous Wounds reaches Level 7!]
Talia blinked, processing the information. She had gained a significant boost to her Charisma, which should help her control [Ravenous Wounds] better in the future. The improvements to her Skills were also substantial.
"Are you okay now?" Keanu called out, still maintaining a safe distance.
Talia nodded, feeling the last vestiges of the hunger fade away.
"Yeah, I think I'm good. You can release the bindings."
Keanu hesitated for a moment before dispelling his water ropes. He approached cautiously.
"That was... intense. How do you feel?"
"Stronger," Talia admitted. "But also a bit overwhelmed. I gained one more Charisma and several Skill levels.”
Talia checked her status.
[Name: Talia]
[Age: 17]
[Class: Lifestealer Lv. 22]
[Rank: Adept]
[Primary Mana Channel (Water): Level 4 {Awakened} (56/200 to Level Five)]
[Secondary Mana Channel (Blood): Level 7 {Surging}]
[Secondary Mana Channel (Dark Water): Level 3 {Awakened}]
[Core Skill #1: Blood Siphon Lv. 15]
[Core Skill #2: Hemomancy Lv. 20]
[Core Skill #3: Eyes of the Abyss Lv. 12]
[Auxiliary Skill #1: Missile Swimming Lv. 10]
[Auxiliary Skill #2: Crimson Wisdom Lv. 12]
[Auxiliary Skill #3: Blood Confluence Lv. 13]
[Auxiliary Skill #4: Tailwind Lv. 5]
[Auxiliary Skill #5: Ika Toto - Blood Tide Lv. 7]
[Form Skill #1: Cursed Form Lv. 3]
[Strength: 40]
[Agility: 7]
[Constitution: 0]
[Intelligence: 1]
[Wisdom: 0]
[Charisma: 5]
[Free Attributes: 2]
[Talent Trees:
Bloodborne Warrior (1)
Carmine Thunder (1)
Sanguine Guardian (1)
Hemomantic Artisan (1)
Crimson Sage (1)
Life Thief
]
[Free Talent Points: 7]
“Talia, your finger?”
Talia looked down and saw that she was missing a digit from her ring finger. In the frenzy of the battle, she hadn’t even noticed it.
“It must have been a Mud Water Sprite,” Talia frowned, looking at the stump. However, in the exact moment that she had focused on it, she felt a rush of vitality that she had absorbed from the Abyssal Jaws spring from her navel and shoot through her arm.
To both her and Keanu’s surprise, the little stump started regenerating in real time and in no more than a minute, her finger had regained its lost digit as if it had always been there.
“Professor Iakopo was right,” Keanu said, stunned.
“As usual,” Talia frowned, looking at the finger.
Then, noticing the extra Talent Tree Point she had gained, she smiled.
“You know what? I was waiting to unlock my Charisma-based Talent Tree because I would only be left with five points. But I just another one from leveling [Hemomancy]. I think it’s time to unlock my last Talent Tree.”
Without even waiting for a reply, Talia plunged a Talent Tree point into Life Thief.
Comments
TheMartinalfa
Gosh the cliffhangers xD
Azgaroth
Thank for the chapter. A small problem in the charisma point gained by Talia from the third Abyssal Jaw, either it is +2 or it is +3 and so she gain another Stat Point.... Also Talia should go in a "rampage" in several Dungeon, at least to have all Stats at 10, or perhaps pushing to 25 so that Talia unlock every Milestones.... And perhaps a Special Milestone for having all Stats at 25....
