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Apocalypse Healer - B3 Chapter 6.1
🕑 Added 2025-05-02 10:00:05 +0000 UTCRegardless of the circumstances around the Dwarven Sanctuary after the Great Horde’s attack, it was safe now—as safe as a settlement amidst the schemes of gods and the chaos of their influence could be.
Ashville’s people had settled in the Dwarven Sanctuary and adapted quickly. They greeted David with a smile as he walked past them, but there was also a note of something else in their expressions. It appeared to be respect, but David knew better.
They’re afraid of me.
The gap between respect and fear was paper-thin. So thin, some might not even be able to tell the difference. But it was apparent to those who could see more than others. And David could see it all: their body language, the look in their eyes, and the flicker of their life signal.
But it was hardly a concern to him. Whether they feared or respected him didn’t matter, as long as they didn’t bother him.
He reached the breached walls and leaped atop a restored building to check on the workers repairing the defenses and tending to the surrounding lands. He jumped from one roof to the next until he reached a restored portion of the towering dwarven walls surrounding the Sanctuary. The landscape unfolding on the other side of the wall was far from beautiful.
Flows of crimson had poured into craters, holes, and the remains of traps that had yet to be removed, forming blood puddles and giving the corrupted lands a unique touch. It was eerie even to David, as he sensed remnants of lifeforce in the blood puddles. Though how the puddles retained life, he couldn’t tell.
Albeit interesting and possibly worth researching, David remained atop the walls, watching men and women tend to the surrounding lands. Corroded soil was difficult to mend, even more so when the Great Horde had left behind a trail of death and corruption. If they wished to remove the corruption once and for all, removing only the corroded soil near the Dwarven Sanctuary wouldn’t be enough.
But that was none of his business. Others could tend to the soil and kill the stragglers of the Great Horde. They were probably much better at hunting monsters than he was, anyway.
David watched the Protectors and workers move for a bit until his stomach growled again.
“Pesky bastard,” he grunted, accessing his necklace to retrieve a larger etherium heat stone and one of the thinnest slices of meat in his possession. The meat appeared before him and landed smoothly on the heat stone with a sickening squish.
“That’s the smallest piece?” David snickered, looking at the giant piece of meat that was bigger than his thighs.
Even if he felt like he could eat it all, David materialized the Obsidian Blade in his hand and sliced it apart. He stored most of the meat away, leaving merely a thin slice the size of the etherium heat stone behind.
Blood channeled into the heat stone with precision, igniting its unique properties in one go. The temperature skyrocketed at once, and a familiar sizzling rang in his ears.
David was struck by a magnificent smell that made him salivate, his stomach growling loudly. However, as hungry as he felt, he didn’t rush anything. He worked slowly on the meat, searing it on all sides before he got started. He conjured a fork and knife via [Blood Manipulation] and began the feast.
Maintaining the utensil shapes was good practice, as it turned out more difficult than expected—especially as the taste overwhelmed his senses. The Sacred Beast’s meat was heavenly, and it silenced his stomach immediately. Yet, while silenced, David didn’t feel his hunger subside entirely for a while. It took two thin slices of meat the size of the heat stone to fill him temporarily.
But to test his theory, David forced a third slice down his throat, stuffing himself to the brim until it hurt. He winced and broke into a cold sweat at the amount of nutritious, aether-infused food he was digesting, but he doubted that this sensation would last long.
Closing his eyes, David began the first experiment. He focused solely on [Reinforce] and began to work.
***
David didn’t know how many days had passed, but most of the corruption had been removed. At least, that was what he heard last when he bumped into Maja, Melach, and the others. He had yet to find Zachariah and ask him about the Cohorte, which he presumed to be the Great Horde, and William—but the Regressor was nowhere to be found.
Then again, David hadn’t bothered searching for Zachariah intently. The Regressor roamed the wild and did as he pleased, but so did David.
He was not certain what was happening in the Dwarven Sanctuary these days because he was told to leave the dwarven wall when the restoration continued. Parts of the wall were torn down, while others were supposed to be repaired. Though David only cared about them asking him to leave, trying to sound far too polite for his taste. Regardless, David left and moved to the prehistoric Rift, where he joined prehistoric monsters and dwarves in the psychic struggle for the Rift Core’s attention.
Not that it was much of a fight. He could have claimed the Rift Core for himself, absorbing Origin Essence the moment it formed, but he held back instead. He consumed only slightly more than a third of all Origin Essence produced by the Rift Core.
David thought that was generous enough, though he was certain the amiable monsters and Protectors didn’t appreciate it. Especially not what he did when he wasn’t absorbing Origin Essence and the densest strands of ambient Aether. He grilled, feasting on the Mythical Electra’s meat, making full use of everything he had learned through the myriad of experiments he’d gone through.
[Reinforce] – [Tier-1 XVII]
Body – Elite– V(93.42%)
Energy Pathways – Average– IX(0.01%)
[Reinforce] leveled up twice. His Body was about to reach Elite–VI, and it wouldn’t be long before his Energy Pathways reached the Elite threshold as well.
But most importantly, [Meditation] advanced to Tier-2!
[Proficiency of Meditation reached 100%.]
[Tier-1 XIX] → [Tier-1 XX]
[Meditation reached its limit. Initiate Tier progression.]
[Meditation – Tier-1 XX] → [Meditation – Tier-2 I]
The advancement itself didn’t change much. It became easier to enter a trance, focus on the designated task, and absorb a lot more Aether with a single breath. However, more messages emerged, changing what he thought he knew about the system and its mechanics.
[Your understanding of [Meditation] has improved significantly.
However, due to insufficient comprehension, only a Half-Spark could be formed.
Deepen your understanding to attain greatness!]
[In-Depth Comprehension has been detected.]
[Meditation – Tier-2 I] → [Meditation – Tier-2 III]
It was still unclear what Sparks were, but his increased understanding and in-depth comprehension had pushed [Meditation]’s progress considerably, increasing its Rank in a single leap.
“Since when does comprehension and understanding matter?” David muttered to himself.
Under normal circumstances, his Skill Runes acquired proficiency faster when used for the specific tasks they existed for. Using them randomly would result in slight improvements, but executing them in complex patterns for their designated task was the best way to push them to the next Rank. Or so he had always thought.
Was that impression wrong? Did he misunderstand the situation?
What if I’ve only scratched the surface of the System? If everything is more complicated than I thought it would be. Maybe I can…
David tilted his head, the corner of his lip tilting upward.
“If Sparks are about understanding—comprehension, maybe—I wonder if I can… create them?” he mumbled to himself, ignoring the dwarf seated next to him watching him.
But what if he could create Sparks? Were they like Skills? If so… were they better than Skill Runes?
David shifted on the ground, his thoughts ruminating as he came to a decision.
He may not have had the faintest inkling about Sparks, but they had piqued his interest. Thus, having multiple Skill Runes he wished to reclaim, he might as well experiment a little. In the worst case, he could always return to the Skill Slates and purchase them in the dozen using a portion of his fortune.
As long as Sparks were what David thought they were, one of his following experiments would succeed.
Closing his eyes again, David focused on the mind space. He stared at the emptiness where a Skill Rune once hovered and tried to recall it. He gathered the fragments of memories that hadn’t been torn out of his mind and soul by [Sacrifice] and called upon Blood and Origin Essence.
Intertwining Origin Essence and Blood, David formed tendrils of bloody energy that moved according to his will. They pulled toward the empty spot in his mind space and shifted before his eyes, forming into delicate lines at his command.
Recalling what he’d lost with perfect precision was far from simple, but it ought to be possible. After all, it was a Skill Rune he had wielded often in recent weeks.
However, no matter how much he wanted to form [Blood Patch] using bloody energy tendrils, David failed. He could no longer perfectly recall the Skill Rune that had been ripped out of his soul.
Since he couldn’t copy the Skill Rune, David’s approach changed. Instead, using the understanding and knowledge that had prevailed, he decided to create something anew. Something akin to [Blood Patch]. A similar Rune.
