Azimuth: The Elden Throne

Chapter 356: Turning a new Leaf

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[DING]

[With an adamant heart, your Vision has taken a rough form, manifesting within reality!]

[You have attained a new tale! Aura Prodigy]

[When the world stood in your way, you revolted, with nothing but a blade in your hand, you pushed forth towards a new horizon, slashing everything in your path!]

[You have attained a new tale! Split Mountain!]

[DING]

[You have slain…]

A series of notifications echoed in his ears, only for him to squint at how annoying they all were.

No matter how abandoned this place was, hundreds of creatures still lived within the mountains, taking shelter from the harsh environment outside.

It was a shame to spread such unwanted destruction to the environment, but Dale didn't mind, after all, the ecosystem was already scraped with the spreading of the desert...

[+2677% XP]

[You have Leveled up]

[You have Leveled up]

[You have Leveled up]

[You have Leveled up]

[+12 to all Basic Stats]josei

[DING]

[Your current Level is 73(52.9%)!]

[You were the first player to reach Level 70!]

[You have achieved Level 70, your current Special privilege has been worn off]

"..."

'Goodbye, my Skill... Now I'll only be able to use it once a day. Not that it matters much, I just need to set up a time and use it then, which was what I mostly did for the next two months.'

'Still, I'll miss being able to use it whenever I have the time.'

[For being the first to reach Level 70, you'll be granted the chance to modify any of your current Skills in any way you see fit!]

[Would you like to leave your name in the Hall of Fame?]

Like always, Dale pushed the last notification aside before delving into his thoughts.

"..."

'Finally, it's here.'

'The Privilege for being the first to reach Level 70, a rare chance for Skill modification.'

'This isn't as lame as being able to move the Skills in and out of your Skills slots, which I can already do in the church for a hefty fee… This is the chance to alter Skills down to their fundamentals, including things like fusing them together or altering their descriptions and effects.'

'This is something completely and utterly unknown to all, the most players may know exists is the chance to evolve Skills, but that came from the past game and not this one.'

'When I first got this chance, it was around a week later after my debuff wore off and I wasn't that much prepared compared to how I am now, this completely got me by surprise.'

'Still… This privilege is rather sneaky.'

'It says I can change all of my Skills, which is true, but it doesn't say how many. I fell for this trick and modified my Skills from top to bottom without as much of a plan… Something I regretted deeply after.'

'The System is no fool, after all, if I was allowed to modify as many Skills as I deemed fit, I would just go back to the library and begin using the Skill books even if it meant losing them forever.'

'I could just fuse those Skills until something monstrous manifested… And the only reason I didn't prepare more for this was because I already have something in mind for what I'll be doing, otherwise I would've filled my inventory with Skill Books before coming here.'

'Besides, if there is an opportunity for this at Level 70, another will likely appear later down the line...'

'Now, I'm sure there are much better combinations for the Skill Books in the library, but regardless of it all, I only know what I know and I won't be shooting in the dark out of greed for getting a better Skill when I could end up shooting my own foot in the process.'

'I've thought hard before about my Skills, mostly because I had no choice as I was filled with regret, however, now that I have the chance to redo things, I've come to terms with the fact there's not really much I can alter, the Skills I chose were already pretty good and the end result was extremely satisfactory.'

'I'll change some things of course but in the end, I couldn't think of much else to add to my arsenal, at least not as of this moment with the limited uses I've been given.'

'Now… Time to work.'

Dale opened his Status Menu, and a series of prompts opened before him.

Nothing but simple indicators of what he could do.

Having already experienced it once, he instead pushed them aside after a quick read, making sure nothing had changed as he did so.

[

…

Skills:

Slot 1-> Spear Technique 8-Star (Neutral)/ Mana Conduction 8.5-Star (Neutral)

Slot 2-> Close Quarters Combat 7-Star (Neutral)

Slot 3-> Prime Source 6-Star (Neutral)

Slot 4-> Stable Emotions 6.5-Star (Passive)

Slot 5-> Fighting Spirit 7.5-Star (Active)

Slot 6-> Land Raptor 6-Star (Passive)

Slot 7-> Spatial Awareness 3.5-Star (Passive)

Slot 8-> Anomalous Status Resistance 5.5-Star (Passive)

Slot 9-> Confluence 4.5-Star (Neutral)

Slot 10-> Soul Core 4.5-Star (Neutral)

Slot 11->

Slot 12->

Slot 13->

Extra Skills -> Self Reflection ???-Star

…

]

'If only I could modify Self Reflection... Unfortunately, modification is not Evolving, besides, it's not a Skill I can change as it's outside of my Status, the same applies to Item Skills.'

'First… What I did before.'

'Fuse Prime Source 6-Star and Aura 1.5-Star into Mana Conduction 8.5-Star.'

[Fusing…]

"..."

A strange feeling emerged from within his body, as if a faint veil was passing through him, it was smooth and cool, making him feel refreshed and calm.

It was a harmonious feeling, as if he was letting go of heavy sacks weighing him down all this time.

He felt light, almost as if he could fly...

[DING]

[Fusion Complete. The Skill, Aura Flow 3.5-Star (Passive) has been created]

'Perfect, this is exactly what I wanted.' Dale thought as he checked his Status once more

[...

Slot 1-> Spear Technique 8-Star (Neutral)/ Aura Flow 3.5-Star (Passive)

…

]

'Just like before.'

To Dale, this was the best he could get out of this opportunity.

In the first place, Aura was the result of an application of both Prime Source and Mana, so by fusing both together with his Aura Skill, nothing changes in the grand scheme of things, at least, not when one looks from afar.

The most important reward he could get was homogenizing his Skills and cleaning the Slots from his Status, together with the chance to tie his Aura to his main fighting technique directly.

Overall, nothing much had changed, however, his control over his own Aura and its growth from this point onwards would skyrocket!

But it was time for the next ones…

He quickly chose his Skill and a keyboard manifested in front of him.

He quickly typed on it, his fingers blurring in the air as he ignored David's frown, changing his Skill of choice into something greater.

[Modification registered. The Skill, Confluence 4.5-Star (Neutral) has become Condensation 2-Star (Passive)]

'Hum… A shame I lost a little bit of progress on it but… This is much better in the long run.'

Before, Confluence was a meditative Skill where he could sit down to recover and gather energy while also being a process through which he could grow closer to his Class Potential.

However, that wasn't fitting with what he did every day. Dale was always on the move, he couldn't stay still in one place and meditate for hours on end.

So he modified the Skill, turning it into a fully passive one that was active at all times, but at the cost of some of its effectiveness.

Nonetheless, he maximized its effects within what he could, so even though he lost some effectiveness, it was nothing compared to it being constantly activated.

It was now an incredible Passive Skill.

'Next.'

[Modification registered. The Skill, Close Quarters Combat 7-

Star (Neutral) has become Martial Combat 4.5-Star (Passive)]

'Fuse Martial Combat 4.5-Star and Spatial Awareness 3.5-Star.'

[Fusion Complete. The Skill, Body Mastery 1.5-Star (Passive) has been created]

'If I could I would've modified the Skill and fused it with one singular allocation, but the System isn't giving me any leniency, I can modify Skills before fusing them but only within a certain margin, it seems… They won't let me change too much before fusing them.'

'Not that it matters, I already thought this would be the case.'

'It's interesting to see what it became, but I'll have to test it out later... No, not quite, I'll have the chance soon enough...'

'Lastly, if I made the right calculations… Fuse Stable Emotions 6.5-Star and Fighting Spirit 7.5-Star.'

'My mental Skills, they've helped me greatly so far and they need a glow-up.'

'One is more of a self-buff than anything, it's good but not in any way significant, I would be very happy to lose that in exchange for something else.'

'As for the other Skill, it is extremely useful, Stable Emotions has allowed me to maintain composure in many distressing events, were it not for it, I would've likely gotten mental trauma from Tina's operation on my body.'

'It makes me shiver even now…'

[Fusion Complete. The Skill, Mental Boost 3.5-Star (Neutral) has been created]

'Mental Boost? Its rating is rather low… This can be good as it means the Skill's grade is high.'

'But what does it do?'

Dale carefully read through the Skill's description, growing ever interested with each line.

'This is rather interesting, all previous passive effects remain but they were enhanced, while its previous active effects also remain, if I wish to use them.'

'I don't quite see the downsides of this… I'll have to use it to feel exactly what it does, but in essence, it seems like a simple fusion of the Skills with no noticeable changes apart from an improvement in their effects.'

'I'm done now…'

"Hum?"

Ready to move on with his day, Dale was surprised to see that the prompt to modify Skills had yet to vanish.

'This is strange, I modified more Skills than I did in the past, how come I can change even more?'

'I mean, I thought I could only alter 7 or so Skills, yet, I fused 7 Skills, and modified 2.'

'I did fuse the last few as a way to "cheat" the System, but this is…'

'What changed?... My descriptions of the Skills?'

'I could say they became more precise and less… "Stupid" as before, I tried to make my Skills incredible and ridiculous, obviously, that didn't quite go well.'

'Maybe the System has a quota for how much it can change Skills rather than on their number, hence, with my simpler and direct changes, I still have some of that quota left.'

'Hm… Very well, I have some Skills left. But which should I pick…'

After thinking for a few seconds with great focus, Dale knew what to choose.

'If I could, I would modify Soul Core, but since I'm not too sure what it does and well… Because of its essence, I'll leave it aside.'

'This leaves me with two Skills, there's no need to even think.'

[Modification registered. The Skill, Anomalous Status Resistance 5.5-Star (Passive) has Anomalous Status Immunity 1.5-Star (Passive)]

With that, his System buzzed for a moment, and before he knew it, the multiple system prompts slowly vanished, leaving behind his new, clearer Status Page:

[

…

Skills:

Slot 1-> Spear Technique 8-Star (Neutral)/ Aura Flow 3.5-Star (Passive)

Slot 2-> Body Mastery 1.5-Star (Passive)

Slot 3-> Mental Boost 3.5-Star (Neutral)

Slot 4-> Anomalous Status Immunity 1.5-Star (Passive)

Slot 5-> Condensation 2-Star (Passive)

Slot 6-> Land Raptor 4-Star (Passive)

Slot 7-> Soul Core 3-Star (Neutral)

Slot 8->

Slot 9->

Slot 10->

Slot 11->

Slot 12->

Slot 13->

…

]

"Phew..."

'Now this is a good Status Page. Baren but efficient.'

'I just need to find some Skills to fill the gaps and I'll be golden for a few more months...'

/Tremble.../

[DING]

Interrupting his thoughts, the System continued with its reports while the ground began to shake, it was as if the earth underneath them was about to erupt...

[Due to your actions, the undiscovered Dungeon, the Abandoned Drula Mines, has been partially destroyed!]

[Due to your actions, the unexplored Field, Buried Drula Mountains, has suffered significant geographic changes and requires a reassessment]

[Recalculating…]

/Tremble…/

"..."

[To cope with the recent changes, the regional recommended Player Level has been increased from 55 to 85]

[The size of available Field areas has been modified]

[The Number of Field encounters has increased significantly]

[The entire Southern Field, Buried Drula Mountains is now under the Unique effect, Unrest!]

[Unrest:

-Due to recent chaotic stimuli, all Monsters are now under a constant state of fear and aggressiveness.

-All Monsters will fall to the Mental State, Berserk!

Berserk -> Physical Limitations are partially removed at the possible cost of self-mutilation.

Monsters won't adder to their usual habits.

Monsters will wander outside of their territories.

-Provoking Monsters is now extremely easy.

…

]

/Tremble…/

With each paragraph he read, the trembling grew stronger, prompting Dale to stop reading and focus ahead, mostly because he was growing sick.

"... They're coming." He said in a low tone as he held Caladbolg with his right hand and his spear with his left one

"What?... Who's coming?" David asked with a frown, his gaze shaking as he tried to figure out what was about to happen

"Why don't you answer that to me? Tell me, what happens when you step on an Anthill?" Dale asked with a chuckle as he raised his head

"An Anthill... The Ants will emerge to... Shit..."

/BOOOOOOM!/

From the rubble of the destroyed mountain, a large explosion echoed! Sending dirt, dust, and debris to the skies like a small mushroom cloud!

/SHA SHA SHA SHA SHA!!!/

Thousands of footsteps traveled across the land as a wave of 'something' spread.

"Dammit! Why did you do this?!" David exclaimed in anger as he realized what was happening

"Well, regardless of wheater or not I want this to happen, its clear we need to root these things out if we wish to mine here isn't it?"

"Still..."

/Fwoosh!/

Attracted to the sound of their voices, from within the dust cloud, the first few shadows made themselves visible, dashing towards Dale like bullets!

"Hold tight!"

"How?!"

/PIERCE!/

Dale swung his spear forward.

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Notes