MaeveMcCarthy
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Book 2, Chapter 2
🕑 Added 2024-02-18 23:01:57 +0000 UTCWhew, this one was hard to edit! I hope you'll enjoy it! 🐈🐈🐈
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As Lily stood in the ancient temple, the weight of her decision pressed heavily upon her. The options before her—Divine Insight and Eternal Challenger's Might—represented two very different paths, each carrying its own strengths and drawbacks.
The stagnant underground air entered her nostrils in humid whiffs as she licked her lips and surveyed her choices again.
Divine Insight had a survivalist edge, something to preempt threats before they could manifest. It was a lighthouse in the dark. Lily considered the defensive nature of this skill, its potential to safeguard her against the unknown dangers lurking within the temple and beyond. She wouldn’t be avoiding fights; she would become much more efficient in them. Sphere of Perception had a limited use when it came to the finely-grained details around her; in fact, even with Mana Sense leveling up, it still wasn’t enough to rival what Divine Insight would give her.
Conversely, Eternal Challenger's Might came with the promise of power, a tool to surmount obstacles through sheer force. This skill resonated with the part of her that craved the strength to face her foes head-on and emerge victorious from battles that seemed insurmountable. Recalling her encounter with the wolves at the Dungeon's entrance, Lily mused how such power could have altered the battle instantly, granting her the ability to pummel enemies much stronger than her. The allure of wielding such might was undeniable, yet it also brought to light her insecurities and arrogance.
The realization struck her sharply. Brute force was not the panacea for all challenges. True, power could tip the scales in combat, but it was not the sole determinant of victory. Strategy, cunning, and foresight held equal, if not greater value in the grand scheme of conflict. The memory of her rash actions, including the attempt to resurrect Elysium, served as a stark reminder of the consequences of impulsivity.
Lily's thoughts circled back to Divine Insight, with its emphasis on anticipation and strategic advantage, mirrored the change she sought within herself. It was a commitment to a more calculated, thoughtful approach to the trials ahead. "I've been too rash, too quick to act without considering the full scope of my decisions," she admitted softly to the darkness. The temple, silent and indifferent, offered no response, yet the echo of her voice served as a counsel of sorts.
Taking a deep breath, Lily centered herself, her resolve crystallizing with the stillness of the air around her. "I need to be smarter, more aware of the dangers and opportunities around me," she muttered, with her voice slowly gaining strength. "Divine Insight is a representation of the path I need to take—a path of caution, awareness, and strategic foresight."
With a determined nod, Lily extended her hand toward the ethereal window floating before her. The options shimmered slightly under her touch as if acknowledging the weight of her choice. "Divine Insight it is," she declared as her voice resonated in the chamber. For a moment, the temple seemed to hold its breath, the silence deepening before the window responded, confirming her selection.
Once the choice was made, Lily felt a shift within her, a subtle alignment of her spirit with the change she had chosen. "This is the right choice," she whispered to herself, a faint smile breaking through the uncertainty that had clouded her mind.
The air around her seemed to lighten as if acknowledging her decision. Lily felt a surge of confidence lifting her spirits.
A divine shard materialized before her, glowing with an ethereal light that pierced the surrounding darkness. The air vibrated with the power of the divine, a tangible presence that filled the space between the ancient walls. Lily extended her hand towards the shard, and as she did, a warmth spread through her body, a sensation of power seeping into her very essence.
[Congratulations on choosing Divine Insight. Your Sphere of Perception will now merge into Reality’s Whisper. Sphere of Perception has been removed.]
[You acquire Skill – Reality’s Whisper.]
The notification flashed boldly in front of her. As Reality’s Whisper took hold, Lily felt an immediate shift in her perception. The darkness of the temple suddenly seemed less oppressive and more navigable. Then, as she felt the skill taking deeper roots, the temple came alive in ways she had never imagined. The walls, the floor, and the very air seemed to hum with information. She could see the doors in the room with clarity, the portal structure echoing the one from the Dungeon she had emerged from, and even the intricate carvings on the walls. Unlike the vague impressions offered by Sphere of Perception, Reality’s Whisper allowed her to see details with stunning clarity. It was overwhelming – the influx of sensory data – yet undeniably incredible.
However, her excitement was tempered by a realization. The walls, which bore the potential to unlock secrets of the past, were marred by scratches, their stories torn away by time or deliberate vandalism. Only fragments of the words survived – tantalizing hints of knowledge that could have been.
Lily kept Reality’s Whisper active while she turned her attention to her Classes Info and contemplated her attributes. The feats she had achieved—each a testament to her journey and struggles—had granted her a wealth of attributes – a bounty she had yet to fully comprehend.
Primary Class: Alchemist Lv. 1
Secondary Class: N/A
Profession: N/A
Attributes
Physical Augmentation: Strength 345, Speed 305, Toughness 325
Magical Enhancement: Power 585, Control 585, Regeneration 295
Reservoir: Vitality 250, Mana 250, Stamina 250
Mental Attributes: Focus 375, Perception 375, Charisma 200
She slowly clenched and unclenched her fists, but it didn’t seem obvious to her that she had experienced any growth in strength.
Maybe I need to test it on something? She was very tempted to just punch a column or something like that, but as she was looking at the numbers that unfurled before her, an idea struck her.
She needed someone who could tell her more about these feats... a [Librarian]. Once again, she regretted that Hadrian couldn’t be here with her. But she had to find someone else—perhaps there would be someone here with more knowledge about the Alchemists. Hadrian had remarked multiple times how not every [Librarian] shares the same amount of knowledge and how he considered himself to be at the lower rungs of his Class.
"Even if they don't know what Feats are, this knowledge... It's the most valuable thing I could offer in exchange," she murmured to herself.
Lily looked at her Classes Info again.
Primary Class: Alchemist Lv. 1
Secondary Class: N/A
Profession: N/A
Attributes
Physical Augmentation: Strength 345, Speed 305, Toughness 325
Magical Enhancement: Power 585, Control 585, Regeneration 295
Reservoir: Vitality 250, Mana 250, Stamina 250
Mental Attributes: Focus 375, Perception 375, Charisma 200
Free Attributes: 25
Lily felt her hands tremble and her heart in her throat. The numbers were more than just impressive; they were unprecedented for someone of her level.
As she took a moment to mentally tally the sum of her Attributes, the total left her breathless. 4,140; four thousand one hundred and forty. The magnitude of the number washed over her – a deluge of realization about her standing in the world. These were the Attributes of a seasoned warrior, someone who had not only reached level 100 but had evolved their main class and perhaps even acquired a second one.
"This is insane," she whispered to herself, her voice echoing softly in the vast chamber. "I might... I might be the strongest Level 1 in the world right now."
While she understood that combat often hinged on skill level rather than raw Attributes, the disparity between her and her peers could not be ignored. This wasn't just an advantage; it was an anomaly in the System.
Lily's mind raced as she considered her next steps. With such power at her fingertips, the possibilities were endless, but so were the potential threats. Enemies would not just be those visible in the shadows but also those hidden behind envy and fear. She had just become a force to be reckoned with.
I need to be at least somewhat careful before revealing exactly how strong I am... or maybe I just need levels to mask it, and I can lie about the levels of my skills. That’s better than just hiding it. I’ll level quickly enough that it shouldn’t be a problem to just say I’m a prodigy with a few skills at the Grandmaster Stage. And if someone comes my way...
A determined glint sparked in her eyes, “I’ll be ready."
This power would have allowed her to literally break someone like Lumius in two without even breaking a sweat. Perhaps she would have actually been able to flee from the [Cardinal], even if he gave her chase in person, not to mention what she could have done to the [Pope]’s [Hunters].
I wish this had come sooner, she thought regretfully.
But then, her pulse suddenly quickened as a shiver ran down her spine – not from fear, but from an electric surge of anticipation that coursed through her veins like wildfire. As her gaze lifted, it caught a grotesque spectacle above: there was a massive, barbed scorpion, its chitinous exoskeleton glistening with a sickly sheen under the dim light. She saw an ominous title floating before her eyes: [Diseased Venomshade Stalker – Lv. 82]. It clung to the ceiling with menacing grace, its many-legged form casting a shadow that seemed to swallow the light around it.
This was no ordinary scorpion; its size alone made it a monster: it was bigger than the wolves she had faced in the Dungeon. In fact, it was as big as their Alpha. But it was the details of its form that truly chilled her blood. Its body was a nightmare of bulging, pus-filled sacs that pulsated unnervingly with each movement, threatening to burst at the slightest touch. From the sharp, jagged barbs that lined its tail to the dripping, venom-coated stinger poised to strike, every inch of the creature screamed of death and decay. Its claws, oversized and serrated, clicked together with a sound similar to the sharpening of knives, each movement deliberate and filled with the promise of agony.
The stalker’s eyes, a multitude of glowing orbs, were fixed on Lily with a malevolent intelligence, watching her with a predator's focus. The way it moved was disturbingly silent, a shadowy phantom that belied its massive form. Its presence exuded a foul stench, a mixture of rot and venom that permeated the air, thick and cloying, making her each breath a struggle against revulsion.
However, a smile, sharp and fearless, spread across Lily's face – a stark contrast to the abhorrent creature that loomed above. This confrontation, as horrifying as the opponent was, sparked a thrill within her. This was just the kind of adventure she had always craved, a test of her strength and resolve. Facing the Diseased Venomshade Stalker, she wished this was how she had come to this world, not in the Church of the God of Light.
“In His Glow,” Lily told the scorpion, which seemed to ripple when it realized that she could see it somehow. “Reality’s Whisper is pretty good, huh? So, are you coming down?”
As the stalker coiled to strike, its tail arching with lethal intent, Lily stood ready with a freakish smile painted all over her face.
The creature dropped with a silent grace that belied its grotesque form, aiming its deadly stinger at Lily. But she was already moving, sidestepping with a dancer's sway, guided by a preternatural sense of its intentions through her new skill.
[*Ding!* Skill – Reality’s Whisper level 2!]
Her leg lashed out, striking the scorpion's tail with a force that resonated through the chamber, making some of its pus spill over her armor—that didn’t seem to bother the mysterious metal at all, even though the fumes had already entered Lily’s nose and made her feel like she was drowning. The tail snapped, and the stalker reeled, its many legs scrambling to regain composure, even as its dark ichor began to seep from the damaged chitin.
She refocused, every sense heightened, every movement charged with adrenaline. She had forgotten the cold, calculated use of her skills, choosing instead to rely on the raw strength her new attributes afforded her.
“Let’s do this without [Death Touch],” she smiled, sensing the monster was already hurt from a simple kick. “This is going to be fun; I don’t want to spoil it.”
Her excitement was palpable – a vibrant energy that coursed through her veins, urging her to leap forward, to engage, to conquer.
The battle raged ahead. Lily dodged and weaved, her movements a blur. The scorpion's attacks were relentless, but she anticipated each one, her body moving with an instinctual knowledge of where and when the next strike would come. Once, twice, thrice, they clashed, the sound of their struggle echoing off the ancient walls.
But the fourth exchange was different. The stalker's claw caught her off guard, sending her tumbling through the air with a force that knocked the breath from her lungs. She landed hard, the impact jarring her bones, but she was up in an instant, defiance blazing in her eyes. This setback only fueled her determination.
As they engaged for the fifth time, Lily began to feel the rhythm of the battle, each move and countermove a testament to her newfound strength and agility. But then, as she launched herself into the air, aiming to deliver a decisive blow, a sharp pain lanced through her side. The stalker's stinger grazed her, and a wave of nausea overwhelmed her senses, making her drop to the ground. The poison was already coursing through her veins.
The realization hit her with the force of a physical blow. She was poisoned, and the battle's stakes suddenly got all too real. Yet, even as her body screamed in protest, her spirit soared.
The world around her wobbled, the sturdy stone floor of the ancient temple seeming to sway beneath her feet. Pain radiated from the wound. Above her, the [Diseased Venomshade Stalker – Lv. 82], with its barbed tail dripping with more of its deadly concoction, scaled the ceiling with a grace unusual for such a monster, its many eyes watching her with what Lily could only interpret as anticipation of her imminent downfall.
Breathing heavily, Lily staggered, one hand pressed against the cold stone wall for support. The poison in her bloodstream was a maelstrom, tearing through her with unabated fury, each pulse a hammer blow to her senses. Her vision doubled, then tripled, turning into a kaleidoscope of images that made the room spin in a nauseating dance. She could hear her heartbeat – a rapid drumming in her ears that seemed too loud, too frantic. The stalker, confident in its victory, remained perched above, its gaze never wavering from its prey.
But then, a smile broke through Lily's grimace of pain, a curve of lips that spoke of a secret, of knowledge that the stalker couldn't possibly comprehend. With effort that seemed herculean, given her state, Lily straightened up, her smile widening. "You think you've won?" she whispered, her voice a raspy echo in the vast chamber as she kept a hand over her wounded side where the flesh had already begun to rot.
[Death Touch]
[Lesser Mandala of Eradication]
The response was immediate and astonishing. The venom, a dark presence in her system, began to recede, drawn out by the dual forces at her command. It was being eradicated, sapped away from her body with a speed that left her momentarily stunned. Within moments, the crippling effects of the poison dissipated, leaving her feeling not just cured but invigorated, as if the venom had never been there at all. She swiftly popped out a health potion from her spatial ring and downed it, the flesh at her side knitting together in response.
“This was fast,” she muttered, her eyes not leaving the enemy. “Too fast.”
[Diseased Venomshade Stalker – Lv. 82]
But then, a realization dawned on Lily. The 'Diseased' in the stalker's title was not merely a descriptor; it was a clue to the nature of its poison. Drawing upon her knowledge as an ex-biology teacher, Lily recalled the lethal bites of Komodo Dragons, deadly not just for their venom but for the bacteria they harbored. The stalker's poison operated on a similar principle – a combination of venom and bacteria that should have been lethal.
Yet, [Death Touch] and [Lesser Mandala of Eradication], along with the double perk of Pestilence Purge, made her the worst enemy to this kind of poison. The poison, designed to debilitate and kill, had met its match in Lily's unparalleled ability to purge diseases.
Looking up at the stalker still clinging to the ceiling with its menacing poise, Lily's smile turned predatory. "Round two," she called out, her voice steady now. The creature, sensing a shift in its prey, hesitated, its body language betraying a flicker of uncertainty. Lily could almost sense its confusion, its inability to comprehend how she was still alive.
The temple, a silent witness to this dance of predator and prey, seemed to hold its breath as Lily prepared to take the offensive.
“I said I’m not going to use [Death Touch] to fight,” she smiled, “but I didn’t say anything about [Crucible].” She called upon the skill and mentally re-arranged her Attributes this way:
Physical Augmentation: Strength 545 (+200), Speed 505 (+200), Toughness 425 (+200)
Magical Enhancement: Power 485 (-100), Control 485 (-100), Regeneration 195 (-100)
Reservoir: Vitality 150 (-100), Mana 150 (-100), Stamina 150 (-100)
Mental Attributes: Focus 375, Perception 375, Charisma 200
She could only stretch it so much, taking a max of one hundred Attributes off a skill and adding two hundred to another Attribute. And she already felt the effect waning as soon as she activated the skill, but she also felt the crazy increase of power filling her body.
And so, she didn’t wait.
Lily, in fact, jumped.
The air between them crackled with the tension of imminent conflict, each moment stretching into eternity as the creature's lethal form drew closer as Lily neared the high ceiling. The stalker struck with a speed that belied its size, a blur aimed directly at Lily. But she moved with equal swiftness, twisting her body mid-air and responding with honed reflexes.
And as soon as she dodged both its claws and stinger, she found herself face to face with the abomination’s toothy maws.
“You’re done,” Lily’s fist was all the way behind her body as she suddenly threw it to the front like a pitcher. What happened next defied the laws of physics. A shockwave erupted from her attack, vaporizing the head of the monster in one swift strike.
The impact was cataclysmic. The stalker's exoskeleton, designed by nature to withstand the rigors of its harsh environment, crumbled under the onslaught of Lily's enhanced strength. The creature's head had completely disappeared.
As the stalker's lifeless form collapsed to the ground, its ichor and viscera splattering over the stone floor, Lily fell to the ground, landing gracefully and standing amidst the raining carnage, her breaths coming in ragged gasps. She was covered in the blood and gunk of her vanquished foe.
Silence reclaimed the temple; the only sounds were Lily's heavy breathing and the distant echo of her battle's fury. She felt the enhanced strength receding and her Attributes going back to their normal distribution, as well as the resistance from Crucible when she checked the skill mentally.
There’s a cooldown, and it’s not short, she realized. Maybe a few minutes or even more.
So, she waited, her body tense with anticipation for the flood of notifications that would herald her ascension, her leveling up from the combat just waged.
But the silence stretched on – a heavy, expectant pause that seemed at odds with the intensity of her triumph. Then, a single notification pierced the quiet, a lone herald of her achievement:
[*Ding!* Skill – Crucible level 2!]
[*Ding!* Class – Alchemist level 2!]
Lily blinked at the two messages, a mix of surprise and confusion washing over her. After such a fierce battle, her expectations had been set for more, for a cascade of levels, considering she had just slayed a monster eighty levels stronger than her. Yet, here she was, with a single level up in her primary class and one in her Class Skill as her sole reward.
And then, something else appeared.
[Common Feat – Angry Badger. You killed an enemy 25 levels higher than your Primary Class! You earn +5 in All Attributes.]
[Uncommon Feat – Damn, Chill. You killed an enemy 50 levels higher than your Primary Class! You earn +25 in All Attributes.]
[Rare Feat – Playing with Fire. You killed an enemy 75 levels higher than your Primary Class! You earn +50 in All Attributes.]
She opened the Classes Info.
Physical Augmentation: Strength 425, Speed 385, Toughness 405
Magical Enhancement: Power 665, Control 665, Regeneration 375
Reservoir: Vitality 330, Mana 330, Stamina 330
Mental Attributes: Focus 455, Perception 455, Charisma 280
Free Attributes: 50
“This is...” She had no more words to describe it. “I need to really find a [Librarian].”
...
As she attempted to clean the blood and ichor from her skin, a subtle, unexpected vibration drew her attention to the spatial ring adorning her hand. With her curiosity piqued, she delved into the ring's contents, retrieving the Book of the Dead. To her astonishment, the ancient tome began to emanate a soft, pulsating light, its gentle glow bathing her in an ethereal luminescence.
Intrigued by this new mystery, Lily observed that the book's vibrations seemed to respond to her movements within the temple's vast, shadowed halls. With each step, the light from the book intensified or dimmed, guiding her path like a beacon through the darkness. Trusting in this newfound guide, she navigated the ruins without a need for a torch – her way was illuminated by the dual luminescence of the book and Reality’s Whisper.
The temple was mostly in ruins. Eventually, Lily stumbled upon a room whose walls bore inscriptions that had miraculously survived the ravages of time. As she traced the characters with her fingertips, a deep resonance filled the air, a sound that seemed to emanate from the stone itself.
Her heart leaped at the sudden vibration.
“Shit, not statues again,” she raised her fists, trembling.
However, the absence of her new danger-triggered intuition soothed her initial panic. Turning, she discovered the source of the disturbance: a short column upon which rested a hexagonal artifact, its design intricate and its purpose mysterious. It appeared to be an amulet or perhaps a key. She approached it, hoping it would tell her more about it, but nothing happened, even when she touched it. So, pocketing the artifact, Lily returned her focus to the inscriptions, determined to uncover their meaning.
The writings spoke of Mut and Ankh, just like the Book of the Dead had already told her many times over. This, too, hinted at a ritualistic balance between death and life, darkness and light.
Dad was right. I might find something here.
Lily had theorized that Mut represented Death Magic while Ankh symbolized Light Magic—or perhaps, more broadly, the concepts of death and life themselves. The inscriptions before her seemed to confirm her suspicions, offering cryptic clues to the nature of these forces.
As she delved deeper into the text, one inscription caught her eye in particular: “Mut can only be born when Ankh gives way and extinguishes itself in the black waters of the soul. Only then can Mut erupt and kill what’s already dead. If Mut doesn’t manifest, what’s already dead can’t be stopped.”
...
With the artifact in her possession and the inscriptions' cryptic message etched in her mind, Lily walked around the temple, trying to find an exit.
Lily had set forth from the chamber, thrilled with discovering more about these ancient concepts. And so, with the Book of the Dead as her guide and the ancient artifact stored away in her ring, Lily ventured deeper into the temple's heart and journeyed through what had been called in the inscriptions The Temple of Mut-Ankh.
Lily's exploration of the ancient temple, now illuminated by the soft, pulsating light of the Book of the Dead and her newly acquired skill, Reality’s Whisper, took a turn towards the unexpected. As she went deeper, the sense of adventure began to wane since she couldn’t find any more inscriptions. It was replaced by a growing realization of her situation. The temple, a relic buried beneath the earth, held one last secret: its entrance, or rather, the lack thereof.
After meandering through corridors adorned with scratched-out inscriptions and navigating rooms that spoke of ancient rites, Lily found herself before a staircase that spiraled upwards. Hope flickered within her, a beacon urging her onward, but it was quickly extinguished by the sight that greeted her at the top. The entrance, or what should have been an escape back to the surface, was completely obstructed. Massive stones and debris formed an impenetrable barrier.
“Those stones are huge,” she muttered. The smallest of them was at the very least five meters tall and twice as wide.
A sigh escaped her lips, frustration mingling with the determination that had carried her thus far. "There has to be a way out," she murmured, more to herself than anyone else. First, she attempted to phase through the obstruction using Wraithform. But the debris proved too dense. And not just in material but also in its magic. Every stone in the temple was somehow imbued with magic.
Not one to give up easily, Lily then tried to physically move the stones, enhancing her attributes with Crucible. Yet, despite her efforts, the debris remained unmoved, stubbornly resistant to her attempts. The stones, large and unwieldy, mocked her with their immobility.
In a final act of desperation, she called upon Death Touch and Inferior Mandala of the Black Rain, hoping to consume or erode the barrier that stood between her and her freedom. Her hands glowed with dark energy as she reached out to touch the cold, unyielding surface of the stones. For a moment, the magic pulsed, a hunger to devour and destroy, but it barely left a mark on the debris. The stones, seemingly impervious to her abilities, looked back with not even their dust affected.
Lily stepped back, the glow fading from her hands as she took in the full measure of her predicament. The realization that she was trapped, truly trapped, settled over her like a heavy cloak. The weight of the underground temple pressed in on her from all sides, a suffocating embrace of stone and darkness. "There might be no way out," she whispered, the words tasting bitter on her tongue. It was a sobering thought.
For a moment, despair threatened to overwhelm her and drown her in a sea of hopelessness. But then, the fire that had fueled her journey, that had driven her to defy gods and challenge fate, rekindled within her. "No," she said, her voice gaining strength. "There has to be another way."
Lily turned away from the blocked entrance, her gaze sweeping over the temple's interior with renewed purpose. If the way forward was barred, then she would find another one.
"I will find a way," she declared.
And so, Lily turned back into the depths of the temple.
Comments
IdolTrust
The feats are nuts she is gaining more then her level ups. Surprised that she didn’t level up more than one level from solo killing something more than 75 levels higher than her
BAAAB The Blood God
Thanks for the chapter
