Sitting down on what appeared to be some kind of massive brick helipad, Dei found that his guards still watched him intently but were far more relaxed, like they didn't expect trouble.

Now that he'd worked out the hardest part, he decided it was time to go over his Interface. He didn't feel any notifications, so he wasn't going to get some massive flood, but he could still look over his Interface and see what'd changed since last time. He took it piece by piece, starting with his Class and Profession but quickly ran into trouble.

[Name: Dei Grrata Race: Union (Gem Dweller Variant)

Class Slot: Watchful Slaughterer (Level 186) Profession Slot: Pondering Sage (Level 100)

Achievements: Void Walker, Soulspeak, Beyond Understanding, No Rulers Above All, Bearing the Burden, Slayer of Giants IV, Cruelty of the Slaughter (II), Dammit, Slaughterer, Untethered, Risky Business, Golden Voice and Silver Tongue, Supreme Inquisitor of (Eternal Refuge), Pioneer, Awake, Dreameater, Lunar Terror, Eclipse of Blood, Observer of Chaos, V̷̨̬͕͔͒͜ë̶̡̡̞̹̲͓́̓́͜͝s̸̢̖̬̞̦̞͈̽͆̂̊̈́̎s̵̺̠̯̩̠̜̔͑̉̓́̿̊e̷̢̼̠͖͓̓͂ͅḻ̶͎̺͇̖͉̱͋̔͑̾͝ ̵̧̘̲̥̟̑ǒ̴̰̺̙̹̪̫̤̓͗͝f̸̪͋̈́̕ ̷̥̦̜̿̎̐̕T̴͖͇͉̺̝̓͌́Ḥ̷̹̗̔̓Ĕ̸̼̻̪̬̻͕̹̀̐̊̚ ̵̡̨͇͖̠͉̑͘Ò̵͖̰̜͕̲̦ͅN̸̮̤̦̱͗̾̊͑E̷̛̩͓͉͎̱̪̊͌̀̈́͗̇, ???Warring Container???

The very first thing he was forced to notice was the janky Achievement named [Vessel of THE ONE] with some weird lettering around it, specifically because it could not be ignored. It was infecting all the other text on the screen, and even blasting incomprehensible, mind-melting chaos into his mind.

Well, incomprehensible for most.

'Ehh this is kind of annoying. I can't see my other Achievements and it's even bleeding over into my Contracts.'

With a wave of his hand, he hid the Achievement from his status screen. He'd look at it again in a moment, but it was incredibly annoying.

From there, he was finally able to focus on his Class and Profession. He noted it said "Class Slot" and "Profession Slot" rather than just Class and Profession, probably because they weren't held by the System anymore. He was pretty sure that'd change when he picked a new one, because the System designed them to melt away after reaching their evolution thresholds, likely thinking ahead specifically for when it got the chance to give him his next ones.

He had to pick a new Profession but he'd do that when he was safer. His focus was instead on his Class, looking both shocked and disappointed that it hadn't evolved despite killing a God.

That was, until he got a new notification moments later

[Class Leveled Up: Watchful Slaughterer (Level 186) -> (Level 187)]

[Stats Gained: +2 Physical]

'Uhh, what?'

"Sir? How did you just level up?" One of the guards asked in suspicion.

"Gimme a sec I'm trying to figure that out."

Diving inward to search for any irregularities in his Class node, he saw Wild Chains lethargically swimming around his Potential node. It was still overstuffed from devouring The Mother's soul, but he saw it release a very small pulse every couple seconds that his Potential absorbed and sent down the line of Connection that he'd run through his Class and Profession nodes.

The Profession node was gone, leaving behind an unimaginably complex structure of Connection. As the pulse reached this half, it ran through his entire body doing… something.

His Class on the other hand seemed to consume the pulse, strengthening itself then distributing that in the form of Stats to his body.

'Oh! That's why I didn't evolve yet, it's giving me delayed EXP as Wild Chains digests its meal.'

"Okay I got it now" he finally said, "One of my Skills gives me delayed experience from killing things, and I've just recently come from battle."

For a moment he thought they'd question his words, but the guard that asked simply nodded. His Beastial Communication upgrade from becoming a Slaughterer cleared everything up though, telling him that the person had signaled to the other guards something, likely indicating they stand down or telling them he was not lying. In other words, the person he spoke to had some kind of truth-detecting Skill, and since he hadn't lied, it hadn't set them off.

"A heads up though," he warned them, "It was a powerful enemy. I'm likely to reach level two hundred before the EXP stops rolling in."

"Two hundred?!" one of the guards blurted out, getting a glare from some of the others.

'Oh ha, I forgot that Identifies usually feel awful and invasive so it's rude. There's probably some sneaky ones that can get past my perception, which is how the truth teller knew, but that surprised guy clearly didn't have such a Skill.'

Still, the outburst made him smile. Dei no doubt looked and felt dangerous to people instinctually, even with his Presence pulled in, so stating he wasn't even level two hundred would shock more than a few.

The lie-detector glanced at their coworker with a strained expression, frustrated at them for breaking rank, but said nothing about it. "That is fine," they said in a professional tone, "Thank you for the warning," then returned to their spot in the arrangement around him.

'That guy's gonna get WHIPPED when they're done guarding me.'

[Class Leveled Up: Watchful Slaughterer (Level 187) -> (Level 188)]

[Stats Gained: +1 Mental, +1 Spiritual, +1 Magical]

He decided to mute his level ups until he finished with the rest of his Interface.

He moved on to Achievements. Ignoring all the ones he already had, he went down the list of ones he'd gained, in order.

[Pioneer

Found a path into a Systemless universe

Frontier and Frontier derivative affinities are 100% easier to learn and advance

Base physical self is empowered

Body becomes better at surviving. Can function on less food, water, and nutrients, while also gaining the ability to draw energy from a wider variety of sources]

That one was just incredible, as improving his base self would help with what his Physical stat could multiply total. Not to mention, he was pretty sure the second would include surviving lethal damage as well, such as his brain functioning on less oxygen when he started bleeding out. Or suffocating from his lungs getting pierced.

'Hell yea, this one's awesome.'

[Awake

You've thrown off the yoke of The Dream, rejecting its insidious influence.

Immunity to the Dream affinity

Unnerving Presence to Dream affinity users

Mental speeds accelerated by 20%

Never require sleep again, but may do so for mental rejuvenation when exhausted]

Well, if there was ever a very literal Achievement, it'd be this one.

He wasn't even sure if this was even an Achievement. Those all sounded like things he'd naturally get from not having The Dream in his head. Maybe it was just a record of something significant?

'Ah wait, for Rights! Since I did this, it indicates a significant boost in Rights as well!'

[Dreameater

You've completely removed The Dream from existence, crippling The Mother and wiping away the influence of an entire affinity from that particular universe

Gain the ability to slowly undo The Dream on those close to you

Terrifying Presence to Dream affinity users

Mental speeds accelerated by 30%

Warning: should a version of The Mother discover your ability, she will kill you]

That one was, uh, good. But… he did not like that last line. Originally he was going to get Fendrascora, Clever, and everyone else he could the Achievement, but now he thought it wasn't worth the risk. He didn't know how detectable it was for him to interfere with The Dream, and he never intended to find out. If he did, he'd put himself on The Mother's radar forever, as she'd share his identity with all her other selves, and they would all know to kill him.

He sighed inwardly, 'Yea, that's an awesome power I'm never gonna get to use. Not until I can ACTUALLY kill a God, and not a half-crippled guy piloting the mech of a God that's barely on.'

[Lunar Terror

You've made The Mother feel fear

All Creation and Creation derivative affinities are 10% easier to learn and advance

Gain a Crushing Presence augmentation against any creature inflicted with The Dream

10% increased damage against Lunar-Spawn]

'Damn, Creation has GOT to be an incredibly high tier concept, if it's not one of the top ones. Usually these kinds of things have Chaos at the top, which breaks down into Creation and Destruction. Does that mean I'll have a slight bonus to learning half of all affinities? That would be incredible!'

[Eclipse of Blood

At the beginning of time, The Mother fought, bled, and terrorized the world. She was an unending scourge on any civilization she could reach. She was the boogeyman, the monster under the bed, the one who hides in the shadows.

Many have referred to The Mother as the closest one can ever become to objective evil, and she would not disagree with such things. The Mother is a being of pure, unending spite, who lives only to be the locusts that tear apart the flourishing fields of advancement. In worlds where she exists, life is bleaker for it, and worlds where she does not, technology and peace prevail in the end.

Despite that, seldom ever are there those who fight back. The other Primordial Children leave her sealed away, lest the bindings and vows that hold her in place come undone. The Gods fear invoking her wrath, lest their followers be pulled up by the roots. Mortals quiver at the very idea of facing her, choosing instead to live their lives, simply praying that she does not turn her eyes upon their peaceful homesteads.

A grinning sadist, she looks down from above, watching her victims squirm. Her soul black as the very darkness she hides within, she fears not the sun she always flees from, for she knows it will never catch her.

But her path is not unending. It is not unstoppable. Taking hold of her grotesque mind, you've foisted her into the blinding light of day, tearing her asunder. The rain will fall, the sun blotted out for a time, yet when the blood dries, the world will be better for the violence you've enacted upon a most wretched beast.

All Creation, Destruction, and Manipulation affinity as well as Creation, Destruction, and Manipulation derivative affinities are 30% more effective when either being used by you or acting upon you in a positive manner

Presence may invoke Calmed buff in Sapient races

Presence may invoke Fear debuff in monsters

All incoming damage reduced by 15%]

'Holy shit. That's easily my most powerful Achievement to date! Even more than my Slaughterer, what the hell! I guess I understand why, as that was a near-impossible task to do but… actually yea, nevermind I get it. There's a lot more Slaughterers in the multiverse than there are Mother Killers. It doesn't even say "Learn and advance," my affinities are just going to be 30% more powerful, especially since I'm now positive Creation, Destruction, and Manipulation are the three "at the top" concepts. The Calmed and Fear thing are amazing as well, and I'm glad it's not a mandatory thing as Perumah isn't afraid of me. The incoming damage reduction too! I gotta kill more Primordial Children… if the chance arises and they're evil.'

[Observer of Chaos

You've laid eyes upon a most hidden concept, one no longer present within the multiverse

HP/MP/SP regeneration increased by 10%

Ability to more easily process underlying or incomprehensible concepts

Access to [Mind of Madness] Skill, which was absorbed into [High Mind] Skill]

The second two were amazing, but it was the flavor text and the implication of the first reward that made him frown.

'Chaos no longer exists? That's fine and all, I already don't understand most of the affinity-based stuff so what's one more thing, but isn't Perumah imbued with chaos now? A chaos born?'

He briefly considered opening a connection to ask, then hesitated. There was no doubt a way for the people around them to tap into their communication link, so it'd be prudent to wait until they were outside the universe before saying anything.

Next, he briefly unhid the [Vessel of THE ONE] Achievement, selecting it.

He did not get a description though, but a warning.

[It is recommended that you do not open this Achievement]

'Oh yea, Achievements actually exist somewhere in my soul, which is how the System detects them even when they're earned outside of it, such as the Void Walker Achievement leaving a fragment of Void within me. That means this is detecting how that Primordial Slayer has a handhold within my soul, and taking record of it. In other words, if I open the Achievement, I'm glancing at his actual existence. Hmm, alright, let's hide this Achievement and never think about it again.'

The last in his list was certainly the most interesting to him. Even if it wasn't going to be the most powerful in the bunch when competing with [Eclipse of Blood], it somehow felt more valuable.

[???Warring Container???

Access to the ??? affinity

?

?

Unknown Achievement granted by unknown source. Further data must be collected before assessment is made]

It was the first step. He finally, truly had his path to Ascension clear, because he knew exactly what this was. It was his pseudo affinity, just barely beginning to take shape despite him not even becoming a God.

This implied that Godhood was not even required to Ascend, but was a likely middlestep instead, and he understood why.

Ascension was not just sloughing off a domain to become an affinity, it was leaving a permanent mark on the fabric of reality. It was the creation of a concept so powerful, even the shadow of that concept was enough to bend nature.

That's why affinities "sort of" existed within The Mother's realm, even though it wasn't Physical. The echo of an Ascender reverberated across everything, and while the Physical Realm held their most powerful fragment, even a shadow of a shadow was enough to mar the adjacent Realms.

It wasn't Godhood that made Ascension, but Rights. Rights made the multiverse watch your actions more closely, as you were marked as someone objectively more significant than anyone else.

The reason why this Achievement manifested now was because he'd gained a certain threshold of Rights and his pseudo-affinity had become clearly defined enough that he was starting to speak it into the universe, and it was starting to listen.

Despite that though, he knew it was not a true affinity yet. He was pretty sure the System simply marked it as such, because the System marked any particularly powerful concept as an affinity- just as it'd done with Zyz'Ti's.

Zyz'Ti was not an Ascender, and her path-slash-concept was not an affinity, but she was significant enough that the universe had also begun listening to her, and the System chose the closest analogous term for when a concept became too noisy to fully ignore- it called it an affinity.

Despite the impossibility of the task the System set before him, Dei found that it was not so out of reach as it had once been.

Shaking off the pride in himself, he moved on to less meaningful developments, such as his Contracts.

[Contracts: Soul of the (IIIIIIII), Mutual Respect, Deal of the Almost-Dunce, Vow of Secrecy]

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Not much was different, but the Vow of Secrecy was the new one he'd made with the Church of The Champion.

[Vow of Secrecy

You're sworn to secrecy for something of The Champion's request]

No surprise there.

He skipped over his HP, SP, MP, and Stats for now, getting right to his affinities.

[Kindness: Mid-Epic: 78% ???: Low-Grand: 24% Wrath: Mid-Epic: 78% Soul: Low-Treasured: 83% Fortitude: High-Rare: 28% Void: Low-Rare: 41%]

And- no surprise here- they were much higher than before, especially his Kindness and Wrath. He raised an eyebrow at soul only being Treasured, but reminded himself how most people spent their entire lives growing their affinities. He'd only really started to do so a year or so ago.

Not only that, but his eyes widened at the ??? affinity, his very own pseudo affinity. He knew the Achievement granted access to it on his Interface, but it simply made his heart skip a beat once more seeing it with his own two eyes- and so strongly as well!

He reminded himself of the rarity chart again.

'Common -> Uncommon -> Rare -> Treasured -> Epic -> Grand -> Historic -> Fabled -> Legendary -> Mythical.'

Still, despite it being grand, he felt his eyes narrow. That seemed… a bit low. Cycle of Sealing was Historic rarity at the least, most likely Upper-Historic or Lower-Fabled, and that was very closely tied to the concept.

His heart sank a bit when he realized the likely culprit of its weakness- his own actions in releasing the mana within Cycle of Sealing. His Skill had healed nicely albeit slowly, and he thought he was mostly recovered, but it seemed his affinity did not heal so easily.

True, he didn't think it would be forever, but it was still true that becoming an Embodiment had absolutely damaged it.

'I hope feeding The Mother's soul to it helps that healing along, but that's also going to take time to see the fruits of.'

Finally, he looked over all of his Skills, seeing that they'd changed the most of all.

Kindness: Call for Help (71), Good Samaritan (157), Meaningful (107) Wrath: Growing Rage (358) Soul: Empower Self (27), Connection (19), Knowledge Fortitude: Solidity (230), Fortress of Denial (112) Business: Value Sense Void: Roving Gate (36) Mind: Overmind (265)]

Health: Homeostasis (378) Mana: Meditation (274) Stamina: Disconnect (100)

Confluence: Identify of the Stout Protector (192), Cycle of Sealing (482)

Artificial Skills: How About a Demonstration?, Fine-Tooth Comb (73), Vigilance (178), In Tune (119), Commune with the Universe (19)

Outer Skills: N/A

Tackling the elephant in the room, there was a new section called Artificial Skills now that all of them had been integrated into his soul.

Ignoring that for now, he went down the list of Skills that'd evolved since he'd last seen them, and boy were there a lot.

[Meaningful - Level 107 - Kindness Affinity

The most profoundly important of gestures needn't be complex. They need only have meaning.

Coalesces mana into gestures, conveying a chosen meaning.

Level 100 evolutionary upgrade - Your mind expands, yet your language struggles to keep pace. Improves quality of conveyable knowledge from words and simple concepts to complex experiences, images, or short memories.

Costs 1 minimum mana per use]

'Not bad. It'll certainly help me tell Clever and Fendrascora about it all that happened.'

Next he pulled up Growing Rage and got a slight surprise.

[Growing Rage - Level 358 - Wrath Affinity - Passive

Working out or fighting to the death, what's the…

…

Level 200 evolutionary upgrade - Imbue Fragmented Primordial Concepts into body with every burst of Potential, rebuilding yourself towards Reaperhood and beyond.

Level 300 evolutionary upgrade - Taking on the properties of hypothetical existence, you've re-angled your composition to become more resistant to known quantities. Become more resistant to mana types you imbue yourself with]

His eyes were drawn to the Level 200 evolution, as it'd previously been obscured. Thinking back, it used to look like this:

[Imbue ??? into body with every ??? rebuilding yourself towards ???]

This proved that the System was hiding certain things from him because he simply did not have the clearance to hear about them. Now that he had a better picture of everything, it was allowed to give him another hint.

This also told him that the Leviathans truly were not full-blooded literal children of the Primordial, that they were not the same species. The Leviathans only had pieces of the Primordial Concepts, meaning it was more likely they were just pieces of the Primordial somehow. True, the most closely related, but likely closer to cousins of the Primordial than direct descendents, while still somehow following the path of the Primordial of Earth. However that worked.

They weren't Sun or Moon Primordial followers like The Mother, but still only tangentially related to the Chaos Primordial.

The second thing that drew his eye was how the Skill consumed Potential to help him along in his transformation, which gave him another hint as to what his Potential Node was doing with the energy it was receiving from Wild Chains.

'I wonder what it means when it says Reaperhood and beyond though, is there something after that?'

The level 300 was just the cherry on top, and he was pretty sure he'd received this as an option because of his time spent as the embodiment of mana after activating the transformative experience from Cycle of Sealing. He'd received a new perspective on mana, and apparently that left its mark on him.

[Solidity - Level 230 - Fortitude Affinity - Passive

Soul, Mind, and Body walk parallel paths, yet…

…

Level 100 evolutionary upgrade - Creates perpetual synchrony between the Mind and Body portions of the Soul. Malleability of all three increases with each successive level.

Level 168 manual upgrade - your form is further empowered by the web, granting you easier access to two selves- the Union and the World that Walks.

Level 200 evolutionary upgrade - Accelerate physical changes when proportions in your body remain the same]

'Oooh, what's this? The level 200 evolutionary upgrade isn't earthshattering, but a 168 manual upgrade? Oh yea! When I fed Connection through my Class and Profession, I linked all of my Skills together. For most of them, it did nothing, but for those that Connection already had a foothold in, they were upgraded! I should also note it says "manual upgrade" and not "manual evolution," like it did with Meditation. Perhaps it isn't as large as an evolution, but qualitative enough to be of note.'

He knew he should've tested those Skills more… but he never actually got the chance. Everything had happened so quickly with little break.

Thinking about it, didn't Good Samaritan supposedly gain some massive boost from being connected with the larger web?

[Good Samaritan - Level 157 - Kindness Affinity - Toggleable

No good deed goes unpunished, but perhaps one can avoid the hammer of judgment, if only the hand holding it fails to find you.

When committing an act out of the goodness of your heart in a way that is more detrimental to you than it is beneficial, gain the ability to make either your face or all your actions obscured.

Become more difficult to trace the higher leveled it is.

Level 100 evolutionary upgrade - When something attaches itself to your soul to track you, find which area the mark is contained within.

Level 157 manual evolutionary upgrade - Once the spell senses influence that you do not want attached to you, it sends out autonomous constructs to find and interfere with it]

This one was significant. He'd felt it when he first upgraded it, but it was more than just a functional upgrade, it was essentially a new spell. That's likely why the change was called an actual "manual evolutionary upgrade," because it was a full evolution.

It clearly resonated well with the structure of Connection now within him, and that was beautiful to see.

Next wasn't an evolution but his one and only new Skill. He'd merged some, but [Knowledge] was the only one that he didn't have before at all.

[Knowledge - Soul Affinity - Passive

Your mind drifts through a sea of shapes and patterns incomprehensible to most, observing them, calculating. The gentle waters of forbidden insights lap against you, but do not disturb your peaceful meditation.

Grants absolute knowledge of all soul structures and the placement within them, as well as predictive reasoning to help place the memories of your inquiry, even in foreign souls]

It was amazing… It helped him predict where people's memories in their souls were. Who knew what would've happened if he had this at the start of the invasion of The Mother's soul. Maybe he would've been able to skip large swaths of it?

'Maybe I would've been able to find the temples to the other Celestial Parasites. Or even other secrets The Mother might've had?'

If he ever invaded another soul, he'd have little trouble getting whatever he wanted, despite any resistance they might have. Knowledge let him dip in and out of the euclidean soulshape the System was a fan of, meaning from their perspective he'd be teleporting around. He would know their souls better than them. The only thing he'd say disappointed him was that it was a static Skill, same as [How About a Demonstration?], in that it could not level up. It made sense though, as he wasn't exactly going to gain more knowledge of souls when he could already predict it all.

A thought occurred to him though, 'wasn't this going to fuse with Connection when I got it? I remember panicking that I didn't want that to happen just- oh yea. Magic stuff can't happen without my subconscious consent. I must've accidentally delayed the process. Well, add it to the list of things to do when I'm not being monitored anymore.'

There was so much fun stuff he wanted to do with all his gains, but just couldn't here

He sighed. Being patient was frustrating.

[Fortress of Denial - Level 112 - Fortitude Affinity

Control. You fight it, you demand it…

…

Creates a Domain of Denial where all intent is muffled, making control over all magic more difficult.

Level 100 evolutionary upgrade - Greatly increase your perception of all intent within your domain.

Variable mana cost]

This one, while simple, made him smile in relief. Shortly before his battle with Daniel, Dei considered narrowing his Fortitude affinity down into Survival, because he hadn't used the Bastion half of it very often.

What a fool he'd been to think that. He hadn't used it often, but after the battle with The Mother, he'd never feel comfortable again without it. He'd always be afraid of being subtly mind controlled, and this gave him the relief he needed to feel secure once more.

It was an undeniably invaluable upgrade. Even if it didn't grant him any increased power to the domain, he could feel that he'd subconsciously focused everything he had into trying to find whatever enemy invaded his mind, which was exactly what broke him through the barrier of evolution.

He was starting to struggle with not activating every single new passive ability he had. Invoking respect in sapients? Automated soul guards? Locking his body down from outside influence? Get real.

But if he did, they'd detect it, and think he was up to something.

Why was it taking so long for them to clear his name anyway? He'd been sitting still for…

'Oh. Five seconds.'

His thought speeds were much faster, and he likely had the next Skill in the list to blame.

[Overmind - Level 265 - Mind Affinity

Vying tendrils grasp at incoherent pieces, snapping them together in an unholy puzzle only they see. Tinged with hints of chaos, it alters itself to fit whatever mold it finds in an ever-twisting shapeless form. Despite the unknowable shape though, it is a gentle and ponderous thing. An unfathomable being which causes madness not by its actions but through its very existence. No malice taints it, its only drive a childlike curiosity to learn.

Unquantifiable intelligence, unique thinking patterns, accelerated thought speed, the ability to think using the soul rather than the brain, adaptable thinking, and likely more.

Strength of mind increases with each level.

Level 100 evolutionary upgrade - grant the ability to section off pieces of the soul into smaller soul constructs that think independently of you yet still act according to your overall will.

Level 200 evolutionary upgrade - your mind and soul have expanded in size, making it more difficult to damage and read you. Size increases with each level]

The Skill was more complex than it seemed at a glance, and it did not seem simple in the slightest.

The [Mind of Madness] Skill had merged with [High Mind], and the result was this incredible work of art. It kept High Mind's malleability, while also being blessed with what appeared to be some kind of low-level soul interaction through the Mind affinity, letting him split his soul into pieces rather than just his mind.

Not only that, but he no longer actually needed a brain, as all his thinking was done in the Soul. That meant he'd be able to get his head blown off and keep going, especially considering a Soul Echo could be fired at any time, so he didn't actually need any sensory organs. If he wanted to, he could become a shapeless blob of mass with no brain and still survive.

He wasn't gonna do that, but he could.

He also wondered what difference it would make when splitting his soul rather than his mind, could he send pieces of himself out? Food for thought.

[Homeostasis - Level 378 - HP Affinity - Passive

The world is in…

…

Allows the body to return to a state of Homeostasis

Heals 0.1 HP per level every hour Regenerates 0.1 MP per level every hour Rejuvenates 0.1 SP per level every hour

Body adjusts faster with each successive level.

Level 100 evolutionary upgrade - Raise the maximum level of resistance you can develop to a particular imbalance.

Level 200 evolutionary upgrade - Body will naturally stabilize using its Primordial Roots when met with adversity.

Level 300 evolutionary upgrade - Body's balance is granted minor predictive properties, letting you build a resistance to things you theorize you may face]

'You're joking.'

Previously, the level 200 evolution had three question marks, but that was uncovered to be "Primordial Roots" now.

That wasn't important though, no, it was that he could now imagine damage to himself, and actually adjust to it.

That was just… ridiculous. He knew that evolutions got stronger every hundred levels, but this was absurd. What kind of silly powers would he find eventually? Someone who could picture fighting him, then actually beat the shit out of him from all the practice they had? This was stupid.

"What's wrong?" Perumah asked.

"Hm?"

"You're radiating incredulity."

"Talk in simpler concepts, that translated over weirdly."

"You're very skeptical."

"Yea, one of my Skills has some quirks which I find hard to believe now that I'm reading over it."

"Are they good?"

"Yea, just a bit broken."

"If it's in your favor, who cares?"

"...I guess," he grumbled, and Perumah mentally rolled her eyes before returning to silence.

The next Skill, [Disconnect], actually hadn't evolved, but stopped at the threshold. He selected it, opening the System-suggested options.

[Restorative Aligned Prophetic Deep]

Going over them quickly, he found that Restorative increased its healing properties, Aligned reduced how long he'd have to wait for his body and soul to correct themselves after he was awake once more, Prophetic increased the likelihood of higher powers coming to him, and Deep granted a sort of Well-Rested buff that made him 30% stronger for half the time he was under if he stayed under Disconnect for six hours or more.

He threw out Deep because that'd leave him vulnerable for far too long to ever get a use out of it. He was also iffy about Aligned, because if he was under Disconnect, he was likely already out of the fight no matter what. Getting up a couple hours earlier out of several days wasn't going to do much.

Prophetic was… interesting. But no, he didn't get Disconnect so he could talk to higher powers. He got it as a last desperate attempt to live, so Restorative was really the only option.

[Disconnect - Level 100 - Stamina Affinity

The overwhelming world…

…

Requires several hours for Soul and Body to realign with one another once Skill is deactivated.

Locked trance state may result in divine or conceptual communication.

Level 100 evolutionary upgrade - Massively increase the restorative properties Disconnect has on your body]

Last of all, his most important Skill, and the one that'd carry him into eternity

[Cycle of Sealing - Level 482 - Kindness/???/Wrath/Soul/Void Affinity - ??????/115680

An endless war between infinite armies rage within, blood spills and grudges form, yet no ground is given. It has remained stagnant for so long that the shanty tents have long since been taken down, replaced with buildings. Medical tents to hospitals, meeting rooms to schools. Two sister cities, embroiled in bloodshed yet somehow existing in parallel to one another.

There was a time when the two strode to win, yet that is long past. They know now that they fight only for the purpose of doing so. Only because they know nothing else. There is no end to the war, it is the end. Not only of the two forces, but all things.

Many outsiders have attempted to intervene on one side of the other to upset the balance, but the sister cities have always allied against such invaders. The war is the end. There is nothing else, and there never will be.

Concentrates the mana within automatically at a rate of 6 affinity mana to 1 Concentrated affinity mana (mild concentration).

Contains (Spell Level)*(40) weighted fragments as a soft limit, though the user may attempt to hold more at the cost of burning into their body and soul.

Amount spell may contain has a multiplier depending on the strength of your connection to the ??? affinity, multiplier increasing by 1 with every tier of rarity (Common = x1 multiplier, uncommon = x2 multiplier). Current multiplier = x6

Level 100 evolutionary upgrade- grants the ability for you to form certain sub-boxes within your Skill, allowing for the full release of smaller, pre-designated pools of mana. Accelerates how fast the user can section off portions of their mana with each successive level

Level 200 evolutionary upgrade- Gain the ability to compress mana that has been sectioned off into a concentration of 6 Concentrated affinity mana (mild concentration) to 1 Concentrated affinity mana (middling concentration)

Level 300 evolutionary upgrade - Gain the ability to concentrate mana up to 2x its original. During the process, release a melody custom to whichever affinity was chosen. This melody will act as an attracting call for entities with an active affinity for the song. Strength of call is dependent on concentration being refined.

Level 400 evolutionary upgrade - broaden the scope of what may be contained within the spell from intangible constructs to anything, measured in weighted fragments]

It was a dizzying Skill, but he summarized the changes:

The max amount was now a soft limit rather than a hard limit.

It measured how much it could hold in "weighted fragments" now rather than mana, which he didn't know how to quantify. The Mother was supposedly composed of these bits, but it seemed not even the System could pinpoint exactly how much she was worth.

It had a multiplier depending on how strong his pseudo affinity was.

When he finally understood the implications of his level 400 evolution, he started to vibrate in place, making his guards more nervous until one of them signaled the others to stand down.

It was official.

He had an INVENTORY!

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