Bro, I'm not an Undead!

The skies above Aigas were unique.

It was difficult to tell whether the darkness that overcame all light had stars reflected in it or whether the truth was simple light spots dotted over the large black space .

Skullius couldn’t comprehend it.

His form as he floated above the massive body of clustered storm clouds was pristine, arcs of Levin creating a bright white humanoid form with simple limbs and a blank face.

This changed moments later as upon this figure of Skullius, a thick coat made of dark storm clouds appeared!

Every clumped cloud inched in a different direction every second, the collective mass having scooped itself up from the main, five mile body and fashioned itself into this ragged piece of clothing clothing, soft and full of racing Levin as it was.

On Skullius’ face, slanted indentations appeared, within them a powerful darkness that reigned supreme before being fought off by blue flames that formed circular orbs which acted as the irises.

A nose and a mouth also appeared but they could barely be seen on this strikingly bright face.

Strings of Levin kept Skullius afloat over the river of black, grey and purple clouds, buzzing incessantly between his feet and the surface of the cloud body every time he shifted his position.

“Interesting,” Skullius said as he looked at his own hands.

This form… it wasn’t his actual body. It was a sort of proxy that he could use for convenience.

He could sense that if he wished, given the 350% increase in range and double the amount when it came to his awareness offered by [Vivid Firmament Canvas]… If he so wished, he could transport this form to the ground below instead of descending as massive cloud to perform his interactions!

Hell, he could even attack from this distance provided that he shifted adequately within the skies!

“This is something…” Skullius murmured, admiring himself.

The more he discovered about the Eternal Storm Veil Penetrator, the more his idea that this was the perfect choice for his ventures was reinforced.

“Uhm…M-master…”

Skullius turned to the source of the frightened and stammering voice.

It was Yuyui.

She was kneeling amidst the clouds with the incarnation of terror running through her face.

Under her four limbs, wisps of bright Levin supported her body so that she wouldn’t pass through the clouds seamlessly, but their existence were not easy to spot. Yuyui was under the impression that she was actually standing on clouds, which was a terrifying thing for her think about.

In her mind, all she could picture was the clouds giving out and…

Well, a new way to die would be added to her list.

This was weird.

“Master… this is too strange for me,” she said as she gazed at Skullius with fear and a teensy bit of excitement. The Penetrator floated over to her sweat leaking figure.

“Relax. Just stand,” Skullius said as he offered her his hand.

Funny.

Seeing the arcs of Levin around Skullius’ body didn’t make the lime haired girl eager to accept the extended hand at all. Could she survive touching the amassed layers of Levin?

Was this a joke?

“Uh… you see… I’m not in the mood for…” Yuyui began when Skullius saw through what was wrong.

He emitted a sigh and jolted up the paranoid girl with a short burst of Levin to her delicate behind which worked like charm. Yuyui yelped as she stood up quickly, rubbing her buttocks as if they were plagued by an awesome itch.

“What do you think?” Skullius asked her after she was done giving him a look of disapproval. Even in Yuyui’s mind that was inappropriate.

The lime haired girl looked around.

It was beautiful, there was no denying it.

These five miles of nothing but silent storm cloud were like heaven in a way.

“It’s really nice. What is it?” she asked.

“Why don’t you use your guidance field?” Skullius asked her.

“Oh, right!” Yuyui said as she appraised the cloud.

The information that appeared, was not what she expected.

She wore a dumbfounded face before turning to the version of Skullius standing before her.

“It’s… you?”

“Yes it is,” Skullius said proudly before twiddling his fingers, this simple motion stirring the clouds to form a simple chair behind Yuyui that sparked endlessly with Levin!

Yuyui looked at it in awe… then concern… then dread.

“Just sit on it, will you?! You won’t get burnt unless I want you to?” Skullius said with an annoyed tone.

That didn’t really assure Yuyui. She was still biased against Skullius’ true form.

However, since she could have sworn she saw a throbbed vein shaped bolt of Levin that appeared on Skullius’ temple as he spoke, she obliged.

“Alright! Alright!” she said as she slowly took her seat.

“Oh…”

There was… a strange sense of comfort.

Skullius conjured himself a bigger, taller chair and sat on it as well, his robe fluttering in as he sat. Then he waited for a review.

“Well…?”

“It’s… it’s really good!” Yuyui said as she rubbed her bum on the chair, causing it to flexibly shift to accommodate the movement. “I could sit here forever!”

“Hey! Hey! Don’t get too comfortable. My senses are annoyingly high so I can feel all the…details. Stop that!” Skullius barked.

On the side…

“Master…”

Skullius found Ferex standing by.

The voice of the Apostle had torn him from his fixation towards Yuyui and how she felt as she… was more genuine. Shockingly, as a servant, she was actually more blunt than one would expect, with her unconscious trigger, expectations, being the only thing that made her more servant-like.

This had lead Skullius to almost ignore Ferex whom he now accommodated into the conversation.

“What do you think, bro? Isn’t it nice?” he asked the Apostle.

“Yes. It is sublime, Master. Majestic even! The servant cannot possibly hope to fully describe how this new form of yours is!” Ferex replied.

‘Of course,’ his master thought, a bit disappointed.

“Naturally. Now let’s get to the other good stuff,” Skullius said as his body surged with mana, preparing to cast the second skill he had been unable to cast.

~~~

[Brisk Storm Avatar (Special) | Lv.1]

An unlimited range copy of the user is created, bearing the same energy signature as that the original and a convincing authentic copy of the original’s soul that can go through changes just as well. The only thing that can be shared between the original and the copy without any barrier form — distance or space — is EXP and Null Life Essence, with things such as skill progress, skill attainment and evolutions only capable of being shared once the two come into contact.

–

-Caution-

•The copy, upon emergence, is equipped with only half of the original’s stats.

•The copy is incapable of casting complex class related skills while in ‘Hybrid Luman’ form.

•A chain reaction will ensue when a large disparity exists between the original and copy at the moment of contact/fusion, creating a cataclysmic butterfly effect of gains if said disparity is wide enough.

–

-Caution-

Current limit — 0/1

–

Mana Requirements : 1200 (I) Mana Points, 150 (I) Mana Points a day to keep active

Duration : —

Cooldown : None

~~~

This was a wondrous skill with quite the number of technicalities, most of which were inspired by its low level!

The benefits of using this skill were massive.

There was no range limit. The copy kept all of Skullius’ Penetrator skills and could supply him with EXP and Null Life Essence regardless of distance, which was fantastic.

Among the downsides, there was the issue of  distances between himself and the clone which came with a collapse in communication. The copy had halved stats and because of the complex extension brought by the [High Cosmetic Body], Skullius wouldn’t be able to use all the complex techniques that came with his Hybrid Luman form, which, he assumed meant he could only his basic darkness and light abilities for his class.

“Let’s create this copy then and see what exactly we’re dealing with,” Skullius said as he activated the skill.

As one would expect, massive bursts of Levin shot from every direction on the [Vivid Firmament Canvas], wriggling massively as soon it reached the area before Skullius!

Yuyui leapt away in fright while Ferex’s dark eyes expressed an intense manner of awe.

The Levin spun wildly as it began to take shape, its brightness showing that the most condensed form of the energy was being used to sculpt the Brisk Storm Avatar!

Slowly and surely, an image was formed.

It donned the [Defiant Raiment of Perversion] over its dark bones, scores of dark thunderclouds simmered around while flashing wildly with power to further conceal its true form!

Two cores emerged briefly before being completely hidden on its body and wild air swirled around this creature.

Only when this avatar fully appeared did Skullius understand something.

The effect of [Epiphany] was acting over his [Vivid Firmament Canvas] and [Brisk Storm Avatar]!

It was easy to overlook this because there was never a notification that told of the silent intervention of this skill that was always there… always watching!

‘I definitely did well getting that skill, otherwise this avatar might have been weaker than I could have ever imagined,’ Skullius mused in his mind.

Half the stats? That was brilliant!

Who would take that for granted when this was the offer from a Lv.1 skill?!

“Bro…” a voice leaked from the Brisk Storm Avatar when it fully formed, its sockets set ablaze by ferocious, blinding flame!

“My bro…?” Skullius, in his white form draped in the coat of clouds said.

There was a moment of silence as the avatar kept staring at the original while clenching its fist, the atmosphere somehow become heavy and a bit…hostile.

Yuyui shook while alternating her gaze between the convincing copy, her hands whipping the clouds her way so that she could hide herself with bulged eyes keeping watch.

‘Crap! What’s about to happen?! I wish I had something crunchy to eat right about now! Oh dear!’ she thought.

Ferex got ready for any… unexpected action as that seemed like where the river of events was going.

Something monumental was about to happen!

“Hey…” one of the two said Levin covered creatures said.

“What?” the other replied with the same, rough voice.

…

“YOU FLESHING LOOK GOOD, SOCKETHOLE!” the two Skulliuses yelled with enthusiasm!