Chapter 954 - Heart demons

Sitting in silence, Sofia pondered over the skill choice.

Initially, her choice was quietly edging toward Crusader’s profane body, Crusader’s forbidden teachings, or a mixture of the two. In terms of the skill’s theme, it was hitting the exact notes she had hoped for, something that could potentially help bridge the skill gap between her and more experienced, older fighters. But the more she looked at it, the less she liked it.

Before long, she understood the issue.

It’s Crusader.

It’s just too weak. Conceptually. Whenever I had to make a skill relating to the divine, it was always stronger words. From angel’s bolt, to avatar of death, Ichor giving me Zeus, even the Abereth was ‘heavenly’. Meanwhile crusader…

Yes they were depicted as great warriors but also… Just pawns of their religion.

That doesn’t really sit right with me.

But what to do then…

Because I get left with Whispering or Occulting, and then the theming is all wrong no matter what I do.

Occulting is from the specialization so it’s about something occulting the sun from view. My gut is still telling me that this would be a stealth or defensive skill, so it’s an absolute no this time. My defenses are already incredible for my level even discounting Pareth. And I don’t need stealth, I don’t think. If I had a stealth skill, people and monsters that cannot see through it, I could just beat. Those that do… I should not be approaching in the first place.

So I’m left with Whispering… Or Restore, I suppose, not that it is much better.

I am having a hard time imagining what Whispering would really do, though. For an active skill, I can imagine it could add a vocal component? An incantation? I know those were a thing in dwarven culture at some point… But for a passive skill?

All I can think of is… Actually necromancer stories from the church. The whispers of the dead carrying curses in the darkness, something like that. That was supposed to be a saint keyword though. ℯℯ𝑙.

I guess ‘Whispering forbidden teachings’ is creating a coherent whole at least, so that is an option, quite far from what I hoped, is the issue.

Whispering underworld’s blood…

Huh…

That actually… This could be good! That’s a good basis.

Because of how the keywords are built. The theme here can change.

If I align ‘underworld’s blood profane body’ suddenly it’s no longer about the blood of the underworld, it’s the blood profane body of the underworld.

So if it starts with whispering, it completely changes the theming of the blood, to the Whispering underworld’s blood, whatever the whispering underworld is. I didn’t really want to touch underworld’s blood because if it refers to the underworld water, it will be redundant skill for me, but if it’s like this…

Then the other Prefixes can still be used.

Underworld’s blood profane body as the fixed suffixes is sure to give a whole body blood-related skill, which I can then fuse with the Odalite blood instead of spending months or years reworking the damned skill!

Oh, but I might lose the pure Odalite blood if I am not careful there, that would be disastrous. I would have to go ask for guidance not to mess that fusion up.

Then it’s the blood profane body from the Occulting underworld, the Crusader’s underworld, or the Whispering underworld. Restore… Just is not really fitting anywhere again.

Crusader’s still has an extra possessive though, so the theme…

Sofia chuckled to herself.

“Some people study mana pathways and I’m here arguing semantics with myself.”

In the end Crusader’s was discarded for the second time over the exact same concern as before.

So really Sofia’s choice was between Occulting or Whispering underworld’s blood profane body.

The question is. Is there even anything like an Occulting or Whispering underworld? Like there might be regions in the forbidden layer that fit, maybe? Would the high-scribes go that far to fit the… Yeah actually, they probably would, wouldn’t they. Even the long shot to the human world mythology with ‘Ichor of golden fork’ using the dagger still indulged the theme to the point of bringing up the Zeus guy.

What am I even worried for?

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

DATABASE is even crazier. Someone had to approve letting me get ‘Blessing of Deep’ back then despite knowing what it implied and that it was a skill that did nothing. And it wouldn’t have given me keywords it could not do anything with.

Alright, show me then.

Show me what the Whispering underworld is like, that I may fuse its blood and the Odalites’ in my light-filled veins.

[You have selected : Whispering - underworld’s blood - profane body. Are you sure?]

Do it.

Sofia closed her eyes. For a few minutes, the system was silent. It made her smile a little.

Did you expect something else? Some crusader shenanigans, maybe?

As she taunted the high scribes, Sofia suddenly passed out.

Wh- what in the deep’s–...

Her eyes opened by themselves, she saw only a profound blue darkness, and could not feel or control her body anymore. Despite her wariness, her mind felt hazy, like it was in a dream.

She heard someone blow lightly, and a torch suddenly ignited, right in front of her face. A blue flame burned without a sound. It struggled to keep the nearby darkness at bay, the dark-blue shadows were like countless flat snakes, trying their best to crawl back toward the light.

A reptilian hand held the torch, waving it around, the blue fire reflected beautifully on the arm’s lustrous white scales.

This person who’s Sofia was sharing the vision of looked back, sighed, then started talking, in a quiet whisper.

“That was a close call…”

Nex?!

That’s Nex’s voice!

Am I seeing through his eyes right now?!

Is that like a vision of the future? No, wait, is that a memory?

Using the torch’s faint light to guide his steps, Nex advanced through the place Sofia could see nothing of except for the intricately carved floor tiles. They clearly depicted something, but the image was just blurry enough, and the tiles ancient and eroded enough, that it was impossible to tell what.

As Nex continued, the carved tiles progressively got overrun by roots, their soft glow unable to pierce the devouring darkness.

Leyline roots…

It’s actually the forbidden layer.

Sofia or Nex had yet to see a single wall, or the ceiling, for that matter, but after stepping over several small roots, Nex arrived at the foot of a large structure, like the pedestal of a giant statue. He suddenly stopped.

At first Sofia did not understand why, then she started hearing them, faint whispers echoing in the dark.

Stop…

Your scales are soft.

Leave…

Exploring the unknown cannot fix the hole within you.

Forget…

The hand holding the torch wavered slightly. The whispers continued, louder, directly into his ears.

Jin is whole. You are flawed.

Abandon…

Anna is a god. You can never understand her.

Stop thinking…

The fingers loosened. The torch fell.

Your parents did not die. They left you.

Leave yourself…

What you have accomplished amounts to nothing.

Forget meaning…

The torch's flame wavered wildly. The darkness reached out for it.

Your death will come. You will not be remembered.

Abandon hope…

Something on Nex’s chest suddenly started glowing. It was a round amulet shining with a strong white light, floating up as though it had a mind of its own.

Nex? Anna’s voice called out from within the amulet. Nex! Get a grip!!! Hey!

The whispered continued.

YOU’RE THE DEAD ONE! SHUT THE FUCK UP! The amulet screamed.

It was too much for the tiny object to contain. The amulet cracked, and shattered. But the whispers stopped.

Nex was clearly dazed. He took a few seconds to come back to his senses.

Crouching down to pick up the torch just before the shadows reached it, Nex also gathered the broken parts of the amulet, whispering two words.

Thank you…

Then he held the torch up high and somehow bolstered its strength and luminosity, revealing what truly stood on the pedestal. It was an impaled giant’s corpse, headless, rotten, pierced by a thousand swords, held by a dozen mithrium shackles and as many adamian steel chains. Blood flowed continuously from its countless wounds. Thick, dark blue, writhing, hungering for the torch’s light.

Suddenly Sofia was thrown back to reality with the clear ding of a system notification.

You have acquired the passive skill :[Vessel of ancient evil]

[Vessel of ancient evil] ♢ :

The unhallowed spirit blood of an ancient giant runs through your veins, it permeates and corrupts your body.

+100% Soul damage received.

+100% Soul damage inflicted.

Your magical attacks gain a spiritual echo inflicting 10% of the original damage as extra soul damage.

Any soul damage you inflict heals your spiritual body for the same amount (Cannot be altered).

Contact with your blood inflicts [Confusion],[Madness],[insanity],[Disorientation] and [Heart demons].

Consuming your blood inflicts, in succession: [Agony],[Essence Dispersal],[Ego Death],[Instant Death].

Sofia felt the mana channels carve themselves in her body. Soon, alongside her warm bloodlight, cold dark-blue blood started to flow.