Chapter 55: Ascension Grade Attributes

The sun was already rising by the time Kren finished with the Snake-kin who had tried to take Jomin’s life. It was the foulness of what he’d uncovered that left Kren’s face an ugly mask by the end, and that was the look Fima and Toa met when they finally caught up to him and Aki.

The atmosphere was such that no one dared speak. Aki only shook his head at Toa and Fima, his sole response. He was shaken by what they’d discovered too, but he’d left the explanation to Kren.

As for the Snake-kin, Toa and Fima had arrived with a convoy of twelve mountain goats, pairs of them dragging extremely long cargo wagons behind them. They found the man strung up in the trees bordering the centaur forest, barely alive and still bleeding from his severed legs. If he lived, he would be a cripple forever, and both Aki and Kren had made sure of it. If he didn’t, his end would still be a miserable one. Not to mention, the centaurs could still get their hands on him.

At their current pace, it would take another day or two of travel before they reached Lasthold. Kren decided to use that time to think through everything that was happening and prepare himself properly. Besides, he had a few more notifications to go through, and they were the best distraction from his thoughts about Jomin, and about what had happened now that he’d left Pina and Ruhu alone together. Especially since the culprit was not who he had thought it was. It was a wonder, that a father, would try to get his own son killed.

[The Path of the Sovereign Is One of Unflinching Justice and Morality. But Above All, the Sovereign’s Justice Must Be Dominating, and You Have Shown What It Costs to Lay a Hand on One of Your People. +10,000 Sovereign Points for Hunting Down Your Vassal’s Assassin.]

It wasn’t much to worry about, given the sheer number of points he’d gained from completing his second main quest. The side quests for saving the feline tribes were still active, and he couldn’t yet complete the one for the Jaguar tribesmen he’d freed, since other members of the tribe remained out there somewhere. Kren needed to start thinking seriously about how to bring all of them home. But first, he had to make sure his people survived what was coming.

Still, these points would get things done for him, especially with his arts and spells. He was marching to war, which would give him ample opportunity to use them and grow familiar with them. Until then, all he could do was make them as strong as possible, so that even without the mastery he ought to have, they would still deal enough damage. And then there were his other affinities. With his bond to Pina raising his Wind affinity to High Grade, he was under no pressure to upgrade that one.

A High Grade affinity was rare even among the upper echelons of the Empire. The only thing holding him back right now was his low cultivation, and even that would soon be rectified, perhaps in the war for survival his people were about to face.

[50,000 Points Have Been Used. Your Earth and Darkness Affinities Have Risen to High Grade. Earth and Darkness Arts and Spells Are Now 75% More Powerful.]

The mountain goat beneath Kren grunted as a deluge of earth and darkness Aura spilled out of him. Eyes turned toward him, but by now his party was used to his random power-ups. They couldn’t explain them and had no context for such growth, even if Kren kept telling them it was the crest, lying so boldly and with so little effort. They simply let him believe they bought it. Whatever the secret was, it was Kren’s to share if he chose, because at the end of the day, whatever he gained, his people would benefit too.

[25,000 Points Have Been Spent. Your Aura Spell, Spirits of the Wind, Has Been Raised to High Grade! You Can Now Summon the Spirits Independently of Your Body, Use Them on Your Allies (One at a Time), and Combine Two Spirits Together or Fully Infuse Them into Objects and Equipment.]

[10,000 Points Have Been Spent. Your Aura Spell, Sinful Mane: Greed Moon, Has Leveled Up to Mid Grade! You Have Gained Limited Control Over Your Mane and Can Extend It to a Maximum Distance of 10 Meters.]

Kren blinked, a tingle running across his scalp as his summoning tattoos seemed to glow across his entire body. Once again, everyone in his party ignored the light show. The same couldn’t be said for the Storm Eagles who had followed their new leader down the mountain. Kren’s constant flaring and dispersal of Aura was like an entire orchestra of sights to them. It was true power on full display.

Kren, for his part, was deeply satisfied with what he’d read and what he could feel. He had far more control over his spells and arts now, and his body and cultivation were stronger for it. If he had to hazard a guess, he would say he was roughly as strong as someone at High Grade, perhaps even Ascension Grade, of the Aura Awakening realm. And that was without factoring in his arts and spells. That measure came purely from his natural abilities.

That was eighty-five thousand points spent, and he still had a hundred thousand to fall back on.all these recent gains were frankly a blessing. But he was still limited, the points he had wasn’t enough to raise his bloodline, which, frankly, was the most important of all his upgrades. But he could advance his cultivation, raise his stats while keeping some points in reserve, or push one of his arts or spells up another grade. After a few more seconds of thought, Kren made his decision.

[50,000 Points Have Been Used! Your Physique and Mind Attributes Have Been Raised to Ascension Grade! All of Your Attributes Have Reached the Maximum Possible for the First Awakening Realm. Advance Your Cultivation Realm to Increase Your Attributes Further!]

[You Have 50,000 Sovereign Points Remaining.]

Kren nearly fell off the giant mountain goat. His attribute upgrades were always the most violent of them all. He could feel his muscles, tissues, tendons, blood, and mind undergoing a qualitative change, giving him a better base, a stronger foundation to build on. With all of that settled, he pulled up his status page, observing his growth, seeing where he needed to focus next, and preparing himself for the carnage to come. Hopefully he completes another quest soon and gains a similar windfall his trip to the storm eagle mountains had netted him.

LEVEL 0 (50%) — SOVEREIGN BEAST SYSTEM STATUS:

Name: Kren N’kora Blackmane

Cultivation: First Awakening — High Grade (100,000 SP)

Bloodline: Black Lion — High Grade (500,000 SP)

Inner Beast: Royal Black Lion

ATTRIBUTES: First Awakening

• Physique: Ascension Grade (50,000 SP)

• Mind: Ascension Grade (50,000 SP)

• Aura: Ascension Grade (50,000 SP)

KNOWLEDGE:

• Military Arts: Mid Grade (5,000 SP)

• Agricultural Arts: Mid Grade (5,000 SP)

• Crafting Arts: Mid Grade (5,000 SP)

• Commerce Arts: Mid Grade (5,000 SP)

• Medical Arts: Mid Grade (5,000 SP)

• Love Making: Mid Grade (5,000 SP)

AFFINITIES

• Wind: High Grade (100,000 SP)

• Earth: High Grade (100,000 SP)

• Darkness: High Grade (100,000 SP)

TECHNIQUES

• Aura Arts:

I. True Earth Resonance — High Grade (50,000 SP)

• Aura Spells:

I. Summoning: Spirits of the Wind (North, East, South, West) — High Grade (50,000 SP)

II. Sinful Mane: Greed Moon — Mid Grade (25,000 SP)

BLOODLINE TRAITS

• Pride Bond: Active — [1: Storm Eagle] (1/5)

• Feline Sovereignty: Active

• Beast Tongue: Active

• Royal Beast: Active

• Storm-Smith’s Eye: Active

SOVEREIGN POINTS: 50,000