Chapter 353 The Calm before the Storm of Training
-Reward 2: Blue Print for Michael Demiurgos HolyFlame Greatsword, “White Flame of Death”.-
-Reward 3: You have unlocked Hidden Stat, Grace. This stat has absorbed and purified all the points in your Killing Intent, replacing them entirely. When you kill a being with a soul, you will purify said soul earning points in Grace instead of KIN, in a ratio dependent on the strength of the soul of the being.-
-The Conversion rate of KIN to GRACE is 1:15
-Current Grace- 5220 – 4.5g :
-Reward 4: You have gained 45 points in your Will Power Stat.-
-Reward 5: You now have complete control over your Bloodline Abilities and can activate them freely.-
-By absorbing the Divinity Fragment housing the Spirit of Michael Demiurgos, The Seraphim and Former General of the God Of Light’s Army, you have repaired all damage to your SOC and Soul.-
Reading through the notifications, Brance chuckled under his breath. Cynrik had told him some of the rewards he got in the past, and by looking at what he got after beating Michael, he couldn’t help but feel that the rewards were equal to both of his older Brother’s turning point rewards combined.
The biggest takeaways were, of course, the Affinity Gem and the change his Killing Intent underwent. The increase in his Will Power Stat was neither here nor there since he had yet to encounter a situation where it could shine, but Reward 5 was also a pretty big deal.
The fact that he could now use his Bloodline Abilities whenever was a big deal to Brance. He practically had to hide his [Nephilim Mode] and [Nephilim Crest] for years in fear of losing control of his body to the Divinity Spirit of Michael, even though they were temporary boosts by way of a transformation.
Then there was the blueprint received from Reward 2, which appeared in his mind much as one would expect. All Brance had to do was think about the sword Michael had used against him during the fight, which made an extensive schematic detailing all the materials and the entire process of forging the blade appear in his mind.
Collecting his thoughts and putting aside the issue of the new Affinity Gem, Brance looked over at the petite hologram girl sitting beside him and smiled.
“Ok, Tobs, let’s get out of here; I am sure the others are worried about me; knowing Gabby, she has probably been panicking like crazy.” Taking some effort, Brance sat up and massaged the left side of his stiff neck.
“Indeed, she has been quite a handful for Cynrik the entire time. You have spent the last 4 hours here, but that is the least of your worries.” The hologram girl with domino-colored eyes and hair stated while tilting her head to the side and looking over Brance.
“Eh?” Scrunching up his face, Brance motioned for Tobs to continue.
“The moment you consciously entered your [Nephilim Mode] and activated your [Nephilim Crest], it not only happened in here but also on the outside…so now the whole party is aware of your Bloodline Abilities.” Ignoring the concerned expression plastering on Brance’s face, Tobs explained the situation further.
“While Gabby and Benny are none the wiser and just figured it was some strange Paladin or Light Affinity-Based Skill, Selene keeps nodding as if to say, “Sure, sure, makes sense,” while your Brother has been frowning and giving you what he would call the “Stink Eye” for the last few minutes.”
“Ahhh, great, it seems I will be explaining everything for a while now…won’t I?” Dropping his head and examining his legs, Brance sighed ruefully.
“Indeed, but that only applies to Gabby and Benny; to be honest, they are the most confused, albeit accepting of your current appearance. Even Selene seems not to care, but it is still something to note that she has put a significant amount of physical distance between herself and your body.”
Turning his head toward Tobs and looking as if he smelled a bad fart, Brance was confused, “And why is that?”
“Upon activation of your Bloodline Abilities, the Light Mana you emit acts as a powerful deterrent for Dark Affinity users; thus, Selene and Cynrik are under a type suppression. Observing their thoughts, it is as if one is walking outside in the middle of summer in Florida, overly hot and humid.”
Hearing that analogy, Brance burst out laughing and could practically hear his older brothers complaining from back on Earth. As far back as his memory went, Cynrik NEVER liked the weather of the “Sunshine State,” where in the summer, it was typical for the temperature to hit over 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit) with a 100% humidity index. During the harsh summer months, it felt like you were walking right into a thermally insulated pool by going outside since there was so much moisture in the air.
As someone who preferred dark and cold climates, it wasn’t uncharacteristic of Cynrik to despise Florida summers.
“Well, it looks like I have another way to harass those two if they keep up the flirting and annoying shit they do all the time around the group. All right, time to head out; thank you for everything as always, Tobs; I appreciate you.” Flashing a brilliant smile to the AI girl, the image of Brance began to fade away from his SOC as Tobs sent his consciousness back to his body.
Half a beat later, Brance deactivated his Bloodline skills and slowly opened his eyes, only to be greeted by the worried expressions of Benny and Gabby, an annoyed glare from Selene, and a scheming look from his older Brother.
“So, I guess I have some explaining to do, hehe,” scratching the back of his head and giving everyone a goofy smile, Brance had a fraction of a second to make his joke before he was full-on linebacker tackled by a crying Gabby.
“Some is a bit of an understatement, Little Brother, you have A LOT of explaining to do, and I want to know EVERYTHING that happened in that battle.” Grunting as he stood up, Cynrik threw a towel at Brance’s face and walked off out of the Training room with Selene hot on his tail.
—
Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away from Vesemir School for Affinities, Far below the planet’s crust, approximately four kilometers down, in a sizeable office-style conference room, Lithlen Jetlensr furiously pounded his fists on the armrests of his plush and overly decorated throne.
After reading the reports from the failed bounty mission he had posted and finding out every one of the spies he had sent to infiltrate VSFA had failed to acquire any useful information and were killed, Lithlen was beside himself in anger.
“FUCKING USELESS PEASANTS!” A chaotic storm of Wind soon erupted as the monitors, carpet, paintings, and room walls were destroyed as the Mana-filled attack sliced through every inanimate object housed in the room.
Grunting loudly in dissatisfaction, he scanned the terrified Board members flung to the room’s far reaches, with his gaze finally landing on Hespa Nilsson, who was physically the only other Tier-5 person in the room unaffected by Lithlen’s outburst.
“Headmaster Jetlensr…” Hespa started to say but was instantly cut off by Lithlen raising his hand, demanding silence.
“The good news is that there is still hope since a single group has successfully infiltrated and integrated into the masses of VSFA. However, I want you to know that even though your daughter is a member of their organization, you have not been able to gather any additional information about my grandsons.” Narrowing his eyes and glaring at Hespa, Lithlen crushed his wine glass to pieces and flung the shards at two of his Board members,
THUD THUD
killing them instantly and sending a shiver down everyone’s spines. In spite of the fact that they were majority shareholders in Finwan Academy, the two who were just murdered were Tier-3 Beings, whose sole purpose was to gather intelligence. Their failure was unacceptable, so at the end of the day, with Finwan being Lithlen’s school, not theirs, he could quickly kill them without repercussions.
“I want SOLID and irrefutable data on ALL THOSE FIVE, AND I WANT IT NOW! THEIR COMBAT ABILITY, SKILLS, TIER, CLASSES I WANT EVERYTHING AM I UNDERSTOOD?” He raised his voice and bathed the room in a mixture of Killing Intent and Aura. Lithlen’s domineering voice and presence weighed heavily on the crowd’s shoulders as they all gave a military salute and replied, “YES, HEADMASTER!”
Nodding at their prompt resolve, Lithlen directed his attention to Instructor Jaxtus, the muscular man in a too-tight business suit who stood calmly with his arms crossed on the opposite side of the board members and shareholders.
Unlike everyone else, this man was the only one Lithlen didn’t mess with, as he was too important to the upcoming Competition to injure.
“Instructor Jaxtus, give me your full report on how the training is going.”
“Yes, sir, as expected, we’ve had to replace several members of the Tier-1 group since they have all reached Tier-2, and after the Competition, most of the Tier-2 team has been restructured or replaced. I am also happy to report that your Grandson Leelan has successfully broken through to Tier-3 and is currently plowing his way through several of our Egresses.”
“I predict that before the beginning of the Regional Tournaments, he should already have maxed out both of his Classes and be working his way through increasing his Primary Level.” After saying his part, Instructor Jaxtus fell silent and waited for a response.
“He has enough resources?” Raising an eyebrow and accessing one of the few non-damaged monitors in the room, Lithlen pulled up the video files of Leelan’s training regiment.
“According to his estimations, he should be fine, but he has requested a few…rare and expensive materials that are not held in our warehouse. Which Is why I have come to the meeting today; I request access to appropriate funds to purchase the necessary materials he has requested.”
Frowning slightly, Lithlen waved his hand, an indication for Jaxtus to send him over the information on what Leelan was requesting.
A few seconds later, his Watcet dinged, and Lithlen’s eyes nearly popped out of his skull after scrolling through the first five requested items, which all had an over 1 billion Credit price tag attached.
“For crying aloud, does the boy think that money grows on trees? He is asking for nearly a hundred billion dollar allowance. Even if these resources help him, gathering the funds and securing them are almost impossible at this time, especially since our budget is tight with having to raise multiple teams for the Competition.”
“He is requesting to cut everyone elses resources to increase his power selfishly; this is unacceptable, and the request is denied.” Stopping and thinking for a moment, Lithlen sent a text to Leelan demanding he come to his office within the hour and leaned back into his throne.
“You are all dismissed; get out of my sight and get me that DAMN INFORMATION!”