Wild Era 2: A LitRPG Progression Epic, page 28
A prickling cold feeling ran across his skin and tugged at his heart. The force behind it was ethereal and overwhelming, full of the power of an unhinged Law of Fear.
Even with all of the wards on his soul, it made him waver for a moment, but then the crystallized section in his soul from his rebirth released a hum.
The feeling of imbalance disappeared and the area around him swiftly became brighter, illuminated by the same blue light.
Shadows gathered together in front of him as a figure appeared.
It was a skeleton wearing tattered green rags that had once been an ornate robe. Silver and gold threads of old embroidery marked out a badge of Irian on the chest that was barely visible.
If he hadn’t known it so well, it would have been hard to tell what it was.
It was the same one of the academy he’d once attended when he had been very young.
The Irian College of Mages.
It was too ruined to show all the details, but his mind filled in the blanks and the design of a silver scroll crossed over a mage’s staff with a star in the background appeared in his mind’s eye.
Memories of old lessons and long hours of study flooded through his memory, so many that he almost missed the undead raising its hand.
A wave of black flame soared through the sky, taking the shape of an undead dragon with its jaws open wide. Its body was a frame of bones made of fire and its wings were a tattered ruin, but it was so realistic that its claws and fangs looked like they were covered with bits of rotten flesh and specks of mold.
Flames gathered in its throat and then a cloud of blue and black billowed down toward him. Where it passed, even the mist around him decayed and crumbled away to mottled ash.
It took him a moment to gather himself, but the mist didn’t affect him. A glowing golden shield kept it from touching his skin.
His eyes were fixed on the old robe.
Eventually, he let out a sigh as he pulled himself together and analyzed his opponent.
Kelin of Irian. Revenant Sorcerer. Level 115 Elite.
Beneath the robe, the undead Kelin’s form was only that of a skeleton with strands of hair loosely attached to his skull. Some bracelets and rings decorated his body and a belt with pouches held the remains of the robe to his waist.
His eyes glowed with blue light and heavy waves of necrotic energy surrounded him, bending the air in response.
The revenant was much more powerful than the lich Kelin had faced in the last dungeon.
Despite that, Kelin felt none of the fear this challenge was supposed to invoke, only a trace of nostalgia.
The revenant was beginning to cast something else, but Kelin only flicked a Soulfire Infusion talisman at his mana shield, where the denser mana reinforced it.
Then he inscribed a ward circle around himself and hung his Soulfire Sigil in the air, where it drove back the mist that was trying to press close.
He saw the revenant’s mana ignite as it used a version of Blaze, and spells began to crash down around him with extreme force, one after the other.
Talisman after talisman flew from his hand and infused his ward, which was cracking under the onslaught.
The dragon continued to attack, combined with necrotic lightning, poisonous fogs, and attempts to rip his soul out of his body.
The stone and mist around him shattered as it flew in every direction and a pool of acid stretched out beneath his feet, separated from him only by his mana barrier.
If he’d been fighting the undead with just his own mana pool, it would have been extremely difficult, but his preparations were enough that he was completely calm.
Blaze was enhancing its spells and the undead seemed to have no lack of mana. With that infusing its magic, the spells it was using were closer to Level 140 than 115.
He continued to throw Soulfire Infusion talismans at his shield, covering for his lack of mana to compete.
His alternate self having Blaze was within his expectations, but he had to admit that it was stacking the deck in the thing’s favor, especially when it seemed to have unlimited mana.
Sometimes it took three or four of the talismans to deal with one spell and his supply dwindled swiftly, but it was worth the expense.
To him, the greatest gain from this battle wasn’t the reward at the end, but the chance to see himself from a different perspective.
Seeing the old robe of Irian was a nice touch too.
He studied the undead’s magic, using it to get a better sense of the core principles of his spells and how they could be altered.
The principles of necrotic energy were an antithesis to soulfire, and by seeing it translated into them, it gave him one insight after another, flooding him with ideas for how to improve his class, as well as how it could be built up for the future.
It was a fortunate experience right before his Evolution.
He studied the undead’s magic, watching as it tried to send a dark blue soul arrow at him. He shredded it with a blade of soul energy.
His stock of talismans dwindled as he waited for one specific thing.
Eventually he saw it.
The revenant raised its hand and a swirling sphere of Wildfire appeared. Instead of rainbow flames with red and yellow dominant, it was a dark blue and black with other tumbling colors inside.
A Law resonated from the sphere, but it wasn’t the Law of Wildfire, it was a tumbling fury of death and despair, resonating with the necrotic energy that had created it.
Ghostly howls split the air as faces appeared on the edges of the flames, like spirits trying to escape. The spectres let out cries as they struggled and then collapsed back into the sphere, where they disintegrated into the swirling energy.
Wisps of white and black energy gathered around the sphere, making the space all around them shudder. Cracks split through the mist as sections of it disintegrated and it felt like the entire challenge was going to crumble.
The power contained in that sphere was well beyond Kelin’s current version of Wildfire.
It also wasn’t the Law of Wildfire.
The challenge’s attempt to recreate the Law had made something entirely different, a spell that was resonating with the necrotic energy around them, absorbing and breaking it at the same time.
Strands of the mist from the area were flowing into the spell as he watched, making the sphere grow larger.
Kelin hadn’t felt much fear at this challenge so far, but that spell gave him a sense of mortal danger.
The undead version of himself had created something that was closer to the real power of Wildfire.
It was only a little more, since the challenge was limited by the current level, but between the undead Kelin’s version of Blaze and the challenge’s ability to duplicate the real Law, it was more like a Second Evolution version than a low First Evolution.
Rather than Wildfire, it would be better to call it the Law of Ghostfire.
It was stripping necrotic energy from this place, and the longer it went on, the more it would absorb.
He responded by creating a sphere of true Wildfire, which ignited in his hand in its regular colors. The bright yellow and red sparks tumbled over one another and the sphere shone so brightly that it made the mist look dim.
He ignited Blaze, pouring energy into the spell to make it stronger. He didn’t have the energy to use Blaze first and fully power Wildfire, but he could use it after the fact to enhance it.
Then he began to activate Soulfire Infusion talismans.
Within seconds, a dozen of them were active, their force thundering around his staff in arcs of soulfire, and he split his attention to his ward, sending some to reinforce it.
“Go ahead,” he said, speaking for the first time. “Let’s see how it matches up.”
The undead Kelin’s lips split open as a harsh chuckle wheezed out. Then it threw the spell.
Kelin threw his own at the same time, but he altered the trajectory slightly, making sure it would fly past the spell that was heading for him.
The spells passed each other in the air and crackling tendrils of necrotic energy and blazing wildfire hissed and exploded where they touched.
The spells pulled toward one another like they wanted to fuse, but Kelin took control of his to shove it back onto its path.
He focused on the one approaching him.
Instead of waiting for it to strike his ward, he lashed out with Spell Disruption, targeting the core concepts at the center.
The partial Law of Soulfire and the Law of Endless Flames that he comprehended flickered as he did his best to fuse them into the strike. He knew how Wildfire functioned, so he tried to leverage them to disrupt it.
Across from him, the other Kelin had raised a dark ward and a darker version of the Soulfire Sigil burned in the air above its shoulder. It could have tried the same Spell Disruption, but it was apparently planning to resist directly.
The two spells arrived at the same time.
A dark storm of howling ghosts blasted outward as the necrotic spell crashed against Kelin’s ward, burying it in a flood of energy.
A massive cold explosion shattered the world around him, shaking his mind and the ward. Spikes of necrotic energy shot out in every direction like icicles, stabbing at everything nearby, and between them tendrils of wailing energy tore at his vitality.
But his ward held, even swamped as it was.
He’d infused nearly twenty Soulfire Talismans into it and a lot of the energy was still there. Augmented by his sigil in the air, it was just enough.
Massive cracks ran through the shield and cold winds tore at Kelin’s skin, leaving blackened lines like frostbite.
His defense was centered on his staff and his right hand that was gripping it froze over, curling into a gnarled and blackened fist that looked like it had been burned. All the moisture in it disappeared as tiny black and blue crystals covered the surface.
His skin blackened three-quarters of the way up his arm, stopping only when it approached his shoulder, and he felt part of his ribs and hip on his right side freeze as well.
Only the warmth of the soul wood that made up his staff kept his grip from failing. His innate soulfire burned fitfully at the edges of the damage, trying to repel the necrosis that continued to slowly spread.
At the same time, his own spell reached the fake Kelin. There was a mocking flame in the revenant’s eyes as it watched the Wildfire strike.
The sphere of rainbow flames reached its shield and erupted like liquid light across the dark surface. Waves of wildfire washed across it, making the shield shake.
The shield shuddered, but it held, and the revenant’s bony features cracked open into a cruel smile.
The Wildfire was close to the First Evolution in strength, but it was on the edge. Without building force from the souls of some weaker monsters, it didn’t have enough strength to break through.
Then four streaks of light appeared, whistling toward the shield.
The first one slammed into the ward with a thunderous explosion of soulfire, tearing a massive hole through the center.
The other three bolts flew through the opening. One was a Soulfire Bolt and the other two were soul arrows.
They were the ones that Kelin had held in reserve around his staff, ones that were already at the First Evolution in strength. He’d launched them as soon as Wildfire struck, using the explosion to hide them.
All four of them glowed with enhanced strength from Soulfire Infusion and they landed at nearly the same time.
The Soulfire Bolt blasted through the dark Kelin’s mana shield and tore a blazing hole in its chest, and the two soul arrows followed it in.
The revenant staggered as the arrows landed and the necrotic energy that served as its soul exploded into flames, blazing brightly with force.
Ethereal smoke billowed up from its chest and limbs, swiftly rising toward its head.
Kelin’s right hand was ruined, but he didn’t hesitate to grab a few more infusion talismans with his left and hurl them at the flames. At the same time, he poured his remaining mana into Soul Ignition, making the flames leap upward.
He’d infused a few talismans into the Wildfire while they were preparing the spells, but most of them had gone into the bolts around his staff, ensuring that they were as powerful as possible.
It only took a few moments for the revenant to begin to disintegrate. Cracks ran through its bones as dark mist flowed out, which was swiftly ignited by the soul flames.
Kelin watched it with calm eyes.
Its power had been significant and the laws of this place had augmented it more than he’d expected, but it hadn’t had the advantages of his staff or talismans.
A minute later, the revenant crumbled to dust, turning into a pile of dark ash.
Notifications rang in Kelin’s mind, but he ignored them as he looked down at his arm.
What he saw made him grimace.
Black and grey ridges ran across it, all of it mottled with those strange crystals, making the surface look more like tree bark than skin. It looked like something that belonged in a coffin, and not a new one, like a mummy’s arm beneath the wrappings.
When he pulled aside his robe to check, his right ribs, hip, and part of his right thigh looked the same, which made him shake his head.
That would take a while to heal.
He could feel his soulfire fighting against the invasion of necrotic energy. Now that the revenant was dead, he was starting to get the advantage, but his mana was draining swiftly.
If he hadn’t had some resistance to mortal wounds, it would have been worse.
He took out a greater healing potion and drank it, followed by a greater mana potion, and then he pulled out some healing talismans and began to apply them.
The fight had gone mostly as he predicted, but even with his preparation, it was closer than he would have liked.
He’d only won because of his talismans and the spells he’d prepared, things the revenant hadn’t had.
He’d used close to forty infusion talismans, which was ridiculous.
As he worked on the healing, he felt the mist around him beginning to thin, so he turned his attention to the notifications.
Congratulations, Lord of Wildfire.
You have completed the Challenge: The Aura of Fear.
You have gained 2 Levels.
You are now Level 100!
Your Soulbonded Elemental has also gained 2 Levels.
You gain 6 Intelligence, 2 Wisdom, and have 10 free attribute points to assign.
For completing this Challenge at a higher Evolution, and due to facing an attack that was near the Second Evolution in strength and infused with a rare Law, you have earned an Ability Reward (Epic).
You may choose one Ability to advance by a tier, to a maximum of Epic.
Make your choice now.
There was a moment of silence as the Path waited for him.
Kelin looked at the options, but he already knew what he was going to choose. The damage to his arm was reason enough.
A moment later, the Path acknowledged his choice.
A storm of golden energy appeared in the air, spinning around him in a massive hurricane as it began to infuse his body with threads of soulfire.
Congratulations, Lord of Wildfire.
Your Class Ability: Soulfire Body Refinement has gained a tier and reached Epic (Perfect Foundation).
By perfectly aligning your physique to Soulfire, you gain a 75% improvement to your durability and physical recovery. You also gain a 75% resistance to mortal wounds.
At the Epic tier, the power of a Soulfire affinity flows freely through your existence and you have become capable of harnessing that energy more adeptly. You now have a 20% Soulfire affinity improvement to your spells and abilities.
The flames surged through him in waves that changed his muscles and bones, touching every part of his existence, and it took a long time for them to settle in, as if they were struggling against a natural law.
The power of the Path was overwhelming and eventually he felt the threads fuse in. As they did, his physical constitution soared upward.
His body glowed with flames that licked along his limbs and some of the damage from the necrotic energy melted away.
As the changes settled into place, he took stock of the improvement.
The ability was up to 75% now, which was a 10% gain over Elite and the former 10% affinity boost had doubled.
That would help his spells.
Body Refinement was his hardest ability to train, so it had been his top choice. He was curious if it would give him a better class option.
He turned his attention to the final notification, the one that was hanging at the edge of his mind like a massive golden sun.
The Path’s voice echoed in his mind, so powerful that it seemed like it filled all of existence.
Your Abilities and Innate Traits have been assessed.
You have met the requirements for the First Evolution.
Your Evolution will begin.
As he heard those words, the world dissolved into a wash of golden flame.
Chapter 22
In the Stars
Kelin’s awareness gathered together and he found himself standing in a different place.
Stars stretched into the endless distance, their light shimmering with a thousand colors that created a sense of eternity, as if time and space were merged together here.
Rivers of flame and primordial mist of silver and grey light twisted through the stars, flowing through everything, both near and far at once.
After a moment, he made out towering pillars that rose up around him, stretching into the celestial vastness. They were made of a bright silver-white stone that shone with starlight, and they looked so magnificent and sturdy that they could be the pillars of creation.
Currents of golden flame wove between and around the pillars, bringing light and warmth to everything.
As he looked around, he saw more pillars extending into the distance and then an enormous table at one side that was as large as a mountain.
