EmEs_etherious
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Chapter 83- Built like A Tank
🕑 Added 2023-08-15 10:55:41 +0000 UTCI delayed the release of this chapter by a few hours because I've been releasing the others at around 3 am in the morning. My sleep schedule is currently fucked, so I decided to do the smart thing and wait until the morning to post at a more reasonable time. Chapters henceforth will be released around this time. (within 3 hours of it either before or after) Or I might go for twelve hours later, whatever that time is for you. . It just depends on how active RR is at this time compared to then so I can maximise exposure.
Chapter begin...
Arthur had come to an important decision. Instead of trying to maximise his potential by pursuing Paragon titles with his core use, he wanted to try and get 1000 points in his Vitality attribute instead. He was certain it would prove far more lucrative benefits.
That wasn't to say he wouldn't try and reach 500 in other attributes too. In fact, if he was extra careful, he may still be able to maximise his potential in that regard too. All he needed, was monster cores that came from beats that specialised in more than a single attribute. His elixirs weren't an exact science quite yet, heck, that was why he was having so many problems right now, but he did have enough experience to draw some conclusions from.
Monster cores always gave him stat points. That was a no-brainer. Usually, it was a standard infusion in whatever stat the monster specialised in. The only exception was the Draconic Liverthion, which had instead granted him a Title increasing Strength, the beast's primary attribute. The reason being that the infusion of power he'd received there was so great, it had given him a qualitative increase in Strength rather than a linear addition to it.
Unfortunately for Arthur, his current goals meant that linear additions were what he needed. That meant that he required powerful cores, but not so powerful that they slipped into the Elite category, a condition that was thankfully very easy to fulfil. It'd be bad if his goals were the other way around.
He'd also received skills in the past, but that was only because the monsters he'd taken them from had very similar affinities to him. That too was something he'd like to avoid going forward. Sure, the skills were powerful, but they were too random to be taking willy-nilly. Not when he was limited to three skills for each of his affinities.
Arthur had done a little investigation into the monster core he'd been rewarded with. It had come from some sort of buffalo-rhino hybrid and had taken the deployment of eleven magically enhanced tanks and a fighter jet to take out. I wish I could call a strike force to deal with my problems. What would that take; a machine affinity? It definitely exists. Or maybe it's an affinity for heavy artillery.
Still, the fact that the beast had tanked the tanks, Arthur snickered at the unintended pun, it meant that the monster had a shit ton of Constitution and Vitality. Both attributes that Arthur wanted very much. He still had a ways to go till he reached the benchmark of 500 in Constitution and he hoped this core would do the trick. Vitality was of course self-explanatory, extra points there would make his goal easier to achieve.
It had taken all his willpower to not use the monster core or fruit of evolution before his body had healed, but his better judgement had for once come into play and he'd allowed himself to properly recover before taking in such a massive infusion of power.
Now, after taking a nice night of rest in his own bed for once, he could think of no reason to delay his evolution any further. It was a no-brainer to go for the core first, however. He wanted to maximise whatever evolutionary options the Fonkey Dypulp provided him. Still, there was no use in delaying it till he reached the absolute peak of unclassed potential. After all, the vast majority of initial evolutions provided benefits that worked better the earlier you achieved them. That was why the common philosophy when it came to first evolutions was the earlier, the better. Still, delaying a few minutes to eat a core wouldn't kill him.
He pulled out his trusty Ikea bowl from the cupboard and identified it. The results he saw floored him.
Steel Bowl Of IKEA (Growth, Uncommon) Level 21/30 [Pseudo-soul???]- A bowl created with incredible devotion and exquisite skill, it has thrown off the limitations of its creation and gained the ability to grow and evolve. Having been the vessel of many elixir creations, all ingredients placed within it will have a greater chance of successfully merging
How the hell has it grown 4 levels in just a few days? It didn’t even make sense. And why did the item even have a level next to it? All other items he'd ever identified only had their rarity rankings. Well, it is a growth-type item. So maybe it becomes Rare after maxing out its level meter. The pseudo-soul stuff's new as well. That wasn't there before.
The bowl hadn’t seen any use recently which led Arthur to believe that the item had been growing over time and not just when it was used. He really had no idea, however, and this was all speculation on his part. And the soul part probably came from the fact that every concoction he'd made thus far was with the blood of a bonafide soul mage, albeit a terrible one, himself.
Still, Arthur was happy nonetheless. A higher leveled vessel only increased his chances of success with an elixir and that was nothing to complain about. Maybe if it grew enough, he’d start to be able to make elite-rank elixirs with greater regularity. Ones that weren't unstable at least. Do I have to be worried that the friggin bowls gonna out-level me, Arthur wondered in amazement. He pulled out the monster core he’d been rewarded with and identified it. He’d already done so before, but it never hurt to double-check such things.
This was, after all, bar the dragons, the second strongest core he had seen after the Draconic Liverthions and Arthur was a little worried that something might go wrong. He had only just recently found out that there would be a limit to how many cores he could absorb, and Arthur didn’t want to waste some of his few remaining opportunities by gaining some useless attribute or unlocking a new one. He’d gotten lucky with perception but he wouldn’t count on fate favouring him again a second time. Imagine I got some bs beauty stat or something. Spreading myself too thin will be a legitimate concern in the future. No point in snowballing the issue already.
That was why Arthur had extensively questioned General Bradley on exactly what type of monster the core had come from. If the military man was curious as to why the young healer had asked such questions he didn’t show it, though Arthur did not doubt that the General would start investigating why such a thing held significance to someone like himself. Arthur didn’t let that concern him though. It would only be a matter of time before people started to get suspicious of why a healer of all things would be so interested in a rare item that no one had any idea what to do with. People were starting to figure it out already.
Reviewing everything that he had heard from the General, Arthur decided that it would be perfectly safe to absorb this core. He doubted that a glorified cow specialising in constitution would have any nasty attribute surprise waiting for him. A fucking tank though. Just how durable was this beast?
Shaking his head, Arthur tried to clear his mind of such useless thoughts. There was no point in longing after what he could never have and the devastating weapons would probably came with some massive levelling penalty anyway.
Monster core of Scorched Earth (Rare)- A core formed by a beast that specialised in fire and earth magic.
The description was short and sweet and luckily told Arthur that he would be unable to gain a skill from this monster. Their affinities didn’t match and weren't close enough to risk anything. Arthur took a deep breath and called on his ether, only a hundred of the powerful energy source. It was by far the smallest amount he had used to injure himself compared to previous times but Arthur also knew that if he had tried to feed his only Elite ranked skill any more ether, he could actually risk seriously harming himself. It was, after all, the method through which he had been able to bring down the crazed ghoul and Arthur didn’t have enough faith in his 260 points of constitution to defend him from such an attack.
Concentrating, Arthur directed his hundred ether into the Molecular water shot skill, deciding that he’d follow the abilities name and summon the tiniest water bullets possible. A single minuscule cluster of H20 molecules. It turned out that with 100 ether, it was only possible to summon around twenty of them, a truly tiny amount considering the cost, but then again, sacrifices would have to be made for a more powerful strike. What was it they say, the motion of the ocean or something, right?
Clenching his teeth, Arthur shot the water into his wrist. It was almost impossible to see the attack with the naked eye, even with his perception augmenting his senses and Arthur briefly worried that he had somehow missed his target.
The thought had barely crossed Arthur's mind when he felt a stabbing pain and he looked down in shock to see that a portion of his flesh had simply disintegrated. He’d already been told that something similar had happened to Shade and yet it was a completely different thing to experience it yourself. Arthur quickly placed his hand over the Ikea bowl and waited the seventeen seconds it took to fill up, looking at the ruby red liquid, he wondered at what strange properties it possessed that made it so valuable.
He needed to at least know what it was that was flowing through his veins and Arthur added a visit to Tamo the blood mage to his to-do list. He was sure that the Japanese man could at least tell him something, what with him being a blood mage, and besides, Arthur was a little worried about how he was dealing with the loss of Selena.
If they were even half as close as he had thought, then the man must have been devastated to hear the news. Carefully placing the grey monster core into his blood, he waited for the bowl to do its magic. It took an entire minute for the core to dissolve, a far longer time than any other Arthur had used and he attributed the strange phenomenon to the fact that it came from a monster with an absurdly high constitution. Crossing his fingers, Arthur identified his creation. It was by far the most unappetising looking one he had made and he hoped that it didn’t taste like the gravel it resembled
Elixir of Scorched Earth (Rare)- An elixir created from a monster core containing the magic of flame and earth in hopes that through its consumption, one can gain a portion of the strength that birthed this creation. Chances of success 100%
Arthur smiled when he saw the elixir's description. It was his first creation that had a 100% success rate and though he was certain that the achievement was caused primarily by the Ikea bowl and not his own efforts, he was nonetheless happy with the results. Perhaps elite-rank elixirs were not as far away as he had thought.
Bracing himself, Arthur lifted the bowl and brought it to his lips. He grimaced in distaste as soon as he felt the liquid on his tongue. It tasted like dirt and was somehow dry and wet at the same time, bringing back the bitter-sweet memory of when his little sister had tried to cook for him. Thankfully, the elixir wasn’t quite as bad as that ungodly abomination and Arthur was able to stomach the gruel within a few gulps.
He did marvel at the fact that he had never put too much thought into the fact that he was drinking his blood every time he did this, and for some reason that realisation wasn't as grotesque as he had expected. Was he a cannibal? It doesn't count if I'm eating myself, Arthur mused. Maybe he was just a weirdo. Arthur braced himself for the influx of attributes and wasn’t disappointed when he felt an incredible amount of energy suffuse his cells. His bones and flesh seemed to grow denser and Arthur worried if he had actually put on weight. Would he one day become so heavy he’d just sink through the earth he stood on?
He was pulled out of his inner reverie when he felt a change take place in his soul, quickly followed by another. Arthur assumed that he had probably crossed the 500 stat mark for an attribute. The second feeling he couldn't quite place. Maybe it was the soul damage he was inflicting on himself. So far, he hadn't noticed anything physically at least.
There was no reason to delay any longer. He opened up his status.
Arthur Ward Level 71
Unallocated stat points: 49
Strength- 120(100) [1.2*]
Vitality- 700(500)[1.4* or 2.8*] {previously 400}
Endurance- 550(500) [1.1*]
Constitution-679(485) [1.4*] {previously 200}
Agility-118
Intelligence-550(500) [1.1*]
Willpower-250
Charisma-95
Perception-92
Health- 11,200/14,000 (1540(700)/hour)
Ether- 5500/5500(550/hour)
Endurance- 4580/5500(550/minute)
You have acquired a new title! Paragon of Constitution (Possess a constitution of 500 when below level 100 as a human being) Increases constitution by 10%
