EmEs_etherious
patreon
Chapter 73- On the Nature of Titles
🕑 Added 2023-05-29 22:59:01 +0000 UTCSorry for the infrequent posting guys. I know I said I'd be moving to a Thurs/Sat schedule, but the device I'm typing on is going through a lot of issues. I use a very old Chromebook to type and I can barely run google dox on it. Grammerly kept on crashing and I had to restart the device multiple times to get it to work. That being said, I'm currently on the journey to save up for a new laptop, but until then, chapter releases will slow down to probably once a week and may be shorter than usual.
With his most recent acquisition of the Paid in Blood title and the one he had yet to check out, Arthur had gained a grand total of eight titles before reaching level 100 and unlocking his class. Relative to the human population on Earth and even the wider universe, it was a truly ludicrous amount. At least that was what his tier 2 system access was telling him.
So far, Arthur was impressed with what the tier-two system access had granted him. Its primary purpose was to unlock the shackles that prevented him from using unstructured magic, something Arthur was happy enough about. It wasn't exactly something to get excited over, though, considering Arthur wasn't planning on pursuing the darker arts in the first place.
Nope, the real gift of the system upgrade was the wealth of information it had granted him, a trove he had barely scratched the surface of. Already, he'd learned of the stat grades recognised universally and now he was about to read further on Titles, something the system had barely informed him of when he'd first unlocked it. The Tier-two system upgrade had come with a whole host of new information.
Congratulations! You have gained a grand total of eight titles prior to your Class unlock. In accordance with the latest system review, you are in the 99.97 percent percentile for humans across the universe and the 99.21 percent percentile for all Sapient races registered within the system.
The system congratulating him was nothing new; Arthur had already received many messages in the same vein, but he felt that this was a little less automated than the usual dialogue he received. His suspicions were confirmed very quickly when he got to the next system log.
After review, it has been decided that you receive the upgraded tier-two system knowledge pack regarding titles. This is a boon that isn't handed out often and for good reason. Trying to exploit this information is not advised. It has been tried before.
Titles- Titles are the official designation given to the soul scars that an individual accrues on their journey throughout life. Certain souls have been found more receptive to these scars and thus certain individuals find it far easier to accrue them.
Nonetheless, there is a hard limit on how many titles a person may acquire, though this does differ from person to person. There is only so much surface area on a soul that can scar, after all. To truly understand what a title is, one must first understand the mould upon which they are built. One must learn of the soul.
Okay, this is getting interesting now. What's it gonna tell me about souls?
The Principle of Inviolability. It is the governing rule that has been studied since the dawn of the universe and one that has been recognised as unshakable. It is as absolute as reality itself, perhaps more so, hence why it was given its name. A soul is split into four layers. The core, lower middle, upper middle and finally the surface.
Whilst the first two are subject to external stimuli and can change, the core of a soul is unchanging. No external manipulation can bring about change, good or bad, to it. Even the Order of Soulmancers, in the Third Era at the height of their power, were only able to marginally affect the lower middle layer, and even this is speculated to be an exaggeration.
Suffice to say, that the Soul Core is the centermost point of your existence, a personification of your existence more defining than DNA. It is also the aspect of yourself you'll find yourself cultivating when you've reached the end of the road for normal systemic progression. Further information will do more harm than good at your current strength and has only been mentioned due to your affinity.
Arthur shook his head. It had to end just when it was getting interesting. He was almost certain someone, somewhere was laughing at him behind a screen, delighting in the futile curiosity they had instilled in him.
A soul core though. I'm guessing the cultivating bit happens once I reach level 300. That's where humans stop gaining stats. Still, the fact that this information was given to me must mean something. As a soul mage, would he somehow be able to start that journey earlier than usual? It was definitely something to consider and thankfully, he had the perfect person to ask.
If Ayesha didn't want to be forthcoming, Alyssia would certainly help. His employer's name brought his recent failure to the forefront of his mind and he felt a s flush of regret rush through him. Selena's death was absolutely meaningless, in every sense of the word and that was why Arthur was so frustrated. If the attack she'd protected him from had truly been deadly, Arthur would've felt far better.
But that's not the case, is it? With my constitution, I would've been fine. A little hurt but I would have walked it off. But they didn't know about that. That was the crux of the matter. Arthur had kept his secrets close to his chest. With due cause fair enough, but his stat distribution was hardly world-shattering.
Sure he had more than most people, but there were a number of people like him, individuals with unique evolutions and bodies that boosted their stats much like his own.
And I'm sure most of the people in the know have figured a lot of it out. It doesn't take a genius to estimate my stat distribution what with my public display against the Rat King. They probably know about the Liverthion too.
Arthur shook his head. Regretting it now wouldn't bring Selena back. He only had to make sure he didn't withhold important information in future life-and-death fights. Let's get through the rest of these Title notifications.
Titles are changes to the soul that occurs on the surface and very rarely in the upper middle layer depending on its tier. Titles are known to have a range of effects from increasing stats multiplicatively and additively with certain titles offering unique skills outside of general ether usage.
Titles can also be detrimental and reduce one's stats with documented titles being known to cause infertility and memory loss. Certain titles are forbidden in System Territory with possessors being imprisoned and even even executed depending on their unlock conditions.
Arthur gulped. Hopefully, he didn't have any of those. Half-breed, his most unique one wasn't too bad. Sure it made him act out at times and the impulses it provided were a little hard to ignore, but all in all, it wasn't too bad. At least he didn't think so.
Such Titles, depending on their tier and the decision of a judge can be permanently removed in a process called scouring. This reduces a host's stats by a given percentage depending on how deeply the original title scarred the soul.
That sounds horrible. And it probably hurts like a bitch. There's probably a host of skills out there to hide them from your status.
What followed, was a long list of titles that the system deemed illegal, some of them surprising and others downright disgusting. First on the list was something that certainly raised his eyebrow.
Corpse Lover (Engage in non-consensual sexual relations with the deceased)- Generates the skill Dirty life [Dirty life- A skill activated when engaging in coitus, it inflicts one's partner with a deadly poison that targets the reproductive organs]
That was far more information than Arthur ever wanted to know about Necrophilia. And what's that about non-consensual? How would you ever get consent out of the dead? Maybe an Undead?
Those are a thing, right? Thankfully, the next thing on the list was a lot more normal.
Murderer (Wrongfully ending the life of another sapient)- Decreases Willpower by 3%. May inflict host with status affect Minor insanity
From what Arthur knew of titles, these conditions didn't always unlock them. Two people might do the exact same thing but only one of them would end up with a title. Murderer, for example, was something a psychopath could never unlock. Murder for them would never truly be wrong, just an action with consequences.
A lifelong pacifist, however, may gain a title along a similar line even if they killed in self-defence against a monster as they'd be going against their personal code in a drastic enough way to scar their soul.
The list was extensive but Arthur still read through it all, wondering at whoever decided the names of these things. All things considered, Arthur didn't end up finding any of his own on the list. Whether this was because they were too rare to be placed on this generic index or they weren't forbidden, Arthur couldn't say, but he hoped it was the latter. The system notifications were gradually coming to an end now.
I guess I can finally check out my new status now.
