chunwa
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Chapter 179: Receiving The Goods
🕑 Added 2019-01-07 17:41:12 +0000 UTCActually had this mostly finished two days ago but got stuck on the third construct related form. Combat Puppet is a bit like an automaton in my mind, but I'm open to suggestions for alternate terms or forms
Nisha raised her eyebrows in shock, a seed randomly picked up ended up granting her a power that encompassed the entire dragon race’s prowess and belonged to powerhouses of the third realm of cultivation.
Right now, she did not know a single creature, human or otherwise, that broke through the limit of the ninth rank in the first realm.
Nevertheless, it was also her intention to help the goddess by removing it, hence it was not theft either.
She conceded that the beautiful green haired woman had a point and kept silent.
“No use brooding over spilled milk. Let’s focus on our agreement instead, if I don’t do something soon and forget it in the future, the backlash will be quite annoying.
There’s some open space over there, we can get started then.”
Bael easily traversed the space inside the dragon’s [Inner Space], not even treading on the ground as she darted through the distance.
Next to the piled up treasures in her glade, Nisha already cleared some trees to prepare for the influx of more shiny goods.
Aside from the inexplicable materials and items appearing in her room from time to time, the elf had a good expectation towards the profits by the planned new districts.
Valuable materials, coins, exquisite equipment, as long as it was valuable, the dragon had an interest to hoard them.
“I do have an appropriate skill in mind that can increase the efficiency of the time you spend on different activities.
Since you wanted the most efficient, and not the most suitable, it should be fairly difficult to learn, it’s not really a rare skill among some of the acquaintances I know, but they also have a similar boundary like my sister and me.
To you, it’s not much different from a divine skill found in an ancient relic left by a supreme civilization from ages ago.
Therefore, I split the progression into different parts, if you have enough perception and talent you can learn the entire ability all the way to the highest level, if not, you can still make some small improvements that should help you.”
Whenever Bael had to deal with a serious matter, her demeanor changed from the mischievous sprite to a dignified fairy from the heavens.
Towards the serious introduction, the elf solemnly followed the words and carved them into her mind.
Nisha both anticipated and felt apprehensive towards an ability that comes from the realm where gods clashed with each other.
Whether or not the dragon had the necessary talent to learn it would be seen soon.
“Let me give a little introduction first.
Among the many different beasts that roam the countless planes, the most numerous species with high level combatants actually do not come from the race that most humans and elfs expect.
Insects, through sheer volume and diversity, have produced endless elites, many with unique skills fitted perfectly for their purposes.
Personally, the most outstanding insect deity I associated with impressed me the most with his inborn talent.
You see, his combat prowess as an individual ranked relatively average, or even low, compared to human powerhouses, and even more in comparison to beast gods.
Instead, his forte came from a specialization he called the [Hivemind].
Insects sometimes do not form traditional hives where the members of a species live together, but there is a singular progenitor that spawns drones instead that contain part of their mind.
Hence, the name of his ability came to be, and a few other bug types also possess it.
So, my friend, the insect deity, took it a step farther and made a racial trait into a powerful unique ability.
Instead of fostering drones personally and governing them directly, he split off part of his will and turned them into living beings, new broodmothers that he dropped into different mortal worlds.
There, the living will bugs founded their own tribes and reproduced, grew in strength and eventually expanded into more colonies.
Part of that process encompassed that a new broodmother appeared, and it too, carried part of his will.
He did not supplement the amount each world contained, rather the originally detached portion grew organically with enough sacrifices and nourishment.
Now, you might ask how it is relevant, yet the introduction is important so you can later see how the skills link together and how you can make it your own.”
Bael began slowly with her explanation and looked into the horizon while recalling the memories of the friend she told the elf about.
Meanwhile, her hands formed seals and invoked spells as the surrounding lawn evened out, the trees and shrubs moved away and a small number of seeds floated in front of the goddess.
The dragon admired the simplicity of the methods employed by the green haired deity, none of the actions used her own mana, which surely would be much too oppressive and aggressive for her [Inner World] and rip it apart.
Instead, Bael made use of the local resources and the latent energy generated by the environment to accomplish her goal.
Rather than using supreme materials to make an exquisite tool, the real master used normal materials to create a godly piece.
Such mastery only came with experience and age, not something the elf could emulate.
“The real expertise in his approach came from the countless experiences and growth his mind experienced through the proxy incarnations and an endless supply of elite warriors close to the Saint boundary.
No matter what, his intelligence network spanning an untold amount of planes rarely met a match, not even ancient clans could outmatch him at this.
So far, no one really figured out how to copy the organic nature of his will incarnations, it’s his most closely guarded secret, but that insect god never had an issue teaching others more about his [Hivemind] in general.
In theory, all mages can train it to a moderate level and enjoy some benefits from it.
Furthermore, there are other similar skills that employ the will to a high level.
Starting early and training your soul to express your will in a tangible manner can help you later down the line.”
With an open and flat space prepared by her magic, Bael plucked the first seed out of the air and let it rest on the open palm she held out.
From within the goddess’ body, bands of magic and power emerged and surged into the seed.
It did not change its outward appearance or react much from the influx of energy.
“If I gave you an image stone, a tome fitting for the skill and a memory jade how the skill works, it might still take you thousands of turns to comprehend even a small boundary how the [Hivemind] works.
Instead, we’ll start with degraded versions first. Every time you master a skill retained in one of the statues, you can incorporate it into a superior version and get an easier starting line to master them in turn.”
While she was speaking, the goddess modulated the floating seeds in succession, each shiny little core receiving different coloured bands of information and power.
“Strictly speaking, the downgraded version of [Hivemind] should be [Will Manifestation]. Also a deity class skill, an individual extracts a stand of their will and infuses it into an object, statue or weapon to leave behind a message, restriction or similar concepts.
One more step down is the [Will Imprint], a half mortal and half immortal ability with similar powers, only much more restricted and cost intensive.
Even further down, there are more paths that can all lead to learning [Will Imprint], I picked a rather unorthodox line for you.
All skills should give you some benefits at the time you learn them according to our agreement, since you might not learn them all due to a limit in perception or similar occurrences.”
With a clap of her hands, the floating seeds circled around the open field and shot into the ground once they found a suitable spot.
Only several breaths passed before fine green leaves and a budding trunk sprouted.
“You might have heard about golems before, there should also be some skill books in the library of the Guild at your place that relate to Golem Controllers, a rare magician job.”
“Do you know about the [Adventurer’s Guild]? Have you been there before?”
At this point, Nisha was so surprised that she interjected the explanation with an incredulous look.
“Indeed, that’s not only a local invention where you currently reside, the system is spread over a wide array of planes.
Although each organization is headed by a headquarters respective to each plane, the overall arrangement proved to be quite suitable and is often picked up by new worlds.
I think my sister and me registered as a team once, we should still have our member cards somewhere, whether or not the guild still has them in their files is another question.
Regardless, the first skill you can learn and master is the art of [Golem Control], and then the complete [Golem Creation] manual.
One realm higher is the [Elemental Creation] skill, where you manipulate naturally occurring elementals to enter golem bodies and strengthen them beyond the limit of an artificial creature.
The pinnacle of constructs is also the final skill I know below the [Will Imprint], the [Combat Puppet Manual]. Quite likely, an elder of the past downgraded this skill from his own understanding towards will to make it useable by his descendants.
At this boundary, the creation process no longer only involves good materials to cast the frame, a suitable elemental to bestow true life to the puppet, there also needs to be a faint will seal that submits the combat puppet to the creator.
Taken to the extreme, even warriors at the same level might be inferior to a puppet of the same level, given that different understandings towards martial skills can be implanted and combined.”
Now the sprouting plants no longer slowly germinated, rather, they sprung up like a fountain of fire erupting from the mouth of a volcano.
Depending on the information left behind by Bael, each of the wooden shrubs consolidated into a small totem like altar, glowing with a faint divine light.
Nisha hardly had the mind to listen though, the explanation given by the goddess had long toppled her world view and opened countless questions and doubts in her mind.
The disparity in her worldview compared to her peers sometimes startled the elf.
Most of the students at the [Royal Academy] struggled for the chance to break through the first great divide in cultivation and reach the fourth rank, while the dragon learned about the great realms that laid after the elusive ninth rank.
Similarly, even other countries were places that the average noble might never visit in their lifetime, and experienced adventurers would at most see a small part of Ator.
Nisha learned about the different planes from two goddesses and even got to experience their teachings.
“I’ve left behind a collection of manuals, pictures and impressions in these knowledge sprouts. Compared to a book or [Image Crystal], the plants here substitute the medium to store information.
Conversely, you also need to spend an appropriate amount of mana to activate them.
Hence, each plant stands for a cultivation realm at large, but you might not be able to perceive their secrets when you reach the suitable realm.
I’m also not an expert refiner specialized on puppets, so take my guidance with a grain of salt and keep an eye open for similar manuals, often related topics can supplement each other and lead to better results.”
As the goddess had mentioned, there were five totem like wooden stumps in total, their size growing with each increment.
Furthermore, the first three had a completely different air around them, while the last two actually came fairly close to each other from a casual glance.
Lastly, the assertion that Bael was no expert did not even bother the dragon.
With the difference in their realms, even a casual blow from the green haired beauty had long become a divine strike for a common mortals in the first realm.
Any casual guidance would still allow the elf to become a top expert at a chosen topic.
There’s so much new stuff to learn and the [Law of the Land] did not even react, so this is not an unfair trade either. Looks like this is a clever way that some senior devised to leave behind a legacy in multiple steps without paying a great price.
Comments
Rip Woodham
Neat. Well, seems a bit odd to be starting on skills like that when she doesn't even have a basic kit and hasn't been able to make her newbie life\death skills work yet, but nice. Puppet is fine in the setting but usually implies something that has to be directly controlled. I don't know what you were going for but if not that then maybe something like true construct or soul infusion/smith? Shrug
