Zogarth
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Chapter 270 - Presence
🕑 Added 2021-07-26 10:56:33 +0000 UTCJake opened up his system menu and went through all the stuff.
He had saved up a stupid amount of Free Points. 220 of them, to be exact. He should have probably just tossed them where they belonged, to begin with, but hey, better late than ever. As to where they belonged?
All to perception!
Heck, if Jake were to do another of those weird Legacy trips from his Path of the Heretic-Chosen, it would be silly not to have as much perception as possible to experience it fully. At least that’s what he kept telling himself to justify his questionable decision just to keep throwing everything in perception. He just liked to do it, and his other stats had always been growing nicely, so it wasn’t that bad.
“Jake…” Villy’s voice sounded out before Jake got side-tracked again.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what, for you alone, I will check out my Path of the Heretic Chosen before I pick my level 120 skill. Don’t say I never do anything for you!” Jake joked as he shook his head and opened the menu thing. It wasn’t really a menu; Jake more just poked the skill and saw if it did anything.
He knew it wasn’t a sure thing that he could use the skill and potentially get an upgrade but that he needed to reach some threshold he didn’t know about. He assumed he had reached the threshold for Palate nearly solely due to the Trial of Myriad Poisons, but he wasn’t sure about any of the other skills.
So he had to be honest; he was actually a bit surprised when the skill responded, and he knew he could activate it. A prompt came up before him.
Do you wish to experience the Legacy of the Malefic Viper? Uses remaining: 2
Jake stared at it for a while as he wondered what skill it could be about. A part of him hoped Sense, but he seriously doubted it, but it was only a faint vain hope. Jake could also use more perception.
“Yep, it works. Two uses too. I guess I’ll give it a go?” Jake said, semi-asking Villy.
“Go for it and tell me what you saw afterward,” the god answered.
Jake nodded as he accepted the prompt as his vision went dark.
--
The council had convened, and they were ready to pass down judgment. They had attempted to scare off the beast several times, but it always returned. Where it had come from, they were unaware; it had simply one day entered the imperial oligarchy and begun ravaging it.
Yet, it was not like the other beasts. Monsters born in the infinity of space often were simply beasts or unintelligent creatures that only sought to kill and consume. They were often weak for their level, and a single council member could take it down easily.
But… a council member had already fallen to this menace, forcing their hands. Sure, it had been the weakest council member, but it was still significant. It was a rarity they were forced to meet like this to begin with, especially in person.
Every single one of them were early B-grade powerhouses, and each had conquered their respective worlds long ago and founded factions with no rivals besides each other. In the end, an equilibrium had been made, and now the war between their factions was simply a game to nurture new worthwhile fighters. It was also a valuable source of experience for them as respective leaders.
“All agree, we spring the trap at Neonwell once the beast arrives?” the council member asked.
He was the most desperate as the beast was now in his empire. The last empire it had been in, the council member from there had been slain before the beast moved on to find new challenges and to claim all their national treasures. So, naturally, he feared he would be the next to fall without assistance.
“In agreement,” one of the strongest council members said. However, even if none were strong enough to easily slay the others, that didn’t mean they were truly equal. The bribery to make this council member agree first had not been cheap…
“Fine,” another agreed with a nod.
Two more nodded, and the last four also agreed after some hesitation seeing as they didn’t want to be the only ones not participating – once the beast was dead, that would reflect badly on them. The last time a council member had risen to B-grade and joined, he had gotten cocky, and… well, he hadn’t stayed a council member for long. Or alive, for that matter.
“We estimate the beast will reach there within the next two years, so let us prepare our defenses.”
Jake’s vision shifted, and he saw a new planet. One entirely blue and glowing with energy, tens if not hundreds of times larger than even the Sun-sized Earth. It also looked almost crystalline and very otherworldly. He saw all nine council members descend on the planet, and from there, his vision sped up. He saw the planet spin at high speeds as he followed it through space until finally, the fateful day arrived.
A figure approached from far out in space. Wings beat as a shadow seemed to follow the creature, and a miasma marked its path, and death was in its wake. It was a dark green dragon with spikes lining its body and two deep green eyes that observed the planet in the distance.
Jake recognized it as the form he had seen ascend from the planet on the mural back in the Challenge Dungeon. So, the Malefic Viper turned into a dragon at B-grade and left his home planet… Jake realized as he kept observing.
He hadn’t entered that state of extreme observation yet, so he knew this wasn’t the time yet. But he still kept careful watch and took it all in. At worst, it would be an interesting insight into B-grades, and at best, he could learn something from their battle besides what the skill intended.
The Malefic Viper stopped as he observed the planet. He waited a bit and eventually landed on a large asteroid floating through space – the only one large enough for the several hundred meters long beast. The Viper looked towards the planet once more. Did he know? Perhaps… perhaps not. Either way, he would use a true and tested opener.
Opening his maw, the dragon breathed in. Jake felt the mana in the atmosphere be vacuumed in from far and wide, as well as the draconic body humming with energy. A green glow appeared around the mouth as a tiny ball of energy appeared… and then he breathed.
For a second, the world changed color. It flashed green as the Dragon Breath was released. Instinctively, Jake knew… this attack was a concept in itself. The Dragon breath, the signature move of all dragons. He had always thought dragons to be majestic and kinda cool creatures that he totally wanted to hunt down…. but seeing one in action was different.
The breath took the form of a beam of green energy that headed straight for the planet, and Jake could already imagine the effect it would have. It would be like a giant meteor smashing down, scorching much of the surface with pure destruction.
At least it would have if it hit.
Five spots down on the planet began glowing, and a barrier appeared in front of the beam, tens of thousands of kilometers into space. The council members who summoned it seemed to be aware it wouldn’t be enough, and soon five more identical ones were layered along with it – each barrier thousands of kilometers in diameter. It was a planetary defense of sorts.
The beam hit the first barrier as a mighty explosion sounded out, and it looked as if space itself collapsed on the impact point. Everything became warped, but the very next moment, Jake could see what was happening again as space had repaired itself.
The first barrier was broken, and the second had already cracked. A second later, it gave out as the breath hit the third. That one only took a few seconds before it slowly eroded away, making it clear the breath held corrosive properties.
Barrier after barrier fell as the Malefic Viper kept using his Dragon’s Breath. When it hit the second-to-last, a figure appeared behind the last one. He placed his hand on it, and the entire thing lit up with what looked like a magic circle inscribed upon it.
Just as the second-to-last barrier broke, he poured in energy, and the entire barrier got fired forward with incredible momentum towards the Viper. The breath simply wouldn’t have time to erode it in time, and the huge dragon was forced to dodge as the astroid it had been sitting on was turned to cosmic dust.
Jake felt the impatience of the Viper as he flew forward down towards the planet.
His vision shifted once more, and Jake saw the eight other council members hidden in a weird spatial bubble of sorts behind one of the moons of the planet. All of them were hidden not just in the spatial bubble but also under several arrays. They had been in there for over half a year, just waiting for this day.
Once the dragon got closer to the planet, another set of barriers activated. However, this one was not meant to keep the beast out – it was to keep it in.
At the same time, a third set activated closer to the surface of the planet, effectively making a closed circle of space around the planet. Only ten beings trapped within – the Viper and nine council members.
While Jake couldn’t even use Identify on anything, he had a feeling they were all roughly the same level. At least none of the council members looked worried, as Jake assumed they could see the level of the Viper. Unfortunately for them, they were under an assumption… one Jake perfectly understood. One he would have made many times without his instincts telling him otherwise.
These nine council members were absolute geniuses of their worlds. They were the strongest. They had great classes, great professions and had always fought above their own level. A beast of an equal level was just another easy prey to them. Sure, they had met variants and stuff, but out in the real world, they weren’t a dime a dozen.
So they went forth with absolute confidence and trapped the dragon within the barrier for a nine versus one battle. But they weren’t aware. Jake felt it, though. The Malefic Viper wasn’t the one trapped in there with them.
They were trapped in there with him.
All nine moved to attack. Jake saw attacks he couldn’t fully understand. Flames that melted colors, winds of space mana that tore up the fabric of reality, and many more types of magic – all of them more useless than the next against the scales of the dragon, as they seemed almost to drink up the magic.
The attackers were taken aback by the lack of effectiveness. Yet hope was not lost. One of their members teleported to be right above the head of the beast and swung down with his hammer, hoping to-
It was blocked as the dragon raised his claws, making it evident it was not only tough versus magic. But surely, the Viper’s offensive capabilities besides the signature Dragon’s Breath would be-
Mana manifested in mid-air as the Malefic Viper counterattacked with green explosions. Meanwhile, a miasma of poison seeped out from the dragon wings and overtook the area. His claws swung and forced the one with the hammer to retreat with a scratch on his arm.
The exchange was brief, but it had shocked the nine of them. But… that seemed to be enough. A seed was planted. One of doubt. One where death or severe injury was a possibility. Jake knew this because the time had come.
He intimately felt everything, not just what the Viper experienced but also the nine. He knew the Viper had gone all-out from the start, even boosting himself right from the get-go to appear as strong as possible. This was planned.
Jake felt fear.
Anticipation.
Doubt.
Greed.
Anger.
Hesitation
Bloodlust.
But more than anything… he felt pride.
A pride that manifested as an aura – a presence - blanketed the area, the nine council members within as the entire atmosphere seemed to shift.
“Pathetic creatures,” the Viper’s voice echoed through space. “How dare such weaklings think themselves conquerers. Kings. Emperors. You are nothing but prey to fuel my path. Be honored, for that is truly the greatest purpose your lives could have. Take joy as I devour you one by one. Do not fear for all which you have built, for it shall follow you. Embrace desolation, for it is the only end that awaits you and everything you have created. Embrace Death. Embrace your fate. Embrace despair.”
Every word made space vibrate; every syllable tore into the souls of the nine council members. Tore into their wills and their minds. All of it through the presence that affected the entire area. Mana in the presence? Jake rhetorically asked himself as he felt it.
Presences weren’t anything new. Everyone had one; it just came with getting stronger. It could become more prominent in some scenarios, such as when Jake felt a strong sense of bloodlust, then his presence would reflect it. In general, strong emotions would be reflected in your presence to some extent.
However, this was different. This was not that passive presence. This one felt alive. It was filled with the will and pride of the Malefic Viper, as it didn’t simply communicate an emotion but tore into the nine council member’s minds. Even more than that, it contained mana, something a presence normally never would, and to be fair, Jake wasn’t even aware it could.
The battle had barely begun, and it was far from over. Jake estimated the battle would be around equal and hard-fought by both sides, though he did admit he believed the Viper would win… but the nine could at least get away, the majority anyway.
Yet, all of them stood stunned for a moment. Immobilized by the presence of the Viper. Jake felt what they felt… a sense of fear, despair, and hopelessness. Like no matter what they did against the Viper, nothing would work. It was like how Jake felt against the King of the Forest back then… which actually made him think the Unique Lifeform had a similar skill.
It was a spell they would break out of soon enough… but-
The Malefic Viper snapped forward as his neck seemed to extend, and a long fang penetrated straight through the chest of one of the council members as he bit into him, leaving a barrel-sized hole due to the size difference. At the same time, the Viper fired out eight of the long spikes on his body – one for each council member.
Magic also began manifesting around the dragon. It was even more powerful and collected far faster than before as the presence affected not only the other living beings within, but even the Viper himself and the area as a whole. The magic attacks all coalesced and headed for the eight council members together with the spikes.
All attacks hit at once.
All of them were thrown out of their stupor simultaneously.
All of them were now badly poisoned.
In a single moment, the tides had turned. An equal battle became a one-sided one as that sliver of doubt remained. The poison only added to the helplessness.
What transpired after that wasn’t a fight but a slaughter. Six council members died, and three ended up fleeing, but Jake was certain they, too, would be hunted down in time.
For the Pride of the Malefic Viper would not allow any of his prey to escape. He had pronounced their deaths, and he would carry out the sentence.
This time was a lot different than the last time he used Path of the Heretic-Chosen. Jake had experienced a far longer span of time and even more emotions than ever before from not only the Viper but also the council members.
Jake had felt it all, and he understood it. He actually questioned why he had never done what the Viper did already. Well, he realized he couldn’t have, as it wasn’t that easy… unless you experienced doing it first-hand. As long as you got the basic concept, it was simplicity itself.
Perhaps pride was just something Jake had plenty of. Perhaps he was specifically suited to imposing his will upon the world.
It wasn’t because the time-rewind aspect of the skill didn’t work this time or wasn’t there. It just wasn’t needed.
Because Jake got it the first time around.
[Pride of the Malefic Viper (Ancient --> Legendary)]
Jake felt his consciousness slowly return to the real world as he saw the dragon head down towards the crystalline planet below. He felt the Viper. He knew the intent. So he was certain.
The planet would turn into just another desolate wasteland.
Just like all those the Malefic Viper had come across before.
Comments
Zogarth
Fixed
astroid -> asteroid
Jason Bryant
I wonder if his bloodline will morph the skill, considering it has it’s own pride and I assume, wouldn’t tolerate the pride of another at the highest level.
Nicholas Paterson
Some quick edits: as the presence affected the other living beings within, but even the Viper himself and the area as a whole. -> affected not just the other living beings Because it wasn’t because the time-rewind aspect -> (repetition, consider rewriting)
The air in space thing could be worded differently, I'll give you that. But there is still sound in a vacuum, it's more vibration than actual sound I think, I could be wrong as well. And two skills that big colliding would create enough energy to explode and cause said vibrations to create sound
ParoxysmDK
Ngl there were a couple of examples of immersion breaking -for me- errors in this chapter. And to preempt people who might say this is fiction, or something similar. Yeah that doesn't really justify it; here goes: "Jake felt the mana in the air be vacuumed in from far and wide" -- Air... in the vacuum of space? & "The beam hit the first barrier as a mighty explosion sounded out" --This is a misconception, the only way for an explosion to happen in this scenario, would be if the atmosphere got ignited and exploded outwards, which makes absolutely no sense here. Also again, there is no air in space, so there is no "sounded out" either. Otherwise great chapter, looking forward to the next one :)
Void
You make a strong case on the matter one does not need to directly fight to reach godhood. However in the case of the auger I do not believe he is a good example here. The reason mainly being that while he doesn't possess blood on his hands directly he still does have some droplets staining him. This being due to his task of facilitating all fates, regardless of what it would ask of him. This meaning if fate demand him to help people like that psychopath metal mage during the tutorial or that deviant who invaded jakes territory. He would regardless of morals as otherwise he maybe punished for it. Simply put whether it is directly or facilitating it with the vastness of this universe can we truly say not a drop of blood covers everyone on their journey at one point or another?
Hey guys. I just want to present a counter argument to all the readers who insist that no one gets to godhood without clean hands. I can't really prove it, since the author hasn't given us such an example, but it can be infered through the story that it's possible. First, note that there have been quite a few other ways to level shown, notably the Auger, who is gaining levels as fast as jake without killing a single person, Sultan, who gets levels as a merchant without fighting at all (sultan isn't a good example personally, but his profession applies to many different people.) and the city heads, who get levels for being good leaders. Now, it's true that only the Auger levels up his class that way (although his existance is proof enough that there are classes that don't need to fight), but there are purely proffestion focused gods. Take Duskleaf for example! Sure, no one states that he never used his class, but for sure we can state that he didn't need to commit war crimes if he didn't want to... and he probably didn't, since he only really cares about alchemy. Finally, before y'all state that the Auger is a legendary exception, let me remind you; we're talking about people turning into system validated gods. Legendary exception is likely the least you need. Jake himself has a class that has never existed before.
That's a good point. And it's backed up by the fact that the system gives skills for doing those things - suggesting that while people may be able to figure these things out once, it's much harder for them to do them consistently / in time for battle.
Zogarth
Fixed some things
Thanks for the chapter! Here are some edit suggestions: "In the end, an equilibrium had been made" -> had been achieved "The last empire it had been in, the council member from there" -> the resident council member "A second later, it took gave out as the breath hit the third." -> A second later, it gave out... "Only ten being trapped within – the Viper and nine council members." -> Ten beings were trapped within – the Viper and nine council members. "Sure, they had met variants and stuff, but out in the real world, they weren’t a dime a dozen." -> ... they were a dime a dozen. "Meanwhile, A miasma of poison seeped out from the dragon wings" -> Meanwhile, a miasma ... "An equal battle became one-sided as" -> An equal battle became a one-sided one as... "Just like all those the Malefic Viper had come across prior" -> Just like all those the Malefic Viper had come across before.
Cirex123
Yea, pragmatism is one thing, but Villy could swim in an ocean only made up of the blood of the children he burned (unless it all vaporated). Just their little skulls could build a pyramid to the moon, disregarding orbital mechanics. Not many normally socialized people should just shrug to that and have a cold one with him anyways. Says something about Jake, doesnt it.
James Squibb
I got goosebumps reading this chapter!!! Zogarth, this was amazing!
ZaA
All these people.. "Villy is the villain.." bro.. he's been grade here.. You're aware how many more grades there are to become a God right? You think even the nicest of God's aren't swimming in blood?
Void
For those who believe Jake religiously pouring free points into perception is to artificially weaken him. I believe you need to think more thoroughly on that assessment, because the very reason he has gotten this far may very well be due to that heavy investment of his. We see the world through his eyes and thus it is easy to overlook how much this actually effects him. However consider for a moment, ignoring the bloodlines emphasis on this attribute. Isn't fully possible many of the things such as Mana manipulation, and possibly stamina manipulation or possibly ki as conceptually they are similar. Wouldn't be possible to the level he has been doing it without his ludicrously high level of perception. It certainly appears what he is doing is likely not even conceivable to most of his grade at the moment, much less executable from what we presently know.
Mislandor
I like the flashbacks that come with this skill - good to see what Villy's path was on his way to becoming what he wanted to be.
Should_be_working
I wonder if his bloodline will change this skill? I mean it's like it said jake has pride in spades and the bloodline is just apart of jake, it would definitely make sense. I also cant wait for the second skill as well as his level skill tree, jake is really going all out lol... 3 skills in one day and no doubt all OP AF
Zogarth
Fixed. That one was just weird as I rewrote the sentence from internal thought to narration.
Sir Fury
"It was like how Jake felt against the King of the Forest back then… which actually made me think the Unique Lifeform had a similar skill." Going from the usual third person to first person, unless of course the Author is fourth-walling and giving their own opinion!
BenjiVoid
Since these visions are progressing in strength (of the viper), I assume they're also getting better/more "informative"/higher level concepts that he can access at earlier times than he should be able to. So I actually hope sense comes last so we can see a demigod(?) level sense or something.
Sir Fury
My earlier couple of comments (just before Patreon apparently went down for a few minutes) seemed to have disappeared so re-writing.
comcom-
Why should he care ? The way I see it is that Jake is always so absorbed in his progress that he cares little to none about other peoples Ideals,past and goals. If there is something to hunt or cook ,Jake will ignore everything else
Dont_like_to_Talk
Thanks for the chapter
Kris Boxall
Great chapter! Love seeing these little fragments of Villy’s life :D
Critical Hit
Villy is just the villain all the way through huh?
BrokenMortal
Glad to see Vily has calmed down with age. Thx for the chapter
Cirex123
I mean, we all love Villy, but like maybe Jake should realize now that his best friend is like an intergalactic Hitler?
KalAeon
"[...] a stat which he is cursed by the Author to pump all his stats into in order to not make him too overpowered [...]" Have you been paying attention? So much of his stuff is based of Perception that it honestly does make sense to pump it up as much as possible. Sure, a hand full of points thrown at the other stats could be handy, but he can get all he really needs with just class/profession levels and gear.
Blaublue
So, Jake will get a skill that does what his Gaze basically already does, except this one won't scale with Perception - a stat which he is cursed by the Author to pump all his stats into in order to not make him too overpowered - and his build will be even more fragmented (unless the Author decides to merge the skills)
Michael
No skill description? :(
Michael
Sit in your godly realm for 90 universe life spans crying and people are gonna start ridiculing you.
KalAeon
And then some punk F-Grade human came around and named him "Villy". Oh how the mighty have fallen. Of all the "[...] of the Malefic Viper" skills, I thought this one was his least favorite, right? Something about not wanting to mess with peoples' will? Or am I misremembering? So many people commenting on the last chapter about wanting the skills to merge... Yeah, but you would want to merge 100% Legendary skills, rather than a legendary or two and a hand full of Ancients, right? Plus the insight into Villy's past is pretty cool, in and of itself. I hope to see the next few Paths uses see some more emotional/personal events from Villy's POV. Perhaps his now lost companions? Or would Villy get mad at Jake for seeing that kind of thing?
roxurio10003
Great chapter
BenjiVoid
TFTC
