Amber | Chapter 78. (Patreon)

Chapter 78.

Amber stared down with a mixture of shock and surprise. She wasn’t looking at her body, but rather she was looking past that⁠— she was looking at her core itself. It had fractures running along, and even though it was burning with a blue color, there was an even stronger light coming from the cracks. 

Almost as if it was ready to explode⁠— no, it was basically ready. And she had a vague idea on how to advance it, and while she entertained taking a look at her skill level ups and rank ups, she decided against it. 

After all, this was much more important. 

Amber was about to sit down when she paused, and then grabbed at a stray piece of metal hanging by her shoulder. 

“I guess this is slightly more important than the Core Advancement,” she whispered, injecting her mana. 

It took a minute or two, but eventually she managed to restore her armor from the single piece of metal, allowing her to sit down comfortably on the ground. It seemed that the other chunks had been pure metal rather than a way to produce more armors⁠— interestingly enough. But Amber didn’t focus on that, nor did she focus on her almost near empty mana reserves, or Essence reserves.

Instead, she focused on the Essence her core had accumulated⁠— or whatever was happening. She never really registered that the gathered Essence and the one she used was different, but now it was clear as day. She could feel it.

“But didn’t I need to form a second membrane first or something?” Amber pondered. 

And then, after taking a closer look⁠— it was already there. Whether it formed itself or she formed it through her actions or subconsciously, she didn’t know. However, Amber moved to the next step⁠— which was… according to Asil an instinctual process. 

Amber frowned for a moment and soon readjusted herself to the position she felt more comfortable in⁠— or her core felt most comfortable. And she blinked realizing it was a lotus position. Everything about Essence so far reminded her of certain concepts back on Earth, and this just took the cake. 

“Alright, I guess I’ll rival the heavens or whatever,” Amber told herself. 

Then she closed her eyes and fully focused on her core. Unlike other times, there was no clear point of view from where she was standing where seeing it, no⁠— she just saw it but more than anything she saw the inside. And there, she saw two things, a sphere shining with the light of a star, and below it, she saw liquid Essence, one that she could stir with her will. 

Taking a moment to gather herself, she slammed it against the walls of the core. Then, again, and again, cracking it further, and further, all while doing it faster as her proficiency increased. It was an extremely straight forward process. There was no struggle, no hardship, only cracking it like an egg. And that was because all of the hardship had already been undergone, this was just like accepting a class advancement notification. 

Amber slammed her Essence and with a deep breath, she did it for a final time as her core shattered and⁠—

She blinked. 

“What the…”

She was no longer in the room with the boss, in fact, she was not in a place she recognized. There were clouds, rushing winds, and she was atop of a mountain somewhere. She wanted to assume Vir, but given it was related to Essence, it was most likely Ill’hine⁠— or maybe she wasn’t in either of those two places. 

Either way, Amber was confused as she looked around and saw a path with slabs and far off in the distance she saw a dilapidated temple. And while she deliberated for a second⁠ she approached it after realizing she did not have access to her Essence, mana, nor even her sword. Her core was almost in a dormant state, burning with the least amount of energy. 

It took her a minute of walking, all while the harsh winds messed with her hair, but eventually she peered into the dark entrance only to see a staircase to which she could descend to. 

Things are weird enough already, so… 

She descended. 

The path went on for a few minutes, all while she wondered where she was and how this place even related to her advancement. But she couldn’t really question⁠— let alone understand what was happening. At the same time, Asil had said he couldn’t explain it either so, she just decided to see where it went. 

  * 

“What do you think she’s seeing⁠— watching, or where do you think she is?” Val’leri asked. 

In response, Sid'fril shook his head. “I don’t know, but hopefully it has some kind of landmark that she can recognize in the future.” 

Hearing his words, the female Primordial Spirit smiled wildly and looked at him. “Here I thought, I believed, you didn’t care too much about her.” 

Sid'fril snorted. “Nothing wrong with believing in her potential.”

“That I cannot disagree with,” Val’leri said turning back to the screen. “Hopefully it’s not one of those places that are deep in the ocean or something, otherwise her apotheosis will be hard should she reach that point.” 

Sidfil closed his eyes. “She will reach that point, aren’t you supposed to be believe in her more considering she’s favored by Ax’thra and all?” 

“Well… I’m realistic, but you are right.” 

Val’leri nodded. 

“She will reach divinity.” 

  *

Amber found herself in a vast underground chamber, one with a fixture of light in each of the three cardinal directions ahead, north, west and east⁠— or whatever, she wasn’t a compass. 

However, she couldn’t help but stare, they were all bright and had non-descript shapes, however, they were all burning like fire. One had a bright blue color, remiscent of her core. A different one was red, reminiscent of the crimson flames of the Curse of Consuming Flames. And lastly, the green one looked sickly, almost herbal. 

Amber decided to approach the green one first⁠, mostly because it seemed to her that it was slightly closer. And when she reached it, she had a realization, the entire fixture of flames was made out of Essence, and it was Essence for her to take. 

So she did. 

Amber extended her hand and her core⁠— ignited. In a single moment she absorbed half of it, then the rest went to the other side of the room to do something. However, she paid no attention to that, instead she focused on the fact that she felt full, even though the color of her core hadn’t changed. And more importantly, her mana and skills had unlocked, so did her core. 

All in all, Amber felt different, and that’s because she was. 

This is… 

It was an advancement option, and she already knew what it did. She heard a growl to the other side of the room only to see a very familiar monster. 

[Cursed Artkil. Lvl. 160] 

However, Amber noticed it had almost like a green trail coming out of it. So she surmirsed it was made from the Essence she didn’t absorb.  

Then the monster⁠— attacked. 

It charged at her and Amber in response prepared one her Essence skills, Sharp Instincts helping her in predicting what the Cursed Artkil would do. 

Fulminating Slash. 

The monster teleported and attacked from the side and she slashed— cutting it. The Cursed Artkil went flying with an explosion of red as it landed on the ground, bleeding out. 

The advancement was simple. 

Especialization in Magic Power. 

But does it affect normal magic? 

And she used Flamethrower from her hand, torching the monster with a much stronger burst of red flames and killing it for good. Even though she had Cursewelder inside her ring she decided to avoid using it for now. Then, she looked at the still burning red flames, the product of the Curse of Consuming Flames. They were different. 

It somewhat makes curses stronger too, she noted. 

After the Cursed Artkil died, the Essence from her core depleted and returned to the fixture, same went from the corpse which returned to being Essence and joined the rest.

Finally, Amber looked around. Each of the lights were demos of the advancements in her opinion, and that made her all the more excited to try them all. 

Amber rushed to the next light, the red light. 

Without hesitation she stuck her hand into it as her body absorbed half of the Essence and the other went into forming yet another familiar monster. 

[Naraka Cerotidae. Lvl. 160]

The flame rhinoceros that she had beat up not too long ago. And this time, the advancement was different. Much different. Amber used God’s Physique, and with the use of the 3rd Rank of Quick Dash she arrived in front of it and punched⁠— 

Her uppercut broke through the monster’s maw and then with a subsequent punch she felt its skull crack. She pummeled the monster a few more times before she used her Essence to further enhance her strength and threw a final swing⁠— one that broke its neck and killed it instantly. 

She had just killed a level 160 monster barehanded in less than a minute. 

Granted, it seemed all her other physical enhancements were active to the fullest, Crimson Fuel, Crimson Fervor, Supreme Cursed Momentum⁠— all of them. But even then, this advancement represented a⁠— if she guessed, one point five times multiplier on her base physical stats. 

The Essence returned to the fixture, and Amber finally thought of the advancement. It was:

Especialization in Physical Power. 

Amber didn’t quite get why they were called especializations, but she quickly moved to try the last one. 

She reached the blue fixture and absorbed it, half went into her and half went to make another much more familiar monster. However, it wasn’t the Abyssal Briroar, or anything that she had fought recently, but rather an old enemy. 

[Fireblessed Velstalker. Lvl. 160] 

The armored flaming velociraptor that had almost killed her for her level 100 advancement. The monster immediately screeched as the whole room ignited ablaze and Amber simply clapped her hands together and pulled. 

She made the bow of flames near instantly, the arrow already made as her right hand fully pulled back. And the flames⁠— they were already blue⁠, starting out at their highest intensity as she injected more mana into the arrow. 

And in response, the Fireblessed Velstalker sent a deluge of flames⁠— one that was akin to a tsunami of fire. But Amber didn’t flinch, instead she loosed the arrow.

Fire. 

Her shot blurred before hitting its target in a split second⁠—

And the whole room exploded and the Essence quickly dissipated, killing all of the flames before they could damage more of the room. However, parts of it were already melted and there was a large crater in the ground. She had killed the level 160 Fireblesed Velkstalker, whose strength was much higher than the other monsters just like that. 

That was the third advancement. 

Especialization in Magic Proficiency. 

Unlike the other magic one, this one would mostly only benefit her Essence since she was a warrior. Allowing her to have greater mastery over it. 

Then, she thought about her advancements. Between all of them, Amber found hard to make decision and pick one, especially with the knowledge she had gained after the demo of the third advancement ended. 

The specializations were permanent, and they affected each subsequent core level up. 

Meaning that whatever she chose, she would be stuck with. 

Amber looked towards the green flame. 

More firepower is always great, if I had that the Abyssal Briroar would have died much quicker, she told herself. 

Truth be told, she knew it would probably be the best choice given it probably affected any skill that used mana or Essence. Except for those that used mana to increase physical strength anyway. 

Then, there was the Advancement of Strength, as she called it in her mind. It would basically make her unparalleled within her level bracket in terms of physical strength. No warrior would be able to rival her even if they had an incredibly rare Legacy Branch. 

Lastly, there was the magic proficiency advancement. All it did was make her better at using Essence, period. 

That was the extent of it. 

Yet, as Amber looked around and pondered the pros and cons of each, she realized that there was only one choice for her. And that was what best fit her Essence, what allowed her to push her limits the best. 

She looked at the green flame, then the red one, and finally the blue one. 

She mulled over all of them, one made her Essence stronger and helped her curses, the other one made her unrivaled in strength, and the last one… it helped her be better at wielding Essence. 

She frowned.

One of them was by far the choice that provided the least amount of short term benefits so she should have discarded the other two, but she didn’t. Instead, she carefully thought about what would allow her to push the best, and she came to a conclusion. 

Only one would do that, and only one would allow her to achieve greater heights. 

So, she reached into the flame next to her⁠— 

The blue flame. She had chosen the Especialization of Magic Proficiency. 

The entirety of the flame was consumed in a short second, and— 

She awoke. 

Amber blinked being back in the boss room, and for a moment nothing happened. In fact, nothing had happened after she absorbed the Essence either. 

She frowned and⁠— her core shattered. 

Amber jolted as her core expanded by a third in size instantly, and that wasn’t all. 

[Your Wisdom and Intelligence attributes have increased by 50.] 

She got more attribute points, and also had visions. Visions of flames, but they quickly faded, considering how straight forward they were however, Amber now felt more connected to fire than ever. And that was because she had just learned not one but two skills. 

Advanced Blue Fire Creation. 

And. 

Primordial Blazing Bolt. 

The first, was more akin to knowledge and a passive, whereas the latter was the arrow that she had used. And naturally, it was now stronger. However, something that Amber didn’t expect happened⁠— a skill changed. 

[Identify ⁠— Lvl. 3, becomes Appraisal ⁠— Lvl. 3] 

[New Basic Skill! Appraisal ⁠— level 3.

Allows you to see the class type of an enemy if they have one. Identifies an enemy and their level up to 30 levels above.

2nd Rank ⁠— See the Legacy Branch of monsters and enemies, see the exact class of an enemy if they have one.]

Amber blinked. “Wait, why can I see its 2nd Rank if I don’t even have it…”

And she paused as she looked at her status, and while nothing seemed different⁠— not even her skills seemed different. She realized that now, she had a much deeper understanding of each skill⁠— what Cursed Supreme Momentum deemed as in battle or out of battle. The exact time for Crimson Fervor had left for it to run out⁠— everything. 

It was all information that the System was relaying to her now.

For a moment, she was confused, but as she turned towards the wall and fired a Fulminating Slash she realized something.

The flames remaining were crimson now, her Essence had applied the Curse of Consuming Flames now. 

Meaning⁠— 

“My Essence is now directly interacting with the System…” 

Amber didn’t quite understand how her especialization translated to being able to see the 2nd Rank of Appraisal or even obtaining Appraisal, but she felt happy. 

This is just great. 

She quickly turned to look at her skill level ups and rank ups. 

First was the one that happened during battle. 

[⁠Sharp Instincts has reached 4th Rank — level 1. 

You continue to survive, and now that you have grown used to telling how dangerous things are, you have grown wiser as well. This is an upgraded version of Keen Senses. You are now more aware of potential dangers and attacks, now it's on an instinctual level.

2nd Rank ⁠— Allows you to gauge how dangerous something is.

3rd Rank ⁠— You can predict a trap’s trajectory, effects, and when it will activate.

4th Rank ⁠— Attacks made with bloodlust are considerably easier to predict.] 

At first glance, it seemed not too great. But it was what had allowed her to fully dodge the Abyssal Briroar when needed⁠— and now she understood that the 4th Rank was basically 3rd Rank for incoming attacks. 

“Knowing what it exactly does from the getgo does take away from the exploration aspect though,” Amber mused. 

Next, were her rank ups after battle. First one was one with self-explanatory effects. 

[⁠Cursed Rage Synergy has reached 4th Rank ⁠— level 1. 

You store attacks you receive as your own rage. Stored rage does not disappear. You can unleash your rage in a single attack or transfer it to improve your skills: Cursed Momentum, granting it great build up or Recovery of Curses granting it increased recovery.

At higher levels the skill may be more effective at improving your skills. 

2nd Rank ⁠—  Rage builds up twice as fast.

3rd Rank ⁠— Twice more rage can be stored.

4th Rank ⁠— Rage is 1.5 times as strong.]

She didn’t really need extra insight into the System to understand it. Next was Curse Manipulation. 

[⁠Curse Manipulation has reached 4th Rank ⁠— level 1. 

You’ve been fighting along with curses for a very long time and have grown to adeptly control them. You can dexterously affect how a curse is applied and even the strength at which it is applied. While using this skill is active, curses are 150% stronger. Percentage scales from skill level.

2nd Rank ⁠—  This skill no longer consumes mana.

3rd Rank ⁠— You can now project the curses you wield.

4th Rank ⁠— You can now manipulate other people’s curses.]

The thing that the skill didn’t explain was that, the ability to manipulate other people’s curses was stronger than her ability to manipulate her own curses. About one point five times. She could also manipulate curses that someone was bearing⁠— so technically she could cure the plague at this point. 

“Huh… that’s kind of niche but also stupidly strong.” 

Amber moved onto her skill level up notifications. 

[Curse Reignition has leveled up from 4th Rank level 1 to 4th Rank level 3.]

[Quick Dash has leveled up from 4th Rank level 1 to 4th Rank level 3.] 

[Cursed Supreme Momentum has leveled up from 4th Rank level 1 to 4th Rank level 4.]

[Cursed Supreme Berserker’s Body has leveled up from 4th Rank level 1 to 4th Rank level 4.]

[Recovery of Curses has leveled up from 4th Rank level 1 to 4th Rank level 3.]

[Curse Battery has leveled up from 4th Rank level 1 to 4th Rank level 3.]

[Cursed Rage Synergy has leveled up from 4th Rank level 1 to 4th Rank level 2.]

[Curse Manipulation has leveled up from 4th Rank level 1 to 4th Rank level 2.]

[Crimson Fervor has leveled up from 2nd Rank level 1 to 2nd Rank level 2.]

[Crimson Fuel has leveled up from 2nd Rank level 1 to 2nd Rank level 2.]

[Crimson Venom has leveled up from level 9 to 10.]

[Crimson Sense has leveled up from level 6 to 8.]

[Crimson Destruction has leveled up from level 5 to 7.] 

[Crimson Break has leveled up from level 3 to 5.] 

[Sharp Instincts has leveled up from 4th Rank level 1 to 4th Rank level 3.]

[Quick Recovery has leveled up from 2nd Rank level 4 to 2nd Rank level 6.] 

Sadly, Amber still couldn’t really tell how far off the next skill level up was for any of her skills, but she supposed that was fine. Considering she literally had intricate knowledge about every single one of her skills now. 

Then, another notification came. 

[You have been offered a title: Monster Hunter

Vitality +15

Strength +20

Dexterity +15

Endurance +10 

Intelligence +10

Wisdom +10

You deal 150% bonus damage towards monsters

This title comes with Title Skill [Bane of Monsters].] 

Amber focused on the Title Skill, it was information she normally wouldn’t be able to get, but now, she could. 

[Bane of Monsters.

Through slaying countless monsters⁠ — some which are terrible foes ⁠— you have acquired access to become the Bane of Monsters. 

Once a day, you can pick a monster to make your attacks twice as effective against. 

This skill cannot be leveled.] 

It wasn’t a bad title, except⁠— the skill did not seem to consider demons monsters, or humans monsters for that matter. There was also the fact that it didn’t affect her curses. Technically, it was a direct upgrade to her Demonkiller title, but she shook her head.

“I don’t want it.”

And the System window was dismissed. 

Abyssal Blast was way too good of a skill, and now with Essence she was getting way more attribute points than normal. So she didn’t see the point. 

Amber then smiled seeing a notification. 

[Level ups delayed due to pending advancements.] 

She still had two more advancements to go through, and this time she was excited. 

After all, she could now get a lot more information to make her choice now⁠— all thanks to Essence. 

Amber turned to her notifications. 

It’s time to get the rest of my advancements. 

[Legacy Branch advancement is now Available!

You may now evolve your Legacy Branch.] 

[Class Advancement is now Available!

You may now evolve your class.]