...
Cassian rubbed his eyes to see if he was hallucinating, but no the system panel still showed this same insane ability.
...
[DING! TRUTH TOUCHED: "I'LL BURN THE WORLD IF IT MEANS THAT YOU WILL BURN WITH IT"]
When you enter a life-or-death battle with your enemy, you forge an unbreakable destructive bond. Any destruction you unleash on the world will proportionally harm your enemy, no matter the distance. The more widespread the devastation, the stronger the backlash against the marked enemy.
However, you also suffer a fraction of the damage as the price for your obsession.
Effects:
-
"Bound by Ash" – Selects a primary target. This enemy receives 50% extra damage.
-
"Scorched Oath" – The more destruction the character causes in total (environmental, collateral, and direct), the greater the stacking ‘IMMOLATION PACT’ on the target, increasing over time.
-
"Equal Price" – The user takes 15% of the damage dealt to the target, ensuring that destruction is just.
-
"Consuming Abyss" – Over time, the user’s own body begins to fade, reducing maximum HP but increasing destruction damage exponentially.
-
"World Cinder" – If you die in battle while the ability is active, your burning soul detonates, dealing one final wave of destruction equal to all the destruction and damage caused since activation.
…
“System, what is this? Can I get some info on this?” He spoke aloud, hoping—praying… that the damn thing would actually answer him instead of throwing another knowledge packet text in his face.
[DING! DURING THE FORMING OF YOUR 1ST DESTRUCTION STAR ALL YOUR LATENT POTENTIAL ALLOWED YOU TO ENTER THE STATE OF TRANSIENCE OF DESTRUCTION, WHERE YOU WERE ABLE TO TOUCH UPON YOUR TRUTH]
Cassian stiffened. The transience of Destruction? Is that what that place is...
Before he could fully process that, another notification appeared.
[DING!
[DING!
[DING!
Cassian exhaled, dragging a hand down his face as he processed the system messages.
Truths, Dao, Root, Law… all the same thing? The Eternal Wanderer no… they told me to call them teachers… well, they are helpful, so why not?
The teacher made it sound so simple, yet the weight behind those words was anything but.
"Thank you, Teacher," he muttered, bowing his head slightly. Even if this Eternal Wanderer only spoke through the system, it was clear they were guiding him and they would have his gratitude. "I'll keep that in mind. But do I get this opportunity every time I form a star?"
Surprisingly, it was the system that answered.
[DING! NEGATIVE ONLY WHEN ASCENDING CAN ONE ENTER THE FIVE PRIMORDIAL ROOTS]
[DING!
[DING!
Cassian’s body tensed. Right. The nest.
"Fuuu… Understood!"
Slowly exhaling, he pushed aside lingering thoughts, then cracked his neck, enjoying the satisfying pop as his muscles relaxed.
He had a lot of cards, and now it was time to decide.
I’ll get back to the truth ability, for now, let’s categorize all the cards… wait before that let me try and slot all the attunement cards, who knows there may be an achievement for that.
With a flick of his wrist, Cassian traced the infinite symbol in the air, summoning his Soulkeep. The grimoire materialized above his palm, though this time Cassian could feel a very minute essence drain, and he saw or rather felt faint threads of energy extending from his core and connecting him to the soulkeep.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Fascinated, he tried to focus on the threads, tracing their origin from his own being to the Soulkeep. For a fleeting moment, he could see the flow of essence, the intricate weave that bound him to his Soulkeep. But the moment stretched too long. A sharp pain stabbed through his skull, breaking his concentration.
"Ah—damn, that hurts…" Cassian grimaced, rubbing his temple. Still, despite the headache, he knew one thing for sure. This was important. Something told him that if he trained this if he learned to hold his focus longer, he could uncover something deeper.
Shaking off the pain, he turned his attention back to the Soulkeep. Hovering above his palm, it pulsed with a faint crimson light. He checked and for sure there was one more attunement card slot unlocked. Without hesitation, he willed his Destruction Attunement Card into his grasp and carefully slotted it into the open space.
With a subtle pulse, the crimson glow darkened, deepening into rich blood-red, and intricate golden runes flared to life along the edges of its cover.
There was a change he couldn’t tell what exactly, but something different, and checking his essence stats solved that mystery.
…
Essence Source → 22
Essence Conversion rate → 2x Destruction (1:1)
Effective Essence Well → 42/42 [Destruction]
…
HOLY SHIT!… my essence well is straight-up doubled, so this is what the conversion rate was, man this is so nice… wait, what happens when I have two different attunement cards?…
He unequipped the Destruction Attunement Card, storing it away before summoning another card he decided on the Knowledge Attunement Card randomly. His fingers hesitated for a fraction of a second before slotting it at the moment the cooldown was finished.
The moment it was equipped, there was a weird feeling in Cassian’s gut, like nausea. The discomfort lasted only a split second before fading, and Cassian exhaled sharply.
…
Essence Source → 22
Essence Conversion rate → 1x destruction, 1x knowledge (1:1)
Total Essence Well → 22/22
Effective Essence Well → 11/11 [Destruction] | 11/11 [Knowledge]
…
So… instead of doubling my pool, it’s now split?
As if the system wasn’t already complicated enough… the system favors mono decks then if I want to maximize my essence well.
[DING!
[DING!
Surprised by the direct advice, Cassian immediately checked his inventory, he had two Void Attunement Cards. Without hesitation, he took them both out and equipped them into the available slots, humming to himself while waiting for cooldown time.
The deep crimson hue of the Soulkeep faded, replaced by a muted gray, its golden runes shifting to an eerie silver. But what truly shocked him to his core was that his cards were still active none of them were locked out even when they were of different attunements.
"What the fuck? How?!" Cassian’s eyes widened as he checked his status. He focused inwards as he regulated his breathing and sure enough, the effects of [A Knight’s Squire] were active. His eyes widened as realization dawned on him.
This changes everything. I can now maintain the 2x conversion rate while having access to all the cards! Damn, that’s nice but there should be some drawbacks, right? Without it why would anyone split different attunements?
He took a deep breath, steadying his excitement before murmuring under his breath, "Thanks for your advice, teacher."
…
Essence Source → 22
Essence Conversion rate → 2x Void (1:1)
Effective Essence Well → 42/42 [VOID]
…
[DING!
[DING! SYSTEM WARNS THE
[DING!
I will… and it's high time I change my card loadout. System shows me what cards have I equipped and what choices I have.
[DING! AFFIRMATIVE]
…
? ARTIFACTS
? White Rose
…
Constant HP generation overtime, yup equip this.
…
? RUN CARDS
SLOTS: 4/5
? Heal [CREATION INCANTATION] {13/25}
? Lightning bolt [DESTRUCTION SORCERY] {14/25}
? Expedite [DESTRUCTION SORCERY] {16/25}
? Stone Golem [CREATION SUMMON] {6/10}
?
[ FIREWAVE [DESTRUCTION SORCERY], GRAVITY WELL [KNOWLEDGE SPELL] ]
...
Cassian frowned as he scrolled through his deck wondering what to remove from the existing cards.
Heal is important… wait—why is it locked?
His heart sank as he tapped on it again.
[DING! HEAL[CREATION INCANTATION] CANNOT BE USED WITH VOID ATTUNEMENT]
“Damn, that’s not good… Heal is one of the things that has kept me alive” he muttered, rubbing his chin. So why doesn’t Void doesn’t work with this card other creation cards are just fine.
Oh well…
He still had the artifact which would consistently generate 3 HP continously and a few other cards that could potentially replace Heal. So it wasn’t a total loss.
For now, he needed to adjust.
“Alright,” he sighed, removing Heal from his active slots and equipping both of the new run cards.
They should help nicely with crowd controls, Now onto the Deck Cards.
Cassian exhaled, staring at the sheer number of options before him. “I never thought I would say this but I have a shit ton of them now.”
…
? DECK CARDS
SLOTS: /5
? A Knight’s Squire [CREATION PROFESSION]
?
?
?
?
[MANA SHIELD [KNOWLEDGE SPELL], PIERCING LIGHT [KNOWLEDGE SPELL], RITE OF BLOODSHED [SACRIFICE RITUAL], UNHOLY BLESSING [SACRIFICE SORCERY], SANGUINE BOND [SACRIFICE RITUAL], LIFE FOR LIFE [SACRIFICE SORCERY], LIFEWEAVE SPECTRES [CREATION SUMMON], SUPREME VERDICT [CREATION INCANTATION], THE BEHEMOTH [DESTRUCTION SUMMON]]
...
"[A Knight’s Squire] is non-negotiable. I’m not removing this, it’s the only guide I have, and I’m already subconsciously learning a lot from it." That was settled.
That left him four available slots and nine cards to choose from.
He exhaled sharply looking at the first card. "[Supreme Verdict]? Yeah, no. Requires four fucking attunement cards. Straight to the discard pile for now"
Next was [Lifeweave Spectres]. Fascinating, but ultimately useless at the moment. "I don’t have anything to enhance my summons or put increased counters on them… onto the discard pile."
Then there was [Life for Life]. His fingers hovered over it as he read the description again. “Could be clutch if I just dismiss—oh wait. Sacrifice. Damn.” He frowned, rubbing his chin. "I do have one Run Card that’s a summon… plus the Behemoth summon Deck Card. Let’s put this into my consideration tab."
Next was [Unholy Blessing], He shook his head. "Until I can find a way to consistently have a life gain mechanic, I’m not using this one wrong move and it’s over."
[Sanguine Bond] He let out a low hum. "More of a prep-type card… good for hunts but right now I’m in survival mode so that’s a pass for now."
Then his eyes landed on [Rite of Bloodshed]. Now this one was interesting. He’d be going up against waves of monsters, and it wasn’t like he had any real use for the corpses. "Yeah… this one’s in consideration tab."
Finally, the two no-brainers.
[Piercing Light] “Absolutely. Equipping this shit—no doubt. Just need to check the cost and timing.”
[Mana Shield] "Straight-up equipping it. No debate needed."
He exhaled and glanced back at his consideration pile.
→ Rite of Bloodshed
→ Behemoth
→ Piercing Light
→ Mana Shield
→ Life for life
"Hmm for slots… let's skip behemoth for now and exhaust my run card summon charges" he muttered, slotting them in.
Now onto the Instant Cards.
…
? INSTANT CARDS
SLOTS: /5
? Silence
? Angel’s embrace
? Exile
?
?
[SWORDS OF DAMNATION, EXILE, INSTANT HEAL]
…
Well, this is easy equip Swords of Damnation and Instant Heal… with this, I have two safety cushions one is Angel’s embrace which would automatically heal me fully from near death state, and Instant Heal which I think I would need to trigger. Still fantastic.
That settles let me grab something to eat and then find Dorian to discuss the plans.
...
A/N : Wohooo net set of cards slotted don't worry we will be getting more cards and will also revisits these cards soon, for now what do you guys think about the cards so far. Would love some ideas on cards from you all.
|
AN OFFER YOU CAN'T REFUSE!!
10 chapters ahead for $5.5
15-25 Chapters ahead for $10