Battle Admin System 10

10 - New Skills, New Adventure

Lillea wondered if she would go back for the shadow skills she passed over and purchase them in the future. Maybe Shade Wolves might turn out handy later on.

Chances were no.

Once she settled on her decisions, her build would be mostly complete. There was one last skill she wanted to purchase. But that skill required the dwarves to finish the special commission for her.

Then the foundations would be set. She could already feel the immensity of that day when she would have all the powers she needed for the next two to three hundred levels. Her growth would accelerate faster than any giant before her. She would become a monster among monsters.

Chills traveled through Lillea’s body as she thought about the completion of her build. And this needs to happen before the church sends their inquisitors. How long would that take?

Alden would head opposite of Cold Tooth, of course.

He would run past the first town south. Maybe past the second town. He would go on a month-long journey and take two weeks to get situated afterward. Then he would tell the church and have inquisitors at Lillea’s heels in the third month.

Ten weeks or less. They would reach the last month of the year by then, the end of winter. It’s not enough time. What if I’m not ready?

Lillea grunted in exasperation. She ignored her nervousness and fixed her mind on what she could control now. Shadow skills.

She first emptied three older skills.

You’ve removed Rock Spire (Level 239) from a skill slot. You have an open skill slot!

You’ve removed Whirling Tundra (213) from a skill slot. You have 2 open skill slots!

You’ve removed Adept Club Fighting (Level 201) from a skill slot. You have 3 open skill slots!

Lillea breathed deeply and concentrated. System points disappeared in bursts. It was painful to see a windfall dwindle.

The system wouldn’t refund her if she decided to replace these expensive skills, too. And if she ever wanted them again, she would have to repurchase them for the same price. She’d heard of adventurers making these foolish mistakes and how it haunted them for years.

Thus, it was safe to consider Lillea’s choices as permanent decisions. That was okay in the long run. Expensive skills tended to have the most advantages in power, efficiency, and growth capabilities. When chosen correctly for the right roles and builds.

Since these skills came from a powerful demon, Lillea was picking some of her best options. Their potential tier growth would be greater than cheaper skills, for example.

You’ve filled an open skill slot with Shadow Step (Level 1)!

You’ve filled an open skill slot with Prideful Crown (Level 1)!

You’ve filled an open skill slot with Strings of Pride and Shadow (Level 1)!

Almost there.

You’ve purchased a skill slot with 1 system point! You have an open skill slot.

You’ve filled an open skill slot with Dark Bolt (Level 1)!

One more.

You’ve purchased a skill slot with 1 system point! You have an open skill slot.

You have 0 System Points.

“Done,” Lillea said with grim satisfaction.

A confused feeling emanated from her left arm. Solo wanted to practice empathetic communication in case she didn’t want to talk openly.

“The last open skill slot is a promise to myself,” Lillea explained. “It will remain open until I receive the weapon I commissioned a famous dwarven clan to complete. That weapon has a vital skill to go along with it, the finishing touches to our build.”

Solo emitted a feeling of wonder.

“These foundational pieces will be the structure that’ll support our reign of power and luxury. And duty. We will be at the top of it all thanks to your strength and my plans coming together.”

The demon arm emitted feelings of understanding and haughtiness. She liked the care Lillea placed in making them a supreme powerhouse. She was happy to be a part of it.

They would not make the mistakes of being a mixed bag of skills that didn’t harmonize. Novice adventurers would cripple their future potential because they couldn’t choose a specific build when the time came to do so. Usually before the Level 300s.

Lillea had only tried out many different skills for learning purposes. Even then, she had a hard time letting go of the flexibility.

She was under a time restraint now. She saw clearer than ever before. Her profile reflected as much.

Profile: Lillea Solo Moonstrider

Race: Demonic Moon Giant

Rank: Legendary

Role: Battler

Experience: Level 275

System Points: 0

Skills: Moonstrider Learning V (Level 272), Moonstrider Athleticism V (Level 275), Expert Hunter’s Perception III (Level 260), Ravenous Survival III (Level 229), Force Manipulation III (Level 245), Demonic Prosthetic Innovation (226), Shadow Step (Level 1), Prideful Crown (Level 1), Strings of Pride and Shadow (Level 1), Dark Bolt (Level 1), Skill Slot (Open).

Lillea stood to her feet. The ragged remains of her outfit bound her body where it counted. Her backpack barely weighed much on her back.

Now it was time to mark the place of great power and find her goblins. The mere thought of failing her servants and letting bandits harm them pushed Lillea to move like a dark wind.

Amid her anger and animosity was excitement, too. She had new powers to practice and train up. She had new levels to acquire.

Blood lust flowed freely from her body. Her expressions couldn’t decide between scowling or smiling.

Force Manipulation helped her move quietly and quickly. She decreased the force on her footfalls. Then she increased forces when she propelled herself forward.

River bank rocks flew behind her and clattered in heaps. But that was still quieter than her normal steps.

The dark forest blurred by. The winking moon watched through breaks in the cloudy sky. Curious night monsters turned at the sounds of raining rocks. They waited too late to escape from the near-flying giant.

Lillea extended her left hand. Five dark strings spooled out before she lashed them forward. Low-leveled skills should barely damage the monsters of these forests. But Lillea had tricks.

A Six-Legged Swamp Panther reared up when it received five direct lashes across its belly and forelegs. The shadow strands dug into the flesh and sent blood spraying onto the river bank. Not enough to kill or seriously injure. But the damage would hurt.

The large feline ran into the bushes, and Strings of Pride and Shadow gained a burst of levels. The skill had the advantage of two other skills in the Level 200s helping out.

Demonic Prosthetic Innovation enhanced the strings when channeled through the left arm. And Force Manipulation’s second perk allowed the shadow strings to increase or decrease force damage.

It amazed Lillea how foolish adventurers could be for dismissing Force Manipulation. No doubt, it was the odd duck in her build. Even Ravenous Survival seemed more fitting now. But Force Manipulation kept working in unique ways.

Her demon-enhanced channels allowed her to maintain her force-dash technique longer than ever before. She was like a gale-forced storm with whips. She lashed every unfortunate monster she found in her way.

Solo gave a strong feeling for Lillea to stop. They reached a curvy bend in the river the demon recognized.

Lillea let Solo take control of the arm. The transition was smooth and easy. As Solo pointed into the forest, Lillea followed her claw’s directions at a slow pace.

They entered the territory of Mugging Raccoons in the Level 250s. While they only came up to Lillea’s knees, they were more magical than most monsters in the area. Vision distortions. Energy-draining curses. Item-snatching spells. And rotten bolts that stunk and corroded flesh.

Lillea formed a horned crown. The points twisted upward similar to Solo’s horns. The black metal felt cool on her head.

She grimaced slightly at the rapid mana movement through her channels. Her demon-enhanced channels could barely keep up as the Mugging Raccoons tried to affect her with their magic. They broke through, which was to be expected. But Prideful Crowned benefited in the attempt to defend with a burst of levels.

Lillea wore her crown and ran after the raccoons fast. She caught three barehanded and tore them apart with the claws of her left hand. Solo laughed aloud with a grating voice that haunted the raccoons into a retreat.

Lillea dismissed the crown and raised her right hand. A little dark bead the size of a human fist formed. She shot a raccoon with pinpoint accuracy but barely did anything. Dark Bolt received some levels anyway.

She tripped another raccoon with a lashing string to their ankle and kept whipping it until it couldn’t run away. Then she combined her hands and formed a bigger bolt between her palms. It was the size of a human head.

The racoon hurled magic at her in desperation. She let it hit as she shot bolts back in return. She noticed a brief disruption in the raccoon’s magic attacks before it forced out counter-magic. Since time was of the essence, Lillea finished the raccoon with whipping strands.

Lillea paused to eat. She needed more meat and bone. She hadn’t crossed the density threshold for hardier flesh. While she chewed on mouthfuls, she sank into a pool of shadow and entered her shadow domain. The process was slow, but the domain was unique. Not what she expected

It was a white void. All colors were inverted except for the black splotches of shadow for her to resurface through. Movement was slow through the shadow domain. Her channeling felt intense. Resurfacing was half her objective and half the push of an invisible pressure. She exited much faster than she submerged and ended up 100 feet to the right of where she started.

Lillea took in another mouthful of meat and bone and Shadow Stepped again and again. The levels climbed fast. The dives into her shadow domain eased slightly. She felt more in control of her movements in the white void. It was half swimming and half willing herself in a direction like an arrow in flight. Before she moved on, she managed to surface over two hundred feet away.

She followed Solo’s directions again, the demon in her arm taking over. Her attention shifted to her gains. She’d never trained up her abilities so fast even when they were early levels.

I’ve grown more proficient at this. She had sturdier channels, too. The levels reflected.

Moonstrider Learning V leveled up from 272 to 273!

Moonstrider Athleticism V leveled up from 275 to 276!

Expert Hunter’s Perception III leveled up from 260 to 261!

Ravenous Survival III leveled up from 229 to 233!

Force Manipulation III Leveled up from 245 to 248!

Demonic Prosthetic Innovation leveled up from 226 to 230!

Shadow Step leveled up from 1 to 21!

Prideful Crown leveled up from 1 to 29!

Strings of Pride and Shadow leveled up from 1 to 43!

Dark Bolt leveled up from 1 to 24!

Your experience leveled up from 275 to 276!

Lillea stumbled. The rapid growth surprised her. Strings of Pride and Shadow moved head and shoulders above the rest. If it kept up that pace, it would reach the 200s within two weeks and become Lillea’s favorite of the dark build. Prideful Crown came second in growth and had huge potential for greatness, but it was costly on her channels. It needed to be used with care.

Shadow Step and Dark Bolt will need time to grow. At least they were rising well within expectations.

In fact, Lillea could see how advantageous they were already. Shadow Step was going to prove its worth soon. Dark Bolt had disrupted the higher level magic of a Mugging Raccoon, regardless of the disruption’s briefness. That could be long enough to leverage if Lillea pushed hard enough. This was spectacular for a low-level skill.

The system points will be well-spent.

Solo raised a closed fist for them to stop. The possessed metal hand surveyed the area before pointing Lillea to the right. The giant’s perception skill took over.

She crept low across the ground. Mossy rocks. A forest-heavy hill overhead. Spiderwebs and man-size spiders. She crushed and ate a few that couldn’t run away in time.

After some searching, Lillea parted thick vegetation and revealed a tiny crawl space. A human would barely squeeze through.

Lillea stood and turned to her left hand. The claws looked at her as if everything rested on Lillea’s shoulders now.

The giant submerged and resurfaced in the shadows until the thin gray light of morning shone on the horizon. Lillea meditated to restore her sore channels. She checked Shadow Step’s level.

Shadow Step leveled up from 21 to 32!

It would have to do.

Lillea took a big breath and dove into a shadow outside the little cave. In the inverted void she saw the thin line of black and followed it. She crossed a threshold and felt the domain pushing her up. Her head bumped the line of shadow and couldn’t resurface. The domain kept trying to eject her.

Lillea pushed back, throwing herself further than ever before. The burden on her mana channels doubled. Pain lanced through her entire body. She kept going anyway. Swimming. Struggling. Stuck in a domain that was going to squeeze the life out of her if she didn’t resurface.

Lillea found a large black pool and exploded upward. Her body sailed through the darkness and slammed against a wall before crumpling into the floor. Her channels felt ravaged but alive. Like having limbs filled with liquid fire. Solo congratulated Lillea on enforcing her will on the shadow domain.

The giant focused on catching her breath. Once the haziness left her eyes, she used the wall to stand up.

A perfect cube-shaped atrium surrounded her. Every angle had been intricately cut into the dark stone of the walls. The more she looked, the more her disbelief grew.

She staggered backward from the wall. She touched it once again with her right hand before staring at her fleshy fingers. Solo wanted to know what was wrong.

“Black moon stone,” Lillea said. “This is the material of my ancestors. This can give birth to black moon ores, one of the most magical metals in existence. It is rare. Difficult to work with. But can be made into weapons of such power they are ranked legendary.”

Lillea ran around, tracing both hands over the stone. Metal claws scraped and flung sparks.

Solo fell into the whimsy of Lillea’s mood. She didn’t understand what this all meant. All that mattered to Solo was the impassable doorway set within a heavy frame of black moon metal.

Lillea Solo Moonstrider stopped in front of the sealed doors. Both the demon and the giant were in awe.

At the top of the frame, Lillea read aloud letters similar to ancient Moonstrider text. It felt like she was reading a different subsect of magic, too. The air warbled around her words.

“Let whoever seeks power behind these doors be a Moonstrider or a legend. The trials of the Hall of Admins are to test your ability to secure this world’s system link, the only shield against the…”

Moonstrider Learning V leveled up from 273 to 275!

Lillea struggled to read the rest. The words were almost too alien to translate. Like the ending was the oldest rune-style language in all of Kolossi. In the end, she memorized the last two words for later research. All that mattered before she moved on was laying her eyes on the Hall of Admins.