Chapter 685 - Sofia, you are not helping your case…

Before Sofia could even digest what had just happened to her, her eyes laid upon the same skill optimization prompt as before, but without the ‘enemy of all things’.

[Skill : Blessing of the Deep - Skill version index UNREGISTERED]

[The freedom to fight back]

[Available options (Mutually exclusive):

Regulator’s obstination - You cannot lose consciousnes.

Annihilator’s defiance - You can create high randomness in places it should not exist. 

Orator’s innocence - Attacks against you that you are not aware of cannot harm you. 

Inquisitor’s judgement - In battles that you did not initiate, your attacks bypass all immunities.]

You need not fight this battle, but here’s a knife just in case the battle comes to you?

I do like the other three… But who am I to decline my father’s goodwill?

‘[Blessing of the Deep] has been optimized following branch -JUDGEMENT- ’

Seriously though… The enemy of all things? And it’s you saying that? What in the world can stand up to the Lords? That same thing they were trying to escape before that Orator mentionned in his message on the throne?

At this rate the highest contributor to Looming’s growth will be me…

Sofia sat down on her bed and thought over the enemy’s message and Aphenoreth’s reaction as the watched the ocean.

Pareth silently appeared behind her, but he did not interrupt her thoughts.

We are dealing with another Lord or someone as strong as them… And it came to talk to me here of all places?

It can’t possibly be the voice from before, someone capable of contending with the Lords wouldn’t have to stoop so low as to try to kick me out of the system… But maybe they are on the same side with that ‘enemy of all things’. Maybe Scripture is too.

Do you believe in preordained fate, all is written, freedom is fake… Aphenoreth says it’s a lie but he also says the mark is what makes me free. Does that mean everyone else is not free? That is a bit bleak…

Wait, speaking of fate and the Deep, didn’t the Eddarinians Pestle used to be from, who had the technology to make gateways leading to the deep, worship ‘the great tapestry of fate’? If I recall exactly, Erredis said they believed the universe moved inevitably toward a singular goal and they wanted to accelerate it… If the tapestry truly predicts the end goal of everything, it might be fair to say everything is written… Fate…

Is ‘the enemy of all things’ fate itself? A lord of destiny?

Why woult it send me that message though? I was losing consciousness but perhaps it wasn’t even an attack, just the effects of being near a Lord?

If Aphenoreth’s mark is what makes me free, then perhaps I’ve gone astray from any supposed fate. If my destiny was to already be dead, which I probably would be if not for the Mark… I could imagine that the influence of the Lord of destiny itself would kill me…

But if the goal was to kill me it probably could have done so easier, no?

Then… Was it just trying to make me distrust the Lords and the freedom I have been given?

Maybe it’s just mad that I escaped my fate?

I need not fight this battle…

That clearly implies that I CAN fight it? Right?

The freedom to fight back… Well… I doubt there is anything I can do right now… If even the ascended fear the Lords, what is a weakling like me supposed to do?

The enemy of all things… Sofia repeated in her head.

I am way out of my depth…

A large skeletal hand gave Sofia a pat on the shoulder.

She grabbed it with both hands before it could be pulled back.

You also have the freedom to leave, you know? Will you keep following me even if the enemy is fate itself?

“That’s a dumb question, Sofia!” Bookie exclaimed as he barged into the room slamming the door open.  

Sofia laughed. She did feel dumb. These were the companions who had followed her even against her own will when she called out the annihilator’s name.

“I guess you’re right. Sorry. And thanks… Since you’re both here, want to play another round of that board game?”

“I play the mad king this time!” Bookie immediately cried out running to fetch the game from behind Lepo’s empty stall.

After spending all night playing games, and with Pareth winning every single round even after Pestle and Crowie joined in, the skeletons left the room again in search for the remaining hidden shops. It seemed they had a lot of fun just exploring the Ark. Sofia, for her part, decided to check out the skill optimizations again.

It should go better this time…

Her hand froze right above the machine for an instant, but she ended up activating it, shaking off the encumbering thoughts about fate.

[Skills available for guided optimization:

‘Spine of the Black Sun’

‘Graveyard of the Nymphs’

‘False immortality’

‘Skull Choir’]

Let’s see the choir first.

[Skill : Skull Choir - Skill version index SK_SKLLC_1.0]

Current version : 

[Skull Choir] (Level 295): Invokes the Skull Choir Array formation to attack and blow away your targets.

The skulls of the skull choir are counted as a single skeleton.

The choir may only move in predetermined resizable array formations, will follow the user and attack autonomously unless manually controlled. 

The choir may use a different type of attack depending on the type of skull used as a model. Models will be consumed and permanently added as an available skull type.

If no skull model is selected, the default type is : Human, sonic attacks.

You can invoke a choir of at most 69 skulls (10 + Skill level/5; rounded down).

Requires a 1 (0.5) second channeling time. 

Costs 100 (50) mana per skull per second to maintain.

If defeated or dismissed, the choir may not be invoked again for 3 minutes.

Currently known Array Formations:

• Ring system Array

• Sphere Array

• Wall Array

• Patrol Array

(Next Array unlocked at skill level 300)

Stored skulls:

• Human

• Sandworm

• Boar

• Sirhellion

• Destroyer

• Bloodlight Echo

• A bunch of useless ones I never use.

[Available branches (same version lettered upgrades are mutually exclusive):

1.1A - All Skulls can now move freely, but the skulls’ health is halved - 10 000 TP

1.1B - You may only keep one permanent Array formation and forget the others, but the skulls’ health is tripled - 10 000 TP

1.1C - The skulls now all die in one hit regardless of damage received, but the choir no longer has a cooldown - 10 000 TP

Experimental3 - The Choir becomes a Quintet. You may now only summon up to five skulls at once, and you may only store up to five skull types, but they are incomparably stronger and more resilient - 10 000 TP

Request new branch - 500 000 TP base fee* + Branch cost

*fee refunded if completion of request is impossible]

A quintet?

The limitations are pretty heavy… This certainly limits the multicasting shenanigans I can pull with the bloodlight echoes… But ‘incomparably’ stronger? You have me interested.

Hey, Mr.Scribe, if we pick this and it turns out to be shit, do you think we can manually revert the skill?

[It might take a few days and leave some scars, but it should be possible.]

So maybe a small slot space loss? That would be pretty annoying…

Still… ‘Incomparably’ is quite a strong word… And it’s a fact that currently the choir is a bit weak unless I use it to copy my own spells… I could even take 1.1B first to make them extra tough. Keeping a single array is pretty bad but it doesn’t matter for both the echoes and the destroyers so…

Let’s do it!

‘You have spent 10 000 tournament points’

‘You have spent 10 000 tournament points’

‘[Skull Choir] has been optimized following path 1.0 -> 1.1B -> Exp3 ’

‘Current balance : 248 113 126 points’

So let’s see… I dismiss the Boar skull and all the useless ones… And I keep the ring array.

Oh man, they went up from 50 mana per skull per second to 5000?

I mean… I’ll be able to afford keeping the five of them up easily right after the trial but right now that makes me a bit weaker. They better pack a real punch to make it worth the investment.

Sofia tried to summon a single new and upgraded Destroyer skull.

To her surprise, the spell failed.

What the hell?

The spell resolved and did nothing?

Did the choir break? Scribe, do you understand what just happened?

It took a few seconds for Mr.Scribe to understand the citation and come up with the explanation.

[There is nothing wrong with the skill, but it did fail. The reason seems to be lack of space.]

“Lack of space?!”

I tried to summon a single one! And this room is big!

Sofia fixed her clothes and ran out of the room, making her way up to the Ark’s main deck. Ezerid’s group was there, grilling sausage over a bonfire under the stars but Sofia barely even noticed them, she took some distance and used the skill again. It had failed the first time so the cooldown was still up.

She summoned a Destroyer’s skull. It was as large and imposing as the real thing.

Sofia silently laughed to herself.

“I can summon five of those?!”