Chapter 170- Predatory Links

Arthur immediately understood why people were barred from gaining a second extra general skill slot. Of course, the rarity of a Transcendent item was certainly a factor, but more importantly, even as a soul mage with a significantly larger soul than most, he felt the uncomfortable sensation of something being added to his soul, though calling it the 'unlocking of his potential' seemed more accurate.

He didn't know if souls grew stronger over time- they had to in order to maintain stronger skills and stats- but right now, his soul felt tender and weak, and he wasn't certain he'd be able to handle another upgrade to his general skills anytime soon. All things considered, the process had been less painful than expected with the only downside being that he felt like his soul had just been put through an intense workout session. Hopefully, the feeling would pass soon.

Ayesha looked displeased- clearly, she didn’t approve of his choice- but she didn’t voice her objection, though she clearly wanted to. Iris, on the other hand, had a knowing smile on her face, and he once again wondered just what it was that her seer abilities showed her. The seer always had a smirk on her face that let you know she knew more than she let on. Had she seen a snippet of his future alchemical prowess or did she simply trust that he was a responsible adult who thought through his decisions?

Either way, Arthur was content with his choice. He could feel the new skill settling into his soul, and he brought up its description to read through.

Poisoned Alchemy (Rare)- You have delved into the art of alchemical creation, specialising in all things toxic and poisonous

Effect (Passive): Increases the toxicity of all poisons you create by 20%. All alchemical creations will contain a hint of poison. 

Effect (Active): Utilize ether to properly synthesize and enhance items up to and including Tier 2

Cost: Variable. Spending exorbitant amounts of energy can help bridge the gap between genius and host's ability

Devil's Luck: Once per day, you may use this skill to gain the maximum potential for a Tier 1 item.  

Cost: 10,000 ether

Arthur didn't have a reference to work with, but his alchemy skill looked above average. The Devil's Luck effect certainly looked impressive, even with its limitations and he hoped it would allow him to jerry-rig his way to success, at least until he formally learned the art of alchemy from a reliable teacher. Along with the skill came faint recollections of how to create certain potions. In those memories, he could see feminine hands working with certain plants native to Earth- hands he recognized as Mira’s. The memories were hazy and distinctly separate from his own, like watching old grainy footage.

Arthur wasn’t sure if all crafting skills came with such recollections, but in his case, they were definitely welcome. Whoever the Harvester's agent was- if he was the one responsible for teaching Mira- he certainly knew his craft well, though teaching someone you intended to kill felt perverse- like fattening up a pet only to slaughter and consume it. The knowledge showed him how to create basic potions and taught him which components could be substituted with more readily available ingredients.

The most vivid memories were of Mira creating the Stimulants of strengthening for Arthur’s fight against the Draconic Liverthion. They had been potent stuff at the time, but now he wasn’t sure if they would still work for him. After all, while his level hadn't increased significantly since then, he was at least ten times stronger than before. If the potions still worked on him, it meant that Mira had been an unparalleled genius.

Ayesha smiled wryly at him. “You look happy. How is it? Does it meet your expectations?”

Arthur nodded. The skill was excellent and provided a solid foundation from which he could develop his alchemical abilities. The passive effect of increasing the toxicity of his poisons by 20% would likely apply to his poison affinity as well, meaning his Fang of the Hydra should also get a boost. It might not be a full 20% increase, but it would be something- which was more than welcome.

“I still think you should’ve waited for another way to get another general skill slot,” Ayesha said. “You could’ve traded that one for something better suited to you. With Identify taking up one of your slots and whatever translation skill you have on top of everything else, you’ve only got what, only one slot left?”

“My Identify skill transitioned into some kind of mutation, so I’ve still got two free slots actually,” Arthur reassured her. “I’ve got room for the blacksmithing skill you want me to pick up so badly, and I’ve been thinking about learning enchanting too. Maybe like the runes I’ve seen on some of your weapons. If I can master weapon craft and apply it to armaments of the soul, any tool I create will be made with some of the best materials known to man. I can increase my combat potential by tenfold. One hundred fold? I don't even know."

Even Iris seemed taken aback by his admision, first shocked, then contemplative. “What you’re saying sounds insane,” Iris began, “But it’s definitely possible. I don’t think it’s likely before your second class evolution, though. You’ll need to evolve your skill to a mythical rarity skill at the least. But imagine it. You could create staves on the fly that'll be legendary items, all of them capable of true soul damage, amplifying your magic even further... I don't even know how many times. With crystal focuses amplifying specific elements," She paused for a moment, contemplating something before her eyes widened in excitement. "Scratch that! If you master runic script, you could have access to almost any type of magic- fire, lightning, wind, anything really as long as you know the script- and with your near-infinite supply of the best materials to enchant upon, your freaking soul…"

She looked at him carefully, her eyes deep and searching, as if she was analysing exactly what his future entailed. When Iris spoke next, her voice was subdued. "Arthur, if you manage to do this, you might genuinely become one of the strongest beings in the universe. I thought your soul affinity skills were a little underwhelming at first, at least compared to some of the documented stories available to the public. But creating tools out of your soul? That's unheard of- an impossible skill when you think about it. The soul is a rigid structure, practically indestructible and impossibly difficult to shape in any way."

"And yet your skill allows you to manipulate your own like it's some kind of malleable clay," Iris continued. "Perhaps the fractured state of your soul at the time had something to do with its creation."

Arthur took all of this in. It was the first time he'd been compared to other soul mages, and he was surprised to see how different his abilities were from the standard. As far as he had thought, he had assumed Armaments of the Soul- or at least a variant of it- was part of every soul mage's arsenal. 

Even among the other abnormalities, I have to stand out as unique. It's like I'm a super rare Pokémon or something, Arthur mused. Now he'd just found out that his soul weapons broke the mold of what was believed to be possible. He hadn't put much thought into how he'd develop his class, but he'd always known that his strengths would centre around his soul affinity.

Beyond the half-baked plan to learn how to make better weapons, however, he hadn’t given it much thought. But now, after Ayesha had brought up enhancing his class abilities with a general skill, he was reconsidering everything. He imagined how he could get the most out of his build. With his health forecasted to reach truly epic proportions- bordering on the insane- he had more energy and potential than he knew what to do with. Becoming a master weapon smith, one who crafted tools on the fly to suit his purposes, was the perfect route for someone like him.

He could almost picture it, and the thought of his potential power practically made him salivate. Don’t count your chickens before your eggs have hatched, he chided himself.

"Back to the threat we’re facing," Arthur said, trying to divert his attention back to more pressing matters- being altogether unsuccessful. "If Mira was killed by the Harvester, what about the other humans the Harvester interacted with? Were they drained too?" He asked.

"Harvester's agent, Arthur. If were dealing with the actual Harvester, I'd be running for the hills. That's the kind of foe my father would be wary of facing in open battle. In any case, we’ve identified three victims," Iris replied. "A magma mage and an enchanter who we couldn’t get to in time, and the third… well, you’ve met him already. Tamo Tatsumi. Lady Sleyca actually commissioned us to go get him, so we’re in a tentative partnership right now. Whatever curse was placed on him, and the subsequent healing you put him through, messed with whatever magic the Harvester’s agent placed on him. All he lost was a single skill and a title before we got to him."

"Where is he now?" Arthur asked.

"We took him off-world, out of the solar system in fact. The distance helped weaken the draining connection put on him. The stasis field we placed him in deals with the rest, but it’s only a stopgap measure at best. At his level, we can only keep him there for another three weeks at most. Either the agent is dealt with by then, or Tamo's days are numbered."

Arthur grimaced. He hadn’t been friends with Mira exactly, but her death was undeserving. Tamo seemed like a nice enough guy from the last time they met and now his life was hanging in the balance.

"That’s not the worst of it though," Iris said, interrupting his thoughts. "You were the person Mira interacted with the most before she went AWOL. Did she give you anything she might have received from the agent? Anything at all?"

Arthur cursed loudly, startling the two women. "That's how he links with people, isn’t it? She had an extra Alvaross Academy token. She was trying to give it to me, but knowing what I know now, I doubt the item was actually genuine. I didn't take it, though I did touch it. How much of a problem is that going to be?"

"It’s worse than I feared," Ayesha's face fell, and Arthur knew immediately he wasn’t going to like what she said next. "Those tokens are used to drain people and establish predatory links. You were the last person to touch that link, Arthur. The agent’s next target is you."

AN-

This AN is going to get old very fast so you don't have to read it if you don't want to. It's copy pasted from before. Feel free to ignore it.

Author Note:

Thank you everyone for all the support during my stories launch. Things turned out better than I expected but worse than I had hoped. Self-publishing means my story is only as successful as I am capable in marketing it, and I have never before in my life marketed anything. It's been an interesting learning experience to say the least.

That is to say, that releases will hopefully be going back to a normal two chapters a week baring any unforeseen circumstances that may blindside me. This will be getting old very soon, but once again, I make an appeal to everyone to please go and check out my books release. Leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads, posting it on anywhere you think people might be interested, telling friends and family. Every little bit helps so much more than you could know.

On a side note, if hypothetically, all my readers went and got a KU trial for free for one month (RR says its around 5,000), and read my story Etherious: Fresh Beginnings, entirely for free, all within 24 hours of reading this, a LitRPG story, could hypothetically break into the top ten ranks on Amazon Books. It's impossible, but one can hope.

Day dreaming aside, my book has currently passed 200 sales so far, calculated via copies sold and KU pages read. If by the end of September, my novel passes 1,000 sales, I will start releasing 3 chapters a week. I've been devoting far more time to writing then I used to, and am enjoying it a lot more too since my novels release. So long as I don't get burned out, things are looking up for my writing. Thank you everyone for sticking with me.

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