Alex could barely contain his excitement, but he pushed it down for just a little longer. He needed to keep a clear head. The System wasn't going to give him another monster for free, which meant he'd have to find out how to get a new one.
He was also still within his Mind Palace. There weren't any monsters to claim here — but he still did have one more reward to claim before he could finally level up and return to the outside world.
Alex brushed his fingers across the black gem once more. The muted spark buried deep within it ignited as the black words scrawled across the mantle of the basin changed once more.
Accept Rewards [1/1]?
"Hit me with it," Alex said. He hesitated for a moment. "Metaphorically, that is."
I'm not sure how literal the System is, but I really don't want to find out the hard way.
Fortunately for him, his mind seemed free of any genie-like tendencies and his request was granted exactly in the way that he had wanted it. The instant he finished speaking, golden lines appeared in the air like they'd been sliced into it by a glowing knife.
Unmaker: Granted to those who rid the system of an Anomaly. While this title is equipped, slaying anomalies saves a portion of their power within your soul. At the next milestone, consume this power to upgrade a single Auxiliary Skill. [1/2 Anomalies slain].
"That would explain why that prick tried to kill me," Alex muttered as he read over the title, equipping it without hesitation. He wasn't sure if he was going to go start hunting every other anomaly he ran into, but it looked like now that he'd gotten the title, he'd only get the benefits of it if he had it equipped.
Never know who I'm going to end up fighting, so no point not using it and missing out on a reward. I wonder if the skill upgrade is based on the abilities of the anomalies I kill, or if it's just a straight upgrade like the ones leveling up is meant to give me.
I suppose there's only one way to find out.
He was out of rewards to accept for the time being, and he didn't have infinite time to work with. The sooner he got back into the real world, the better. There was just one thing left to do.
Alex dipped his hand into the glowing water. Ice drove into his veins as a river of electric energy punched through his palm and flowed through his body into his heart. He drew in a stiff breath and his back straightened, but he held his concentration. There was a lot of power left in the basin, and he absorbed every single drop of it.
Your Stage has advanced to Novice 4.
Your Stage has advanced to Novice 5.
You have amassed 2 units of soul energy.
Please select an Auxiliary Skill to upgrade.
The three smaller blue gems on the on the mantle of his basin glistened as they lit with bright energy from within, and black letters appeared on the marble once more.
[Requiem to the King] (Novice 1)
[Monster Medley] (Novice 1)
[Riftwalk] (Novice 1)
The pain burning through Alex's system receded and he studied the skills before him. Unfortunately, it didn't look like he'd get to see the details of what his potential upgrades were before choosing the skill he was going to use his the energy on.
"I wonder which is better — to dump all my points into improving a single skill, or to spread them out and be as balanced as possible," Alex mused, chewing his lower lip in thought. It didn't actually change much for his first choice. He just had to upgrade his most important skill.
Requiem to the King let him fight on his own, but only when his monsters were dead. Claire had mentioned that summoners usually didn't have a way to defend themselves. And, as far as Alex was concerned, any exception to a rule was usually an advantage.
Requiem to the King depends on the strength of my monsters, though. I can't do anything that Glint can't. Monster Medley lets me directly upgrade him, which in turn directly upgrades me. That's definitely one of the skills I have to upgrade, then.
And that left Riftwalk. The skill that Berith had given him. At least right now, the only thing that Riftwalk let him do was use the portals that connected the Mirrorlands to Earth. There was just one problem.
It didn't say anything about making portals, and he didn't see any portals to work with around him. He wasn't even sure what upgrading it would do. Sure, there was a chance he could get the ability to make portals to the Mirrorlands, but it was equally as likely that he'd just come out of every portal freshly shaven.
Then I think that settles it. The only ability that's guaranteed to help me when I upgrade it is Monster Medley. I can figure my next step out after that.
Alex didn't even have to speak out loud. The moment he made his mind up, the words on the marble shifted. Black lines flowed down from the center blue gem that aligned with Monster Medley, forming into what resembled the top of a family tree. Three small boxes appeared beneath the gem.
(1 Unit) Rift Flood: Flood a summoned monster with rift energy, empowering their core attributes and warping their form.
(1 Unit) Empower: Temporarily improve a summoned monster's speed and power.
(1 Unit) Two for one: Temporarily split one of your summoned monsters into two, halving every aspect of their being. This will split the summoned monster's life force, linking the clones in life and death.
Alex's eyes widened in surprise. These were far from minor changes. Each one was an entire new ability in itself — and not just that. He had 2 Units of energy to work with, one from each level, which means he could get two abilities now, not just one.
Rift Flood looks insanely promising. Mirrorlands monsters are fucking terrifying compared to the stuff I've seen on Earth so far. This rift energy shit could be what's making them so warped and messed up. Rift Flood is like a version of Empower that amplifies those rift elements even more.
That makes Rift Flood objectively better than Empower, but I should take a look at the last option before I make my decision.
The final ability just cut every aspect of his monsters in half. While having more bodies in a fight would be a huge boon, he'd also seen just how useless the horde of squirrels in the Razorleaf Dungeon had been.
Also, halving anything meant numbers going down.
Alex was not a fan of numbers going down.
Fortunately for him, there was one option that was the complete and utter opposite of that. It also happened to fit the promise he'd made himself some time ago. The world was already fucked. Everything had gone to shit — and if that was the case, then he was going to enjoy the apocalypse. If he died, he died. That was life.
But if he didn't die… well, it would be more fun than coding. That was for certain.
But happens after I select one? Can I select others? Or am I cut off the other paths? Damn it. I wish Meiderly was still here. I'd even settle for Berith.
They weren't there, though. Alex was alone — and he didn't have hours to sit around pondering. That was entirely his fault, he wasn't one to plot for this long anyway. A small smile crossed Alex's lips.
Eh. Fuck it. Rift Flood is badass.
"I chose Rift Flood," Alex said. There was no way he could complain about something that would make Glint even more powerful while simultaneously making him scarier.
Bright blue energy poured out from the gem and followed the black line leading down to the ability he'd chosen. It flooded into the box, lighting it from within, and Alex felt the very same energy bubbling within him. The other two boxes both darkened as cracks ran throughout them.
[Monster Medley] (Novice 2) has gained an additional effect.
Rift Flood: Flood a summoned monster with rift energy, empowering their core attributes and warping their form.
Black lines traced down from the box he'd chosen, forming into three more boxes — but there was no writing within them. Alex still had one more skill to upgrade. Given that he couldn't see anything in the boxes, he suspected that he had to select Monster Medley a second time to see his new options.
Looks like I don't get to go back and grab the old abilities. Maybe they'll show up again in the future, but I'm not too torn up about it if they don't. I'll definitely have to be careful to make sure I don't select something bad and waste a slot in the future.
He hesitated for a second before he selected where he would use his next upgrade. He wasn't sure he wanted to choose Monster Medley a second time, and not because he didn't like the skill.
Without a way into the Mirrorlands, he had absolutely no way to get another monster. Now that he was stronger, the most pressing matter for the future was securing a way to get more creatures from the Mirrorlands.
That only left one option.
I need to hope that I can get a way to open a portal to the Mirrorlands by leveling up Riftwalk.
Alex touched the rightmost gem. Cool energy raced through his body in a now familiar sensation as the tree upon the mantle wiped itself clean before shifting its origin. Three new boxes appeared, now coming from the gem that corresponded to Riftwalk.
(1 Unit) Warpskin: Draw the latent Rift energy that permeates the Infinitum into your body, granting yourself minor camouflage from both sight and scent.
(1 Unit) — Riftsense: Extend your senses to locate the Rift nearest to you.
(1 Unit) — Rip: Gather a small amount of Rift energy and send it forward in a slash.
Alex let out a relieved sigh. Sensing the nearest Rift wasn't quite as nice as forming a portal from scratch, but it would suit his purposes just fine for the time being.
However, the other two abilities were both useful. Alex wasn't eager to give up the potential to control rift magic externally or internally.
The System hasn't felt unfair at any point. It rewards challenge, so there's no way it would completely gate me out of ever getting more useful rift-related abilities if I go with the detection one, right? There has to be a way. If something as powerful as Berith can get chained down, then I'm confident anything can be accomplished when you get strong enough.
His decision for the time being wasn't hard. He needed a way back to the Mirrorlands more than anything else. It was the only place he could get more monsters to summon and the biggest advantage he had.
Alex made his choice.
[Riftwalk] (Novice 2) has gained an additional effect.
Riftsense: Extend your senses to locate the Rift nearest to you.
A shiver ran down Alex's spine as the power set itself into his body. Once again, the skill tree expanded before him but failed to show anything new. Alex wasn't perturbed. He'd have more than enough time to learn about how the rest of his abilities worked after he killed the boss of the Razor Forest.
There was only one thing left to do before he could return to the real world. Alex pressed his hand to the deck at his side.
The tinkling of glass echoed through his Mind Palace as his summoned monster stepped out from a shimmering portal of jagged glass and onto the black lake, sending a small ripple rolling across its surface.
Glint looked up, expectantly waiting instruction. Alex slipped Glint's card free of its spot at his side, turning it over in his hands as his grin expanded. An hour had passed, and his companion was ready to rejoin him.
He was so excited that he could barely contain it.
"This almost feels like my birthday, but I get to eat all of the cake." Alex hesitated for a second, then frowned and pursed his lips. "Actually, that sounds kind of bad when you say it out loud. Having a whole cake to yourself on your birthday isn't really something to brag about. It's just depressing. Oh well. It's not as bad if I'm sharing with you, right?"
He flipped the card around.
Low-Mid Grade Novice (Ent Harvester) - 1
Low-Mid Grade Novice (Florachnid ) - 4
Low-Mid Grade Novice (Human) - 1
Mid-Grade Novice (Florachnid) - 1
"That's a whole lot of cake," Alex said. "I hope you're hungry. I can't have you lagging behind me in level too much."
Alex could have sworn that Glint's eyes shimmered in response. Even though the monster had no proper thought of its own, it looked just as excited as Alex felt to grow stronger. With a flourish, Alex summoned every flame from his card and scattered them before Glint.
With this much energy, I'm expecting to see something a little more interesting than just growing a bit. Let's see just how strong you can become, Glint.