Chapter 86: Reunion
Congratulations, you are dead! Your Talent [He Who Eludes Death] brings you back to life once a day.
Number of deaths: 11
Synergy detected with your talent [Humanity adapts] and your Titles [Three-Headed Hydra] and [Veteran]. Your body is rebuilt and will be more resistant to what killed it:
VIT +6
CONST +18
WILL +3
Lvl Up: [Star Iron Body] lvl 10,11,12
CONST +9
Lvl Up: [Infantile Phoenix Metabolism] lvl 5,6,7,8
VIT +8
CONST +4
Lvl Up: [Spear Throw] lvl 8,...,15
DEXT +24
[Erosion Resistance] has reached level 20. As a rare skill, a bonus is available. Choose one of these three options:
[Strong Meridians] -Your meridians gain in sturdiness. POT -30
[Flexible Meridians] - Your meridians become more elastic. POT -30
[Healing Meridians] -Your meridians use a tiny fraction of the aether that flows through them to regenerate over time. POT -30
You have selected [Healing Meridiens].
POT -30
Lvl Up: [Erosion Resistance] lvl 21,22
META (END) +6
Lvl Up: [Light Resistance] lvl 2,...8
CONST +7
You have gained the skill: [Tribulation Resistance - Epic].
[Tribulation Resistance - Epic] - All Tribulations come from the System. These tests are calibrated, and their consequences limited. A Tribulation is a test made by the System, and its resolution offers many rewards.
The more obvious is the concept fragment at the heart of each Tribulation.
The survivor withstands his Tribulation. The genius defeats his Tribulation.
Allows you to spot weaknesses in your Tribulations.
META (Chance) +9
... [He Who Eludes Death] and [Consequence Resistance] synergize
[Tribulation Resistance] isevolving. Incorporation of external elements.
Protocol Eight:
Next notifications hidden from moderators
[Tribulation Resistance - Epic] becomes [Tribulations Hunter - Unique - Epic].
[Tribulation Hunter - Unique - Epic] - Message from administrator Thaal:
You owe me one.
Each Tribulation is powered by a Concept fragment or a treasure.
You may spot the Tribulations' weaknesses.
You may temporarily hide your connection with the Concepts to become invisible to the Tribulations.
Use this power to the full, but don't talk about it.
[Identification] will show [Tribulation Resistance].
META (Chance) +9
POT -1000
Lvl up: [Consequence Resistance] lvl 6,7,8
CHAR +9
META (Chance) +18
[He Who Eludes Death] charge: OFF. Reloaded in 15 hours 18 minutes 4 seconds
[Tribulation]: A Tribulation is coming.
Time: ???
Delayed.
Your soul has contemplated the power of the spear. You glimpse a path.
His consciousness grazed reality. The world seemed to have changed as a flood of information assailed him. His Domain, mist and physical senses were sending him too much data. [Focus]. The skill helped him filter his new stimuli. He knew it would take time to get used to it.
Taking a second, Priam reviewed his rewards. Most of them were self-evident. He had chosen [Healing Meridiens], considering the synergy with [Three-Headed Hydra]. His last skill, however, was unique. Thaal, the administrator who oversaw Humanitys Tutorial, was playing some games. Priam knew he was just a pawn for now. But as long as he survived, he could become a player.
And the skill looks incredible... A distant noise drew him from his thoughts.
Priam opened gray eyes on the world. Mist lurked in them, giving them a unique, disturbing color. These eyes watched the ground approaching at full speed. [He Who Eludes Death] had recreated his body where his mind had dissipated. Several hundred meters separated him from the ground. Priam stretched into the air, a satisfied smile stretching his lips. His Talent made his deaths extremely profitable and restored his mental form.
Theoretically, it was a form of mental manipulation, but Priam accepted it. After all, many things manipulated the brain. For example, half an hour's running provoked a sensation of intense satisfaction linked to the production of endorphins. Yet doing sports was seen as positive. As long as it makes me happy and is good for me, I can accept it, decided Priam.
With the wind whistling in his ears and ruffling his hair, Priam observed the city below him.
A titanic spear had pierced the ground, burying the wyvern's corpse under dozens of meters of rubble. Unfortunately, the ice weapon let through a few photons sent by the sun. Priam could dissolve the spear and bury the wyvern for good. It would only take him five minutes. Minutes he didn't have.
His resurrection did take about three minutes - the time for him to decide on his upgrades. Meanwhile, insects had found the hole created by the wyvern. A breach that was now unprotected and letting locusts through.
The insects were descending on the city at this very moment. Not a few hundred, but tens of thousands. In an hour, there would be a million of them. The Tribulation had about twenty hours left before it would disappear.
Priam felt his stomach knot up. Twenty hours was more than enough time to annihilate the city. He could flee, of course. Most of the swarm would pursue him. But some would stay behind, devouring the city to the bone.
"No... They won't even leave the marrow..." murmured Priam, gently touching the ground. In front of him, the ice spear gleamed, a symbol of his power. A power without effect in the face of the locusts' numbers and voracity.
Alain looked worriedly at the sky. The cloud, the source of the deadly rain, had disappeared. But a new one was coming, and his instincts told him it was hungry. This calamity was growing by the minute.
"We should go."
Alain turned to the grumpy grandmother.
"You can go Mirscella, but I'm staying. My son is in that dome and I want to see him."
The grandmother sniffed but remained silent. Louis opened his mouth for a moment before closing it again. Sighing, he headed for the window.
"We've got no more than twenty seconds before they arrive. We'd better get ready."
Alain nodded and placed his hands on the floor. [Stabilize], [Strengthen], [Transmute]. The building shook for a moment, the stone densifying and strengthening. Alain collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath. Most of his skills were not combat-based. He was proud of his building skills. As an old architect, a Tutorial based on creation had seemed attractive to him.
Although he had finished the Tutorial in record time, what followed forced him to remember his karate lessons. Without being an exceptional fighter, Alain had had to make efforts to stay alive.
The building would remain standing for some time. Reassured, Alain accepted Mirscella's help to get up. Sitting down on the sofa, he smiled at Claire.
Priam ran from rooftop to rooftop. Ahead of him, the horizon was filled with insects. Wrapped in a cloak of mist, Priam ignored most of the creatures, focused on his run. There were so many of them. His Domain, still active, counted almost thirty in his immediate vicinity.
Gaining momentum, Priam leaped over a street. He smiled for a moment, feeling the power of his physical attributes - he hadn't even needed to boost his jump with his kinetic energy.
Landing on the other side of the street, Priam continued his run towards the mansion where his father was waiting. On his way, locusts continued to swarm. His mist repelled them effectively, but gradually succumbed to the creatures' voracious appetite. Bored, Priam crushed one under his foot. The corpse lay inert on the ground.
Continuing on his way without noticing a thing, Priam soon reached his destination. The massive wooden edifice shimmered under [Aether Perception]. The locusts must have sensed it too, for a thousand insects as big as a cat's head gravitated around it, looking for a way in.
Priam opened his mouth and shouted. "Papa!"
The sound shook the windows momentarily before the insects pounced on him. Priam swept them away, invoking a wave of semi-liquid mist. One of the windows opened.
"A... Priam!"
Priam burst out laughing at the slip of the tongue and leaped for the window. Entering the building, he barely had time to close the window before an embrace took his breath away.
"Have you invested in Strength, Dad?!" exclaimed Priam after a few moments.
"Right now, it's a safe investment," replied his father.
Priam took a step back and stared at Alain. The System seemed to have done an excellent job. His progenitor didn't look a day over sixty, almost twenty years younger than his actual age.