Assassin Crow Evolution

[The Elemental Abruption skill falls under the Defense Mastery sub-branch, otherwise known as the fourth sub-branch of your evolution tree. You could’ve bought it, but I congratulate you for finding it within a Flesh Core, because it is an expensive skill.]

"Nice," He nodded, "What does it do, though?"

[In short, it behaves like a shield, with some added benefits. It can disrupt, and dissipate elemental attacks, such as fireballs, thunderbolts, etc, before those attacks even have the chance to get close to you.]

"So it’s a shield?" He asked.

[Yes, and no.]

[It can behave like a shield, yes, but it’s more of a precise, counter-attack. It does not summon a physical, or non-physical shield to protect you, but instead, the skill essentially faces an elemental attack, and destroys it.]

[A fireball wouldn’t be able to hurt you, if you use the Elemental Abruption skill to take away what makes fire hot.]

[Additionally, you can alter the wind, rain, snow, and overall weather around you. If your Arcane Comprehension is tough enough, you can even make rain hot.]

"Damn?" He took a deep breath, "I gotta admit, that does sound pretty cool."

Luckily, it wasn’t raining, otherwise he would’ve given the skill a shot right away.

"Let that damn fish bother me again, I’ll heat up the damn lake... er, water around him." He said, "I’ll boil him alive."

Although he was tempted, Jimmy had no intention to go back to the lake right now. The fact that he could think nine steps ahead now, kept him grounded to his current plans.

Vorin was still knocked out cold, so Jimmy still had some time to think peacefully, or sub-peacefully. His general anxiety didn’t just creep in, it worked constantly to overthrow his mental state today.

Jimmy sat in front of the cores, but he did not eat them. He was exhausted, he was anxious, but nevertheless, he did not eat the cores for two reasons.

The first, and the most obvious reason was that he was too full to eat. He didn’t want to feel overly sick again. He waited for his fast metabolism to do its thing, and destroy the nearly two pounds of the cores he ate.

Second, he thought, ’My nine-step plans have been ass so far. I gotta really think it over this time, and pick the best plan. Maybe that’ll help me calm down too?’

With those two reasons considered, he continued to sit there, and look at the cores, while he also kept an eye on the timer from time to time. The one at the corner of his eye.

[1:16:45]

[1:16:44]

[1:16:43]

Considering how many eventful things happened today, the timer, in a sense, messed with his sense of time. He discovered spiritual magic, made significant advancements, and yet this timer was not even halfway there to reaching zero.

It wasn’t only frustrating, but in a way, he also felt disappointed.

’I feel like I’m pulling this fuckass foreign strand from another planet,’ He thought, ’My feathers can change colors. How is that any less foreign than whatever this shit is?’

The following hour and few minutes seemed like they would last a lifetime, but he tried his best to not dedicate any more of his energy on it.

Instead, he focused on his nine-step plan.

Thirty minutes later, he decided on the best course of action.

’Meditation is key. To hell with spirituality for now, I have to meditate for meditation’s sake. It’s keeping me from losing my shit.’

The rest of the plan included munching on the pound or so of what remained of his Flesh Cores, every five minutes.

It was like planning a meal, with the main distinction being that he could progress slowly, from whatever the cores had to offer, without feeling like a balloon in the end.

It was a smart plan, and even the system agreed. She congratulated him after every bit of progress he made, but he asked her to only show him the progress he made, in terms of Arcana, once he was done eating the cores.

’It would feel more rewarding,’ He insisted.

An hour into this plan, after the twelfth bite, he was done eating his share of the cores. Not even a single piece of them were left.

At last, he took a look at the notifications the system had gathered for him in bulk. She had summarized all the tiny progressions throughout the hour, in a single, comprehensive graph.

MQ: 150 points >>> 160 points]

[Mana Realm: No change]

[Mana Quality: Level 7 >>> Level 8]

[Mana Absorption: No change]

[Mana Quantity: 2,900 points >>> 3,100 points]

[You are close to ascending into the third realm of mana. Adjust your adventures accordingly, because just like last time, the pain from a realm ascension can be absolutely paralyzing. Additionally, your core will undergo a mild purification process, to cement your foundation in regards to a higher comprehension of manna.]

[New mana-based skill absorbed, Experimental Collar: Botanic Manipulator]

[New mana-based skill absorbed, Defense Mastery Collar: Stone Skin]

[SQ: 55 points >>> 75 points]

[New revelation absorbed: The Mortician’s Eyes]

Jimmy’s eyes widened. Each and every one of these absorptions sounded foreign to him.

’You’re throwing a lot at me here, system,’ He communicated without making a sound. ’I can guess what the Stone Skill skill is about, it doesn’t take a genius, but what are the other two? Their names are so vague.’

[As you may have noticed when you browsed the fourth sub-branch of the Arcana Collar of your Evolution Tree, it being Experimental Magic, every skill within it is highly experimental. It goes far beyond raising the undead, which would be a lot more simple in comparison.]

[Likewise, the Botanic Manipulator is highly experimental, and dangerous. You can plant seeds, for example direct your raw mana into the seed, and essentially alter its genetic code, far before it grows into a full plant.]

[If you pair this skill with Alchemy, you may gain the upper hand on even the greatest human alchemists, because you’ll have something they likely won’t, which is plants that do not exist anywhere in the world.]

[A word of caution! Since your Arcane Comprehension has grown strong recently, I recommend that you experiment with seeds to a minimum. Even beginners can cluelessly create a deadly poisonous plant, which they will likely not be able to find the antidote of if they happen to touch it.]

[Whatever your experiment might be, I recommend that you don’t feed it too much mana, and you should definitely not consume the altered plant unless you’re absolutely sure you know what its effects are.]

Jimmy studied the explanation that the system gave him. He followed every word, because the warnings hit him like a truck.

’I did not expect that fucking gardening can be so dangerous!’ He thought, ’Fucking hell, I wish I didn’t kill Iron Beak. I would’ve loved to slip poison ivy under his ass.’

The system did not care to comment. Instead, she continued with her lengthy explanations.

[The Mortician’s Eyes revelation is more forgiving. It’s actually a helpful, extra tool if you wish to indulge in Dark Magic one day.]

[Granted, you must maintain some peace of mind while you use it, The Mortician’s Eyes revelation, as the name suggests, will help you spot the undead. Even those who tend to hide their lifeless eyes well within crowded cities.]

[As long as you pay attention, Zombies, or anything else that does not have a soul, will not be able to escape your detection.]

’What about ghosts and shit?’ He asked, ’It’s not like I’m excited to see them, but it would be nice to know when one, or a bunch of them are trying to fuck with me. I have a feeling that I’ll be around Summoning Circles often.’

[It does not help you detect ghosts, no.]

[Nevermind the fact that you lack the required revelation, but seeing ghosts, demons, or anything else that strives on being invisible to the common eye, requires a much higher SQ.]

’Sounds like a problem for another day, then,’ He added, ’A problem that I’m glad that I don’t have. I don’t think I’ll be able to plan my way around demons and ghosts right now.’

Despite his little comments, this was a good day, in terms of progress.

He still dreaded the fact that he didn’t steal the rest of those cores from the Chief, but compared to what he expected when he left home a few days ago, he had progressed far more than he has anticipated.

As for now, his brother’s unconscious mumblings kept him grounded to reality. It kept him focused.

"I’m a crow, I’m a crow, I’m a crow, I’m a crow, I’m a crow." Vorin repeated in his sleep.

Jimmy could not understand why. At least, Virena never reported such instances when Jimmy took his first bite of a Flesh Core.

Vorin woke up repeating the same thing, and there was no way to prepare for it. Jimmy just hoped that it would go away.

He pleaded, "My fuck, I hope he didn’t go insane... I don’t want to put him down."