Chapter 278: Level Up
It was such a simple, obvious thing now that Uhtred realized it. If all Elemental magic classes were purely Elemental, then there wouldn’t be the level of variety that existed in Elemental class types and abilities.
Someone like Craftmaster Bruce, who was an artificer — a man who, on pre-integration Earth, had been involved in computer chip manufacturing and design — would never have become the artificer and inscription master that he was now. The same could be said for Black Sun and his weapon-specific class...
Both Craftmaster Bruce and Black Sun Mateo were still Elemental-type ascenders. They were limited to their specific Elemental attunements. However, the way those attunements manifested was entirely different.
That was the Esoteric sliding scale Uhtred had just realized.
Uhtred was certain that neither Craftmaster Bruce nor Black Sun Mateo knew they were using Esoteric magic on some level. In fact, he was certain that no one on Earth knew the true intricacies of what was happening when they cast magic — Diya had said it herself that there was something "extra" separating her from other Healer Mages, without knowing exactly what that "extra" thing was.
It was only because of his Formless class that he was able to sense this so clearly.
After successfully replicating what Diya had been trying to teach him all day, he stood there in silence, savoring the feeling. Needless to say, his plans to return to his manor to rest for the night were thrown out the window.
He remained in the training facility all night, continuing to replicate the rough healing magic he had just successfully cast.
Diya also stayed with him for a fair bit, offering a few pointers as he slowly perfected his rough basic healing magic. Eventually, though, she retreated back to her quarters after realizing that Uhtred had everything under control.
All he needed now was enough practice to refine the subtleties, and in time, he would be able to handle basic cuts, wounds, and superficial injuries without any external aid.
.
.
.
Four Days later...
For the rest of the week, Uhtred went into seclusion. He allowed only Zara and Diya into his manor, shuttling exclusively between his home and the training facility as he perfected his Basic Space Magic and Basic Healing Magic.
All of his other duties were put on hold. Representatives from powerful factions — including the New World Government, the Free Ascenders’ Guild, the Inagawa-Kai, and even the Castiglione family — had traveled to the Capitol of The Elite after hearing of his return.
Dennis handled them all, negotiating with those within his authority and telling the rest that Uhtred was unavailable.
Uhtred had already made his stance clear to Dennis from the onset anyway. He had said it himself that he wasn’t going to meet with any faction until he made a statement by attacking a major Ancient Variant outpost.
Although he knew finding the Prime Sapiens during his two-week break before returning to the Tower would be difficult, he still intended to locate an outpost in Zone 2 and return the damage the Ancient Variants had inflicted on human territories.
At the end of the week, Uhtred finally came out of seclusion, and even without knowing exactly what he had been up to, everyone around the globe could see that he had made a significant gain.
From his previous Level 47, he had gained another Level, moving up to Level 48.
[Status]
Name: Uhtred
Level: 47 (Mid) → 48 (Early)
Race: Human
Class Grade: Primordial
Class Title: Formless
Core Attunement: Limitless (Compatible with all affinities)
Core Rank: Nascent (Next rank evolution at Level 75)
[Attributes]
Strength: 233
Agility: 247
Endurance: 229
Vitality: 258
Intelligence: 238
Perception: 593
Willpower: 225
Luck: 24
***
Uhtred stood at his balcony, taking in the cool morning air and overlooking his manor... though his mind wasn’t really on the expanse of land before him. Rather, he was focused on his status panel, observing the changes to his level and attributes.
His level increase was par for the course, though it was still significant. He had gone from the middle stage of Level 47, breaking past the late stage and even the peak, to enter into the early stage of Level 48.
For someone within the Nascent Realm, that was a very significant leap in strength. He had effectively broken through what would have taken him several more weeks, even with his already fast cultivation pace.
The insights he had gained, both from Zara’s teachings of space magic and particularly from Diya’s teaching of healing magic, had significantly aided his sudden growth.
Still, though, as he looked at his status panel, the changes there painted a more specific picture.
His Strength and Endurance attributes, which used to be among his highest, had now been overtaken by his Agility, Vitality, and Perception attributes.
For his Agility, the increase was understandable. After gaining the Slipstream Stride movement art, his body and usage of essence had also begun streamlining to better align with the technique.
The technique was one part, but his body also had to be able to handle moving at such speeds, hence the increase in his Agility.
However, for his Vitality attribute’s sudden increase — it was definitely tied to his new comprehension of healing magic.
To be a Healer Mage, one’s vitality also needed to be sufficient enough to fuel repeated usage of healing essence. That change was clearly reflected in his Vitality attribute now.
Finally, Uhtred’s attention turned to his Perception attribute — the one with the highest number by far.
Uhtred wasn’t at all surprised to see the number written there. It had grown significantly high sometime after he got his Gnostic Eye from the Towermaster, Lorien, so he knew the increase was tied to his new Ocular Transmutation.
However, even knowing that, the previous number when he had been at Level 47 had only been 493. It had increased by a whole 100 points along with his level up to Level 48!
Is this just how it’s gonna be? Uhtred frowned in thought. Does it increase by a hundred with each Level gained, or is this somehow tied to my deeper understanding of Esoteric magic now...?
The Gnostic Eye was, after all, something more of an Esoteric type of ability. It peered into the deeper truths of reality, which didn’t conform to any of the other two magic types.
Or rather... it is more of an Esoteric type than Elemental or Fundamental magic on the sliding scale, Uhtred thought.
In any case, the main thing was that his Gnostic Eye had also improved.
Uhtred immediately conjured up a reflective sheet of ice to see his reflection. The moment he did, he could already see a very clear difference compared to before. Even without activating his Gnostic Eye ability, the deep purple inside his pupil had grown ever so slightly brighter by default.