CH 43: Seal of Lunacy
Natasha :"I like my humor like I like my slaves, dark."
Alistair :"... You're really messed up sometimes.
Natasha smirked :"What did the blind kid say when he touched the emo kid's wrist?"
"What?"
"I ain't reading all that."
"Who's the monster here?"
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Alistair's blood ran cold. His Abyss Incarnate Existentiality was his deepest secret, because although he wasn't sure what it was, he knew how amazing it was.
Tall trees catch the strongest winds. Although he wasn't one to lay low and hide his worth, his knowledge about this world was far too little for him to carelessly reveal everything about himself.
But when he thought his secret was out, alarms went rabid in his head. However, he didn't act carelessly. Because looking at Natasha's smirk, he didn't see or sense any hostility or negative emotions.
Only mischief. As if finding out a tease worthy secret about your friend. Seeing him turn cautious, Natasha broke into laughter :"Hahahaha, calm down, Al!"
Gently slapping the small back of the confused dragon, she smiled :"Don't worry, I didn't mean anything bad about that. What you have isn't a bad thing at all. In fact, it's a treasure more valuable than anything else and envied by all!"
Seeing there was no danger, he calmed down :"(Care to elaborate?)" she smiled in amusement :"I'm sorry I let out your secret, but I had to if I really wanted to help you.
If it helps you calm down, like you, I have a connection to the Abyss as well. So no need to be on guard, because I don't plan on hurting you or anything, alright? I promise."
'Hmm... I can't fully trust her yet, but I can at least hear her out. I don't think this "connection" she's talking about is the same Skills that I have, but I need to be careful.
If there's a small chance that she has what I do, who knows if she'll try to absorb my Skills or not? My Skills allow me to gain 4 times the Stats of my prey.
If I personally found someone that had the same Skills as I do, but is still extremely weak, I know what I would personally do. 8 times and 4 times aren't comparable at all in the long run after all.'
"(I can at least listen.)"
"Hahaha, that's enough for me. You see, there are extremely rare cases where individuals have compatibility with one of the three Eventualities. Either Heaven, Hell, or Abyss.
For example, I have compatibility with the Abyss, hence how I could sense your connection to the Abyss."
"(I see... so a person who has compatibility with one of the Eventualities can sense other people's connection to the Eventualities? And how rare are we talking about?)"
"About the rarity, there's only me, my mom, and now you. If there was anybody else, we would have found them already. But it's so rare that the fact that two people with compatibility to one of the Eventualities appearing is already surprising. And three at the same time? Unheard of in history.
And about the first part, yes, but no. Basically, I, who has compatibility with the Abyss, can only sense people's connection to the Abyss only. Not their connection to Heaven or Hell."
"(Ahh, I get it. But then why couldn't I sense your connection then?)"
"Simple, you're not strong enough yet. It takes time to get used to this."
"(Uh huh. But then... why point it out now? I mean, I get that you want to teach me that technique, but why do that anyway? We've only known each other for a few days.)"
Natasha smirked :"Simple, it's because I want you to join us."
"(Join you? Who's "we"?)"
"Just me and my mom. You see, I think it would be a waste to not recruit you. I already told you, someone with compatibility with one of the Eventualities is extremely rare.
None existing in an era is normal, one existing is exponentially rare, the number of times that two have appeared can be counted on one hand, and three appearing has just never happened.
Out of the three of us, two are mother and daughter, me and my mom. So I thought having you on our side is the best course of action. We're already friends and partners, aren't we? I just want to make sure we're on the same team, instead of a temporary one."
"(Hmm... so you want me on your side because of my compatibility with the Abyss, which is what's needed for someone to practice your overpowered technique?)"
"Uh huh, that's right."
"(... If I were to... say, decline your offer, what would you do?)"
It was what had been bothering Alistair. If someone strong or with potential isn't on our side, then they're enemies. That was the common trope with fantasy worlds and for good reasons.
Natasha had exposed one of his deepest secrets. Sure, they were on friendly terms. But he was worried about what she would do if he didn't join them, since he didn't know anything about who she was with.
Would she threaten him to join them? Would she warn him to stay out of their way? Or would she just kill him to get rid of a big problem in the future early before it could fully develop?
"Hmm, if you declined..." He gulped quietly, before she shrugged with a smile :"Then nothing. I would just teach you another way of storing your Talent Stats so they wouldn't go to waste.
"(... That's it?)"
"Yeah, what else did you expect? For me to act like some kind of a villain?"
"(Well... alright, yeah, I'll admit. But I mean... wouldn't it kinda be the reasonable thing to do? Isn't it kind of a big deal?)"
"Yeah, it definitely is. But compatibility with any of the Eventualities doesn't give any benefits actually. No Skills, no titles, no nothing. The only benefit it gives is... well, I'll tell you that if there's any reason to do so.
Believe me, the chances of that benefit showing up are close to zero. Sure, it's extremely crucial for the Seal of Lunacy, which can turn you into one terrifying powerhouse. But by itself, it's basically useless other than showing off and saying you're special."
'It doesn't give you any Skills? Then is mine a special kind of compatibility? I mean, the name suggests a lot of things, but I don't want to get my hopes too high just to be disappointed.'
"So? What do you think? You want to actually become partners and friends instead of temporary teammates?"
'To be honest, I'm down to becoming partners and we're already friends in my opinion. This girl is extremely strong and beautiful, and isn't some naive princess either. My instincts assure me of my safety when I'm near her.
I'm not some line wolf. I'm not a loner. In fact, I was a social butterfly in my past life. I don't mind following someone who's truly strong, since I don't have the stick of arrogance stuck up my ass.
By being with someone strong, my own path of becoming strong will become a lot easier. But this is kind of serious... ugh, what to do...
Oh, fuck it! What's the point of worrying about it too much?! It wouldn't take a genius to know she's a big shot socially! Considering how she acts when it comes to the Church of Eventuality, it's so obvious how she's related to them.
And I've always seen through people easily, so I know she's not a bad person. Fuck it, let's just leave it at that and hope it won't bite me in the ass later.'
"(You know what, whatever. I'll just trust my judgment about you and hope it won't be a dumb decision in the future.)"
"Yes!" Natasha surprisingly pumped her fist, flashing a genuine and bright smile as she picked him up excitedly :"Believe me, Al, I won't let anything make you regret your decision!"
'Geez, how am I supposed to be worried about her being evil to me when she's so excited about finally getting a friend?'
Alistair couldn't help but chuckle :"(Geez, are you that happy that I became your friend?)"
Her face turning red, she put him down with a shy smile :"Sorry about that. It's just that I've never had a friend, so I kinda got excited."
Alistair chuckled, returning to his Larva (2nd) Stage before he sat down next to her. His body size, comparable to a normal grown dog, letting him rub against her fondly :"(Well, I'm happy that our friendship is compared. But I thought we were already friends though?)"
Smiling softly, she rubbed his back gently :"Yeah, but confirming it feels better, right? Makes it easier to act like actual friends instead of worrying about every little action messing up the other's boundaries."
"(Yeah, fair enough.)"
"Heh, wonder how my mom's going to react. She's always been worried about me being lonely since I didn't have any friends, so I bet she'll be excited."
"(Mama's girl, huh?)"
"*Smirking* What, is that a bad thing?"
"(Nah, in fact, I'm happy to know you get along with your mom.)"
"Glad to know that. Man, there are so many things I wanna do now, since I couldn't do them myself before. But before that, we've got more important things to do, like teaching you the Seal of Lunacy!"
And so, she began explaining about the technique. From what Alistair understood, it was basically "Abyss Incarnate Skills from wish." Just like Natasha had said, learning this technique allowed someone with compatibility to Abyss to earn Stats by killing.
"Oh, by the way, this is what the Seal of Lunacy looks like." Natasha smiled, rolling up her left sleeve. There wasn't anything to see, but black tattoos began to appear on her forearm. Starting from her wrist and stretching to her elbow.
'Huh, it reminds me of the Tatau in Far Cry 3. Man, I miss that game. Along with every other game. Boohoo... no! Focus!'
But unlike the nostalgic tattoo he could remember, this one was different but had some resemblance. The tattoo was a closed eye on the back of her wrist, with the meaningful markings stretched down from it like zigzag tears and enveloping the tattoos of different creatures.
He saw a Dragon, a Kraken, a Crow, a figure holding a scythe and a Behemoth.
The obtained Stats were addressed as Seals, and the Class/Rank of the killed target determined how many Seals they'd obtain.
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[Seals]
G: 0.01
F: 0.1
E: 1
D: 10
C: 100
B: 1,000
A: 10,000
S: 100,000
SS: 1,000,000
-
That was already enough to amaze Alistair. However, what made his mouth water even more were the Lunacy Skills. There were five of them in total, and each could Level Up. The downside was that max Level couldn't be increased beyond Lv 9.
However, the method to upgrade them was different from the normal Skills. Unlike the normal Skills which needed to be used again and again to Level Up, Lunacy Skills only needed one thing to get stronger. Mana.
Whether it was the Mana that was used for Skills and Magic, or Mana that would be used to raise their Level, they both could be directly used to upgrade the Lunacy Skills.
But the amount of Mana needed for every Level Up was simply ridiculous.
"(1,000,000 Mana?! What is this, daylight robbery?!)" Alistair exclaimed. Natasha shrugged with an awkward smile :"Believe me, it baffled me when I heard it too. But believe me, they're worth it."
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[Lunacy Skills]
Lunacy Seals
Lunacy Tentacles
Lunacy Domain
Lunacy Manifestation
Lunacy Supremacy
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"By the way, each monster on the Seal of Lunacy represents one of the Lunacy Skills. Seal of Dragon for Lunacy Seals, Seal of Kraken for Lunacy Tentacles, Seal of Crow for Lunacy Domain, Seal of Death for Lunacy Manifestation, and Seal of Behemoth for Lunacy Supremacy."
As Natasha kept explaining more and more about the Skills, the more excited Alistair became. Sure enough, agreeing to join her was the best option.
Because even if her background was the big bad, final boss, or the reason behind all the evil of the world, he would still join them for these Skills.
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Lunacy Seals: Multiplies the already existing Stats according to the Level of the Skill for a period of time.
Lv 1: x100% [0/1,000,000]
Lv 2: x10 [0/1,000,000]
Lv 3: x100 [0/1,000,000]
Lv 4: x1,000 [0/1,000,000]
Lv 5: x10,000 [0/1,000,000]
Lv 6: x100,000 [0/1,000,000]
Lv 7: x1,000,000 [0/1,000,000]
Lv 8: x10,000,000 [0/1,000,000]
Lv 9: x100,000,000 [0/1,000,000]
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Lunacy Tentacles: Generates tentacles with varying numbers/strengths/lengths based on the Skill Level.
Lv 1: 10 G-Class Tentacles [10m] [0/1,000,000]
Lv 2: 100 F-Class Tentacles [100m] [0/1,000,000]
Lv 3: 1,000 E-Class Tentacles [1km] [0/1,000,000]
Lv 4: 10,000 D-Class Tentacles [10km] [0/1,000,000]
Lv 5: 100,000 C-Class Tentacles [100km] [0/1,000,000]
Lv 6: 1,000,000 B-Class Tentacles [1,000km] [0/1,000,000]
Lv 7: 10,000,000 A-Class Tentacles [10,000km] [0/1,000,000]
Lv 8: 100,000,000 S-Class Tentacles [100,000km] [0/1,000,000]
Lv 9: 1,000,000,000 SS-Class Tentacles [1,000,000km] [0/1,000,000]
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Lunacy Domain: Also dubbed Omnipresent Field, is an AOE-type Skill where everything in the surrounding can be seen by the user or anybody they telepathically share the view with. Basically grants them limited Omnipresence in a field with a width depending on the Skill Level. It also grants telepathy while active, letting the user guide the allies within.
Lv 1: 10m [0/1,000,000]
Lv 2: 100m [0/1,000,000]
Lv 3: 1km [0/1,000,000]
Lv 4: 10km [0/1,000,000]
Lv 5: 100km [0/1,000,000]
Lv 6: 1,000km [0/1,000,000]
Lv 7: 10,000km [0/1,000,000]
Lv 8: 100,000km [0/1,000,000]
Lv 9: 1,000,000km [0/1,000,000]
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Lunacy Manifestation: Enables the user to summon the creatures within the realm of Abyss itself. Their strength and number vary according to the Skill Level.
Lv 1: G-Class Abyssal Summoning [0/1,000,000]
Lv 2: F-Class Abyssal Summoning [0/1,000,000]
Lv 3: E-Class Abyssal Summoning [0/1,000,000]
Lv 4: D-Class Abyssal Summoning [0/1,000,000]
Lv 5: C-Class Abyssal Summoning [0/1,000,000]
Lv 6: B-Class Abyssal Summoning [0/1,000,000]
Lv 7: A-Class Abyssal Summoning [0/1,000,000]
Lv 8: S-Class Abyssal Summoning [0/1,000,000]
Lv 9: SS-Class Abyssal Summoning [0/1,000,000]
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Lunacy Supremacy: Allows the user to pour in a desired percentage of all of their Stats/Seals into one devastating attack.
Lv 1: 10% of the Seals [0/1,000,000]
Lv 2: 20% of the Seals [0/1,000,000]
Lv 3: 30% of the Seals [0/1,000,000]
Lv 4: 40% of the Seals [0/1,000,000]
Lv 5: 50% of the Seals [0/1,000,000]
Lv 6: 60% of the Seals [0/1,000,000]
Lv 7: 70% of the Seals [0/1,000,000]
Lv 8: 80% of the Seals [0/1,000,000]
Lv 9: 90% of the Seals [0/1,000,000]