～ Day 209 ～

  -Skill Advancement, Stealth!-

  I read through the listed options, noting each one and finding all the choices surprisingly good in each regard. One would allow for me to entirely master the presence of my aura and my soul for the powerful who are generally adept in sensing the presence of other powerful individuals.

  Then there was also one that offered up the complete control and skill needed for becoming a true master of stealth which in practice probably on its own without any magical or other skill-empowering assistance would be just as powerful as the others. But the two other were the ones stealing the limelight for me.

  Enshroud and Shadowed Veil.

  Enshroud was the most obvious one for me, a continuation and tailor-made adaption for what I was already using Stealth for. But as for Shadowed Veil, that provided a new avenue to walk down and its application could potentially be incredibly useful for me. It needed no explanation of how this could possibly be applied to the settlement back at the basin, but that question was if I would risk going out on a limb here by choosing a skill of dubious promise.

  The answer was 'no', but not just because of that reason.

  Another problem other than just not knowing if the skill would truly turn out applicable to my needs, there was the reality of the settlement ending up relying on such a skill. It would without a doubt not be able to hide us from the true monsters out in this vast world forever, and I had a sneaking suspicion that it would only prolong the inevitable if we were to shy away and hide.

  Therefore, I picked Enshroud.

  -Enshroud!-

  I went on, itching for the remaining two advancements.

  -Skill Advancement, Lesser Eldritch Vitality!-

  My excitement mollified at the complete lack of choices, I pulled up Blood Born's skill advancement with somewhat of a speculation as to what would be presented.

  -Skill Advancement, Blood Born!-

  It was just as I had thought.

  Despite the skill advancement to the fourth-tier, both skills had a prohibitive selection of options, to put it mildly. But, however, unsurprisingly so...

  Practically since I acquired both skills, before even gaining the Synergize skill, I had pictured a form of symbiosis and synergy between to two skills. They worked perfectly together, and I've had in mind to fuse them both ever since I got the opportunity to combine skills and make a greater whole than the sum of its parts.

  Through experiments, experience, and everything I now know about the system and how it operates, I needed no one to tell me that both this mindset and course of actions had all definitely affected the progression of these two skills. They are virtually now adapted for each other so that they may combine.

  This of course was also a relief of sorts, especially since the prohibitive costs projected by Synergize of combining the two before even becoming tier-4 skills. Despite their incredible compatibility, the cost of combining the two was upwards of thirty-forty skill points as they reached their peak levels. No doubt because of both the fact that they're instrumental to my power and what might be the outcome of the both if I truly were to fuse them, would be stupendous.

  I took in a deep calming breath.

  From here on out, I would be taking another step along the seemingly endless path of power. There wasn't a shred of doubt that I'd be much more powerful when I was finally ready to take that one step out of this murky cavern.

  "One step at a time..."

  -Skill Advancement, Eldritch Vitality, Pure Blood Born!-

  I flexed my hands, observing as my body changed before my eyes. There weren't changes in my appearance of course, but I could feel my body change ever so slightly in tandem with the increased powers that my skills offered me.

  I wasn't just done here, however.

  -Synergize, Eldritch Vitality, Pure Blood Born!-

  I hesitated for only a moment.

  -Yes!-

  A few seconds went by with nothing happening.

  But suddenly, a surge of energy shot through my body, electrifying my nerves and setting my body on fire like many small ants were biting me all over. But despite what would've otherwise sounded like an incredibly unpleasant sensation, I was in a state of euphoria as my body quite literally felt like an extension of my mind, no longer merely a vessel, but one and the same in nature.

  I fell to my knees and hands - panting.

  It felt like my body had turned into a nuclear reactor, simultaneously stable and melting down. In a constant state of chaos and change to what had otherwise previously been the unshakeable and stagnating fundamental foundation of what my body was made of. Even so, my body was entirely fine, the only visual cues being the beads of sweat trickling off me from the rush of sensation coursing through me.

  I felt fucking amazing, to be frank.

  But once my body and emotions had calmed down considerably which took a bit of time, I fell into a resting sit, marveling as I could still clearly feel the changes of my body now unshackled from my unseen links of what was the laws of nature.

  I let it all sift out of my system, letting my mind clear for the next and biggest step yet.

  It was time.

  -Evolve!-

  I read each choice thoroughly, marveling at the choices on the display.

  Right out of the gate, it was obvious that the four first was all of the Shaar which I had been evidently moving towards ever since becoming a Strigoi. The two other choices just seemed to be monsters very similar to that which made sense when considering their descriptions, requirements, and main attributes.

  Although I did give the Baltarus one hard think-over to make sure as it was the one who fitted me the most out of the two, I did end up scrapping them both.

  They simply did not hold a candle to one of the mysterious Shaar races.

  Of the four, they each specialized in their own areas, split into two dynamics of life and death apparently. Like how I found life in blood and death in shadow.

  As I understood the concepts beholden to each of the four races, it was; Sael'ah - Desire, Sulnyr - Soul, Stragúl - Power, Scalrin - Faith.

  While it of course wasn't as simple as that, I boiled it in general down to that. But even though I had given them all four a generous amount of consideration, booted the Scalrin from possible choice almost immediately. They simply did not suit me from the description, no matter how you looked at it.

  So it was up to the Sulnyr, Stragúl, or the Sael'ah.

  All of them spoke to me.

  Sulnyr had a lot of potential without even how rare the use of the soul was and considering the rather generous amount of power my soul wielded. And then there was the Stragúl, the most obvious choice to pick that would take me further down the Stagia Clan of the Shaar lineage, the successor of the Strigoi.

  Lastly, there was the Sael'ah, a race whose description given me both apprehension and a deep sense of curiosity.

  Further deliberation narrowed it down to the Sael'ah and the Stragúl as the Sulnyr was just not all-around good enough. Also, they sounded vague as hell, and I had no idea what I would be signing myself on to by going down that road.

  I spent a great amount of time, just thinking between the two - both having their own appeals and possible downsides.

  Ultimately, there wasn't really a question as to which one of the two I would pick.

  Deep down, I knew which one was the correct one, and I had already found my path - no need to go searching for it anymore.

  -Evolve, Stragúl!-

  ***

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  : (Elinder Gomez)