Chapter 169

Elemental Sundering (II)

Reaper; it was a Path many had chosen during their First Awakening and, Cain suspected, would still be one of the main paths of progression for Elementalists. The reason was simple -- it wasn’t terribly difficult to learn, but those who were really good at it had many tools to display their prowess. Furthermore, it was strong; the entire Path was about almost entirely removing hard-hitting Skills of the Elementalists and instead breaking them down into segments. So, instead of a big ball of fire that dealt 50% of someone’s Vitality, it would be a string of smaller balls of fire adjacent to empowering sigils that did the same damage over a longer period of time.

The trade-off for lower instant damage was that cast times were practically non-existent, and Reapers were also known as the ‘machine-gun-class’. Cain was currently seeing the ‘master’ of the Class display its skills. In reality, none of the ‘visions’, so to say, that people would see here came even remotely close to genuinely capturing the essence of the Path. For instance, the fire-encased mirage within the sea of bolts of lightning remained stationary while firing off array of elemental bolts at the approaching faceless and nameless enemies. Every Reaper worth a salt, however, never spent longer than 2 seconds standing still.

When it came to the First Awakenings, there really wasn’t the ‘best’ Path absolutely everyone had to take; it was only a matter of what people planned on doing. For instance, Reapers were one of the best sub-classes for small-scale skirmishes and duels between Conquerors, but were one of the worst when it came to raiding major bosses. On the other hand, more stationary sub-classes of the Elementalist, including Cain’s previous Vanguard, always filled the sheets during the major raids as, if they are allowed to just stay still and fire off skills, nobody could match them.

Eventually, though, this ‘strategy’ fell off with the emergence of the so-called ‘Phantom Bosses’ -- exactly like the one Emma and others ‘fought’. Bosses like these were effectively Conquerors; tanks had no means of getting these bosses to steadily attack them, and larger groups were just a move of a moron. Every Phantom Boss that was ever taken down was taken down by five or fewer Conquerors, no exceptions. In this case, then, Reapers once again became desirable.

Cain slowly went through the paths, one by one, taking his sweet time; as he suspected, Spatial one seemed the most appropriate with him. He would maintain the current skillset in addition to unlocking the ‘Space’ Element. The most raw usage was chargeless Blink, but ‘Space’ was hardly just limited to minor teleportations.

In the end, though, he moved on -- eventually reaching the altar of the ‘Spellmaker’ path. Unlike other altars, this one had no elements surrounding it. Rather, it was strangely and eerily barren, like an abandoned shrine to a forgotten god. The shrine appeared to be made out of obsidian stone and, if not, was charred beyond recognition. It was roughly half the Cain’s height and spiral in design.

Cain approached it slowly and sat down in front of it, cross-legged, injecting a tiny puff of Mana into the altar. Nothing happened for a moment; just as he suspected something was wrong, he felt his mind wrung out of his body and dragged into the altar. He didn’t panic, however, even if the means of the ‘entrance’ were slightly different than with the other altars.

Opening his eyes slowly, he took in the world around him -- or, rather, lack thereof. All around, only blackness and nothingness surged; he found himself sitting on top of a squared, tiled platform in the middle of nowhere, barely twenty by twenty, opposite of another. The latter’s presence wasn’t strange; what was, however, was the impossibly life-like appearance. Every other ‘mentor’ thus far was, at best, ghost-like and, at worst, barely even there. However, the man in front of Cain was, for all intents and purposes, a person.

“... methodical,” the man suddenly spoke out, startling Cain; another thing was... the ‘mentors’ did not speak. Rather, they couldn’t -- as they were just preserved images. “Deliberate,” the man opened his eyes and stared into Cain’s; the former’s were inhumanely bright, golden in dye, shining like a pair of suns. The man was old, his white hair and wrinkled face the evidence of that, yet the youth and vigor that burned in the pair of those eyes almost seemed eternal. “Inspired, detailed, keen. You have all the attributes of a Spellmaker,” the man added. “But if attributes made men, then everyone would be a hero.”

“...”

“What is a Spellmaker?” the man quizzed abruptly. “To you, at least. What does the name invoke?”

“You mean, besides the two words it’s made up from?” Cain asked back, smiling faintly. The man seemed unamused for a moment, though a hint of a smile appeared on his face a few seconds later.

“In reality, everyone is a Spellmaker,” the man continued. “Be they those who took this Path, those who didn’t, and even those who never even took upon our Class. Even if we are afforded Skills, the means through which we use them differ; we create something new from what we are given, something uniquely ours. As such, everyone is naturally predisposed for this Path. Yet, why do you think so very few Conquerors even took it?”

“I’m guessing it has something to do with the drawbacks you’re about to list.”

“... ah, and a wit,” the man chuckled lightly. “Not a necessity, but a pleasant surprise nonetheless. And, yes, you are quite right; but, before we get to that, don’t I at least get a chance to sell this path to you?”

“... please, by all means.”

“The biggest draw of a Spellmaker,” the man added, a flicker emerging in his eyes. “Is that those who are on this Path... have no limit to how many Skills they can create.”

“H-huuuuuuuuuuuh?!!!”

“That’s right,” the man laughed freely at Cain’s exaggerated reaction. “There is no need to be careful with Spell Creation, nor is there a need to look for dangerous and deadly ways by which you can Absolve the useless Skills; you are free to let your imagination run wild. And no, before you ask, there is no ‘limit’ as to how many you can use. As long as you have Mana, you can use however many you like.”

“... okay,” Cain took a deep breath to calm himself down. “Considering just how broken that is... I’m guessing that the drawback is that I die if someone as much as spits at me, no?”

“No, no, ha ha ha; nothing of the sorts.”

“What, then?” Cain asked, though he had already made up his mind. Infinite slots for Created Skills? No drawback in the world can balance that out.

“You can’t use Elements in their raw form anymore,” the man said, cooling Cain immediately. “And each time you wish to gain access to a new Element, it will be a rather difficult and oftentimes deadly journey. You begin with six Elements -- Creation, which will permanently have ‘SSS’ rank until your Second Awakening... and five Elements of your choosing.”

“... of... my choosing?”

“Yes,” the man nodded. “However, some are naturally not something you ought to chase -- such as Death, for instance. Even an attempt at creating a Skill with it would kill you instantly. All of the Elements you choose will be set on ‘B’ rank, and the only way to improve them is through using the Skills you made with them. Furthermore, their ranks can’t be improved either through items or titles.”

“There’s something else,” Cain said. “Even with all that... infinite number of Skills is still too tempting. Unless, of course, you’re lying about the number of people who took this Path.”

“Aah, perceptive,” the man chuckled, scratching the back of his head suddenly. “But... this part won’t be an issue for you.”

“Oh, it won’t? What is it, then?”

“You need to start fresh.”

“Hm?”

“If you choose this Path,” the man elaborated. “You will go back to being Level 1, with all items currently in your possession destroyed. You will, however, get to keep your Titles and Achievements. Furthermore, your base stats will receive a rather decent upgrade as yours were... well... khm...”

“Yeah, I’ll do it.” Cain immediately agreed without a second thought. It didn’t even hurt him in the slightest to give up all items in his possession; items are easily replaceable. Considering he’ll get to keep his Titles and Achievements, the true backbone of any Conqueror, it was a no-brainer. Plus, leveling back up to level 50 would be a piece of cake for him as he largely paced himself out when he was with others, even still managing to shoot past them. “I’ll choose this Path.”

“... are you certain? Though, to be fair, shouting it at me makes no difference.”

“Why not?” Cain said. “Tsk, infinite Skill Slots. Even if I was Level 100 I’d have given it up for this.”

“Very well,” the man laughed freely, seemingly ecstatic over Cain’s choice. “It has been a while, I must say, since someone like you appeared. The last time an Elementalist chose this Path was... hmm, it had to be a few Cycles at least? We are a thinning group, Conqueror. But, we are united; shall you ever break past the Mortal Coil, you may come and find me in the Kingdom of Forgotten. All Spellweavers can call that place their home. Our time is up, Conqueror. I shall hope to see you again, one day, beyond the Stars. Good luck.”