"Two who are one," I read softly. "One who is two."
"Obviously," the fox said at last, and I could almost taste the pride in its voice. "What did you think we were, lazy cur."
The fox seemed pleased with this title; however, as I recalled the breathing of the massive being inside that room in my soul, I began to wonder if this fox here represented the true intention of that being, or if it was a different personality altogether.
I guess this Title and the deepening of my bond with the Moon Fox would aid me to answer this questions in the future. For now, I equipped the Title, and the bond between me and the fox that had become strained and almost battered by the consumption of the Soul Flayer... bloomed.
For a brief moment, I felt the fox the way I felt my own hand, its small, fierce heart that was so strong, it felt as if it could beat forever, and above it all was the stupid certainty that the two of us against the entire world was a fair fight we were going to win.
I let myself treasure this connection before I pulled back a little and continued focusing on my status screen. Apparently, my rewards had not ended; there were still two bright notifications waiting for me.
Then I saw these were new skills, and I could not help but ask in surprise, "How do I have two new disciplines?"
"How did you think you survived in three months?" the Avatar dry tone replied me, before pouring a section of its memories that it had kept away from me.
In them, I saw myself running and fighting a horde that never ended, but I had white hair and moved and fought in ways that would take me decades, maybe even centuries, to learn.
"The Soul Flayer suppressed your soul, but it could not suppress the Hollow. We are welded together, and I had to run to keep a part of you away from its clutches. I could only hold on for this long before I was caught, but in that time, your soul had been able to gain a bit of resistance against its hold that you broke free from it."
The weight of the actions of the Hollow Avatar weighed on my soul for a bit before I sent it a mental bow of acknowledgement. There may be a part of me that would always fear the corruption of the Hollow, but I would never forget these moments, where the only reason I survived was due to its actions.
Without further ado, I focused on the two new spells I had gained.
[New Discipline Acquired:]
[Heaven’s Verdict (Epic) ] : A lightning spell born of judgment. You called the Tribunal down upon yourself and chose what you would become; the heavens left a fraction of that authority in your hands.
[Type: Offensive / Cataclysm]
[Effect: Unleashes a condensed beam of Celestial Lightning that bypasses physical defences and strikes directly at the target’s soul. The beam is continuous for the duration of the cast and can be redirected to strike multiple targets in a single discharge.]
[Range: 500 metres (current)]
[Duration: Sustained — 1 second per 200 Anima spent]
[Cost: High — 500 Anima per second]
-Heaven’s Verdict descends as a single vertical strike, ignoring the space between. What it falls upon is judged.
∞
As I read the description of the spell, the shape of it appeared inside my channels, sitting beside the several lightning disciplines I controlled, and I understood that this spell did not come from the Hollow Avatar; it was due to my actions in the last...
I nearly laughed; technically, I did not die, so there was yet no loop. However, the smile left my heart when I realized how much time had passed, and the unknown changes that would be waiting for me out there.
Sighing, I focused on the spell. Lightning Tribunal was the full judgment from the heavens, as its consciousness poured through me, and despite all my immunities, it was vast and dangerous.
However, Heaven’s Verdict was mine, a splinter of judgement that I carved away from the heavens when I decided to judge those who would tear apart the world for their benefit. I ignored the cost of the spell because the System was using the normal Anima Cost for an average mage, but my Anima Depth was producing something much more potent than Anima, and for all intents and purposes, it would be hard for me to run out of Anima before I died, and only battles against creatures like Vrakth could take me to the limit.
"You stood under the full judgment of heaven and answered it," the Avatar suddenly spoke in my soul. "A thing that does something like this does not walk away with nothing, and the heavens left a coin in your pocket."
Yeah, a coin shaped like a falling spear of lightning. I filed it away and read the last.
[ Stormstep (Epic) ] : [ A movement art for one who has become lightning. While Lightning Incarnate or Storm Bearer is active, you may discharge yourself across a short distance as a vector of light, collapsing the space between two points into a single instant.]
[Type: Movement / Evasion]
[Cost: Low — 100 Anima per step]
The fox’s interest sharpened through the new Link, sudden and bright. "Oh. Oh. That one’s good. That one’s very good. Do you understand what we can do with that?"
I did, a little. I had been Lightning Incarnate before, and with it I could become a vector that crosses between two points. But becoming it had always been a state I entered and held. If I was reading the descriptions of this spell correctly, what Stormstep offered was more brilliant and different, since I was collapsing the distance between where I stood and where I wanted to be into a single flicker.
In essence, my body would discharge and reform, arriving rather than crossing, and no matter how I tried not to say it, the truth was before me... with Stormstep, I could freaking teleport!
Lightning Incarnate was me becoming lightning; it was good for movements and evasion, but I needed a medium to move through to get from one point to another. However, with Storm Step, I could disregard the medium and arrive at my destination.
"We are going to be insufferable ," the fox said happily.