Max and Angakok were back together again in the confines of his space bubble. The duo had left behind the fiery pits and embarked on a new journey to an unknown planet.
Max had hoped that completing his training ahead of schedule would earn him some praise from Angakok. However, as expected, the Shaman God remained emotionless, not offering a single word of appreciation to Max.
This time, Max didn't bother asking Angakok about their destination or the purpose of their visit. He had come to understand that his personal opinions and thoughts were of no consequence to Angakok.
After travelling at incredible speeds through the universe for four hours, the duo landed on a lush green planet. The planet was covered with thick rainforests, and the climate and gravity were nearly identical to that of Earth, giving Max a sense of familiarity. However, the plant-life was entirely different from the species he was accustomed to.
Angakok moved calmly through the forest, and the trees seemed to bend and warp themselves to create a path for him to walk through. Max walked closely behind Angakok, marvelling at his abilities and wondering when he would be able to move like him.
"I promised you, boy, that I would help you increase the speed of your stat maximisation training by 50% if you completed my target, so here we are on one of my self-created planets to train you," Angakok said calmly, leaving Max surprised.
"Self-created planet?" Max wondered in disbelief. The mere thought of the gods' domain was beyond his comprehension. What might seem like a simple task to them would be akin to the power of the supreme creator for mortals like Max.
"If everything goes well and you do not disappoint me, we will be able to get this done within 20 days. However, I must insist that we do not waste more than 30 days here," Angakok continued, leaving Max's ears ringing.
Stat maximisation training usually took years, not mere days. Had it been so easy, the entire universe would have been walking on the path of the perfect warrior, and his principal back at the academy would already be a god.
Max silently waited to see Angakok's plan, without voicing his opinions.
"How much do you know about the Blood Shaman Class?" Angakok asked rhetorically, expecting Max to not know much about it.
"Not much," Max replied honestly. He didn't want to present his superficial knowledge about the class in front of its god.
"The Blood Shaman Class is not a support class," Angakok began, his voice carrying a note of finality. "We are not meant to be back-end summoners, unorthodox healers, or specialise in curses. The Blood Shaman Class is a superior class that can work as anyone, from non-combatant craftsmen to frontline assaulters."
"The class has three critical aspects: Inscription/Craftsmanship, Replenishment, and Manifestation," Angakok continued, his voice commanding attention.
"Inscription/Craftsmanship refers to the use of the power of a creature's blood to perform all sorts of craftsmanship magic, be it inscribing curses on items, performing black magic through voodoo dolls, or warding and barrier protection magic. The procedure may change, but the essential ingredient is 'Blood.' Whether it is from an innocent creature, your opponent's body, or even your own, Blood is a powerful tool."
"The universe works on an equivalent exchange, and by sacrificing the soul and blood of a powerful opponent, a Blood Shaman can refill their health bar, stamina bar, or mana bar. This is known as Replenishment. We can fight in a battlefield without needing the modern potions because we can always regain health the old-fashioned way, " Angakok said as he raised his nose slightly in pride.
" You may not think much of it in this age of alchemical boom where potions are mass produced, but back in my day they were rare and the reliance on traditional healers was heavy.
Even in this modern day, that ability is very useful even for an primordial vampire like you who can replenish his health via blood absorption.
It's a good skill, but you still need external means to replenish your stamina and mana, " Angakok said as he reminded Max that while he was special, he still had his own drawbacks.
" The third and most important skill that we possess is ' Manifestation ' - This is probably the most important difference between us and regular shamans.
While the regular shamans can just 'Summon' creatures, we can actually manifest them in their entirety in battle.
Just like you can call on 'my' power during battle, swapping your subconsciousness for mine, with enough practice and the fulfilment of some criteria you will be able to swap your power and give the control of your subconscious to any entity you please.
If you don't wish to swap with an entity but rather keep your subconsciousness while manifesting their powers
It is also possible, provided that you have the ' Blood ' of that entity in question.
If you have half a brain, you would have connected these three skills to the three tests you probably would have given when you were being promoted.
Yes, boy, these are the same 3 criteria your talent was tested on during the tier3 promotion test when you linked with me for the first time " Angakok said as he reminded Max of the tier3 promotion test and the 3 subtests he had taken back then which were the three basic skills of the blood shaman.
The first test was inscription/ craftsmanship related.
The second one was about replenishment of mana by sacrificing the innocent rabbits, and the final test was when he connected with Angakok for the first time ever and manifested his powers through his own body.
For better or for worse, his destiny was greatly altered that day as he had awakened an ancient god whose immense powers had laid dormant and had stirred his return to the universe while becoming his chosen.
" So yes, while it would be otherwise impossible to perform stat maximisation within 20 days for a mortal like you
It's a trivial task for a god like me.
Dexterity is nothing much, it's just repeating a task that requires concentration again and again and again.
While you will be able to create maybe one inscription in 10 minutes, I'll create 50 in a second.
So while you may be able to manifest my powers for 5 minutes.
Those 5 minutes of me taking over your physical body and pushing it to its limit would be akin to you spending a year doing the same.
As for the Intelligence stat, I will dump a lot of basic information about the blood shaman class whenever I take over your body for you to review and digest once I'm out.
For endurance stat, you will be put in a pool of excruciating poison while you recover between sessions for my summoning cooldown and review your knowledge of the blood shamans.
Leaving only the agility stat left to master, which is a problem I'll give you a full 10 days to figure out how to solve, because our routine will be completed within the first 10 days ". Angakok said as he laid down his devious plan to torture Max for the next 20 days.