For several seconds, Jake’s Soulspace was reminiscent of the void as nearly nothing existed there. The only clue that it was even his Soulspace was the sky of arcane mana that still remained, unaffected by the changes to come, as there, quite frankly, was nothing to improve on. At least not directly. All improvements would come from bringing the sky in balance with the rest of the Soulspace.
Even as Jake’s body was dispersed, he didn’t immediately regenerate it. Instead, he became one with this sky as he felt everything at once. Jake had never actively thought much about how his Soulspace should look like, and neither did he do so this time around.
Instead, he moved according to what felt most natural – and truly, was anything more Jake-like than leaving everything to instinct? Hence, rather than actually design anything with thoughtful intent, Jake proceeded to simply act.
The skies roared, and the First Sage willingly retreated and gave Jake space as the Soulspace began to surge with energy as countless particles appeared from the nothingness, swirling as matter was created. The ground was formed first, no longer the dead gray rock as before, but soil teeming with life and energy.
With a thought – intent behind the action this time not for what he wanted, but for it to happen - the world blossomed. Grass, the color of Jake’s arcane mana spread out across the land, and countless plants resembling herbs and other shrubs began to rapidly grow everywhere the eye could see. Occasionally, massive trunks sprang from the ground, covered in leaves that looked like crystals, and within moments, an enormous forest was born, continuing into an endless horizon.
Above, the sky continued to churn as the arcane mana connected to the ground, a cycle forming as the newly grown trees and other plants began to greedily absorb the energy from above. This exchange happened intermittently, with bolts of arcane mana resembling lightning descending upon the many trees, infusing the world below with arcane energy that turned from its destructive form into stable energy, making the trees grow further.
Finally, there was the last piece of the puzzle. The one thing that would complete the Soulspace.
A single humanoid figure manifested as Jake reformed his body. Bolts of lightning immediately struck him as he appeared, and a torrent of energy surged from below, making him feel an intimate connection with the Soulspace, surpassing anything prior.
At that moment, as Jake realized the new shape of his Soulspace, he couldn’t help but think about a concept he’d read about a long time ago... one he had definitely butchered with his interpretation of his Soulspace, but hey, he barely remembered what it had been about in the first place.
Still, he thought it fit.Heaven, earth, man. The heaven was his mana, the earth his inner energy, and man his vital energy. Each, they complimented one another, and together they formed the soul of Jake Thayne.
With this interpretation, Jake finally opened his eyes. The First Sage saw Jake regain his body and smiled before he instantly stormed at him. However, rather than get another good smacking, Jake merely raised a hand as he blocked the palm strike of the old man. Jake felt a shockwave of energy reverberate through his body as he pushed back with all his power.
Their clash sent out a shockwave that tore through the Soulspace, yet failed to even topple any of the trees as the ground was too stable for them to so easily destroy. The result of their clash was that the old man was sent staggering back, small cracks forming on his hand.
“Good... very good,” the First Sage said as he looked at his hand that was quickly healing. “Do you feel it surging? Embrace that feeling and let it carry you forward.”
With a small nod, Jake focused on the feeling that was indeed there. When the First Sage had struck him just now, that palm strike had been like a blacksmith’s hammer giving that final push to solidify Jake’s newly created body.
With it solidified, so did the rest of the Soulspace around him as he felt something within him begin to grow. Grow and change. His chest felt warm, and he knew a skill upgrade was coming, but something about this one felt far different from any prior he had ever had. Something else than merely a rarity was changing, and luckily for Jake, the system allowed him to know what was happening as he was flooded with system messages.
Incompatible Skill Upgrade Records for [Anomalous Soul of the Heretic-Chosen (Legendary)] detected.
Skill Upgrade changing to Skill Mutation.
Congratulations! Your [Anomalous Soul of the Heretic-Chosen (Legendary)] has successfully mutated from a Profession skill into a Race skill.
Skill Upgraded :[Anomalous Soul of the Heretic-Chosen (Legendary)] – Heresy and orthodoxy united in one body, power claimed from both. To be both a Chosen and a Heretic requires not only mental deviancy but a truly anomalous soul to reconcile opposing concepts. A soul that only grows more unique as you walk further on your Path as a Heretic-Chosen. Due to your connection to your Patron, your mana will begin to carry faint hints and morcels of the Records of the Malefic Viper when crafting poisons, making each creation more potent. Due to your identity as a heretic, this is not granted but taken, resulting in significantly increased mana expenditure during this process. As your soul mutates, so does it get empowered, allowing it to break convention. Going forward, every stat point in Wisdom increases your Mana Points by 12.5 rather than 10. May your very existence become an anomaly that shuns normalcy for power as you continue paving your own Path as a Heretic-Chosen. Note that this skill results in a permanent change. Losing your status as a Heretic-Chosen or your profession will make the skill further mutate and transition into a race skill.
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[Anomalous Arcane Soul (Mythical)] – Heretic and Chosen. Stability and Destruction. Intelligence and Instinct. You walk a Path of paradoxes, forever maintaining a tight balance as you strive to bring your unique Path toward perfection. Due to your connection to your Patron, your mana will begin to carry faint hints and morcels of the Records of the Malefic Viper when crafting poisons, making each creation more potent at the cost of significantly increased mana expenditure as you forcefully lay claim to these Records. Soul energy floods your vital and inner energies, allowing your soul to remain far more stable even when the body is destroyed or heavily damaged. As a result of your soul successfully mutating to better fit your Path, it can store more energy than regular beings, resulting in every stat point in Wisdom, Vitality, and Endurance increasing your Mana Points, Health Points, and Stamina by 12.5 rather than 10. Immensely increases your capability to convert your energies while reducing loss during the process. Latent potential in your soul has been unlocked, allowing you far more control within your Soulspace. May your soul continue to grow toward eternity as your Path evolves.
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Notice: Your skill [Anomalous Arcane Soul (Mythical)] has been moved from Profession Skills to Race Skills on the status menu.
Jake could barely focus on reading the flood of messages as the feeling of having something so fundamentally change within him was honestly goddamn euphoric. The change was sadly relatively quick after the system got involved and took him through the entire process as his Soulspace had now fully stabilized. Everything in there had calmed, and not far away, he saw the shadowy figure of Eternal Hunger appear, sitting cross-legged within a small dark clearing. Not far away, the drop of blood from the Viper was also back, creating a small area around itself with no life or arcane mana.
Seeing no need to mess with either of them, Jake turned his attention to the actual skill upgrade, and damn did he have some notes.
This was his first time seeing a skill change category like that, though he did know it was possible, and the original Anomalous Soul had already warned him it would happen if he lost his status as a Heretic-Chosen. Now it had mutated and changed because Jake caused it, but he couldn’t say the original skill being primed to being capable of doing so didn’t play a huge part.
Thinking about it, perhaps his interpretation that his Soulspace was akin to the Malefic Viper’s Divine Realm had helped him to get offered the Anomalous Soul of the Heretic-Chosen in the first place. However, now, Jake had severed that connection entirely, even if the skill retained the effects it had while a profession skill. It was true the Path of the Malefic Viper influenced Jake’s, but his Path was still entirely his own, and so was his soul. The drop of blood was merely a guest in his Soulspace, and the Records from the Viper Jake possessed were ones Jake had entirely taken. Even if Villy was their Origin, the second they became part of Jake’s Path, he no longer viewed Villy as having any form of ownership. He wasn’t a faithful Chosen after all, but as much a filthy heretic who was all about taking without asking.
When it came to the name of the skill, he had some mixed emotions. Anomalous Arcane Soul sounded so... basic. It didn’t sound like a mythical skill at all, and in truth, Jake had kind of expected to see another “of the Primal Hunter” skill. However, when he really thought more about it, did he really want that? Did it even make sense?
Because there was no fucking way that the Soul of the Primal Hunter was merely a mythical rarity skill. So, seeing the skill look so basic could be viewed as a good thing, as it meant there was plenty of room for further improvement down the line.
Anyhow, moving on to the actual skill itself and its effects, everything it did was entirely passive, which Jake definitely wasn’t going to complain about. From an immediate assessment, the biggest upgrade was definitely that his resource pools for Stamina and Health Points had just expanded by 25%, matching the existing bonus increase it had already given to his mana.
Needless to say, that was an utterly massive upgrade. Alongside this, he could already feel how much more easily Jake could transform the different energies within his body from one into the other. He had essentially created connections that allowed exchange within his Soulspace through the balance he’d achieved. Jake wasn’t sure if this improved ability to exchange energy would have any tangible effects while fighting as it still wasn’t very efficient and still took time and a bit of concentration, but hey, the option was now there.
Then, there was the newly added section talking about his soul growing more stable. Jake still wasn’t entirely sure what this meant, or if it even meant anything at all to him, as Jake was already pretty damn stable and quick to react even while heavily damaged, but he got the feeling this change would prove useful. Mainly the portion where it mentioned his body being destroyed... but all of that was for later experimentation.
The final part of the skill description mentioned Jake unlocking latent potential, allowing him far more control within his Soulspace. This was the most obvious part of the upgrade as that was what Jake had been doing all this time with the First Sage, and it bode well for Jake to further upgrade the skill in the future. He knew there were things he would now be able to do using his Soulspace, with the possibilities effectively endless. Technically, he already had those abilities before, but now he knew he had them.
Now, Jake did know that while this kind of upgrade was absolutely awesome, it was technically too awesome. Experiencing such a fundamental change to his soul was bound to have some consequences, which the First Sage would soon gladly outline as the old man stood with a big smile as he looked at Jake.
“Congratulations are in order,” the First Sage said, no longer bothering with infusing his voice with any energy as the lesson was over.
The two of them had landed on the ground while Jake went through the skill upgrade, and with a mental command, Jake summoned a table for them to sit at out of politeness.
“Thank you,” Jake said with a small bow before he took a seat.
“No need for thanks, you’re effectively my grand disciple,” the First Sage waved him off casually before he turned a bit more serious. “Our time remains short, so let us skip further celebrations and pleasantries. Seeing as you already had your soul mutate once, I assume you know of the drawbacks?”
Jake nodded slightly as he still asked. “I think I do, but if I’ve learned anything today, it’s that sometimes my base assumptions can be really off.”
The First Sage chuckled a bit as he explained: “As your vessel expands, so does what’s needed to fill it. The Records required for every one of your evolutions will be higher than before, making them more difficult and the quests harder, especially for your race evolution. You will also need more experience points for every level gained going forward, resulting in each level taking longer. Now, I call these drawbacks, but let me clarify: I do not actually see them as such. While it may appear detrimental on the surface, the more Records and the more experience you gather in your mortal years, the happier you’ll be in the future that you struggled in your youth as you approach divinity.”
“Yeah, that tracks with what I already knew,” Jake nodded, as he did bite onto one thing. The First Sage mentioned Jake’s evolutions getting harder, specifically pointing out the race quest, but so far, Jake had never once struggled with evolving, and he didn’t believe he would for B-grade either. Especially seeing as he didn’t even have race evolution quests. This could mean that the old man didn’t know about this part of Jake... and honestly, he felt kinda good about at least having some secrets in front of a man who seemed almost omniscient.
“I suspected as much. Vilas should have taught you some things, seeing as you are his Chosen,” the First Sage nodded with a smile before he sighed. “Alas, let the lesson fully end here. It’s soon time for me to go and for you to return to your time and reality. Would you have the honor of destroying this Record Fragment?”
Jake looked at the old man for a second before shaking his head. “I thought you said the lesson was over, so why the test? We both know I’m not capable of doing that.”
With Jake’s increased control of his Soulspace, he could also far better analyze the being sitting in front of him and the Records this image of the First Sage was made from. It was a mere fragment, yes, but the Records within it felt absolutely horrifying to try and destroy. Jake wanted to compare it to the power of the drop of blood or when Villy had briefly popped into his Soulspace when he fucked up Palete, but both comparisons felt wrong.
Even now, Jake truly couldn’t see through the old man, and he wasn’t sure if he ever would. All he did know with certainty was that if the First Sage had truly entered Jake’s Soulspace with the intent to break him...
“In fact, I’m pretty sure if you wanted to, you could have effectively killed me,” Jake sighed, following up his prior words.
The First Sage was silent for a moment as he looked toward the sky and squinted. When he did, Jake felt his heart beat strongly a single time as the old man spoke, shaking his head. “I’m not entirely confident I would have had a good ending either.”