—
Name: [Zarek Ashborn]
Role: [Hero Candidate]
>[Hero Spirit: Ashborn Demon] (LOCKED)
Profession: [Mnemonic Anato Scribe]
Core Stats:
>[Strength: C] <B+>
>[Dexterity: C] <B+>
>[Intelligence: C] <B+>
>[Endurance: C-] <B+>
>[Charisma: C-] <B+>
Talents:
>[Axiograft: E-]
>>[Abilities: Graft]
[Comprehend, Imprint, and Graft]
>[Empty]
>[Empty]
>[Empty]
Skills:
>[C Class Scouting: C+] <C+>
>[B Class Tempting Fate: F-] <B+>
>[A Class Ash Reborn: B+] <A+>
…
Notes:
[—]
—
Zarek immediately noticed two things, the first of which was far more obvious than the latter—that being the Hero Spirit toggle, an option that hadn't been there, and was seemingly still not there considering it was greyed out and "LOCKED".
The name of it was also curious. That wasn't the name of his original Role. It was Ash Demon, not Ashborn Demon. Why it would carry the name the people of Earth had given him now was unknown to him. What did it even mean to be a Hero Spirit?
But this wasn't the second matter that truly caught Zarek's attention; that realization was more wrapped up into the first. What he really noticed was the coincidence that all of his Growth Potentials were all B+ right now.
That had never happened before. And though, theoretically, it could very easily be a coincidence, Zarek wasn't sure if he should treat it as one. It felt… off.
Was there a change to his Hero Candidate Role? Had the randomness to his Growth Potentials become a bit more weighted, allowing them to skew a bit higher than usual?
If that was the case, this was huge.
Zarek closed his eyes and focused on his body. The changes were random, but they were also quite frequent. It wasn't rare for his Growth Potentials to change several times a second, though usually they would swap every few seconds instead.
He had found that with his previous Anato Codex Talent, he could stretch it out for a little longer, but not forever. This time, he was trying to do the opposite just to get a feel for what was happening.
After about three minutes or so, Zarek slowly opened his eyes.
It was true—it had become a bit more weighted. He landed on B+ about 30% of the time now. But the problem was that landing on S Class had become basically impossible.
His Hero Candidate Role took the Growth Potentials of the eight he was linked with, threw them into a pot, and stirred it all up.
The good news was that there were a rare few of Marx's brothers with Growth Potentials below B Class. The bad news was that there were a rare few of them with Growth Potentials above B Class as well.
They were dead average, so most of the time Zarek spent his time with B Class Growth Potentials.
Still, B Class wasn't bad, and B+ was decent. At least, that average was better than the averages Zarek had had after his third and final Rebirth.
'Ashborn Demon… now this… this is something I want to see play out. But first…'
Zarek hadn't forgotten that he had still not accomplished exactly what he set out to do just yet. He had gotten a bit lost in his original feeling, but what he had actually wanted…
Dismissing the Ash coating his hands, he formed a scroll again. This time, remembering the feelings, he began to use Comprehend and Decode in conjunction—one from his Talent and the other from his Profession.
Each had such overlapping abilities that it was hard to feel the subtleties in their differences. They felt almost like the same ability, manifesting in the same exact ways. But, because Zarek was using it on such a familiar feeling, there were fewer distractions and he was able to slowly feel it out.
It was like he was using the abilities in reverse of how they were meant to be. Usually, Mnemonic Anato Scribe would be used to bolster Axiograft, but right now Zarek was doing the vice versa.
And the result…
Zarek's eyes flashed and a pulsing heat came from the fluttering scroll before him.
Ash Reborn… it was a Skill he had built his entire foundation on, but it wasn't exactly a Fire Godsfall Intent Skill. It was far more subtle, and far more complex than that.
Ashen Gate, the Talent he unlocked after gaining Ash Reborn once again in his second life, was a gate to a hellish underworld that rolled out fogs of Ash. This Ash was formed of the decrepit corpses of Demonic Horrors.
However, these Demonic Horrors only represented the weakest method of using Ashen Gate. The best way to use the Talent was to form your own Ashen Gate, one where you stacked the corpses of enemies you had personally felled, creating your own Ash Reborn…
This Ash carried all the ire, rage, and fury of your slain opponents. It combusted on impact, but had a much more solid form than smoke, fog, or flames. It could latch onto things, enhance weapons and the body. With enough skill, the Ash could even be shaped into various forms, creating from the depths of destruction.
That said, ultimately, the Ash only had one true purpose, and that was to pillage everything before it until it too joined it… until everything was Ash.
A Skill, Talent, and Role that allowed you to become stronger the more you killed and slaughtered.
In Zarek's past lives, the appearance of the Ashen Gate signified his appearance, its rolling streams of Ashen Fog destroying everything in its wake. At the peak of his powers, he often wouldn't have to do much of anything to raze a city to the ground.
The moment his Ash touched you, it would destroy until everything had become a part of it. It was a level of Godsfall Intent beyond anything Zarek had touched in this life, and quite frankly, even in his previous lives, he didn't believe that he had reached the true pinnacle of it all.
Every time he lived… he seemed to always find a new gear.
And right now, that was precisely the Comprehension he was trying to Inscribe. The result?
Exactly as he expected.
—
[Profession {Mnemonic Anato Scribe} has shown great progress]