28. Path

Rakna jumped on the head of a hobgoblin while it was busy with his shadow wolves and extended his claws, which broke through the creature’s skull and spilled to the ground matter worthy of censure.

As the monster collapsed, Rakna casually stayed on its head and hopped off of it the instant prior to it touching the ground. He looked around at the handiwork of both him, his shadow wolves, and the gray wolves and nodded in satisfaction.

This time around, his little army was able to effectively hit the goblins since they were occupied with the commotion going on at the gymnasium.

Rakna then turned toward the sky and marveled at how the eagles seemed to be dragged toward the gym as if they were being siphoned by an invisible force. All of them had their preys locked on.

He closed his eyes right after and sniffed the air. He still wasn’t completely used to his new sense of smell but one thing he had noticed was that he could discern between dead and alive.

For instance, goblins smelled like dirt and cabbage and when they’d die, it would turn extremely weak for a few minutes before disappearing and only leaving the stench of blood. Rakna was not sure why they smelled like that but he thought that maybe it was just his subconscious relating what he knew and saw to something familiar…

“Green…” He muttered dumbly. If it truly was that, he was mad with himself for having made a connection between goblins and a vegetable just based on color. “Anyhow, there are around two to three dozen goblins left. No hobs left…  As for the eagles,” he glanced at the sky once again and growled. “Good thing is that their level stopped increasing and capped at level 6.”

He mused and at the same time, his two shadow wolves happened to finish off a few goblins which brought him a surprising prompt.

❮ ◈ ❯

Lv.5 Goblin killed.

Lv.5 Goblin killed.

Level up!

+2 Free Points!

S+ Rank: +2 Skill Points!

Requirement for level up updated.

Current progress: 0/100

❮ ◈ ❯

Before Rakna could focus on the window, he felt a sudden rush of energy that rippled through his entire body. His eyes widened and he snarled quite loudly until it finally stopped. After the weird occurrence, he didn’t feel any different but another prompt proved him wrong.

❮ ◈ ❯

Core Genome Updated: Two Tails Unlocked. Next Tail: Lv.10/Lv.25

Number of Skills Affected: 2

Number of New Skill Attuned: 0

---

Shape Shift: A skill exclusive to the Nine-Tailed Werewolf. Grants the ability to shift between three forms; Wolf (speed +70% -> +73%), Werewolf (all attributes +50% -> +53%), Therian.

- Claws (Lv.2 -> Lv.8): Extend and retract claws at will. +20 -> +80% Attack.

---

You have taken a step closer to the Apex.

Congratulations on reaching Level 10. You have now the right to pick a path. This choice will impact your future development, the skills you will learn, your growth, your relations…

After analysis of the Host’s potential, 10 Paths have been singled out.

Select One Path:

+10 Magic Attack, +20 MP, +0.1 MP Regen. Path of the Caster.

<->

+10 Defense, +10 Attack, +20 Stamina. Path of the Warrior.

<->

+10 Swiftness, +10 Agility, +10 Senses. Path of the Assassin.

<->

(Uncommon!) +30 Attack, -10 Defense, -20 MP. Path of the Berserker.

<->

(Rare!) +10 Attack, +20 Magic Attack, +10 MP. Path of the Magic Blade.

<->

(Rare!) +10 Magic Attack, +0.2 MP Regen. Path of the Necromancer.

<->

(Rare!) +5 Attack, +5 Defense, +5 Agility, +5 Swiftness, +5 Stamina. Path of the Forger.

<->

(Epic!) +20 Attack, +20 Defense, +20 Magic Attack, +10 Stamina, +10 MP. Path of the Slayer.

<->

(Epic!) +30 Defense, +20 Senses, +30 Stamina. Path of the Guardian.

<->

(Unique!) +20 to All Stats, +0.2 to MP Regen. Path of the Nine-Tailed Werewolf.

❮ ◈ ❯

Rakna’s expression twitched. “Let me breathe…”

[Would you like me to-]

“No, keep it for later. Can I put this thing on hold? If yes, do it. I need to go back to the others to see if they need help,” he said and kicked the ground. Coincidentally, his shadow wolves disappeared at the same time since their time was up which was also followed up by a System prompt.

❮ ◈ ❯

Call of Fangs has increased to Lv.2

The summoning time for the Shadow Wolves has been increased to six minutes.

❮ ◈ ❯

Rakna groaned and mentally dismissed the window. Most of these notifications were good things but when they arrived one after another without delay, they became quite obnoxious.

It took him approximately two minutes to return to the gym whilst finishing off the few goblins that were on his way. He passively noticed that his claws felt incredibly tougher and sharper compared to before.

When he reached the building, he was on the opposite side of where the fighting was but instead of going around, he ran toward the wall without slowing down and jumped as high as he could before landing vertically on the wall.

He used his claws to stick to it and then continued his sprint. ‘I have to be honest…’ He thought as he leaped over the wall to land on the roof. ‘This feeling of freedom is addictive.’ He zoomed across the building’s length and jumped off.

While in midair, he took the opportunity to grab an eagle in his maw and two others with his tails before landing perfectly in the middle of the formation made by Leis’ group and his own.

“Woah!” Allan almost tripped at his appearance and he snorted before dropping the dead bird in his mouth and snapping the necks of the ones held by his tails, which were unexpectedly strong and quite maneuverable on top of being significantly longer than any normal wolf.

“Holy shit, where do you come from?” His blonde friend asked the question that everyone around was thinking.

“I ran up the wall of the gym with my claws,” Rakna replied as if it was the most normal thing ever.

The group let out a chuckle and Leia threw a side-remark with a huff, “Show off.”

“That, I can’t deny,” Flavia also went along with a smile. “Rakna has always been one to show off his skills. Whether it is intentional or not however is a mystery.”

Rakna humored their conversation with a grunt and turned back into a human in a second. He was getting used to the shift by now and he was confident that he could soon reach a point where he could transform mid-battle without losing time.

Pronos, who saw that his master was back, reclaimed his spot on his shoulder. For some reason, the little snake seemed to be pouting. “What’s wrong, little guy?” Rakna asked as he casually drew Sonata as a bow and shot two arrows that killed an eagle each.

“I think he’s a bit miffed that there isn’t anything for him to do anymore,” Allan replied. “I’m on his side honestly. With the goblins wiped out, I can’t really do anything with Nyx and Flavia killing every eagle that targets us.”

Leis shrugged. “Same here,” he said as his katana hanged loosely at his belt. He didn’t even need his sword to kill the eagles so it was resting in its scabbard.

“Same,” Leia and Gantt both added. On the other hand, Dan didn’t really care and his weapon had a bit more range to it than the others since it was a string knife. Thus, he could occasionally steal a few kills from the two powerhouses that were Flavia and Nyx.

“Understandable,” Rakna commented and turned toward the people still shooting from the glass panels. They were still not completely out of ammunition but it wouldn’t last long. ‘Though, you could say this is over already,’ he thought as he glanced at Flavia who, although winded, appeared to be able to go on for a little longer.

Then there was Nyx who formed shadow constructs as easily as she breathed. She waved her hand and black spears and arrows would impale eagles left and right.

‘I haven’t used Appraisal on her yet, have I?’ He suddenly remembered and didn’t wait any further to use one of his favorite skills since he landed in this situation.

❮ ◈ ❯

Name: Nyx Nocta Regysnite

Age: ‘???’ | Level: 10 (32/100)

Race: Ascended Human (Originally a ???)

Path: N/A

Titles: Former Goddess of the Night, Former ??? of Elysium,

Spared by the Eternal Night God

Potential: NR

Attributes:

Strength: 4 | Endurance: 4

Speed: 6 | Dexterity: 9

Intelligence: 15 | Luck: 3

Statistics:

Stamina: 20/27 | MP: 95/150

Swiftness: 42 | Agility: 24

Senses: 34 | Atr Cap: 41

Attack: 33 | Defense: 16

Magic Attack: 45 | MP Regen: 1.5/min

Proficiencies:

- Mana Control (Lv. Max)

- Mana Sense (Lv. Max)

- Enchant Weaving (Lv.9)

- Crafting (Lv.8)

- Magic Theory (Lv.8)

- Weapon-Mastery (Lv.6)

- CQC (Lv.6)

…

Magic Skills:

- Requires Re-Awakening

Cognitive Skills (Passive):

- Fatigue Resistance (Lv. Ex)

- Fear Resistance (Lv. Ex)

- Pain Resistance (Lv. Ex)

- Moon’s Blessing (Lv. Ex): ‘???’

Spontaneous Skills (Active):

- Shadow Cloak (Lv.3): Calls forth the elements of darkness in the air and allows the user to hide in shadows or to strengthen themselves. The darker it is, the more effective this skill is.

Cost: 10-50 MP

Cooldown: 1h

- Telepathy (Lv.6): A simple skill to learn for those who already know how to shape mana within their body and mind. Allows communication between minds.

Cost: Negligible. Maximum Distance: 60km

Nirvana Skills:

- Ascended Shadow Control (Lv.2): The result of a powerful seal forced the Host’s power to be erased from its initial grandeur and degraded to a single skill. Though weak compared to where it came from, it is not to be underestimated as a Nirvana Skill’s growth is unlimited.

Shadow Control allows the creation of physical shadow objects as well as a metaphysical manipulation of them. The strength, power, speed, or solidity of a construct depends on the mana pumped into it. Attack value will scale based on the magic attack stat and the minimum mana cost.

Mana Consumption: Grandly varies. Minimum Mana Cost: 1 MP

Note: To keep a shadow construct active, a constant flow of mana is required.

Unique or Racial Traits:

- Night Goddess: ‘???’

- Divine Blood: ‘???’

Note: A former powerhouse that stood at the peak of the Universe. She encountered the ‘???’ during the War of ‘???’ and was imprisoned in ‘???’ before being sealed away for ‘???’ years by the First ‘???’ until it recently was salvaged by the System. Unfortunately, Nyx’s power had already been drained and erased over time.

❮ ◈ ❯

‘…yes?’