30. Eyes of the Soul

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You have selected the Path of the Nine-Tailed Werewolf.

The Nine-Tailed Creatures are beings of tremendous nobility and talent. They wield mystical magic unlike any other can hope to match.

Nine-Tailed Wolves possess the power to topple mountains with their Mystic Magic. They are fast and deadly with it but lack endurance.

However, as a Nine-Tailed Werewolf, you have become the perfect acumination of abilities to stand toe to toe against any and every opponent; without exploitable weaknesses.

Your physical growth will shake the foundations of the world and your spiritual might shall never be left behind.

From now on, your intelligence, strength, and speed will increase by 0.1 at every level.

In the future, as you continue to follow the Path of the Nine-Tailed Werewolf, more power will be presented to you.

Survive well.

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The first thing Rakna felt when that message appeared was the mildly painful change to his body as every single one of his stats increased by 20. He shook his head lightly and suddenly felt as if he was out of his body.

He could pick up the smell of everyone in the gym and differentiate each one of them with no difficulty. He could even hear their heartbeats without focusing. When he opened his eyes, he had to stay still as to not lose his balance because of the dizziness caused by the feedback of his vision.

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After overcoming your limits to the extreme, Eye of the Mind has entered Excelled state.

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Rakna rubbed his temples at this additional prompt and opened his status window, focusing only on the first half of it.

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Name: Rakna Xiorra

Age: 17 | Level: 10 (0/100)

Path/Race: Nine-Tailed Werewolf

Titles: Legendary Slayer, Wolf King

Potential: S+

Attributes:

Strength: 4 | Endurance: 3

Speed: 9 -> 10 | Dexterity: 8 -> 10

Intelligence: 4 | Luck: 9

Available Attribute Points: 5

Available Skill Points: 2

Statistics:

Stamina: 27 -> 50/50 | MP: 40 -> 60/60

Swiftness: 26 -> 48 | Agility: 25 -> 50

Senses: 72 -> 141 | Atr Cap: 37 -> 40

Attack: 23 -> 57.5 | Defense: 13 -> 33

Magic Attack: 12 -> 32 | MP Regen: 0.28 -> 0.48/min

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“Well, that is certainly a sizeable increase,” Rakna commented. After he was done inspecting his stats, he took a look at his skills.

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Cognitive Skills (Passive):

- Eye of the Mind (Lv. Max -> Ex)

- Pain Resistance (Lv. Max)

- Fear Resistance (Lv. Max)

- Fatigue Resistance (Lv. 7)

- Ireful Shell (Lv.1)

Spontaneous Skills (Active):

- Appraisal (Lv.5)

- Intimidation (Lv.3)

- Claws (Lv.2 -> 8)

- Call of Fangs (Lv.1 -> 2)

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“Hm,” Rakna stared at this window for a moment. More specifically, he looked at his skill that had reached the Excelled level. ‘So, Alexa, if I understood correctly, I can use one of my Skill Points to ascend Eye of the Mind, right?’

[Affirmative.]

‘What would be the result?’

[I’m unaware of the details, Rakna. However, I can say with certainty that a skill as rare and useful as the Eye of the Mind would be no waste for a Skill Point.]

‘Then, use it,’ Rakna replied.

[Understood.]

After his order, he abruptly experienced another mental interference. His vision blurred for a short second and when it came back, it was as if he could see something that he had never noticed before but couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

He also felt like his entire body, from his deepest internal organs to the tips of his hair, was under his control like never before.

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Eye of the Mind has successfully ascended to Eyes of the Soul.

---

Eyes of the Soul (Lv.11): A skill worthy of the jealousy of even the strongest beings. Through the windows of the soul, the user will experience an attunement to his body and mind that is said to be even out of reach for Spiritual Creatures.

With this Ascended Skill, nothing can stop you from learning even the hardest of techniques in a few hours. Even minutes sometimes. You can also never be taken by surprise as your soul will never fail to notice it and warn you of the danger.

Secondary Effect: Permanent 150% increase to senses.

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Rakna almost had the urge to smile in contentment. With this new boost, not only had his senses reached a value of 160 thanks to the 3.5x multiplicator, but he could also feel something within him. Something that he could manipulate and channel, though with difficulty.

‘Is this… my soul?’

[Affirmative. There are high chances that as you get more proficient with the Eyes of the Soul, the more you will be able to control the power of your soul.]

‘What would that allow me to do?’ Rakna asked curiously.

[Although souls cannot harm anyone physically, but they are the only thing that can harm another soul. In other words, you might one day be able to destroy someone’s soul with yours or perhaps even take control of them or possess them. These abilities are commonly called Soul Arts and are usually wielded by Cultivators.]

“I see,” he responded out loud before finally taking a look at his surroundings. From the looks of things, he certainly wasn’t the only one who had been deep in his thoughts. Even Allan seemed to be concentrating hard. Though, those who hadn’t reached level 10 yet in Leis’ group were merely resting.

“Are you finished?” Rakna heard someone speaking from his left and turned to see Nyx leaning against the wall in the corner. He hummed and walked toward her. He took a spot next to her and started watching the others like her.

“What about you?”

“I did. The System only gave me two Paths to choose from,” she said.

“I see. Can I ask what they were?”

She glanced at him and answered, “One was Legendary and the other was Unique.”

Rakna squinted his eyes without looking at her. “I take it that they had something to do with you being a former goddess?”

If she was surprised by his inquiry, she didn’t show it. “You could say that. One of the two Paths I was given was centered around the possibility of regaining my old powers as for the other one… it was something… different.”

Seeing that she wasn’t going to say anything more about it, Rakna fell silent. After a few minutes, Nyx spoke again, “If you’re interested, you can always use your skill to look. Your friends told me about it earlier. I won’t be offended.”

Surprisingly, Rakna grunted negatively. “I will restrain myself from doing so. It’s not in my nature to look at someone else’s secrets because I feel insecure about it. Especially when they’re allies. I looked at your status once and it’s enough for me. I will not repeat the process as long as I feel that you are not a threat to me or my peers.”

Nyx snorted with a smile. “Such a gentleman you are. Or perhaps, you have great pride…” She said and paused. “In that case, I don’t mind telling you a story or two. I myself need to get it out of my chest so I do not mind.”

Rakna glanced at her with a sharp but otherwise unexpressive look. Then, she continued, “I don’t know if you saw my titles but since you called me a former goddess, I will assume that you did.”

He nodded calmly and she followed, “I’m sure that among those, you saw a… an intruder of sorts. And it couldn’t be more accurate. I was ‘Spared by the Eternal Night God’.” She scoffed. “You see, it was him who defeated me and sealed me away. I do not know for sure why but it somehow made me land in here,” she told with a wave of her hands, pointing at their surroundings.

“As for why I’m telling you this, it is because the Unique Path that I was offered was titled…” She stopped and sighed. “Titled ‘Path of the Eternal Night’.”

Rakna’s eyes widened a bit at this.

“I can only guess but I probably unlocked it thanks to my being the former Night Goddess and also possessing a title related to the very creator of Eternal Night, also called Aeter; the perfect hybrid magic between lightning and darkness.”

When she was done telling her story, a peaceful silence settled between them. Rakna even thought that it was a pleasant kind of quietness. The sort that he had rarely experienced in the past. After a handful of seconds, he opened his mouth, “Which Path did you choose in the end?”

Nyx smiled and waved her finger. “Now, now, I won’t tell my secrets. If you want to know, I’m afraid you’ll have to pry into my status again,” she jested and Rakna snorted but didn’t retort.

“Anyhow,” she uttered and pushed herself away from the wall. “Your friends seem to be finished with their decision,” she said and began to head back to the group. “Thank you for listening to me like that. You’re more sensitive than you look,” she added without turning around.

Rakna gazed at her as she walked away and wondered if he should or should not use Appraisal. On one hand, he intended to be faithful to his words, but this woman was a divine being before coming here. Should he trust her or not?

“What do you think, little guy?” Rakna whispered and Pronos popped his head out with a soft hiss to which he nodded with a thoughtful expression. “I guess… So? Did you also have to make a choice, little guy?”

Pronos nodded and before Rakna could ask, a small System window opened in front of him with only one line in it.

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(Legendary) Path of the Ouroboros.

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“I see. Congratulations,” Rakna said and Pronos smirked pridefully. Then, after a few seconds, the two of them returned to their group where Allan, Flavia, and Nyx were already chatting.

“Ah, Rak! You’re here,” Allan noticed him almost instantly. “Wanna know what Path I got?”

“Sure tell.”

“The Path of the Abyss Monk!” He declared with pride. “It’s an Epic one and damn its description was cool. Apparently, I can have muscles as tough as diamond in the future.”

“Well, that would be very powerful, I admit,” Rakna nodded. “Though,” he tilted his head. “Why is the name so ominous?”

“Eh? You mean the Abyss bit? Dunno. It wasn’t specified,” he scratched his hair sheepishly. “It just, you know, sounded cool.” He laughed dryly when Rakna gave him a blank look. “Oh, come on, it’s still classified Epic. At least, I know I didn’t get something bad.”

Rakna shrugged. “Perhaps so. What about you, Flavia?”

Flavia took on a troubled expression. But she also seemed… embarrassed?

“Well, it’s a Legendary Path called…” She finished with a very hushed voice that no one heard.

“Yes?” Rakna’s ears twitched on top of his head and one of them perked up while the other folded. If it was another time, Flavia would have melted under the cuteness of the action, but she couldn’t help but be embarrassed when she repeated it, still whispering. However, this time, it was loud enough for Rakna to hear it thanks to his improved hearing.

“Chaos Witch?” He repeated and Flavia nodded with a blush. He turned toward Allan who was stifling his laughter and Nyx who had a small smile on her face then back to Flavia. “What’s wrong about it?”

“In… the description…” She started but couldn’t finish. Instead, Allan decided to finish for her.

“In the description of her Path, it said that Chaos Witches were descendants of one of the most powerful Witches to ever exist,” he said then chuckled. “And, supposedly, to be considered one, you have to be extremely sadistic and - pff, hahaha! – sexually frustrated.”

“Oh,” Rakna exclaimed dumbly and Flavia covered her face with her hands as Allan let out a full-blown laughter. “Well… don’t worry, I won’t treat you any differently because of your fetishes,” he affirmed with a flat tone.

“That’s why I didn’t want to tell you!!” She shouted back with a flushed face. “And I’m not sexually frustrated!” Her voice echoed in the gym and many people tried to hide their blush.