195. Chimeric Core

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Lv.300 Nightmare Chimera killed!

You have killed a foe more than four times your level, experience octupled!

The difference between your levels amounts to 237!

11 850 additional experience awarded.

Level up! 20x

...

+2 STR, SPD, INT!

+24 Free Points!

Requirement for level up updated.

Current progress: 400/830

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Rakna came out of the dream world and reappeared inside the labyrinth with the sweet level-up notifications ringing in his ears. The Guardian was lying down in the exact same spot with but only one difference.

“I can’t hear or see his pulse with Harvester,” the therian commented. “He’s dead.”

Higure sighed. “{I swear… you have a knack to land in the most unique of situations.}”

Rakna didn’t respond and stared at the creature for a while. He pulled out a pill from his storage and swallowed it in one ago. He felt his mana recover and he extended his hand toward the body of the creature before speaking one word, “Rise.”

A black and purple miasma erupted out of his hand and infiltrated the Guardian’s corpse. Every muscle spasmed and the lingering internal force inside of it turned into death energy. The chimera crawled to its feet and opened its four eyes empty of emotions.

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Raise Undead has leveled up!

Raise Undead has leveled up!

Raise Undead has leveled up!

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Rakna stared back at the emotionless undead and sighed. “Maybe Tyran was an exception… or you became so lost in madness that you had no ego left to carry over.”

“{It might,}” Higure said humorlessly.

He huffed and waved his hand. The olden ring he wore around his finger flashed and the Guardian was sent into the storage of the Hex Item specifically made for unliving creatures. “Thankfully, he is not too big for it… Hey, Alexa, is there a way to increase a spatial ring’s storage?”

[There is. I recommend you consult Wang Faezi about it. The requirements vary depending on the item’s quality and materials. A Red Hex Item might be costly.]

“Well… I guess it’s good that I sca- got gifted 60 million from the vixens. But Kara did say she would be supporting me in any way she could, right? I can always ask for more later on.”

“{Shameless as always.}”

“As always,” he repeated jokingly and put his hood on along with his mask. When the ellipses of Scherzo lit up, he put his hands in his pockets and began to explore the rest of the labyrinth.

If he understood correctly, there were chances that this Ordeal would disappear for good after he overcame it so he might as well see if he can find anything. He went to every path that he hadn’t tried out yet and found a few more bodies which he didn’t hesitate to loot.

“I haven’t practiced this skill yet, have I?” Rakna uttered as he remembered something. He put his hand on one of the bodies and squinted. “[Dead Men Tell,]” he intoned and his mind flashed with images of the Guardian running at him and smashing him.

❮◈❯ Dead Men Tell has leveled up! ❮◈❯

Rakna grunted and shook his head afterward. “It only shows me the moment of their death at this level. Based on the description, it should be capable of much more,” he commented and used the skill again on the same target.

This time, he saw a completely random image located in a town of the Tenth Plateau before fading away. He did it again until he got no new images and repeated the process on every other corpse he could find in the labyrinth. When he was done, the skill had rocketed from level 3 to level 9.

“The images are longer and I hear voices now… a bit of sensory feedback too. The first use seems to transfer actual memories,” he noted. “I wonder if I can also obtain proficiencies, skills, or spells this way? It might be a good choice to use my skill points on.”

“{There you go again; saying outrageous things that will probably turn out even more outrageous than they sound.}”

Rakna snorted and started heading to the exit. “There’s also that Union Magic thing. You were not that shocked by it so I guess it’s rather common. I remember Marie also having it…”

“{I don’t know what to think when you openly admit judging how amazing something is based on how shocked I am,}” Higure deadpanned. “{But yes, it’s rather… well, not common, but not unlikely to see on the status of people with more than one affinity. It is, undeniably, hard to learn but if it’s you we’re talking about, it’s not surprising.}”

“I see.”

“{At least try to act humble…}”

“No,” Rakna retorted and she chortled. He entered the room from before and the awaited System prompt appeared without delay.

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Deep Sand Labyrinth Ordeal Completed!

Level of the Participant: 63 (On Entry)

Assessment…

Grade: Z – Perfection

Rewards: 1 000 Exp, 5 000 000 Talys (Deposited), Skill Card ‘Uru Cimera’, Nightmare Core.

Note: Place your hand on the pedestal to leave.

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Level up!

+0.1 STR, SPD, INT.

+1 Free Point.

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You are qualified for a promotion!

Do you wish to be promoted to Rank VI?

Yes/No

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You have been promoted to Rank VI!

- Balance Increased. Current Ceiling: 1 000 000.

+60 000 Talys.

+6 Free Points.

- Random Item Box (Gray ~ Orange)

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“And that makes five Boxes,” Rakna commented and closed the windows in favor of leaving the labyrinth. He was teleported right outside the entrance and on cue, the entire structure shook.

He flash-stepped away just in case and watched from a safe distance as the entire labyrinth was gradually swallowed by the sand as if it was a swamp. After a short minute, there was nothing left of it. “Alexa, to be sure, not all Ordeals disappear after the first clear, do they?”

[Affirmative. Some Ordeals do not but one person cannot go in it again after their first run. There are also level limits for entering certain Ordeals. If I am not mistaken, this labyrinth had a Lv.200 restriction for allowed entries.]

“I see… No wonder no one managed to survive the Guardian. Perhaps the higher leveled ones got to injure him as I suspected but couldn’t kill him,” Rakna commented and looked up at the horizon where the sun was rising. “Time to go back; Alexa.”

[Initiating transfer.]

* * *

Rakna reappeared right in front of the hotel room’s door. He popped his neck and made Allegro turn into a normal appearance. Scherzo was the first to go away, merging with the material of the outfit, and the rest followed. He then entered the apartment and saw that no one was in the main room.

“Maybe Nyx went out,” he uttered and sat down on the couch with a sigh. He swiped his hand and two System windows appeared at once.

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Designation: Skill Card/Spontaneous Skill

Name: Uru Cimera

Learning Requirements: Lv.100 <✗>, Lv.10 Alchemy <✗>, Demonic Race <✗>

Description:

If used on one or more deceased targets, the skill will draw a fusion formation below them and create a random chimera out of them. The result may vary in quality and failures are to be expected on the first tries if the user fails to guide the process.

The fusion has no limit for the number of ‘ingredients’ but the more of them there are, the fewer chances of success there will be. The chimeras raised by this skill will require Demonic Energy to exist, thus requiring a being capable of generating it as their master.

The user can add external materials to the fusion and if they are skillful enough, modify the formation to increase the odds of success or even define the outcome.

Cost: 250 MP per Constituent. The mana can be stored up over a long period if the user wishes to perform transmutations above their current capacity.

Cooldown: 72 Hours.

Note: In case of a failure, the birthed chimera may attack on sight. Beware.

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Designation: Material/Chimeric Core

Name: Nightmare Core

Rarity: Red

Description:

The sublimated essence of a Nightmare Chimera. Chimeras are classified with six ranks regardless of if they are natural-born or alchemically created. They are as follow:

Dread – Lurid – Nightmare – Naraka – Revelation – End

A Nightmare Class Core has an average dormant energy of 5 000 Mana, 5 000 Stamina, and 100 levels worth of Life Force. They are extremely powerful tools in alchemy but are also equally, if not better, for Item Crafting.

Note: If the Core is destroyed, a terribly powerful explosion equivalent to high-tier spells will ensue over a very large area. It can be melted into a malleable form but beware of the instability.

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Rakna blinked. “Well… the first one, there is no doubt to who it will go. As for the second one… it might be interesting to use in forging. Hm, I could try and make a better version of Alzero and feed it to Sonata so that it can gain Perfect Dimensional Stability.”

“{That could be very powerful in your use of Focal Points,}” Higure commented. “{Now that I think about it, you reached the last evolution requirements, didn’t you?}”

“Yes,” Rakna nodded. “I’m level 84. I can evolve Sonata one more time. I wonder if I should wait to feed it the Holy Sword though… The more I evolve it, the rarer the weapons will have to be.”

“{True. But then again, who cares. You have luck and support from powerful people. And your luck is nothing short of incredible. You can get them whenever you want. Same with the materials to make Alzero stronger. Personally, I think the Holy Sword has better perks to integrate for the time being. Dimensional Stability can wait. It might even be possible to directly apply it to Sonata once you get good enough at smithing.}”

“Very good points,” he said, genuinely impressed. “You truly can be smart when you want to.”

“{Why thank you,}” she said sarcastically.

Rakna was about to pull out the sword when he heard one of the doors open. He looked up to see Evelyn come out of the bathroom with a yawn. She was not exposed like last time, still wearing her pajamas, but she was brushing her teeth with a half-asleep look on her face.

Rakna followed her with his eyes as she walked to the bedroom and about halfway there, she let her eyes roam around the apartment, and they coincidentally fell on the therian. She stopped the toothbrush movements and blinked dazedly.

She flushed a little but didn’t panic. “Not again…” She said embarrassed and went to the kitchen sink to wash her mouth. She then faced him again and cleared her throat.

“So… um, you’re back to normal?”

Rakna held off a snicker and nodded. “I am. I woke up during the night. Sorry if I worried you.”

She smiled. “No, it’s fine. Flavia was so sure you would be okay that neither Nyx nor I could believe the opposite for even a second,” she said with a chuckle. “But I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Sounds like her. She has always been good at comforting others,” he said and took a card from his storage. He deftly threw it to her and she caught it midflight without a problem. She looked at its information and widened her eyes.

“Are you su-”

“Please, you’re the only one here learning alchemy. Even if I could try and learn it as well, there is no point if you can use it. Better to make the team stronger as a whole. I admit I’m the kind to act solo and a bit recklessly but I intend to help you guys to catch up.”

Evelyn couldn’t help but laugh. “Just a bit?”

“All right. A lot.”

She giggled and held the card to her chest. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” he replied. “Ah, and before you go,” he added and prepared to pull out the chimera core to at least show her. If she had a use for it, he might as well give it to her too.

“You tell me if it’s something you’d-” He interrupted himself as a System window popped up when the large black and red orb appeared in his hand.

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Nightmare Core is compatible for an Assimilation.

Do you wish to evolve Andante?

Yes/No

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