Chapter 395: Forest-shadow-wing

Chapter 395: Forest-shadow-wing

Alright, what else do we have here?

Sofia first identified a bird in the distance, one of the benefits of her new eye, which allowed her to get a closer look at the birds with the optical zoom and also somehow made it much easier to identify distant objects.

[Ironbeak Karoa - Lv. 196 - Imprint power : 0 - Effect : none]

Flesh-eating birds, usually scavenge in flocks of 5 to 8 birds, their hard beak lets them break open skulls to get to their favorite parts of the meal

So brain-eating birds. Well, Im not worried, I dont have one.

Level 196 and still 0 imprint power though

Seeing something move around around the treetops, Sofia identified that as she tried to get a better look at it. The creature looked like some kind of giant furred centipede.

[Wulff - Lv. 160 - Imprint power : 0 - Effect : none]

These low to the ground, six-legged wolves exhibit the usual pack behaviors of wolves, they are competent ambushers, tree-climbers, and never venture in open terrain

Already stepping foot into that forest sounds like a bad idea. I dont really have a good tool to get rid of many small monsters like that at once without using either an explosive bolt or the rot. Unless I switch back to the glorious title.

I dont really do well in cluttered environments like a forest.

It looks like I need to search for the stronger monsters if I want to get good imprints, what about those things?

Sofia identified the monsters whose gnarly heads were standing out in between the treetops.

[Forest Overseer - Lv. 249 - Imprint power : 0.3 - Effect : +30 Stamina]

Known as the guardians of the forest, this sub-species of trolls boasts the same usual toughness and regeneration, they protect other forest-dwelling creatures from outside and flying threats in exchange for a constant supply of fresh fruits and berries

As I thought. Stamina though Not very interesting.

It really makes me wonder if I should just get all the imprints I see, or if Its better to pick and choose. I do have a full year ahead of me, but I also need to reach those extra ranks and it cant be easy.

Also, 0.3 imprint power, 30 stamina points. So an imprint power of 1 is equivalent to 100 stat points? So upgrading to mana hearts E rank is already 5000 stat points. Im guessing each rank is easier than the next Lets say it doubles each time, that would be 120 000 stat points by the time we reach A rank Sounds about right, I think? Maybe a bit low? I don't have much of a reference point for level 250+ statlines.

And this prompts another question, are the -30% stats currently on our mana hearts applied before or after we receive the other stats from the heart. Or does it only apply to its own other stats? Is that something you can answer, Mr Scribe? That feels like an important detail.

Sofia felt a slight sparkle of pain in her head. Updated from novelbIn.(c)om

Thats an answer, alright, not too sure what it means, though.

She opened her status sheet, finding it unaltered, and wondered how she should interpret Mr Scribes answer until she had the idea to identify her mana heart again.

[Nascent mana heart of Aphenoreth]:

Rank : F tier

Imprint power until next rank : 0/50

A clean hit.

The angels bolt pierced through the birds back, leaving a gaping, charred hole almost perfectly centered through the middle of its abdomen. The bird cramped with a jolt and started falling from the sky.

Sofia quickly flew down, and she received a notification before the bird even hit the ground.

You have defeated [Firebird - Lv. 249 - Imprint mostly intact]

The bird crashed and tumbled in the tall grass and Sofia landed right on top a few seconds later, Pareth immediately appearing next to her and securing the surroundings.

How do I do this, now?

Unsure of how to proceed, Sofia took her mana heart out of her armor, and held it above the corpse of the bird as large as herself, whose fire had died down with its death. Nothing happened, so she sent some mana into the mana heart, and she felt a reaction from it, but when she identified it again, the description hadnt changed.

Remembering how Kyle had held the stones against their foreheads in the shuttle, Sofia pressed the rock against the corpse and sent some mana into it again. This time, she could clearly feel the ambient mana contorting around the stone, something had been sucked in.

Again she identified the stone.

[Nascent mana heart of Aphenoreth]:

Rank : F tier

Imprint power until next rank : 1.86/50

Effects (on use) :

All stats -30% (-60%, applied first) (F rank base)

Mana + 186 (372)

Wager bonus (Glimpse from beyond) : Unlocks new unique ranks past the maximum

Wager penalty (The consequences of your actions) : Cannot regain life

Time before setting : 9 months, 33 days, 1 hour

Mostly intact I got 186 points out of 200. And got definitive confirmation that 1 point of imprint power in 100 stat points.

Thats a seven percent loss for just one hole? I killed the thing in a single hit and yet This really shows the value of Pareths bonus.

Blasted the damn bird right through the spine Sofia thought as she observed the dead bird. Bookie wont want to eat that Fire breathing, though? She grabbed the admins dagger and sliced through the birds neck, storing its skull in her left eye. Clean it up later, will be nice for the choir.

She almost flew right back up after slotting her mana heart back in her armor and sheathing the dagger, but she looked back at the charred hole she had made through the bird, and let her scepter levitate next to her as she reached out with her hand to grab a chunk of charred meat. Making her armor open up near her mouth, she gave it a taste.

Oh Im going to be eating good this year!

She stored the entire birds carcass and left the scene of the crime.

This trial isnt too bad so far.