Chapter 399: Housewarming gift

Chapter 399: Housewarming gift

I need to think this through, just maybe not here.

Pareth teleported back to Sofia, crouching to hand her the sunless debris he had just collected but when she went to grab and store it, he pulled his hand back.

What? Did you just want to show it to me? It looks perfectly normal Wait, did you not collect the imprint yet?

Seeing Pareths three skulls nodding, Sofia quickly understood what was going on.

You dont want the relocation ability? Hmm, I dont know.

Its true that theres a chance it might be useless for you. Its hard to say where and how your mana heart will manifest and what will happen to it when you die or change body I still think you should take it. Its only 10 000 stat points. Look at your current health, you know that this is not what will make a difference. In fact, it might just be better to focus on getting more skills for you

Well see. So, what do you say?

After a few seconds of reflection, Pareth absorbed the imprint, and handed both his mana heart and the debris back to Sofia.

Alright Now lets backtrack a bit, I want to investigate the cocoon things we ran by on the way.

It wasnt long before Sofia found herself face to face with a large black cocoon on the forest floor. It looked made of the same black goo the Sunless were made of, and now that she paid attention to it, there were several such things even just in her immediate surroundings.

Can I identify this?

[Sunless Cocoon]: Something is sleeping soundly inside, it will wake up at daybreak.

Something?

It wasnt too hard for Sofias mana senses to pierce through the cocoon and perceive what was inside: a small pack of six-legged wolves.

I think they were called Wulffs? Why the hell would they be in a cocoon like this

Walking around and checking the other cocoons she could find, there was only one conclusion Sofia could come to.

The Sunless are protecting all the other monsters during the night?

Thats an interesting discovery. But I think weve attracted a few followers. Better get rid of them before they become an amalgam again. I take left, you take right.

Pareth ran to engage his target while Sofia lazily raised her right hand.

The Sunless drone never stood a chance against the lightning bolt. Sofia absorbed both imprints, and she decided to return to a safe place to consider her skill evolution. The safe place she chose was the sky. Simply walking up until she was high enough for her taste, she sat on nothing and contemplated the dark world below.

The night was surprisingly well-lit, still, with two of the planets three moons up high in the sky. Beside them, the night was calm and silent. The Sunless kept aimlessly roaming the forest below, now that she had a better knowledge of how they worked, they were a lot less scary. The drones, at least.

Seeing a moons reflection in a small forest pond below, Sofia looked up again. The real moon was about just as blurry as its reflection in the pond.

Theres something weird going on with the moons. I cant see them clearly even with the enhanced eye. The system must be doing this. After all, it can hide the towers

Well, whatever, thats a subject for later. I have to choose an evolution. Praesidium is a safe choice, gives the flexibility to stack the blessing if I want, make it generally better at defense. Now that the skill is level three, I can bless both my and Pareths bones plus my armor. Keeping this configuration, It would be an immediate toughness increase of 20% each.

All stats -5% (E rank base)Mana + 1757[Relocate Core]

All stats ??% (D rank base)

+8500 Health??? Skill shard (1/10) (Sunless Amalgam Skill)[Relocate Core] Skill shard (73/100)

It went from -30% to -5%. If it keeps going up by 25% every rank Then the minimum passing requirement is +70% since its at B tier. Right? And then that would mean Pareths is currently at +20%. Thats only if the progression is linear, though, and it might not be.

I dont know why I expected the mana hearts to start looking different with the ranks, theyre still just glowing rocks

Should I start hunting firebirds again?

Maybe lets just see whats outside of this forest.

Sofia chose a random direction to fly away from the forest. She had to go for quite a while before she was truly out of the massive sea of blue trees. Dubious, she observed the new land presenting itself below her.

Thats one huge swamp. The trees there are massive, too. Not quite black-primus-big but not extremely far. Does this whole thing freeze over at night? That could be funny.

I dont see a great deal of monsters here though There are things hiding under the mud.

Wait Ruins?

Sofia used her left eye to zoom in on the gray structure she had noticed in the distance. Looking at it closer, it was indeed the old ruin of a small stone castle or fort of some kind. In the middle of a swamp?

Could a previous trial-taker have built this?

As she debated going there to check, Sofia saw some movement below her.

One of those small mud monsters?

She checked with her mana vision but saw nothing in particular.

Really? Nothing? Really. This cant be right, Im positive I saw something move.

How was it to turn on the heat layer again

Holy shit what. Woah.

Good thing that Im flying so high. How many monsters are there waiting for me under the mud, exactly?!

Whatever was hiding under the mud, Sofia could see concentric rings of heat under the mud, their starting location: the spot she was flying over.

If I was on the ground I would be surrounded.

With a flap of her wings, Sofia moved further. There was a small delay before the heat signals from underground followed, crawling underground until they were once again arranged in neat circles right below her.

I cant identify as long as theyre hiding in the swamp

But theyre all gathering together, its cute, its like they already know they cant escape whats coming next.

Sofia started channeling an explosive bolt.