Chapter 179: A Messy Morning
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“Ugh... What hour is it?”
I drowsily woke up, feeling completely beaten to a pulp. I found myself lying on the couch, my head resting on the wooden floor. Around us, there were all kinds of open packages of salty and sweet snacks. Several energy drink cans were empty, and a pile of old DVDs, Video Game Cartridges, and... the rest of my friends.
Baihe was hanging from the ceiling, she had frozen her legs and got stuck there... She looked hilarious as her drool fell onto the floor, slowly freezing and leaving an icicle. My brother is going to kill me if he sees all of this.
Ah, and Annabelle is... a giant spider, just sleeping over two crushed couches and the second TV. She was surrounded by piles of half-eaten pizzas, burgers, and empty cans of energy drinks.
“Holy shit.”
Those were the only words I could think about. And... Oh, Sara was also here. I do remember that she invited herself to our house late at night and joined us. She was much older than us, so she drank a lot of alcohol. A dozen cans were lying right below her. Only her body from the waist up could be seen resting on the wooden floor.
The other half was most likely on a phantasmal stage, lying on the floor below us. I was surprised nobody was complaining. Maybe her phantasmal form can’t be easily seen by non-awakened. We’re lucky they had not noticed yet.
[“You’re finally awake...”] Gram’s grumpy voice echoed inside my mind. [“Get me out of here!”]
I looked behind me to see him stuck in the wall, he was constantly screaming at me to get him out of there. His other half was most likely hanging out in the open. Another push and he would fall from ten floors above. He will take no damage, sure, but he could kill someone if he falls over them.
“Alright...” I yawned, getting up and sheathing him back. “I’m sorry. We went a bit hard last night... I would feel a hangover if I had drunk any alcohol, but I feel mostly okay- Ugh, though my breath stinks.”
[“I can tell! Get me off your face! Now clean this place, quickly! Your brother didn’t return, most likely because he went off with that angel girl somewhere... but I’m sure he’s returning soon! It’s already past morning!”]
“Shit... Okay, let’s get this done... Everyone, wake up! Rise and shine!”
As I called out for everyone, I sent little, harmless threads of lightning into their bodies. Some were so unconscious they needed to get woken up a bit harshly.
“Uwaah! What the- AARGH! Why am I stuck in the ceiling?! Huh?! I froze my damn legs! Fuck! S-Someone help me!” Baihe panicked. “I am not good with heights!”
“You’re not good with heights despite having fought in the sky a few days ago?” I asked her while raising an eyebrow. “Sigh... Alright, alright. Come here, girl.”
I quickly took her out of there by cutting the ice and catching her like a princess...
“My hero!” She kissed my cheek. “Burp...” And then burped right in front of me.
“Yeah nope.” I dropped her onto the floor, startling Sara awake.
“Wha- Shit my body’s half phantasmal... Ugh.” Sara groaned, slowly pulling herself back up.
And as the two woke up, Annabelle slowly opened her eyes. Her many eyes. She looked around, confused. And then noticed her large and long legs. Her many legs. She started to slowly panic.
“Uwaaah! Why am I in my bug form?! W-What happened, Anna?!” She cried with a guttural and monstrous voice.
“I think eating too much food might have triggered your body to transform or something... We’ll need to work on that later. It might be essential for your transformations.” I smiled.
“Uuuggh!” Annabelle started groaning, and then her giant jaws opened, vomiting a pile of... everything she ate last night. “Guuaaggh... Uuugghh...”
And as if it were a miracle, her entire body slowly shrank, turning into a palm-sized black spider. We were all left speechless. She can turn into a tiny spider?! It seems her transformation ability is much more than just a big monster.
“Woahh... I’m tiny.” She looked around, dizzily walking around. “I-I didn’t know I could shrink like this!”
“Well, we discover a new thing every day, dear friend.” I crossed my arms. “Anyways, let’s quickly clean this before my brother gets here and he kills me- no, kill us all.”
“Yikes, yeah... We need to get this done ASAP.” Baihe nodded.
“I’ll help as much as I can! Ugh... But I got such a hard hangover. I drank so much...” Sara cried. “Just when I thought I had finally left alcohol I went back to it.”
“Well, I had no idea you could even get drunk in your current state...” I laughed.
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[Constellation Slayer]
A Title bestowed to a Mortal that has slain a Constellation. You’ve achieved the impossible and acquired a Title that will only bring more trouble to you than anything else.
You’re recognized as the Constellation’s enemy, and most of them will be very wary of you, but a few, might even feel attracted to you more than ever before.
Be careful, although this Title would be considered an honor, it might also be considered a curse.
Effects: +1.000 Skill Points and Stat Points. Grants access to the {Constellation’s Enemy} and {Star Eater} Abilities.
{Constellation’s Enemy}: Constellations naturally fear you and are wary of your existence. You naturally deal +100% more Damage to Constellations and their Incarnations and can ignore -25% of their Total Defenses. If you manage to intimidate a Constellation or their Incarnation enough, all their Stats will drop by -20% for 5 Minutes.
{Star Eater}: When killing Constellations, the rate of Assimilation of their Cosmic Energy, Cosmic Soul, and Traits increases by +200%. Bonus Stats when absorbing their power doubles.
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What the hell? This Title is insanely broken. Why did they even make something like this? I bet my brother got something similar, right?
Well, whoever made this System really hates Constellations. If I can somehow get to kill another Constellation, I can get even more power out of absorbing their powers.
But that’s not going to be easy at all, Uroboros pretty much served himself on a silver platter because of how inexperienced and clueless he was about my abilities and gear.
I doubt we’ll ever meet another Constellation that foolish... I have to be careful from now on and not let my feats raise my ego and end up getting myself killed.
I can more or less offset part of my horrendous Luck thanks to my gear increasing it, but even then, I don’t have to get cocky.
Anyways, next is...
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[Demon King Slayer]
A Title bestowed to a Mortal that has slain a Demon King. Not many worlds have been saved from their Demon Kings, the mere thought of one being slain is oftentimes thought to be ridiculous by most Constellations.
However, across the Cosmos, there are some Worlds, Apex Worlds, where incredibly strong lifeforms exist. Despite being mortals, these lifeforms can rise to the top and become strong enough to battle any challenge.
As a member of such Apex Worlds, you’ve been bestowed with this powerful Title after helping slay the Demon King of your world.
Effects: +500 Stat Points and Skill Points. Grants access to the {Demon Killer} and {Apex} Abilities.
{Demon Killer}: You’ve slain the Demon King, the pinnacle of all Non-Constellation Demons. Your very Aura exudes a powerful killing intent against most Demons. You deal +200% more damage against all Demons and can ignore 30% of their Total Defenses. When fighting them, you will naturally inflict [Fear] and [Weakness] on them and decrease all their Stats by -30% for 5 Minutes.
{Apex}: You’re a member of an Apex World, and after helping on slaying a Demon King, can be considered an Apex yourself. Unlock the hidden stat [Dominion (DOM)] and grant +1000 Dominion.
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[Dominion]
A Stat that determines how much you can dominate the will of weaker beings than yourself. Its effects can be combined through your Aura or any other Mind-related Ability. Affects the ability to tame and summon monsters, and their loyalty, and also can decrease the stats of foes intimidated by you based on half of your Dominion Stat. Foes three times as weaker than you are always affected by this debuff.
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A fitting reward for someone who has slain a Demon King. And I’m fairly sure not all Constellations have done the same either. So even among them, this Title is incredibly rare. But it’s a bit bad too? I don’t want to intimidate my demon friends if I ever meet them again.
[“These Titles are broken... Girl, you’re really a monster.”]
“I want them too! Ugh, this is unfair! I wish I could have done the same things you did as a Mortal! Once you become a Constellation, it is so hard to gain power!” Sepa cried.
Anyways, time to look at the new Trait I unlocked.
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