Speedrun 22

By the time we turned the corner, I had made my decision. I had been restraining myself for too long, assimilating abilities, some of which I hadn't even used.

With a single thought accompanied by a casual wave of my palm, the Labyrinth became barren of life. Thousands of creatures, zombies, gorillas, and golems all fell dead with that simple motion.

"What did you do?" Aly asked in confusion, her voice tinted with a hint of worry, "Everything became so still and so... quiet."

"You don't need to worry about it," I replied dismissively, a reassuring smile gracing my face, as I turned my attention to my notifications.

[Class: [Necromancer] has reached level 50 (Max).]

[Class: [Soul Mage] has reached level 50 (Max).]

Step one was complete.

[New class selections available.]

I ignored the class selection prompt and walked into the reward room. Once again, I waved my palm and reconstructed the magical circle before me. Mana swirled around it, blazing with intent, and with one audible click, the magical matrix that composed the enchantment rewrote itself, bypassing the inbuilt protection and authentication process as well as the dialogue with the Liberator.

I took a deep breath, and my mental shields came down as I stepped into it.

"You don't look too excited about this," Aly observed, which made me chuckle.

"Yeah, this will be a big step forward, a step I wasn't willing to take yet," I said with a smile. "Nevertheless, it has to be done," I explained, leaving her utterly confused.

I didn't wait for her follow-up question but channeled my mana into the enchantment, starting the process of information upload.

[Quest: [Labyrinths] 7/7 Completed 2,500 WP Received]

[Skill: [Organic Affinity] unlocked.]

It only took a moment for the information to settle, and the magic to manipulate biological matter, complete with its intricate runes, matrices, and spells, was finally in my possession.

[Title: [Rune Master: Arifureta] received.]

However, at this moment, I couldn't care less for such magic. Guided by my [Intuitive Aptitude], the last of the required runes slotted itself into place, and the spell to alter, manipulate, or even erase concepts, much like lightning from a clear sky, suddenly surged into my mind.

[Chains of reality broken.]

[Tier of your being has increased to 5.]

(A/N: I changed the tier 4 system message from Reality to Infinity.)

There wasn't anything grand, no flashy fireworks, no reality bowing before me, and nothing about me physically or psychically changed. Yet, I knew I was more powerful than ever. With this, my path to tier 0 worlds had been forever cut off, but all I could do was smirk as I realized the true extent of this magic.

As I stood there, immersed in my newfound strength, [Link] rang, almost immediately after I received the tier-up notification.

"Well hello, Mr. Cosmic Entity!" A cheerful voice greeted me from the other side.

"Well hello to you too, Challenger of Heavens," I replied with a chuckle.

Aly gave me a confused glance, and I waved her off, whispering, "You can go ahead; I'm talking on the 'phone'." I added air quotes for emphasis.

Her confusion deepened, but she ultimately shrugged, seemingly accepting this as one of my peculiar quirks, and walked into the modified circle.

"Am I interrupting something?" Olivia's voice came through the telepathic line.

"Ehh... A bit..." I replied with a shrug. "I've gained a spell that raised me to tier five, so I decided to merge my skills."

"Oh... You've been thinking about that for quite a while," she said in understanding. "Well then, I won't keep disturbing you. Congratulations and good luck, and call me when you're done."

"Even when you do disturb me, you never truly do," I said with a chuckle. "Anyway, it's good that you called, Olive. I wanted to ask something. But first off, promise you won't be mad."

"You sound serious..." Her voice carried a tinge of apprehension. "What did you do?"

"I'm not saying anything till you promise you won't get mad." I countered

"I can't promise anything until I know what you did," she replied, her voice tinged with suspicion.

"I didn't do anything," I started, the unspoken 'yet' lingering in the air, though she discerned it from my tone.

"Then you're planning on doing something stupid?" She asked, her confusion growing. "This must be something quite significant if you're seeking my approval." She began to grow suspicious. "Are you planning on cheating on me or something?"

"No, not exactly? Well, in a way? It's a bit complicated... I'm technically interested in having a threesome with you and another girl, but I wouldn't be averse to the idea of forming a more... extensive connection," I confessed, ripping the metaphorical bandage off without hesitation, opting for directness over circumlocution.

A moment of silence settled over our mental link, and through [Soul Cohesion], I could sense Olivia's emotions undergoing a whirlwind. Surprise, fear, sadness, a feeling of betrayal, happiness, and then anger, followed inexplicably by lust and excitement. It was evident that at least a part of her might be open to the idea, while another part remained uncertain and hesitant.

Like the stillness preceding a tempest, a gentle yet meaningful "Andrew~" reverberated through our connection before the emotional floodgates burst open. "You want to start a, WHAT?" Olivia's exclamation rang in my mind like a thunderclap.

"A harem..." I replied confidently.

"No." She responded imminently. 

"Well, that certainly answers my question," I chuckled, acknowledging the contrast between her emotions and words. Our feelings were often an open book to each other, and she could always discern my sentiments, just as I could hers.

"Are you dissatisfied with me?"" Her anxious question struck a chord in my heart.

"I am undeniably satisfied, to the extent that I do plan on marrying you in the future," I responded, though unwilling to state that that future might be nearer than she suspected.

"Then why would you want something like that? "Her anger flared once more.

"I am simply greedy," I declared plainly, unapologetic for my audacious question. However, I didn't press the matter further, aware that we had an eternity to make decisions. Instead, I asserted firmly, "Don't worry. I don't plan on doing anything. It was a simple question. But just so you know, I might recruit a secretary from my current world." I asserted my authority, leaning into her submissive side, turning it into more of a declaration than a request.

"Who?" Her question sounded more like an exhale than a coherent word, but I answered calmly.

"An immortal vampire with decent magical skills, who was kept in a cell by her uncle for 300 years. She has nowhere to go and nothing to do."

"And from the goodness of your heart, you decided you might want to extract her?" She snorted, her anger almost completely dissipating. "Andy, I know you... You wouldn't do something like this without a reason." She took a deep breath, and suspiciously asked, "She's hot, right?"

I glanced at Aly, my eyes trailing all over her body, her ample bosom and curvy figure bathed in the soft light of the magical circle, and casually replied, "Average. She's nothing compared to you." Technically, that wasn't a lie, as I did see Olivia as the personification of perfection, and she knew it. "Also, she's kind of an asshole, but a desperate one, and I think you two might work well together." One of my mischievous mental instance ventured into the gutter, imagining the two buxom beauties 'working together', and for some inexplicable reason, I wasn't averse to that thought. 'That mental instance might need a promotion or at least a salary raise,' I thought to myself with an internal chuckle.

"Alright..." came a somewhat reluctant answer from the other side, yet the hint of lust I felt from her betrayed her seemingly indifferent  words. "I want to see her in person, and we'll talk about... all of this..." Her response was not surprising, as I had expected her to be curious and cautious.

"When are you leaving that world?" she asked, her tone shifting to more practical matters.

"Probably in a day," I replied, still somewhat uncertain. "We need to catch and kill a god. Although, with my new spell, that might end up becoming easy." I muttered the last part under my breath. "By the way... I'll have a few presents for you when we meet up. You won't need that bunny girl costume anymore." I said with a grin.

I could feel her rolling her eyes at my statement. "I'm hanging up." She said decisively.

"Alright, I love you," I said cheekily.

"I know," she replied with feigned dismay before ending the call.

"Well, that kind of went well?" I muttered to myself, still unsure about Olivia's reaction.

"What went well?" Aly asked as she stepped out of the circle.

"Not important, at least for now," I replied, shaking my head. I then waved my hand, summoning a king-sized bed that I had casually stolen from the Church directly out of my inventory. Aly's heart skipped a beat, and her breathing quickened, as she watched her bed appear right next to her. She was still sexually frustrated from the previous aphrodisiac challenge, but I crushed her expectations by saying, "Take a break while I sort through a few things."

Her eyes went wide, and she huffed in annoyance, averted her eyes, crossed her arms, and then angrily took a seat, getting comfortable on the bed. Occasionally, she took sneaky glances at me, wondering what I was doing, while I traversed the intricacies of my system screen.

I didn't pay much attention to her at the moment. I had more important matters to attend to. I possessed numerous skills that could work seamlessly together, but I needed to start somewhere. So, I quickly selected my first merger target: my countless skills related to my senses and visual analysis.

However, before proceeding with merging, I carefully went through all of my skills, and using the Advanced Skill Management system, I extracted the ability to perceive and analyze electromagnetic waves from [Electromagnetic Spectrum Manipulation], took the ability to sense and analyze mana from [Mana Manipulation], and extracted the ability of matter analysis from [Matter Manipulation]. Then, without a better option at my disposal, I added them all to [Appraise].

Following that, I initiated the Skill Merger System and added Mental Mapping, Spatial Sense, Night Vision, Echolocation, Enhanced Hearing, Seismic Sense, Sense Ore, Sense Life, and Appraise to the mix, resulting in a skill called [Universal Sense].

[Universal Sense LVL: N/A]

- Grants the user the ability to perceive energy across all spectra and mediums, ranging half of their Perception in Kilometers.

- Grants the user the ability to comprehensively analyze and mentally project the perceived world.

I closed my eyes and allowed the skill to settle within my soul. The moment it did, the world around me exploded into a plethora of colors and information. I had gained new senses in the past, but this was unlike anything I had experienced before.

Even with my eyes closed, I could perceive the world around me in a crystal-clear sphere, extending up to 792 kilometers. However, even with my current mental powers, my mind struggled to keep up with the overwhelming amount of information I was receiving.

Squinting my eyes, I tried to focus on a single thing and directed my attention to Aly. I could perceive every detail of her body, unobstructed by the clothes, skin, or flesh covering her, as well as every electron currently orbiting their atomic nuclei within her. My focus wavered, and for a moment, I was simultaneously perceiving a scene five hundred kilometers away: a peasant woman cooking a meal while her husband diligently worked in the fields, both oblivious to an approaching monster.

I opened my eyes, hoping to return to normal perception, but everything remained unchanged, all-encompassing, and crystal clear. I refocused my attention, guided by my mental skills, and it became easier to filter out what was unimportant. I didn't need to constantly know the current composition of the air, nor did I want to know the state of what Aly had eaten a day ago.

Taking a deep breath, I allowed [Intuitive Aptitude] and [Adapt] to guide me. I could see the blazing green glow surrounding Aly, representing her life force, as well as the smaller but still vast amount of light blue representing her mana. Strands of white energy joined the fray, and focusing on it, I concluded I was seeing her soul or at least a pearl-white representation of it.

Shifting through the spectrum of energy, I could perceive her bioelectricity, the warping of space-time caused by her mass, and even the increasing thermal radiation emanating from her nether regions. My senses even picked up her increased mental activity, the sudden increase in her dopamine levels, as well as the moistening of her—

"Umm... you're staring..." Aly said, shyly averting her eyes and uncomfortably crossing her legs. Her cheeks were flushed with crimson, and her words thankfully snapped me out of my intrusive observations.

"Sorry," I replied, clearing my throat and averting my eyes. However, it was futile, as I still saw her entire being, down to the last quark, so the wet spot on her panties couldn't escape my perception. 'Damn... I need to get laid...' I thought to myself while shaking my head.

"This will take some time to get used to," I muttered with a sigh while deactivating the skill. "Maybe after I merge all of my mental skills, it will become less overwhelming. But first..."

With my previous discovery that both life force and Mana could be classified as energy, I decided to continue my merging activities by combining all of my energy-related skills. Without a hint of hesitation, I merged Mana Manipulation, Ki Manipulation, Electromagnetic Spectrum Manipulation, Thermokinesis, Infernal Mastery, Kinetic Energy Manipulation, Energy Absorption,  and Blood Conversion into a single skill: [Energy Mastery].

[Energy Mastery LVL: 1/100]

- Unifies diverse energy sources, such as mana, stamina, and life-force, into a singular energy reservoir.

- Grants the user the ability to choose a complete immunity to a specific energy type every 24 hours.

- Grants the user the ability to manipulate, convert, and absorb energy.

I had expected some changes to occur, but the extent to which this skill had altered me was nothing short of shocking. A quick glance at my status screen confirmed just how profoundly this skill had affected me. Instead of displaying my usual bars like mana, stamina, Ki, or even health – which I had intentionally hidden –, there was only a single line on my screen representing everything combined.

Energy: 198,377,081 (10,669,871/s)

I was now a blazing volcano of power, and even Aly couldn't help but notice the unnatural transformation.

"What did you do? I can't feel your mana!" she exclaimed, swiftly jolting out of the bed ready to rush to my side. However, she froze mid-motion when I simply raised my palm and subconsciously summoned a ball of pure mana, by converting a fraction of my energy. She took a step back, shocked by the amount I casually summoned, as above my palm floated a sphere of energy equal to ten times her total reserves. 

"Nothing," I said with a grin. "It's still there, but it's become something more."

"How?" she asked in wonder.

"You might find out later," I replied with a confident smile.

What I had gained from this skill wasn't simply the unification of my various energy sources; it became something much more potent and secure. Every energy aspect of my being was now intertwined in a single energy source, bound to me by my very soul.

This new energy possessed facets of all my other energy sources simultaneously, and yet none at all. It was ever-changing, constantly shifting its patterns and forms, making it incredibly difficult for anyone to wrest control from me. While it was still theoretically possible, just as it had been with mana and life force, the task had now become infinitely more challenging, as one would need the ability to control all of my energy types, before he could even attempt to do so.

However, this change did render a few of my regeneration skills obsolete. Others had shifted to regenerating this new unified energy source instead of their original ones. But, both [Automatic Regeneration] and [Immortality], for instance, which had originally restored health and had consumed mana as a price, now no longer could function.

So my next step was clear: I needed to merge all of my regeneration skills, in the hope that after the merger, the previous drawbacks would disappear.

To begin, I made a series of adjustments. I transferred the abilities related to limb regeneration and stamina regeneration from [Bestial Physique] to [Regenerative Healing Factor]. Additionally, I relocated the mana regeneration amplification while in combat, previously found in [Mana's Blessing], to [Spirit Healing].

Then, systematically, I proceeded to incorporate all my regeneration skills one by one into the Merging System. Regenerative Healing Factor, Automatic Regeneration, Immortality, Holy Halo, and Spirit Healing all underwent a swift merging process, culminating in the creation of [Energy Generation].

[Energy Generation LVL: 1/100]

- Grants the user both physical and spiritual immortality, as long as a reserve of Energy is maintained.

- Enables complete regeneration encompassing every aspect of the user's being, including their soul.

- Enhances the user's overall Energy capacity and regeneration rate by 5% per skill level.

- Provides a continuous 10% of total Energy as regeneration per second.

"Well, setting aside the significant reduction in vitality I suffered, this skill is incredibly powerful..." I assessed my Energy reserves with a hint of dissatisfaction, "Although, it will take a few skill levels to restore it to its previous capacity...."

Energy: 84,007,226 (11,232,274/s)

"At least the regeneration rate has somewhat improved..." I sighed and redirected my focus to the remaining five groups of skills that awaited merging.

With a raised palm, I recalled the complete genetic structure of a person I had briefly encountered and activated [Master of Natural Creation].

Within seconds, the body of a blonde American girl took form, materializing before me, only to be promptly erased from existence through [Assimilation] followed by [Annihilation].

"Who was that!?" Aly's alarmed voice pierced the air, her eyes wide with shock. Nevertheless, I disregarded her concern and turned my attention to the notification that had just appeared.

[Skill: [New Order] unlocked.]