431 Kai's first Skills and a cold embrace
The presence of Glitch, Blood Devour, let Kai tower over all Contestants of the same Set.
It showered him with Abilities, a thing that all wanted but only a few possessed, and that too only after treading upon a bloody path full of bloodier difficulties. It also gave him Skills with varying uses, letting him enjoy a broader spectrum of power than his peers.
This Glitch wasn't some heaven-defying power, either.
For Kai, however, whose fighting motto was — Take wounds and snatch lives, and who grew stronger the longer he battled, Blood Devour provided the greatest means for him to ascend toward the Peak of Absolute Power.
Blood Devour… was Kai's specialization.
If there was a drawback to it, then it was the Skill's Cooldown.
All Skills obtained by Kai through Blood Devour could only be activated for 30 seconds, and then he must wait for 5 minutes to use Skills again.
5 minutes!
This duration was neither short nor long, for it depended upon the circumstances. But, with Contestants, this was an incredibly long time. 5 minutes were plenty to decide the fate of battles and lives. 5 minutes were plenty to level grounds if needed.
And 5 minutes were plenty to change one's destiny.
It was especially so for Contestants like Kai whose fighting styles were quite fast-paced and leaned more toward dealing accurate and precise blows than toward depleting the opponent's stamina.
So, since he had gained his first blood essence, Kai had always been searching for a way to reduce this Cooldown's length.
Alas! Only after enslaving Item-M did he get to know that it was impossible.
There was nothing in the Primordial Tower that reduced or even changed the Cooldown. It was as if this Cooldown of 5 minutes over his blood essences' Skills was a natural restriction on his Glitch's potential.
If it was only that, then Kai could have made his peace with it.
Yet, when Item-M had broken the pot of his expectations related to his Glitch's Skills, she had also ruthlessly told him another piece of heavy news.
Skills, granted by the Primordial Tower, had no concept of Cooldown!
It had been also her first time hearing Skills possessing Cooldown, to begin with.
'There are three widely known ways of obtaining Skills, master,' Item-M had told him. 'First, most of the Items have Skills. If one fulfills an Item's requirements, then one can freely use its Skills. Second, almost all upgraded Titles give Skills. Here, too, only switching Titles has the concept of Cooldown. Not Skills. Third, and most widely known, are the rewards of Hidden Missions'.
It was then Kai had come to know that all Hidden Missions awarded Skills, their grade varying from the lowest E- to one's Main Mission's grade.
Of course, this knowledge had brought no joy to Kai.
By then, Kai had already carried out Hidden Missions. Sure, he had obtained greater rewards, including Mission Credits and Attribute Points. But his Hidden Missions had awarded him no Skills. The reason?
Luck.
Luck not only had the authority over Random Encounters, but it had control over loot and rewards, too.
Thus, Kai had always remained unfortunate in obtaining Skills, despite completing Hidden Missions.
However, what Item-M had failed to mention was that there was one more way to get Skills. And though the chances of Skills' presence in this way depended upon Contestant's own efforts, they weren't null, either.
This other way was… Inheritance.
There was no sure way to know if an Inheritance would give Skill or not. Sometimes, even after obtaining 100% Inheritance, one didn't get a Skill, and sometimes, with only 5% one could get two Skills. The grade of Skills in those cases was bound to be the lowest, true enough. But that was a different matter altogether.
It was because of all of this that even after obtaining 40% of the Inheritance, Kai wasn't expecting any Skill. For him, even if he were to gain Shadow Lord's Alchemical Inheritance, then that would have sufficed as well.
So, when the Inheritance's notification appeared in front of him as he was ruminating over the matter of a Deep One, his eyes popped out.
And why wouldn't they, when there wasn't one Skill in the notification, but… two!
[
Congratulations Kai Stormborn…
You have gained 40% of Shadow Lord's Inheritance
Inheritance grade: C+
Rewards:
1. Condition to gain Ability - Elementary Alchemist
2. Skill: Shadow Space
3. Skill: Shadow Link
]
Kai's head was still full of the years' worth of alchemical practice he had undergone during his artificial comatose state, the countless ingredients, diagrams, and formulas occupying his thoughts.
Nothing could prevent him from shooting himself to his feet, though.
"What happened?" Cersei blurted concernedly, eying Kai's tall back. "Did everything go alright?"
Kai stopped her with a raise of his hand, his eyes shining bright. He just couldn't believe it.
Skills! Skills! He, the unlucky one, finally got Skills! And not one, but two!
"Hahaha!" Kai suddenly threw his head up and broke out with a burst of thunderous laughter, lifting his fists toward heaven. "Finally! Finally! Brilliant!"
Behind him, not only Cersei but even Dementors and Lilith seemed to be stuck between the layers of time, not knowing what to say or do. They all just gawked at Kai, his dark silhouette darkening the blazing fire.
Cersei's eyes shone with the greatest elation. Never had Kai lost his composure. Not like this. Something truly stupendous must have happened, she knew.
And, just by happenstance, Cersei was intelligent enough to make an educated guess.
"Congratulations, my love," Cersei said, bowing, the shadow suit melting back into her forehead. "At last you have obtained a Skill."
Kai was already lost in the bliss of his notification for him to give a fuck about Cersei, or just anyone.
Waiting no longer, he brought up the first reward.
[
Reward: Condition to gain Ability - Elementary Alchemist
Condition: Obtain Acknowledgement of at least 10 renowned Alchemists from the main storylines of the Multiverse
]
This?!
Kai's eyes sparkled like never before.
Elementary Alchemist wasn't like Magical Aptitude or Pokemon Trainer. Abilities like Alchemist, Potioneer, Armorer, and co. & co., that were related to a specific profession, enjoyed the strictest conditions.
With Elementary Alchemist, the condition to get it differed with Random Worlds.
The most well-known, and the shortest, way to get this Ability was to first study Alchemy under 5 major Characters of different Timelines and Random Worlds for 3 years at least, getting their Acknowledgment. Then, the Systems would assign a Side or Hidden Mission to that particular Contestant. Only after completing that Mission could one gain Elementary Alchemist Ability.
For Kai to just need the acknowledgment of 10 renowned Alchemists, was incredible.
Even if Kai hadn't gotten Skills, this could in itself be counted as the greatest gain.
One must not forget that Kai had already learned the basic principles of Alchemy through the Inheritance crystal.
By now, the feeling of endless exhilaration had somewhat died. Kai took a deep breath, regaining his composure, but the smile on his face just refused to vanish.
He licked his lips and brought out the first Skill, then.
[
Skill: Shadow Space
Grade: D+
Specification: Turn the Contestant's shadow into a portal to the Shadow Realm.
Requirement:
1. Intelligence 20
2. Presence of Contestant's shadow
Attributes:
1. MP consumption rate: 5 points/second
2. Size: 5 m * 6 m * 3 m (-L*B*H-)
Effect:
1. Open a portal to the Shadow Realm
2. Assign a space of set volume to the Contestant
3. The portal remains open as long as the Mana is supplied
4. All manners of things can be stored in the shadow space
5. Degradation of organic things doesn't pause in the shadow space
6. Contestant can go in and out of the shadow space as per his will
WARNING:
1. If the Mana supply gets interrupted, or Contestant's shadow were to vanish mid-process, then there are high chances of the thing getting stored to get thrown into the Shadow Realm
2. All things other than Items will be discarded from the Shadow Space before the Contestant arrives at the Primordial Tower. The Contestant is advised to store such things in MRB beforehand
]
Kai rubbed his hands, his palms itching to activate the Skill.
This wasn't the time, though. His urge to see the second Skill was greater than ever, rising with every moment.
With a thought, he brought up the second Skill.
[
Skill: Shadow Link
Grade: C-
Specification: Brand shadows and link the Contestant's shadow to them
Requirement:
1. Intelligence 22
2. Skill: Shadow Space
Attributes:
1. 1 Brand - 50 MP
2. Brand vanishes after one use
3. Area: 10 m radius
Effect:
1. Contestant can brand a shadow in a set area using Mana
2. Branded shadows get linked to the Contestant's shadow
3. All Branded shadows will become portals to Contestant's shadow space
4. Once a thing is stored or taken out of a Branded shadow, the Brand will vanish
WARNING:
1. Shadow Link creates a two-way channel. If the owners of Branded Shadows can access Shadow Realm, then they can enter Contestant's shadow space as well
2. Shadow Link is not a cross-dimensional Skill. All Brands automatically vanish upon crossing Dimensions
]
The smile on Kai's face widened.
These two were not mere Skills, he realized. These were a set of complementary Skills. Rare, even among top-floor Contestants.
And not just any complementary Skill, either. These were the best assassination tools one could ever hope for.
For the first time after coming out of the forced comatose state, Kai turned around and eyed his subjects.
Cersei was already beaming at him, curling a lock of stray hair.
The Dementors sensed Kai's happiness and lunged at him, sucking away bits of it. Kai didn't mind, his face gaining an aloof and cold expression. For now, only he could feed them.
Behind them, the Lethifold, Lilith, hovered nonchalantly as if it had nothing to do with Kai or his two children.
"Let me show you something," Kai said, his gaze landing on Cersei. "You of all will certainly like it."
Just as Kai finished his mystifying words, 50 points from his MP bar vanished as he activated Shadow Link. As he had the Title Novice Collector equipped, he already met the requirement of Intelligence.
Cersei's shadow rippled in Kai's eyes, and he could feel a brand on it, linked to his own shadow.
Then, he activated the Skill Shadow Space.
Kai's shadow was stretching far because of the fire behind him. Suddenly, the entire rippling shadow became still. It felt like someone had nailed the shadow to the ground.
Under Cersei's expectant eyes, Kai stepped forward, and… fell.
One moment was Kai standing on the floor, in the other, he landed in a vast hall, completely black.
Kai lifted his head and his eyes shone as he saw a round opening on the roof, through which he could see outside into the library.
No. Not one, but two openings.
Near the first one, there was one more round opening. Kai walked into this soundless and dark room and eyed the second shadow portal. He saw Cersei looking left and right, her brows furrowed.
With one thought, Kai levitated, his hand reaching for her ankles.
Outside, from Cersei's shadow, Kai's hand stretched out noiselessly like an illusion.
"Ahh!" Cersei shrieked as fingers curled around her ankle in an iron grip and pulled her in.
When they were both inside it, Kai landed next to her and asked, "How is it?"
Cersei stood up and looked around, her eyes widening like two saucers. "I knew it," she hissed. "We finally got them. Skills. This… beckon celebrations, my lord."
Kai felt his Mana draining out and nodded. "There's much wine…"
But before he could finish his words, Cersei threw herself at him, her smooth hands wrapping around his hand.
Her lips fell upon his, and she smelled of the richest wine, tasting of a sweet summer flower.
This was also a way of celebration.
Alas! There was no knight or maiden involved in this lascivious sight. Nor a king or queen.
Only a demonic being and a lifeless form, warming each other in cold embraces.
****************
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