Skill Shop

Nihil looked at the corpse of the man laying in front of him with indecision riddling him. He shook his head, before thinking.

(I don't mind taking lives if necessary, but this doesn't sit well with me. There should be another way...)

{You're weaker than I thought, but what could I have expected from a human. If it makes you move faster instead of wasting time with this whole should or shouldn't drama, just make yourself stronger and evolve your <Gluttony> skill}

(You're very eager to see me getting out of here, why is it? Are you perhaps afraid of the Deities you keep calling lesser?)

{Don't make me laugh, sweetheart, I'm just bored by all this lesser world slowness, for me, all of this is happening at what you would call minus 10,364x. So I would like you to imagine how hard it is for me to slow myself down so much just so I don't break your perception of reality and destroy your minds}

(You confuse me, at a moment you want to kill me, at the other you tease or insult me, then you're going me hints and helping me like some high incisive teenager.)

{My plans are beyond your understanding, though if you really want an answer, I will give you one once you reach level... 135 works.}

(Fine at least answer me one thing, you said that some of you escaped when we supposedly become one, what happened to that you?)

{Without a doubt that me is now gathering power by subduing some random world before consuming it as a whole... If I had to specify in levels, I would estimate that me has already grown from the pitiful state of being a level 0 again to level 65-78, something among those lines.}

(It's barely been two weeks...)

{For you, do you think time didn't pass while you were in the void? Though it is hard to know how much time could have passed for him, so I had to estimate it using your time, in others words, yes in only two weeks.}

(Just how strong were you at your peak and how would that compare to when we first met?) Nihil's been curious about this for a while now and finally decided to ask since they were already talking about this kind of thing.

{In my peak, I was a Cosmic God, it's considered the 5th highest status of power and evolution an individual could reach in the Omniverse, but that's only what the uninformed think, in reality, it's the 6th highest status of power and evolution you can have not considering the more unusual cases, as some call them the exceptions such as:

beings born into such status of power, beings who were given abnormal power by giving themselves to the Omniverse system and work managing worlds, those who lost control of their domains, laws, or divinity which resulted in them falling to lower status as irregulars, and finally the status that can be obtained by one being in the whole Omniverse, the seat of control over the Omniverse's System itself, a position even the 12 monstrous individuals who stand at the top of the Omniverse can only dream of, a seat that will inevitably eventually be mine...

But enough of that, what was your other question again?... Oh yes, how strong I was when we first met, I would say just about Lower God rank, which is sad for me, but I must say that you are very weak to not have been able to match such a weak version of me while using a peak Comic weapon that was almost a pseudo-Law weapon. Then again you probably couldn't even bring out 0.000000000000000000001% of its power with such little control you had over your soul despite how advanced it was for a human mortal... Though it's not so weird when we consider your ancestry, you're a frickin Fasetis, after all, you're from a family full of little monsters, though weak for one, it's clear you have a bit of that bloodline in you.} Lucius went on quite a long explanation and seemed to be very proud of his standing at each word.

(Wait! Wait! Wait! You're throwing out a lot of info without explaining it and how on earth or Iruthra or whatever do you know my family?!) Nihil had more questions, but that one was the one he had to get out of the way first, after all, how could his family be related to this man, who is in his mind a 'nutcase'.

{Are you going to question me on every minor thing I say? But as a benevolent individual, it would be wrong of me to let the ignorant live in their ignorance. In short, I worked with one of your ancestors and I've met and almost die to quite a few others if it wasn't for my dear wife your wearing on your arms, I would have been killed very long ago, though funnily enough, it was also because of my dear wife that I ended up in the state you first found me, life is quite ironic.}

(That doesn't explain much, what kind of work did you do? Why did you fight them if you

worked with another one of them? Also, How was Hepha responsible for your fall?)

{You can go research your family if you want yourself, I have no gains in educating you any further in this matter.}

(I won't ask about that, but you at least have to tell me what those ranks you talked about earlier?)

{It would be a waste of time as they mean nothing to someone at your level, but just so you understand how out of your league it is, I'll tell you all the ranks of evolution and status that exist in the Omniverse. First, we have the mortal ranks which are divided into a side that is for monsters and magical beasts and the other side which is mostly from humans and some other races. If you want to know more about those you can ask the lesser beings in this world, I won't bother with that.

Once, you reach the peak of those mortal ranks you become what is called a lesser divinity, which is basically a pseudo demi-God, and if you're good enough you will reach the next rank and become an actual Demi God, followed by the Semi-God rank, the Divinity rank, the Deity rank, Lower God rank, High God rank, King God rank, Supreme God rank, Immortal rank, Comic God rank, Law God rank, Almighty God rank, Paradox God rank, and those bastards the Concepts.

Though, I must say this is useless information to you, as right you are at the lower end of the mortal ranks, and don't even get me started with how to train your soul and how that affects everything or the soul ranks or anything like that. Lastly about Artifacts or items or however you prefer to call them, such as my dear Hepha also have their own ranking system. In conclusion, don't think too hard about it as at your level, you barely exist in the scope of the Omniverse.} Lucius talked with confidence and frivolousness that carried on his almost incessant smug grin.

(As much as I believe talking more about this would be interesting, I have to start acting before that guy recovers.) Nihil thought as he listened to what Lucius said.

He looked at Daisuke before turning his head to the man he killed.

[Mp: 15/100(40/210)]-> [Mp: 10/100(20/210)]

|Fireballx2|

A fireball twice the normal size appeared on Nihil's hand as he cast the spell before he used to cremate the body of his fallen enemy. After he was done doing that Daisuke approached him.

Daisuke is a young man with short black hair and a chubby face, he wears circular glasses, a light green and white t-shirt with some brown trousers and black boots to go with it all.

"/Why would you do something so d-dangerous? I'm thankful you s-saved me and all, b-but could you at least have been more c-careful instead of just attacking l-like that, I could've d-died!/" Daisuke was nervously speaking even stuttering, but he was never the less mad at Nihil's disregard for his well-being and survival, despite being grateful to be alive which could be attributed to Nihil.

"I don't speak Japanese... Actually, how could those fanatics understand you and me, while I could understand them but not you? Is there some magic involved?" Nihil first dismissed anything Daisuke was trying to say as he doesn't speak Japanese and instead got more interested in how these fanatics seemed to be able to understand both sides.

"/Oh yeah... This guy only speaks English... I'm not even going to be able to convey my distress and anger to him... Why even be mad then?/" Daisuke mumbled to himself not even stuttering while speaking.

The stop wasn't long as Nihil decided to worry about that later and maybe even ask Lucius about it, but he had to take care of the unconscious man laying on the ground right now.

Nihil went up to the man and started chaining him up, luckily it seemed like the man wasn't bleeding too heavily or had any danger of just dying at any moment now. Deciding not to heal the man unless necessary, Nihil who had used his chain weapon to restrain the man, began considering learning water magic to try and wake him up, but he is really low on mana right now and would have to meditate to recover it fast, so his eyes fall on Daisuke which Nihil remembers mentioned being low on mana, meaning he is most likely using some sort of magic.

"Hey! You.... CAN... YOU... USE... MAGIC?" Nihil for whatever reason fell on the habit people tend to have of speaking slower and louder in hopes someone who clearly doesn't understand their language will get the picture.

"/Daisuke, I would say I know what you're talking about, but you not only don't I, it's also degrading that you're doing that./" Daisuke couldn't understand what Nihil was saying but he noticed him speaking slower which was something that he had seen foreigners do before and even some other people he knew would do the same to foreigners, so he was familiar with this behavior.

Seeing that it's just not working Nihil just gave up ok the idea and decided to meditate.

"/This is no good, I'm low on mana so I can't go look for the others, and I can't even ask this dude for help... Wait, what is he doing?/" Daisuke was reflecting on things and deciding what he should do from now on, but he found himself in quite an unfortunate position, and just as he was starting to feel hopeless, he noticed Nihil's actions.

Upon observing it a bit closer, Daisuke concluded that Nihil was somehow attracting manacules in the air to refill his mana reserves. This process interested him very much, it wasn't just a convenient way to refill your mana, it was a technique that related to one's control and understandingof mana. After watching Nihil do it for a while, Daisuke finally began to catch on to what he was doing. To put it simply, Nihil was creating a vacuum effect by making his own manicule into magnets of sorts by playing with the natural properties of manacule. Like many other particles, manacules tend to flow from higher concentrations spaces to those of lower concentration, and by playing with that Nihil managed to create a meditation technique that refills his mana reserves, or at least that's what Daisuke concluded through deduction.

Having that figured out, Daisuke began emulating the process, and just like Nihil, he got the <Meditation> skill.

This created a new flow of manacules which alerted Nihil who opened his eyes to look at Daisuke surprised to see him master <Meditation> faster than he did.

{As expected from a high elf, this boy has an impressive affinity towards, how did you call them again?... Manacules was it?... It seems you didn't waste your mana by healing him.} Lucius commented while floating around with an expression that carried no worry or cares in the world.

(Maybe, but he's already a part of that other party, unless he has no companionship, he'll want to rejoin his comrades, and if he doesn't, why would I want to have him on my team? Won't he just backstab me when things get tough?) Nihil responded.

{I didn't think you were the type to care if people will betray you or not as long as they got the job done, after all, can't you just finish them off if they try anything?}

(Considering how much you boast about being very powerful, I assume that you had to have been betrayed to have ended up in this position, correct? If even a 'mighty' cosmic God couldn't win when betrayed, how could a mere mortal do it, right Lucy?) Nihil sarcastically answered Lucius, even giving him a new pet name.

{I could say something and make you question your life, but I'm not that petty. I'll allow you to indulge in this 'victory' of yours.} Lucius amused, simply shrugged it off.

Nihil ignored him and just continued to meditate until his reserves of Mana were once again full.

Upon opening his eyes, Nihil saw Daisuke throwing rocks at the man tied with his chains, who was already awake.

"You dare harm the body of a holy messager?! Your punishment will be one that not even the-, *aarrrgghh* Stop! You little sh*t!" The man was going on a whole monologue about being protected by his God before Daisuke throw another rock making him lose his patience and start cursing at Daisuke.

Daisuke didn't seem to care as he kept throwing rocks at the man, with most of them missing the target.

(He finished meditating earlier than me?... He definitely has a better magical affinity to manacules than me.) Nihil thought to himself as he noticed Daisuke seems to have fully refilled his mana pool.

(System, are there any language skills that I could buy from the shop?) Nihil asked.

[Report. There are language skills that the host can acquire. They are in the skill section of the store.]

(Open the store.)

[

Store:

OP: 404 points

Level

Items

Magic

Skills

Arts

Bloodlines

Physiques

Soul

Misc] A screen with various options opened up in front of Nihil.

He then opened the skills section and a new window popped up.

[

Skills:

OP: 404 points

Language comprehension-350 OP

Danger sense-700 OP

Lesser Regeneration- 400 OP

Gravity control- 300,000 OP

Mana sense- 900 OP

Astral Punch- 5,300 OP

Fire Punch- 3,200 OP

Falcon Punch!- 999,999,999 OP

One Punch!- 100 Billion OP

Concealment-500 OP

Kill intent- 9,999 OP

Hawkeyes- 200 OP

Metamorphosis- 50,000 OP

Stone skin- 300 OP

Rise undead- 3,500 OP

Absorb water- 1,500 OP

Creation- 199 Billion OP

Pseudo-Omniscience- 1,000 Trillion OP

Status concealment- 2,000 OP

Spiritual pressure- 500 OP

Photosynthesis- 3,000 OP

Meteor shower- 100,000 OP

Sprinting- 100 OP

Godly charm-10,000 OP

Charm aura- 999 OP

Emperor's Aura- 9,999 OP

Space control-1,000,000 OP

Time control-1 Billion OP

Poker face- 10 OP

Water control-600 OP

...] The list went on for what seemed to be infinity.

(This is a crazy set-up... Makes me want to get as many OP as possible... But right now, what I need is <Language comprehension>.) Nihil was interested in the various powerful skills that he found, but he doesn't have the funding to buy them, and his current objective is at arms reach, so he decided to worry about other skills later.

He proceeded to buy <Language comprehension> and since he still had a few tens of points left, he also bought the <Poker face> skill.

[You have acquired the skill, <Language comprehension>]

[You have acquired the skill, <Poker face>]

[Language comprehension- This skill will allow you to instantly learn one language once a year and make it so you learn any language much faster. Picking up on the patterns and intricacies of languages has never been so easy, trust in Language comprehension, for total language domination]

[Poker face- It is possible to maintain a completely neutral face for a maximum of an hour, once this skill is activated. It has a 10-minute cooldown. To gamble safe, choose Poker face]

(Why does the end of the descriptions of both skills sound like an ad?) Nihil couldn't help but notice that the last part of the description of the skill was a little odd.

(I'll look at the other sections of the system's store later, it seems to have a lot of interesting stuff.) Nihil decided after seeing the skills section of the system's store.

"Hey, You! can you understand me now?" With all the subtlety of an elephant in Crystal sandals, Nihil called out to Daisuke.

"Wait?! You could speak Japanese all along?!" Daisuke was disheartened to see this.

"Of course not, I was able to learn a skill that allows me to instantly learn a language once a year. Now, you have two choices, you either come with me until we met your companions, or you just go on your own way. Please be quick to decide, I don't have all day." Nihil put it simple and clean to Daisuke, before turning to the chained man and lifting him up, and pushing him against the wall. "Now you. Tell me where I can find your headquarters in Lalitkala, and the outside world while you're at it. I'll give you ten seconds before I decide your bones need some restructuring."

(System, can I heal bones with my current mana pool?) Nihil asked in his mind.

{Hahahahahaha!} Lucius started laughing at Nihil's question. For him what Nihil did was just the equivalent of a grown man asking if he can fly unironically.

[No]

(Great, I guess I can't torture him that way, but bluffing should be enough.) Nihil thought to himself while holding the man against the wall.

"Fool! You believe my faith would be wavered this easily?! The Great one will have my soul and on time yours will burn in Hell! For the Great one! I shall ascend!" The man began screaming with full force as his body started to accumulate large amounts of mana, emanating waves of pressure to the surroundings.

"This is the end! The beginning of redemption and the opportunity to be one of-!" The man didn't stop rambling and went another one of his 'rants of faith' as the mana rapidly reached highly dangerous levels.

"F*ck! F*ck! F*ck! He's going to explode! We have to run now!" Daisuke who noticed this immediately started shouting in panic.

*Pierce* *Drip*

Nihil calmly pierced the spear tip of his chain into the man's head, before unchaining his corpse as the mana began to disperse.

"What a waste... They really don't value their lives and suffering above this? I guess they're at least loyal." Nihil commented looking at the corpse as he began to cast another fireball to cremate it.

|Fireballx2|

[Mp: 100/100(210/210)]-> [Mp: 90/100(190/210)]

Once he was once getting rid of the second corpse, Nihil turned to Daisuke and asked, "So, are you coming or not?"

Daisuke looked a Nihil before questioning, "How are you going to find their base if they are both dead?"

"Simple, I'm not going to. If I have another chance I'll try, but there's nothing I can do about them right now... Anyway, I have grinding to do, if you have nothing important to say, I'll be taking off." Nihil turned around and began walking away not waiting for an answer.

"Wait! Don't just leave me here! I'll work with you!" Daisuke was frightened at the thought of having to live in this place on his own, he had already seen that this dungeon was not an easy ride, or at least that's what he believed. He then ran after Nihil and began following him.

"Ok, if you don't mind me asking, how did you end up here alone?" Nihil asked while walking calmly.

"*Sigh* It's a long story... But to keep it short, we were fighting one of those four-armed apes, when these two ambushed us and then isolated me from the group before jumping me. That led to me getting captured and in the position you found me." Daisuke explained calmly.

"Wait? Where are these four-armed apes you mentioned?!" Nihil was instantly interested in the creatures Daisuke mentioned, since for the last few days he found nothing but direwolves and horned rabbits.

".... They are on the other side of the forest, Ena was the one who guided us there, I don't exactly know the way." Daisuke was surprised that out of his story Nihil only seemed to care about the Apes, he was disappointed to see his pain completely ignored.

"That Ena guy seems to know a lot... I'll have to properly talk to him next time we meet. Oh, and before I forgot, you did a good job surviving on your own against those two... Even though they seem to want to do some kind of weird ritual to us, they don't seem to have any reservations about 'accidentally' killing us."

Daisuke was happy to see his efforts recognized even if in Nihil's way, it was still something that brought a smile to his face.

Then Nihil started rubbing his chin before saying.

"While we are working together, you'll have to cover me from distance... Oh, yeah, I didn't ask yet, you're a mage correct?"

Daisuke nodded to which Nihil continued to speak. He told Daisuke to stay behind and to be careful of his surroundings and that he will take care of the frontline.

"I'll be in your care from now on, so I hope we can get along." Daisuke says while extending his hand to Nihil.

"Likewise, I guess." Nihil shakes his hand and both leave the cave and start another journey through the forest.