Sub-Path

The two continued hugging in comfortable silence for nearly five minutes until Rakna helplessly smiled, "Isn't it about time you let me go?"

Kaelith was the one stopping him from moving. "Shut up. I know," she muttered and took a deep breath but still didn't move.

"I'm not going anywhere…" He added and she groaned.

"How did you even heal so fast from that?" She asked as she reluctantly let go of Rakna and stepped back. She looked at him who had reverted to a blank façade… but the blue was still there and unlike his taciturn self, he looked gentle.

The therian stared at his own tails as he moved them to the front. He shrugged and freed them to return to his back. He looked back at the vixen and serenely smiled.

"A new Trait. If it makes you feel better about my promise, I am very hard to kill now."

She raised an eyebrow at the jest. "Do you want another trip into the wall?"

His eye twitched. "No… I think I'll pass," he muttered and turned to the broken entrance that was slowly being fixed after Kaelith blasted it open. "You really couldn't have waited for me to allow you in…"

She looked away embarrassed and crossed her arms. "N-not my fault. I believe we already settled the fact that you were the one to blame. Blame yourself for allowing me entry to your floor."

"I didn't though… you're just whitelisted. And I doubt exploding your way through the Pavilion's rooms can even remotely included in my faults…" He put a brake on his words when he caught a glare directed his way. "Never mind..."

"Why don't you explain that instead?" She pointed at his hair and fur. "You suddenly became a new person after that changed. What is wrong with your changing hair colors and personality? What are you? An adolescent in puberty?"

"Please don't compare me to that," he deadpanned and she snickered.

"At least, that poker face of yours is still the same."

"If you want a reason… I would say it's bleeding onto me," Rakna mumbled as he conjured a raw chunk of his magical element. But what appeared wasn't his usual white energy. Instead, a sort of crystal with a dynamic shape appeared. It undulated like flames, along with the blue cold energy that was present inside of it.

"That is… odd," Kaelith tilted her head. "Wait, did you ever tell me your element?"

"Ah," Rakna exclaimed as if he had remembered something from long ago. "Right, I didn't."

"You little…"

"Well, you must have an idea if you saw those videos, right?"

She scowled at the reminder. "I might. Until now, it was without saying that I thought you had ice-related magic or at least, something that could imitate the effect of cold. But you also showed me fire magic when you came to meet mom last time. And then; black hole," she said blankly and he nodded. "A black hole," she repeated and he nodded again. "Seriously?"

"To be fair, it was an experimental spell. I had no idea if it would work… sort of."

She sighed. "I guess that's hint one. But there was also that pillar of energy that I could swear was circled by star-shaped lights. And… I remember you said you had a never-seen-before element, a unique element but not an unknown one. So, I assume… Star Magic?"

Rakna nodded. "You're right. When in this state, I have Cold Star Magic. But while in my other state which you know very well already, I have Volcanic Star Magic."

"That's beyond extraordinary," she said with a wry smile.

"But you didn't mention my Manifestation spell. You didn't see it?"

"What do you mean?"

Rakna blinked. "I guess it was hidden by the clouds. Good news. I'm talking about what I made the black hole with. I had to summon something first."

Her eyes widened. "Did you… summon a star in the middle of a city and made it collapse on itself to make a black hole?! I thought it was a spell that created a black hole! There's a difference! You literally forced a star to die in a city?! For a fight?! You could have lost control!"

Rakna pursed his lips. "Um… yes?"

"…you must be kidding me."

"I'm afraid not. Well, I do have the spell now, if you'd like to know."

"I'm afraid to ask but; which Tier is it?"

"…two."

"For fuck's sake. I really will be the death of you one day."

"Seriously, say it right," Rakna retorted. "Can we please focus on this now?" He said and pointed at the sphere of crystal energy.

"Right…" Kaelith looked at it as well and frowned. "You said it was bleeding onto you? What were you talking about?"

"My Kzanaria," he replied and extended his other hand. A layer of diamond-like crystal emerged around his arm and shone not unlike his magic. "I think my magic is being affected by it… and so is my mind. But in a good way. It's as if it's trying to heal me," he stated and the crystal crumbled away into dust.

"So, you're already that close to your Kzanaria, huh?" She commented pensively. "It must be quite a powerful one to do that."

"You can say that. Anyhow, take a look at this. It's the alerts I got earlier," he said and waved his hand to share the system windows.

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A surge of emotions has roused Chalice of Wishes.

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Cold Star Magic has broken through Exceled!

Chalice of Wishes is resonating.

Cold Star Magic has Ascended into Hoarfrost Star Magic!

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For Ascending your Element, your magic attack bonus becomes 2% per level, and you are rewarded the Tier 6 Spell; Hoarfrost Blizzard!

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Cold Star Mist has been corrected to Hoarfrost Mist!

Cold Soul Aura has been corrected to Frost Soul Aura!

Cold Star Reinforcement has been corrected to Hoarfrost Star Reinforcement!

Cold Star Manifestation has been corrected to Hoarfrost Star Manifestation!

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Primal Soul Core has exceled!

Soul's Decree has leveled up!

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"Chalice of Wishes?" Kaelith uttered. "Your Kzanaria's name?"

"Close. It's a title related to it. The important thing here is that it transformed my Cold Star. And it probably caused its nature to change if this mana dying is anything to go by."

"Interesting… Can you tell what's the difference between the two versions of your magic?"

"I think," Rakna nodded and glanced at the frost crystal in his hand. "First of all, it's not cold. Looks like the crystal is repressing it inside. Secondly, it's stable. Very stable. I feel like nothing I can do could make me lose control over it. And thirdly…" He squinted his eyes and threw the crystal to the wall in the distance.

The second it hit, a wave of cold erupted and the crystal shattered outward before reforming into a large bouquet of sharp icicles. "It behaves more like ice than before. Or rather, it can behave like ice if want it to. I can still use it like before," he added and this time, conjured the cold energy with no crystal shell.

Right away, Kaelith understood what he meant about it suppressing the cold. When he summoned it without crystal, the temperature in the room plummeted.

"But the most important difference will probably come to spells and skills fueled by it," Rakna said and triggered Reinforcement. His fur began to shine brighter but no cold mist was emitted out of his body. Instead, his skin gained a reflective sheen just like crystal.

He extended his claws and scraped them against his skin to test it. The claws made a rasping noise and left not even scratch behind. "As expected," he said and powered Reinforcement down. "My defense goes up a lot more. But my internals are still probably the same…"

Meanwhile, Kaelith was being very silent as she watched and he noticed it after a while. He raised an eyebrow at her. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing…" She murmured and her cheeks gained a faint tint of red. "I'm totally not thinking that it's nice to look at you broody and concentrated."

Rakna snorted. "Since when were you a tsundere?" He asked impishly and she huffed.

"I don't know what you're talking about. By the way, congratulations on your fifth tail. It's always a thing to celebrate back at home," she changed the subject. "Does that mean you reached a new level milestone? It must be 100, right?"

"Yes."

"That's nice. Did you unlock the Sub-Paths?"

"I did, and my Path Quest as well. I was wondering when I was going to get that. The others have had it since level 50 or 75," Rakna muttered as he recalled the new skills his group had gotten.

The most interesting one was the Twenty Diamond Fists Allan had gotten. Each fist had a different effect, power, and color. Though he still had to unlock all of them. There was also Flavia and Nyx who started getting Chaos Control and Eternal Night Arts respectively. Evelyn learned the skill Hell Evocation and Marie, after choosing her Path, Serpent of Discord, had amazingly gotten a new magic element; Illusion.

"Your Path is unique and irregular, after all," Kaelith said. "It's normal for it to take longer. So, have you checked the available Sub-Paths yet?" She asked excitingly.

Rakna made a small smile. "Right. You like those, don't you?"

"You bet. And I'm sure to see new ones with you."

"What is a Sub-Path anyway? Or to be exact, what will it do compared to my main one?"

"Depends. If you use another terminology, Paths can be called Classes while Sub-Paths are what you'd call Jobs. The former defines your fighting capabilities."

"And the latter would define occupations," he finished for her. "Like Alchemist, Blacksmith, or…"

"{Story Teller!}" Fray chirpily and telepathically intruded on the conversation. "{I had it before.}"

"Oh, hello, Exalted Quill," Kaelith uttered, having already been shocked out of her mind last week when she learned his identity, as well as Higure's. "And yes, Sub-Paths are precisely that. But it's not a definite rule that they must only be supportive. Some have actual uses in combat, directly or indirectly. While others are extensions of Paths."

"Does the Sub-Path Reaper ring any bell?" Rakna asked and she furrowed her eyebrows.

"Maybe… why?"

Rakna pointed at his scar and traced it. "The guy who did this. He had a Sub-Path called Reaper. I didn't get the chance to appraise it though."

"Well, logically speaking… Reapers are ferries for the dead. He might have had the ability to reap souls, drain power from ghosts, or have increased damage with scythe weapons."

"That sounds pretty accurate," he said. "I pretty much understand now. Thanks."

"No problem. Now show me already!"

Rakna shook his head in amusement. She had already forgotten about what happened. He opened his status and selected the new entry on it.

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Congratulations on reaching Level 100! You have now the right to pick a Sub-Path. This choice will direct the development of some of your proficiencies, as well as the acquirement of passive, supportive, and occasionally special skills.

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After analysis of the Host's Capabilities, 10 Sub-Paths have been singled out.

Select One:

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Way of the Blacksmith (+)

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<->

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Way of the Alchemist (+)

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<->

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Way of the Artisan (+)

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<->

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Uncommon! – Way of the Hunter (+)

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<->

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Rare! – Way of the Martial Artist (+)

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<->

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Epic! – Way of the Cultivator (+)

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<->

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Epic! – Way of the Soul Eater (+)

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<->

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Legendary! – Way of the Emperor (+)

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<->

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Legendary! – Way of the Sinner (+)

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<->

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Exotic! – Way of the Nephilim (+)

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