Chapter 292
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Entering meditation proved more difficult than Kyle expected, with C.H.A.D.D.’s words echoing in his head. Still, he calmed himself, focusing on the task at hand. After crossing this threshold, he would be ready to reach for the peak of D Grade. Finally entering his center, he took a moment to look at the brightly swirling arms of his attributes, all but one deeply mixed with the energy from the Core of the Parasitic Devourer. One item left before reaching C Grade, Kyle corrected himself.
Focusing on his Center, he looked at the message that awaited him.
KYLE MAYHEW. ARTHRO-HUMAN CHIMERA (PARASITE), SURVIVALIST. LEVEL 107 (D)
CORE OF THE PARASITIC DEVOURER 87%
ADAPTIVE ANATOMY – 13/? – ENHANCED CARAPACE (FERRIC AUGMENTATION), AURIC PERCEPTION (SYNAPTIC BARBS), EXOSKELETAL STRENGTH (MUSCULAR COMPRESSION), CEASELESS VITALITY (TENACIOUS VIGOR), INSTINCTIVE INTELLIGENCE (PACK LEADER’S INSTINCT), COVERT DEXTERITY, UNBREAKABLE WILL (HEART OF CREATION)
VITALITY: 1371
ENDURANCE: 1785
STRENGTH: 539
DEXTERITY: 1128
WILLPOWER: 2039
INTELLIGENCE: 2039
PERCEPTION: 1430
FREE ATTRIBUTES: 54
The fight against the final hodag had netted Kyle three full levels, despite having fought it alongside Arhades and C.H.A.D.D. It was a testament to the beast’s power, and how close he’d come to a crushing defeat. Even now, the last remnants of the poison were still being expunged, still fighting against Kyle’s layers of regenerative power.
The other important milestone that these levels achieved was bringing both Kyle’s Willpower and Intelligence above 2000. While it didn’t have any unique benefits that he was aware of, it had become an unofficial goal of his. Now that he’d accomplished it, Kyle was left with a difficult choice. Though they’d increased equally all the way through D Grade so far, he was beginning to face creatures that were powerful enough to challenge or negate his Willpower outright, like the hodag.
Conversely, Kyle had yet to truly come up against a limit with his Intelligence. Jarberry and Marcus undoubtedly had some D Grade projects that would be beyond his current level, but they were very much the exception. Having both attributes above 2000 was rare for all but the most dedicated of caster-types, and practically unheard of for a D Grade with Kyle’s level of survivability. With his most powerful skills tied to the attribute, he knew it was time to start narrowing his focus even more.
With a thought, he invested most of his free points in Willpower, with just enough in Endurance to bring it up to 1800. Before C Grade, he would bring Endurance above 2000 as well, narrowing his focus to the things he did best.
With that done, Kyle turned his attention to the indistinct gray orbs floating in his center. He felt his pulse quicken as he focused his attention on the first; anticipation building as he saw what possibilities awaited him for his final D Grade skill.
Emergency Exit
As in E Grade, the impression for the capstone skill was far more vivid than the other skills he’d selected in the past. He first noted a stockpile opening up in his mana network, draining a substantial amount of resources from him. Once it was full, the repository sat dormant. That is, until the vision turned to a bloodied Kyle staggering away from an indistinct foe. Just before a fatal blow could strike him, he felt the stored mana stir to life as the skill activated. In a heartbeat, Kyle was gone.
His vision shifted to a perspective of himself, still beaten and bloody, in an entirely different place. Kyle immediately understood what happened. He’d teleported away, warping somewhere safe before the final attack could land. As the vision faded, powerful words resounded in his mind. Even when facing the fiercest of opponents, the Survivalist is not without options. Escape, recover, and live to fight another day. In many cases, victory is determined simply by still drawing breath.
Kyle felt himself nodding at the words, internalizing them. The skill was unlike any other in his repertoire. While short-ranged blink skills weren’t all that rare, a long-distance teleportation option was incredibly powerful, especially at D Grade. Even for C Grades, it took geniuses like Marcus to really grasp the spatial concepts at play to make long-range teleportation work.
Of course, this was more limited than something like a Transportation Array, in that it relied on a condition to be activated, but it was still an impressive offering. The prospect that excited Kyle even more would be the upgrade potential in C Grade. If he could remove the limitations, or weave in other concepts, Kyle would have an incredibly flexible teleportation option at the ready. Even now, he could think of some ways to forcibly activate the conditions; something that would make him even more of a standout inside the Courier’s Guild. How convenient would it be to simply teleport to a rendezvous point?
After taking a moment to calm his mind, Kyle looked at the second gray orb.
Iron Will
The first thing Kyle noticed in this vision was the dramatic change to his mana pathways. Thousands of new, tiny paths branched off, miniscule tendrils woven through his body and skin in addition to his admittedly abnormal mana network. The purpose soon became clear to him, as his vision split, showing two side-by-side images of himself. One had Iron Will, the other didn’t.
A blade of mana materialized and slashed both images. A deep cut opened up on the one without Iron Will, while the image with it barely received a scratch. The scene played out again, this time with gouts of flame, then with acid, then with blunt force. Each time, Iron Will massively reduced the damage.
As before, the moment the vision ended, Kyle heard a voice in his head. The Survivalist stands tall in the face of any challenge or adversity. Impose your will on the world, endure that which seeks to lay you low, and when all is done, emerge victorious. The essence of survival is found in becoming unbreakable.
Compared to Emergency Exit, which was a stockpiled, limited-use skill, Iron Will was entirely passive. The impression he had from watching the images was that the mana more deeply infusing his body added to its resilience, at the cost of reducing the speed at which he could naturally regenerate mana. The other aspect of skill, the part that excited Kyle the most, was that it appeared to scale with Willpower.
Both Endurance and Vitality were attributes commonly invested in by people looking to increase their survivability, and each came with their own benefits and drawbacks. The reason Kyle decided to focus on Endurance over Vitality was that it increased his overall resilience, making his various methods of healing even more efficient.
Iron Will would take the same concept, and take it to incredible extremes. He already had Enhanced Carapace and Ferric Augmentation boosting his natural durability well-beyond what was indicated by his Endurance. If he was able to further develop it in a way that scaled with his highest attribute, it would be nigh-impossible for somebody around his own level to take him down, at least without a tremendous amount of preparation.
The upgrade paths to Iron Will lacked clarity, which was a demerit, but overall it was an incredible skill offering. Plus, Kyle liked the words that stuck with him after the visions. Becoming unbreakable sounded like an admirable vision.
Finally, he turned his attention to the last gray orb.
Second Wind
This vision started in a similar fashion to Emergency Exit; so much so that Kyle nearly did a double take to make sure he’d selected the right one. Once more, he saw a stockpile set up within his mana network, and he was once again reeling back, bloodied after fighting some powerful phantom opponent. This time, however, instead of disappearing, Kyle saw the skill activate as a wave of healing energy more powerful than anything he’d seen before washed over him.
The wounds all visibly closed as power coursed through the image’s body. All the mana that had been stockpiled was released at once, giving the image of Kyle incredible power as it fought back, finally driving off the phantom. Then, as the mana ran out, it collapsed to the ground. Even though its injuries were healed, the backlash from using what amounted to a massive boosting skill took its toll.
More words boomed in Kyle’s mind as this vision ended. The Survivalist is at their most dangerous when backed into a corner. When all seems lost, capture your second wind, and strike back at those who would see you fall. Walk the edge between life and death, and there you will find the meaning of survival.
Those last words resonated with Kyle, reminding him of his desperate battle against the hodag. It was probable that this skill had only manifested because of that fight, that near-death. Second Wind was another highly powerful, highly situational skill. He felt a deep attraction to it, offering him the means to fight back and punch above his weight class when he needed to the most.
Because of that attraction, however, it scared him. C.H.A.D.D. and Marcus both expressed their concern about his pursuit of danger. And when he considered it, really considered it, they were right. He knew he was pushing too far. He knew that it wasn’t healthy. Even if he didn’t want to admit it. Second Wind was exactly the kind of skill that would enable him to continue down this path, and do it better than ever before. The question he had to answer was simple. Did he want to?
With a sigh, he considered all of his choices. Without a doubt, the capstone offerings for D Grade were incredible. Each of them fit his path well, and offered him unique tools that would serve him through the challenges ahead. Unfortunately, he could pick only one.
The first to be discarded was, unsurprisingly, Emergency Exit. The teleportation was powerful, but the most exciting part to Kyle was thinking about its eventual upgrades. As it stood now, it was only helpful in situations where he would need to escape a difficult fight. With all of the other tools at his disposal, escaping wasn’t typically an issue, even against enemies like the hodags. No, the enemies powerful enough to require the use of a skill like that were also enemies powerful enough to either counter the teleportation, or otherwise had the resources to hunt him down.
That left him with two incredible options. Each was different, each was powerful, and each represented a very different approach to the same concept of enduring to survive. Iron Will took this idea very literally; empowering him to withstand more than he could before, while Second Wind took a more defiant approach, welcoming in adversity with the purpose of overcoming it, or dying in the process.
That was ultimately the crux of the matter. Which would be the definition of his path? Walking a razor’s edge in pursuit of unleashing his full potential, or committing to the preservation of his own life?
He thought about C.H.A.D.D. and Marcus, and their warnings. He remembered Carlyle, and the young man’s self-destructive pursuit of power. He saw a violet eye in his mind, felt a familiar powerlessness as phantom pain washed over his body. And then he remembered his grandfather’s voice. Survive.
He felt moisture threatening the corners of his eyes, as he knew what to do. If he had to choose how to define his path, he would define it with life. Kyle breathed out as tension he hadn’t realized he’d been carrying melted away. As the weight lifted from his shoulders, he chose Iron Will. I will become unbreakable.