Chapter 502
The quiet of the secluded study was a balm Nick had not realized he craved. He had done his part to help the Elpens regain their place in Toneburg and would continue to do so, but politics had never been his true interest.
He sank deeper into the armchair, listening to the creak of the old wood and the distant, muffled howl of the northern wind as it rattled the frosted windowpane. The smell of blood had been scrubbed away from his room, but he could still catch a hint of it in the air.
Too much death in one place would always leave a mark. I’ll have to take care of that before leaving. It wouldn’t do to restore House Elpen only to have it haunted as a result.
Yet for the moment, there was no vengeful spirit on the cusp of materializing. No Cultists chanting in the dark, no mercenary warlords demanding their due, no Royal Shadows issuing veiled ultimatums.
During the frantic melee with Ephor Ultimer, he had brushed against the depths of his new existence. He had forced the ether to bend to his will, fighting purely on adrenaline and instinct, yet surviving a brawl was a far cry from mastering a discipline. He needed to understand the architecture of his new self, or he risked becoming a danger to the very people he had fought to protect.
"Traits," Nick whispered into the quiet room.
In his mind’s eye, the glowing blue interface of the System materialized, looking strangely more solid than ever before.
He bypassed the core statistics he had reviewed earlier. The leap there was still staggering, but a Prestige class's true worth was defined by its Traits.
A mortal who rushed to Level 100 relying solely on their base Traits would almost never break through, and for those few who managed it, they’d ascend as a hollow vessel, a blunt instrument with raw power but lacking the nuance to wield it.
As Nick stared at the glowing blue text, vindication washed over him. The grueling years he had spent developing his esoteric knowledge into something useful, fighting everything from monsters to demons to Gods, and forging pacts had built a foundation broad enough to support a mountain.
| Core Traits: [Sovereign’s Parsimony] [Unique] Evolution of [Parsimonia]. You are the governor of your power. This Trait allows suppression of aura and masking of one’s presence from lesser entities. It grants flawless efficiency in shaping raw mana, ensuring nothing is wasted in the transition from thought to action.
|