Chapter 73: New Attunement (I)
"It is an option, but we should never treat it lightly, even if it is a low-grade, untrained skill." She paused, trying to form the right words for her explanation. "You see, every skill, even the common ones, tends to be connected with our soul. The more we train and gain proficiency in the skill, the more it will expand our soul. Of course, the soul body isn't entirely made of skills, but losing even a fraction of it may cause bodily and spiritual harm.
"Now, in practice, if you are to strip a common skill, you might barely face any consequences. It might just be limited to a couple of instances of migraine. However, a high-level skill at silver or higher might even lead to an almost incurable ailment like soul-body dysmorphia. For higher skills, ascendants are advised to wait until they advance to Gold before attempting, not that the process becomes any simpler, just that your entire body, mind, and soul are far stronger to endure the consequences."
Ember thought about all the skills he would have no problem losing. The first that came to mind were the two skills he had unintentionally gained. While Toxin Tolerance was only a copper skill and at a lower level—and would not cause any dire consequence—removing it would only return him three skill slots, which would still not be enough even with an Apprentice Alchemist title.
Mind Wall, on the other hand, was iron, and he had gained much proficiency in it over the years, let alone it had become almost an inseparable part of his skill set. The skill was highly reliable, and not just against psionic attacks like what he faced against that skink or that basilisk.
Ember had faced more than a few notable troubles in a couple of his outings, but he still couldn't say he'd be as composed as he was if not for Mind Wall. Only by relying on Mind Wall did he maintain a calm front against his adversary.
"Wait," Then something dawned on him, as he perked up, "if I remove a skill, will I lose the evolution points I gained from it?"
This should be one of the bigger concerns, as he wouldn't want to regress a tier if that was possible.
"Actually, no," Dawn smiled. "But the next time you gain a level in skills, you wouldn't gain any evolution points until you make up for them."
"Hmm, that made sense."