CH 79: Essences and Their Potential
Lex took out the Player’s Handbook and opened the interface, intending to use it to travel to the Boys' World. He hadn't actually used the Handbook itself for much lately, relying on the inventory function whenever he needed something from it, so he hadn't paid much attention to the other sections. That turned out to have been a mistake, because the moment he opened his status, Lex found quite a few changes that he hadn't noticed before.
{Status:
Name: Lex Everhart
Race: Human
Racial Absorption: [Kryptonian (14%)]
Bloodline: [Io - The Ninefold Dragon (Lesser)]
Level: 4 (80/200)
<Attributes>HP: ~99.99%
Mana: 99.97%
Life Force: 100%
Demonic Energy: 100%
Cursed Energy: 100%
Mental Energy: 99.8%
Cosmic Energy: 100%
Strength: 16
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 16
Intelligence: 16
Wisdom: 16
Charisma: 16
Magic: 16
Resistance: 16
Free Attribute Points: 48
Skill Points: 9
<Vitals>Body: Burning (Phoenix Force Flames)
Mind: Optimal
Soul: Optimal
Spirit: Burning (Phoenix Force Flames)
Identity: Optimal
Abnormal Conditions: Burning (Phoenix Force Flames)
<Skills and Abilities>[Gacha (ESX)] [Transcend Self (ESX)] [Ultimate Chad (ESX)] [Wealthy (ESX)] [Pet Owner (ESX)]
[Ninefold Concepts (EX)]
[Raphael - Lord of Wisdom (SSS)]
[Mocking Truth (SS)] [World's End Flower Garden (SS)] [Telekinesis - Omega Rank Mutation (SS)] [Kara's Physiology (SS)] [Divine Eyes of Depth (S)] [Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom (S)] [Nihil Light (A)] [Heretic Magic (A)] [All Things In Creation Library (A)]
[Milim Eye (B)] [Psionic Soul Shaping - Inhuman Gene (B)] [Gate Out (B)] [Anti Skill (B)] [Rey Tracing (B)] [Force Manipulation (B)]
[Lumikinetic Explosive Light Blasting (C)] [Ophis Blessing (C)] [Annie's Physiology (C)] [Cursed Energy Manipulation (C)] [Cryokinesis - Frozene Variant (C)] [Moxie (C)] [Build (C)]
[Enhanced Physique (D)] [Enhanced Reflexes (E)] [Dead Signal - Quirk (E)]
<Bonds>Summons:
[Sharon Rogers] [Donna Troy] [Kara Zor-el] [Kento Nanami] [Derek Hale] [Gwen Tennyson] [Regina Babylon] [Grayfia Lucifuge] [Komand'r] [Hela Lokidottir] [Bang] [Benjamin Tennyson]
Blessed of Transcend:
True: [Sharon Rogers] [Donna Troy] [Kara Zor-el] [Kento Nanami] [Derek Hale] [Gwen Tennyson] [Regina Babylon] [Grayfia Lucifuge] [Benjamin Tennyson]
Medium: [Jubilation Lee] [Annie January]
Lesser: [Margaret Carter] [Jean Gray]
Pets:
[Fluffy]
<Territory>[The Boys Universe - ###174-H##] [Krakoa - Marvel - ###7725#03#] [Japan - Marvel - ###7725#03#]
}
The first thing that caught Lex's attention was his level. He had reached Level 4 without even realizing it, although that wasn't particularly surprising considering everything that had happened recently. Each level granted him two points to every attribute, along with twelve free attribute points and a number of skill points equal to the level itself, meaning the forty-eight free attribute points sitting there were exactly what he should have had after reaching Level 4. He had simply never spent the original twelve points from his first level, while the remaining thirty-six had accumulated from the three additional level-ups.
The skill points worked similarly, although he had already spent one of the ten he had accumulated previously, leaving him with nine now. Two came from reaching Level 2, three from Level 3 and four from Level 4, while that first point had already found a home in one of his earlier purchases.
Lex decided to keep things simple with the attributes. He didn't have any particular reason to prioritize one over another, and he liked the idea of having everything balanced anyway, so he distributed six points into each attribute. The numbers shifted almost immediately, bringing Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, Magic and Resistance all up to 22.
“Much prettier.”
There was something oddly satisfying about looking at a perfectly even set of numbers, and Lex wasn't about to pretend he was above appreciating that sort of thing. He then moved on to his remaining skill points, where he decided to finally address a rather embarrassing gap in his abilities. He had accumulated several swords in his inventory over time, yet most of them had been sitting there because he didn't actually know how to use a sword particularly well.
That problem was easy enough to fix.
He spent three Skill Points on Weapon Handling and the remaining six on Beginner Sword Mastery.
The changes were immediate.
There was no dramatic flash of light or physical transformation, but Lex suddenly found himself possessing knowledge that hadn't been there a moment earlier. His hands seemed to understand things his conscious mind hadn't been taught, his awareness of weight and balance shifted, and when he imagined holding a sword, he could almost instinctively picture how its center of gravity would affect his movements. It wasn't mastery, not even close, but there were suddenly basic principles embedded into his movements and instincts that he simply hadn't possessed before.
Lex flexed his fingers, then imagined drawing one of the swords from his inventory.
“That's actually pretty useful.”
He moved on, noticing two sections that hadn't been present the last time he'd properly looked through his status.
The first was Racial Absorption.
Lex clicked on it, and information appeared beneath the entry.
[Kryptonian Racial Absorption: A process by which the characteristics, abilities and biological properties of a foreign race are gradually assimilated into the host. Current Absorption: 14%. Source: H'El Template.]
“So that's from H'El.”
It made sense. Kara's Physiology hadn't suddenly turned him into a Kryptonian, and the template had always been something different from simply receiving a Kryptonian body, so the distinction was probably based on how the power had been obtained. Whatever the exact mechanics were, the Handbook clearly considered the Kryptonian traits from H'El to be something his body was actively absorbing rather than simply an ability he possessed.
The second new section was the Bloodline.
[Io - The Ninefold Dragon (Lesser)]
Lex stared at it for a moment before opening the associated information.
[Bloodline: Io - The Ninefold Dragon. A Lesser Bloodline originating from the Ninefold Dragon Io. As the bloodline awakens, it will gradually influence the host's existence and unlock powers associated with its nature.]
That explained at least part of the strange entry beneath his abilities.
Lex opened Ninefold Concepts.
[Ninefold Concepts: As the Bloodline of Io awakens within you, you will gain nine concepts suited to you. Currently, a Concept Seed has taken root within you. Possible Concept to Awaken: Beginning.]
Lex blinked at the last line.
“So it can tell what sort of concept I'll awaken.”
It wasn't saying that Beginning was guaranteed, though. It was simply the current possibility, a seed that had taken root but hadn't yet awakened into an actual Concept. That was interesting enough, but not something Lex could do much with right now, so he moved on.
The rest of the status contained plenty of things he already recognized. The abilities he had obtained through the Gacha and the various templates were all present, including Mocking Truth, World's End Flower Garden, Menacing Moonraze Maelstrom, All Things In Creation Library and Gate Out. Anti Skill was there as well, courtesy of the Yuuki Template, while the strange Ophis Blessing he'd obtained after eating that snake had apparently been recorded too.
That one made Lex curious enough to click.
[Ophis Blessing: By eating a snake created by Ophis, you've gained a part of her power. However, as the Bloodline of Io courses through you, such blessings are rendered useless.]
Lex stared at the description.
“So it wasn't even doing anything?”
Apparently not.
At least he hadn't known there was anything particularly special about the snake when he'd eaten it, so it wasn't as though he had lost anything. The Handbook had simply confirmed that whatever small portion of Ophis's power he'd absorbed was currently being rendered useless by the Ninefold Dragon Bloodline.
Lex spent a little more time checking the entries he hadn't properly examined before, finding that Mocking Truth, among the others, now contained additional information about the things he had acquired through it. The Handbook was apparently keeping track of considerably more information about his abilities than he had previously realized, but there was no point in opening every single entry simply because the information was available. He had a destination to reach, after all.
Before travelling to the Boys' World, however, Lex paused.
His eyes drifted toward the Abnormal Conditions section.
Burning — Phoenix Force Flames.
He had spent quite a while trying to understand those flames. He had tested water, Anti-Skill, Anti-Magic and even removing oxygen, while Raphael had attempted to analyze the phenomenon and determine how it had become connected to him. None of that had worked, and the entire reason he had decided to travel to another world was to see whether leaving and returning could sever whatever connection had been established.
But the Player's Handbook had a Cure function.
Lex hadn't actually needed it before. Between Transcendent Self and being qn Immortal, most injuries or abnormal conditions simply hadn't been significant enough to warrant using it, but if the Handbook was capable of recognizing the flames as an abnormal condition, there was no reason not to try.
He selected Cure.
A prompt appeared.
[Insufficient Energy.]
Lex frowned.
“Can you borrow it?”
The Handbook offered him the option to borrow the required energy and repay it later.
Lex immediately selected yes.
There was no reason not to. Transcendent Self had made his energy reserves effectively self-sustaining, and even if the Handbook temporarily emptied everything he had, he could simply recover it afterward.
The result was immediate.
For the briefest instant, Lex felt like he had been thrown backward in time.
Everything disappeared.
The Force was gone.
His Telekinesis was gone.
The strange supernatural awareness that had become as natural to him as breathing simply vanished, along with the sensation of Demonic Energy, Cursed Energy, Cosmic Energy and every other supernatural reservoir he had grown accustomed to carrying inside himself. Even his senses felt different. Duller. Slower. Ordinary.
For less than a heartbeat, Lex was simply Lex.
Not an immortal.
Not someone carrying multiple Essences.
Not someone capable of bending reality through a collection of absurd powers.
Just a normal human being standing somewhere in the world.
It was such a brief sensation that he barely had time to comprehend it before everything returned.
The Force rushed back into his awareness. Telekinesis followed. His supernatural senses snapped into focus, and the familiar presence of his various energies returned to him all at once.
Lex immediately looked down.
The flames were gone.
He stood there completely unharmed, his abnormal condition erased as though it had never existed.
For a moment, Lex simply stared.
“...Huh.”
The Player's Handbook had just done something Raphael hadn't been able to do.
It hadn't analyzed the flames, circumvented them or found some loophole in the Phoenix Force's connection to this world. It had simply recognized the condition, cured it and moved on, regardless of how deeply the phenomenon had been tied to the world's fundamental laws.
Lex had once again underestimated just how ridiculous the Essences could be.
There was another consequence, however.
Every energy reserve listed in his status had been completely emptied by the Cure. Mana, Life Force, Demonic Energy, Cursed Energy, Mental Energy, Cosmic Energy—everything had dropped to nothing, leaving Lex with that same strange hollow sensation he'd experienced for that brief instant when his powers had disappeared entirely.
Then Transcendent Self began doing what Transcendent Self always did.
His reserves started recovering.
It wasn't a slow process. Within moments, every energy pool had already climbed back above ten percent, and the recovery continued at a speed that would have been absurd by almost any normal standard. Interestingly, the higher the reserves climbed, the slower the regeneration became, but even that slowing didn't make the process particularly inconvenient. His reserves were already recovering far faster than he could realistically spend them under ordinary circumstances.
Lex looked at the Player's Handbook again.
“Okay. Definitely underestimated this thing.”
Meanwhile, somewhere deep within an island of consciousness inside Jean Grey's mind, a bird made entirely from living flame suddenly tilted its head.
The Phoenix was confused.
Far away, somewhere in the middle of a vast desert, Professor Charles Xavier crawled slowly across the sand, exhausted, dehydrated and thoroughly miserable. That woman, the woman who had introduced herself as Grayfia, had simply teleported him here and left without giving him the slightest indication of where he actually was, leaving Charles to deal with the consequences himself.
The heat was oppressive, the sand seemed to stretch endlessly in every direction, and despite everything that had happened back at the school, Charles found himself wondering how exactly he was supposed to survive long enough to find another person. He had no water, no idea where he was, and no way of knowing whether Grayfia had intentionally chosen this place or simply hadn't cared where he ended up.
Then, while crawling across what appeared to be nothing more than another stretch of sand, the ground suddenly gave way beneath him.
Charles barely had time to react before he fell through the sand and landed heavily on a stone floor several meters below. He groaned, slowly pushing himself upright as dust continued to fall from the opening above him, and looked around at the strange chamber he had somehow fallen into.
It was some sort of ancient hall, built entirely from enormous blocks of stone and decorated with carvings that Charles couldn't immediately understand. The walls were covered in faded symbols, while massive pillars disappeared into the darkness above, and despite the obvious age of the place, the structure itself seemed remarkably intact.
Charles stared around the chamber, his exhaustion momentarily forgotten as he tried to make sense of where he had ended up.
From what little he knew of ancient history, the architecture looked Egyptian.
But something about the place felt wrong.
This wasn't simply an abandoned ruin buried beneath the desert.
Charles couldn't explain why, but as he looked deeper into the darkness of the ancient hall, an uncomfortable feeling settled over him.
He wasn't alone.