The beast tried to bite Edge before attempting to slither away, but there was no escape. The left chain of oblivion came whipping around to unleash an endless flurry of slashes—the lightning-imbued sword it held carving bars of color in his vision as it streaked through the air.
“That’s enough,” he called Foebinder back before it landed a lethal blow. “Any more damage, and we won’t get to steal any skills.”
The living links quivered with anticipation as they retracted through his wrist, depositing the sword into his hand along the way—a maneuver they had been practicing over the last few days until it felt as smooth as silk.
He stowed the weapon in his vault while approaching the stricken serpent, reached out with both arms, and willed Skill-Eater’s ultimate ability to activate. Extraction. Foebinder and its unnamed twin erupted from his wrists, diving into the beast’s wounds before invading its core to steal the powers inside.
Edge already knew what skills the snake was packing, so he ordered the chains to steal the strongest powers they could find without bothering to step inside the creature’s core. Two quick Extractions later, their work was done. He put the wounded beast out of its misery and willed his mind into his inner world—fingertips tingling with anticipation all the while.
He had been afraid he wouldn’t make it in time, but at last, the big moment had arrived.
After ranking up Elemental Blade, he had put the experience from every skill he Absorbed into Warlord’s Mantle. The ruby aura was one of his favorite powers, providing an extra layer of defense while bolstering his physical attributes. It also provided a modest boost to his combat awareness, which made time slow down by a hair during the heat of battle.
Of course, the biggest advantage for the coming battle was the fact that Edge could extend Mantle’s benefits to every ally in range.
Advancing the skill to rank three had been a good start. Flaring the aura to boost its output would enhance the power it provided to Puppet Town’s elites when they took on the kaiju that was threatening to obliterate the settlement.
Right now, he could only use it on hundreds of people while Overdrive was active, and a sixty-second limit wasn’t going to cut it given the scale of the impending threat.
However, the rank-four advancement he was about to receive just might do the trick. With any luck, the System would offer an upgrade that made aura more efficient when enhancing a full squadron of warriors, which would make a big difference during a large-scale conflict.
When he popped into his central chamber, Warlord’s Mantle was shimmering with transformative energy. The avatar was thrilled by its impending advancement, and the rest of Edge’s powers cheered it on while they waited to find out what would happen next.
He praised the ghostly cloak until his Guide appeared and flattened to form a screen, listing the options that were on the table.
The skill Warlord’s Mantle has advanced to Rank 4.
Its mana efficiency has been enhanced.
Please choose between one of the following options:
- Significantly increase the mana efficiency of recharging the mantle after it absorbs an attack.
- Dramatically reduce the cost of bestowing the mantle on additional people and increase its range to 1,000 feet.
- Warlord’s Mantle may be used with a second aura without counting as a skill combo.
Warning: If no option is selected, your skill will remain unchanged and gain a significant bonus to mana efficiency.
While each upgrade was incredible in its own way, Edge took number two without hesitation.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
Even if the kaiju wasn’t in the picture, he would have picked it anyway. In part, because the boost in range was something he couldn’t compensate for by eating mana seeds or upping his Generation, but mostly because of that tantalizing word, “dramatically.”
While the System occasionally provided precise percentages, the planetary AI generally categorized the magnitude of an upgrade’s effect instead. A dramatic reduction was a synonym for an extreme effect—the strongest tier after phenomenal. Being offered a dramatic modifier at rank four was rare, and most people accepted them without question unless they were in desperate need of one of the other options.
The third upgrade was unusual too, but right now, the only other aura Edge had was Regulate Temperature, and only when he chose to use it on other people. When he eventually found another aura he liked, he could either pick that upgrade for it or compensate by combining them in short bursts and increasing his Generation.
Bolstering Puppet Town’s elite forces over a significantly larger area for a slim fraction of the price was just what he needed for the coming fight, and it would save him a considerable amount of mana anytime he was fighting as part of a team. Specializing Warlord’s Mantle toward large-scale conflicts should open some interesting options in the future, which might let him turn the tide of a war all by himself.
The downside was maintaining the aura would rapidly drain his reserves if its beneficiaries were taking a lot of hits. However, when Edge was only boosting their attributes and combat awareness, he should be able to keep Mantle running on a big group for a considerable period—significantly increasing their combined offensive might. Even while hunting with Rue or the crew, the extra range and reduced cost will come in handy.
That realization gave him an idea.
Edge had learned that he could use Warlord’s Mantle on beasts by using it on Blue, but he hadn’t tried it on his Companion yet, and this was a perfect opportunity. Rather than warning the pup and spoiling the surprise, he stepped back into his body, ignited his core, and gave it a try.
The golden fox’s eyes widened to a comical extent when the ruby cloak materialized around his shoulders, adjusting itself until it looked natural on the little beast’s body. When he realized what had happened, Rue took off in a flash, moving so quickly his form was reduced to a red and gold blur.
Excited yips echoed across the grasslands as Rue darted to and fro before leaping so high that he startled himself and crashed into a tree. The Mantle absorbed most of the impact, so the fox didn’t hurt himself, but Edge made him realize this experiment was a little premature.
He deactivated the aura and picked the pup up, stroking Rue’s fur to calm him down. “Let’s wait until you’re a little older before trying that again.”
He had conjured a Mantle for himself too. The brief experiment was sufficient to let him get a sense for the additional drain for adding a second recipient, which was less than ten percent of what it would have cost before. Nodding in satisfaction, Edge put Rue inside his core and then entered his central chamber—ready to congratulate the avatar and take a closer look at its new form.
The neon cloak was more stylish than ever. Its intricate orange stitching was so detailed it looked like it had been embroidered by a craft master. As Edge commended the avatar on its accomplishment, Warlord’s Mantle wrapped itself around his body.
Rue was barking to be picked up, so he hoisted the golden fox and let the pup check out the details too. Chibime and Sea wanted in on the action, so he reached down and put Roar on one shoulder while Fear flew over to perch on the other.
Edge used the rest of his daily allotment inside his core playing with Rue and praising his skills, enjoying their company while deepening their bonds. Then he stepped back into his body, skinned and butchered the serpent using the techniques Talia and Izzio had taught him, and started hiking back to Puppet Town.
After dropping off the parts, he walked back to the lodge and asked everyone to join him in the common area. He wanted to test the upgrade on a bigger group, which made it easier to get a feel for the precise rate of drain.
He broke into a broad grin when he discovered that using the aura on the whole team at once cost even less mana than he’d been expecting. On top of the efficiency boost, the upgraded range meant they would be able to fight freely going forward, without having to center their formation around his position.
“That advancement couldn’t have come at a better time,” Trapper said. “I’ll make sure Dialla gives you enough mana seeds to run it constantly throughout the battle. That way, you can save Overdrive for finishing the big bastard off. I wonder what skills the kaiju is packing. I bet they are mostly rank five and above.”
“I’ve been wondering about that too. The last undead I fought had a core that was filled with dead skills, although it still had three live ones for me to Extract. I’m not sure how I feel about claiming its Reanimation power. There’s no guarantee that one is compatible with human biology, but anything that helped the squid evolve to stage four must be strong. I don’t have any free slots, but the pair of merger tokens I picked up from the market will increase my options.”
The crew discussed the matter for a while longer before going their separate ways. Edge was heading to the north gate for a final scythe lesson from Momo. On the way, he pulled up the quest the System had issued to check out the countdown clock.
Time until kaiju arrival at current velocity: 1 day, 22 hours, 33 minutes, 5 seconds.
Just enough time to steal one more batch of skills, although it won’t be enough to rank up anything new. No matter. An appetizer will whet my appetite for the feast to come.