29: The Dark Side

The Dark Side

System: Welcome to the Galaxy of Horus! Your character evolution has completed. Reminder: You are currently being observed through your passive ability [ Mark of a God ].

Ah yes. Apophis's reward from the goddess's quest… the reward that annoyed him by its very existence and which he'd tried very hard to ignore.

Upon finishing his "Purification of Infamy" quest, Apophis had received the 100,000 GC and the 50 Skill Points that he'd expected…

…But the reward of a Passive Skill hadn't exactly gone as he'd expected.

Rather than Apophis getting the choice of a powerful Passive Skill that would increase his power, as the quest had implied, he instead received [ Mark of a God ]. The Skill description was completely useless, only informing Apophis that "Someone is watching you." What a scam!

The other members of the party apparently got Passive Skills which corresponded to different gods, but they wouldn't share their information with Apophis. He wondered if any of them had been luckier than himself.

At least the quest had rewarded him with plenty of money and Skill Points. He'd already spent the former, and now it was time to spend the latter.

Between that reward and the two levels he'd recently gained, Apophis had 60 Skill Points to spend. After careful consideration, he decided to invest in a new branch of the Esper Talent Tree.

He chose the first Skill of the [Mind Over Matter] branch, ~Telekinesis~. He'd actually only unlocked this branch of the Talent Tree recently once his Intelligence had risen high enough. 

~<em

Telekinesis</em

~ was infamous as one of the most difficult Esper Skills to use, since it required a ton of Skill Points to be really useful. At its base level, it could do little more than let the user twist a spoon with their mind.

He invested 10 Skill Points into ~Telekinesis~, then added 10 Skill Points into ~Cosmic Meditation~. However, something peculiar happened after he finished this.

System: Please wait. Your Skill ~Cosmic Meditation~ is evolving… Skill evolution complete.

Curious, Apophis opened his menu and took a look.

╔═══════════════╕

╟─╼SKILL

║　╰╼[Name] : ~Dark Cosmic Meditation (lvl 2)~

║　╰╼[Esper]

║　╰╼[Dark]

║　╰╼[Rare]

╟─╼[Summary] : Your cosmic senses have attuned to the darker energies of space. You have the power to call upon them, attuning yourself to the darkest entities of the universe.

╟─╼[Effect (1)] : Permanently increases your maximum Energy by 20%.

╟─╼[Effect (2)] : Permanently increases your Energy damage defense by 3%.

╟─╼[Effect (3)] : Adds 1 point of Darkness.

╟─╼[Cooldown] : 7 days.

╟─╼[Upgrade Cost] : 50 Skill Points

╚═══════════════╛The evolution of this Skill was undoubtedly due to Apophis wearing the Legendary ring...

He opened his character interface.

╔══════════════╕

╟─╼CHARACTER

║　╰╼[Name] : Apophis

║　╰╼[LvL] : 10

║　╰╼[Tier] : E+ {Awoken}

║　╰╼[Class] : Esper {40 Skill Points available}

║　╰╼[Biology] : Male Zetark-Human Hybrid {Evolution Level: 2}

╠══════════════╡

╟─╼SOUL

║　╰╼[Energy] : 1100 (+50%) = 1650

║　╰╼[Alignment] : -1 {Dark}

╠══════════════╡

╟─╼STATS

║　╰╼[Strength] 200 (+10%) = 220 STR

║　╰╼[Intelligence] 200 (+10%) = 220 INT

║　╰╼[Agility] 200 (+10%) = 220 AGI

║　╰╼[Dexterity] 200 (+10%) = 220 DEX

║　╰╼[Luck] 1 LUK

╠══════════════╡

╟─╼BOOK SKILLS

║　╰╼~Dark Cosmic Meditation (lvl 2)~

║　╰╼~Demon God Flame (lvl 2)~

║　╰╼~Lord of Flames (lvl 1)~

║　╰╼~Susanoo (lvl 1)~

╟─╼TALENT TREE SKILLS

║　╰╼~Firebending~

║　╰╼~Telekinesis~

╟─╼PASSIVE SKILLS

║　╰╼[ Archaeologist ]

║　╰╼[ Mark of a God ]

╠══════════════╡

╟─╼EQUIPMENT

║　╰╼[Galactic Coins] : 401,023 GC

║　╰╼[Complete Zetark Battle Armor (Rare)]0

║　╰╼[God Tzeentch's Rings of Power (Legendary)]

║　╰╼[Zetark Nobility Uniform (Epic)]

╠══════════════╡

╟─╼SUMMARY

You are slightly above average as far as space-farers go. You would make good cannon fodder on the battlefield, but why on Earth did you choose the darkness?

╚═══════════════╛

Did the game just insult him?!

"I'm Apophis, the god of the dead!" he shouted. "Not cannon fodder, you brainless AI!"

Now it was time to return to Omeya.

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