Ascension of Chaos

Ashley

Before I focus on the obvious repercussions of having my identity as a Successor along with the fact that I killed one mini boss myself exposed, I read the next wave of notifications and messages that flash through my vision. Which includes the initial message about defeating the mini boss.

Objective 1 complete! You have participated in the slaying of the Goliath of the Maze! Now bask in your rewards!

{You have been granted 2 Skill Points for killing a monster within the tutorial.}

{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Goliath of the Maze}

{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Basic Gravity Mana Manipulation, is now unlocked for your usage.}

{Congratulations, you have now reached level 11. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}

{Congratulations, you have now reached level 12. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}

I stare at the menu for a few seconds, only to be startled and almost lose my balance when a purple orb appears in the air in front of me. Kind of like the crimson one that appeared before. Back when I got my gifts from Chaos.

Then five things fall from the orb. All with a similar style to them. Made of the same stone that the goliath was made of except with a purple hue to it. And each engraved with either yellow or purple gems.

First is an amulet. One with a triangular shape, an iron necklace attached to the amulet, and a purple jewel in the center.

I go ahead and analyze the thing just like I did before with my knife.

Stoneheart Amulet

Description: An amulet made from the stone heart of the Goliath of the Tutorial Maze that increases the physical resistance of the wearer by 10%.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Affects: +10% Physical Res

Doesn't really say much more than the notification said.

I go through the other items, analyzing each one. But none of them really say anything more than is already said in the notification. So I don't spend much time going through them.

Except the jewel.

Stoneheart Jewel

Description: A jewel that the user can infuse into a piece of armor or clothing to repair and enchant it.

Affects: Repairs and applies enhanced resilience to any 'outfit' this jewel comes into contact with.

Interesting.

I glance down at my clothes, which are still pretty roughed up. Then I look at the jewel again. And finally back at the clothes.

Doesn't hurt to try.

I move the jewel down to my chest and press it into my shirt. And immediately after doing that, the jewel begins to merge into my shirt, startling me. Following which all of the clothes I'm wearing right now suddenly begin glowing with a bright yellow and purple light.

Too bright.

When the light fades, I find myself wearing the exact same outfit, except with all of the damage repaired.

Convenient.

I grab the bottom of the shirt before slowly trying to rip it a tiny bit. But my attempt ends without even seeming to damage it in the slightest.

So that's nice.

I nod my head in satisfaction before turning to the ring.

An inventory that can hold non-living things… sounds useful.

Before I can turn my attention to the next thing I want to check – my new skill tree and root skill – another notification forces its way into my vision.

I blink for a second in surprise before feeling the corner of my lips twitching ever so slightly in my version of a smile.

Three hundred free Skill Points are a very nice reward. I'll take it gladly.

And with it, I can purchase that Successor Skill that I really wanted before. Something I can actually use my chaos energy on.

Although before I do that, I go ahead and open up my Skill Trees. Then I search for the new one.

Which doesn't take very long, considering how massive the thing is.

{Basic Gravity Mana Manipulation – This skill grants the user the ability to turn their natural mana into gravity mana and use the mana to perform gravity magic spells.}

Good. I can finally use magic myself.

Of course, I'll need to learn how first.

I'm probably not a genius at magic like he is. So I'll likely take some time to learn…

I blink at that thought.

Wait… like who is?

I tilt my head in confusion about my own thoughts. But eventually I just shake my head.

Whatever. Probably something to do with my past that I don't want to remember.

Putting aside that matter, I go ahead and take a look at the skills adjacent to the root skill. And there are quite a few of those.

Some of them are simple upgrades to my use of gravity mana, whether making the mana I generate more efficient, or granting it some special effects when used in certain ways. Like how the goliath was using it to reduce its own weight for example.

Other upgrades are upgrades to my body. Strengthening me, making me more resilient, and even one to make me heavier.

One I'd rather avoid if possible.

Not sure why.

It doesn't actually lead to any other skills in the tree, so I'm just gonna ignore it.

Looking at the skills in the tree doesn't show me any that I'd rather have than the Successor Skill, so I go ahead and close out of the tree before opening up the Successor Menu and then the Successor Skills.

Then I unlock the new skill with three hundred Skill Points.

A rather large cost, but one that's worth it.

I glance at my chaos energy, which is still pretty filled right now since I didn't use up much of it in the battle after all. Meaning I have plenty to experiment with.

So I'll just go ahead and spend the next couple hours doing that.

Then I can start hunting down some monsters to level up until the end of the tutorial.

Hopefully avoiding any people in the process.