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After choosing the two ingredients and spending a slightly larger amount of time choosing what I wanted than I expected, the Rank Up was finally done.
Ding!
[You have selected the [Venom Dragon's Tongue (A): Lv3] Skill and the [Sun's Beloved Maiden (E Rank Privilege)] for your Main Specialization Rank Up!]
[The added ingredients keywords had been added to your Main Specialization, further transforming it and giving it brand-new effects!]
[Congratulations! Your {Main Specialization}: [Legendary Herculean Holy Necromancer (S)] has Ranked Up to [Legendary Herculean Holy Sun Dragon Necromancer Maiden (SS)]!]
[Previous Effects have been strengthened greatly! New Effects have been added!]
The keywords added made the name slightly more bloated… but I'm sure it'll get more compact once it "evolves" or something, right?
Right?!
Anyways, the name, although long, sounded pretty intimidating. Although the Venom and Tongue keywords aren't there anymore, Sun, Dragon, and Maiden are there, so I'm hoping to get something cool.
And just from this alone, I had already felt a powerful aura encompassing my body with the might of a dragon and the warmth of the sun… I know that I'm mostly cultivating and concentrating on martial arts right now.
But Skill Specialization is also something that'll stick with me forever, and their passive abilities are literally game-changing, so it's totally fine to give it some time.
Now…
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{Main Specialization}: [Legendary Herculean Holy Sun Dragon Necromancer Maiden (SS)]
A Combined Path that merges the Legacy of Hercules with the prowess of the mysterious and rare Holy Necromancer, while adding the keywords [Dragon], [Sun], and [Maiden].
Your body has begun to inherit the legendary legacy of Hercules, as you possess his Nameless weapon, your body is beginning to change. Your muscles will begin to rapidly develop as you constantly practice extreme physical exercise.
By absorbing the essence of Life and Death from targets, you can accumulate Holy Nether Essence, which can be used to further upgrade the Main Specialization Effects and Abilities and Summon Holy Herculean Undead to aid you in battle.
You can also further infuse Holy Nether Essence into your body to enhance the speed at which your body develops and evolves to become stronger and more muscular. Muscles are everything.
Additionally, you can infuse the Power of Holy Sun Dragons into your Undead, making them evolve into stronger, draconic forms with new powers in exchange for more essence and materials.
And as you develop as a Necromancer Maiden, your Charm Stat increases faster and grants you the ability to easily charm most Undead and Dark-type creatures if your Charm Stat is higher than theirs, making them instantly obey your words.
Available Holy Nether Essence: 563.500
Until Next Rank Up: 0/5.000.000
Passive Effects:
Reduces Damage Taken to the Body by 30% -> 40%
Increases Mastery over All Weapons by 100% -> 130%
Increases Damage Dealt using Physical Force by 20% -> 40%
Health Restoration Speed increases by 50% -> 70%
Musculature Development Speed increases by 200% -> 250%
Stamina can be restored using Mana -> Stamina can be restored using Mana and Ki.
Increases Holy Light and Death Magic Power 50% -> 100%
Decreases Holy Light and Death Magic Mana Consumption by 50% -> 60%
You can conjure Spells using Ki, but at twice the price. -> You can conjure Spells and activate Skills using Ki, but at x1.5 the price.
Any Summoned Holy Herculean Undead will receive half of these effects. -> Any Summoned Holy Herculean Undead will receive 60% of these effects.
Your Charm Stat increases the more you raise Undead, and you can instantly subdue Undead-type and Dark-type beings whose Charm Stat is lower than yours. (New Effect!)
Your Holy Nether Essence will naturally emerge from your body as an Aura, which will transform into a Holy Sun Dragon Aura whenever you fight, granting you additional Holy and Sunlight type damage to foes based on 200% of your Charm Stat. (New Effect!)
Active Effects:
You can summon Holy Herculean Undead by using Holy Nether Essence and available materials. Holy Herculean Undead can be either created as temporary allies or be made into permanent soul-bound allies.
Temporary Holy Herculean Undead will be strong from the get-go but disappear after some time, using all resources that made them. Soul-bound Holy Herculean Undead will remain at your side permanently through a Soul Pact, but they're much weaker and require training and materials to become stronger.
Soul Bound Holy Herculean Undead Slots: 1/1 -> 1/3
By utilizing Ki, Mana, and Holy Nether Essence, you can summon the {Graveyard Of Fallen Legends} to unleash a Domain of 50 -> 200 meters around you, which will boost All Physical Stats of your Holy Herculean Undead by 150% -> 300%, Decrease their Damage Taken by 30% -> 60%, and Increase their Physical Damage Dealt by 50% -> 100%.
Fallen Holy Herculean Undead can revive once -> up to 10 times within this domain, and they can use Weapon and other Physical Skills or Techniques without energy cost. You can also combine with your Soul-Bound Holy Herculean Undead and become the {Legendary Holy Death Herculean Princess} by sharing all their Stats for 10 -> 30 Minutes. Duration: 1 -> 2 Hours. Cooldown: 12 -> 7 Hours.
You can spend additional Holy Nether Essence and more Undead or Materials to transform your current Holy Herculean Undead into the next level, evolving them into Holy Sun Dragon Undead, giving them draconian abilities and forms, increasing All their Stats by 100% and giving them {Draconic Scales} capable of reflecting 50% of damage taken back to the enemy, while also gaining other draconic abilities, such as {Holy Sun Dragon Breath}.
Furthermore, you can combine many Undead to summon a {Necromancer Maiden} Undead to battle, who will control Undead and summon more in your stead while boosting their power based on 50% of her own Stats for 1 Hour.
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Holy shit, there's so much new stuff!
New effects, Charm Stat growth, an automatic draconic aura? New boost to all passive effects and even the active ability.
Also, I get two new active abilities: the power to turn Undead into bootleg dragons and also being able to create a Necromancer Maiden for 1 hour… nice.
This could greatly increase the power of my army-building abilities.
The new abilities are also easy to understand and to use, so they'll come instinctively as I fight, which is pretty nice.
Though I wish I could've gotten more of a boost for my own growth and power.
The Aura and the Maiden Charm thing are pretty ok, I suppose, a fine exchange for that Skill and the Privilege.
I wonder, can I turn Fang Shuan into a Holy Sun Dragon? Or maybe even a Necromancer Maiden…
I don't know how he would react if I temporarily turned him into a woman out of nowhere, though, so maybe let's not do that…
For now.
Though the effect of buffing all undead around them with 50% of their stats is super strong…
Wait, what if I combine both, a Holy Sun Dragon Necromancer Maiden Fang Shuan!
Would he die of cringe if I ever tried that on him?
Well, let's hope we never get so desperate that I'll have to do that…
"Alright, done with this…" I nodded to myself. "Hm, what can I do with you though?"
I looked at the items within my inventory.
The [Body Strengthening Nanomachine Injection (S Rank)], [Electromagnetic Core Crystal (B Rank)], and the [Mechanoid Power Armor (B Rank)].
I guess the last two can't be used right away for now, though... maybe if I ever need the extra boost, I'll go for them.
The armor is actually comfortable to use; I thought it was going to be like skin-tight latex clothing, but it was much fresher and more comfortable, letting the body heat disperse instead of just becoming entrapped, and the core is what powers it up.
Then the injection thingy.
Seeing how my masters had been dying because of nanomachines injected into them, I don't know if that would be a wise idea.
Then again, these aren't made by the alien robots but created by the system, so I should trust it, right?
Hmm...
Okay, I'll leave it for later.
"Kyuuh!"
"Woof!"
"Kreeh!"
My pets were waiting for me to get ready, right in front of the door.
"I see you guys want to get going already… Where are the Primordial Beasts, though?"
I closed my eyes, sensing their presence outside.
They were sparring, it seems.
They've been sparring and testing their new skills since I sponsored them; I think they want to get stronger by awakening their powers.
They're ancient beings from the past and often aloof, though it seems they've grown quite attached to us, and they don't want to disappoint us.
"Well, let's leave them at that."
As I walked outside of my room, I saw the rest of my friends already eating breakfast.
Am I late again?!
I ran to sit down and greeted everyone; they seemed more energetic than before.
I guess a new day always gives you more energy.
Though I have three more days now before we go after the other three.
But there's lots to do. I have to first bring the doubles of my masters here, then let them fuse them, then be trained by Mom, then help them take those nanomachines out of their bodies.
And THEN we go after that tree.
However, there's something ominous I feel, a strange little feeling that tree isn't going to be as easy as the previous one.
I mean, it wasn't too easy either… Zero Two was strong, or the army of robots was still very powerful, but...
Maybe the next trees will prepare even more.
Even more of a reason to become as strong as possible in this little time.
"Alright, things are already prepared," said the Heavenly Empress. "You should probably go on your own and get the thing done immediately if possible, Anna. So you don't have interruptions."
"Okay, sure, I'll try," I nodded. "Thanks for believing me!"
"It's fine; it sounded like it was worth trying," she said with a smile. "Now, finish your breakfast quickly; we're moving. We can't waste time; we also have to train afterwards after all."
"R-Right!"
I finished my meals and quickly followed her once we were done. The Heavenly Demon and Song also accompanied us.
"Dad, will Anna bring the mom and dad I know of before coming here?" wondered Song, as we flew there.
"Uh, yeah, I suppose?" wondered the Heavenly Demon.
"T-Then that means, will you be able to reconcile like that? if you gain those memories…" Song said.
"Hm… I had not thought about that," said the Heavenly Empress. "We'll see what happens, son. But don't forget we love you, alright? And we've been trying not to fight or anything like that either, right? W-We've been trying to get along just fine…"
"R-Right…" Song nodded. "I guess it's fine, yeah!"
He smiled, although I don't know how true that smile is…
We reached the golden tower where the trial was done.
The gates opened before me.
"Once you enter, the Will I left behind will help you out. I already asked her to help you out," said my adoptive mother.
"Okay!" I nodded.
I stepped forward, looking back at my adoptive family.
I hope I can afford to do this.
I don't want to disappoint them.
If this could increase the chance even by one percent, I have to do it.
FLASH!
Golden light encompassed me as I suddenly found myself floating above the nine heavens.
People cheering, celebrating, the Demon King was vanquished.
This beautiful "What If" we made together with my friends.
I'm back… only briefly.
Song wasn't present, though; it was as if he had suddenly disappeared.
Amongst the cheers, I noticed the Heavenly Empress had grown confused, looking for her son.
The Heavenly Demon quickly followed her.
I quickly flew towards them.
"Where's Song at? He suddenly… popped out of existence!" The Heavenly Empress was very worried.
"I-I have no idea either! He simply disappeared?" wondered the Heavenly Demon. "This is beyond me—let's ask Anna; she's over there!"
They flew towards me at the end, noticing I was approaching them.
"Anna! Do you know where Song went? Huh? Where are the rest of your friends?" the Heavenly Empress asked.
"We… went to the other world," I said.
"What?"
"The real world… And I need you two to come with us."
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