NOVEL WEB Chapter-65 4th Awakening
The battery lamp fluctuated, its dim white light chasing away the darkness from the office. Nana sat on the cold metal table, holding her knees, her hub-connector in front of her. Frost trained beside Ewan on the carpeted floor, sitting far enough not to disturb his breakthrough attempt.
Orange guarded them all with Toast lolling around him, licking his tiny paws, and Iris resting on the kitten’s head.
Ewan opened his eyes as his billowing pool of spirit settled down. His second try succeeded; the expanding cloud of sugary smell was its proof. Though consecutive attempts in a single night wore him down, the exhilaration of taking another step eclipsed it. An overall boost to his spec was more reassuring than anything else. His spirit, his spells, his Ryvia, it even enhanced his stagnant vitality by a notch.
Inhaled and exhaled, he took a deep breath and calmed down.
He couldn’t rest yet. A Severynth’s strength lay in his Astylinds, Ewan couldn’t let his own trail behind him. Else, his combat prowess would take a hit for sure, but the crippled feedback would ruin him even more. If his Astylinds didn’t progress, he too would halt forever, only to rot away in obscurity.
Grade…level….
Either could propel them, both would increase the feedback, and neither was a one-time thing.
Raising their grades had better returns, but its success rate was lower in comparison, not to mention the difficulty of brewing their potions. To take the risk of wasting time, effort, and Novas, or go for the surefire Anima Potion, he considered hard…
In the end, the better returns tipped his mind in its favor.
Identify!
[Astylind Name: Imp (Ice-Variant)]
[Astylind Level: Level-4]
[Astylind Grade: Grade-C]
[Anima Affinity: Ice]
[Skills: Ice-Favored]
[Gender: Male]
[Description: Natives of Alvodor. Their talents and affinity vary based on their bloodline. But most are capable of decent spellcasting and melee combat.]
[Grade-Exalt Requirements: Astylind Core (Ice), Demon’s Horn (Ice-Variant), Glacial Dust (Class-A), Frost Flower, Crystal Salt.]
[Remark 1: Low wisdom. Barely crossing the line. Possibility of taming and rearing is high.]
[Remark 2: Basic contract doesn’t work. Success rate might increase with a modified spell circuit.]
[Remark 3: Hah, I’m a master of a Demon now. But too much torture broke his mind. Tch!]
[Remark 4: Modified spell circuit succeeded; the contract was a success. No oppression needed. Changing their format in the database, the contracted ones will be noted ‘Astylind’ from now on.]
…
[Astylind Name: Fire Monkey (Mutant)]
[Astylind Level: Level-3]
[Astylind Grade: Grade-C]
[Anima Affinity: Fire]
[Skills: Fire-Recipient]
[Gender: Male]
[Description: Natives of Airadia. They are blessed with decent fire-element affinity (Recipient) but lack the skill to make use of it.]
[Grade-Exalt Requirements: Astylind Core (Fire), Lava Berry (Fresh), Fire Sand (Class-A), Sunmetal, Scorching Grass.]
[Remark 1: Can be trained as a vanguard but require more attention with the elemental skills.]
[Remark 2: They look cool, so can make them your mascot.]
[Remark 3: I agree with the second remark, lol.]
…
[Astylind Name: Blood Lotus]
[Astylind Level: Level-3]
[Astylind Grade: Grade-C]
[Anima Affinity: Blood]
[Skills: Blood-Recipient | Heal]
[Gender: Female]
[Description: Extinct natives of Sepra. They had decent affinity with Blood-Anima (Recipient) but lacked the means to protect themselves. Delicate and feeble. They lost the battle of natural selection.]
[Grade-Exalt Requirements: Astylind Core (Blood), Bloodwood, Astylind Blood, Blood Rust.]
[Remark 1: Can be used as an ingredient for potions. Useless otherwise.]
[Remark 2: Decent choice for a healing type Astylind. But lack strong evolution branches.]
[Remark 3: I don’t like them. They’re nasty~]
[Remark 4: Special evolution path found. Focus should be on its grade.]
Ewan connected to the hub and did a brief scan of the market list after checking his increased balance; the items he put for sale finally brought him some income.
The good news was that the ingredients were available, he didn’t have to scour them himself. Bad news—the price for a single set of ingredients averaged at twenty Novas for all his Astylinds. Even though his Potioneering skills had improved as of late, this price meant he would still spend a decent chunk of his Novas balance in promoting only one of his Astylinds. And if the possibilities didn’t favor him, he could waste all of it without any harvest.
Back in the room, he rubbed his forehead, dreading the headache he would get in the future when preparing for their further exaltation rites, especially the ‘Regal Rite’. The path he chose wasn’t an easy one…Then again, nothing worth pursuing was ever easy.
In the present though, he had to pick one of his three Astylinds. Frost and Orange fell under the offensive category, they were his vanguards, while Iris fell under the auxiliary type. If he promoted Iris, he would have a better healer. It would translate to a better survival chance. But her current strength was enough for the situation, and there was Luna as backup too. Also, dependence on them would only push him into a passive position, he preferred to deal with the enemies without getting hurt. Thus, he leaned more towards his vanguards.
But who...
He looked at both Frost and Orange. Frost was the better choice of the two, given the current conditions. He was one level higher, could eat souls to boost his training instead of Anima Potions, and could fight at both mid and long range. Orange never lost to him at the same level and grade even with his lower affinity, but the situation didn’t back him up. His reliance on Ewan’s potions for boosted training also hindered him as he was too impatient to endure the daily routine like Frost.
Though, this might be Toast’s influence, Ewan glared at the lazy little kitten. Toast jumped and meowed back, screeching at Ewan in his childish voice, his long tail taut, Iris tumbling over.
When Ewan clicked his tongue and ignored the kitten, he bolted forward and bit his finger, growling. He only settled and curled up in his lap, purring, when Ewan petted his head and stroked his neck. The mix of black-brown silky fur was fluffy to the touch and brought a smile on Ewan’s face.
Soon, Toast snored in his arms and Ewan refocused on the issue at hand. Much deliberation gave him his answer, he chose Frost first. Orange might wage war on his hair and cheeks again if he found out, but this was an internal decision, no one had to know….no one….
Rumors had it that many Starons and Astylinds went up in grades by consuming the needed ingredients as they were. ‘Supposed truth’ as the definition of rumor went, Ewan wasn’t willing to test their validity. The only obvious path for him was the one he knew the best—potions. It was the authentic method of the two for a reason.
