Crucible Aeternum: Ascending through Skill Trees

Galeon had slipped out of the battlefield under the cover of intensely bright light. He had lost the observers who have been silently watching him since he left Therion as he weaved through the trees of the forest.

This was one of the last remaining forests in the Eastern Region. It had survived not through human intervention, but by a freak mutation through Prisma. It is said that the forest was alive. Whether it had intelligence or sentience, however, was unknown. In the first place, how could such a large gathering of trees and plants even be considered one living being?

After getting deeper into the outer ring of the forest, Galeon stopped. He did not intend to go any deeper as that was where a lot of humans and beasts had died. It was also the reason why many believed the forest to be alive, believing that the forest had killed and consumed them to grow.

Galeon settled down on his bike while feeling the changes in his body. The Heat Resistance he had obtained did not have much to show, but its effects were great as his melted hand was already nearly fully healed. It seemed that besides resistance itself, it also gave him better recovery toward the injuries specific to heat. It was only slightly faster than his normal regeneration, but it was still better than nothing.

What he focused more on, however, was the new feeling within him. It was an instinct that he had toward the Prisma Core in his body. Through Symbiotic Devour, he could understand what it could and could not do to some extent. And right now, he could feel that it had acquired a new form.

As he focused on this feeling, Galeon let the Prisma Core move and flow according to the shape it desired. It was slow as this new form was something it was not used to replicating and conforming to the body of a human, but it progressed steadily.

The liquid crystal that made Galeon's suit seemed to ripple out as greater volumes of it surged toward his back. It began protruding from it, stretching out long and thin sheets as thick as a film. But make no mistake, this was still made of Prisma. No matter how thin they were, they were still incredibly sturdy. More importantly, these long sheets of liquid crystal Prisma solidified into sharp blades that could cut through the air with an ominous whistle. And yet, they were not weapons.

With a thought, Galeon tried to flex his back muscles, but found that the blades did not move well with it. He tried a couple other ways to move them until he realised that he did not have to move them himself. The blades were still part of the Prisma Core which meant he could just think of what he wanted it to do and it will do it.

And with that thought, the two pairs of blades on his back began moving. They were slow at first as though an old slumbering engine waking up after so many years and winding up. The speed of their movement increased more and more with each passing second, flapping with a terrifying speed that could cut most things as easily as hot knife through butter.

And soon, a low and silent buzzing sound rang out as Galeon was lifted a few feet into the air.

Indeed, the new form that the Prisma Core wanted to take were wings. To be more precise, they were wings reminiscent of the goat beetles'. During his escape from the battlefield, Galeon had jumped up to steal the melting body of a blinded goat beetle. He only had one reason to do so.

His Prisma Core had quickly devoured the goat beetle before its body had fully melted from the heat of his intense light. And with that, it was able to replicate the goat beetle's wings while also reinforcing the integrity of the suit by adding some of the characteristics of its carapace to its defense.

This was the true power of Symbiotic Devour. It was a constant growth and evolution that even Galeon could only dream of before. But still, he could tell that the wings were not entirely perfect.

The Prisma Cores that crashed in Corrin were capable of mutating life and even the terrain. Galeon's Prisma Core, however, did not seem as versatile. It could devour most things and replicate amazing technological designs like his suit and his hoverbike, but when it came to replicating and operating the wings, it seemed a little lacking. It was as though it was not designed for such a purpose.

But Galeon knew that this not the case. It was only a matter of perspective. To him, the Prisma Core was currently like a tool. But in truth, he was actually a mutated creature himself. And it was not just Prisma that had mutated him, but rather a Prisma Core itself. So the issue of it not being able to replicate body parts of other living organisms was unfounded.

In that case, what was the problem?

Galeon had many ideas regarding this, but they were all just speculation at the moment. There was still a lot he did not know about the Prisma Core and its connection to him after all. But there was one thing he was fairly certain of. The moment that the Vernal Bloom judges that the complexity of the Prisma Core has been sufficiently defined and is allowed to evolve, this current issue will just be a forgettable footnote.

In any case, these wings were enough as they currently are. He did not necessarily need them even when fighting against flying enemies since he had his own means of moving above ground, but it was still a good addition.

His gaze then turned to the blinking message icon on his HUD. It appeared at about the same time that he was surrounded by that swarm of goat beetles so he did not get the chance to check it right away. As his mind focused on it, the message was displayed in front of him.

[Commission details updated.]

[Commission details: Trace signal from target's device has been detected. Location is Forbidden Forest (Inner Ring).]

"What a coincidence..."

Galeon's brows raised in mild surprise. This was indeed quite a coincidence. He had entered the Forbidden Forest just to escape from the prying eyes of whoever had been watching him from afar. He never intended to go deeper in, but now it seems he had no choice.

The target of his commission this time was a person known as Sairen. She was a very famous songstress who resides in Melchior, the Dazzling City. In fact, she was one of the main attractions of Melchior as whenever she would have a performance in any of the venues within Melchior, tickets would always be completely sold out on the very same day her concerts are announced.

She also makes regular appearances local theatres and opera houses, singing one or two intermission pieces before leaving. She was technically the most popular celebrity in Melchior and the world. Even tourists from other regions travel long distances just to watch her performance and to hear her sing. Her voice was simply that enchanting, captivating the entire world no matter where one was.

And that same Sairen was currently missing. To be more accurate, it is believed that she had been abducted. This news was not publicly known yet as it would cause a huge commotion. Instead, Sairen's management team had discussed with the Governor of Melchior and they announced that Sairen will be taking a break from performances for health reasons.

Of course, there were still people clamouring about it, but it was a lot less than what would have happened had news of Sairen's disappearance spread. And with the current dangerous situation in the Eastern region where beasts have become unusually active, Sairen's disappearance had become an even greater issue for Melchior.

Sairen was singlehandedly responsible for fueling at least 30% of Melchior's economy, and this was just a conservative estimate. The announcement of her hiatus had already hit Melchior badly, reducing business activities by about 25%. They cannot allow this to continue. They cannot allow anything bad to happen to Sairen. And so the Governor of Melchior contacted the one person he trusted to get the job done.

There were many Contractors in the Guild that he could choose from. In fact, he did not even need to choose as the Guild itself would very likely send someone competent upon learning the full situation about the commission. But the Governor decided to stick with a tried and tested Contractor, someone he had personally witnessed in action.

It had been a few years since a major crisis for Melchior had occurred. It was soundly resolved without much fuss by a man that the Governor could not thank enough. He was so thankful that he even began spreading the name 'Dancing Blade' to promote the man to get many more commissions. And now again, the Governor turned to him in Melchior's hour of need.