Crucible Aeternum: Ascending through Skill Trees

Galeon shot forward in a blinding flash of light. His wings beating so fast that they were practically tracing a line of light across Vaulkeen's End.

The first beasts he met were the fastest ones, the flying beasts. There was a wide variety of such beasts ranging from hawks and eagles to bats and even other mutated beasts like winged serpents or floating turtles. This was truly worthy of being painted in a canvas and displayed in a museum as there were a lot of beasts here that remained unrecorded and undiscovered until now.

Galeon appeared in front of one particular flying beast, a falcon that seemed to subtly meld with the shadows cast by its fellow beasts. It was the fastest among them, but no one seemed to notice it as it was adept in stealth. But to Galeon who was greatly attuned to the nature of his surroundings, such a trick was useless.

He swung his sword at it, the blinding light removing all the shadows it could hide in as it was cut in half. But before the blade even went past its body, liquid crystal had already surged out from the surface of the blade, devouring the falcon in its entirety.

Galeon continued with his onslaught against the surprised beasts even as his wings began changing. The four sheets that resembled an insect's wings melded together into just two wide avian wings similar to Shine's. It further split into multiple feathers, each as sharp as his previous wings. In fact, each of the feathers began vibrating just like his previous wings.

His wings were now like the sharpest blades in the world, capable cutting through anything with the power of vibrations and light. And Galeon made use of them immediately. While swinging his sword at a couple of flying beasts, he began to spin around as he let himself fall.

He became like a cyclone of light raining blood wherever he passed. Shine and the Radiant Paladins watched from a distance as a gory scene unfolded with mangled corpses of beasts being thrown around like mere trash. Shine wanted to join in, but Galeon's words remained in her mind. She would trust him so she would stay for now. These beasts may be fast, but the truly troublesome ones have yet to appear.

Galeon fell to the ground as his wings dug into it as though he was cutting through a slice of cake. He corrected his stance when he reached the ground, surrounded by many ground beasts who were either dead or injured. And again, he began his dance.

There was no end to the beasts even as he cut more and more of them down. This was a beast tide. There were hundreds of thousands to millions of beasts here. It was a wonder where they even all had been hiding in these past centuries, but here they all were.

And here he was. Galeon... he sighed in his mind as he realised once again how right he was. He really was not getting any rest this time. It all began with the commission sent to him by his supposed sister, Vivi. He found the Vernal Bloom and awakened strange new abilities. He had been wary of any pursuit from other organisations who were after the Vernal Bloom, but fortunately there were none so far. But he did not dare be complacent.

Then came the series of commissions ranging from escort to beast hunts. All because of the increased beast activity in the Eastern Region, he had more commissions in the past days than he had in any previous two weeks combined. And it all came to a head when he was sent to find and rescue Sairen, the songstress of Melchior. Now, he was dancing in the middle of a sea of beasts.

He could not catch a break, not even a single moment of reprieve. Throughout all this time, his heart had been beating faster and faster. An ominous feeling gnawed at the back of his mind, but he could not know what it was. All he could do was prepare.

The beast tide had already reached the Radiant Paladins and the other Contractors and warriors that had arrived to form a defense line in Vaulkeen's End. Even with Galeon slaughtering so many beasts, it did not reduce the difficulty of this battle. At some point, even Shine had joined Galeon upfront, blitzing through the tide with her golden lightning.

Galeon jumped up as he spun around like a top, his wings stretched out while vibrating intensely to allow him to hover in the air. From his legs, liquid crystal flowed downward, turning his legs into blades as well. Another sword appeared in his empty left hand as he began a new dance. This new macabre cadence was even more terrifying than before as Galeon seemed to have slipped into a trance.

He was zipping across the battlefield in flashes of light. His swords, his wings, his bladed legs never stopped moving as they cut down any and all beasts they came across. He was a storm of blades, yet there was something alluring about the way he moved. It was as though he was following a certain pattern that he traces with his blades and his light. It was so natural and deadly that even veteran warriors who could only glance from afar shivered in fright.

This man was a true beast. Free and unfettered, he waltzed in the middle of the crimson sea, performing a maddening dance that painted everything in red and white.

In Galeon's mind, however, he was truly awakening to something new. The more he moved his body, the more strain he endured. The more beasts he fought, the more injuries he received. The more he used his technique, the more defined his movements became. And finally, it all culminated into a series of notifications.

[Adaptive Body has been sufficiently defined.]

[The Vernal Bloom has extrapolated more complexities.]

[Decide the trajectory of your growth.]

[Adaptive Body: Your body is full of untapped potential and lifeforce. Unearth your potential and embark on the path of perfection. Enhances your body's constitution.]

[Branch A | Vital Battery: You are a machine of life. Your very being is defined by life. Move unbridled and let the world part its waters for you. Enhances regeneration and constitution.]

[Branch B | Retroactive Physique: You are an anomaly of life. Your very being is a conundrum of life. What you are in one moment is less than what you are in the next. Enhances adaptability.]

Even as he was being bathed in the blood of both beasts and his own body, his mind was clear as he read the words. He had wondered when this would come. He had been feeling as though he was being saturated by something and that he was nearing his bursting point. Fortunately, it came at the perfect time. Just as he had wanted, he was growing in the midst of battle.

Adaptive Body was honestly not what he expected to evolve first, however. He was expecting Photokinesis as he had been using it a lot this whole time all so that he could evolve it soon. But this was fine as well. Adaptive Body was not a flashy ability and was often times forgettable. The only really tangible aspect of it is the regeneration, but aside from that, there was not much.

The only time it had done something other than heal him fast was when he obtained Heat Resistance through it. Heat Resistance is not a separate ability, but rather a quality added to Adaptive Body. He did not know how it would affect the evolution of Adaptive Body itself, but it definitely would not be bad. At worst, it would just remain as is.

But now, looking at the two choices for evolution, Galeon easily made his decision. The choice was obvious for him from the very beginning. The reason he chose Adaptive Body over Superior Regeneration was simply because of potential.

While Vital Battery was obviously a lot better than Superior Regeneration and Adaptive Body, granting him an indomitable body that could both endure and resist great amounts of damage and healing them quickly, Retroactive Physique was still far superior. It all boiled down to one word: adaptability.

Although Retroactive Physique did not directly enhance his constitution or regeneration, it was pretty much the same as Adaptive Body. And with Adaptive Body having already shown what it could do by obtaining Heat Resistance, Galeon knew that he would obtain more benefits from Retroactive Physique now that his adaptability is being enhanced.

[Adaptive Body has evolved into Retroactive Physique.]

[Retroactive Physique has gained the quality: True Damage Resistance]

[Retroactive Physique has adapted to Heat Resistance. You have obtained the trait: Pyrokinesis]

[Retroactive Physique has adapted to True Damage Resistance. You have obtained the trait: Vibration]

For a moment, Galeon's mind went blank. A crippling cold seemed to creep up from the depths of his being as he realised what had just happened. He was not shocked at the fact that Retroactive Physique was already working its magic. He had expected from the moment he read its description. He had just gained two new traits, two new abilities which he can push toward evolution. He should be happy, right?

No. He could not... because this series of notifications just showed him how negligent he had been. In particular, True Damage Resistance was a wakeup call for him.