Crucible Aeternum: Ascending through Skill Trees

"Second Step: Transformation"

The moment he spoke the words, Galeon felt himself seemingly meld with everything around him, but he was still distinctly himself. It was just that he could feel clearly the great change to his perception brought about by his unique state of mind that he had achieved.

The technique that he had created was never a sword technique. In fact, it was not the kind of technique that people usually thought of. It was more of a mental conditioning technique.

For as long as Galeon could remember, he had always had this unique state of mind. It was as those he could feel the very world speaking to him, telling him what was happening around him. It was a strange perception of reality that he did not quite understand himself.

It was not an ability caused by Prisma, that he was certain of. Because unlike such mutation abilities, this state of mind did not drain him of his Prismana or any kind of energy for that matter. It barely even put a strain on his mind other than when he tried to peer into something that could overwhelm his senses.

And so he trained it, honing his mind to a level he never thought he could reach. And he reached it. That was the first step of his technique, Origin. It allowed him to listen to the world and process the information at a much faster rate than before.

This gave him the ability to act swiftly in battle, his judgement becoming sharper and more decisive. He saw through the weaknesses of his enemies and exploited them. He saw the effects of the environment and took advantage of them. All of this happening swiftly as he processed the information with more than just his five senses. One could even say it was a sixth sense of sorts.

The second step of the technique, Transformation, allowed him to interface with the world on a much deeper level. This was where things became a lot more difficult for Galeon to train in as this now involved a level of power beyond what someone who had no mutation ability could have done. After all, he needed to use something as a tool for his interfacing. And now, he was using Prismana.

Galeon spun around as he rose into the air, cutting any and all beasts in his proximity. Those who were not caught up in his blades were then swallowed up by a burst of power that erupted from him. White light and white flames surged out like waves.

The pure white flames spiraled into tendrils that snaked about the battlefield, devouring any and all beasts and leaving behind their charred remains. His white light shot out from his wings as beams of lasers. What was surprising about them, however, was not the fact that they cut through the beasts easily or burned them to ash. It was the fact that when a laser hits a target beast, it then bounces off to another beast, then to another and another.

Soon, the white lasers seemed to have spread across a large part of the battlefield, culling so many beasts that they had practically made an entire clearing in the middle of the battlefield. Some of the laser beams even reached the giant snake, cutting through its body before disappearing. Although the snake had not died yet, it was likely halfway there already.

With the Second Step: Transformation, Galeon felt a new layer of control over his own abilities. It felt like he could manipulate them to a much greater degree than what their currently defined complexities allowed him to. This was the reason that he could use Pyrokinesis with such great proficiency even when this was his first time using it.

And this was the reason why he could use his light in such a disgustingly menacing way that he had never been able to do before. His last limit test of Photokinesis was when he condensed his light into a single ball that nearly completely melted his arm. It became a grenade of intense light and heat that decimated the swarm of goat beetles that attacked him earlier in the day.

There was literally no control over that entire process. The most control he used on it was keeping the ball of light from exploding until he released it. Other than that, it was just raw power. It was a very rudimentary and somewhat barbaric way of using such a powerful ability.

But now that he had shifted to the Second Step of his technique, he was able to transform his light into something he could only previously dream of.

Galeon's moves made him especially conspicuous in this bleak battlefield. He was like a beacon of light that drew in everyone's attention. The Contractors and other warriors stole glances of him every now and then as they continued fending off the beasts. Verglas and his soldiers who also arrived earlier trembled from the sheer level of power Galeon was releasing. And then there were the Radiant Paladins and the Radiant Knight herself.

Light-based mutation abilities were actually pretty common in Corrin, especially in the Lux Holy Land. In fact, all of the Radiant Paladins had abilities that were either light-based or could emit light similar to the Divine Lance of Radiance. Shine's ability was not light itself, but rather lightning and flames.

The commonly acknowledged reason as to why light-based abilities are common is because Prisma had some kind of predisposition toward light. This was evident in the fact that even a millennium since the first Meteor Rain, the auroras created by Prisma still had not disappeared. They were now a permanent fixture of Corrin's skies. Prisma itself was a luminous crystal and Prismana was generally quite bright.

All this to say that Galeon wielding light as an ability was not a rarity. Shine found it strange that the Saintess had asked her to witness him for herself and judge whether he was worthy of taking the Sanctification Trial. The requirements for the Sanctification Trial was for one to be blessed by light.

This did not mean that one simply wielded light as their ability. Even someone like Shine who wielded lightning and flames had undergone her Sanctification Trial. What it meant to be blessed by light was to have a level of power and control over light that generally meant that one had a deep connection with it.

And as Shine witnessed Galeon's shocking display of power, she could not help but admit that he was indeed worthy. Hell, if Galeon was not worthy then she should be stripped of her position in the Lux Holy Land. This man's light was even brighter than her own! She was the Divine Lance of Radiance for heaven's sake! How could she even call herself 'Radiant' in front of him?!

And just as the humans witnessed his brilliant light, the beasts witnessed it too. In particular, the huge lizard that had originally veered away from Shine and headed in his direction instead was now caught in a panic. It had moved swiftly to avoid being chased down by the winged knight that it was now close enough to reach the giant snake. It was a wonder how it was not hit by the lasers.

But before it could change directions again, Galeon flapped his wings. In a burst of speed, he appeared in between the two huge beasts. And when he did, his body erupted with light once more. This time they did not turn into beams of laser, but instead a circular blade that spread outward from him. It cleaved through the army of beasts including the lizard and the snake.

And then he stopped moving,

Waves of light seemed to spill out of his body like a dense mist. Cascaded down to the ground like some kind of liquid, melting down any beast that was too slow or unlucky enough to be covered in it. The humans watching wondered what he was doing, suddenly stopping in the middle of the battlefield, but only Galeon knew how important this moment was for him.

[Photokinesis has been sufficiently defined.]

[The Vernal Bloom has extrapolated more complexities.]

[Decide the trajectory of your growth.]

[Photokinesis: You no longer need to fear the light for it is yours to command and wield. Manipulate light in the surroundings. Generate light to a lesser extent.]

[Branch A | Starbright Beacon: You are the beacon of light. Dazzle all those who gaze upon you and impart unto them the beauty of light. Generate light to a greater extent.]

[Branch B | Aurora Corona: You are the king of light. Bear down upon the world with the light that solely belongs to you. Manipulate light to a greater extent.]

Finally, it has come. Galeon had been waiting for this moment since he first gained the ability. To him, his Prisma Core was not an actual ability, but an anomaly he needed to understand. Meanwhile, Adaptive Body was just a stronger body than normal.

Photokinesis was the only one that actually made him feel like he had a mutation ability. And he really enjoyed using it. That was why he had been wanting to evolve it for a while now. He had wondered what kind of evolutions it would have, how different it would make his light manipulation. He honestly could not imagine it.

And now he was seeing it, although the descriptions were just as vague as always, he was still happy. Either one was a good fit for him. Starbright Beacon would allow him to generate even more intense light. What could be more intense than what he currently had? Even he did not know.

Aurora Corona gave him a greater control over his light. This was amazing as well because even though he could achieve such high control over his light through Second Step: Transformation, he could feel that there was still more for him to unearth.

Galeon was spoiled for choice this time unlike the evolution of Adaptive Body. He really was having trouble deciding which one. But before he was even remotely close to settling on a decision, a new series of notifications appeared. And this time, he really was dumbfounded.

[Retroactive Physique has adapted to Photokinesis.]

[The Vernal Bloom has managed to extrapolate complexities exceeding the current Stratum.]

[Additional complexities are now available for selection.]

[Branch C | Lux, Bringer of Light: Your are the Bringer of Light. You embody the Light, both its gentleness and its cruelty. Your Will is an interminable radiance that pushes back the Darkness. When you beckon, Light moves. When Light beckons, the world prays.]