Primordial Lust System

"Metaphysical vision?" Aurelian muttered, his brows furrowing. But before he could get too absorbed, another notification popped up before him as he uttered the skill's name.

[Metaphysical Vision: From souls absorbed, meta energy has been birthed, allowing you for a brief moment to see beyond the physical into the metaphysical, and alter it. At a cost.]

New skill? He hummed in thought, his eyes scanning its description. Seemed pretty straightforward, though it did feel a bit familiar.

Shaking his head, he smiled as he recalled his talent's description, trying to jog back his memory.

[Mid-tier S-rank: Embers of Illusory Spectral Death]

(Illusion and reality, life and death—all supreme concepts merged into illusory death. With your will as the conduit, summon blades that hover between illusion and reality, becoming soul-severing blades. Absorbing the souls of the fallen to grow stronger, while imbuing you with the power to see beyond the physical, into the metaphysical for a short while and alter it. Your foes shall be your fuel, your death your rebirth. The battlefield your haven.)

"Yeah, that's where it was," he nodded, drinking in the similarities. So it wasn't a skill, but just another part of his talent being unlocked? He mused thoughtfully.

That answered, his eyes gleamed with curiosity. Then what exactly did it mean to glance beyond the physical into the metaphysical? Super vision? What was he supposed to alter?

"Hmm, let's find out," he smirked, regaining his bearing, itching to test it out. Though a little cautious—the last part did mention something about a cost. Still, he comforted himself, it couldn't be that bad, right?

Shhhhhhh! Sizzling sounds in the distance yanked his thoughts back to reality. He turned to see another bunch of slimes rushing at him, acid dripping from their maws, corroding the ground below.

A quick scan with his appraisal revealed their level—19.

"Wait, that's not right?" Aurelian breathed, his eyes narrowing as he saw the beasts he was scanning grow a level in real time, and another, then another.

"They're evolving faster than expected," he breathed, now eyeing the level 23 slimes. The energy they radiated was still stable, which caused him to curse under his breath. "Damned dungeon fuckery!" At least their growth was stabilizing, he nodded. It wouldn't be long before they shed their F-rank status.

Taking it all in, his figure crouched, the grip on his twin blades tightening, the crimson glow laced with darkness lighting up. He was about to lunge forward at the charging slimes, sliding at an incredible pace, before he paused, a smirk stretching across his lips.

It wouldn't hurt to try out the effectiveness of the skill, right? He breathed, unable to suppress the desire anymore, and whispered:

"Activate Metaphysical Vision!" He braced himself.

And right after the words slipped out of his mouth, his eyes lit up in a resplendent light, crimson and abyssal flaring intensely, rotating at the depths of his pupils, casting a mesmerizing sight.

Then an explosion of light filled his vision before a mystical sight unfolded. As he looked at the approaching acidic slimes, he saw far more than the blue hue coloring their towering figures.

He saw multiple glowing threads running across their frames, creating an intricately woven pattern that radiated something sacred, something he wasn't supposed to be fucking staring at.

But that wasn't all. The threads all converged into radiant, fist-sized glowing orbs, each located at odd places in their bodies, none in the same spot.

And as he saw them, a primal desire to poke them stirred deep within him, the mechanics of the skill flowing to the back of his mind subconsciously.

"Argh, fuck it!" Aurelian cursed. He had already activated the skill, might as well test it and be done. He breathed, letting go of the merged abominable twin blades, allowing them to hover suspended in the air before him. With a thought, the gauntlets he had equipped disappeared from his palms as he tossed them into his interspatial storage ring.

"For the skill to work, it requires pure physical touch between me and the foe. The meta energy flows within me, and I am its vessel of destruction." He chanted absentmindedly, streams of information flowing into his brain. When the slimes finally crossed the five-meter mark, a smile cracked his lips before his figure vanished.

He reappeared right in front of one of them, his eyes glued to the orb glowing at its torso, only visible to him. Then, with calculated precision, he poked it. Part of the metallic sheen encasing his finger parted just enough to allow his bare skin to contact the glowing orb.

Poke!

"Well? Now what?" Aurelian muttered, locked in an awkward situation. The slime's maw was wide open, vats of acid boiling within, just a thought away from raining down on him.

Yet before it could, the orb he poked… disintegrated. The threads connected to it rotted, paling in color, their glow diminishing. Before he could register what was happening, the poked level 23 acidic slime froze in motion. Cracks spread across its figure, then...boom! It exploded into a bloody mist of gooey bluish blood and chunks of flesh, the acid it had accumulated spewing everywhere.

"What… in… the… fucking… hell?" Aurelian breathed, watching the beast he had just poked explode into a bloody mist, followed by a wave of weakness slamming into him as he felt a tenth of his stamina drain away.

The other acidic slimes paused in motion, unable to process what had just happened. They didn't have to, as Aurelian broke out of his stupor. His figure blurred, poking at the glowing orbs of the others, ignoring the energy draining from him. Before long, he was done with all seven. He collapsed to the ground, watching with glee as the slimes burst open, bits of blood and flesh spewing everywhere, painting the ground blue.

"Amazing," he breathed, taking a huge gulp of air as he tried to regain his calm. Apart from the stamina drain, the skill was worth it, he nodded as the glow faded from his eyes. Meaning, if he could tap into a near-infinite source of stamina, he could, on paper, become a menace on the battlefield.

The same way a chunk of vitality was channeled to him from any foe he defeated, making him thrive against a tide of monsters. Where others saw despair, he saw a haven.

Perhaps if his talent evolved further, this would be integrated into his growing arsenal of reality-altering feats. He nodded, eyeing the slew of notifications flickering before him.

<Ding! The host has slain a Level 23 Uncommon Acidic Slime! 23,000 dungeon points awarded!>

<Ding! The host has slain a Level 23 Uncommon Acidic Slime! 23,000 dungeon points awarded!>

<Ding! The host has slain a Level 23 Common Acidic Slime! 2,300 dungeon points awarded!>

<Ding! The host has slain a Level 23 Common Acidic Slime! 2,300 dungeon points awarded!>

[Ding! Congratulations, host has leveled up!]

[Level 25: 4,300 / 45,000]

It wasn't long now, he nodded. E-rank was within reach, and with it, his long-awaited third supreme record.