NOVEL WEB Chapter 7: Performance Review
A few minutes later, after reining in his initial shock, the Incarnate began to evaluate everything he had skimmed over while fleeing from the... Omen, as he saw identified on the tablet.
The Fifth Omen of the Amalgam Sand Fiend.
That was without a doubt the name of the statue.
It was a name that made the Hollow Demonling shiver.
‘Damn this sensitive skin!’
He gathered all he knew while looking at his Enchanted shield. In the process, he saw the details of his face on its shiny surface.
Two eyes with black sclera and icy blue irises stared back at him, as well as a somewhat cute button nose, and dark ideal lips. He had small pointed ears that flexibly twitched at his slightest desire and long-ish locks of navy-blue hair brushing against their tips.
The Incarnate’s appearance didn’t spark much of anything within him, however. He had a lot on his mind; much more pressing concerns.
“Far Ji. A Unique Quality? The statue... the Omen mentioned something about that too. That fallen soldier supposedly had it. Did he somehow use it on me?” he said to himself and then looked at his shield.
It certainly seemed that way.
That power, whatever it was, was responsible for the Valiant Subject’s Ward. And given what he had seen, the Incarnate thought that the Far Ji the soldier had was tied to the armour he had worn too, which ended up disappearing, along with all the armour sets the other warriors had worn.
How morbidly fascinating.
The Incarnate remembered Maestus, the fallen soldier, and his words. Perhaps it was his spirit, or whatever remained of it, clinging to his skeleton, that spoke, saying:
‘Thank you for mourning us, however little, for our foolishness...’
Maestus, whoever he was, recognised the pity the Incarnate had felt for him and all the soldiers. That was probably what led to his spirit offering the Incarnate some much needed aid. That was somewhat comforting.
The Incarnate remembered the Omen saying that many had passed through that place, people who had been important in their past lives, unlike him. If Maestus finally perished after doing whatever he did to help the Incarnate, then it must have meant that he had only ever chosen to intervene this time around.
And this meant…
“I really am being judged...” the Incarnate said, and almost made to look back where he came from before stifling the urge. “How I react to certain things... I’m rewarded because of it. Was facing the Omen the best thing to do then?”
He had begun to doubt it, but it seemed he was right. Facing the Omen despite being assured of death, was the best option, though, the Incarnate didn’t know if choosing that route was indeed supposed to end with a mysterious skeleton grabbing a hold of him and channelling within him its will.
In any case, apparently, his performance was judged as ‘outstanding’ and he had even gotten a reward.
===
IP : 10
===
As he willed the glowing tablet to appear before him once again, the new Incarnate found a new slot below everything else he had seen before.
It was the one for Incarnation Points, denoting the measly – as he thought – ten he now owned.
As he focused on them, a lot of context was brought to his attention, just as it had been when he learned more about Kanva, Acquired Skills. However, this time, it appeared with a miniature version of the glowing tablet stacking on top of it to add more clarity.
[You may use Incarnation Points to increase any of your physical attributes with a 1:1 ratio, or you may use Incarnation Points to invest in the acquisition or Definitions of your Far Ji (Unique Quality)]
'I... see.'
The Incarnate didn't quite see, to be honest.
The physical attribute section was easy enough to understand, but all this about the Unique Quality...
'How do I acquire a Unique Quality?'
To this, there was no answer.
No further exploration was afforded to the Incarnate where the 'Unique Quality' was concerned.
Was it something else he had to figure out on his own or would context be given when necessary?
'Well, at least I know there's more chances for growing stronger.'
Before long, Incarnate ^8001 grew tired of the lack of answers and thus focused on the only thing he had that had a good definition of itself… after traveling further down the rock in order to put some distance between himself and the Omen, that was.
He gazed upon his kite shield. Its polished bronze hue and sharp, silvery edges gave a sense of fanciness that almost made the Incarnate feel like he wasn't just a lowly Hollow Demonling – whatever that actually was – without anything to his name.
His earlier victory was thanks to this shield and by extension Maestus, the King's Right Hand.
'Good thing I lived out my years as a pathetic foot soldier…’ the Incarnate thought morbidly.
The Incarnate then went on to check the details about the Valiant Subject's Ward. A thought sufficed. The glowing tablet appeared and emphasised the segment with the Equipment tag.
===
-
[Valiant Subject's Ward | Grade Potent]
+5 STR, +2 AGI
-
Enchantment I : Wards away harmful supernatural influences around the user.
-
Enchantment II : 1 in 7 chance of reflecting physical damage back to enemies.
-
===
"Enchantments, hmm?" Incarnate ^8001 said ponderously.
Usually, back in his world, 'enchanted' or 'enchantment' were hardly words that meant anything magical. Here, they seemed to be just that – supernatural properties applied to something.
The Valiant Subject's Ward had two Enchantments.
One that resisted harmful influences targeted at him, and another that, with a fixed set of chances, could reflect physical damage from an opponent.
The Incarnate was extremely thankful for the first one. Without it, he was sure he would have been done for. The second, while he hadn't used it, was also very good. Such a thing would have made a world of difference in his past life. During wars or the littlest skirmishes, it was always likely to meet an enemy with more physical strength than you. Causing a rebound of that strength would be a priceless skill.
Besides these Enchantments, the Valiant Subject's Ward gave a boost to the user's physical attributes. Speaking of this boost...
"I need to see the clear difference..." the Incarnate said.
It seemed the valuation of stats had been something he underestimated all along, or rather, he didn't give it enough consideration. He laid the shield down and immediately felt the bloated sensation in his flesh, which he was slowly getting used to, recede.
He no longer felt as powerful as before or as fast.
"Let's see."
With a swift motion, the Incarnate punched down at the rocky ground, giving his all to the task.
There was barely a fancy effect, much less any damage done to the sturdy dark rock. The Incarnate felt the stinging pain from his knuckles, but didn't mind it much.
"I imagine a 1 in strength is only slightly less pathetic than my previous body's strength," he said.
He then grabbed the Valiant Subject's Ward and felt his muscles draw taut, swelling slightly from an added five points to his Strength and two to his Agility.
The Incarnate grunted a little.
Each increment was ridiculous.
To test this out, he punched as hard as he could at the ground again, and...
BOOM!
There was an eruption with chips of stone flying off from where his fist landed, leaving an eight-centimetre-deep hole twice as large as his fist. Stirring dust added to the surprising result, and the Incarnate beamed.
"Incredible!" he exclaimed.
Such strength...
This was truly not his old world.
And he was certainly not the same old man without talent anymore. With just this, he could grow stronger than he had been
'Should I use my Incarnation Points to increase my attributes then, and add them to those I get from the shield?' he thought and quickly kicked away the idea. 'No. Not yet. I should save them.'
Indeed, saving seemed like the better option. If an outstanding performance only gave him 10 Incarnation Points...
The Hollow Demonling shivered. What if his next task ended with him getting an inferior assessment or even death?
The Incarnate kicked away that dark thought too. He had to stay optimistic. He had to maintain the same mindset that had netted him the victory today.
Reeling back his better thoughts, the Incarnate became excited about future prospects but stifled the feeling shortly after. Getting too exhilarated was one of the fanciest ways to get killed, especially in a place like this – one he didn't know. It was certainly effective back in his old world.
He looked ahead.
Having evaluated all he could, he decided to cautiously journey ahead now.
The Omen had shown him an example of the things he was likely to face, and that made him keep his guard up as he forged forth.
Fortunately, or unfortunately for the Incarnate, the rewards he was to gain from here on out, were to be acquired by blood, grit and a tremendous consciousness of self.