Saintess Summons Skeletons

[Venerable physique of the primeval void] ♢ - Second step of the Light forging realm :

Light forging realm :

Starting step : You no longer age.

First step : Your skin becomes tougher and opaque (1000/1000%)

Second step : Your blood becomes light (0/126 441 drops converted)

Third step : Enhances your reflexes through the use of light.

Fourth step : ???

Current step training method :

Cut off any passive or active healing if able.

Slash yourself so that blood trickles out in a slow but steady stream.

Circulate mana from your head to your heart and back in rhythm with your heartbeat, the more the better, while visualizing this skill’s mana pattern.

Successful attempts should feel like being stabbed in the heart and will convert around one drop of blood to light.

Repeat until no blood is left.

(Warning : Be very careful not to bleed out, stay in a well-lit room, go slowly, and take frequent pauses.)

Holy crap. This is a lot more involved than everything before.

A hundred and twenty six thousand drops of blood to convert? So I will feel like I got stabbed that many times? And all the while bleeding out. This might be the worst step yet.

But then I’ll be immune to bleeding, I guess? It does also explain even more why the thick skin was necessary. By the sound of it, the next step is converting more stuff to light. Am I becoming an Angel or something like that? I’d rather keep a physical body if possible…

Well, I’ll see where it goes, there’s always the option to stop training the skill if it becomes too much. But at least, losing my blood, that I don’t really care about.

Wait, isn’t blushing all about blood coming up to the face? Oh, but I’ve already lost that just now with the thick skin, didn’t I. No more blushing, then.

“Am guessing you’re done since you’ve been staring into the void for a hot minute,” Phillip called out.

“Oh, yes, sorry. Thank you very much for your help, Phillip.”

“T’was my pleasure, young lady. You look better without the visible mana veins.”

“Ahah… Yeah, they weren’t very aesthetically pleasing, were they?”

Erredis chose this moment to come out of the wooden shack. “It was alright, you should see a goblin when they evolve to a hob, now this is some blood-curling stuff. You look a lot paler than before though, Sofia.”

“A thick skin will do that I suppose. The next step is turning my blood to light, so that won’t help either.”

“Blood to light? That’s going to hurt. It’s not easy to do fundamental changes like these. Most people shy away from that except crazy necromancers,” Erredis commented.

“That checks out then,” Sofia said, jumping back into Pareth’s arms, who held her like a princess.

“Going to need me again?” Phillip asked offhandedly, he was already busy examining the blessed construct Sofia had left with him.

“Not for this next step at least, but who knows what the later stages of the skill will ask me to do.”

“Well, you know where to find me. If you ever come here and I’m away, just leave a letter in the shack. But be prepared to let me examine your immortality runes next time.”

“Noted. Thank you.”

“Aight, I’m off then, pleasure meetin’ you. Say hi to my daughter for me if you meet her,” the man excused himself, walking back to the shack. “Come again for a chat, Erri, t’was nice seeing you again,” he whispered as passed by her. He closed the door behind him.

“There he goes, we won’t be getting another word out of this guy until your bone ball disappears from his hands, so we better get going.”

“Where to next?”

“You have all your things ready, right?”

“Everything,” Sofia acquiesced, as she slipped back on her rings and other trinkets. “Help me get inside the arm, Pareth.”

This thing sure is something to take on and off.

Maybe I could alter the rest of the armor to have the same blue hue…

“We’re going directly to the Exidion Empire, then. You’re going to need an identity card from them to stay there. Zephir will take care of the others, but I have some old business to take care of there, so I might as well be your guarantor. It’ll make the process faster. I’ll pull some strings to make your stay a bit better. Because why not.”

“Really? Thank you! … Say… Can I hug you?”

“...” Erredis rolled her eyes.

Alright, kid.

Sofia embroiled Erredis like one would a parent. “I’m glad to have met, Grandma. Thanks for everything.”

But it was one sided, Erredis stood immobile, an uneasy expression on her face.

“Do you have any idea how many I have k-” Erredis started, “… Ah whatever.” Erredis hugged Sofia back, lightly patting her back. “I’m glad to have met you too, sweetie. You’re chaos incarnate, really. I can’t wait to see how you’ll grow.”

Sofia let go of Erredis. She could swear she had heard Phillip cackling from inside the shack for a brief instant.

“To Exidion, then?”

“To Exidion,” Erredis repeated. “Ready your wings, I’m staying in small form this time, let’s just fly there slowly. If you’re going to be calling me Grandma left and right, you should at least know a bit more about my past.”

“Sure, I’d love to.”

“Ahya. You might regret those words later, kid. Let’s go.”

“And this marked the end of my first century on this world,” Erredis finished her story as a new continent appeared on the Horizon.

“You sure had a troubled childhood…”

“You’re one to talk.”

“True… What happened to that white Dragon? Did she survive the plague?”

“She sure did. She went on to become a powerful mage and healer, even per Draconic standards. Her name was Enomen.”

“The holy… Did you kill her?! The scale…”

“I told you, the first hundred years were perhaps the best of the lot…”

“Hell… How would… How could you two end up fighting to the death?”

“War,” Erredis answered, sounding both downcast and angry. Sofia could feel the Dragon’s mana stirring.

“That is a scary word, coming from your mouth.”

“You can bless all the Gods you were born after. These were not good times to be alive. Had you lived back then? You might have been one of my victims. Or enemy.”

“Well, I cannot bless all the Gods when I’m planning on killing one, now. Can I?”

“Ah, I said nothing, you might have been an ally after all. Crazy,” Erredis commented, shaking her head.

“Well, I’m definitely interested in hearing more about that war now. I find it intriguing that I have never heard of it until now, if it was as big as you make it sound. Then again, I had never heard about the Exidion Empire either.”

“It’s bigger than the entire human territory by now. They just rarely travel all the way to your side of the world. Between the leviathan and all the other shit, it’s a bother if you don’t know the routes. Which makes me think, but please, always get a guide or at least precise directions if you’re going to dive into uncharted territory far from civilization. There are a lot of things to watch out for on the planet. Stuff sleeping that no one dares to bother. Places so ripe with unstable magic that it would put even my life in danger if I came unprepared. So just be careful, kid.”

“Will do! Oh. Which reminds me. What about the hidden moon?”

Erredis seemed surprised by Sofia’s question, her expression had frozen for an instant.

“You saw that? Hmm. Of course you did. Well, let’s just say that… You should forget about it until you reach at least level 400. This is a place even I do not want to step in. But if it’s you, then maybe.”

“Maybe? Hmm. It has links to the Deep?”

“You didn’t hear it from me,” Erredis denied as she sped up. They were almost above the coast of this continent very far to the west of the human peninsula.

I wonder if that’s the same landmass where Ihuarah’s old Empire was, or something else. I can’t believe how big the world is.

Erredis guided Sofia through the sky toward the Exidon Empire. At first, the continent seemed entirely uninhabited and left to the wildlife. Then, after a few hours of fast flight, the wall appeared.

A tall stone edifice, more than ten meters high and several meters thick, spanning the entirety of the Empire’s outer frontier. There were small house-like watchtowers atop the wall every three kilometers along or so.

Are there people garrisoned in all of these? How many thousands of soldiers would you need to have this on the entire wall if it really goes the whole way around? These people are crazy, I can already tell.

“You said there was a wall, and I see it now. But why? Is it that bad here?”

“The wildlife on this continent is a bit more aggressive than what you’re used to, sweetie. Especially at night. Did you know the boneplate mauler skeleton your paladin occupies is endemic to this continent’s northern mountains? Well, you can guess why they would want a wall now.”

“I think Richard said these monsters were around level 400…”

“Freaky beasts. An adult one could maybe take a young Dragon in a fight. But these ones rarely venture out of their territory. But they are the least of the Empire’s worries. They have enough people to defend even if something big happens. It seems Beligenus settled there, but the Emperor is also a sturdy old bastard, and so is the guy who’s gonna help you get your ID card fast.”

“So many strong people everywhere. Does the human continent also have many hidden powerhouses looking over it?”

“Besides the Angels, you mean? Well, you have Alkorm and Richard, right? There’s also the Vampire Queen now. And I believe there is at least one reclusive hermit somewhere in the mountains between you and the red desert. Perhaps a Dragon. Perhaps not. But in any case, I observed strange mana movements occasionally there several times over the last few hundred years, so there is something.”

“You never went to check?”

“Did you not see the welcome committee that jumped me when I left the moon? I would rather not deal with that if I have no need to.”

“Fair.”