Chapter 165 – Skills Skills Skills

I opened my eyes, eager to see what I got, what the name of the skills would be, what level everything would hit. Before I could see anything, a powerful wave of nausea overcame me, the loss of the high-level skills hitting me hard. I turned over, tried to hold it in, failed, grabbed a random thing and vomited hard into it, retching and heaving as my empty stomach demanded that everything left, resulting in me spitting bile.

Wiping my mouth, I ignored the rest of my surroundings, the disgusted noises I heard, and immediately focused on my notifications.

I’d left the name of all of the skills to be something of a surprise. Well, except for the bloody Immortality skill, but I just had to know.

[*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has upgraded into [The Dawn Sentinel]!]

[*Ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 256->305! +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]

Cha-CHING. Holy stats. I’d what, doubled my mana and mana regeneration in one go? Yikes. That was good stuff. No wonder Artemis had seemed so much stronger than everyone else. No wonder Sentinels were so powerful.

Then again, [The Dawn Sentinel] was by all accounts an absurdly powerful class. The only other person I knew of with a dark green class was Arthur, but on the other hand, I didn’t know the quality of the other Sentinel’s classes.

Magic claimed his were pink, but that was probably a lie designed to throw me off. I really hoped we’d screwed up, and the ever-paranoid, always-cautious dude would show up again.

Back to my new skills!

[*Ding!* Congratulations! [Warmth of the Sun] has upgraded to [Cosmic Presence!]

Cosmic Presence: The cosmos is omni-present, always roiling and moving, always reshaping itself over eons. Your presence is like the cosmos, omni-present around you, and you renew and fix those around you. Increase the natural healing of everyone around you. Increased speed and range per level. Passive skill, costs 7777 Mana Regeneration.

First new skill! [Cosmic Presence] sounded totally cool, and I was excited to see it in action, to see what it could do.

[*Error* You have lost the skill [Medicine]]

I had this sudden moment of horror. What if I was completely wrong, and I wasn’t getting a replacement skill for quite some time? What if I’d just screwed myself hard?

[*Ding!* Congratulations! [Center of the Galaxy] has upgraded into [Center of the Universe]!]

Center of the Universe: Your ego has only grown over time. From the center of the galaxy, you now see yourself as the center of the universe, as all of existence revolves around you. Improved pain resistance and mental stability per level.

[*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has upgraded into [Dance with the Heavens]!]

Dance with the Heavens: The heavens cycle above you, each object participating in the grand dance of life. The sun heals and restores, the moons remove that which does not belong, while the stars adjust everything to their proper place. Panacea skill. Improved efficiency per level, improved power per level.

I was thrilled with the new name, but I wasn’t completely sure what the leveling up would do. I already had a terrifying amount of power, and I was pretty darn efficient with my images.

Then again, with losing [Medicine] my efficiency was going to dip a hair.

[*Ding!* Congratulations! [Moonlight] has upgraded into [Wheel of Sun and Moon]!]

Wheel of Sun and Moon: Your power to restore life comes from the sun, as your power to remove harmful substances comes from the moon. Now, heal those that are touched by either the sun or the moon! Ranged healing. Range increases per level. Penalty reduced per level.

[*Error* [Veil of the Aurora] has downgraded into [Mantle of the Stars]

Mantle of the Stars: You weave a cloak of starlight to wear for yourself. Improved manipulation and defense per level.

[*Error* You have lost the skill [Vastness of the Stars]]

[*Ding!* Congratulations! For hitting level 300, you’ve unlocked the Class skill [Solar Infusion]!]

Solar Infusion: The sun burns brightly, forever fueled, immune and immutable. With this skill, you’ll be able to impart your healing on someone else, letting the power persist in them, keeping them hale and whole. When they are further away from you, the skill will also increase and improve their natural healing. Increased radius where [Dance with the Heavens] applies per level. Increased amount of mana that can be placed in the skill per level. Increased efficiency at transforming their mana regeneration into natural healing.

The skill had almost double the range of [Wheel of sun and Moon], and it came without the distance penalties, along with letting me donate more and more generously into the “mana pocket” that came with the skill. Situations like Brawling being cut in half wouldn’t be nearly so dire. Still bad, I’d probably still need to help, at least until the skill leveled up a ton, but it was better than what I had before.

I could also disable someone’s mana regeneration. I was fairly certain that since it was a healing skill, [Oath] would apply when I tapped someone with it, which meant a corresponding increase in the maximum amount of mana regeneration I could “eat” from them. Or, putting it another way, I felt more comfortable disabling someone, without worrying about a skill coming out of the blue and killing me.

[*Ding!* Congratulations! For hitting level 300, you’ve unlocked the Class skill [Sunrise]!]

Sunrise: Good morning, rise and shine! Have a nice big cup of sunshine, and be awake, alert, and energetic, ready to meet the day! Warning: Not a sleep substitute.

[Sunrise] and [Solar Infusion] starting off at level 1 each was going to be painful. Then again, I felt like I had unlimited mana and regeneration, and I could just spam the skills non-stop to help level them up. Onto the level up notifications!

[*Ding!* [Celestial Affinity] leveled up! 256 -> 305]

[*Ding!* [Center of the Universe] leveled up! 256 -> 285]

[*Ding!* [Dance with the Heavens] leveled up! 256 -> 305]

[*Ding!* [Wheel of Sun and Moon] leveled up! 256 -> 271]

[*Ding!* [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] leveled up! 256 -> 270]

[*Ding!* [Sentinel’s Superiority] leveled up! 256 -> 305]

[*Ding!* [Learning] leveled up! 256 -> 280]

[*Ding!* [Bullet Time] leveled up! 256 -> 268]

Sweet, sweet levels. Yessssss. I looked over my new and improved stat sheet.

[Name: Elaine]

[Race: Human]

[Age: 19]

[Mana: 153790/153790]

[Mana Regen: 133517 (+98425.6)]

Stats

[Free Stats: 51]

[Strength: 293]

[Dexterity: 347]

[Vitality: 2176]

[Speed: 2176]

[Mana: 15379]

[Mana Regeneration: 15379 (+9842.56)]

[Magic Power: 7897 (+106609.5)]

[Magic Control: 7897 (+106609.5)]

[Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 305]]

[Celestial Affinity: 305]

[Cosmic Presence: 231]

[Solar Infusion: 1]

[Center of the Universe: 285]

[Dance with the Heavens: 305]

[Wheel of Sun and Moon: 271]

[Mantle of the Stars: 256]

[Sunrise: 1]

[Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 256]]

[Radiance Affinity: 256]

[Radiance Resistance: 256]

[Radiance Conjuration: 256]

[Shine: 111]

[Sun-Kissed: 256]

[Blaze: 256]

[Talaria: 256]

[Nova: 256]

[Class 3: Locked]

General Skills

[Identify: 151]

[Pristine Memories: 200]

[Pretty: 152]

[Bullet Time: 268]

[Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 270]

[Sentinel's Superiority: 305]

[Persistent Casting: 189]

[Learning: 280]