Aqua
I take a deep breath as I mentally prepare to open my status.
The trait isn’t the only thing I just got. I also got a new skill, so I’ll be checking that as well.
But the trait is what’s important right now. Because I really need a mage trait.
Badly.
My mana is starting to hold me back compared to everything else I can do. And it’s getting annoying.
Although I guess my skill does actually still matter. Since I have now reached the point that I won’t be getting new skills outside of every hundredth level after this point.
So it’ll be a while before I get my next one.
It’s just that the trait is still more important.
I take another deep breath before letting it out.
Then I finally open my status.
[REQUESTING STATUS: USER AQUA AZURANTH]
[STATUS RETRIEVED]
[Name: Aqua Azuranth]
[Level: 300]
[Mana: 28102/30000]
[Strength: 327(218)]
[Dexterity: 188]
[Constitution: 188]
[Magical Strength: 191]
[REGEN: 5598]
[MEN: 191]
[Free Points: 0]
[Traits: Physique of the Abyssal Kraken, Apex Predator of the Depths, Lifeblood of the Abyssal Kraken, World First Ranker, Scales of the Abyssal Kraken, Galaxy First Ranker, Special Core 1x, Mana Metabolism, Abyssal Mana]
[Skills]
[END STATUS]
Holy fucking shit that’s a lot of mana…
I blankly stare at my status screen, not even needing to check the trait itself, for several seconds. All because of the fact that my mana is now ten times what it should’ve been at this level.
Ten. Times.
That’s honestly kind of terrifying when I think about the Abyssal Kraken.
Well… this trait just made it possible to use a lot more of my skills more efficiently. So that’s very nice.
A smile spreads across my face at that thought before I finally focus on the trait itself to check its exact details.
[Abyssal Mana – The Abyssal Kraken’s mana has surpassed that of all others, forming the Abyss itself. The Abyssal Kraken will gain one hundred mana per level instead of ten. Additionally, all levels the Abyssal Kraken has already gained prior to receiving this trait will grant the Abyssal Kraken ninety mana.]
Yeah, pretty much what I expected after seeing my mana.
Hell yeah!
I can’t help it as my smile turns into a grin and I clench my fists in excitement. But I make sure not to do anything embarrassing like hopping up and down or anything thanks to the livestream.
They’re already calling me cute for some reason as is. No reason to make things worse.
Mana is incredibly important. It doesn’t directly determine a person’s power, obviously, but it is like a window to success.
You can’t brute-force things with mana to be stronger.
That’s just not how it works.
Magical Strength is what determines how powerful a user’s attacks are. Not mana. For the most part.
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But mana does decide how much of each attack you can do.
So mana is like a gate or a window to success.
If you have enough of it, you can keep fighting.
It’s like a stamina thing in a way.
And it’s always been my weakness until now. Because the abyssal servants drain waaaaay too much mana to use properly.
Until now.
I continue grinning even as I move to open my skills list to see my latest skill.
[REQUESTING SKILLS: USER AQUA AZURANTH]
[16 SKILLS RETRIEVED]
[MORE THAN THREE SKILLS DETECTED]
[ALL SKILLS CONDENSED]
[Skill 1: Abyssal Kraken’s Embrace]
[Skill 2: Hydrokinetic Wrath]
[Skill 3: Call of the Abyss]
[Skill 4: Abyssal Kraken’s Partial Shift]
[Skill 5: Pressure of the Abyss]
[Skill 6: Abyssal Reversal]
[Skill 7: Maw of the Abyssal Kraken]
[Skill 8: Devourer of the Abyss]
[Skill 9: Converging Maelstrom]
[Skill 10: Abyssal Ruler]
[Skill 11: Light of the Abyss]
[Skill 12: Claw of the Abyssal Kraken]
[Skill 13: Ink of the Abyssal Kraken]
[Skill 14: Abyss]
[Skill 15: Abyssal Transformation]
[Description: Allows the user to transform their entire body as they please. With the amount they can transform depending on the user’s Magical Strength stat.]
[Cost: Abyssal Transformation’s mana cost varies depending on the exact degree of which they are transforming.]
[Cooldown: Abyssal Transformation has no cooldown.]
[Skill 16: Abyssal Plague]
[Description: Allows the user to spread the abyssal plague all around them. Tainting all creatures it makes contact with and withering their bodies away at a gradual pace from the inside out.]
[Cost: Abyssal Plague’s mana cost exponentially more mana the longer it is used and the further out the plague spreads.]
[Cooldown: Abyssal Plague has no cooldown.]
[END SKILLS]
Hmm. That’s not half bad.
That could actually be rather useful.
It’s a poison skill. And the only poison I have right now is my own venom.
This is kind of ironic considering the fact that I was just in the Viridian Ocean not too long ago.
I wonder how far I can spread this poison? Or plague, I guess.
Poison just flows better when thinking about it, so I’ll continue calling it poison.
I look around for a bit before going off in search of a broken dungeon that I can flood with the poison. Just to test how strong it is.
The Bloodline Research Center
Jaques Valinti feels himself trembling in excitement as he and all of the viewers sense Aqua’s mana skyrocketing after reaching level three hundred. No doubt from receiving a mage trait.
But while part of him is extremely excited by her boost in power – since he is an unabashed Aqua fanboy, which makes his job of researching her Bloodline even more fun to do – he also feels fear towards the origin of her Bloodline.
The Abyssal Kraken.
Because if her mana was shot up by ten times her previous mana capacity, how much mana does the Abyssal Kraken have?
An Ancient Monster whose level is higher than any one knows. One with a mage trait that multiplies its total mana by ten. The greatest mage trait ever recorded.
It’s terrifying, but it also helps explain how the Abyssal Kraken has enough mana to permanently keep up its Domain.
“Remember to take notes,” Jaques eventually remembers to tell the other researchers in the lab. All of whom seem to really like him for some reason.
Probably because of the last head of the Research Center who went insane. I’m sure I’m a much more pleasant boss to work under.
Jaques continues watching as Aqua swims through the water seemingly in search of something.
Is she looking for something to test her new skill on?
That’s the most likely answer that comes to mind for Jaques.
I can’t wait to see what skill she got!
His absolute favorite part of the job.
Seeing Aqua’s new traits and skills.
There’s nothing better than it.
The other researchers in the Research Center show wry smiles as they see the head researcher’s face. But none of them are surprised since everyone knows how big of a fanboy the head researcher is.
He goes around showing off his Aqua figurine collection, his Aqua Pioneer trading cards, and his abyssal servant statues all the time. Without any hesitation.
The man is just a pure fanboy with so much innocence shown in his fanboying that the other researchers would feel bad if they ever even felt a hint of judgment for it.
So everyone focuses on the screen while taking notes without saying anything about their boss.
Meanwhile Jaques just continues staring at the screen in awe. Awe that grows even more radiant when Aqua enters a broken dungeon and does something completely unexpected.
Which is her specialty.
Doing things no one expects.
Jaques watches in awe as a deep blue almost black liquid spreads out from an aura around her body to ooze into the water near her. And whenever a monster makes contact with the oozing liquid, the liquid absorbs directly into their body through any opening they have. Including their pores if they have any.
Then the monsters twitch. But that’s all that happens for several seconds.
Until the monsters begin to convulse.
“Poison?”
“It’s probably some sort of poison.”
“Could be a plague.”
Jaques ignores the other researchers as they discuss amongst themselves what sort of skill she has. All while the convulsing monsters begin to show discoloration in their body.
With the monsters becoming more and more dark blue in color as the seconds pass.
All the way until their color turns completely black.
At which point the monsters begin to shrivel up and stop moving before rotating upside down and floating upwards.
Dead.
“Definitely poison,” one of the researchers mutters as the researchers in the room all look at the dozens of monsters just floating dead in the poison.
Meanwhile Jaques feels a chill run down his spine before he immediately shouts, “Warn the Bloodliners exploring the Abyss about this!”
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