A Novel Concept

Priam began by opening his Tree of Merit.

Trees of Merit

Each new Title opens a new Tree of Merit and allows you to upgrade a Tree of Merit once.
Upgrading a Tree of Merit to Tier 9 uses 10 Titles and thus condemns 9 other Trees. Be careful which trees you upgrade...

[Heartless] - Tier 0: Once a day, your heart regenerates instantly.

[Brainless] - Tier 3: Locked. Requires a Silver Title.

[Quester - Silver] - Tier 0: Your instincts are sharpening.

[Pseudo Phoenix] - Tier 0: Your affinity for flames allows you to manipulate uncontrolled fires.

[Axolotl or Hydra ?] - Tier 1: You can now regenerate your limbs faster.

[Hermes' Apprentice] - Tier 0: Future messenger, you are temporarily accepted by traveling to other worlds than Elysium.

[Moon Baron] - Tier 0: You are getting familiar with the mist.
[Upgrader] - Tier 0: You begin to feel the ethereal workings of your skills.

[Forerunner - Silver] - Tier 0: Your META (chance) increases temporarily when you work on a project capable of improving the standing of humanity.

[To the Moon] - Tier 0: [Bullet time] is automatically triggered when you are in danger of death.

6 Unused Merit Points.

He had six points to spend, and some Trees interested him more than others. First, [Axolotl or Hydra?]’s Merit had incredible potential but was only moderately interesting in Tier 1. Priam could get his limbs back once a day by resurrecting. Even with a thousand points of Vitality, and the Tier 1 of this Merit, he wouldn't regenerate a leg in less than a day. However, he wanted to become more resistant and restore his body more quickly.

Priam had been thinking. If each Tier was more potent than the previous one, he should favor completing one Tree. Spreading his Merit Points over several Trees might be better in the short term but not in the long term. The important thing was to get to the top tiers as quickly as possible. To do this, he had to focus on titles he could easily upgrade. Indeed, the Bronze rank Titles did not allow him to unlock more than their third Merit. He had to upgrade them to the next rank - Silver - as he had done with [Quester].

With [He Who Eludes Death], he was pretty sure he could upgrade [Axolotl or Hydra?]. What better way to improve a regeneration-based title than to injure his body as much as possible before regenerating by resurrecting? Only, the Merit was not synergizing with his resurrection skill. He needed to change that to progress faster.

He connected to his Potential and touched the Merit. He had to be quick, every second filled his head with ideas and consumed the precious resource.

"[Bullet Time]," he declared. The world slowed down and Priam's brain sped up. If the Potential was related to the time spent under its influence, he might as well think faster.

Priam did not communicate his desire to the Merit. Imperious, so connected to the Concepts, he was no longer a man. He was a God. He ordered Merit to submit and evolve.

[Axolotl or Hydra ?] - Tier 1: You can now regenerate your limbs faster... Transformation due to the use of Potential.

New Merit!

[Axolotl or Hydra ?] - Tier 1: The Tier 0 Merit synergizes with all resurrections, recreations, regenerations, and other means of restoring your body to its optimal state.

POT -80

Priam validated the Merit. Tier 1 now allowed him to benefit from the synergy between his Title, [Humanity adapts] and [He Who Eludes Death]. The next time he resurrected, his stats and resistance increases would be impressive...

His Vivacity informed him in real time of the loss of his Potential, and Priam hurried. He had no time to lose. The resource was too valuable to be so easily wasted. He consulted the following Merit.

[Axolotl or Hydra ?] - Tier 2: When your body is in perfect health, your Vitality accumulates. The subsequent injury you receive will be healed all the faster because your Vitality has accumulated.

The Tier seemed excellent but lacked synergy with [He Who Eludes Death]. Also, despite using Potential, he didn't know how fast his Vitality could accumulate. If he waited a week, could he instantly regenerate a lost limb? Priam didn't plan to survive a week. He planned to die every day to maximize his growth. If I can synergize this Tier with my resurrection, it might be interesting...

Under the epiphany of his Potential, he understood that the more drastic the modification of his Merits, the higher the cost in Potential. The first Merit had cost 80 points of Potential because it was different from the primary Merit. Fortunately, Priam had chosen a Merit close to his Title's objective and thus limited the consumption of Potential. But he did not have an unlimited amount of Potential. His next modifications should be more refined, closer to the original Merit.

Without missing a beat, Priam focused on his other Trees of Merit. He began touching them one by one to learn about the trees. All were excellent, but Priam immediately realized that some would help him less than others, depending on his goals. There were a myriad of different ways to reach the Zenith and the Eighth Throne. But not all were for him. He had to choose a path that he could walk to the end.

However, these trees gave him ideas and thanks to his Potential, Priam did an introspection and understood himself.

He had always enjoyed optimizing his characters in video games, but this was now his real life. He couldn't afford to get lost. He had to choose a martial path because, unfortunately, it was the only one that would ensure that he would retain his freedom and gain the power to protect his family and his ideals.

For this, many offensive builds attracted him. Strengthening his body to become an immortal juggernaut. Becoming a shadow to silently assassinate his enemies as soon as they let their guard down. Sending devastating spears to annihilate his opponents from beyond the horizon. Preparing rituals, summoning elementals, imprisoning consciousnesses in their dreams, creating and feeding stars, drowning minds in a flood of false memories, manipulating probabilities to cause death... Each of these paths could take him far, but they were not for him. But there was no reason why they couldn't become his tools. He would use anything to achieve his ends. Poisons, spears, rituals, domains, energies, information... Everything would be helpful.

Once again, Priam realized that he wanted to be free. He wanted to be the thief who could penetrate any fortress unseen. The warrior whose arrival made dragons tremble. The guardian who could protect his possessions and his loved ones. The mage who delved the depths of the arcane. A Jack of all trades, Master of All.

Claire had taught him that some would betray him. The Eighth Throne was not a bench. Only one pair of buttocks would rest on it and they would be his.

Lvl Up : [Bullet time] lvl 2
PERC +3

POT -10

"For that, I have to be the best at everything. Go Big or go Home," Priam announced. He had made his decision. He needed to look ahead. He collected the rewards offered for the twentieth wave.

Potential: Creation of a talent.

[Bound Weapon - Potential cost: 350

[Eidetic Memory] - Potential cost: 2563

"I choose [Eidetic Memory] as my reward," Priam confirmed. The choice was not insignificant. The System had been abruptly introduced. Little explanation had been given, and Priam had spent part of the last ten days pondering its attributes, their meaning, and the other laws of the System. This new world was a game, and the best way to win was not to play by the rules. An absurd number of living beings lived in this Universe, and in many eons, none had reached the Eighth Throne. If I want to become the best, I must cheat. To cheat, you have to know the rules.

Some of the Potential Priam had spent in the last minute had told him how useful Memory was. At first glance, the attribute seemed to be of little use, but it was crucial. Priam's life expectancy was increasing and it seemed unlikely that he would ever die of old age. His Vivacity and the changes in his mind were constantly giving him more and more knowledge to retain. His Perception and Dexterity also gave him information about his environment and his RAM had to keep up. Receiving all the information in the universe was pointless if you couldn't process and store it. Priam received this information with Perception and Dexterity. He examined it and used it with Vivacity and his Mind. But his Memory was the weak link in his processing chain. Without the ability to store information, all his other attributes were limited. [Eidetic Memory] solved some of these problems. Priam would still have to find a way to increase his Memory or upgrade his skill, but he was no longer in danger of losing momentum in his progression, held back by his miserable Memory.

Reward received: [Eidetic Memory]. Synergy with [Brainless] detected...

[Eidetic Memory] - You used to have a poor memory. A simple shelf to store the sum of your knowledge. Your mental space now has a vast library of information storage, half organic, half spiritual. Your memory is directly connected to your mind, and the loss of your brain will no longer result in the loss of memories. You can now access all your knowledge at any time.

The description didn't seem heaven-defying, but Priam could immediately feel the difference. The information processing was much smoother and his thoughts had become clearer, even though he was already using his Potential. The talent synergized with all of his Titles and skills. All of his memories were dredged up, and Priam soon recalled all of his classes and learning. It would only take him one afternoon to crystallize all his knowledge into skills and recover hundreds of Potential points. To create his future skills, Priam would pay the actual price - no extra tax - for his forgotten knowledge. Jackpot!

POT -10

But Priam paused for a moment in his analysis of the Merits. His new talent allowed him to review every decision he had made in his life and spot inconsistencies. Some were understandable. When he was seventeen, he talked to his crush until three in the morning, when he had an exam the next day. Hormones could explain his foolish behavior.

However, after arriving in Elysium, he consumed a deadly flower when he was sure he would die from it. He could have continued to search for a watering hole or used his scientific skills. He was able to separate water from the sap of a tree by evaporation using a fire before recondensing that water onto leaves. He had advanced scientific and practical ability but preferred to swallow an unknown flower without even waiting several minutes between his various tests. His reaction was incomprehensible and could not be explained by simple fatigue. Even thirsty, Priam would not have drunk sea water except as a last resort. So why consume this flower? I was manipulated. Something to watch out for when I get back to Elysium.

Lvl Up : [Bullet time] lvl 3

PERC +3

Priam refocused on his Merits. His Potential was dwindling.

[Moon Baron] - Tier 0: You are getting familiar with the mist.

The Potential that metaphorically coursed through Priam's veins gave him information about this Merit. Generally speaking, it was a prerequisite for improving the rest of the Tiers in this tree. In addition, the Merit would bring Priam closer to evolving his Moon Mist skill while reducing the cost in Potential. In short, it wasn't a Merit that would make Priam much stronger, but the dividends of this choice would more than make up for it.

Priam selected the Merit.

[Moon Baron] - Tier 0: ACQUIRED.

Priam could feel the difference immediately. His haze seemed easier to control. He realized he was beginning to detect traces of water vapor in the atmosphere. With more Perception, he could certainly spot someone close to him without using his skill. With his new familiarity with his mist, his skill was interesting even when passive. Another advantage was the cost and range of his skill. So far, Priam had never reached his power limits, but filling the arena with mist had consumed about half of his aether tank. That was without even densifying his mist.

One of his ideas was to make his mist dense enough to make it more opaque, even liquid or solid. If he could create ice spears and throw them at these enemies from any part of his mist, he could instantly attack several points. His range had also increased, and he felt he already knew his skill better. Without doing anything, just by summoning and wielding his mist, [Moon Mist] already seemed to show signs of increasing level. Priam consulted the next Tier.

[Moon Baron] - Tier 1: The Mist hides you. You are one of its own, Mistwalker.

Priam bought the Merit. Hiding had been the focus of his build since Elysium. It was handy for dodging enemy attacks, losing multiple attackers simultaneously, and entering forbidden places.

[Moon Baron] - Tier 1: The Mist hides you. You are one of its own, Mistwalker. ACQUIRED.

The young man's presence diminished. He was still there, fully visible to human senses - if they could pierce the opaque haze. But to an overly confident seeker, the young man would be a ghost. To an aether-based sensing skill, the young man no longer existed. He was mist.

[Moon Baron] - Tier 2: The Mist helps you. You begin your adventure, Mist Rider.

Priam opened his eyes. A frantic joy was filling him. It was what Priam was looking for. He bought the Merit, and suddenly felt the mist asking him a question. Priam closed his eyes and felt the fog as an extension of his body. He was near the edge of the arena, and mentally he let his mind explore his mist to the center of the arena. Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward and rode the mist.

[Moon Baron] - Tier 2: The Mist helps you. You begin your adventure, Mist Rider. ACQUIRED.

2 Unused Merit Points.

Lvl Up: [Moon Mist] lvl 8,9
PERC +8
CHAR +4
META (AFFI) +6

POT -22

Opening his eyes, Priam smiled. He was in the center of the arena. He could now travel through its mist. Or rather, ride it. Instinctively, Priam knew that where his mist was, so was he.

Well, almost. The trip had been instantaneous, but Priam's aether reserves had been impacted. He had used nearly a quarter of his reserves to make the trip. Moreover, Priam accomplished this feat on the first try because he used his Potential. Without this resource, he knew he would have to train hard to do this kind of feat so easily and quickly.

Finally, Priam felt he needed to rest his body. Despite the Potential, riding the mist and using [Bullet time] is not good.

"My last throw depleted my body and my aether ducts. Or is it passages? Meridians? Always more questions," Priam grinned. He refocused.

[Moon Baron] - Tier 3: Locked. Requires a Silver Title.

Priam knew that [Moon Baron]'s Merit synergized exceptionally well with his intentions. Defense, perception, camouflage and now movement. [Moon Mist] covered all of his needs except attack. But maybe not for long...

Potential: Creation of a Talent.

[Bound Weapon] - Potential cost: 310

Already, 40 points saved. I made the right choice... Creation!

His connection to the Concepts intensified. With his new Talent and his previous experiences, Priam was ready. A supernatural force took hold of the spear in his hand and the weapon flew away. A flash of lightning fell from the sky, illuminating Priam's vision. A second later, he opened his eyes to see a new weapon. The spear was no longer hoplite, and it wished to be his.

The tip was just ten centimeters from his forehead and Priam breathed in. If he was going to bond with his spear, he had to trust it. He nodded mentally, and the weapon leapt forward, piercing his skull.

Five minutes later, Priam left the arena. Behind him, the empty stands awaited a new match. The warrior stood erect, his clothes laced and a gleaming spear in his hand. A few hours ago, an observer would have described Priam as a muscular young man armed with a spear. Now, the same observer would naturally have referred to a master spearman. This observer would have been wrong. Priam was not a master spearman. Not yet.

As he reached the second-floor lobby, Priam's green eyes focused on an armed group. The Mercenaries turned to the newcomer before shuddering as they noticed the wisps of mist dancing within Priam's irises.

“Hey.”

Status: (Average value for a Homo sapiens male before integration: PHY 10 / MEN 10 / META 0)

PHYSICAL:
Strength 86
Constitution 103
Agility 116
Vitality 164
Perception 176

MENTAL:
Vivacity 132
Dexterity 107
Memory 33
Willpower 69
Charisma 84

META:
Meta-affinity 77
Meta-focus56
Meta-endurance 1
Meta-chance 40

Potential: 198
Tier 0