Sworded Affair

Chapter 74: Spirit Severing

[Turning Point: Spirit Severing underway!

Sacrifice anything that is yours; the more valuable the sacrifice, the more you gain!

This opportunity is unique and will not arise again.]

Anything that is mine? Emma didn't take long to think before offering up her music player.

It had been something she sought out early into her journey, having anticipated a boring life spent wandering a post-apocalyptic earth, with not much else to do besides fighting demons. The revelation of multiple magical factions and their associated dungeons put those fears to rest; if anything, she had far too much to do now, and not enough time for it all.

[Add-On - Music Player sacrificed.

200 EXP gained.]

That much experience for a single time-waster? Emma thought gleefully. Time to go all-in!

[Tea Kit sacrificed.

500 Anima gained.

Inventory sacrificed.

Spacetime proficiency increased!

Cost of Ability - Summon Unholy Sword reduced to 20% Current Mana.]

Holy Tea known for rejuvenation translates to increased anima, while giving up the inventory gave me some of its underlying comprehension of space and time? The sacrifice influences the boon, then. Well, I can travel pretty fast now, a few hundred miles isn't a big deal anymore, compared to when I was stuck moving on foot.

[Fast Travel - Academia Mortalis sacrificed.

Summoning proficiency improved.

Angel of Extinction cooldown reduced by half!]

Nice! Finally, for the big prizes?

Intellectually, Emma knew that she'd already gained plenty, and that this was a pretty good place to stop. Unfortunately for her; she had always been the kind of person to pursue her passions relentlessly, with a single mindedness that many psychologists would call obsessive. This personality had served Emma well in life thus far, but it had its weaknesses; tunnel vision being one of them.

This quest has been sitting in my log since the beginning, and we're barely any closer to figuring it out. Better to cash in now, rather than hope for what might eventually come.

[Quest - 404 - Answers Not Found sacrificed.

Trait upgraded!

No Pal of Mine: All Summons are the same level as you.]

Sir Bearington won't be relegated to transport anymore!

Somehow, that thought made Emma happier than any previous upgrade, even those arguably stronger and more beneficial for her overall. Truly, the bond between a trainer and her starter was a powerful one. Taking another look at her newly streamlined status page, Emma saw that she was nearing the end of her time with the divine gachapon she'd stumbled upon, having mostly run out of sacrifice fodder.

Emma Knight - Level 10 Damned Apostle

Anima: 2500

EXP: 3910/4000

Abilities

Summon Unholy Sword {Epitaph} (Cost: 20% current Anima)

No Pal of Mine: Capture the soul of the worthy, gaining the ability to summon a simulacrum of equal level as the User. Maximum 1 active per 10 levels, rounding up. 1 hour cooldown when simulacrum is defeated.

Captured: The Leech King, Sir Bearington, Earthbound Immortal, Antipode

Weeping Scar: Wounds inflict periodic poison damage until they are healed.

Oversoul: Instantly possess the body of a living, lower-level target within the user's line of sight. No component of this ability will activate unless the target can be possessed.

Ardent Ephemera (Cost: 1% base Anima /second): Become intangible while active, able to pass unhindered through physical objects and blows.

Angel of Extinction (Cooldown: 12 days): Summon an Angel within line of sight. The Angel is invulnerable and departs after 12 seconds, inflicting Instant Death to anyone who saw it.

Null and Void (Cost: 5% base Anima): Disrupt a spell before casting completes.

Traits

Arcanivore: Enemies restore Anima when wounded or slain.

Wolf, Ram and Heart: All attacks imbued with Death magic, significantly increasing damage.

Circle of Life: Increased affinity with animals. Decreased affinity with humans.

One with Everything (Cooldown: 1 hour): Damage reducing Anima to 0 stops at 1 instead.

Divine Conduit (Anathema): ???

Quests

Blood Borne

Objective: Find your Mother

Reward: ???

Cum Laude

Objective: Reach the 10th floor of Scholomance

Reward: ???, Save Point, Quest: Magna Cum Laude

Her Anima and EXP were too critical to throw away on a gamble, no matter how much she was enjoying the process. Both her remaining quests, meanwhile, were close to completion and would pay out very soon. The remaining abilities and traits were most all useful in their own ways; although that being said, there were a couple of exceptions to this.

[Trait - Divine Conduit (Anathema) sacrificed

Trait - Divine Conduit (Anathema) gained.

Please don't.]

Well, it was worth a try, Emma mentally shrugged, before selecting her final sacrifice of the night.

[Trait - Circle of Life sacrificed.

500 Anima gained.]

All done, Emma concluded, immensely satisfied with how things had gone.

[Turning Point: Spirit Severing complete.]

The conclusion of her transformation was not a sudden process. Gradually, even as Emma felt her new gifts settle within her soul, the incandescent light began to dim. Over the course of five long minutes, the flood of power created by the ritual diminished, from a flood to a trickle then finally unto nothing. Another two minutes more, and she could see the room again; one more minute still, and the ritual circle burned itself out at last, vanishing from the ground in a final flicker of light. Freed from her pentagrammic prison, Emma emerged a much stronger being; a genuine Archetype, forever elevated beyond the heavily restricted set of starting classes that served as the training wheels for new wielders of the System. There was only one slight problem however; one that Emma didn't even notice in her euphoria until she began to explore the room anew, reaching for the broken necklace that had saved Princess Astaroth's life, only for the translucent wisp that was her soul to float harmlessly through.

Why am I still a floating soul? Emma complained.

[The Revenant class requires a physical tether, in order to bind your anima to the material place. As a Damned Apostle, you have outgrown this remnant of mortality; your Will alone is sufficient for you to persist in this world. If you want your physical form back? Well, that's what your skills are for.]

So if I'd sacrificed Oversoul, I'd be stuck as a ghost? Until my summons got me enough levels to find a solution, anyway.

[It's a good thing you didn't make that sacrifice then, right?]

Emma's reply was interrupted as a brick fell from the ceiling, passing harmlessly through her but being rather alarming nonetheless, given what it implied. Glancing at the top left of her display, Emma froze.

What do you mean its been five days?