Ascension of Chaos

Ashley

Out of the various choices I have available, I immediately discard Dark Bite as an option. Because I don't plan on rushing forwards to bite people with flat teeth.

Human teeth just aren't made for that sort of thing.

Same with Fire Bite too, which I had made available from one of the other hounds I defeated called a Fire Hound.

Prowl isn't half bad since it's a stealth type skill that automatically makes me quieter when I crouch. But that may not be directly useful. So I discard that option as well.

Dark Howl is a good choice. It could work as a mental attack on others, possibly attacking them from a distance.

And the last one I got is also a decent one. Enhanced Hearing.

Not sure how that would directly benefit me right now. Especially since I've already got Blood Hound acting as a scouting skill.

Then there's the skills from the Manifest Energy Skill Tree. And the only ones in that Skill Tree that are available to unlock right now are the first level of each of the branches. The worst tool of the bunch, a shovel. The worst melee weapon of the bunch, a small hand axe. And the worst ranged weapon of the bunch. A bow.

Although I guess that is more of an opinion. Because I'm sure some people might prefer those over the other weapons.

So in the end, I narrow it down to either Dark Howl, the Hand Axe, or the Bow.

Since I already have the Energy Blade, even if it's not a sharp one or anything, I rule out the Energy Hand Axe. Since I don't need another melee weapon. Especially with my knife added in.

Then I also rule out the Energy Bow, simply because I can't be certain that it'll give me arrows. Even if I get the feeling it probably would.

And at the end of the day, I need more ranged capabilities.

So I select Dark Howl.

{You have chosen to spend 100 Skill Points to unlock the skill, Dark Howl, from the Dark Hound Skill Tree. Please select the check mark to confirm.}

A check mark and an X appear at the center of my interface. So I focus on the check and a dinging sound echoes in my head.

{You have unlocked the skill, Dark Howl, from the Dark Hound Skill Tree.}

{Dark Howl – Upon using this skill, the user lets out a loud howl that sends a mental spike through the minds of all those who hear it, draining five units of mana or one unit of darkness energy with each activation.}

And that leaves me with just forty Skill Points remaining.

I kind of want to try Dark Howl right now, but I know I better not. Since it costs so much mana to use.

On that note, I lean my head back on my wings that are being pushed upwards a little bit against the wall before closing my eyes. Then I simply try to figure out how to move my wings while getting some much needed rest in the process.

Time passes by slowly, and after just a few minutes of trying to figure out how to move my wings, I find myself passing out instead of getting anything done. Then I wake up again with a start to the sound of a bell echoing in my head along with the sight of a notification appearing in my interface.

Shit. Must've been more exhausted than I thought.

Then that flash of light from before returns and I find myself sitting down in some strange corridor. One with floating damaged stone blocks closer to the walls and the non-existent ceiling. Meanwhile the walls themselves are made up of the same stone bricks, with plenty of their own damage on them just like the floating ones.

Great. Well, at least I managed to rest a little before starting the third phase.

I climb to my feet, my wings feeling a little bit stiff after lying down on them for a while even if it was comfortable before. Then I turn my head when I smell something… odd… approaching.

Right. Blood Hound skill.

Still not used to that.

The smell is kind of… citric? Like burning acid. But also earthy. Like stone.

I narrow my eyes, just looking down the hall of the maze for a moment before some sort of creature flies around the closest corner and then freezes midair.

The heck is that?

I quickly remember the identify feature before identifying it.

♢ Level 2 Gargoyle – 14 Potential Skills – X ♢

Quite a bit stronger than the hounds were in terms of potential skills. But why is it just staring at me?

The creature seems to be made entirely of stone, with two bat-like wings and two pointed ears on its sorta bat-like head. It has four limbs, and its eyes are made entirely of stone as well. But before it turned the corner, its eyes were definitely glowing.

Until my eyes made contact with it.

Strange.

I glance down at the ground, only for the creature to begin moving again with its eyes glowing an eerie yellow. Then it stops moving once more when I turn my eyes back to it.

Huh.

Guess it's unable to move when being looked at? If that's a skill then it's an odd one.

I debate for a few seconds about whether or not I should assimilate its skills. Since there's no telling about whether or not I can get a bad skill that'll hurt me. Or if this thing's skills are even what's making it like this.

Eventually I open my Skill Tree menu before looking around to see if I've missed anything. And the moment the thought of deleting a Skill Tree comes to mind, I get a popup over each of the Skill Trees. A large X located in the corner of them.

Interesting.

I focus on the one Fire Hound Skill Tree that only has Fire Bite just in case this does remove it, only to get a popup asking me if I'm sure I want to discard the Skill Tree appearing in the center of my interface.

Okay. That'll work.

I close out of my Skill Trees again before activating Assimilate. Then I sprint forwards while pulling my knife out of my jacket pocket.

And just as I expected, my knife just kinda pings off of the gargoyle when I try to stab the floating creature.

Yeah, didn't really expect that to work.

I begin stabbing random parts on the thing to see if anything'll work, but nothing ever does. So I move on to hitting it hard with the back of the knife. Which doesn't work either.

After railing against the thing in quite the number of ways for a few minutes, I step back with my knife held at my side and the faintest hint of a frown on my face.

So… how to kill this thing…

My mind returns to when its eyes were glowing.

Maybe…

It's possible.

I look away from it, making the thing's eyes immediately begin to glow before I stab it between the eyes again.

But unlike the previous times, the knife goes straight through its flesh like a hot knife through butter. As if the thing was made of real flesh instead of stone. And then the glow in its eyes fade, the gargoyle falling down to shatter into bits of stone on the ground.

Yep. Looks like it does have a benefit of sort to outweigh that drawback.

{You have been granted 2 Skill Points for killing a monster within the tutorial. EXP has now been allocated accordingly.}

{You have slain a being while Assimilate is active. You have now unlocked the Skill Tree: Gargoyle}

{You have unlocked a new Skill Tree, therefore the root skill of the Skill Tree, Stone Skin, is now unlocked for your usage.}

I feel a tingly sensation run across my skin, but there don't appear to be any differences when I look down. And when I take a step away from the bits of stone on the ground, the tingly sensation runs across my skin again.

Without hesitation I quickly open the Skill Tree menu before looking at the Skill Tree I just got access to. Then I focus on the first skill in it, making that same monotone voice echo in my head.

{Stone Skin – Upon standing still for longer than two seconds, your skin will grow far more durable than before. Taking on the hardness of stone. However, the effect wears off immediately upon moving.}

Interesting. So does that mean the whole 'can't move while being looked at' thing was some sort of result of its biology, and not due to a skill?

Which also likely means it had more than one thing boosting its defense while stationary.

I idly tap my thumb on the guard of my knife over and over again, a habit I've noticed I have for some reason. But after a few seconds I turn my gaze towards the other skills in the Skill Tree. Only to realize that I can't even see any of the skills beyond the first skills connected to the skills I already have.

Huh?

I focus on the other Skill Trees too, but it's the same there. Including Skill Trees I've already previously seen the skills for.

Does that mean I could only see them during the second phase?

That's annoying.

I let out a sigh before checking the skills that I can check. Which amounts to just three right now for the new Skill Tree.

One of the skills is called Petrifying Gaze, and it lets me deal a very brief petrification status effect onto anyone who I gaze at while using the skill. A status effect that lasts for a length of time depending on my MAG stat and costs either three units of mana or one unit of Earth Energy to use. Then there's Stone Curse. A skill that places a curse on the target that makes their body slowly begin to turn to stone at a speed dependent on the difference between our PHY and MAG stats. And it costs the same as the first skill in terms of mana and energy usage.

Lastly, there's the third skill I can currently see.

I blink in surprise at the skill before immediately regretting that I can't unlock it just yet.

Because a Minor Regeneration skill would help me a lot in a place like this.

Guess I know what skill I'm saving up points for next.

I close out of the Skill Tree menu before glancing at the gargoyle once and stepping past the thing to see more of this maze.

All while ignoring the still-growing number of followers in the corner of my vision.

A number that's very nearly reached halfway through the four digits.