CHAPTER 50: SKILL AND PATH.

Staring at the black waters for a moment longer, Nero’s expression was rather dark.

He pulled the Wandering Spirit’s Journal out of his bag with slightly trembling hands and opened it.

The words of the prophecy had yet to change.

They remained the same.

’It knew I would get here. This thing truly can predict the future.’

That, was a bit terrifying.

But it also granted him quite an obvious boon.

He put the book away then plopped down to the ground.

’What do I do now?’

His options were clear— use the river to return back to the Purple Evergrowth forest and back to the safety of his cave.

Or, he could make use of the river to enter into Malady’s Garden. Once he reached Malady’s Garden, he would be just one step away from the next human settlement in this stretch of wilderness.

In truth, the idea of going forward scared him to no end.

Everytime he stepped forward, it felt like there were more teeth waiting before him to grind him up to dust.

It was a terrifying feeling. One that filled him with endless fear.

But there was nothing he could do about it.

In the end, he realized the back leading back was mentally severed already.

He sighed.

All he had to do, was follow the stream of water. It would lead him back to the right path.

He looked around.

The bottom of the ravine was quite silent, save for the creaking and croaking of some under dwelled. Luckily, it didn’t seem like there was much danger lurking in the darkness. For the moment, at least...

’But before that...’

He had to take inventory of everything that had been lost during his fight.

He now had no Divine Elixirs. He had only one more vial of Purple Evergrowth sap. The Veil of Darkness had been torn up so it was now useless. Thankfully, the charm hanging on his neck was still well preserved.

His firestarter was still in his satchel alongside a few clothes, the journal, map, waterskin and his mother’s book.

He had practically lost nothing.

’Now for the gains...’

***

Name: Nero.

True Name: Armageddon, Angel of Judgement.

Seal Rank: F

Seal(s): Seal of Divinity (locked).

Relics: Silver Blade, Wandering Spirit’s Journal, Waterskin of Purity, Travelers Charm.

Skills: Heretic Eye, Shadow Shift.

Description: Wanderer.

Sins: Heretic, Witness.

{Heretic}: You are one who truly does not believe. Thus, you have been deemed a Heretic by the heavens and have acquired the Curse of the Divine Will.

{Witness}: The Heart of a Heretic is the One true witness, for it is the only thing not bound by belief. The Witness cannot be easily afflicted by knowledge and madness.

Seals of Sin: (109/1000).

***

Nero’s eyes twitched,

"A skill?"

Besides his Seal counter changing, the relics in his possession had also been updated.

However, there was a particular change that made him pause.

He had a new skill.

"Oracle, these skills..."

{A skill is a strange and unique manifestation of a Seal of Sin. Usually, most beings and creatures can only possess a single skill due to them being able to cultivate just a single type Sin. However, thanks to the Heretic’s unique constitution, he can possess more that one}.

Cain trembled lightly,

"I see..."

He tried envisioning the details of the skill.

The runes manifested before him.

***

Shadow Shift: Affinity with the shadows is increased tremendously. Gains a significant speed and agility boost when moving through them.

***

’It is a skill that improves my movement. How convenient.’

He remembered the way the Shadow Stalker could implement sharp bursts of speed. Could it be that this skill was related to that?

After a moment of thinking, he could only conclude that that was the case.

After all, the Seal of Sin he had just absorbed did infact belong to the Stalker.

He was silent for a moment then asked the system,

"Will I gain a skill everytime I kill a grade E Abomination or something?"

{No. The process of acquiring a skill is equal parts random and equal parts the Heretic’s affinity to the Seal of Sin absorbed. Skills are the consequences of unique traits and are not implementations of sorcery. However, they do make use of Ein Sof just like spells, so the Heretic has to be economic in their use}.

Nero hummed,

"In that case, how many uses of this skill would it take to burn through my current reserves of Ein Sof."

{Roughly ten uses}.

Nero nodded in satisfaction, "Is that so..."

Ten uses. That was more than enough.

At the moment, his reserves of Ein Sof would allow him at least an hour perhaps even more, or human transformation. And that was just after a week of accumulation.

The rate at which he recovered the depleted Ein Sof had also gone up as well.

He let out a sigh.

’In any case, I will need to be frugal with my usage of both.’

The key was to consume as much Abomination flesh as he possibly could. By doing that, he would accumulate more while also getting rid of his hunger.

The further the Black Body Transformation progressed, the more hos appetite grew too, as well as his ability to stomach the taste of the corrupted flesh.

But it was all good for now.

He rose from the ground and walked over to the river.

He pulled out the Waterskin of Purity and dipped it into the vicious flowing "water".

Once the waterskin was full, he waited for a moment.

And a moment later, the death-inducing liquid was purified and turned intoblife giving water.

’That’s my second use of this thing. I better be careful using it.’

He let out a sigh then took a long-awaited gulp.

The cool liquid was refreshing and tasted nothing like it had looked just a moment ago. The effects of sorcery were truly mind boggling.

Once he had drank enough, he put it away and began walking down the river.

This began his journey through this subterranean world that would lead to him uncovering a number of mysteries...