CHAPTER 85: MANIFESTING SNEEZY

Liam stared at his character sheet, weighing his options carefully, cause the places he was headed next, would demand every ounce of strength he could gain. His raw power had always been his greatest weapon, and now more than ever, he needed to maximize it, which made him allocate fifteen points to his STR stat, bringing it to an impressive 100.

Five points went to AGI for that slight speed increase, and another five to PRC for even better awareness. He left his CS stat untouched, especially as conjuration had never exactly been his thing. Some other time perhaps.

[STR 85 → 100]

[AGI 70 → 75]

[PRC 54 → 59]

As he finalized his choices, a sudden realization struck him like lightning. The new ability he had gained through Nega-fusion’s soul absorption—he had almost completely forgotten about that, and that would have been where his CS stat would have mattered, but oh well, couldn’t go back now.

This was however the second time this class skill of his had proven useful. The last time, when he’d absorbed Ray’s soul, Serafina had killed him before he could properly examine what abilities came with it, triggering Nega-fusion’s resurrection effect instead.

But now, with time to breathe and think, he could finally explore what he’d gained from Helda’s soul. Liam opened the skill menu and clicked on his class ability.

[NEGA-FUSION]

[Soul Absorbed → 1]

[Soul Ability → Book of Stories]

[Ability Description: User is able to bring forth manifestation of creatures from stories]

"Damn," Liam whispered, the pieces suddenly clicking into place. This explained everything, how Helda had summoned those strange creatures during their battle, where they had come from, how she’d wielded such diverse and unpredictable monsters.

"So, like... books?" he asked himself, then felt his heart sink as another realization hit him. He didn’t know many stories, certainly not well enough to summon creatures from them. The only tale he could recall with any detail was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs—a childhood favorite at some point.

A wry smile crossed his face as an almost absurd idea formed. *Well, there’s only one way to test this. He then activated the skill;

[Nega-fusion → Book of Stories]

Immediately, a thick, weathered tome materialized before him, floating at chest height. The book was ancient-looking, bound in aged brown leather with metal clasps along the spine that gleamed dully in the light. It looked as if it had existed for centuries.

The book opened itself, pages fluttering as if turned by an invisible hand. However, most of the pages were blank, their yellowed surfaces waiting to be filled, but it settled on one particular page that bore a familiar title: "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."

"Hm..." Liam muttered, studying the page intently. The text seemed to shimmer slightly, as if alive with possibility. Focusing his will, he attempted to summon one of the dwarfs—Sneezy, the first one that came to mind, and almost instantly, the character materialized before him, standing barely three feet tall.

Just as Liam remembered from the story, Sneezy had a comically large pink nose, a flowing white beard, and wore simple brown clothing cinched with a black belt. For a moment, the dwarf stood perfectly still, like a living statue. Then his expression began to change, his face contorting in that all-too-familiar way.

His large nose twitched, his eyes began to water, and he took a deep breath. "Ahh... ahh... atchoo—" Just before the sneeze could complete itself, Liam quickly snapped his fingers, ending the manifestation. The dwarf vanished in a shimmer of light, and the Book of Stories snapped shut with a soft thud, floating back down to his waiting hands.

Liam chuckled despite himself, both amused and slightly horrified at the thought of dwarf mucus decorating his living room. The ability was simultaneously ridiculous and potentially powerful, and he could see how effective it might be if he actually knew more stories, more creatures, more diverse tales to draw from.

The limitation was clear now: Nega-fusion had only given him access to Helda’s abilities, not her memories or knowledge. The book reflected only the stories he knew, not the vast library of tales that Helda had accumulated over her lifetime, and as such he would need to expand his literary knowledge if he wanted to truly unlock this power’s potential.

Setting the book aside for now as it disappeared into golden dust, Liam turned his attention to his other new acquisitions. He opened his skill menu and examined the first of his new abilities:

[Summon Shift Lv1 → Allows the user to instantly swap places with his summons within a 50-meter radius]

"Oh, interesting," Liam said, his strategic mind immediately grasping the implications. This wasn’t just about summoning creatures—it was about battlefield mobility. Short-distance teleportation through his summons could be incredibly useful as his thoughts drifted to his recent battle with the Balrog, when Lazark had lost his right arm to that devastating attack.

"With this, that won’t be happening anymore," he murmured to himself. If he’d had this skill then, he could have swapped places with Lazark at the crucial moment, positioning himself to counter the Balrog’s strike before it could land.

He clicked on the second new skill:

[Six Strain Lv1 → This makes the user’s body automatically react to and avoid attacks without conscious thought]

"Hmm..." Liam considered this ability more carefully. It was impressive, certainly—the idea of his body moving to avoid danger without him even having to think about it. But he also felt confident in his current combat abilities. His reflexes were already sharp, and his battle instincts well-honed thanks to the perception stat. Anyways, any edge in combat was worth having still.

Liam’s eyes continued to peruse through his player interface, continuously scanning the new set of skills that he had gained from his recent level advancement. Then something caught his attention—a skill he had somehow overlooked in his initial excitement. "Oh yes, I missed this," he muttered, realizing he had unintentionally skipped over what appeared to be a significant ability