CHAPTER 40: SKILL UPGRADE

Deklan rubbed Marsha’s head as she buried her face against his astral chest.

He acted like what happened was nothing to him, but in truth, his heart was still pounding hard.

It was a miracle that Marsha didn’t hear his pounding heart.

Or rather, perhaps she heard it loud and clear but decided not to say anything.

From all the stories he’s read back in his home world, there are a lot of main characters who died—but that became a catalyst for them to not be afraid of death anymore. But now that Deklan felt in for real, he’d say bullshit.

Having already experienced death once, the thought of dying again terrified him even more.

Even now, the pain lingered, and his body reacted strongly at even the sheer mention of death.

It was similar to a victim of stabbing.

None of the victims suddenly became less afraid of knives after the incident; in fact, the victims became even more scared of knives as the kind of damage knives could do kept playing on repeat in their minds, and that’s the natural course of survival instincts.

Being ambushed by Adrian and Hendrick, though, poses the same threat, but doesn’t feel the same as this.

Right now, he actually didn’t know whether he survived or not, and that made his entire body tremble.

Deklan looked at his trembling, ghostly hand.

Earlier, the uncertainty of whether he would survive or not made him retaliate fearlessly.

So much so that he didn’t even recognize who he was at the time.

Blinding the wolf, cradling its snout to save his arm, and even desperately searching for a way to bring it down in a feral manner—Deklan had done it all in the spur of the moment. It was as if another, more violent part of him had taken control at the moment to save his life.

One would say that it was the survival instincts kicking in, but it wasn’t.

Deklan could feel that this was different.

Shit... Don’t tell me the violent impulses I’ve always had become something more in this world.

He rubbed his temple as memories of the months spent suppressing his violent impulses—flooded back like a tidal wave. Deklan had fought hard to reach this state for the sake of himself and Paul, and he’d be furious with himself if he ever slipped back into old habits again.

Either way, I need to get used to this sensation—but that’s easier said than done.

On the other hand, Marsha’s mind wandered to the battle earlier.

Since she ended up watching the battle from start to finish, she recalled how, at one point, specifically when the wolf headbutted Deklan—from the side, the air around him changed. She saw the light in his eyes change to one that she had never seen.

It was scary.

Just thinking back at the moment made Marsha swallow harshly.

Deklan showed another side of himself at that moment, one that emanated a chilling air.

"Never mind me, what was that earlier?" Deklan held Marsha’s shoulders and pushed her away—from him. "Didn’t I ask you earlier what powers you have? How come you didn’t tell me that you can do that cool vine thingy?"

"I... I also didn’t know I could do that, young master," Marsha waved both of her hands.

It was also the spur of the moment.

Something within her awakened when she saw Deklan being torn apart, and that happened.

Hearing this, Deklan sneered inside.

Is she the main character or me? Aren’t I supposed to be the one who awakened a dormant power when push comes to shove? She got a power-up, while I got mauled by the damn Ghost. How in the world is that fair to me?

[Host, you have two lives. So, what you presumed as push comes to shove was in fact NOT push comes to shove.]

Am I talking to you? A man can’t complain even inside his head now?

[I guess a deadbeat could.]

Fuck you.

[Check the notification log, host. You missed something earlier because you were pissing your pants.]

A vein throbbed on Deklan’s forehead, but he regulated his breaths with a breathing technique and let the insult roll off his ego. Over and over, he reminded himself that he was a benevolent man—far beyond petty provocations from a machine with too much personality.

Just as the system stated, there are a few notices that he missed.

[You died.]

[Ding!]

[First Death achievement has been completed!]

[Elementary Phasing skill has been awarded!]

Hmm...? Elementary Phasing skill?

...

[Elementary Phasing]

Rank: B

Description: Allow the host to consciously manipulate the flow and density of mana within the host’s own body, temporarily altering their composition. This allowed the host to phase through solid objects with low mana density. It can only be used during Ghost form.

...

Deklan read through the skill description and was pleasantly surprised by it.

It can only be used while he is in this form, but this skill made one thing clear for him.

Since this skill only activates in my current state, I doubt I’ll have to die every time just to use it. The system may be unbearably annoying when it speaks, but it wouldn’t give me—that much of a handicap, which means I can consciously shift between forms.

I only need to learn how.

Other than getting a skill, there are a few more notifications that caught Deklan’s attention.

In fact, these last ones were the ones he was most curious about.

[Congratulations, host, a hidden condition of the Ghost Conqueror skill has been met!]

[The Ghost Conqueror skill has been upgraded!]

[Host can check the upgraded details by opening the Ghost Conqueror skill description.]

Deklan did exactly that as he navigated to his status panel.

...

[Ghost Conqueror]

Rank: ???

Description: Host can capture all Ghosts and Supernatural entities!

First Technique — Doppelganger (Assimilation): Now, the host can scan the soul of a deceased Ghost to harvest its Minor Presence and assimilate it into the skill. Minor Presence harvest depends on the gap between the host’s power and the targeted Ghost.

Weapon Persona:

Slot 1 — (Empty)

Slot 2 — (Locked)

Slot 3 — (Locked)

...

Unlike the first time he saw the Ghost Conqueror skill description, it was now a lot longer.

Now, with the upgrade, he unlocked the first technique, doppelganger.

If Deklan understood the skill description correctly, he could now harvest the Minor Presence of a dead Ghost—and assimilate it into the Ghost Conqueror skill. In other words, he can now enhance the power of the weapon he created using the Ghost Conqueror skill.

Perhaps with this, his weapon wouldn’t shatter as easily as earlier.

And from the sound of it, the Doppelganger technique was similar to assimilating himself with a Ghost.

Instead of having a persona that would transform himself, he can now transform the weapon he created using the Ghost Conqueror skill into a weapon persona. Recalling how strong Agna the Red Scarecrow was, this was an incredible upgrade.

Doesn’t that mean I have double power boosts?

Deklan can already picture what this Doppelganger technique would allow him to do.

Say that he wielded a spear like earlier, then pairing it with a Weapon Persona that amplified his physical damage output would make each strike far more devastating. If he were using a Glock 19, a persona that enhanced penetration or triggered explosive impacts would turn it into a truly lethal weapon.

Since he can create any weapon with his Ghost Conqueror skill, any Weapon Persona is also welcome.

He can match what he has with the weapon he chose.

A grin stretched Deklan’s lips from ear to ear, excited at the future prospect of this technique.

It wouldn’t take long before he could easily defeat a bronze-rank Ghost.

Once he awakened his Mana Veins and learned the way of Exorcists on top of having a Ghost body, he would start hunting bronze-rank Ghosts and harvest their Minor Presence. Until then, he got to be happy with the one he had before him.

Deklan’s eyes landed on the Drifting Skeletal Wolf carcass.

He was going to try out his new technique on it.

Just then, however, he caught Marsha in time when she suddenly slumped to the ground.

He caught her by the waist and looked at her in confusion and worry.

"What’s wrong? Did you hurt yourself?"

"I... I think I exhausted my mana."

"No, your sanity is very low—you’re worn down," Deklan checked Marsha’s status window and found her sanity was at thirty-five points. He didn’t know what would happen if the sanity stat reached zero, but he reckoned it was not something good. "Come, sit down here and rest."

Gently, Deklan helped her sit down on the ground and lean against a tree.

Seems like the Spirit Talisman wasn’t potent enough to entirely block the wolf’s Minor Presence.

Even Deklan earlier got influenced a bit despite wearing the Spirit Talisman.

I lost 25 points earlier, and that should be after the Iron Spine passive skill. That means—she must have lost about 50 points.

Deklan’s Iron Spine passive skill reduced 50% of sanity loss from all sources.

From that alone, Marsha, who didn’t have any passive skill like that, must’ve lost about fifty points.

"But, young master, aren’t we going to the inner area? I can still walk..."

"No need to push yourself. We didn’t plan on fighting a powerful Ghost like that, so let’s rest up—and try again tomorrow. Besides, I still haven’t recovered my physical body yet."

"Ah... right."

"Just rest for a bit, and we’ll go back after you’re feeling better."

Marsha nodded her head and leaned her head back against the tree, closing her eyes for a moment.

On the other hand, Deklan walked away and went to his torn body.

Or at least, that’s what he initially thought, but he stopped mid-track as he thought of something.

"I have the Elementary Phasing skill—and in this form, my body is stronger even though the sun is still up," Deklan looked skyward and nodded, deciding that he’d make use of this form first. "I’ll repair my body later. First, I’ll take a peek into the inner area."

Deklan closed his eyes and expanded his senses.

In this form, his perception was also higher, and he could sense whether there were Ghosts nearby.

Fortunately, there was not, so leaving Marsha here should be fine.

From their location, it wasn’t that far away from the inner area, so he would only take a few minutes at most.

Deklan turned and headed to the Drifting Skeletal Wolf carcass.

He stood before the carcass and saw a notice appearing right above it.

[This Ghost’s Minor Presence can be harvested.]

Nodding inwardly, Deklan pointed his hand toward the carcass and activated the newly upgraded Ghost Conqueror skill. His eyes bear witness as a pristine white aura seethed from the carcass, and soon, under his manipulation, a heart was harvested out of the carcass.

It was the Drifting Skeletal Wolf’s Paranormal Heart.

[Paranormal Heart: Stalking Shadow has been successfully harvested.]