The faint rise and fall of her chest brought a fleeting sense of relief.
He closed his eyes, recalling his promise.
You will live.
While he was drowned in thoughts, space elementals churned behind him.
The air shimmered and twisted as a portal formed, casting a faint silver glow around the room.
The Principal’s doll emerged from within.
The doll’s porcelain face remained expressionless as it bowed.
“Neo Hargraves, we have been ordered by the master to guide you towards a training room. You can complete your breakthrough there.”
…
Elizabeth’s Dreamspace
In an empty dark voice, a figure with ash white hair and blood red eyes sat with her knees huddled close to her chest.
Her eyes were closed and she seemed to be in a deep sleep.
The nightmares she had been haunted by for days had suddenly stopped.
Thanks to it, she had a serene expression.
“Guardian fairy?” she mumbled in sleep.
In her memories, she could see a ‘guardian fairy’ watching over her throughout her life.
When she was a child, when she used to cry, when she felt lonely, when she felt helpless.
She had never been alone like she used to believe.
The guardian fairy was always with her.
…
Demigod Academy
“Okay.”
Neo stood up.
He took one last look at Elizabeth before following the dolls through the portal.
The swirling energy enveloped him, and in an instant, he was transported to a large, empty training hall.
The room was imposing, with thick black walls that absorbed sound and seemed almost indestructible.
The faint hum of magical wards in the air hinted at the precautions taken to secure the space.
‘Sphinx must’ve told the Principal to prepare the place for me.’
‘I need to find a way to hide my status screen from that bastard. Or else, it will always know about my progress.’
Neo cleansed his thoughts, taking a deep breath to center himself.
He sat in a meditative position and willed for his status to appear.
[Emphatic Bond evolution pathways]
[1. Empathic Echo: The user can leave a lasting imprint of an emotions or thoughts on others, creating a “echo” that influences their behavior long after the bond is severed. This can be used to inspire courage, instill fear, or plant subtle suggestions. (Can be stacked 3 times]
[2. Empathic Veil: The user can create a special bond with allies, and use their bond to mask their own or their ally’s emotions, making them undetectable to empathic or mind-reading abilities. This can also extend to hiding their presence from magical or spiritual detection. (Max bond: 3)]
[3. Empathic Transcendence: The empathic bond evolves to a level where the user can connect with non-human entities, such as animals, spirits, or even the environment itself. This could allow the user to communicate with nature, summon spiritual allies, or harness the power of the world around them.]
[4. Soulbound Covenant: The user can form Oaths. Breaking the covenant would have severe consequences. (Max: 5)]
Neo was mildly surprised.
All skills were top tier.
Empathic Echo would allow him to alter a person’s thoughts sneakily.
There was no need to mention how useful that was.
As for Empathic Veil, he didn’t need its mind-protecting ability, but the ability to hide presence was a huge bonus.
It could be invaluable for stealth missions or evading detection.
Empathic Transcendence was a bust for the most part.
Neo rubbed his chin thoughtfully, glancing at the skill descriptions floating before him.
He could roughly communicate with animals and spirits with his Intent.
It was the last portion of the skill description that intrigued him.
‘What does environment mean here?’ Neo wondered. ‘Does it mean I can talk with Elementals if I use this skill?’
If it was true, then this skill was tremendously powerful.
No one could use affinities except the ones they were born with.
Neo could get extra affinities from the System and True Darkness.
However, he wouldn’t know what and when the System rewards would come, and extraction with True Darkness depended on luck.
‘People can’t communicate with other Elementals except the ones they have affinity with.’0
‘I think I can do that if I take this skill.’
It would allow Neo to use all elements as long as he could form a good relationship with the Elementals.
It was risky, but powerful.
‘SoulBond Covenant is also useful,’ he thought. ‘I won’t need to worry about someone backing away from their words if I use this skill.’
Neo withheld making any decisions for the moment and turned his attention to the evolution pathways for Primogenitor.
[Primogenitor Evolution Pathways.]
[1. Swordsmaster: Amplifies the user’s swordsmanship to unparalleled levels, increasing both their innate talent and comprehension of sword techniques by 1,000%.]
[2. Crownless King: A ruler without a throne, this trait symbolizes unyielding authority and transforms loyalty into strength. For every person who pledges their loyalty to you, a portion of their abilities becomes yours to wield.]
[3. Warmonger: A temporary boost of 0.01% in abilities for every additional enemy faced alone. Stackable.]
[4. Battleborn: Permanently increasing all of the user’s abilities, including talents and masteries by 0.01%, for every enemy they defeat who is equal to or stronger than themselves.]
Neo looked at the skill descriptions.
‘Swordmaster is simple. It does just as the name says and it’s powerful.’
The skill would help him refine his combat abilities.
He lowered his gaze and looked at the Crownless King trait.
‘I can get abilities from those who vow their loyalty to me?’
‘This sounds overpowered but…’
Questions immediately sprang to mind.
‘How many people can I bond to?’
‘How much abilities can I get from them? 1% or 100%?’
‘What if they aren’t loyal to me or if they betray me? Would I get a backlash?’
There were too many unknowns.
Neo furrowed his brow.
The skill description didn’t mention the number of people who could pledge him their loyalty.
‘Maybe I could use this skill with an infinite number of people?’
If that were true, it would be an unparalleled ability.
‘Even if I only got 0.001% of abilities from every target, it would still be incredible.’
‘Just the Luminera continent has trillions of people. Using the skill on even half of them would make me infinitely stronger than I am now.’ Read new adventures at My Virtual Library Empire
Neo’s gaze shifted to the next skill.
‘Warmonger.’
‘Its description is also pretty self-explanatory.’
‘I get stronger the more enemies I face at once.’
He frowned.
‘But the boost is only temporary.’
The fourth trait drew his attention next.
It was similar to Warmonger but had a more specific condition.
‘It needs me to defeat opponents who are as strong as me or stronger, and I can increase my talent, masteries, and stats.’
‘It’s not easy to defeat enemies like that.’
While this skill sounded simple and strong, using it on the field would be difficult and time-consuming.
The faint hum of the system interface persisted as he sat in silent contemplation, the glow of the descriptions illuminating the determination etched onto his face.
…
Author’s Note:
Comment which two traits you want Neo to choose. I will consider the most voted traits and might choose them for Neo’s evolution!