[NeoRealm] Chapter 47 - Only Death or Rebirth (Patreon)

Next morning as the last rabbits hop off Jason wakes up from his introspective meditation. Relief flows through him as while his concept of blood being wrong he wasn’t completely blind. Breaking it into the games terms most of his cultivation technique is all right. It is only the ability of “Blood is Life and the Heart it’s throne” that rings false. The description of his skill is mostly fluff so while the skill will need to be broken he won’t be starting over from scratch. Shaking his head as there isn’t much he can do Jason packs up his camp before heading out.

“With this new knowledge I have to change how I am cultivating. The training trip can still continue but I need to focus on discovering myself. At this point I don’t even know how having the magic bones will affect me let alone what I need to do with my cultivation. Now that I think about it, I didn’t feel those bones in me. Sure when that warped panther savaged my arm the bone was visible, but that doesn’t mean much.” Then Jason smacks himself and shakes his head. “No, stop trying to go down another rabbit hole. We will get to it when we get to it. First and foremost I need to train my punch during the day and self-discovery at night. This might slow me down but I need it. Oh, and while I am planning this out maybe some Strength training? That stat has barely gotten above base. I can see why people rarely get any growth even for stats they don’t put points into.” With a final shake of his head he sets off back into the wasteland.

Back out among the spires he continues his travels. Avoiding groups of monsters while training his punching skill on those that are alone or in pairs. A swift strike from the shadows is enough to remove an enemy from the fight and so his time isn’t too stressful. Though this does translate to almost no stat growth. Gaining only a single point in Toughness simply because he never stopped. Finally, about 4 hours before sunset he heads back into the plains.

On the way he grabs a large rock. Once settled down and with his camp set out this rock becomes an impromptu weight, he uses in between intense sessions of punching. This boosts Blast Punch up two levels and nets him +2 Strength. Decent gains though likely only so good as it is his first day of this training. After cooling off and eating dinner he settles down for his mediation.

The night passes but the vital threads in his body still escape his grasp. He even stops all his cultivation besides the purification to further his grasp on his body. The surrounding rabbits couldn’t be happier as he puts off more and more loose energy for them to rank up with. Next day as he comes to he doesn’t even pay attention to a few rabbit stragglers. He collects up his camp in a daze before dragging the rock back into the wasteland.

This cycle continues and the days pass him by until a week and a day later it happens. During his mediation the flow of blood goes away, his veins disappear, and his heart becomes silent. All that is left in his mind’s eye are nearly invisible filaments. Many times smaller than he in that hunters film. They are spread throughout his body. Way too many are caught up in the shape of his imaginary circulatory system with a knot of them were his heart was. This differs completely from what he saw in the high level monster’s body. There the threads were spread out and evenly distributed except around areas of interest like natural weapons. Satisfied with this Jason ponders on what his next step needs to be.

“I can’t keep them bound up in their current form. These threads must be important and I can’t have them tied up in a mockery of life. It even seems like threads in the heart’s knot are getting stiff. If I continued to cultivate as I was there would come a point that things would become permanent. I can’t be the first person to be unsatisfied with how a skill works so there should be some method to change it. First though let’s see how far I have progressed this past few days.” Then he says aloud, “System Show Character Sheet and Display Changes since last Viewed”

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Basic Info

Name: Jason

Level: 6 - 73.7% [+1lv 73.7%]

Legal Status: New Player

Title: N/A

Normal Stats

• Strength 33 (19[Base] +10[Eq] +4[Set]) [+7]
• Toughness 39 (25[Base] +10[Eq] +4[Set]) [+1]
• Agility 37 (23[Base] +10[Eq] +4[Set]) [+4]

Auxiliary Stats

• Defense 42 (30[Eq] +12[Set])
• HP 30
• Energy 3

Bonuses

Knowledge Bonus:

• +2% [+1%] success rate when using an Energy Herb as an ingredient or growing one.
• Ability to identify the maturity of a Herb with relevant Identify skills

Discovery Bonus:

• +2% [+1%] success rate when using an Energy Herb or growing one
• Able to get a feeling for maturity of a Herb without a skill
• Control of Experience intake

Living Amber Skeletal System

Description:

This masterpiece of magical items is the opposite of the undead. While undead are the living that are killed and turned into magical items, this is a magical item turned into a living piece of a creature. An intricately carved full skeleton made entirely of Magical Amber. It was then hollowed out leaving just the barest of a lattice work. When magically implanted into the host the bone marrow was grafted into these cavities. Because of difficulties and dangers that appear when trying to enchant a living creature they have instead been imbued with magic.

Effects:

• Sap like Blood - The blood produced by the marrow is more viscous and sticky when it leaves the body. Slower bleed rate and more likely to stop bleeding
• Crafted Bones - Because of the material and structure, the bones are tougher and can take an impact easier
• One and the Same - Despite being a magical item they will not show up as a separate item and only appear under the possessors character screen. Any attempt at removal will face the same difficulties as removing a person's actual bones.
• Soulbound - Not even death will part you from this item

Bonuses:

• +5 [base] toughness
• +5 [base] hp

Organizations

Adventurers Guild - Basic Member - Rank F

Odd Ones Out - Team Member - Leader

Skills

Energetic Body Reinforcement

Through a special training method you have infused your very Energy into your cardiovascular system. You have stepped down the path of perfecting your body. As you train further in it, your body will toughen. Most important though is that your body will start to become like an enchanted item allowing you to damage that which is resistant to normal physical damage. Because of your filtering cycle you will gain less Energy but the Energy will be extremely pure.

Apprentice Level 1 - 63.4% [+46.9%]

Rank: Unique

Type: Passive, Cultivation

Effects:

• Filtering Cycle - Gain only 10% of absorbed energies but they are extremely pure
• Purity of energy - Because of the purity of your energy higher levels have a lower scaling on what is needed to level it and it does more
• Blood is Life and the Heart it’s throne - Passive regeneration .083hp/second
• Body/Mind Unification - Despite any stat limitations your ability to fully control your body strengthens
• Energized Flesh - Can hit incorporeal things for 1% of normal damage with body
• Material Body - With time your body can become like living metal or hard like a diamond

Desolate Traversal Technique

A combination of traditional parkour and energy use. While considered a basic skill it is highly ranked among them. Generally learned rogues it is however open for anyone to learn.

Initiate Level 4 - 45.35% [+44.05%]

Rank: Normal Beginner

Type: Passive, Movement

Effects:

• Traction Assist - Based on predicted goal the System will slightly modify the friction between user and any surfaces they are in contact with
• Powered Grip - Through the use of energy a user is able to temporarily stick to surfaces

Blast Punch (Variant)

The normal Blast Punch is a ranged mana based skill similar to burning hands. A magic user would concentrate pure Mana around his fist then punch the air sending out a glowing ball of pure magic. Someone developed this skill to help fire mages counter low level fire based enemies. Preferred over the mana missile skill as the user does not have to focus on guiding it and thus allow dodging directly after use. However, that is not this skill. Not only has it been changed to use Energy instead of Mana it is no longer ranged. This Blast Punch is like the classic one inch punch, trying to get the most out of a short distance. However, instead of focusing the body’s explosive strength into a small burst of motion this skill focuses the users Energy. While someone can use it with a regular punch as long as the fist is punching the skill will work. This change causes the skill to no longer be ranged but as a tradeoff the Energy will only be used on a hit and some Energy will be pushed directly into the enemy providing armor piercing.

Novice Level 5 - 72.05% [+4lv 72.05%]

Rank: Variant Beginner

Type: Energy Attack

Effects:

• Frugal - This attack only uses energy on a successful hit
• Pure Force - Not affected by most types of resistance
• Armor Piercing - As the attack partially forms inside the enemy some damage will ignore armor. At the current level this distance is short and so will not pierce equipment or exceptionally thick natural armor.

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“Nice to see my level is getting up there. Though the cultivation skill is as slow as ever. Knowing what is up with it now this isn’t a bad thing for me. Too quickly and I wouldn’t be able to fix it. However, looking at my sheet reminds me. I have a magic item taking the place of my ‘bones’ at the moment. Problem is I don’t have bones. Didn’t feel them earlier when I was checking my internals so where are they?” After thinking about his bones for a while Jason just sighs and shakes his head. “No point in worry about it. Since I can’t sense my bones they shouldn’t interfere with what I want to do. Guess it is time to restructure my insides.”

Goal in mind Jason sinks back into meditation. The filaments now standing out starkly against everything else in his body. As he sits there letting the local energy flow through he tries to move the weakest of the filaments. Through will alone a lonely thread at the end of his pinky toe twitches. Not enough though to make any permanent changes. In fact, if a sensitive enough healer had observed they would have seen a blood vessel burst there, though quickly healed by his natural regen.

Experiments, one right after another. Jason sits there lost in the process. Finally, after a day and a night pass him by a breakthrough happens. When using his Energy with his will the filaments can be scatter. It isn’t quite a purposeful movement but in Jason’s deep meditative state he notices something. While the filaments do randomly scatter, they keep moving till they fall into a new order. Proceeding along his toes he continues to break up his cardiovascular system. Once he reaches the foot proper though, he takes a hit of damage. Despite the veins being false the System still counts them as vitals.

At a deep level Jason now understands how hard this will be. As his HP heals the filaments in not only his foot but the toes as well return to the old positions. He needs to change things quickly and not die from literally destroying his own heart. In fact, if he dies there is a chance that it will lock his system down. Deciding not to rush into things Jason takes the time to slowly go over every vein in his body. Two more days pass as he is familiarizing himself with his internals. Then he is ready.

Like a bomb going off in his chest Jason detangles his heart threads and instantly takes 5 damage. Using the force of this energy release he continues through the rest of his chest and down to his waist as another 4 damage ticks away. Splitting his focus now he has the process travel up his limbs. Like a string of firecrackers, blood is bursting out all over his body and is now working its way down his arms and legs. Another 6 damage ticks away, both from the damage and the bleeding. Completing his feet and hands bring him down another 7. On the last bit he works his way up his neck as another 3 HP flies away. Finally, all at once he scrambles his head losing 4 HP and his thoughts become blurry. Through sheer will alone, he stays awake long enough to see his work complete. However, one last HP bleeds away. Now dying he forces himself to stabilize. Seconds pass by and become minutes as he lays there half dead at zero HP.