Soul of Blades - Chapter 51: Bladed Hunter (Patreon)

A wave of pressure exploded from the incursion point, sending all who witnessed its birth sprawling to the ground. Alex knelt and braced, but the shockwave still shook his bones, sending him sliding back across the floor before coming to a stop, the impact forcing him to stabilise his position with a blade stabbed into the stone and earth. He rose before the others to witness the inevitable.

The centre of the red light had transformed into a menacing gateway, and from its depths, demonic-looking creatures began to spill into the settlement. Some large enough to see in detail, even from a distance. They were grotesque and formidable, an embodiment of power and heat, with their monstrous visages, horned muscular bodies, and powerful frames.

Without hesitation, he summoned the remaining skill crystal into his open palm, determined to test his latest class skill.

“Assimilate Nexus.” He studied the crystal curiously as he spoke, feeling mana surge within him to connect with the crystal before the world shifted and faded to black once more.

[System Message: Choose one of 2 Skills]

[F-Grade Skill 1: Deadly Flesh (Passive): permanently store a single weapon of your choosing within the caster's body. The weapon will fuse with the caster's body, able to be physically summoned to sprout from the caster's flesh, at any location in the caster's body. High levels of mastery will allow the caster to transform body parts into replicas of the stored weapon.

[F-Grade skill 2: Cyclone Shield (Active - Duration: 30 seconds): Creates a protective barrier of swirling winds. Winds defend and deflect from all angles with increased speed. High levels of mastery may allow redirection and longer cast times.]

Then, the holographic panel turned blood-red. A jumbled mess of glyphs across it, a confusing mess of symbols that made no sense. His heart skipped a beat as he saw the familiar phenomenon. A barely decipherable crimson message appeared before him.

[- ̶̯͇̈́̈͛Error- ̶̯͇̈́̈͛g̶̢̅̓͛͝nità̸̺̥̮͒ͅlimis̷̱̑̽̂̚s̷̸̯̲̺̟͈̅͐͌͜͝ǎ̴̂͗̅ͅ… ̶̯͇̈́̈͛]

[Target Primary Class: ̷̷͎̠̠̖̳̮̿́̏̄͝͠Sys̵̞̈́͆̓̓te̸̪̟͇͕͂mic SwO̷̟̮̙͚̔rd So̶̼̲͋͐͋͂ͅve̶̷̵̴̲̳̱reign]

Then, the jumbled text settled and the skills reappeared, both altered and enhanced to match his class.

They were wildly different.

[System Message: Choose one of 2 Skills]

[F-Grade Class Skill 1: BladeBody (Passive): The sovereign is one with the sword, transcending all limitations. Grants the ability to store blades of the caster's choosing within their body. Enchantments held by stored blades will be granted to the caster as active skills. Stored blades will fuse with the caster's body, able to be physically summoned to sprout from the caster's flesh, at any location in the caster's body. Blades can be exchanged and swapped or removed by the caster. High levels of mastery will allow the caster to store an increased number of weapons, enchantments, and higher-ranked blades. Current Blade slots: 1. Current Enchantment slots: 1

[F-Grade Class skill 2: BladeShield (Active - Duration: 30 seconds): The sovereign commands every Blade, the edge of their existence dependent on the sovereign’s beck and call. Creates a protective barrier of swirling Blades. Swords defend autonomously, preventing any without permission from entering the caster's range. The created swords defend, block, slice, and deflect from all angles, obliterating obstacles, and carving the earth with increased speed. High levels of mastery may allow redirection, control, offensive capabilities, and longer cast times.]

Hovering in the vast, silent expanse of his own mind, Alex faced the decision between two distinct routes to facing the impending calamity., each bursting with potential in the metaphysical space before him.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to deliberate. The reward is all that matters, he reminded himself. No matter what, he would have to be the sole person to close the incursion. It would be his first opportunity to see an item of a higher grade.

With the clock to the town's doom ticking, he reviewed his options.

His thoughts immediately shifted to BladeShield. "A barrier made of swords... that could give crucial breathing room in a fight," he speculated, imagining how it could fend off multiple attackers simultaneously. In his mind's eye, he saw it. Blades, mana-bound and ethereal, yet vividly present, would orbit around him. Each summoned blade bearing protection for its caster and danger for his enemies. He saw himself watching with fascination as the summoned swords moved with precision, a legion of steel encasing him and eviscerating attackers.

"Just thirty seconds," Alex noted, the duration of the skill imprinting itself in his consciousness.

Thirty seconds of being untouchable, assuming nothing is strong enough to break the weapons, I’d have swords flying around me like I'm the centre of a metal storm. That's got a certain 'don't mess with me' flair to it. It seemed well-suited to his present situation, but there was a crucial element that held the potential to limit the skill's usefulness. The limitation on the skill's duration, though… that could be a problem, he thought, plagued by indecision. It would only last 30 seconds. Once those thirty seconds are up, it's back to vulnerability. It was a sobering thought.

And then there was the prospect of a cooldown. All skills with duration periods seemed to be accompanied by cooldowns or activation conditions, like the Immortal Mamluk skill. In this instance, the panel held no detail on the BladeShield skill’s cooldown length; it could be three minutes, or thirty.

Trigger it too early, and I'm left exposed. Too late, and it might not beat them all...maybe at higher stages it’d have a low cooldown time, but I need to know what the exact number is right now, he thought with concerned impatience. When surrounded by innumerable creatures, each deadlier than the last and eager for your blood, even a single second could make the difference between victory and death. The uncertainty gave him pause.

Next, Alex ran his mental fingers over the prospect of BladeBody. "The number of swords and enchantments it stores is bound to increase with mastery, otherwise it wouldn’t have shown me a number at all. Eventually, all the swords I've collected would actually become a part of me," he realized, considering each of his possessed weapons’ unique enchantments.

Contemplating the BladeBody skill, he envisioned the seamless integration of steel and sinew it would allow. The first blade appeared in his mind’s eye, not summoned to his hand, or his previously defenceless flank, but emerging from it, the metal merging with flesh in a display of harmony between man and weapon.

BladeBody means the more swords I get, the better I can be. But BladeShield could give instant protection. What's going to keep me alive longer? What’s going to conquer the dungeon?

While BladeShield would only last 30 seconds, plus the undisclosed cooldown period, BladeBody’s activation could potentially last forever. As far as causing blades to shoot from his body was concerned. That aspect of the skill paired well with his Sovereign Executioner skill, he would be able to attack and defend from multiple directions. There was the possibility that as a passive, summoning blades from his body wouldn’t even have a mana cost, as long as he didn’t use the associated active skill.

Alex weighed the options, focusing on power over practical survival. His earliest encounter with an Incursion had taught him that survival only took you so far. Power was all that mattered.

He found himself leaning towards BladeBody.

"Storing swords in my body, huh?" Alex thought, attempting to picture the skill a final time. On the surface, it didn’t seem much different from the way he used the inventory skill, although it presented much more versatility and routes of attack. But that wasn’t where the skill would shine.

It was the enchantments.

Enchantments held by any stored blade would grant him additional skills, while stored blades could be swapped and interchanged with others. The more swords I find, the stronger I potentially become….That meant that as long as he held a collection of enchanted blades, he could have an endless amount of skills, each granting him the weapon’s enchantment.

But how does that work? He wondered, unsure. If I stored the bronze blade, would it let me stretch my limbs? Or would its enchantment extend to any sword or item I hold?

He hoped it would be both.

[Grade F Class Skill: BladeBody (Passive) selected!]

To become one with steel was to embrace the path of the blade. For a brief moment, Alex felt happy with his decision. It felt right.

The Moment was brief as he immediately felt his thoughts being pulled from the black space in a blur of rapidly increasing rates of time. His consciousness returned, he opened his eyes to a horde of descending creatures and found himself distracted, looking up toward the pillar of red light that parted the sky, a harbinger of the town's end.

It was a symbol of death, but not his. It stood in his way.

So it had to go.

It was starting to be such a nice day as well. He thought, eyeing the countless creatures ahead. The levels he would get from facing them would be… notable. Perhaps his day would get even nicer?

He smirked, his teeth bathed in red.