The cloud of Null Life Essence slowly dissipated to reveal a different figure than that it last hid. This one didn't look as powerless. It seemed to truly embody the name that was sizzling in light blue over its chest.
Replicus paid close attention.
While he did put his all into giving the Apostle a name, he wondered if he himself qualified as a user of the Half-hearted Binder worthy of bringing out more potential from his new summon.
The guidance field rushed to announce what he wanted to know.
[You gave granted your Apostle the name 'ARAEYN DERAGIN EXONN']
[The name 'ARAEYN DERAGIN EXONN' has been branded onto your Apostle, and it... he, as you deign he be called, hesitantly accepts]
[Due to your high rank in racial quality as a TITAN WORLD STORM PENETRATOR and outstanding mastery of the VEHEMENT BONE NULLMANCER class, your Apostle receives bonuses in his might]
"Oh..." Replicus voiced in surprise.
It seemed he had underestimated his attainments.
Barring what he accomplished on his own with the Vehement Bone Nullmancer class, his current race was a product of him earning extraordinarily good luck back then with the Chubby Remnant Child of Polarity. If he hadn't been so lucky as to be set on the path by that stroke of luck, he likely wouldn't are tasted the might of this particular race until many Tiers later.
"Heh. Show what this little bigger has," Replicus thought.
[Granted NAME blesses Apostle 'ARAEYN DERAGIN EXONN' with a doubling of all relevant stats]
[Granted NAME blesses Apostle 'ARAEYN DERAGIN EXONN' with a single, permanent evolution of all skills]
[Granted NAME blesses Apostle 'ARAEYN DERAGIN EXONN' with a qualitative augmentation to his Fond Calamity, Empyrean Ribbon]
[Fond Calamity, Empyrean Ribbon is upgraded from Legendary status to Mythical status]
And the Apostle's status was revealed.
~~~
[ Name : ARAEYN DERAGIN EXONN ]
[ Tier : 1 ]
[ Apostle Trait : None ]
[ Rank : None ]
[ Level : 1 ]
[ EXP (NLE) : 0/500 ]
[ Core : --- ]
[ Class : None ]
[ Race : Astute Duke of Transversal ]
[ Inv. Status : Furiously... but mildly pleased ]
---
[<Stats>]
[ Strength : Depends of Null Life Essence ]
[ Agility : Depends of Null Life Essence ]
[ Intelligence: On perpetual rise ]
[ Endurance : Depends on Null Life Essence ]
[ Luck : 0 ]
---
[ Health : Depends on Null Life Essence capacity ]
---
[ Mana : None ]
---
[ Null Life Essence(s) : 300,000/300,000; 80,000/80,000 ]
---
[<Skills>]
[ Excel | Lv.1 ]
[ Elite Null Life Aura | Lv.1 ]
[ Greater Flowing Hubris | Lv.1 ]
[ Null Extraction ]
[ Greatest Mana Understanding ]
<Racial>
[ Inverted Boundary | Lv.1 ]
[ Accelerated Inverted Boundary | Lv.1 ]
[ Grandiose Manifestation | Lv.1 ]
[ Dimensional Submission | Lv.1 ]
[ Imbued Fester Blights | Lv.2 ]
<Oddities>
[ Empyrean Ribbon ]
<Affinities>
Null Life Essence
...
~~~
It just so happened that when Replicus finished scanning through his new Apostle's status, the cloud of Null Life Essence cleared enough for the creature to come into full view.
Unlike its shorter, smaller appearance from before, the Apostle was now almost as tall as a full-grown man with a standard physique that would have made it look ordinary, if not for the pale, crumpled skin all over.
In as much as the Duke was humanoid... or rather human-like, its dark, hollow sockets, lack of a nose, and unnervingly wide mouth made the difference clear. The somewhat long, off-white hairs growing on its head opposed however, and Replicus was almost made to believe that he could self this latest brother, Araeyn – to shorten his name – as an albino twice removed from a sickly, tone-deficient aunt.
"You don't look so bad," Replicus said as he drew closer to the Apostle.
Vaguely, he could see some manner of interest and joy in Araeyn. He kept caressing his chest, which made Replicus wonder if he perhaps understood the meaning of his name.
"Doesn't help then that I'm shortening your name to 'He'," Replicus chuckled.
Araeyn silently looked up at Replicus with a haughty look. For someone so young, he looked rather old when his expression expressed any form of tension.
The Penetrator looked deep into the creature.
'Ah, I'm so jealous...' he thought.
Araeyn had no mana core, but he did have a Null Life Essence core.
Better yet, his core was like two compatible cores merged together to form one.
This, as Replicus saw, was because Araeyn was capable of producing and using two different types of Null Life Essence within his body, both of which were very potent.
Indeed, Araeyn was vastly different from Ferex and Red Rage in that regard alone, better even, as the pale Apostle also powered all his skills using Null Life Essence instead of mana. A step further into the absurdity, one would see that most of his stats depended solely on the amount of Null Life Essence he had.
Replicus sighed.
He knew the day would come, but to think he had an Apostle that far outclassed what Red Rage was. It was absurd.
Instead of being merely blessed by Serenity, Araeyn was a prodigy in various respects that thoroughly crushed Replicus' conceptions of the past.
'Creating a core that holds Null Life Essence is something that I have been trying to do for a while now. Unfortunately for me, a core can only be sustained when you can produce the essence it is supposed to hold. Since I can't produce Null Life Essence...' Replicus thought.
Araeyn was different.
Even now, the Penetrator could see a complex network within Araeyn's body that began from his core, and past his core, he could see two steady streams of Null Life Essence funneling into the cores.
Replicus shook his head.
He cleared himself of the momentary jealousy.
"Let's see. The name I gave you is supposed added on to what you already have..." he said.
Araeyn's stats were supposed to be doubled, but that seemed to relate more to his core as everything depended on that.
As for having the Apostle's skills evolve, Replicus couldn't exactly tell how much that benefit the Apostle. There was no classification of Normal, Special, Super, and Supreme for them.
He would have to test that.
For the thing to be enhanced because of the grand name...
"Let's see your Fond Calamity," Replicus said.
Araeyn only hesitated for a moment before doing as he was told.
From thin air, a very long, silky cloth appeared.
It was more like a hazy ribbon in a vermillion hue that wound around the Apostle and paused as if it had suddenly been turned solid.
Replicus looked at the object curiously.
Fond Calamities seemed to be very special objects among Null creatures. He had something similar, but it didn't function the same. As the name implied, Fond Calamities were items that the user would feel attached to, or vice versa.
They seemed a bit... personal.
The Penetrator appraised the long ribbon.
~~~
[Empyrean Ribbon]
<Mythical>
Four thousand enslaved Sages of the Musing Embroider were tasked to carefully create this beautiful piece over seven years, by an ambitious fiend that sought authority. Soon after it was finished, tales of its profound abilities, as well as its exploits in the hands of the ambitious fiend called upon powers that coveted it so much, that they killed the fiend and each other for it.
-Special Effects-
? Responds to the user's will
? Can find anything that the user desires
? Can heal itself with Null Life Essence
? Embodies traits of the user to make itself stronger
? Extremely resistant to physical and elemental attacks
? Can stretch as far as is needed
---
[Skill: Suffocate]
Whoever this Empyrean Ribbon wraps around will be flooded with Null Life Essence from the body to the core until all their active abilities are shut down.
---
[Skill: Crossition]
By expending the user's Null Life Essence, the Empyrean Ribbon can create alternate versions of received attacks and send them back to their source.
---
[Skill: Gluttonous Bringing]
Once a certain number of substantial sacrifices are fed to the Empyrean Ribbon, it gains the ability to draw restricted essences, their bodies, essences, and weapons are mutated and fed directly to the user. This skill works in combination with [Imbued Fester Blights].
~~~
Replicus laughed.
'Red Rage could never,' he thought.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om