Chương 69: Chapter 70: Goal (I)

Despite his initial enthusiasm, Ember resisted the urge to acquire a new skill immediately. He had scrolled through the available options idly, having pinpointed his particular choice. Still, he decided to wait for Dawn before accepting a skill. He was certain there would be no issue with taking Mana Weaving. Even Kinetic Release was a good option, as it could enhance his Kinetic Attunement more quickly. In fact, most skills were useful in one way or another.

The dilemma lay in the limited skill slots and determining what would be most beneficial for his specific needs. In his use case, Mana Weaving definitely took precedence over Kinetic Release. As his eyes lingered on the skill prompt, another status window expanded into view. [Enemy slain: Earthen Basilisk (Tier 7 - Level 141)] [Hunting (Copper) +8 —> 9] [+90 EPs.] Ember tilted his head and let out a breath of relief, his heart easing.

While the notification reassured him, he wasn't sure what his contribution had been for the system to notify him. He had mostly been a nuisance to the basilisk. His spell barely did much to be a factor in its death. The most impactful, obviously, was when it collapsed into the pit, and even then, Ember only wanted it to bugger off somewhere else. As for the unexpected skill gain... I guess survival is also one of the main facets of being a hunter.

Still, it was somewhat peculiar that he was only gaining the skill after its death, when he had managed to save himself from the basilisk a couple of days ago. Was the system holding his proficiency in the skill hostage, or was the empowerment of a skill allocated by the system? After some thought, he decided to deactivate the veil and wait for her arrival. After all, the group from the Asaraii clan would be too preoccupied with their loot to care about others.

Yet, as soon as the shadowy veil opened and disintegrated into thin air, a piercing cry reverberated through the expanse.

"Huh?" He peered in that direction. If the basilisk were dead, where were those shrieks coming from? Then, finally, the person who could provide the answer came into his peripheral view, her lithe form cutting through the darkness like a willowy dancer. Although Dawn likely noted his presence, he still waved his hand, welcoming her.

"How did it go?" he asked, examining her form. There was no sign of injury, which was good.

"Did you..." A smile lit her expression as Dawn lifted her hand, and a bunch of charred staves fell from her storage, one after another. His eyes widened as he blinked, ensuring he wasn't seeing things. There were not one, not two, but four magic staffs lying at his feet. They weren't recently burnt either, seemed more like a goblin crafting quirk. Two of them held a fiery crimson orb at their top ends.

Another had a pale greenish stone, and the last one lacked any colour, transparent, with a cloud-like marking on its surface.

"Well," she said, her lips widening into a grin.

"Now you have no more excuses." Ember gulped unconsciously.

"I only needed one. Why did you go out of your way to bring this many?"

"I think I've told you already. It's not confirmed you'll succeed in attaining an attunement from these elemental crystals. They'll only give you a shot. Besides, there's little difference between stealing one and four. You won't believe how easy it was. I just trailed behind your friends, and when they had successfully seized the sticks from the dying goblins, I just snuck behind the girl who was in charge of keeping the loot, and bam, struck her head with my staff and stole all four of them at once."

He blinked at her, unsure how she was the same girl, the soft-spoken, aloof girl from the very first day he met her.

"Trust me, they'd be busy with the basilisk for some time now," she continued with some insinuation. Well, it was a small consolation for the stunt that bastard Ezamin had pulled against them. Ember picked the staffs up quickly and examined them with his new spell. Although he didn't have most of their attunements, he could easily tell which one referred to which element. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"By the way, one of them just boosts kinetic force. Although you already have the attunement, it would still aid in raising your proficiency in it, or you may just want to use them as a staff." It was the one with the grey cloud of aura swelling within. Ember had noticed it already. The green one was of wind attunement, while the two with the angry reddish orb were pretty evident, referring to the element of fire.

"You should attempt to assimilate one of those fire ones first," Dawn continued.

"Fire is one of the easier elements, along with kinetic. And with your name, if you can gain the title, learning firefall, it would be poetic, don't you think?" A silly smile curled up on his lips as he held one of the fire staves in his other arm. Finally, he could have a chance at flinging fireballs at his enemies. Then it came to him: although his name would fit better with fire spells, would it not make him look more 'chunni'?

His line of thought was soon cut short by more of the horrible shrieks echoing from deeper parts of the chasm. Ember bobbed his head to look up at her again.

"By the way, I got a notification about the basilisk dying. It cannot come back to life, can it?"

"Oh, that?" Dawn unconsciously turned her head in the direction of the shrieks.

"We might or might not have a problem at hand." Her gaze returned to him.

"Remember you told me about the basilisk egg?" Ember nodded.

"Apparently, the great serpent, despite all of its capabilities, could not lay an egg of its own."

"So that came from its partner?" Realisation dawned on him immediately, as he felt a twist in his stomach.

"It was of the same tier, but a weaker variant," she continued.

"Hopefully, the goblins will keep its ire while we sneak out of this region.""'Was'?" Ember repeated.

"You said it was of the same tier?"

"It could still be Tier 7 now, but who knows?" She shrugged.

"After its partner died, it came out of hiding to devour the core from the hands of the goblins. By the time it finishes digesting it, it can advance to Tier 8. Of course, that is if the goblins let it." Ember felt a few beads of sweat forming on his forehead as he listened to her.

"Snakes are cold-blooded creatures, but there's nothing to worry," Dawn assured him.

"For the most part, that mummy basilisk is the goblins' responsibility. Feel free to absorb the essence of those elemental crystals and get your title. Once we get the chance, we'll get out of here without a scratch. Well, no more than we've already sustained." Ember nodded, and only then did he remember about his title. A grin split his lips.

"I forgot to mention," he said with the same enthusiasm he had when he first got the news from the system, "I have already become a magic apprentice." Dawn regarded him and then inclined her head in approval, as though it was no surprise to her.

"So what spell did you learn? Analyse or something else?"

"Sensate. It's an alternative form of sensing ability, I guess. So far, the best I'm at is recognising the temperature of the things I'm examining." She nodded.

"Then we can just retreat now. With your proficiency in Mana Weaving, I bet you are just a couple of days away from making it to Tier 6. We would need somewhere safe for the advancement." Ember smiled awkwardly, scratching his head.

"The look on your face tells me there's something amiss." Dawn frowned.

"Don't tell me you have gotten some other skills instead of Mana Weaving."

"No, no, I haven't accepted any skills yet. I was just waiting for you to come back before committing anything." She pursed her lips. Clearly, he was not yet convincing her.

"I have a few questions I want to ask before I accept any skill."

"Ask away," she obliged, still eyeing him with the same look. Ember opened his lips, but no words came out. He was still unsure if it would be the right call to disclose his gold skill prompts.

"I don't see your problem," she said disapprovingly.

"With how fast you learn spells, you should blindly take Mana Weaving, even if you have a good silver alternative. Remember, my dumb protégé, a well-trained skill in which you are proficient is always better than an untrained skill of even a higher tier." Ember committed her words to memory.

"Is that true for gold skills as well?" he finally found his voice.

"It's more complicated there. For most gold skills, it probably won't be worthwhile to invest in something you will never be proficient in, considering the skill slot cost, but even a barely trained gold skill can change—" She paused, finding something amiss with his expression. Her eyes sharpened as she examined him.

"Little Ember, are you hiding something from your dear mentor?" Ember gulped at how creamy her voice had become.

"No," he rasped.

"I mean, it's not—" He faltered, eased his breath, and finally decided there was no harm in telling her the truth. After everything she had helped him through, he didn't think there would be anything wrong with telling her.

"I may have the chance of acquiring a golden skill or two if I have enough skill slots." Emphasis on "skill slot" here because a gold skill would take a blasted 81 slots, which was enough for three silver skills, nine iron skills, or 27 copper skills. Ember was unsure if merely the ability to sense his soul or suppress would be enough to forgo so many slots. Besides, his soul seemed to barely worth a candle.

"How are you going to acquire a gold skill?" Dawn asked, still sounding unconvinced.

"Your tier is too low, and as you mentioned, your attunement hasn't grown to the level yet that you'll meet the requirement for gold skills. Even if your family can secure a skillstone, you are unlikely to meet the requirements anytime soon, unless..." She furrowed her brows as she regarded him head to toe.

"Don't tell me you have already received gold skill prompts, because that would be too outrageous!" Ember hesitated for one last time before giving a small nod.