Chương 72: Chapter 73: New Attunement (I)

"You can do that?" Ember asked.

"Stripping off a skill, wouldn't it cause an issue later down the road?"

"It is an option, but we should never treat it lightly, even if it is a low-grade, untrained skill." She paused, trying to form the right words for her explanation.

"You see, every skill, even the common ones, tends to be connected with our soul. The more we train and gain proficiency in the skill, the more it will expand our soul. Of course, the soul body isn't entirely made of skills, but losing even a fraction of it may cause bodily and spiritual harm.

"Now, in practice, if you are to strip a common skill, you might barely face any consequences. It might just be limited to a couple of instances of migraine. However, a high-level skill at silver or higher might even lead to an almost incurable ailment like soul-body dysmorphia. For higher skills, ascendants are advised to wait until they advance to Gold before attempting, not that the process becomes any simpler, just that your entire body, mind, and soul are far stronger to endure the consequences."

Ember thought about all the skills he would have no problem losing. The first that came to mind were the two skills he had unintentionally gained. While Toxin Tolerance was only a copper skill and at a lower level—and would not cause any dire consequence—removing it would only return him three skill slots, which would still not be enough even with an Apprentice Alchemist title.

Mind Wall, on the other hand, was iron, and he had gained much proficiency in it over the years, let alone it had become almost an inseparable part of his skill set. The skill was highly reliable, and not just against psionic attacks like what he faced against that skink or that basilisk. Ember had faced more than a few notable troubles in a couple of his outings, but he still couldn't say he'd be as composed as he was if not for Mind Wall.

Only by relying on Mind Wall did he maintain a calm front against his adversary.

"Wait," Then something dawned on him, as he perked up, "if I remove a skill, will I lose the evolution points I gained from it?" This should be one of the bigger concerns, as he wouldn't want to regress a tier if that was possible.

"Actually, no," Dawn smiled.

"But the next time you gain a level in skills, you wouldn't gain any evolution points until you make up for them."

"Hmm, that made sense."

"The best outcome for you," Dawn said, "would be to find a mentor for runes. While a master alchemist can also aid your study in alchemy, if you wish to continue, you should leave skill removal as the last resort." Ember nodded, clenching his fist as a new resolve gripped his heart. Those two titles should provide him with just enough skill slots that he might only have to remove one of his common skills. Ember was fine with either of them.

As for finding mentors, he imagined most who had the opportunity to take on an apprentice and grant them extra skill slots would have already used their two slots. His father had enquired among the few mages he knew about taking him as their apprentice, to no avail. Most of them had not even taken it seriously, saying he was too young.

'Perhaps there will be more chances once I get into the Seynhold Academy.' Even the military might be a good option, considering there was a tradition of higher-ranking officers taking recruits under their wing at every season. Now that he was finally displaying true potential, it would not be as difficult, though he would have to be careful about choosing an appropriate mentor, lest they abuse their power over him. Just like a silver-class mentor could give extra skill slots, they could take them away as well.

Ember would want to meet the other criteria, such as the six elementary scripts and six potions, as soon as he could if it ever came to be, as then he would be an apprentice in each field by his own right. Of course, in a civil society, they could not just abuse it blatantly, as there were still rules and regulations in place. But Ember would still want to stay on the safe side, even if Seynhold's court was well-regarded in serving justice.

"Well, the best thing is that you still have some time," Dawn said as he returned to his full form, donning all his hunter attire.

"For now, you should focus on gaining a few attunements." Ember nodded and thanked her, which she waved off as if nothing. He believed he hadn't thanked her enough for everything she had done for him.

"Give me a minute," Dawn said, bringing out the magical staff.

"I need to remove the elemental crystal from the formation, or you won't be able to absorb them." With that, a few breaths of mana sprang from her palm and immediately infused into the staff to dislodge the spherical elemental stone. She handed him the fire crystal before moving on to the wind staff.

"Isn't the staff still usable?" Ember couldn't help but ask.

"They are," she answered without lifting her head, "for the Goblins, that is. You will find your mana is not as efficient running through the staff as the dirty mana from those Goblin shamans is. Of course, the problem can be solved by changing a few scripts and refining the crystal some more. Sadly, neither of us are capable of such sorcery." The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Ember could only watch as she stripped the elemental crystals from the staff one by one.

"Besides, these are all lower-grade items, barely worth much." To you, they aren't, Ember screamed inwardly.

"I'm curious," he interjected.

"Where did those Goblins even find these crystals? Are there elemental crystal mines in this dungeon?"

"That's," she tilted her head, considering, "unlikely. As far as I know, they are not pure elemental crystals formed by natural phenomena. It's more of an alchemised form manifested out of this Goblin's bloodline magic." Even those dirty, snivelling Goblins have a bloodline, he thought in distaste.

"Those Goblin Shamans, once they come of age, they undergo a sacrificial ritual where they offer beast or monster cores, linking them with their blood to form an elemental staff attuned to their affinity."

"That sounds rather neat."

"It's nothing too complicated." Dawn snorted.

"Without their inherent magic, these staffs would be no better than caveman artefacts." Once she had removed all three elemental crystals, leaving only a fire staff, she asked him to sit down and ease his mind.

"How do we go about this?" he asked once he had finished the mental exercise.

"It's simple, though I've been told it can be uncomfortable. You merely have to pour your mana through the crystals and circulate the essence within, guiding it into your mana system and back to your mana apertures."

"So, the same as a skill stone?"

"Not completely. The system assists with full assimilation there, as a half-assimilated skill would cause more harm than good. For an attunement, you can only depend on yourself." Still, that doesn't sound too difficult. Ember thought. He began with only three breaths of mana, slowly infusing them into the warm orb. As it turned out, it was even simpler in practice. Merely circulating his mana, he found the essence was latching onto his mana, and he could easily absorb it into his channels.

"It's working," he let her know. But as more of the fire essence began to flow into his channels, the temperature of his body grew warmer, and it was noticeably so for his mana circuit. But it's still not too uncomfortable.

"Circulate the essence throughout your body and only then try to store it in the apertures in your abdomen. You can store it in other apertures if you like, though the ones in your abdomen will be highly proficient for fire attunement."

"Gotcha," he said as the slightly warmer sensation gave way to a searing upheaval. But Ember decided he would not complain, even if his insides were burning.

"Anything more?"

"Make sure you regulate your Will evenly. And remember, it's a marathon, not a sprint." Ember was fine with it being a slow and steady marathon, as in a sprint, he would likely have to bring more of the searing essence into the fold, which would only give him more headaches. He was uncertain if he was prepared for that. Well, Dawn could always heal him. But he already owed her too many favours. Minutes passed in a flurry of clenched jaws and concentration. As it turned out, his name was not just for show.

Within half an hour, a line of gleaming text appeared in his view, rousing him from his reverie. [Attunement Awakened: Fire (Minor - 1%)] Ember blinked, a stupid grin lighting his face. Yes, it hadn't been totally comforting, but he had not believed he would gain Fire attunement so easily. He was about to relay the news to Dawn, but she seemed to have noticed it already.

"Do not dither," she commanded.

"Continue in the same way. You can improve your attunement by absorbing more." Ember suppressed a grunt and set his jaw once again, carrying on. The fire crystal was still brimming with searing essence for him to absorb, though he wasn't sure he would have enough Will remaining to finish it in one attempt. At least the fiery torment seemed to have receded somewhat once she awakened the attunement. But alas, his teen mentor found he was having too much ease with it and decided to raise the bar.

"You can increase the number of mana breaths," she relayed.

"The task is as much about absorbing the essence as it is forging your body with it."

"Body forging? I thought that only came after gaining a class."

"It does, but you can always prepare for it in advance. Now stop wasting your breath and focus." Ember abided, introducing three more breaths of mana into the fray. Since it didn't require complex weaving, he had no trouble circulating his mana. He just had to endure the torment. Yeah, I can endure pain. If it doesn't kill me, it only makes me stronger. For his consolation, he could feel his proficiency in Fire attunement growing with each circulation.

It came at the expense of his Will, but Will can recover once he rests. That was to say, he wouldn't be able to awaken another Attunement right away with his dwindling will. Well, that was fine by him once he saw the progression ticking over 10% in his status. And he failed to even absorb a third of the fire essence available within the crystal. The difficulty was not so linear that he would be able to push his proficiency to 30% by absorbing the rest, not that he had much will to continue.

I bet enforcement will help greatly in this. Despite the thought, he still decided to keep his skill slots available for now. In the void of his soul, Ember could detect the little undying flame wavering. Of course, it wouldn't extinguish completely, but it would continue to wax and wane the more he lingered with the will-intensive task. After a little consideration, he tried to see if he could reinforce the flame. For something that sounded so ethereal, his soul seemed unimpressive in its form.

Well, for now, I have to make do with what I have. Cutting away his distracting thoughts, Ember willed his soul to stabilise. Not that he had much will to spare, but as he began focusing, the whitish, ethereal flame did return to its searing state. It even seemed to blaze a little brighter.

'Huh, who knew my foolish idea could actually work?' By the time he returned to reality, it seemed a few hours had already passed, as was evident by the layer of sweat and grime covering his body. However, the more conclusive evidence was what little remained of the fire essence in the crystal. His Will had also rejuvenated a great deal, having little issue continuing through the process.

With a little of the fire essence remaining, Ember allowed a few more of his essence threads to wiggle out and absorb all of it in one complete sweep. As soon as he did so, the red crystal shattered into fine dust. Half of it flew away into thin air, the rest crumbling down between his fingertips with barely a trace lingering on his palm.

"You actually managed to absorb it in one sitting," Dawn said.

"I may not say it often, but I am impressed." Ember tried to hide his smile, but the corner of his lips only curled up more as he noted a familiar notification glaring in his view. [Attunement Awakened: Fire (Minor - 1% → 17. 3%)] Edited last chapter. Thankfully, I hadn't screwed up the calculation during tier 5 advancement. Other than that, there were a couple of hundred words added, describing a little about rune and alchemist apprentice titles.