[STT] Chapter 83: Evolution? (Patreon)

Ben couldn't hold in his excitement.

Yes!

Finally! This was his first skill evolution since he advanced to Tier 2, so he was curious whether his tier would have any effects on the evolution. He doubted it would, but at the same time, his older skills did feel different since advancing.

For one, they felt stronger, had a more weighty feeling to them. It was weird. They weren't really better per se, but they were also better due to his advancement. What he was trying to say was that they were the same skills, but since he was Tier 2 now, he could utilize them better than he ever could before, so they were technically the same skill, but they were better.

[Mana Construct] was one of the more important skills in his arsenal. He absolutely needed this. Well, it was important to him given that it saved his ass when he was risking it, even though he mostly used it for [Healing Mark] as he didn't have any other notable constructs. He was really glad to get this kill because he wanted to learn more about constructs and use them to his advantage.

So now that he was given an option to evolve the skill, of course he was going to take it. But while he knew that the skills were a bit different now since he advanced to tier 2, what he was curious about was whether advancing to tier 2 would affect the evolutions themselves.

But then again, how would he even be able to tell?

Enough stalling, let's look at the skills.

The screen flashed with options when he confirmed to proceed, and he immediately read them.

The offered skill paths are based on your performance up until now. Choose carefully!

Please select your path:

- [Mana Construct] (Uncommon)

- [Mana Etching] (Uncommon)

- [Layered Construct] (Uncommon)

- [Mana Shaping] (Uncommon)

As usual the system gave him the names of the skills only. It did not give him any kind of description, and as usual, Ben complained about that fact. It was annoying, and it made it really hard to decide. Thankfully the names were somewhat descriptive, so he wasn't completely in the dark.

[Mana Construct] was the same skill, just one rank higher. He could assume that it would be easier to craft constructs, and they would be sturdier. It would definitely be a safe choice, and he wouldn't be disappointed with it. But it also added nothing new. He remembered though that the two times he did take the plain path on another skill, [Focus], it did give him more than he expected when it evolved to rare. So maybe [Mana Construct] would be the same.

But then again, there was a reason behind sticking to the basic evolution of [Focus]. Was there a reason to stick to the basic one for [Mana Construct]?

He didn't think so.

[Mana Construct] aside, the most interesting of the bunch were the latter three. [Mana Etching] sounded like something that would carve into things. That was the kind of feeling it gave him. And knowing what he did about concepts now, that feeling was important as it made him think about what the skill could be once it evolved to rare, what the concept could be behind it.

Etching was an interesting choice of word. He imagined carving or etching in this case a construct into his body, which he was already doing. So, was this some kind of evolution in that specific direction? He guessed it would make carving faster for him, perhaps, and it could also make it a bit cleaner. Would it improve his [Healing Mark] though? That's the question, because he was betting everything on that skill right now, and he didn't want to lose it.

Could he carve concepts into his body?

And could it only be used on his body?

Can I carve into other things, like weapons?

He wondered. But did weapons work similarly to his body when it came to constructs? The skill was called [Mana Etching], and that meant it probably had a wider application than just himself.

A very tempting skill.

Moving on, [Layered Construct] had his full attention. It was something he wanted to do when he was working with [Mana Construct], layering his constructs on top of each other to not only be space efficient, but also to make them stronger. What if he layered a hundred [Healing Mark] constructs one on top of the other? That would make it much, much more useful. So that was also a very tempting option.

He wondered if it would be less efficient than single constructs.

He could only carve ten constructs into his body before he reached the limit, so he wondered if a stack would count as one construct or more than one.

The name implied that it would count as a single one, but he couldn't be certain.

He decided not to dwell on that too much.

The last one was [Mana Shaping]. It was also the skill he understood the least.

It sounds like another version of [Mana Manipulation].

A skill that he already had.

Why would a construct skill turn into a mana shaping skill?

His best guess, after thinking for a while, was that this was for constructs outside of his body. Mana made physical, shaped into forms. Which was something he had been experimenting with, so it was something that he wanted. The question was, did he want this or did he want the other two? And, more importantly, was his intuition about these skills even correct?

Will it improve skills like [Mana Cannon] since they technically involve "shaping"?

And what did this mean for when [Mana Shaping] eventually evolved into a rare skill?

What could the concept look like?

Ben could not decide.

In all honesty, he just wanted them all.

But he couldn't have them all. He could only choose one.

He didn't know which one to choose. He didn't have enough information. What he did know, however, was that the basic version of the skill was probably not worth it. The other three sounded much more interesting.

So it was just a choice between [Mana Etching], [Layered Construct], and [Mana Shaping].

Ben leaned back against the bed, staring up at the tent's ceiling. He needed to make a decision. But he didn't know how to make one without more info.

Maybe he should go talk to Alice or Ethan. He was becoming too reliant on them, though. Ben sighed. Not like it was a bad thing, but what would he do once he didn't have access to them anymore or went on his own way as he was about to soon?

Sighing once more, he stood up.

Actually, he could use this to figure out [Hound] some more, no?

He should have Alice and Ethan's "scent," as weird as that sounded. So would [Hound] guide him to them? It was worth talking to them before he made a decision.

Yeah, that sounded like a good idea.

When decided that, he found new threads rising in the air around him, floating, beckoning, inviting.

And he followed.

The threads led him to a clearing where a lot of people were hanging out. He saw Alice and Ethan right away, and he also noticed some other people, as when he neared the place, other threads rose unbidden. The three idiots were here. As was the noble that wanted to recruit him into his House. And a lot of other nobles.

Ben's eyes narrowed when he noticed the three idiots snickering with the noble that had offered him a position. He had a bad feeling about this.

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