Free Web NovelChapter 346: Djin Talent Tree
Entering the depths of his consciousness, Damian found himself seated cross legged within the endless desolate landscape of his inner world. Endless gray earth stretched toward the horizon beneath a motionless sky while an unnatural silence blanketed everything.
Rin sat comfortably upon Damian’s head, crossing his tiny legs and closing his eyes in perfect imitation of Damian’s meditative posture. The fox looked absurdly serious, yet neither of them smiled. Their attention had already settled upon the towering trees standing before them.
The Abyssal Tree stood alone at the front like an emperor overlooking its subjects. Its twisted black branches stretched endlessly toward the heavens while countless dead leaves drifted around it without ever touching the ground.
Behind it stood three other colossal trees. The crimson Asura Tree radiated an overwhelming aura of slaughter. Beside it towered the sinister Rakshasa Tree, its bark seemingly formed from countless twisted faces screaming in eternal agony. Furthest behind them stood Mudhhibb’s Talent Tree, its golden sand colored branches swaying despite the complete absence of wind.
Seeing all three inheritances standing behind the Abyssal Tree filled Damian with an unexpected sense of accomplishment. Only a month ago none of them existed. Now they had become permanent parts of his growing foundation.
Even so neither Damian nor Rin relaxed. No matter how many times they entered this place, the Abyssal Tree still unsettled them.
Suddenly a crimson glow washed over the desolate world.
The temperature seemed to fall as an enormous crimson eye slowly opened beyond the endless wall of dead trees in the distance. It was so unimaginably large that only the iris could be seen peering between the countless trunks. The eye quietly observed Damian without blinking, carrying an emotion he simply could not understand.
"Have you noticed you have been returning to my doorstep quite frequently?"
The Abyss spoke calmly.
Both Damian and Rin instinctively frowned.
During the battle against Bachi and Mudhhibb, Damian had been forced to rush into this very place to strengthen his Asura inheritance in the middle of combat. The emergency upgrades had consumed almost everything he possessed, leaving him with barely one hundred Talent Points after surviving the battle.
"I told you..." the Abyss continued, its voice carrying an amused undertone despite every word sounding like a warning.
"As time passes, your reliance upon me will continue to grow. Soon even these weak inheritances you cling to will no longer satisfy you. Then... you shall come directly to me, and when that day arrives my price will no longer be so cheap."
Damian scratched the side of his head while staring toward the enormous crimson eye with an expression of complete boredom.
"The less you speak, the scarier you are."
Buzz!
"I’m serious." Damian shrugged. "I’m not sure anyone has ever told you that."
Rin covered his face with one paw.
"It was the same thing with Asmodeus. You people really don’t know when to shut up. Every conversation somehow turns into mysterious prophecies about your glorious return. When I was weak it sounded terrifying. Now it’s just... cringe."
Silence.
Even the crimson eye appeared momentarily speechless. Satisfied with ending the conversation there, Damian completely ignored the Abyss and turned his attention toward his status window.
[Name: Damian]
[Race: Human/Demon] [Hybrid]
[Rank: Demon Noble] [Monster]
[Sins: Lust/Abyss]
[Devotee: 0.0000000010%]
[Talent Points: 100]
[Talent Tree:] [Lust/Abyss/Asura]
[Level: 300] [89%]
[Strength: 73.5] [Agility: 73.5] [Constitution: 74.0] [Charisma: 73.5] [Demonic Force: 3950/3950]
He quietly stared at the panel.
It had already been a month since regaining consciousness after the battle against Gluttony. Throughout that month he had relied almost entirely upon faith gathered from the Ministry and the growing influence of Faceless. Combined with the countless nights he spent cultivating alongside Loth, he had expected much greater progress.
Instead his level had crawled upward by only one percent. It was painfully slow.
Rin had warned him countless times that reaching higher ranks became increasingly difficult. Actually witnessing it firsthand, however was depressing.
Damian scrolled downward.
[Djin Talent Tree Rejuvenation Process: 0%]
[Living Art: 0%]
[Primal Soul: 0%]
[Elder Art: 0%]
He quietly rubbed his chin. Only one hundred Talent Points remained. There was absolutely no room for mistakes.
Within the Lust Talent Tree, Elder Arts represented the greatest source of power. The Asura inheritance heavily emphasized Living Arts instead.
The Djin inheritance was completely unknown. After thinking quietly for several moments, Rin finally opened one eye.
"Primal Soul."
Damian immediately looked upward.
"You sure?"
Rin slowly shook his head.
"Unfortunately none of your predecessors has ever fucked with a Djin before. Everything I know comes from incomplete records they stumbled across. My prediction is only an educated guess."
Damian’s frown deepened. After several long moments of hesitation, he finally exhaled.
"Guess we’re gambling."
Without another word, he invested the first ten points.
10%
A soft chime echoed across the inner world.
Ding!
A new panel appeared.
[Name: Scion Of Dunes]
[Type: Passive]
[Description: Grants extreme affinity over the sand element to the point where the desert recognizes you as its own and defends you on its own.]
Damian blinked and a smile slowly spread across his face.
"Okay..."
He nodded several times.
"Not a bad start."
Without hesitating further, he immediately continued investing.
Twenty...
Thirty...
Forty...
Fifty...
Ding!
Another panel materialized.
[Name: Care For A Wish?]
[Type: Active]
[Description: You can grant the wishes of mortals in exchange for their life force which is used to strengthen yourself. All mortals have a limit of three wishes. A fourth will kill them.]
"Ooh... shit."
Damian shot to his feet so quickly Rin almost tumbled from his head. He stared at the panel several times before reading it again.
"I knew genies granted wishes I didn’t know they actually profited from doing it."
Rin jumped onto his shoulder while carefully reading every line.
"So that’s why."
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"They stop at three wishes because a fourth kills the person."
Damian slowly nodded.
"I suppose if people regularly died after making wishes, eventually nobody would risk approaching a genie anymore."
The two exchanged glances.
"That’s... surprisingly efficient."
Damian chuckled. He genuinely loved this ability. It created yet another avenue through which he could continuously become stronger.
Without waiting any longer, he poured in everything that remained.
Sixty...
Seventy...
Eighty...
Ninety...
One hundred percent.
The final notification appeared.
Ding!
[Name: Desert Storm]
[Type: Active]
[Description: Unleash a large scale sandstorm. Everything within the storm becomes revealed to you and the overall scale depends upon your strength and the amount of accessible sand within the surrounding environment.]
