NOVEL NEXT B1 | Chapter 9
Not long before the end of the Second Phase of Ashley’s tutorial
Within the vastness of space, with ten thrones floating aimlessly in the void, six beings can be seen sitting atop the thrones. And all of them have a screen open in front of them showing a single girl within one of the tutorials. The girl has black, purple, and red hair, with black and crimson raven wings, and faintly glowing liquid crimson eyes that feel almost empty to the Primordials.
A girl strongly resembling Chaos himself in most every way other than her demeanor and face.
“So he finally went and did it, huh?” Erebos mutters while rubbing the stubble on his chin, the red haired Primordial of Sin sitting lazily on his throne as the seven serpent heads sticking out of his upper body move around the throne. Each of which represents a different one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Meanwhile the throne itself is blood crimson with seven unique symbols scattered across it representing the different sins and a metallic sheen to the throne itself. “He got himself a Successor. I wonder why it took the ass so long?”
The man is wearing a black coat with the coat partially slipping off of him to expose his shoulders, without any sort of shirt on beneath the coat. Meanwhile he has a pair of black pants on as he repeatedly taps one of his bare feet on the side of the throne, and the occasionally alternating symbols of sin in his eyes flash every once in a while as he stares at the screen.
“Perhaps he is just more particular than we are about his kin,” Lux, the blonde haired Primordial of Virtue and Erebos’s polar opposite comments from her place seated with her legs crossed and a kind look on her face. One that is directly opposite from the amused and up to no good look Erebos has on his own. “He may have simply been searching for the right person to make his Successor.”
And as always, the woman leaves plenty unsaid. Wishing more than anything to embody the virtues she is known for than to call out Erebos for his numerous Successors and the way he treats them. The man always happy to jump at making a new pawn – as he treats them – when a powerful enough person enters the System.
Instead of saying anything though, she just continues tapping on her throne’s armrest, her glowing golden eyes shining in the vastness of space as her own symbols of virtue alternate in her eyes. Meanwhile several tattoos with the very same symbols shimmer from beneath her golden-blue robes.
“Enough about that troublemaker,” Justicar says, the man’s slit amber eyes more relaxed than they’ve been in the past several years. “I’m simply pleased that the unpredictable bastard finally stopped initializing new worlds with this last one.”
The other Primordials look at the Primordial of Order with more than a little pity in their eyes, knowing just how much work the man has been dealing with thanks to Chaos’s recent antics. With the exception of Erebos, who finds amusement in the situation.
But the Primordial of Order just sits on his throne, his head tilted slightly upwards as he taps his claws on the throne. The amber-colored lion’s fur covering his exposed arms disappearing and reappearing with every tap.
A brief silence fills the void of space as the Primordials continue to watch the girl traverse the platforms with that group of humans she’s with. But it’s eventually broken when the Primordial of Magic asks, “What I want to know is why he chose a girl with so few skills. I’ve come up with a few theories so far, but they’re just speculation at this point and nothing more.” Etheria’s eyes narrow ever so slightly as magic circles appear and disappear within them, the short woman leaning forwards a little in her interest. “She has more potential skills in her Skill Tree now than she had when she was first put in the tutorial. So I have to wonder… what’s so special about her?”
Etheria’s words reignite the curiosity of the other Primordials as they try to study the girl more.
“I find the type of girl he chose more intriguing than her skills, personally,” Aether states, sitting as still as a statue as his whiteless glowing purple eyes stare straight ahead at the screen. The Primordial of Space as unreadable as always. “A girl as apathetic as this one is the last sort I would expect Chaos to take an interest in.”
A few of the other Primordials try to put out a few potential speculations for the reason why he chose her, but in the end, Justicar interrupts them by saying, “Since when did we expect Chaos to act with reasoning?”
The others grow silent at the reminder.
Eventually Gaia, the Primordial of Life, breaks the ensuing silence by stating, “I’m just glad Chaos is no longer alone.”
The other five Primordials currently present remain silent at that, even Erebos not knowing how to speak to Gaia sometimes. Because the woman is just too kind.
Gaia doesn’t pay them much mind though as she leans her cheek against the palm of her hand, her green eyes gazing happily at the screen in front of her. Meanwhile the roots sticking out of random points in her body extending her nerves occasionally move around, showcasing her happiness along with her silky green hair that occasionally turns into vines and back.
“I just hope the girl grows to know happiness herself,” Gaia continues in a soft tone of voice.
Silence returns to the void as the Primordials watch the new Successor. Then it’s inevitably broken again when Erebos asks, “Where’re the others, anyways? Would’ve thought something this big would at least make them show their faces.”
“Chronos and Hel still have no interest in what goes on outside of their own realms,” Aether – the Primordial closest to the two – answers without moving.
The group turn to look at Gaia, who turns her attention away from the screen before softly answering as the only one to ever see Nyx on a semi-regular basis, “Nyx has little interest in Chaos’s matters.”
They turn away from Gaia as if expecting an answer like that one.
Then the silence once again returns.
The Primordials all coming to their own decisions about the new Successor.
Ashley
When my vision returns, I find myself in some sort of cubic room. One without any people and only large enough for two and a half people my height to lie down across.
Then a notification appears in my vision.
Primordial System Notification
You have completed the second phase of the tutorial.
All dead users will now be brought back to life.
As a reward for surviving till the end, you have been given 25 Skill Points.
Furthermore, an additional 5 Skill Points have been awarded to you for every five minutes you survived during the phase totaling 60 Skill Points.
You will now be given one hour to rest and spend your newly acquired Skill Points.
It is suggested you make use of this hour, for the last phase of the tutorial will be more difficult than the second phase.
And it will have more permanent results.
Hmm. That last bit isn’t foreboding in the least.
Seems to imply that we can actually permanently die in the next phase. Also says it’s the last phase, so that’s good.
My thoughts come to a halt when a couple System Messages – what I’ll be calling those lines of text that scroll across my interface and are voiced by the System from now on – appear.
{You have slain four level 1 Dark Hounds and one level 1 human. EXP has now been allocated accordingly.}
{You have assisted in slaying seven level 1 Dark Hounds. EXP has now been allocated accordingly.}
{Congratulations, you have now reached level 1. Your PHY and MEN have increased by 1 point, and your MAG by 2 points. Please choose where you wish your 1 Free Point to be allocated.}
I blink at that before noticing a flashing menu on my screen. One with three choices.
Okay then…
After staring at it for a few seconds, I go ahead and select PHY to allocate it. Since Unchained sounds like it probably helps in the mental area. And I already get more points in MAG from leveling up as it turns out.
Not to mention that my physical strength should be the most important right now. Seeing as I don’t exactly have any immediate uses for the other two stats.
And now that it’s allocated, I go ahead and open my status again.
Ashley Sinclair *
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Level 1
10
PHY
12
MEN
13
MAG
Chaos Energy
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Successor of Chaos
Okay. Now, the next question.
How… long does it take for Chaos Energy to regenerate?
I stare at it for a while before letting out a light breath of air and closing out of the status thing.
It looks like it’s only regenerated a single bar since the first time I used Assimilate. Which should’ve been about an hour ago.
So does that mean it regenerates one bar every hour?
On another note, if Assimilate takes two bars of Chaos Energy per use, I don’t really want to know how much mana it uses. Judging by the five to one ratio of mana to Dark Energy that Dark Bite skill said it would take if the user had Dark Energy.
I glance at the corner of my interface to find that the red dot that was lit before next to the number of followers is now gray. The same color it was when the broadcast was paused.
Guess they’re not broadcasting us during this hour-long break.
So I walk over to one corner of the room before sitting down with my back to the wall. Or rather, my wings to the wall. Which is actually more comfortable than I was expecting.
But before I can relax, I go ahead and open my Skill Trees. Then I look through the skills while glancing at the corner of the Skill Tree interface to see my total number of Skill Points listed. Which is currently 140 Skill Points.
Enough to purchase a single skill.
Now I just need to decide which skill to purchase.