"Gaya bertarung itu sendiri tidak bisa secara wajar mencakup metode untuk menetralkan efek lingkungan negatif... kita akan butuh sesuatu yang lain untuk itu. Memang ada potensi di Pride of the Malefic Viper, tapi kita butuh cara yang benar agar kita tidak berada dalam situasi yang serupa," ujar sim-Jake.
"Lebih mudah dikatakan daripada dilakukan, mengingat musuh-musuh sepert itu bergantung pada lingkungan mereka dan akan secara aktif berusaha merusakkan pertahanan yang kamu buatkan melawannya. Aku mungkin bisa membuat penghalang arcane yang mengisolasi diriku dari tekanan air, tapi hiu itu akan langsung mencoba menghancurkannya agar maginya bisa bekerja," kontrarespi Jake.
"Aku tak pernah bilang itu mudah, hanya bilang bahwa itu perlu dilakukan. Mungkin coba pikirkan cara lain yang dilakukan orang lain. Meskipun aku mengakui ini adalah rintangan besar. Bergerak di dalam air memang tidak optimal dengan tubuh manusia, dan itu menghilangkan seluruh footwork dan melemahkan setiap serangan," sim-Jake merenungkan masalah itu. "Aku bisa melihat penggunaan energi arcane yang destruktif sebagai cara untuk sebagian menghilangkan tekanan air, terutama saat menyerang, tapi itu juga menciptakan masalah baru."
"Keberlanjutan,"Jake mengangguk.
"Persis sekali."
Biaya mananya untuk menginfus setiap gerakan dengan mana akan terlalu berat baginya, dan mereka berdua tahu itu.
"Solusi harus ditemukan pada suatu hari nanti," sim-Jake menyimpulkan.
"Tentu saja," setuju Jake sebelum bertanya sesuatu yang telah menggoda pikirannya. "Apa yang terjadi, ya? Maaf jika aku kebetulan tanya, tapi terakhir kita bertemu kamu sedang berangkat. Sekarang kamu terlihat lebih seperti dirimu lagi. Apa yang berubah?"
"Jujur,"u sim-Jake menjawab. "Kamu seharusnya tahu. Aku adalah kamu, dan kamu adalah aku, dan keadaan tidak ada adalah salah satu pemikiran yang takut kita di tingkat dasar. Saat aku merasakan diriku mulai pudar dan jadi tidak ada, sesuatu terpicu dalam diriku. Rasa survival, meskipun aku tahu bahwa bergabung kembali denganmu tetap berarti aku bertahan hidup. Aku bisa mengatakan bahwa aku tidak ingin mati. Setelah bertemu Sandy dan melihat Bumi berubah, bukan hanya mansion yang membosankan di Order dan pelajaran alkimia yang menghabiskan waktu, aku menyadari bahwa aku masih ingin menikmati beberapa petualangan lagi."
Jake memang agak tahu ini keadaannya tapi tetap ingin bertanya karena dia tidak sepenuhnya yakin apa yang sedang dipikirkan self lainnya. "Tapi ini tidak berarti penggabungan sudah berhenti."
"Tidak, itu bukan berarti. Tapi cukuplah untuk mengatakan bahwa aku akan mematenkan diriku dengan satu cara atau cara lain. Kamu tidak bisa melepaskanku begitu saja. Untungnya juga, karena masih banyak yang bisa ditingkatkan di gaya bertarung kita, lebih banyak dari yang kuduga sebelumnya, dan dua kepala lebih baik dari satu," ujar sim-Jake. "Ah, dan jangan khawatir, kemampanmu Vault baru akan datang, meskipun aku tahu bahwa Records dari skill itu justru sedang menyelamatkan hidupkuku. Menyelamatkan, aku, aku."
"Hanya jangan mulai berpikir untuk mengambil alih tubuh dan menggantikanku," Jake mencibirkan senyum.
"Kami berdua tahu itu tidak akan terjadi. Aku tidak bisa. Records milikmu jauh lebih banyak dari milikku, bahkan tidak lucu. Berteman akrab dengan Villy itu sepertinya adalah bentuk kecurangan," sim-Jaksnickered. "Sekarang kembali ke perut Sandy dan mulai bekerja. Aku punya urusan untuk ditangani."
Jake mengangguk dan mematuhi saat ia keluar dari Soulspace-nya, meninggalkan sim-Jak dilawan.
Sim-Jake tidak langsung mulai berlatih, tapi berjalan menuju chimera dari energi kutukan murni. Ia seperti puas setelah makan dan bahkan tidak bereaksi saat sim-Jake meletakkan tangannya di atasnya. Menutup mata, energi mengalir antara mereka selama beberapa menit sebelum ia mengangguk dan kembali ke pengembangan skill Vault.
Jake, di dunia luar, belum pernah melihat apa-apa yang terjadi tapi sibuk mengembalikan sarung tangan yang hilang di dalam tubuh hiu. Alih-alih harus mengambil kembali objek fisik, Jake bisa menggunakan sarung tangan yang tersisa untuk menumbuhkan yang lainnya di tangan yang dulu terpotongnya. Akan lebih murah untuk hanya mengambil kembali sarung tangan itu, tapi Jake jujur sudah lupa akan hal itu karena item itu menjadi tidak aktif setelah ia memotong tangannya. Sandy sudah terbang di atas air dan sedang terbang melintasi langit, jadi kembali adalah tidak mungkin.
Menyaksikan tangan baru terbentuk di atas tangannya dalam sejam berikutnya cukup menarik. Itu semua sistem-fuckery yang ekstrim, tapi dia tidak mengeluhkan. Setelah sarung tangan kembali berada di tangannya u2013 dan dipasang u2013 Jake beralih perhatiannya ke sesuatu yang mungkin jauh lebih penting.
Saat bertarung melawan hiu, Jake mendapatkan sebuah momen eureka. Lebih tepatnya, saat merasakan aliran darah dan energi vitalnya, dia bertanya pada diriny sendiri.
Darah adalah sebuah wadah energi yang sangat baik. Itulah sebabnya Blood of the Malefic Viper adalah skill yang sangat kuat dan mengapa ada banyak makhluk yang bisa dibunuh, dan darah mereka berubah menjadi barang berharga. Vampir mengonsumsi darah karena kandungan energi vita-nya yang kaya dan murni. Secara keseluruhan, darah pada dasarnya adalah cairan berharga alami yang ditemukan di kebanyakan makhluk hidup.
Efeknya biasanya adalah mengangkut energi vital melalui tubuh dengan lebih efisien. Itu sebabnya mengapa menggenjot puluhan lubang di tubuh lebih mudah daripada menyembuhkan tangan terpotong, meskipun jumlah daging yang harus disembuhkan jauh lebih besar. Menggenjot tangan tersebut terutama bergantung pada transportasi energi melalui Soulshape, sementara lubang di tubuh bisa dipenuhi dengan darah di area sekitarnya untuk mempercepat penyembuhan. Ramuan penyembuhan juga langsung melekat pada darah tubuh dan menggunakannya untuk menemukan tempat yang paling efisien. Karena tubuh secara alami tahu di mana energi vital diperlukan.
Darah jelas terkait dengan energi vital, dan energi vital berasal dari Vitalitas. Blood of the Malefic Viper bahkan memberi Vitalitas, dan memang benar bahwa seseorang dengan Vitalitas yang lebih tinggi bisa menghasilkan lebih banyak darah dibandingkan yang Vitalitas-nya lebih rendah. Semua hal di atas benar, namun Blood of the Malefic Viper sama sekali tidak berkaitan dengan energi vital sama sekali.
[Blood of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)] u2013 Darah dari Ular Beracun adalah racun yang lebih mematikan dibanding sebagian besar racun. Memungkinkan Prodigious Alchemist of the Malefic Viper untuk mengubah darahnya menjadi racun, meniru Patron-nya. Telah diperbaiki lebih lanjut, sampai-sampai mengandung jejak True Blood dari Malefic One. Darah bisa digunakan sebagai bahan dalam alkimia dan sebagai senjata yang mematikan bagi musuh. Sifat racun ditentukan berdasarkan Records dari Alkemis. Toxicity level darah didasarkan terutama pada Vitalitas dan Kebijaksanaan tetapi juga mendapatkan peningkatan dari semua statistik fisik. Secara pasif memberi 1 Vitalitas per level di Alchemist of the Malefic Viper. Semoga darahmu akan selamanya menjadi malapetkan bagi siapa saja yang ingin menyakitimu.
Semakin lama Jake memikirkannya, semakin tidak masuk akal. Skill ini memberinya Vitalitas, tapi hampir tidak ada dalam deskripsi skill yang mengindikasikan memiliki hubungan dengan statistik tersebut. Untuk semua skill lainnya, Jake melihatnya jauh lebih masuk akal, tapi tidak dengan ini. Bahkan toxicity-nya juga berskal dengan Vitalitas dan Kebijaksanaan. Mereka setara saat ditingkatkan, tapi dengan semua skill lainnya, stat yang ditawarkan juga adalah stat yang paling menguatkan skill tersebut.
Jake merenungkan skill itu sejenkk. Dia pertama mendapatkannya pada epic rarity lalu meningkatkan ke Ancient setelah Trial of Myriad Toxins dengan menyerap tetesan darah dari Villy. Itu adalah katalis, dan apa keajaiban dari tetesan darah itu?
Itu adalah fragmen Records. Itu adalah pengetahuan yang diberikan dalam bentuk fisik, yang juga bisa dilihat dari bagaimana ia terhubung dengan Sagacity. Jadi jalannya yang Jake telah dilakukan saat itu adalah dengan membuat darah lebih baik saat digunakan dan memberikan cakupan yang jauh lebih luas. Bagian tentang mengandung True Blood dari Malefic One adalah buff untuk alkimia juga. Semua hal di atas membuat Jake berpikir dia telah melewatkan sesuatu yang sudah jelas.
Dia langsung mulai bereksperimen sambil menguji teorinya. Jake tidak bisa benar-benar mengontrol darah yang dia infus, dan dia selalu menggunakannya sebagai alat eksternal, baik sebagai bahan atau senjata. Namun, darah memang harus berada di dalam tubuh, yang terakhir kali dicek, jadi tidak akan ada aplikasi di sana?
Fokus, ia menginfus darah di dalam tubuhnya seperti biasanya. Kali ini, ia mencoba mengendalikannya u2013 sesuatu yang biasanya tidak diperlukan karena darah menyesuaikan diri dengan keinginannya setelah ditambahkan ke campuran. Lebih sulit dari yang Jake ekspet, dan dia akhirnya harus menggunakan metode dari alkimia biasanya seolah-olah tubuhnya adalah sebuah kuali dan darah di dalamnya adalah bahan campuran. Tapi bukan racun, Jake ingin membuat ramuan penyembuhan.
Hasilnya? Jake menghabiskan sebagian besar dari satu jam hanya dengan kegagalan. Bagian terburuk adalah Jake tahu apa yang dia lewatkan; dia hanya tidak bisa memperbaikinya. Dia perlu menginfus lebih banyak energi vital yang aktif ke dalam darah, tapi ia tidak bisa mengendalikan proses, setidaknya tidak dengan memuaskan. Saat memikirkan apa yang harus dilakukan, Jake mendapatkan ide brilian.
Mengeluarkan Eternal Hunger, Jake memotong tangannya sekali lagi dan mengonsumsi ramuan penyembuhan. Energi vital banjir tubuhnya dan, seperti biasanya, menempel pada darahnya. Jake kemudian memulai proses lagi, tapi bukan untuk menginfus energi vital dari awal, Jake menggunakan energi dari ramuan penyembuhan sebagai dasar dan panduan. Ia memencerminkan cairan ramuan penyembuhan dan mencoba membuatnya lebih baik. Berjalan cukup baik saat ia fokus pada menyembuhkan tangan terpotong untuk kedua kalinya di hari itu.
Setelah terheal, Jake terus bereksperimen sampai cooldown ramuan siap, dan ia memotongnya lagi. Ini berlanjut selama hampir satu hari penuh saat ia perlahan-lahan mulai membentuk gagasan yang koheren dan lebih akrab dengan darah dan energi vitalnya.
Ia masih tidak benar-benar yakin tentang tujuan apa yang sedang dicapainya selain membuat energi vital yang lebih aktif untuk membuat darahnya leb
"The fighting style itself cannot reasonably include a method to nullify negative environmental effects… we will need something else for that. There was potential in Pride of the Malefic Viper, but we need a proper method to not find ourselves in a similar situation,” sim-Jake said.
“Easier said than done, considering these kinds of enemies rely on their environments and will actively try and break down any defenses you have made against them. I could likely have made an arcane barrier isolating myself from the water pressure, but the shark would instantly try to destroy it for its magic to work,” Jake argued.
“I never said it was easy, just that it needs to be done. Maybe figure out how others do it. Though I will admit that it is a major hurdle. Moving in water is simply not optimal with the human body, and it eliminates all footwork and weakens every attack,” sim-Jake mulled over the issue. “I can see using the destructive arcane energy as a way to partly eliminate the pressure at all times, especially when striking, but that also creates problems.”
“Sustainability,” Jake nodded.
“Exactly.”
The mana cost from infusing every movement with mana would be too much for him to bear, and they both knew it.
“A solution will have to be found at some point,” sim-Jake concluded.
“Naturally,” Jake agreed before asking something that had been on his mind. “What happened, by the way? Not to be rude, but you were on your way out the last time we met. Now, you are more you once more. What changed?”
“Honestly,” sim-Jake said. “You should know it. I am you, and you are me, and not existing is one of the thoughts that we fear on a very base level. When I did feel myself begin to fade away and become nothing, something triggered in me. A sense of survival, even though I know that remerging with you is still me surviving. I guess you can just say that I don’t wanna die. After meeting Sandy and seeing Earth transformed and not just that boring mansion in the Order and the occasional mind-numbing alchemy lesson, I realized that I still want to enjoy at least a few more adventures.”
Jake had indeed kind of known this was the case but wanted to ask anyway as he wasn’t entirely sure what his other self was thinking. “But this doesn’t mean the merging stopped.”
“No, that it does not. But let us just say that I will immortalize myself one way or another. You won’t be rid of me that easily. Luckily too, because there is more to improve in our fighting style than I originally estimated, and two heads are better than one,” sim-Jake said. “Ah, and don’t worry, our new Vault skill will come, even if I know that the Records of that skill keeps me alive right now. Keeps me, me.”
“Just don’t begin to get any fancy ideas about taking over the body and replacing me,” Jake smirked.
“We both know that won’t happen. I can’t. Your Records trump mine so many times over it isn’t even funny. Being best buds with Villy is just cheating,” sim-Jake snickered in return. “Now go back to Sandy’s stomach and get to work. I have business to attend to.”
Jake shrugged and complied as he exited his Soulspace, leaving sim-Jake behind.
Sim-Jake did not immediately begin practicing but went towards the chimera of pure curse energy. It looked satisfied after having a feast and didn’t even react as sim-Jake laid a hand on it. Closing his eyes, energy moved between them for a few minutes before he nodded and returned to improving the Vault skill.
Jake, in the outside world, had not seen any of this happen but was busy getting back the glove he had lost in the body of the shark. Rather than needing to retrieve the physical object, Jake could use the remaining glove to regrow the other one on his formerly severed hand. It would have been cheaper to just retrieve the glove, but he had honestly forgotten about it as the item had turned inert after he cut off the hand. Sandy had already shot above the water and was flying through the sky, so turning back was not an option either.
Watching it reform on his hand over the next hour was relatively interesting. It was all system-fuckery to the extreme, but he was not complaining. Once the glove was back in his hand – and put on his hand - Jake turned his attention to something perhaps even more important.
During the fight with the shark, he had a eureka moment. More accurately, as he felt his blood flow and carry the vital energies, he questioned something.
Blood was a damn great vessel for energy. It was what made Blood of the Malefic Viper such a potent skill and why there were many creatures you could slay, and their blood turned into valuable items. Vampires consumed blood due to its richness and purity of vital energy too. All in all, blood was essentially a naturally-occurring treasure-tier liquid found within most biological lifeforms.
Its usual effect was carrying vital energy through the body more efficiently. Heck, this was why regenerating dozens of holes in the body was easier than healing a severed hand, even if the pure mass of flesh one had to heal was larger. Regenerating the hand relied mostly on transporting energy through the Soulshape, while holes in the body could be supplied with blood in the nearby area to heal faster. Healing potions also instantly attached themselves to the blood of the body and used that to find where it was most efficiently used. Because the body naturally knew where the vital energy was needed.
Blood was clearly tied to vital energy, and vital energy comes from Vitality. Blood of the Malefic Viper even gave Vitality, and it was a fact that someone with more Vitality could produce more blood than someone that had a lower stat. All of those things were true, and yet Blood of the Malefic Viper had nada to do with vital energy at all.
[Blood of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)] – The blood of the Malefic Viper is a toxin more deadly than most poisons. Allows the Prodigious Alchemist of the Malefic Viper to turn their blood poisonous, imitating their Patron. It has been further improved, even carrying traces of the True Blood of the Malefic One within. The blood can be used as an ingredient in alchemy and as a deadly weapon against your foes. The nature of the poison is determined based on the Records of the Alchemist. The blood’s toxicity level is based primarily on Vitality and Wisdom but receives an increase from all physical stats. Passively provides 1 Vitality per level in Alchemist of the Malefic Viper. May your blood be forever the bane of all that wishes you harm.
The more Jake thought about it, the less it made sense. The skill gave him Vitality, but nothing about the skill seemed to truly indicate it had anything to do with the stat. For all other skills, he saw it make far more sense, but not with this one. Heck, the toxicity of the infused blood scaled with Vitality andWisdom. They were equal when it came to scaling, but with all other skills, the stat it offered was also the one that empowered the skill the most.
Jake reflected a bit on the skill. He had first gotten it at epic rarity and then upgraded to Ancient after the Trial of Myriad Toxins by absorbing the drop of blood from Villy. That had been the catalyst, and what was that drop of blood?
It was a fragment of Records. It was knowledge given physical form, which could also be seen with how it was tied to Sagacity. So the upgrade path Jake had gone back then was by making the blood better when used and giving it far more scope. The part about carrying traces of the True Blood of the Malefic One was a buff when it came to alchemy too. All of this made Jake think he had missed something obvious.
He began experimenting right away as he tried out his theory. Jake could not truly control the blood he infused, and he had always used it as an external tool, either as an ingredient or a weapon. However, blood was meant to be inside the body the last time he checked, so would there not be an application there?
Focusing, he infused the blood inside his body as usual. This time, he tried to control it – something usually not needed as the blood adapted according to his will after being added to a mixture. It was more difficult than Jake expected, and he ended up having to apply some methods from his usual alchemy as he effectively turned his body into a cauldron and the blood in his body into the batch. But rather than a poison, Jake wanted to make a health potion.
The result? Him spending the better part of an hour only experiencing failure. The worst part was that Jake knew what he was missing; he just couldn’t fix it. He needed to properly infuse more active vital energy into the blood, but he couldn’t control the process, at least not satisfactorily. As he wondered what to do, Jake got a brilliant idea.
Taking out Eternal Hunger, Jake proceeded to cut off his hand once more and consumed a health potion. Vital energy flooded his body and, as usual, bound itself to his blood. Jake then began the process again, but rather than trying to infuse vital energy from scratch, Jake used the energy from the healing potion as a base and guide. He poisoned the healing potion liquid and tried to make it better. It went okay as he focused on healing the severed hand for the second time that day.
Once it was healed, Jake kept experimenting until the potion cooldown was ready, and he cut it off again. This continued for nearly an entire day as he slowly began to form a coherent idea and became more familiar with his blood and vital energy both.
He was still not quite certain what the purpose of what he was trying to achieve was besides making more active vital energy to make his blood better when it came to healing. Jake did feel like he made some progress, but he needed the healing potion every time to properly do it. The highly-active energy in healing potions was the apex of vital energy due to the amount of system assistance it got, and Jake knew he could not actually replicate it, but he wanted to at least make some progress…
Or just make his usage of the healing potion better.
Another day passed, and Sandy didn’t ask him to come out a single time, even if the worm did find some stuff to steal here and there. It was understood that Jake did not want any more water combat, and Sandy, quite frankly, also didn’t seem to enjoy being underwater that much either.
This day was spent with Jake cutting off his arm a good forty or so times total, sometimes choosing not to use a healing potion as he healed it. He also tried inflicting injuries on himself in other places. He even took some of the venom from that Emperor Urchin that the whale had given him and consumed it. It was potent enough to deal noticeable damage, even if it was primarily of a neurotoxic nature. He needed it for Palate either way, so why not?
He began to feel like he was touching upon an idea, but he was still missing something. Jake was certain that with another week or so, he would have it down… but he wasn’t that patient when he had other options.
Do you wish to experience the Legacy of the Malefic Viper? Uses remaining: 2
Jake did not know if the charges would carry over to C-grade or if the skill changed, so he should use them all now, right? Also… he kind of liked learning about Villy. It was a bit like stalking your friends on social media for embarrassing photos from their teenage years, and Jake was all for it to get some ammunition to make fun of the god with.
With that in mind, Jake activated the skill as he experienced another vision.
“I am once more incredibly impressed with your continued progress,” the old man said as he smiled proudly. “To do all this without any dedicated alchemy skill…”
“Saying it is entirely without a skill isn’t correct, Master,” the Viper in his human form said. “While it is true they are not dedicated alchemy skills, there are stark similarities.”
“True. However, you specialize in poison as per your heritage. This is the exact opposite of that,” the old man shook his head. “And yet it isn’t. As unsightly as it is, an old man like me does find it enviable to have such heavenly gifts. A body that is an alchemical ingredient in itself.”
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