Chapter 18: Cosmic Energy
Actually, apart from teaching him the names of his different enemies, the most important thing the skill had taught him was something completely different.
Zac had thought that the stats represented a static change in his prowess, and to a certain degree he was right. He was far stronger now compared to before thanks to the stats. But there was more to it. Learning to circulate his cosmic energy had opened up a whole new world for him.
At first he had simply focused on learning the skill. But afterwards he had started experimenting with the cosmic energy in his body, and had come to some astonishing conclusions. He could actually force more cosmic energy into different parts of his body, strengthening them. For example he could force energy into his arm and back muscles when swinging his hatchet, which resulted in a far more powerful swing.
Forcing energy into his legs would increase his speed and he had even managed to imbue his skin for a while, making it more durable. There were many different venues to utilize it, and he likely only had figured out a few. The strengthening wasnt limitless, however. It acted as a multiplier on his base stats, but the multiplier was limited. After some experimentation he had realized he could output almost twice his normal power while circulating his energy into a specific part of his body.
He had gone above this amount once, which had resulted in being incapacitated for days. He had tried increasing the amount of energy in his arms too much in order to perform a particularly mighty swing. His muscles couldnt withstand that much cosmic energy forced into them, and ruptured into a fountain of blood. It reminded him of a balloon. If he blew too much air into it, it would pop. Same with his body and cosmic energy.
The experiment had left him lying weakly in base for three days, only being able to train with the amulet and the gravity array for some minor gains.
The second conclusion was that his usage of cosmic energy was limited. The more he circulated his energy and empowered himself, the more drained he would feel. When empowering himself to the limit he only lasted a few minutes before he was completely spent.
The energy used in empowerment was consumed, and he would need to gather more from the environment in order to get back into fighting condition. His amulet helped him recover faster. But when the amulet focused on replenishing consumed cosmic energy, it did not actually work towards increasing his level.
In other words using empowered strikes or skills would slow his leveling speed, as some of the cosmic energy gained would be used on replenishment. So it was a trade-off between long term gains and short-term burst of power.
The final realization was that his method likely was extremely cost-ineffective. When he used his identification skill, the cosmic energy entered the fractals that somehow existed in his eyes. The fractal both enabled using the specific skill, but also made usage of cosmic energy more effectively.
Far less energy was wasted when the energy was focused with the fractal. If cosmic energy could be considered a raw material like crude oil, then the fractal refined it into something better and more efficient.
Zac guessed a combat-oriented skill would work in the same way. He would gain new fractals which he could use to waste less cosmic energy while fighting, and also gain a higher power than simply channeling raw cosmic energy into his arms. Unfortunately even the cheapest of the options cost 150 000 Nexus coins, which was far out of his current price range.
Zac finished his meal, and scoped up a glass of water from the pit where he had placed a water gathering array. The bottled water he and his friends had brought had ran out two weeks ago, and the closest fresh water was close to the incursion. Luckily the System had a cheap solution, namely the [Small Scale Water gathering Array], which slowly gathered moisture from the air to create a roughly ten liters of drinking water per day.
For the first time in weeks he turned off the gravity array when he went to sleep. He needed to be completely rested, as tomorrow he would assail a Herald.
Zac had wrestled with himself whether to actually go through with it or not the last few days. At times he felt it would be safer for him to simply grind for a few more weeks, get a class and skill before going after the big bosses.
He had however noticed a very worrying trend over the last few days. The beasts in the forest were getting more powerful. The demon hounds were getting even faster, and the barghest were getting stronger. He had actually seen one charge straight through a tree. The barghests had been completely incapable of such a feat just a week ago.
This made him form a hypothesis. The beasts were slowly getting stronger, and maybe they would gain a power spike once each month. That was what the Abby the eye was indirectly warning him about.
He didnt think that the Incursion summoned stronger demons, but rather that they were strong from the start, but was somehow restricted. That was because he didnt actually get more cosmic energy or Nexus Coins from killing the empowered beasts compared to the old weaker ones.
It made him once again think about how the system seemed to operate. It rewarded people who dared take risks and strove to improve. That was shown through the title system, and also Abbys comments.
Perhaps this was a gift from the system. If someone dared leave the tutorial village to kill magical monsters at incursions theyd be rewarded with the cosmic energy and Nexus Coin that generally was given out by far stronger beasts. Like an XP-boost from a MMORPG game.
Or perhaps the demons simply werent adapted to Earths atmosphere. He always imagined in his head that these beasts came from some lava world full of fire and brimstone. He really had no idea which was correct, but his days in solitude allowed him to conjure endless theories.
Furthermore, with risk also comes reward. What Abby meant with her last comment might be related to the quest.
[Off with their heads (Unique): Kill the four heralds and the general of incursion within 3 months. Reward: 10 E-Grade Nexus Crystals, E-Grade equipment, unique building depending on performance. (1/5)]
The last reward was a unique building depending on performance. He guessed that the better performance the higher ranked the building he would receive was. He was by now well aware both how powerful some buildings were, but also how extremely expensive they were. He had scoured through the registry for weeks after all.
Getting a good grade might greatly help him later, provided that he actually survived this ordeal.
So it was with a mix of self-preservation and greed he had grit his teeth and finally decided to assail the first of the Heralds tomorrow, even if he wasnt at the power level hed like. The last few days he had scouted his target out, and he thought he had a fighting chance after observing it.
He woke up with the dawn of light the next day, and after his preparations he immediately set out. He had limited time until his self-imposed time limit. Depending on how the fight went, he might try to kill a second Herald today as well.
He walked through the forest with practiced ease, avoiding twigs and roots while still keeping a high tempo. The forest had changed considerably during the past weeks. It had grown extremely lush, gaining almost a primordial unsullied air. The trees had grown more robust, and the undergrowth was varied with both bushes, vines and a medley of flowers.
He did not know where they had come from, but it seemed that there were far more critters and other animals as well roaming both the forest floor and up in the crowns. However it always was quiet around his camp lately, as if the animals instinctively avoided his domain.
Zac made a beeline towards the western central area from the southern edge where his camp was located. During his excursions in the past weeks he had actually found the second herald, while last two still eluded him. He guessed that one of them resided in the mountains though, as it seemed that each Herald lorded over a cardinal direction of the Incursion. He hadnt ventured into the mountain as of yet, as he had his hands full grinding monsters closer to home.
The unlucky Herald Zac had obliterated with a lucky roll had been in the southern part of the island. Zac had occupied the domain of the herald in a sense. That had explained why there were relatively fewer demons close to his base, as it was far from the lairs of the three remaining Heralds.
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