Bastion's consciousness was suddenly pulled inward, deep into his soul, returning to the familiar world of golden sand beneath a blazing sun. As expected, the same translucent blue interface appeared, dominating his entire field of view and presenting his options.
Rank 4: Diamond Golem Knight
Rank 3: Shield Knight
Rank 2: Magic Engineer
Rank 2: Golem Crafter
.
.
.
At a glance, he had the exact same options as his Rank 1 promotion, but after scrolling past the other Rank 2 options, both old and new, he encountered one that was most likely related to the mysterious ore he had shoved inside his chest.
"Rank 2: Arcane Warden?" Bastion read out.
He wasn't holding out for any good options this time around, already resolved to taking the Shield Knight Class since it fit his build without compromise. Now he was presented with a brand new option, all because he had taken a gamble on some mysterious piece of metal Seraphina had offhandedly mentioned during the auction at the Royal Academy.
"I should have stuffed the ore into my chest along with the Space Stone during my Rank 1 promotion. That way, I would have at least found out what the Class did from the beginning. Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter. I would have taken Armory Knight anyway. There was no way I would have chosen anything else."
Left with no other interesting options, Bastion selected the Class and took a look. On the left side of the panel was his exact figure, diamond hair, the same human body, the same physique, except his eyes glowed an intense shade of blue like lightning. On the right side of the panel, he read the Class details.
[Arcane Corruption]: Grants magic the attribute of Corruption. Increases magic resistance and mana regeneration.
[Arcane Shackles]: Shackles targets together with mana.
[Arcane Lockdown]: Encloses a target area within a dome saturated with mana that permits entry but prevents escape.
[Arcane Pulse]: Emits a wave of mana that pushes enemies away.
[Arcane Sigil]: Marks a target with a sigil of mana.
[Arcane Sentry]: Conjures a stationary mana eye at a designated location within range that grants vision, attacks, and alerts according to predefined instructions.
"Holy shit!" Bastion exclaimed in disbelief. "Holy shit! Holy. Fucking. Shit!"
The skills all looked simple enough, with a clear focus on the key word "warden." Arcane Shackles can bind targets and restrict their mobility. Arcane Lockdown creates a prison in place. Arcane Pulse pushes enemies away in a full 360° radius. Arcane Sigil marks a target, similar to Elyra's Shadow Mark, suggesting he could track them or even observe them from a distance. Arcane Sentry functions as a guard, keeping watch while he's occupied. All of these were very normal skills, as far as Bastion was concerned.
However, when the first line of the Ability Arcane Corruption is taken into account, this suddenly becomes an overpowered Class.
Oftentimes when corruption is mentioned, people think of the abuse of power that is common in politics, the twisting of an innocent mind into depravity, or the deliberate destruction of perfectly organized information. However, corruption can also refer to the decay, decomposition, or perversion of a system, text, or structure, causing it to drift away from its original pure state.
Coupled with the effects of the mysterious ore that converts mana into neutral mana, it can be assumed that the Corruption attribute can consume the mana of others and transform it into either unusable neutral mana or Bastion's own mana.
Suddenly, all the skills where mana was mentioned become far more than what their wording suggests. Arcane Shackles drains the mana of affected targets continuously. Arcane Lockdown consumes the mana of those trapped within the dome. Arcane Pulse pushes back targets and drains their mana. Arcane Sigil might prevent mana regeneration or greatly reduce it. Even Arcane Sentry could consume both mana and health from those it attacks.
It was a game changing attribute that could allow Bastion to become the ultimate mage hunter.
Of course, wherever there are potential advantages, there are also potential drawbacks. For instance, would Bastion still be able to enchant anything? If he could, the mana drain on any user other than himself would be immense.
He likely wouldn't be able to use anything enchanted by someone weaker than himself, as his own mana would corrupt theirs and destroy it before he could wield it properly, effectively erasing the enchantments. There were many possible problems with this attribute, yet the boost to Bastion's combat capabilities would be staggering.
Against humans in particular, anyone with a Class would suffer when they came into contact with his mana.
"Wait! No! Let's not get too excited," Bastion said in an effort to calm himself. "Let's count out the pros and cons."
"Maybe I won't be able to touch the girls anymore because my mana would consume theirs? No. As long as I have full control over my mana, I'll still be able to avoid affecting them, similar to how Seraphina's flames don't harm anyone she doesn't allow. Although she does sometimes leave neutral flames behind that can still hurt us, they shouldn't be that devastating.
The only problem I can see is if I accidentally lose control of my mana inside the carriage that Lilia enchanted, destroying everything inside. Nah, I can just add mana insulation to prevent that kind of accident, so it'll be fine.
I won't be able to sell anything I enchant? Well, that's what Lilia is for, so I would basically stop selling my enchantments and fully focus on smithing instead, which isn't a bad deal since it would allow me to concentrate my time and energy.
I won't be able to use anything other than products I make myself? That's not too bad. Actually, that would be great motivation, since I would be forced to create my own versions of things on the market rather than just buying them. Man, this particular downside might hurt me more than I realize.
I won't be able to make use of certain materials with unique mana inside them? I don't have an answer for that, but at the same time, I would be able to forge some pretty powerful personal weapons that rely on my mana's Corruption attribute. Mana-drain bullets? Magic-cancel bullets?
Wait, wouldn't the shrapnel from my Diamond Shatter drain the target's mana and improve the diamond's longevity, allowing it to continuously siphon their mana? Damn. That's one hell of an annoying attack to face."
Bastion continued to weigh the pros and cons until he realized the Class was a game changer for him. It had strong synergy with his Diamond Knight Class and would allow him to become a genuine threat against humans he might not be able to Taunt. He would be the most annoying enemy to face while simultaneously the most dangerous to leave alive, further ensuring the girls' survival.
Given that they were about to leave the kingdom, where his reputation as a duke largely protected them from other humans, it was in his best interest to become as powerful as possible to secure both his survival and the girls'. Ultimately, he decided to take the Class instead of choosing Shield Knight.
With his decision made, he pressed the button to accept the Class and hoped for the best. Then he suddenly remembered that the whispers would visit his dreams again, so he braced himself. This time, however, it was no longer a dream but a vivid vision.
In a world of pure darkness, Bastion found himself floating in the void, gray mist curling in slow coils and carrying whispers that slipped into him like water through cracked stone. He listened with rapt attention, understanding the words but never the sentences.
In the end, as his vision cleared and he awoke, still strapped naked to the table, all he could remember were the whispers and scattered key words.
"…when veils… of time… draw thin… stars… whisper… forgotten… oaths…"
"…soul… long severed… rise… from… void…"
"…bound… not by… name… nor… flesh…"
"…wander… seeking… the heart… once knew… cannot… remember…"
"…by flame's… death… and river's… stillness…"
"…it shall… awaken… where… all roads… meet…"
"…shaped… by trials… yet… unspoken…"
"…shadows… will call… it brother…"
"…light… will know… it not…"
"…in gaze… of fate's… keeper… echo… of what was… stir anew…"
"…only when… threads… of destiny… converge…"
"…upon breaking… of crowns…"
"…shall the lost… be made… whole…"
"…heart waits… reflection… unrecognized…"
"…until… the end… begins again…"
Even awake, the rhythm of the whispers pulsed inside his skull like a second heartbeat. It was eerie and unsettling, like a prophecy from an old goat.
He focused with all his might to remember the words he heard, but the slightest distraction let them slip, forever forgotten.
"Bastion!" Seraphina's voice invaded his mind, knocking out any memories he had tried to keep. "Are you alright? You're already awake and didn't give us a chance to move you to the bed."
He had been so close to understanding those damn whispers and had even managed to catch clues about them, like how it had everything to do with him specifically and meeting someone. But Seraphina's shouting blew it all away, leaving nothing but the whispers in his mind.
"I…" Bastion said, wanting to shout in anger before quickly quelling his rampaging emotions. "I heard the whispers again, but it wasn't a dream this time. It was a vision."
"Oh? What did it say?" she asked, intrigued.
He wanted to scream again but quickly calmed his fluctuating emotions and answered as calmly as possible.
"I don't know, but it has something to do with me meeting someone. I think it's a prophecy."
"So… no other details?"
"No," Bastion sighed, releasing the tension in his body. "But I'm getting closer. I think I'll be able to find out more when I rank up again."
"Let's hope it's nothing serious," she said, smiling. "More importantly, I can't see your face because of the strange blue mana covering your eyes. What Class did you get?"
Bastion smiled in resignation. "Arcane Warden."
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