I had not checked my status screen for a while, and I was eager to see what changes had taken place there.
The familiar blue light flickered, but it was now brighter; the letters were sharper. It was as if the screen itself had been refined by the same power that had refined my soul.
[ Name: Elric Voss]
[Age: 16 ]
[Titles: Storm Bearer (Legendary) | Heaven Beast Tamer (Mythic) ]
[ Available Titles: Lightning Arcanist (Legendary), Demon Slayer (Epic), Death-Consort]
[ Anima Depth: 90 (Arcanist) — Broken-Celestial]
[Domain: Fractured — The Stillness of the Storm ]
[Domain Radius: 15 metres]
[ Disciplines: ]
Lightning Edict: 82 → 86 (Legendary) — Broken-Celestial
Loom of Lightning 89 (Epic) — Broken-Celestial
Lightning Tribunal 89 (Legendary) — Broken-Celestial
Heaven’s Verdict 43 → 51 (Epic) — Broken-Celestial
Stormstep 44 →49 (Epic) — Broken-Celestial
[ Attunement Skills: ]
Lightning Resonance: 103 → 111 (Arcanist) — Epic
Staff Resonance: 70 (Adept) — Rare
Force Resonance: 66 → 72 (Adept) — Rare
Darkness Resonance: 0 → 10 (Initiate) — Rare
[ Auxiliary Skills: ]
Endurance: 119 (Arcanist) — Broken-Celestial
Concentration: 95 → 99 (Arcanist) — Rare
Observation: 96 → 100 (Arcanist) — Rare
Anima Sensitivity: 91 → 99 (Arcanist) — Rare
Meditation: 89 (Adept) — Uncommon
Marksman: 75 → 80 (Adept) — Uncommon
Demonology: 99 → 105 (Arcanist) — Registered
Inscription: 90 (Arcanist) — Master Engraver
First Aid: 52 → 57(Acolyte)
Cooking: 16 (Initiate)
Cartography: 6 (Initiate)
[ Celestial-tier Skills: ]
Mortal Shell: 105 → 112 (Arcanist) — Broken-Celestial
Hollow Avatar: 93 → 97 (Arcanist) — Broken-Celestial
Lightning Incarnate: 85 → 94 (Adept → Arcanist) — Broken-Celestial
Soul-Forge: 80 → 89 (Adept) — Broken-Celestial
Titan’s Marrow: 50 → 64 (Adept) — Unique — Broken-Celestial
[Soul-Vessel: Stone Origin Shell — Initiating ]
[ Laws: Lightning Law Shards (7 / 9) ]
[ Heavenly Bond: Moon Fox — 4% → 10% ]
[ Stored Essence: 75,000 / 500,000 — Fifth Earth Gate ]
[ Blessings: Anansi Web (Consumed) ]
[ Soul: Welded — Condition: Stable ]
∞
My status screen crystallized all the progress that I made in words, and despite knowing that these numbers could not fully translate all the changes that I had experienced, it gave me a firm footing to stand upon.
Not much had changed, and yet many things were no longer the same. I had a new Title, Lightning Arcanist; once this Title had been Acolyte, before it evolved to Lightning Adept, and now it was Lightning Arcanist.
It was a bit shocking that Lightning Arcanist was a Legendary Tier Title, that was equal to Storm Bearer, but I soon thought about the Tribulation I had endured to reach this step, and all the changes I had experienced during it, and maybe gaining a Legendary Title out of it was not so far-fetched.
Focusing on the Title, it opened up before me, and my eyes were colored with amazement.
Lightning Arcanist — Legendary
Acquired by: Carrying the Lightning path into the Arcanist realm, and reaching Arcanist with Lightning as your primary Discipline.
Effects (while equipped):
- Arcane Efficiency: All lightning-based Disciplines and Skills cost 30% less Anima to cast. Spells of Adept-tier and below cost 50% less.
- Law Resonance: Lightning-based spells are 30% more effective (range, duration, damage, and penetration). Against targets vulnerable to lightning, effectiveness increases to 70%.
- Storm Sense (Greater): Passive awareness of ambient electrical charge extends to 500 metres. You can perceive the flow of lightning essence, active spells, and the nervous systems of living creatures within range.
- Domain Affinity: Your Domain is 20% more stable and costs 20% less to maintain while this title is equipped.
- Lightning Incarnate: Your body is now permanently suffused with lightning essence; you are as much storm as flesh.
- Arcanist’s Authority: Your Lightning Resonance growth is significantly accelerated. You may now perceive and interact with Lightning Law Shards directly, rather than merely carrying them.
- The Storm’s Favor: Ambient lightning essence is drawn to you. In any environment with atmospheric charge, your Anima regeneration is increased by 25%.
Note: This Title is the first step on the path to becoming a Sovereign of Lightning. The remaining gap is one of understanding. The Lightning Law Shards you carry are fragments of a truth larger than any spell. When you hold all nine, the law will open to you.
∞
I read through the description of this Legendary Title, and I smiled. I loved Storm Bearer, but that Title seemed more suited to the Hollow Avatar and not me. It was nice to be a Storm Source, but that power was better wielded by the Avatar that was not affected by the mental load of holding this Title that made me want to take the shape of lightning forever.
Lightning Arcanist was an overall boost to my powers, making all my weaknesses to be strength and increasing my strengths to overwhelming advantages.
I was more interested in Arcanist’s Authority, since it would give me the ability to begin exploring the growing Lightning Law Shards inside me, which I guessed may be the path to the Sovereign level, which meant that this Title may become indispensable to me in the future.
Not waiting any longer, I switched Storm Bearer to Lightning Arcanist, and my body flashed with four five colored lightning, and I almost gasped in pleasure as my Domain expanded a bit, and my senses began to push past my barrier into the darkness of this facility.
The next thing of note was the domain around me that was radiating from my soul... The Stillness of the Storm- why was this domain given such a strange name?
I focused on it, and I had expected a simple description that I could easily comprehend, but what I experienced was raw knowledge and words forced into my brain, and I nearly collapsed.
Pressing my thumbs into my forehead, I remained in this position for a few seconds until the overwhelming tide of knowledge subsided, and I sat down cross-legged and closed my eyes to organize everything that just poured into my head.
My understanding of magic was about to change from the Arcanist level forward, and a domain was the first path to take to the road of Sovereign.
After a few minutes, I had somewhat digested the data in my soul, and when I read the description of the domain, it carried new meaning.
Domain: The Stillness of the Storm
Type: Fractured Domain — Arcanist Tier
Origin: Forged from the collision of seven Lightning Law Shards within a crystallized Arcanist soul.
Radius: 15 metres (current) — scales with understanding of Lightning Law
Description: The Stillness of the Storm is a domain of potential. It holds the world in the moment before the lightning strikes, which is the frozen instant where all things are possible and none have yet been chosen.
Active Ability – Enter The Stillness: This is to become a single frozen frame in the film of existence. The path is chosen in the instant of its creation, and the space between its origin and its target is erased. The Stillness holds the world in that erased space, frozen between the caster’s will and its execution.