Devourer System
Darkness engulfed his senses once more, and a mere moment later, Nero found himself standing on the invisible floor, surrounded by white flowing mist. His eyes remained devoid of emotion as he absentmindedly stared into the distance.
If tears could fall from his eyes, his face would have been drenched in them because the memory he lived only ripped open old wounds, reminding him of his failure to save his friends.
While he always found peace in knowing their killers were dead, it also reminded him that if only he had thought before rushing in, and did what he did later, maybe he could have saved them.
Nero was out of the illusion, but he could still clearly feel the insatiable hunger and suffocating darkness affecting his mind. No voice was whispering any words in his mind, but the intentions of the strongest link were clear to him.
'Join me, and you will never suffer the same fate,' 'Accept my power, and you will rule the galaxy,' 'Accept, and everything you lay your eyes on will be yours to take,'
Nero could feel such thoughts seeping into his mind like thick smoke, and the more he focused on them, the more alluring the promises became.
'So, This is the Devourer system that Draven was talking about,' Nero thought, not needing to see its ability in actions to know it was the real deal.
The system made use of various aspects of reality, three of them being Devourer, Assimilation, and Adaptation, which were clear to him, but there were other aspects that stayed hidden, no matter how much Nero tried to know them.
Nero had finally gotten what he came for, but he was not too eager to open his mind and make a bond with this evil entity. Its malice could be felt without even focusing on its link, and its insatiable hunger was already affecting his mind, fueling his desire for power.
Nero could not help but feel a cold breath on his neck as if he stood inside the open maw of a gargantuan beast, while every thought that came to mind felt foreign.
There was no doubt that the system was the strongest compared to any other, as its presence was like the overwhelming presence of the Darkness encompassing stars.
But it was also the scariest, and while Nero felt scared, the thought of not picking the system did not even cross his mind. He just wanted a moment to get comfortable with his new reality and burn his promise to end his life in his mind if things went out of control.
'Let's leave this place,' Nero thought, focussing on the particular link and thinking of making a connection.
Nero instantly felt a chilling cold, followed by stinging pain on every inch of his body. The pain it brought was unlike anything he had felt, terrible beyond measure.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAA"
Nero screamed his lungs out as pain engulfed his every nerve, growing impossibly stronger by the moment, and moments later, a visible change began to happen.
Dark veins as thin as hair began to grow in the center of his chest, growing slowly out like a tree spreading its routes or more like a behemoth spreading its tendrils out.
A moment bled into the other while Nero struggled with pain, falling to his knees only to fall to his side, curling into a ball with arms clasped around his legs.
Everything was a blur, and it felt like that had only been a moment since the pain began, but also days, and in reality, that was just twenty-three seconds; Nero suffered extreme pain before everything faded into the dark.
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Draven regained his senses in the same state he had faded into darkness, gaging on blood and choking on lungs full of air. The dozen minutes spent in the astral state barely amount to a few seconds in the physical reality.
The dense poison was still flowing in his body, ravaging what little life was left in him, and while he could deal with it on his own, it was time to see if his plan bore its fruit.
Draven clenched his jaw as he pushed himself up and forward with his broken arm before dragging his right arm across the floor to the spider corpse lying before him and taking hold of its leg with his bloody hand.
"Devour"
Draven said the command he had seen in the prince's memories, and while nothing happened, a bloody smile stretched around his face. A moment later, darkness began to ooze out from his skin, his right arm turning pitch dark.
The darkness began to cover the spider's crystalline leg, vanishing into its body without a trace. For the next thirty seconds, nothing happened, but then suddenly, with a flash, a translucent screen began to take form before Draven's eyes.
It was translucent, a thin veil of light suspended in midair, about a foot square, hovering at an arm's length. Plain dark text slowly manifested on its surface, crisp yet ghostly.
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{Target Identified: Crystal Spider}
{Initiating Devour Analysis…}
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{Attributes Available for Devour}
[Strength: 75] - Devour to enhance physical power and durability.
[Vitality: 120] - Devour vitality to increase the overall health and resilience of the body.
[Mind: 90] - Devour the Crystal Spider's mana reserves to expand magical capacity.
[Agility: 40] - Devour agility for improved speed, reflexes, and dodging ability.
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{Skills Available for Devour}
[Crystal Armor] - Devour the crystalline carapace to reinforce the user's own defenses, granting a layer of protective crystal armor.
[Venomous Silk] - Devour silk-spinning ability to produce strong, toxic silk strands capable of immobilizing or poisoning targets.
[Poisonous Bite] - Absorb venomous properties, granting the ability to inject slow-acting venom that crystalizes and immobilizes flesh over time.
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{Essence Traits Available for Devour}
[Crysindora Arachna Bloodline] - Assimilation with the bloodline to adopt certain traits of the Crysindora Arachna.
[Earth Element Affinity] - Absorb and acquire lesser grade Earth element affinity.
[Crystal Essence] - Devour crystals to imbue skin or bones with mineral properties, enhancing durability and resistance to cuts.
[Venom Resilience] - Absorb resistance to venoms and toxins, granting natural immunity to similar poisons.
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Draven focused on the vitality section that dimply glowed to confirm his choice, and after moments of wait, the dark energy inside the creature began to return to his body.
He immediately felt the inflow of foreign energy in his right arm, bringing with it a sensation that at times was cold and sharp, like ants biting into his flesh but at others, it was warm and comforting.
The energy moved in waves through his arm into his entire body, each pulse leaving his skin tingling and his muscles twitching and releasing, bringing him both pain and comfort.
The pale complexion of his skin began to change, becoming healthier by the moment, and his scars began to close up, while his bones, muscles, and tenten also went through similar metamorphoses.
The crystalline carapace of the spider began to lose its luster and cracked in a few places as nearly all of its vitality was getting sucked dry.
The process took nearly four minutes to end, and at the end of it, he was healthier than he had ever been.
"Nero, you did a tremendous job, so it's only fair that you are first to enjoy the fruit of your labor," Draven said as he sat upright with legs crossed, knowing Nero had regained his conciseness.
'Sure,' Nero said slowly, still dealing with the surprise of having acquired a primordial grade system.
Nero took control of the body, taking a moment to look at his bare torso, seeing how the previously broken skin was all healed, and even his body looked more refined and healthy.
"I now have a Primordial Grade system," Nero said, his voice barely above a whisper, shock and disbelief flooding his features.
The feeling was surreal as it all felt like a dream that he would wake up from at any time, but knowing that it was true made a whirlwind of emotions swept through him, elation mixed with anxiety.
Nero had dreamed of acquiring great power, and now, knowing his dream had more than just come true, his heart raced, pounding in his chest as excitement surged through his veins.
"Status"
Nero said as he suppressed the urge to stand up and dance, and reacting to his desire, a translucent white screen appeared before him, one that he had only seen in books and heard from others.
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-Status-
Name: Nero / Draven
Race: Human
Title: None
Class: Devourer
Rank: Unawakened
[Attributes]
Strength: 14 Vitality: 138
Agility: 16 Dexterity: 19
Mind: 22 Endurance: 29
Health: 1380
Mana: 220
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System: Devourer
System Skills:
[Devour] Select any nonliving thing and assimilate with any of the attributes and traits from the target into your being.
[Devourers Wrath] Dissolve non-living things into a dense, dark goo with high viscosity with acidic properties that could be controlled at will for both offense and defense and could even be absorbed to replenish energy and vitality.
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