Lunar Dominion System
The pain grew to be unbearable in less than a minute, and in such a short period, his entire body was also left completely frozen in what could only be called invisible frost.
Nero fell face-first onto the floor, not even having enough control to break his fall, but his senses were still there, making him feel every bit of mind-breaking pain and bone-chilling cold.
He was left frozen, screaming in his own mind, not even able to move a muscle, with the pain growing stronger by the moment but staying low enough for him to think somewhat clearly.
The next few minutes were of pure agony, each second feeling stretching longer than the last, making it hard to keep track of time. After nearly three minutes, the pain began to decline, thinning just enough to give him a moment's relief, but with it, his consciousness started slipping, fading into darkness.
Since the pain was directly from the soul, Draven also experienced every second of it, but unlike Nero, he did not lose consciousness.
Draven saw the changes in his soul place, seeing a sphere of milky white, barely two inches in size and diameter, coming to life next to the black diamond.
He had expected it since he remembered seeing a similar sense in the chaotic soul space of the Devourer host in his timeline, but the addition of the moon system was not the only change in his soul place.
The pitch-dark diamond that was the Devourer system had also grown ever so slightly, previously as dark as the abyss, it now also gave off a barely noticeable glow.
The changes were minimal, barely noticeable, but Draven did not miss them. He also knew what this growth implied and what would happen if it was left unchecked.
Nero would not wake up any time soon, and with their time in the training chamber approaching its end, he decided to take what he could from the spider queen and take his leave.
Draven spent the next hour absorbing all the spider had to offer, its elemental affinities, and a few unique traits before placing everything in the space ring and ensuring the chamber was clean of his presence.
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Nero woke up feeling dazed. He slowly regained his vision and saw that he was seated cross-legged on a bed in a small room with a low wood ceiling hanging a few feet above him.
The pale light of the morning was creeping through the open window, accompanied by the fresh, cold wind, making Nero realize he had slept through the night.
'I must have lost consciousness,' Nero thought as he collected his thoughts before saying, "Status." Nero said out loud, his heart slowly picking up its pace.
The translucent screen flashed to life, and Nero quickly picked out a few new additions. One that caught his attention was the section named Systems.
Nero focused on the only available Lunar Dominion System, and the status window instantly disappeared, replaced by a new screen showing the system's details.
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Name: Lunar Dominion
Grade: Apex
Aspects: Lunar Energy, Reflection, Emotion Manipulation, Illusion,
Type: Support
Nature: Unknown
Skills:
[Marks of the Moon] Allow the host to mark himself or up to three allies with one Lunar Mark, each mark representing one of eight unique phases of the moon. {Avalable Phases: New Moon, Waxing Crescent.}
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[Lunar Forge] The host can create weapons, armor, and tools from lunar energy, that are highly resilient.
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[Lunar Mirror] The host can create a mirror from lunar energy that can reflect both physical and magical attacks.
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[Lunar Sway] The host can project an aura in an area of five meters that influences the emotions of nearby individuals. The aura can be calm or instill dread, heightening the target's emotions.
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[Lunar Mirage] The host can create illusions in an area of ten meters that fool enemies' senses. The illusions range from subtle environmental distortions (e.g., creating fog, changing surroundings slightly) to full-scale mirages of people, creatures, or landscapes.
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Nero kept looking at the screen in amazement, knowing each skill would be great in combat, but he was more happy about just having acquired a system than anything else.
It was a known fact that a person could only have a single system. While this was not really true, it was as close to true as it could be, and now, he has the means to acquire not just a third but as many systems as he desires.
'The skills are weak because, with your limited strength, this is the best you can handle, but as you grow stronger, they will grow in strength and numbers with you,' Draven said, thinking Nero might be disappointed seeing their mediocre strength.
'If becoming near invisible or draining life from a target is weak, I wonder what is considered strong,' Nero thought to himself, seeing nothing wrong with the skills.
Draven was not wrong in his assumption since, in Nero's worldview, a system of Apex grade was the same as being a world-class genius, but he forgot to consider how little Nero knew about strength.
'So, now that we have the Devourer and Lunar Dominion System, what do you plan to do next,' Nero asked Draven as he closed the system window.
'I planned to use the governor to make contact with Marchioness Marcie and sell her the spider core, but with the possibility of someone powerful being involved with the spider queen, it is no longer an option,'
'Now, first, we need to complete our deal with the governor and check if the Mardatis Ore Mine under his control holds some secret before leaving for the city of Gilded Chains,' Draven answered, bringing out the topic that Nero had completely forgotten.
'Now that you have mentioned it, don't you think we should leave this city, seeing how the city of Verdora is one of the closest cities to the Crystal Mountain range,' Nero shared his concern, thinking it should not be hard to find their deal with the governor or their shopping spree in Lady Elincia shop.
'I left no clues, so it is near impossible to track us down, but even if they somehow found our deal with the governor, it would mean nothing,'
'Since not even an idiot would conclude that a weak individual somehow created an array in a single day that even a grandmaster would need weeks of preparations,' Draven cleared his doubts, knowing that while things did not go as planned, he was in no trouble.
'How are you going to complete the deal with the governor,' Nero asked, wondering how they would make the governor into a Baron.
'We will give him a Thundrite mine that he can use to buy himself a noble title,' Draven answered, and followed, 'Now, you should go and have breakfast before buying a map of the surroundings and then go and complete the deal with the governor,'
'You mean you will complete the deal,' Nero cleared, feeling he might have really meant his words. 'No, you will take care of it,' Draven made it clear, his simple statement leaving no room for discussion.
Nero's first instinct was to raise a few points to make him consider otherwise, but he held his tongue, understanding that Draven expected him to grow and not become a burden, and he also wanted the same.
It was not that he was worried about dealing with the governor, but he was just uneasy knowing he might make a mistake and end up losing whatever the mine held.
But then again, Draven was with him, so if something felt wrong, he could always tell him. Putting the small issue aside, he left his bed and began to stretch.
Nero decided to shower first before changing into his enhanced suit and leaving the room through the window, not getting noticed by anyone.
Now that he was outside in an open space, Nero realized how unnatural his strength felt. While he could easily control it, he was walking too fast, hearing things from far away, and even his sense of smell and sight was greatly improved.
He located one of the local vendors who sold fried rice with meat, and after eating four bowls to satisfy his hunger, he made his way to an adventurer shop, buying a map of the surroundings and a simple marker.
As per the instructions, he marked a place a few kilometers away from the city that housed the Thundrite mine before folding the map and placing it in his coat pocket.
Nero led him through the inner area to the core area wall, thinking about how he should contact the governor, knowing the chances of him sneaking inside without being noticed in daylight were slim to none.
But thinking about it, he realized that the governor probably had informed the guards about him, hoping he would return with the good news since the last thing he would want would be his guards offending the man who could make him rise in power.