Chapter 82: Font of Vitality

Kaius held firm under the assault of platinum shards of crystallised power, preparing himself to link to the final nexus he needed to create his next legacy skill. It would be agony, that he was certain of. Every legacy skill he forged added to the difficulty of merging the next, and with seven orbiting his soul the battle of wills had grown dire.

He exploded into motion. Wrapping his will around his soul he weaved together a tightrope of his central essence, flinging himself through the yawning void of his inner space to rocket towards the final skill.

Sensing his motion, the discordant screams of his legacy skills rose to new heights. Every tone of their assault seemed to penetrate him to his very core. Assaulting his mind, shredding his soul with the purest essence of discontent and violation. His breaths came heavy, physical body reeling as a deep ache settled into his bones.

The physical discomfort was the smallest of it, bare aftershocks compared to the titanic blows that rained down on his psyche. Kaius grit his teeth, pressing onwards as he stretched himself towards Efficient Healing.

He could not lose. Not unless he gave up. Control over the soulspace was a product of will, intent, and desire. Despite the pain, nausea, and overwhelming sensation, Kaius’s intent was pure. He would forge this skill, and the one after, if it was the last thing he did. It was his birthright, his connection to his father, and his life’s work. Nothing would stand in his way, let alone the embittered shards of his own incomplete legacy.

A gilded net wrapped around his final skill, the shard of power pulsing with light and intent as impressions of its essence were thrust upon him.

Efficient Healing was a close brother to Fast Healing. The erudite scholar to its brutish simplicity. It held life, continued existence, in the highest esteem. It too recognised the value, the power, of Health. Yet where its brother seeked to flood in abundance, it saw Health as something too precious to waste. Like all things of value it had to be protected, doled out with the highest care. What good was a flood of regeneration if it was spent so lavishly, so quickly? What then would protect life, when the next time of desperate need came?

Kaius gasped, coming back to himself. His mind felt slow, foggy due to the constant assault on his mind. Even with his focus sapped by his need to maintain his will Kaius could see how the skills fit together, how they could meld into a greater whole. He moved.

More golden threads shot from the pyre that his skills orbited, lashing across the void to sink into the skills he had connected with. One by one they linked the skills together, connecting the circuit. As the final gleaming wire snapped into place the skills rang like a bell, joining together in a unifying harmony that silenced the angry cries of his other skills.

The release from the pressure was so sudden that he almost slumped in relief. He didn’t, spine staying firm as he encouraged his skills to slide together, watching as they slid inwards. Crystalline shards crashed into one another in a violent collision, shattering them utterly.

Atomised, the fractured power dissolved into a cloud of gaseous meaning.

The system took notice.

**Ding! Skill Merge Detected! Would you like to proceed?**

With relief, Kaius surrendered his control to the system, watching as the cloud crunched. It started to spin. Slow at first, but quickly accelerating to dizzying speeds as the system forced the remnants of his skills to coalesce. Tighter.

Tighter.

The gas contracted, growing denser by the second.

A tipping point was reached as a higher intent injected a nucleus of power and intent into the centre. Power crystalised in moments, a new shard of platinum rocking his soul with the pure notes of its birth cries.

**Ding! Skill Merged! Lesser Regeneration obtained!**

His latest skill drifted back, joining the chorus that drifted in a comfortable loop around his soul.

Kaius’s eyes snapped open as he took a shuddering breath. He was drenched in sweat, every muscle in his body aching from the exertion of the merge. Despite his discomfort he couldn’t help but smile.

He was so close. Only one more legacy skill and he would be done, able to move on to his first real choice for his build. He could almost taste it.

Without standing on ceremony, he pulled up the description for Lesser Regeneration.

Lesser Regeneration:

Level 1

Unusual

The ancients were true immortals, capable of regenerating from a single drop of blood. That is why they were immolated. Our hated enemy then gathered the ashes, forging their dead scraps with cold iron, twisting their memory into a mockery. You are lesser. Reduced. Even still, a simple stake through the heart is far from enough to return you to the Cold Dark. Just don’t let them cut your head off.

Drastically enhances regenerative capability, increasing the efficiency and speed of Health related healing. Adaptation to trauma reduces bleeding and allows damaged bodily systems to continue to operate at reduced capacity for a short time.

Each level moderately increases the speed of Health related regeneration.

Each level moderately decreases bleeding.

Each level minutely reduces Health costs.

Each level infinitesimally increases capacity to persist with severely compromised bodily integrity.

Merged from: Fast Healing, Stone Blood, Efficient Healing

It was a good skill, one that would save his life many times over in the future. Father had already told him how its increase to his healing effectiveness would be a step up from its component skills. Letting once grievous injuries seal in moments. Yet it wasn’t that that held his attention, instead it was the fact that the skill would let him press on through wounds.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

Most delvers weren’t killed with a single overwhelming strike. What got them was the slow accumulation of wounds. A grinding death that wore away at their combat effectiveness until they were no longer able to defend themselves.

Lesser Regeneration would work to prevent that, allowing severed muscles to constrict unhindered, broken bones to still support his weight, and more. Hells, if he had had this skill when the assassin Champion had slit his throat the situation would have been far less dire. It would have helped him continue to persist, even with his lifeblood spilling by the moment.

At higher levels, Father had explained that it would allow you to push through what would otherwise be almost certainly fatal injuries. A crushed heart would keep on working for long enough for Health to heal the wound. An undeniably powerful ability, one that would dramatically increase his combat effectiveness.