Chapter 29: Pseudo-Phoenix

Julius took a moment to rest before he checked his notifications. He moved to the exit of the ravine to get away from the scent of his burnt flesh. He sat down and took the time to re-center himself until he was ready to check his options.

[Restoration] has advanced to level 15. Would you like to evolve the skill?

Skill [Restoration] is evolving… possible advancements: [Superlative Restoration], [Extreme Rejuvenation], [Muscle Augmentation], and [Pseudo-Phoenix Renewal]

Julius’s eyes widened in surprise. There were some very interesting advancements available. He almost chose [Superlative Restoration] without a second look at the others. [Restoration] had been such a great skill so far, the only limitation seemed to be its ability to heal crippling injuries and it was highly likely the advancement fixed that.

However, he remained calm and checked out the three other options. [Extreme Rejuvenation] sounded like a skill that concentrated on healing aspects such as fatigue, hunger, and sleep. That was honestly a very useful ability, the ability to heal wounds was nice, but rejuvenation was an underappreciated function in his opinion. It had saved his life more than he could count. But he had been able to heal these aspects already with [Restoration], maybe less than this new skill offered, but enough for his current needs, so he eliminated [Extreme Rejuvenation].

[Muscle Augmentation] was a funny advancement to Julius. He had been practicing how to modify [Restoration] to facilitate muscle growth and it seemed like it had paid off. The option definitely was only there due to his previous experiments. If he had another healing skill, he would consider this skill much more seriously than he currently was.

[Pseudo-Phoenix Renewal] was the most intriguing skill out of the lot. Just the name Phoenix was indicative enough of its power. Phoenixes were divine fire beasts who specialized in fire manipulation and were practically immortal due to their healing abilities. Even if it was called pseudo-phoenix, it was undeniably a powerful skill, but what if it didn’t cover what [Restoration] had?

The option had most likely come from the phenomenon where Julius had felt [Restoration] using the flame’s excess energy to fuel his skill. So he could assume that the healing properties were much more intense, but would he still be able to heal from fatigue, hunger, and sleep? That was the real question.

Restoration and renewal were similar words with similar connotations, which led Julius to believe that [Pseudo-Phoenix Renewal] at least covered some of the same aspects as [Restoration].

In the end, Julius couldn’t give up a skill that had a divine beast’s name in it.

Congratulations, skill [Pseudo-Phoenix Renewal] (Rare+) acquired.

What the hell does (Rare+) mean? Is it an indicator that the skill is powerful even among other rare skills? Edwin had mentioned [Spatial Perception] was in the upper range of rare skills, but he never mentioned anything like this. Julius pressed his lips tightly together as he thought about the potential significance of this discovery.

Instead of thinking about it anymore, he wanted to try the skill out. He still had a hand that was missing.

Julius activated [Pseudo-Phoenix Renewal] and he could feel mana race through his body to his arm. Just that small amount of time had Julius feeling like he touched an electric fence. The intensity of life and fire mana was extreme. However, he couldn’t see his arm regrowing even when concentrating the skill on it. It was as if something was preventing it. Julius thought that it was possible that since it had been healed over already, it was unable to heal it.

After a few moments of thought, Julius gathered some fire mana and created a scarlet red short blade. He tested the edge of the blade with his finger to make sure it was sharp and accidentally cut himself, surprising himself with its sharpness.

Damn, that’s how I had cut those trolls apart so easily.

He looked at the nub at the end of his right arm and then he looked at the sharp blade in his hand. He kept looking back and forth between the two with a pronounced frown on his face. Then he closed his eyes and groaned in defeat. It has to be done, he convinced himself.

He activated [Savage Dance] once again and brutally sliced down on his right arm. The blade was so sharp that he didn’t even feel the pain for a few seconds, even as the offending nub was lying down on the ground in a puddle of blood.

Julius quickly activated [Pseudo-Phoenix Renewal], focusing on healing his hand. This time there was a noticeable effect. A warm blaze of red and orange flame burst into reality around the bloody stump on his arm. A potent amount of life mana was suffusing throughout his arm and he visibly saw his hand knitting back together.

The skeleton of his hand was formed first. Then the muscle and tissue began to coalesce around his palm and fingers. Within less than a minute, his whole hand had regrown, as if it was never lost in the first place.

[Pseudo-Phoenix Renewal lvl 1 -> lvl 2]

It was slightly more pale than his left one, but other than that, it was an exact replica of the one he exploded. Julius flexed his hand, opening and closing it repeatedly just to make sure nothing felt off, but nothing did. It was a magnificent feat of magic.

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After getting his hand back, Julius made his way to the troll encampment. He hadn’t forgotten the fracturing sky and knew he needed to do something soon before it was too late.