Chapter 1281 – A Ludicrous Skill For A Ludicrous Existence

The pink flamingo that wasn’t actually a flamingo leaned back and looked at Jake curiously. “You know, there are a few things that can truly shock me, but you have shown yourself to be capable of pulling it off.”

With those words, the Viper shotgunned two beers using his fangs, impressively not spilling a single drop on the couch. When he was done, he tossed both bottles over his shoulders, where they simply disappeared before Villy put on his game face. “Okay, hit me.”

“So, as you guessed, this experience-increased effect that affected the entire Order of the Malefic Viper indeed did come from the Spirit of Man skill I got after evolving,” Jake began, the Viper nodding along. “As per the description, it increases experience gain of all those deemed my kin, comrades in arms, allies, partners, or subordinates.”

Villy frowned a little as he nodded. “Alright, that is impressive. Usually, such a skill is far more limited, but it seemed to include… wait, it says it affects everyone deemed your kin… does that include all humans? It shouldn’t be able to, but neither should you be able to affect everyone part of the Order.”

Jake politely gave the Primordial time to consider the implications of what Jake had said. He couldn’t confirm that the skill actually affected all humans, but he suspected it did. Granted, the effect was definitely negligible, and someone like Valdemar helped all other humans far more simply by existing and radiating his Records throughout the multiverse. However, that shouldn’t downplay the significance of this, as just the mere fact that a newly evolved B-grade could affect an entire race was massive.

“I have already confirmed that this new Spirit of Man skill of yours has a higher impact on people based on how close you are to them, with someone like me getting affected the most. Duskleaf’s Chosen, too, as well as several other members in the Order you’ve formed relationships with,” the Viper ruminated out loud. “So if you do affect the entire human race, the effect will be incredibly small, likely even smaller than what the members of the Order received…”

After a few more seconds of thinking, the Malefic Viper shook his head and gave Jake a look. “Alright, I can definitely see you’ve got a Spirit of Man skill surpassing anything I’d heard of before. I’m aware they vary widely in power, but still, this seemed almost too good. I take it the skill also lets you pass down Records more easily? Fairly certain all Spirit of Man skills include that.”

“It does,” Jake confirmed. “And to clarify, it also increases my own experience gain.”

“I see,” the Viper nodded. “Under what circumstances?”

“All circumstances,” Jake shrugged. “However, it’s increased when doing profession-related activities or hunting, as well as amplified yet again if these things are done alongside other humans.”

The Viper frowned as he was once more in thought for a few moments. “It sounds like the skill you got is a fusion of several Spirit of Man skills I’ve heard about before.”

“It one-hundred percent is,” Jake nodded in confirmation.

“Well, I can definitely see why you prefaced this conversation with the skill being better than expected; just the implications of its existence are-“

“I’m not done,” Jake interrupted the snake god.

“I know it also gives stats, but-“

“That, too, but there’s more besides that,” Jake shook his head, unable to hide a smile. “Didn’t I already tell you this might be the most overpowered Spirit of Man skill in the history of the multiverse? Wouldn’t be worthy of that title if all it did was give a few stats and increase experience gain.”

“Alright, my interest suddenly improved drastically,” the Viper said, leaning forward. “Shoot.”

“My skill also increases resistance to all environmental effects, allowing me to adapt to new environments more easily.”

“All environmental effects? It doesn’t have-“ the Viper began as Jake kept talking.

“It also increases resistance to all types of damage experienced by any other entity with the Spirit of Man skill.”

“What do you mean that it-“

“Also, when I’m not wearing adequate equipment to get all the stats my soul can usually bear, this skill will automatically make up the difference, at the cost of an insignificant upkeep in stamina,” Jake continued. “So that’s about 50,000 stats right there, pretty much for free, and peace of mind from always having to get better equipment that gives stats.”

The Viper didn’t even say anything as Jake happily continued.

“Oh, and as you said, it gives stats. I reckon you know how it works: the skill gives a 10% bonus and extra stats per level, with it working partly retroactively. I, of course, also get this,” Jake said with a cheeky smile. “Though, of course, rather than being limited to a mere six stats from the two Spirit of Man skills picked, I just get it in all of them.”

Silence dominated the room for several seconds before Jake let out an exaggerated sigh.

“Unfortunately, I only got to pick a single Spirit of Man skill rather than two, as all my options were replaced with this one. I know how important you’ve said having more skills was in the past, and that one should be careful about merging several together unless absolutely certain that’s the best way forward, but as I said, there was sadly only one option.”

Villy just looked at Jake, who kept smiling.

“At least the one Spirit of Man skill I got was pretty decent,” Jake grinned. “Or does the Primordial disagree?”

The Viper remained silent for several more seconds, actually making Jake a bit nervous before the snake god spoke. “I assume warning you against liberally sharing details about this skill and your evolution in general isn’t necessary?”

“No,” Jake shook his head. “And I’m also fairly certain that others can’t even detect that I have a variant race evolution. Maybe due to Shroud of the Primordial, but-“

“It’s not due to that,” the Viper shook his head. “I also want to correct you. Others can detect it; however, it’s akin to the natural suppression of power that everyone usually feels anyway. Strong humans give off a different presence than weaker ones, so I wouldn’t be worried about anyone suspecting you have a variant evolution; they’ll more likely than not just assume your aura comes from you being at the top of your race. Something you admittedly are.”

“Those mirror my thoughts,” Jake said, as he couldn’t help but smile a bit again. “Any comments on the actual skill?”

Villy sighed, shaking his head. “You also did some research on common Spirit of Man skill variants, right? In that case, you should also have reached the same conclusion as I: that your skill is effectively a fusion of many Spirit of Man skills. How many, I can’t tell, but it must be a lot. It’s not all of them, though, but just a select few, perhaps the ones deemed beneficial for your Path. I could theorize far more, but I really don’t see the point. All I will do is reiterate that you should keep the existence of this skill under wraps, though you may be forced to reveal some of its aspects.”

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Jake frowned at that. “What parts, and why?”

“Let me start by saying you should never volunteer any information unless absolutely necessary. The part about not needing stats from equipment is something you can freely share, but there’s no reason to say it comes from a race skill. Others may reach that conclusion on their own, but never confirm or outright deny anything. The same as true for all other parts of the skill except for one,” Villy said, looking sufficiently serious.

“The part about granting experience is something that affects others, and those who are capable of detecting it are also smart enough – or have smart enough people around them in Valdemar’s case – to put together that it’s from a Spirit of Man skill. To clarify that point, just as I detected my Order being affected by your skill, so do I suspect that both Valdemar and Aeon felt when you got the skill and affected all of humanity. The two of them included. On that note, I do believe all human gods likely felt it, though they’ll be unable to determine the source if they aren’t skilled in karmic concepts. Even then, they would have to pierce Shroud of the Primordial to track anything back to you, so they shouldn’t be a problem.”

“But some can pierce Shroud,” Jake frowned.