The Gamer's POV-Chapter 256: High Elf
The statue of the female angel floated in the air as if buoyed by an unseen current, and it hugged itself tightly, its stone arms crossed over its chest while its six wings flared out in a jagged, frozen halo.
After staring at it for a long time, Cedric reached out and touched it. For some reason, he also felt sad.
Eventually, he retrieved his hand, took a step back, and turned to the tablet.
Name: —
Species: [Seraphid]
Nature: [Kushala]
Grade: [3]
Insight: [The Seraphid is so pure, it cannot do evil. It is so fragile, that it is only drawn toward good. It is so full of compassion, that it might as well be regarded as the pinnacle of loving kindness. As the most loyal of beings, they were the favorite of the First Son of the Old Order.]
’Huh?’
Upon reading that last line, Cedric’s confusion deepened.
’Who... or what is the first son of the old order?’
Cedric suddenly grew lost in that thought.
He turned to the tablet to see if it would address the question, but surprisingly, it didn’t give an answer, which made him frown even more.
After a few long seconds, he exhaled hard and scratched his hair frustratedly.
Attributes: [Metta]
Powers: [Benevolent Conversion], [Friend of the Ravens], [Holder of the Decay]
[Benevolent Conversion - The golden flames of the Seraphid can change hostile intentions to good.]
[Friend of the Ravens - The Seraphid can change their form to a raven. They can also utilize the ravens of the night of absolute death.]
[Holder of the Decay - The Seraphid avoids violence at all cost. However, to protect their master, they are willing to unleash the flames of decay buried deep within them.]
’Hm...’
This creature posed a lot of questions to him, but there was no way of getting answers for now, so he decided not to linger on it.
Turning away, he headed to the next statue.
Aika had been standing in front of this statue for a while. She had been looking at it intensely ever since Cedric was three statues away, and she was still standing in front of it, even as he reached it.
’What is she looking at?’
He turned to the statue. It was of a creature that looked like an ogre-like demon wielding a large club. The creature’s physique was that of a lean, perfect man, and its torso revealed perfectly defined abs. It wore a pair of torn, rag-tag trousers, and on its belt were a few bone daggers. Two horns crowned his head. His long hair was tied into a traditional topknot, and he had a beard that made him look wild.
Name: —
Species: [Akuma-Oni]
Nature: [Klesha]
Grade: [3]
Insight: [A being that loves to spread malice and madness. It has a deep sense of devotion to the absolute evil and shall be the pawn of the High Mistress of the Karmic Manifests.]
Attributes: [Dversha], [Krodha]
Powers: [Berserker], [Whispers of Madness]
[Berserker - This Akuma-Oni can double its strength by entering into Berserker.]
[Whispers of Madness - The Akuma-Oni can inflict madness and amplify rage.]
’...absolute evil. This is the second time I’ve seen this mentioned. And again, it’s in connection to Aika.’
Cedric arched a brow and turned to her, staring at her both questioningly and warily.
’Is she supposed to be, or is she going to be, some sort of absolute evil entity?’
At that moment, she felt his stare and slowly turned to him. When their eyes met, she said expressionlessly, "What?"
Cedric narrowed his eyes, then asked in a serious tone, "What do you know about the absolute evil?"
She arched a brow at the question, but then her expression returned to that blank look that made it hard to tell what she was thinking.
"Nothing," she replied blankly, her gaze traveling from him back to the creature. "I have no idea what that means."
She looked deep in thought for a moment. Eventually, she exhaled, turned away from the statue, and moved on.
Cedric watched her for a few seconds, sighed, then gave the statue one last long look before finally turning away to follow behind her.
They both stopped in front of the next statue. Honestly, if it were not for the strange wings on her back and her long pointed ears, Cedric would have mistaken this creature for a human.
But it was not a human.
’Is that... an elf?’
Cedric’s jaw dropped to a small ’O’ and his eyes widened slightly in disbelief. As someone who had watched plenty of fantasy shows in the past, of course he knew what an elf was... or at least, how they were supposed to look.
The statue in front of him was of a beautiful, graceful woman clad in body-fitting armor that transitioned into layered, flowing silken sashes at her waist. She held a longsword in one hand, and a shield in the other. Behind her, a pair of magnificent wings fanned out. They weren’t made of feathers, but looked like thousands of delicate flowers gathered together to form a floral plumage.
Name: —
Species: [High Elf]
Nature: [Kushala]
Grade: [3]
Insight: [A being without fear whose purpose is to protect, nurture and defend this inner sanctuary. As a maiden of valor, she is meant to lead the army of the Lord of the Karmic Manifests.]
Attributes: [Shraddha]
Powers: [Mantle of Valor], [Floral Rejuvenation], [Combat Intuition]
[Mantle of Valor - The High Elf can replace the fear of death by inspiring a sense of purpose in her allies.]
[Floral Rejuvenation - The High Elf can reverse the decay of an injury, restoring flesh and spirit through the essence of the divine flora.]
[Combat Intuition - The High Elf is innately adept in combat. She also continues to grow and adapt the more she engages in combat.]
’She can heal?’
Cedric blinked.
That alone was a game-changer because he finally had his own personal healer. But more than that, the idea of an ally that actually evolved during a fight was terrifyingly efficient.
’A healer and a warrior. That’s one crazy combination.’
As he eventually turned away to move to the next statue, a satisfied smile began to show on Cedric’s lips.
But upon reaching the next statue, that smile slowly disappeared into curiosity.
Unlike the other statues that were carved from pristine white limestone, this one was crafted from a deep, glass-like obsidian that seemed to dim the light around it.
Its body looked like a tall, malnourished man with unnaturally long arms and legs. Its hands ended in sharp, jagged claws, and in place of a face, it had a bleached skeleton for a head. The bone at the top of the skull swept upward into jagged, obsidian-crusted spikes to form a crown around it.
Its empty eye sockets were twin pools of darkness and everything about the creature just gave off a cold, lingering sense of finality.
Name: —
Species: [Blight]
Nature: [Klesha]
Grade: [3]
Insight: [This being is the silent observer of the end, and the physical manifestation of the paralyzing fear of death.]
Attributes: [Abhinivesha]
Powers: [Gaze of the Abyss], [Entropy]
[Gaze of the Abyss - The blight can inflict paralyzing fear upon beings who look into its eyes.]
[Entropy - The Miasma from the blight causes anything it comes in contact with to age and wither at an accelerated rate.]
’Damn...’
Cedric swallowed hard. But after only a few seconds, the tension broke, and a slow smile spread across his face.
’So far, every single one of them is powerful.’
He looked away, sweeping his gaze in a wide circle to take in the silent, imposing gallery of statues. As his gaze swept through them, he began to rotate the ring on his finger.
’However, I only have one shot at this for now. I need to be certain that I awaken the being who will bring the most value to me when the deciding battle of the lords finally comes.’
His gaze landed on the Hekatid and the Nebulid.
’Those two are out. The Hekatid has a good eye for illusions and protection over mind attacks, while the Nebulid is scarily manipulative and relies on his snake. However, the one thing they share is that their direct combat power at the moment is low.’
He looked at the Monad.
’The little guy is scary, but his power isn’t explosive enough for a battle of that scale, and his destructive reach is limited. So no.’
Cedric did not bother looking at the Duumvir-Exalt. The risk of bringing such a proud and powerful creature to life at the moment was just too high.
Moving on, the Ascetic Vagrant was powerful. But then, Cedric felt his powers weren’t really what he needed at the moment. So that too was out for now.
Cedric looked at the Aman for a moment.
’I like that it can devour the abilities of the beings it kills.’
Its other abilities were great too.
Cedric rotated the ring on his finger, then decided to put the Aman option on hold.
Moving on, his gaze stopped at the Seraphid.
’This angel is not a beast of war. It’s more of a protector.’
Cedric tilted his head, drawing out a long, contemplative hum. "Mmmmmmmm..."
After a few seconds, he concluded. ’Nope. Not now.’
As for the Akuma-Oni, Cedric placed it as an option too. It could double its strength as a berserker and its combat ability was really high.
Besides the Akuma-Oni, the High Elf seemed to be the one on the top of Cedric’s mental list.
Right now, what most of the Dominants needed was to get rid of their fear. This creature could help them with that. And with its combat abilities, it was the perfect war creature. It could even heal the Dominants if they were wounded.
So, of course, Cedric kept her at the top of the list.
He finally looked at the Blight one last time, then shook his head for obvious reasons.
After that, he exhaled long and hard, then looked at Aika and said, "I think it’ll be best to bring the High Elf to life. What do you think?"
Aika looked at the elf for a moment, then shrugged lightly and turned her gaze back to Cedric. With an expressionless face, she replied, "I think so too."
