Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Skullius was stunned.

This Nature-Bound Malleable Form Core was ridiculous!

He even wondered if perhaps, his thinking was too shallow!

The longer he stayed here, the more he felt the elements try to invade his mana core!

Was this natural?

Did this ever happen to other beings?

With his Null Life powers, Skullius could extract skills and all, performing many variations of phenomena seamlessly but there was definitely going to be a limit. His normal core wasn't going to be able to act upon very complicated techniques which he extracted with his Nullmancer traits. Of this, he was sure.

This very limitations was the reason he had forged his other core with specific ties to the concept of gravity after discovering the existence of the Centre, the Refinery and Shell of a code after all.

Was this new core the answer to his problems?

"Thinking about this now isn't going to help. I'll need professional advice with this," Skullius said as he stood up.

This core was an unexpected boon though.

"The power of the Special Bonus Random Upgrade is amazing! I guess the bonus for this was the additional mana which raised the mana core output from 10,000 to 60,000. It must happens every time you use this, but with different variations," Skullius said with intrigue.

It was likely that there could have been different forms of effects with his use of the Special Bonus Random Upgrade just now and he grew more excited just by thinking about it.

The last bits of his thought process towards this subject ended here however.

It was time for the main event... again!

Now, with all the cooldowns for all his skills cancelled, Skullius activated [Depths of Core].

He delved into his first mana core.

He would loved to use [Depths of the Core] on his new mana core but sadly, one usage wouldn't allow it to reach blue.

His old mana core was only a step away from reaching that stage because he had used [Depths of the Core] on it twice, with the last time he used it leaving him just a bit shy from where he intended.

As was the skill's effect to produce a series of lines that Skullius had to join together to eventually form a higher stage core, the Penetrator was forced to play the game of connecting the dots once again.

With each connection of the white lines, he felt himself draw closer and closer to the goal.

The [Epiphany] boosted [Depths of the Core]'s worked like a charm, leaving the process less harsh and with the time afforded much more abundant!

Midway through this process, Skullius thought about [Epiphany]'s effect on [Unbound].

There didn't seem to be any.

The skill remained the same even with [Unbound] and even [Bringer of All] didn't seem to have any changes attached to it when he used it.

Did the passive boost of [Epiphany] have some sort of limit?

It was likely.

If 90% efficiency was applied to [Bringer of All], Skullius would be bullying everyone and he had hoped for that, dammit!

No matter.

The Penetrator pressed on for about an hour, his focus deepening with every passing moment.

With his current attainments and knowledge which far exceeded those he had when he last used [Depths of the Core], Skullius managed to achieve his goal rather quickly.

A dull blue glow shone from his previously white core, replacing its normalcy and weakness while building up its stability as well as power!

Additionally, the mana core shrunk in size as the numerical value for the mana was reduced significantly because of how the qualitative shift of mana points from white to blue worked â€" mana points from a blue core being more valuable.

"Finally. I might not have as much mana as with my Luman form but this is a start. I can increase the amount of mana points with [Unbound] later on. Hopefully the costs are manageable," Skullius mumbled to himself, relieved that he had finally stepped into the next stage with his core.

Unsurprisingly, certain changes arose around his body.

The dark clouds that constantly emerged around him grew at least thrice as thick, and thrice as dark, the bursts of Levin they produced silently but dangerously flashing with split second luminance that hid Skullius' figure with the absurd auroral glow!

The Penetrator's body could hardly be seen among these clouds and glaring flashes!

He looked like a god without even moving, the four sockets behind the thickets of clouds, under the hood of the robes he wore being capable of making anyone submit in fear!

Skullius also felt his bones grow thick and powerful, surging Levin consolidating them from within. Even his physique wouldn't be one to mess with!

"Ah..."

He was satisfied.

This was good.

Since there was still a bit of time left with [Depths of the core], Skullius managed to witness a new network of lines appearing over this blue mana core!

Blue lines.

The number of them didn't inflate or anything but they were thicker.

Skullius could pretty much guess that joining two of these lines together would form a purple line as the path towards a purple core would begin with a nasty, unforgiving bang!

Just to sample out the difficulty, Skullius' consciousness grabbed a hold of two thick blue lines.

With moderate effort, he pulled.

It was a joke. The lines didn't even budge.

'I knew it.'

With his maximum effort, drawing the lines at full power.

It was still a joke. They merely wobbled!

'Flesh you,' Skullius thought with a bony bitterness.

This was an abysmal result to say the least.

To get these lines to move even by a little bit, Skullius needed to level up [Epiphany] and [Depths of the Core], something that wasn't going to be easy as for the latter, he had to wait for [Bringer of All]'s cooldown while for the former, he had to start using [Epiphany]'s active effects.

"That's too depressing to think about," Skullius said as he cancelled [Depths of the Core]. There was no point in struggling with this for the remainder of the duration.

Instead, the Penetrator checked his new status to lift his spirits even higher.

~~~

[ Name : Skullius ]

[ Tier : 2 ]

[ Level : 1 ]

[ EXP : 0/200 ]

[ Core : Blue ]

[ Class : Vehement Bone Nullmancer ]

[ Race : Eternal Storm Veil Penetrator ]

[ Inv. Status : Doomed ×2 ]

-----

[<Stats>]

[ STRENGTH (I) : 565 ]

[ AGILITY (I) : 889 ]

[ INTELLIGENCE (I) : 712 ]

[ ENDURANCE (I): Infinite ]

[ LUCK : Atrocious? ]

-------

[ Health : 10,700/10,700 ]

------

[ MANA (I) : 2,510/2,510 ]

------

[ Mana^ : 60,000/60,000 ]

-------

[ Null Life Essence : 12,000/12,000 ]

------

[<Skills>]

[ Greater Mana Crafter | Lv.10 ]

[ Great Saint's Invigoration | Lv.12 ]

[ High Cosmetic Body | Lv.4 ]

[ Ungodly Passion of Debauchery | Lv.5 ]

[ Null Extraction ]

[ Unbound ]

[ Static Limbo ]

[ Koten Machi | Lv.9 ]

[ Guard Light | Lv.7 ]

[ Compact Mana | Lv.24 ]

[ Wrath of the False god | Lv.1 ]

[ Serration Zone: Baneful Edge | Lv.1 ]

[ Flash Flicker | Lv.9 ]

[ Raw Impact | Lv.10 ]

[ Great Rush (I) | Lv.14 ]

[ Revered | Lv.1 ]

[ Basic Combat Arts | Lv.8 ]

[ Basic Sword Mastery | Lv.2 ]

[<Class>]

[ Apostle Summon | Lv.3 ]

[ Apostle Armament | Lv.3 ]

[ Depths of Core | Lv.5 ]

[ Bringer of All | Lv.4 ]

[ Epiphany | Lv.2 ]

[ Defiant Raiment of Perversion | Lv.2 ]

[<Racial>]

[ Storm Rider | Lv.1 ]

[ Brisk Storm Avatar (Special) | Lv.1]

[ Levin Dominance: Veil Storm Lance | Lv.1]

[ Vivid Firmament Canvas (Special) | Lv.1 ]

[ Silent Revelation of the Bright King | Lv.1 ]

[ Ful Discharge | Lv.1 ]

-----

[<Attachments>]

2/2

[<Marked Spots>]

None

[<Counsel>]

...

~~~

Skullius' stats had been divided tenfold and some numerically, but their value far exceeded what they had been before. It would be as simple as multiplying them by 10.

This was amazing!

"Come on, Ferex," Skullius said as he lead his Apostle back to where he had stashed the unconscious Yuyui.

For what followed, he couldn't afford to leave her behind.

Upon reaching the spot, the duo found Yuyui awake, sitting on the snow while hugging her body.

She hung her head as if she was in deep, depressing thought, her slender form rocking back and forth.

When she saw the two, she became slightly cheerful.

"Where had you gone, Master?" she asked with a solemn tone.

"Oh, you know. Killing," Skullius replied before looking up in a bit of realisation and... shame.

"Oh, I see," Yuyui said hollowly.

'That might have been a bit insensitive,' Skullius rebuked himself.

He could repair that moment of foolishness with a spectacle though.

The two skills he wanted could now be used, after all and if they weren't flashy, nothing was.

First was...

~~~

[Vivid Firmament Canvas (Special) | Lv.1]

The user becomes a massive storm cloud brimming with highly condensed Levin, the optimal form for an Eternal Storm Veil Penetrator. In this form, the user's skills obtain a 350% increase in power and range, while the user themselves becomes completely immune to physical attacks. The user's awareness is also bolstered by a large degree, making them conscious of everything within double the range of their attacks.

Mana Requirements: 1000 (I) Mana Points, 100 (I) every day skill remains active.

Duration: ---

Cooldown: 3 days

~~~

Indeed.

The Eternal Storm Veil Penetrator was truly a menace.

In fact, Skullius was happy he got an evolutionary choice that was higher up the chain as this was what allowed this ridiculously powerful skill to cost a little less than he expected for activation.

1000 mana points from a blue core were necessary for activation â€" thus the (I) â€" while 100 points were required each day to keep this form active!

For what the skill offered, this was tame, in Skullius' opinion.

In any case, he wasn't complaining.

"Yuyui, take my hand," he said, in his voice a lot of enthusiasm.

The Penetrator had a feeling that this form was even more exciting to play around with than how it was described and Yuyui would be the one to witness it first hand.

"Uh, okay," Yuyui said, consenting.

She grabbed ahold of Skullius' hand, the Penetrator's blinding socket flames burning intensely as he then called in a light but powerful voice.

"Vivid Firmament Canvas."

The glaring luminosity that spawned every other split second around Skullius suddenly engulfed everything within a mile's radius, creating a white scape so bright that it would permanently blind any normal human who looked at it directly from close by!

Then came a shrieking explosion of unadulterated might that cascaded in all directions while burning up the snow, as a massive, lustrous bolt of white Levin sprinkled with fading colour shot upwards with a glorious brilliance!

It soared.

It soared high.

From hundreds of miles away, many who had not yet retired for the night could see it â€" a super bright trail that launched itself beyond the veil of grey and white clouds within the span of a heartbeat, disappearing into the beauty of the inverted horizon!

No one could hear it but Yuyui screamed as loudly as she could while tucked within this pillar of Levin which did her no harm.

She had not expected her Master to suddenly do something so crazy!

She felt them pass through the thick of storm clouds that seemed to go on forever before emerging on the other side, where the air was thinner and the skies clearer.

It was beautiful!

They were so high up!

As soon as they appeared, an unnerving silence took over, as if to introduce a level of dramatic flair!

Then, at that very moment, the Levin Yuyui was riding exploded out with a mute shriek, but the air was not dumb. It rang out noisily as it was blown away, making way for an expansive black, grey and purple storm cloud that covered a five mile range in an instant, its mass decorated with beautiful arcs of Levin that swam within its entirety like fish!

It was gorgeous!

It was mighty!

It was powerful!

As it finished unfurling itself fully, a glow of Levin outlined it before releasing a series of bolts that collided fiercely, hurtling through its cloudy make up to reach the centre!

These bolts gathered violently and forged a simple image of Skullius that floated, bathed in terribly menacing Levin, the Penetrator's arms stretched out as he gazed up at the unusual space above...