Chapter 18: Custom-Made ss
-----
As I waved away the system notifications, I looked at my Inner Realm, my treasury had be evenrger, as there were many monster materials, items, potions, and equipment I had taken away from that spatial magician whose name I don’t remember anymore.
But above all of that, I got Credits, and not just a few, but a few million of them, right away! Indeed, it seems that higher-floor yers umte a lot of credits. This level one thousand man had quite a small treasure with him.
I managed to get 3.320.000 Credits out of him, and with that, I now had a total of 4.475.000 Credits. Next time a fool appears, I might as well extort them out of their belongings before killing them. Although I belong to an orthodox faction, there was nothing wrong with taking away the belongings of the wicked for us and using them to help good-hearted people, innocents, or even the victims who survived.
I will probably sell these itemster and earn enough money for myself. Although I want to keep living with my family, I would prefer to still get a home for myself back on Earth. And not whatever thing, but a big manor if possible. For that, I need a lot of money.
We decided to walk towards our destination instead of just flying there to watch the scenery, rx, and chat. I needed to help Ruby with something because I now feel guilty that she might have lost the opportunity because of me.
For now, though, I decided to upgrade my Privilege Skill to Max Level as I had enough Credits for that.
<strong>[You have exchanged 4.400.000 Credits.]</strong>
<strong>[The [Premium yer Privilege (SSS): Lv2] Skill has Leveled Up to Level 10!]</strong>
<strong>[Your Skill has reached Max Level! Max Level Bonus Ability has been added to the Skill Effects.]</strong>
-----
[Premium yer Privilege (SSS): Lv10]
[Skill EXP]: [--/--]
A Premium Skill is often given to Administrators who beta-test new System Functions. It is not something that yers should ever receive.
Grants the partial ability to manipte System Functions, allowing you to keep your System even without it being bound to your body and soul.
Increases the amount of Stats gained per Level by x2 of the chosen ss Stat Growth.
Increases the amount of Skill Points and Stat Points earned by 10 after taking a ss, grants ess to the Skill Shop.
Decreases required Skill Points to learn new ss Skills by -50%
Increases ssless and Magic Skill Slots by +1 -> +5 (Upgraded!)
You can now Sponsor other yers by using Credits to buy a Divine Blessing, giving them special Skills rted to your developing Divinity, Abilities, Bonus Stats, and Items.
Decreases the Prices of Credit Shop Items by -50% (New Ability!)
Increases Credits Earned by +50% (New Ability!)
When ying a powerful foe, there’s a 20% chance to randomly obtain one of their Skills. (New Ability!)
Decreases All Damage Taken by -20% (New Ability!)
Grants Total Immunity to all Status Effects. (New Ability!)
You can choose to {Extract} on the corpses of foes you y, turning their corpses into EXP, Mana, and Vitality. (New Ability!)
You can further umte “Credits” by ying powerful Monsters and Boss Monsters, which you can exchange for valuable items in the Administrator’s Shop.
Level Bonus (10): Credits Earned Increases by 100%. All Shops give you a discount of 50%. The Gods will show 100% more interest in you.
Max Level Bonus: You can now further edit and change the System Structure within your vicinity and your Status. To create more precise changes, however, you can spend Credits.
-----
Ahh! Now this is a fine Skill. These abilities are indeed quite something. Although the damage decreases, immunity feelspletely useless. Extract has many uses, at least in terms of mana, so I can further refine my Primordial Essence and also gain even more EXP, so I can further level up and gain even more Mana.
Then there’s the Bonus Ability after Max Level. I can further edit and change the System Structure. Huh, I’ll have to try thatter. I wonder what I could do. It certainly gets messy when I try to change it, as I am not proficient in this strange magic, but I can indeed shatter it and transform it by using my Alchemy abilities.
Perhaps with this and some credits, I could make changes that won’t be too messyter on.
But for now, there’s something I need to do.
“Ruby, did you get a ss by any chance?” I asked her.
“A-Ah, about that…Well, yeah, but its kind ofme.” She sighed.
“I see, I guess the chances of getting an Avatar-rted ss were out of the question. Let me remedy that for you. I can now create sses; do you mind if I give you one?” I asked her.
“W-Wait, what? You can make sses? How’s that even a thing?” She gasped.
“It seems that’s a new power you acquired somehow.” Said my mother. “How though?”
“It is part of my ss Skills! I can absorb the Divine sses of foes I y and then grant them to others.” I smiled. “But the normal ones would beme, so let’sbine them. Let’s see…”
<strong>[You canbine up to three Divine sses together. Please choose carefully; once it’s done, it cannot be reversed.]</strong>
<strong>[Stored Divine sses]: [Radiant Light Divine Archbishop] [Brilliant Mother of Light Holy Saintess] [Divine Radiant Temr of Holy Light] [zing Berserk Warrior] [Shadow Leopard Rogue Kunoichi] [Spatial Warlock]</strong>
“Which ones do you want, dear?” I asked my little sister. “Choose three of whatever you want.”
“Ooh! Wow, you canbine them and make them even more OP? That’s wicked, big sis." Ruby gulped saliva in awe. “Err… I’ve heard hunters with space magic are really famous. So Spatial Warlock, for sure. Then… Hmm, zing Berserk Warrior because of fire, and I use a sword. And then... Err, how about the Kunoichi one too?”
“So you want the sses of those pesky bandits that attacked us, I see!” I smiled, nodding. “Yes, they seemed strong. Alright!”
<strong>[You have chosen the Divine sses: [zing Berserk Warrior] [Shadow Leopard Rogue Kunoichi] [Spatial Warlock] for Divine Skill Fusion!]</strong>
<strong>[Fusing Divine sses…]</strong>
<em>FLASH!</em>
All three Divine ssesbined in front of us, showcasing as bubbles of divine essence, and then came together into a brand-new Divine ss. A bubble of ck mes and spatial essence is surging from within.
<strong>[You have sessfullybined the Divine sses: [zing Berserk Warrior] [Shadow Leopard Rogue Kunoichi] [Spatial Warlock] into [Abyssal zing Berserk de Master Of Dark Stars (Divine Rank)]!]</strong>
“There you go, Ruby! It is done.” I quickly imbued the bubble into her chest.
<em>Ding!</em>
<strong>[You have exchanged 10.000 Credits. You have sponsored [yer: Ruby] with a new Divine ss of your own creation: [Abyssal zing Berserk de Master Of Dark Stars (Divine Rank)]!]</strong>
<strong>[yer: Ruby] has fully assimted thepatible Divine ss. Her previous ss has been forcefully deleted by your System Authority.]</strong>
<strong>[yer: Ruby] Stats have increased! All her rted Skills to her ss have gained +2 Levels as a bonus.]</strong>
<strong>[She has unlocked the Divine ss Skill: [Space Tearing ck Star Swordsmanship (SS): Lv1]!]</strong>
“Woah!” She gasped for a bit in surprise as the ss''s immense power flowed through her whole being. In mere seconds, for a moment, her appearance changed.
Her hair turned long, zing like ck and red mes. Her skin turned deep red, with ck tattoos resembling ck stars, and her sword was epassed by a mass of space-distorting ck fire, growing in size to a ridiculous appearance of over ten meters.
“T-This is insane! I got a new Skill out of it too!” She said it in excitement. “Mom, check this out!”
She swung her sword into the skies, and as a giant wave of ck mes exploded into the blue sky, a crack in space suddenly opened after the explosion, which then slowly closed. I was able to faintly see several little ck tentacles and red eyes ring at us through the cracks. So administrators also repair these things, huh?
"Calm down, Ruby; don’t do that again if you are not fighting a monster, okay? You almost broke space itself." My mother was still processing what happened.
“Hahaha! Well, we are here, so we might as well let her go crazy!” I admired our view.
There was a huge castle, or more exactly, a beehive, in the shape of a castle. It was surrounded by giant stone walls, and there were thousands of enormous, four-meter-big bees flying everywhere around the beehive. Inside of it, there was a powerful S-rank monster known as the Spirit Bee Queen.
“This must be the Spirit Bee Queen’s Castle, huh? Considered an S-Rank Dungeon that nobody has ever cleared yet.” Iughed. “I suppose that band of bandits could have been able to help here but were too busy trying to look for easy money. Too bad it ended badly for them.”
“Y-You don’t need to put it that way…” My mother sighed. “Oh, right! Before we go, Ruby, didn’t you have a monster pet? It would be better if you hatch it now so it can gain EXP.”
“R-Right, the egg; I left it inside of Big Sister''s Inner Realm!” Ruby said. “Can you get it back for me, Katherine?”
“Sure, here.” I waved my hand and quickly brought something with me. It wasn’t an egg anymore; it had hatched a few hours ago and had been roaming my pce without end. It ate some of the Primordial Golden Lotus Flowers on my ponds and then ate a Yin and Yang Koi Fish too. So it got quite the appetite.
“Meow!”
It was a cat—a cute ck and red cat—that was sitting over the palm of my hand, rather perfectly so. It was a kitty for now, but it had quite a sharp nce. It has bright red eyes and tiny ck horns over its head, adorned by a pair of cute demon-like wings and a long, pointy tail.
“It’s called Demonic Doppelcat,” I answered. “You can go now.”
“Mereow!” The cat leaped off my hand and then immediately ran to Ruby, rubbing their nose over her legs. “Prrr~” It was purring adorably.
“Oh my gosh! It’s a cute kitty!” Ruby was very happy, holding the cat with her hands and lifting him up. “I’ll name you... Felix!”
“Meow!” The Doppelcat suddenly leaped into the air and released an explosion of ck smoke. After that, the cat’s form changed, bing a nearly identical copy of Ruby!
“What?! So that’s why it''s called Doppelcat!” Ruby gasped.
“It seems so.” My mom nodded. “So it can copy your appearance?”
“Mereow!” The cat turned into shadows, summoning a ck me sword—or, well, two of them—and unleashing shes against the walls in front of us, breaking them apart. This quickly alerted the bees. The power of those shes was at least half as strong as Ruby, which is not bad.
<em>CRASH!</em>
“W-Wait, the walls!” My mother panicked.
<em>“BBZZZTT!”</em>
A swarm of angry Giant Spirit Bees rushed towards us. Each one was at least cataloged as A+ Rank Monsters. Who were above Level 300. I can tell why nobody came here; a single one of these bees could destroy even experienced hunters. And it was on the first floor, where experienced hunters were very rare as well.
“{Photonic Sunlight Spear}”
I materialized a spear out of my Photon Essence andunched it into the skies. A st of pure golden light illuminated the skies as an explosion of thunder and light covered everything.
<em>BOOOM!</em>
The bees were instantly disintegrated; the swarming towards us was no more, although a hundred more were on their way.
“Alright, I’ve opened the way! Ruby, Mom, I’ll cover your backs; you also have barriers to protect you from damage, so attack them without fear until you can kill them.” I said. “No matter if it takes you many hits, You’re going to level up a lot today; be prepared!”
“Gotcha!” Ruby nodded. “Felix, let’s go!”
“Meow!” Her doppelganger, made of shadows, leaped with Ruby.
“Ruby! Even with a barrier, don’t be too reckless!” Mom followed her from behind as I stayed right by their side.
I constantly conjured Photon Sunlight Spears to st the annoying bees, while my family slowly started killing them one after another. I was able to see how they battled as well. Ruby shed her foes with her swordsmanship techniques, releasing explosions of phantasmal energy and ck mes. The level 300 bees took heavy wounds each time they received her blows. Though they didn’t die right away, after getting hit three to five times, they did.
Felixplemented her attacks, making it much easier for her to kill the bees. She was also practicing her evasion techniques, despite the bees being much faster than her. She got hit several times due to the big level difference, but thanks to my barrier, there was little to worry about.
My mother followed her from behind, conjuring swords and spears of steel conjured from her elemental martial core. At the same time, she unleashed strong fist and palm techniques. Her spear techniques were also used, now with her being able to conjure spears out of her own body as her cultivation advanced further through the paths of metal and light elements.
The more these elemental essences are cultivated within the core and physique, the stronger they be, to the point where our own bodies gain the ability to produce these elements as well. My mother had gotten the hang of it very quickly, barely being hit as she constantly created floating steel shields, enchanted with light to further grant them defense.
In less than thirty minutes, all bees were eliminated, and after we massacred everything inside the castle, we came in front of the Spirit Bee Queen; she was at least over Level 500 ording to the system, a true S-Rank threat.
She had the shape of a fatter and bigger bee, but with the upper torso of an insectoid woman. She looked rather cute, but I didn’t have any time to fall for a monster we had to y, and one with barely any intelligence either.
<em>“BBZZZTTT!”</em>
She constantly conjured spirit magic, summoning the power of the environment and drawing the elemental essence of the nearby forest. With this, she could conjure endless spear-pointed roots of wood and beams of light. And even slicing wind attacks, which looked quite deadly to any mortal.
While acting as their shield, I advanced forward while yawning a bit. My mother and my sister rained as many attacks as they could on the Queen Bee, slowly debilitating her by cutting off her many limbs and then her wings.
The beast gave itsst struggle before its head was shed by Felix, sneaking behind her at thest moment.
<em>SLASH!</em>
“Hey Felix, you stole my kill!”
“Meow!”
Felix, however, started purring after turning back into his cat form and rubbing his face on Ruby’s legs. She couldn’t get angry with the little kitten anymore.
“Whew, we really did it... Well, without your help, it would have beenpletely impossible, though.” My mother smiled. “But I never thought I could ever do something like this nheless!”
“Indeed, Mother, don’t give me too much credit; you dealt most of the damage! Congrats!” I pped my hands. “Shall we go to the next mission then?”
“Wait, so soon?” My mother cried. "Let''s rest for a bit, please." She sat down on the floor.
“Yeah, let’s take a snack break or something.” My sister nodded. “I brought some soda and chips. Here, grab your favorites, sis.” She threw me a can of Pepsi and a bag of hot chips.
“Oh well.” I shrugged, sitting over the throne of the bee queen and eating chips.
Naturally, the ones chasing us finally appeared, rushing towards us. and then kneeling in front of me. It was a trio of beasts. Two of them were ck-furred wolf women, and the only man was a gray cat. They were all wearing ck robes, resembling rogues.
“Oh, so you’re finally here, huh? What do you want? Depending on your answer, your fate might change.”
“P-Please help us!”
“We need someone strong like you…”
“W-We will give you everything we have…”
“Everything you have, huh?” I smiled. “Go on, show me your sincerity.”
-----