｢Congratulations on completing: Tower of Babylon Sixteenth Floor
Time elapsed: 0:1:13
Objectives complete: All
Assessment: EX+
Reward:
20,000 Score Points
1 Treasure Selection Reward - Peak Bronze Grade｣
The current score point tally for the leaderboard reached 198,350 and Draco had 583,437 overall to spend.
However, the focus of the Morningstar Group was not on these mere score points, but the surging auras of Hikari, Zaine, and Roma. Compared to when they had been about to climb to Rank 4, the change now was extremely exaggerated.
This wasn't too surprising though, since Rank 5 was the biggest demarcation in the 7 Combat Ranks.
A mere Adventurer was a bottom floor member of society, someone with barely any power who would have to rely on themselves to make a living.
A Lord was someone with nobility and some measure of power. A person at this stage could rule a city or town depending on the scope of their power, and guard it against external threats.
A King, was above a Lord, and someone with the Divine Mandate from heaven to rule. He could gather a group of towns and cities to form a kingdom that was sovereign. With his power, he could establish a lineage that could last, at least, for three generations.
This was the current kind of power that Draco, Eva, and the members of Umbra had.
An Emperor though, was a power above a King. He had gathered groups of kingdoms together to form an empire that spanned swathes of land. They had the power to sit in their palace and strike down foes from all sides, able to ensure their dynasty lasts a minimum of 7 generations!
However, an Emperor was already the limit of mortal power and prestige. This was also shown in the Nobility Rankings, which were different from the titles of the Combat Ranks.
An Emperor was not necessarily supposed to be Rank 4 and it wasn't too hard to find Rank 6 or 7 Emperors, just as one could find Rank 4 or 5 Kings.
The titles attached to the Combat Ranks were just to denote the power gap between each Rank using a scale that everyone could understand.
But then what did it mean to break through mortalhood and become a Demigod? This kind of power transcended what the mortal mind could comprehend and appreciate.
This was also why many of Draco's truly awesome powers and future prospects were locked behind the wall of Rank 5 by the AI, like his ascension to a Divine Rank Dragon through the Dragon's Heritage skill and his ability to create his own purified mana from Worldly Energy as well as a separate mana storage for it under the Mage God title.
These were things only one with the right qualifications could possess, and apart from an anomaly like Eva who already had Divinity in her blood as her major characteristic, others were not allowed to skip those stages.
Zaine glowed with a bright blue light that was infused with lightning of many colors. Runes and symbols appeared around her as her body shone and she shifted into her Royal Succubus form unwillingly.
Aetheric Energy poured into her body voraciously, with about 5% of the content being Divine Energy. As one could expect, it didn't matter the Source Origin or bloodline, NPCs who - unlike players - actually metamorphosed into something greater when Ranking up, needed pure energy.
That was why - as one might notice - the people in some regions were capped at Rank 2 or 3, while in others, there were Rank 5 and above blokes like rubbish.
Not always would talent or bloodline decide the outcome, sometimes one could just be lucky enough to be born with an abundance of energy around.
Roma glowed with a dark green light. Eldritch horrors manifested around her, souls screaming for salvation and creepy body parts of various beasts in jars. Runes and symbols also appeared around her as Roma's skin became slightly grayer, taking on the full form of an Ultima Sunt.
She also took in high amounts of Aetheric Energy, with about 7% being Divine Energy.
Hikari was the most exaggerated. She glowed with a creamy white light that enveloped her like a veil, strange symbols that were the only ones Draco could understand appearing.
From the translation of his Soul Black Dragon, it seemed to be depicting the history of the White Dragon species history and it was selecting the best augmentation for Hikari.
With this as his basis, Draco guessed that the same must be happening for Zaine and Roma, but despite also having a Devil and Ultima Sunt bloodline, he did not manifest these as his soul avatar, so he did not gain the benefits that came with it.
Hikari took in only Divine Energy, yet no Origin. It would be a bit ridiculous for her to start dragging that over at a 'mere' Rank 5. Even True Gods didn't have qualifications to get that, otherwise many of them would have long since become Semi-Origin Gods.
The three NPC women spent about twice as long as for their previous Rank Up.
Zaine finished after 12 hours, Roma after 13 and a half hours, and Hikari after exactly 24 hours. When Hikari was finally done, they all opened their eyes at the same time as if in sync.
Even though Zaine and Roma had stopped absorbing energy a long while ago, they were far more flexible in their power up and could augment or amend things to optimize their power.
Hikari usually just went with the flow of what her bloodline gave her, because… well, the White Dragon skillset was already OP enough. Any more and the game might shatter the next instant.
The trio manifested very few changes outwardly as their transformations reverted. However, their yet-to-be-tamed auras swept over Draco and Eva, pressuring them slightly.
There was no doubt about it, the three NPCs Beauties had reached a height of power where they could even make the White-Haired Duo feel a bit of danger.
"Well, don't keep us waiting. Zaine, Roma, Hikari, please share your improvements so I can drool over how OP my wives all are." Draco urged with stars in his eyes.
Zaine chuckled and displayed hers first as usual.
｢Name: Zaine - Rank 5 Royal Devil
Level: 200
Exp: 0%
NPC Str: 25 --> 40
NPC Dex: 20 --> 30
NPC End: 40
NPC Int: 310
NPC Spr: 10
NPC Cha: 100
NPC Lck: 10
Active Skills: Psi-Blade, Psi-Barrier, Psi-Restoration, Psi-Clone, Psi-Blink, Psi-Control, Psi-Bomb (new), Psi-Rupture (new), Psi-Wave (new), Indenture.
Passive Skills: Potent Seduction, Master Telekinesis, Master Psychometry, Master Telesthesia, Master Apportation, Master Transvection, Ultra Lightning Control, Super Enhanced Mind, Thunder Mirage.｣
｢Psi-Blade - Active Skill
Effect: Slash out with purified Mental Energy condensed into the form of a blade that severs all thoughts and sentience. This deals 200% --> 250% mental damage and incapacitates a single target.
Duration: 5 minutes --> 6 minutes.
Cooldown: 6 minutes --> 5 minutes.｣
｢Psi-Barrier - Active Skill
Effect: Create a protective shield of purified Mental Energy around the caster that negates 110% --> 120% of all mental damage while reflecting 55% --> 60% of the damage back, as well as negating 75% --> 80% of all physical damage.
Duration: 4 minutes --> 5 minutes
Cooldown: 4 minutes --> 3 minutes｣
｢Psi-Restoration - Active Skill
Effect: Concentrate purified Mental Energy to restore stamina, mana, and health of the user in a pinch. Regains 50% --> 60% of all of these attributes.
Cooldown: 50 seconds --> 40 seconds.｣
｢Psi-Clone - Active Skill
Effect: Summon a clone of yourself made of Psychic Energy that possesses 30% --> 40% of your total power and can fight in tandem with you during combat. It is invulnerable to all but mental damage during its lifetime.
Duration: 1 minute --> 2 minutes
Cooldown: 10 minutes --> 9 minutes.｣
｢Psi-Blink - Active Skill
Effect: Instantly teleport yourself from one place to another within a range of 1 --> 2 kilometers. You can only teleport yourself and are invincible during the travel.
Cooldown: 30 seconds --> 20 seconds.｣
｢Psi-Control - Active Skill
Effect: Enhance all of your other skills by 30% --> 40%. This has no effect on techniques.
Duration: 30 minutes --> 1 hour.
Cooldown: 1 day --> 22 hours.｣
｢Psi-Bomb - Active Skill
Effect: Implant a psychic bomb into anything, detonating it remotely from anywhere your telesthesia can reach. You can also set a timer or condition for it to detonate anywhere in the world. It deals 500% psychic damage over a range of 500 meters.
Cooldown: 3 hours.｣
｢Psi-Rupture - Active Skill
Effect: Explode your Psychic Energy, creating a powerful rupture in the flow of mental energies of all beings within 1 kilometer. This damages the user for 10% of their HP, but deals 1,200% psychic damage to all targets.
Cooldown: 1 day.｣
｢Psi-Wave - Active Skill
Effect: Send out a condensed wave of Psychic Energy that strikes any enemy within a 180° arc in front of you for a total distance of 3 kilometers. All enemies within range sustain 700% psychic damage.
Cooldown: 12 hours｣
｢Indenture - Active Skill
Effect: Force any target(s) to obey your commands unconditionally and willingly.
Note: This is effective on monsters weaker than the user. There is no limit to the number of monsters that can be charmed save for the user's mental limit.
Duration: none.
Cooldown: 50 minutes --> 40 minutes.｣
｢Master Telekinesis - Passive skill
Effect: With your Mental Energy, you can control external objects of various sizes at will with ease and at 50% less cost.｣
｢Master Psychometry - Passive skill
Effect: With your Mental Energy, you can perceive the emotions and raw feelings of those around you and can absorb it for nourishment with ease and at 50% less cost.｣
｢Master Telesthesia - Passive skill
Effect: With your Mental Energy, create a permanent void around your body which your mind fully controls with ease and at 50% less cost. This domain is always maintained and can assist your other psychic skills in interesting ways.｣
｢Master Apportation - Passive skill
Effect: With your Mental Energy, you are able to move your body through folds of space at the speed of thought, appearing wherever you need to be with ease and at 50% less cost.｣
｢Master Transvection - Passive skill
Effect: With your Mental Energy, you are able to move your body through the atmosphere, achieving levitation and flight at will with ease and at 50% less cost.｣
｢Ultra Lightning Control - Passive skill
Effect: You can freely and willfully control all forms of Lightning Energy to attack, defend or imbue.
Note 1: You can now summon Red/Blood Burning Lightning.
Note 2: Accessible forms of Lightning: Blue/Energy Infused Lightning, Yellow/Body Cleansing Lightning, Red/Blood Burning Lightning.｣
｢Super Enhanced Mind - Passive Skill
Effect: Your mental faculties are greatly improved after learning the mind arts of the Intelligence Sentinels. All mental related skills and abilities are strengthened by 40% --> 50%.｣
｢Potent Seduction - Passive skill
Effect: Those of the opposite sex, as well as those who are sexually oriented towards you, will display sexual interest towards you. You can control their degree of lust.｣
｢Thunder Mirage - Passive skill
Effect: Enemies will be placed into a mirage that is locked into a scene of them suffering under lightning punishment endlessly. This ability is unblockable, but the level of immersion an enemy will fall under depends on their willpower. They also suffer mental damage based on the degree of lightning punishment they suffer.｣
"As you can see, I didn't remove any skill. I spent most of my evolution energy augmenting what I already had to become better, and I can assure you, the energy this time was truly potent." Zaine explained with a smile.
"I mostly focused on reducing costs even more. I don't need to upgrade the power of my skills much thanks to Hikari's White Light Blessing, nor do I need to reduce cooldowns as much because of her White Light Negation." Zaine pointed out as she patted Hikari on the back gently.
Draco and Eva nodded. Zaine's plan was sound, because the succubus would likely be fighting with Hikari by her side most times. If not, she had other means to ensure her battle power was potent, and it wasn't about high damage numbers for Zaine, but mostly control of the flow of battle.
They then turned to face Roma, who proudly displayed her own growth as well.
｢Name: Roma - Rank 5 Mystic Witch
Level: 200
Exp: 0%
NPC Str: 10
NPC Dex: 10
NPC End: 10 --> 500
NPC Int: 330
NPC Spr: 135 --> 160
NPC Cha: 10
NPC Lck: 10
Active Skills: Dark Hands, Chaos Spirit, Chimera Summoning, Silence, Life Drain, Final Blast, Mystic Resurrection, Elemental Corruption, Soul Warp, Banish, Cauldron of Evil, Dark Transmutation (new), Crone Summon (new), Swamp Fae (new).
Passive Skills: Perfect Control, Pinnacle Insight, Precognition, Flexibility, Mystic Mirage.｣
｢Dark Hands - Active skill
Effect: Summon a plethora of undead arms from the earth that trap all enemies within 3 miles --> 5 miles and rip them to shreds.
Duration: 3 minutes --> 4 minutes.
Cooldown: 25 seconds --> 20 seconds.｣
｢Chaos Spirit - Active skill
Effect: Summon a soul tainted by Chaos Energy that infiltrates the minds and bodies of others, warping their very essence into something random.
Duration: 2 minutes --> 3 minutes.
Cooldown: 9 minutes --> 8 minutes.｣
｢Chimera Summoning - Active skill
Effect: Call forth the existence of a Chimera from the Mystic Plane, which can attack and defend for the duration of its existence.
Duration: 6 minutes --> 7 minutes.
Cooldown: 7 minutes --> 6 minutes.｣
｢Silence - Active skill
Effect: Place a curse of silence on an enemy which prevents them from using any skill or spell and removes all buffs and as well as positive characteristics.
Duration: 2 minutes --> 2.5 minutes.
Cooldown: 2.5 minutes --> 2 minutes.｣
｢Life Drain - Active skill
Effect: When in physical contact with any enemy, drain their life at a rate of 2% --> 3% per second and restore yours by the same amount. If at full health, drained life is converted into stat points for END.
Cooldown: None｣
｢Final Blast - Active skill
Effect: Fire a concentrated beam of Mystic Energy that deals 1,200% --> 1,500% Mystic Damage to a single target and causes their defense and resistance to drop by 70% --> 80%.
Cooldown: 9 hours --> 6 hours｣
｢Elemental Corruption - Active skill
Effect: Corrupt the natural elements in any area with Soiled Prana and Mystic Sludge, making it 55% --> 60% harder for magical casters to use spells, reducing the power of their spells by 70% --> 80%.
Duration: 1 minute --> 2 minutes.
Cooldown: 25 minutes --> 20 minutes.｣
｢Soul Warp - Active skill
Effect: Send out an intangible wave of Negative Soul Energy that targets the souls of an enemy, turning them into a random Mystic Species for a time.
Duration: 5 minutes --> 6 minutes.
Cooldown: 12 hours --> 9 hours.｣
｢Banish - Active skill
Effect: Open a portal to the Mystic Realm and send a target into it, temporarily removing them from the main plane.
Duration: 30 seconds --> 1 minute.
Cooldown: 15 minutes --> 12 minutes.｣
｢Cauldron of Evil - Active skill
Effect: Forcefully capture every enemy within a 5 --> 10-mile radius, placing them into your cauldron where they will be set to boil. Once inside, they will either take damage if they pass a Luck check, or they will be turned into random resources or items of any kind and grade.
Cooldown: 1 hour --> 50 minutes.｣
｢Dark Transmutation - Active skill
Effect: Channel Mystic Energy into an object and warp its very essence into the form of another temporarily. Items made this way cannot be used or consumed by the user or any allies.
Duration: 10 minutes
Cooldown: 5 minutes.｣
｢Crone Summon - Active skill
Effect: Call forth an ancient crone, a great witch of the old ages to help you in battle as a young genius of this era. The Crone is capped at your Rank, but can display the peak of its power when she had been at that Rank.
Duration: 2.5 minutes.
Cooldown: 30 minutes.｣
｢Swamp Fae - Active skill
Effect: Create a random member of the swamp fae linage to help assist you in your witchly duties. They possess a wide range of utilities depending on their specific race.
Cooldown: 7 days.｣
｢Beckon - Active Skill
Effect: Lure some living organisms towards you.
Note: Organism must be within your Rank (Emperor --> Demigod and below for NPCs/ Captain --> Major and below for monsters)
Cooldown: 15 --> 10 hours.｣
｢Subsume - Active Skill
Effect: Store the mass, energy, and soul of an entity consumed by you.
Note: Up to 30 --> 40 entities can be stored at Rank 5.
Cooldown: 15 --> 20 hours.｣
｢Duplicate - Active Skill
Effect: Create a permanent Avatar with 70 --> 90% of your combat power and all of your skill. Your Avatar can act autonomously and without any distance limitation.
Note: Your Inventory and Experience are shared with your Avatar. Any exp it acquires is provided to you and any items it stores enters your Inventory immediately.
Cooldown: 28 days --> 21 days.｣
｢Evolution - Passive Skill
Effect: Acquire a single aspect of any living entity consumed. Maximum aspects can be 40 --> 50 at Rank 5.｣
｢Ultimate Stealth - Passive Skill
Effect: Remain harmless in the eyes of most living entities until damage is dealt. Entities must be within your Rank (Emperor --> Demigod and below for NPCs/ Captain --> Major and below for monsters).｣
｢Mystic Resurrection - Active skill
Effect: Bring back any dead ally at full health with invulnerability.
Note 1: Ally must be within the 3 --> 5 Area Zones of you.
Note 2: Invulnerability lasts for 2 minutes --> 3 minutes. After that, ally goes into a weakened state for 9 hours --> 6 hours.
Note 3: No rank or species cap. As long as the target is assessed to be an ally, they can be revived.
Cooldown: 7 days --> 3 days｣
｢Pinnacle Insight - Passive skill
Effect: Your intellect, memory, and talent are 7 --> 9 times better than normal.｣
｢Precognition - Passive skill
Effect: You are able to perceive all danger to your person when in combat and for a maximum of 1 --> 2 minutes out of combat.｣
｢Mystic Mirage - Passive skill
Effect: Enemies will be placed into a mirage that is based on a scene within a Mystic Plane. This ability is unblockable, but the level of immersion an enemy would fall under is dependent on its willpower.. They will lose their sanity with every second in the mirage as they are subjected to horrors beyond comprehension.｣
