Andrew Robinson Leinbach
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Chapter 241: D Rank Race Advancement
🕑 Added 2023-08-13 14:10:07 +0000 UTCMila
Mila waited inside the B rank force’s secret vault for five hours, spreading out quite a few explosives and Aalam’s latest non-spreading biological weapons throughout the large underground room while following Aalam’s directions to undo the protective arrays around everything of value.
Then, when everything was ready, she triggered the vault’s silent alarm.
In just under fifteen seconds, the three C ranks in charge of the planet she’d infiltrated, two men and one woman, all human, rushed into the room and, as Mila had altered the triggering mechanisms for the room’s defensive arrays under Aalam’s directions, the three triggered the room’s main defense against thieves, all three becoming trapped by chains of powerful energy which rushed out of the walls and made them unable to use their mana, qi, or psyforce for anything.
The biological weapons in the room then flowed into their bodies and souls under Mila’s direction, weakening their defenses even further, and Mila helped them on their way by taking out what was still Aalam’s most powerful artifact from one of the multiple spatial storage rings she’d brought along, the incredibly sharp violet sword Epecteos’s Vengeance, to cut off their heads.
Then, after taking everything of value from the three bodies, she absorbed the power of all three of their souls, used the woman’s soul and her new uniqueness to become a nearly perfect copy of the woman, and took the woman’s body into one of her spatial storage rings before quietly leaving, teleporting away from the planet just as the explosives placed in the vault went off.
She first went to the main planet of Thunderstrike Taravan, purposefully making it look like his empire was the one responsible for the theft. Then she used the teleportation network two more times, first to the main planet of one of the other strongest human empires and then back to Earth.
Aalam had already absorbed the genetic power of the dying C rank Soul Lord which he’d received as his reward from the War of the Chosen, a roughly 3 meter tall lanky humanoid creature with translucent skin and hair, which looked kind of like a wendigo, and, after Mila arrived back on Earth and removed her disguise, he took a multicolored pill out of his spatial storage ring, the last present from his master, and swallowed it down whole.
Mila then arrived at Zakynthos and transferred her two remaining C rank human souls over to Aalam, one of which she’d already filled with lust using her evil eyes skill, and Aalam, lying down in the isolation formation inside his crafting hall, was then ready to advance his race to D rank.
You have absorbed the power of a C rank soul consumed by lust.
You have met the criteria to advance your race to D rank
You have the following seven options:
The numbers she knew were going to be unmanageable, at least for her—Aalam she was pretty sure had no problem wrapping his head around numbers in the hundreds of thousands. So, before even looking at any of Aalam’s racial choices, Mila altered her settings for how the System would show her the numbers, adding the equivalent values for if the race was G rank in parenthesis for each of the max stats before taking a look.
Sublime Soul Incubus Emperor (D-Heroic)
The weakest variety of an incarnation of Lust, but a supreme emperor of their kind, one which eats souls.
Racial Abilities: 5
No limits, but a higher chance for charm, disguise, and noble related abilities
Complete dual classes possible
Max stats:
Strength: 518,400 (300)
Agility: 518,400 (300)
Endurance: 559,872 (324)
Toughness: 518,400 (300)
Vitality: 559,872 (324)
Perception: 587,520 (340)
Magic: 642,816 (372)
Spirit: 698,112 (404)
Soul: 953,856 (552)
Aura: 642,816 (372)
Attunement: 642,816 (372)
Luck: 622,080 (360)
Stat Growth Per Level:
Strength: 252
Agility: 252
Endurance: 324
Toughness: 252
Vitality: 324
Perception: 396
Magic: 432
Spirit: 468
Soul: 540
Aura: 0
Attunement: 0
Luck: 0
Advancement Criteria:
Control a huge amount of Territory for a D rank
Eat a C rank or higher soul of a sentient creature consumed by lust at the time of death.
Requirements:
Current race is Sublime Soul Incubus Emperor (E-Heroic)
The first option was just advancing his current race to D rank, the weakest of all his choices, and Mila knew Aalam would never pick it, so she just moved on, but the next choice surprised her.
Sublime Soul Primal Incubus Emperor (D-Fabled)
The weakest variety of an incarnation of Lust, but a supreme emperor of their kind which has traced its roots back to the beginning.
Racial Abilities: 6
No limits, but a higher chance for charm, disguise, and noble related abilities as well as abilities which boost the handling of primal energy and the flow of qi, mana, and psyforce
Complete dual classes possible
Max stats:
Strength: 622,080 (360)
Agility: 622,080 (360)
Endurance: 670,464 (388)
Toughness: 622,080 (360)
Vitality: 670,464 (388)
Perception: 705,024 (408)
Magic: 770,688 (446)
Spirit: 836,352 (484)
Soul: 1,150,848 (666)
Aura: 770,688 (446)
Attunement: 770,688 (446)
Luck: 746,496 (432)
Stat Growth Per Level:
Strength: 252
Agility: 252
Endurance: 324
Toughness: 252
Vitality: 324
Perception: 396
Magic: 432
Spirit: 468
Soul: 540
Aura: 0
Attunement: 0
Luck: 0
Advancement Criteria:
Control a colossal amount of Territory for a D rank
Eat a C rank or higher soul of a sentient creature consumed by lust at the time of death
Absorb the genetic power of a primal being of at least D rank
Requirements:
Current race is Sublime Soul Incubus Emperor (E-Heroic), has exceeded the maximum stats of a Sublime Soul Incubus Emperor (E-Heroic), has absorbed the genetic power of a primal being of at least E rank
Primal, like sublime soul, was a key word modification which could be added to almost any race, and it had less to do with genetic ancestry and more with the energy structure of the soul, the resulting race naturally better with qi, mana, psyforce, and primal energy. Mila had looked up quite a bit about it as Diana’s race had been a primal one, but Sublime Soul Primal Incubus Emperor hadn’t been in the race advancement information Aalam had received after they’d won the War of the Chosen, while the female equivalent, Sublime Soul Primal Succubus Empress, hadn’t been in Mila’s either, and this was likely because they weren’t standard advancement options, requiring a bloodline like Genetic Thief to achieve.
Still, Sublime Soul Primal Incubus Emperor wouldn’t provide any better future race advancement options than Sublime Soul Incubus Emperor, so, as long as there were any other races with the primal keyword, Mila knew Aalam definitely wouldn’t pick it.
And this wasn’t even mentioning how Mila would kill him if he did.
Sublime Soul Minor Soul Lord (D-Fabled)
A supreme minor lord of souls, high in the hierarchy of the universe, low in the hierarchy of afterlife rulers.
Racial Abilities: 6
No limits, but a higher chance for soul and noble related abilities
Complete dual classes possible
Max stats:
Strength: 691,200 (400)
Agility: 691,200 (400)
Endurance: 691,200 (400)
Toughness: 691,200 (400)
Vitality: 767,232 (444)
Perception: 691,200 (400)
Magic: 767,232 (444)
Spirit: 767,232 (444)
Soul: 919,296 (532)
Aura: 767,232 (444)
Attunement: 767,232 (444)
Luck: 746,496 (432)
Stat Growth Per Level:
Strength: 324
Agility: 324
Endurance: 324
Toughness: 324
Vitality: 540
Perception: 324
Magic: 540
Spirit: 540
Soul: 648
Aura: 0
Attunement: 0
Luck: 0
Advancement Criteria:
Control a huge amount of Territory for a D rank
Have a maximized Soul stat
Eat the equivalent of 6 C rank souls at once
Requirements:
Current race is Sublime Soul Incubus Emperor (E-Heroic), has control over a huge amount of Territory for an E rank, has maximized stats as a Sublime Soul Incubus Emperor (E-Heroic), has the Pure Soul (Fabled) racial ability or a variant thereof, has absorbed the genetic power of a Mythic or higher grade life form with a Soul Lord line bloodline of at least D rank
Sublime Soul Minor Soul Lord was the first option Aalam could choose of the race line he wanted, but it was obviously going to be the worst, so Mila quickly moved on.
Sublime Soul Soul Lord (D-Mythic)
A supreme lord of souls, high in the hierarchy of the universe, middling in the hierarchy of afterlife rulers.
Racial Abilities: 7
No limits, but a higher chance for soul and noble related abilities
Complete dual classes possible
Max stats:
Strength: 732,672 (424)
Agility: 732,672 (424)
Endurance: 732,672 (424)
Toughness: 732,672 (424)
Vitality: 940,032 (544)
Perception: 732,672 (424)
Magic: 940,032 (544)
Spirit: 940,032 (544)
Soul: 1,216,512 (704)
Aura: 940,032 (544)
Attunement: 940,032 (544)
Luck: 870,912 (504)
Stat Growth Per Level:
Strength: 378
Agility: 378
Endurance: 378
Toughness: 378
Vitality: 630
Perception: 378
Magic: 630
Spirit: 630
Soul: 756
Aura: 0
Attunement: 0
Luck: 0
Advancement Criteria:
Control a colossal amount of Territory for a D rank
Have a maximized Soul stat
Eat the equivalent of 12 C rank souls at once
Requirements:
Current race is Sublime Soul Incubus Emperor (E-Heroic), has control over a colossal amount of Territory for an E rank, has maximized stats as a Sublime Soul Incubus Emperor (E-Heroic), has the Pure Soul (Fabled) racial ability or a variant thereof, has absorbed the genetic power of an actual Soul Lord of C rank or higher
Sublime Soul Soul Lord was a Mythic grade race, its max stats even having one value which went over a million, but it didn’t take advantage of the Heavenly Spark Ascension Pill Aalam had just eaten, while the remaining races all did, so it could be ignored as well.
Sublime Soul Heavenly Spark Minor Soul Lord (D-Fabled)
A supreme minor lord of souls with extraordinary affinities for all Laws, high in the hierarchy of the universe, low in the hierarchy of afterlife rulers.
Racial Abilities: 6
No limits, but a higher chance for soul and noble related abilities and abilities which raise all affinities
Complete dual classes possible
Max stats:
Strength: 691,200 (400)
Agility: 691,200 (400)
Endurance: 691,200 (400)
Toughness: 691,200 (400)
Vitality: 767,232 (444)
Perception: 691,200 (400)
Magic: 767,232 (444)
Spirit: 767,232 (444)
Soul: 919,296 (532)
Aura: 767,232 (444)
Attunement: 767,232 (444)
Luck: 746,496 (432)
Stat Growth Per Level:
Strength: 324
Agility: 324
Endurance: 324
Toughness: 324
Vitality: 540
Perception: 324
Magic: 540
Spirit: 540
Soul: 648
Aura: 0
Attunement: 0
Luck: 0
Advancement Criteria:
Control a huge amount of Territory for a D rank
Have a maximized Soul stat
Eat the equivalent of 6 C rank souls at once
Requirements:
Current race is Sublime Soul Incubus Emperor (E-Heroic), has control over a huge amount of Territory for an E rank, has maximized stats as a Sublime Soul Incubus Emperor (E-Heroic), has the Heavenly Spark Pure Soul (Fabled) racial ability, has absorbed the genetic power of a Mythic or higher grade life form with a Soul Lord line bloodline of at least D rank, has absorbed the power of a Heavenly Spark Ascension Pill before advancing
Were there no more options, Mila knew Aalam would choose Sublime Soul Heavenly Spark Minor Soul Lord over Sublime Soul Soul Lord, as a heavenly spark variant race increased affinities to all Laws way beyond a normal race.
There was a reason Mila had poured over a third of the wealth she’d earned from the Violet Mountain Sect into buying half the resources to make the pill, the Alchemist of the Deep Woods covering the other half.
But Aalam didn’t have to make such a choice as there were still two better races available.
Sublime Soul Heavenly Spark Soul Lord (D-Mythic)
A supreme lord of souls with extraordinary affinities for all Laws, high in the hierarchy of the universe, middling in the hierarchy of afterlife rulers.
Racial Abilities: 7
No limits, but a higher chance for soul and noble related abilities and abilities which raise all affinities
Complete dual classes possible
Max stats:
Strength: 732,672 (424)
Agility: 732,672 (424)
Endurance: 732,672 (424)
Toughness: 732,672 (424)
Vitality: 940,032 (544)
Perception: 732,672 (424)
Magic: 940,032 (544)
Spirit: 940,032 (544)
Soul: 1,216,512 (704)
Aura: 940,032 (544)
Attunement: 940,032 (544)
Luck: 870,912 (504)
Stat Growth Per Level:
Strength: 378
Agility: 378
Endurance: 378
Toughness: 378
Vitality: 630
Perception: 378
Magic: 630
Spirit: 630
Soul: 756
Aura: 0
Attunement: 0
Luck: 0
Advancement Criteria:
Control a colossal amount of Territory for a D rank
Have a maximized Soul stat
Eat the equivalent of 12 C rank souls at once
Requirements:
Current race is Sublime Soul Incubus Emperor (E-Heroic), has control over a colossal amount of Territory for an E rank, has maximized stats as a Sublime Soul Incubus Emperor (E-Heroic), has the Heavenly Spark Pure Soul (Fabled) racial ability, has absorbed the genetic power of an actual Soul Lord of C rank or higher, has absorbed the power of a Heavenly Spark Ascension Pill before advancing
Sublime Soul Heavenly Spark Soul Lord was the race Aalam had been aiming for, increasing his max stats and Law affinities, and, had he not absorbed Diana’s power, it would have been the best race he had access to.
With him having absorbed his sister’s power, however, gaining the equivalent of the original foundation he’d been born with, there was a better race available. And it would require hunting down his enemies for advancing, something Aalam would have no problems with.
Sublime Soul Heavenly Spark Primal Soul Lord (D-Mythic)
A supreme lord of souls with extraordinary affinities for all Laws which has traced its roots back to the beginning, high in the hierarchy of the universe, middling in the hierarchy of afterlife rulers.
Racial Abilities: 7
No limits, but a higher chance for soul and noble related abilities, abilities which raise all affinities, and abilities which boost the handling of primal energy and the flow of qi, mana, and psyforce
Complete dual classes possible
Max stats:
Strength: 732,672 (424)
Agility: 732,672 (424)
Endurance: 732,672 (424)
Toughness: 732,672 (424)
Vitality: 940,032 (544)
Perception: 732,672 (424)
Magic: 940,032 (544)
Spirit: 940,032 (544)
Soul: 1,216,512 (704)
Aura: 940,032 (544)
Attunement: 940,032 (544)
Luck: 870,912 (504)
Stat Growth Per Level:
Strength: 378
Agility: 378
Endurance: 378
Toughness: 378
Vitality: 630
Perception: 378
Magic: 630
Spirit: 630
Soul: 756
Aura: 0
Attunement: 0
Luck: 0
Advancement Criteria:
Control a colossal amount of Territory for a D rank
Have a maximized Soul stat
Eat the equivalent of 12 C rank souls at once
Absorb the genetic power of a primal being of at least D rank
Requirements:
Current race is Sublime Soul Incubus Emperor (E-Heroic), has control over a colossal amount of Territory for an E rank, has exceeded the maximum stats of a Sublime Soul Incubus Emperor (E-Heroic), has absorbed the genetic power of a primal being of at least E rank, has the Heavenly Spark Pure Soul (Fabled) racial ability, has absorbed the genetic power of an actual Soul Lord of C rank or higher, has absorbed the power of a Heavenly Spark Ascension Pill before advancing
There were no options for Sublime Soul Primal Minor Soul Lord, Sublime Soul Primal Soul Lord, or Sublime Soul Heavenly Spark Primal Minor Soul Lord, and this was for two main reasons. First, for Sublime Soul Primal Soul Lord, Aalam didn’t meet the prerequisites, the extra energy from the Heavenly Spark Ascension Pill not able to make up for what he was missing without advancing him to a heavenly spark variant race. Then, for the two minor soul lord variants, there was the fundamental issue that the primal keyword could not be added to a degraded race. Minor soul lords were not a true race themselves, but degraded versions of soul lords, so retracing their roots to the beginning would just make them soul lords, not primal minor soul lords.
And there were no heavenly spark variant advancement options which would keep Aalam as an incubus because incubi races weren’t strong enough to absorb all the power of a Heavenly Spark Ascension Pill.
Will you advance to a Sublime Soul Incubus Emperor (D-Heroic), a Sublime Soul Primal Incubus Emperor (D-Fabled), a Sublime Soul Minor Soul Lord (D-Fabled), a Sublime Soul Soul Lord (D-Mythic), a Sublime Soul Heavenly Spark Minor Soul Lord (D-Fabled), a Sublime Soul Heavenly Spark Soul Lord (D-Mythic), or a Sublime Soul Heavenly Spark Primal Soul Lord (D-Mythic)?
Aalam quickly decided to advance to a Sublime Soul Heavenly Spark Primal Soul Lord and then almost immediately fell unconscious.
Comments
nugitoBambino
1) I think leaving out Diana for so long is the wrong move. Imo, a huge strength of this story is in our core characters: Mila (obviously), Aalam, Isaiah, and Diana. Removing Diana for what I estimate will be over a hundred chapters would be suboptimal for enjoyment. I'm still on the fence with the killing of the fetus with a curse, but I see what you were doing and do completely agree (at a minimum) with Diana being effectively killed that way. It really drives home how small our protagonists are (despite their per-rank domination) and how fucked they can be for any reason by the more powerful. However, I think waiting till C rank (and probably late C rank) is overkill as the point has already been made effectively and rank progression is fairly slow. Instead I offer this alternative that remains in line with everything as written: (i) mila's understanding of her uniqueness causes her to develop a new skill to inflict more traditional curses for damage and another to defend/fix damage caused by curses, it even ties into the new uniqueness with more skill slots as it could have been impossible to learn before and is in line with her diabolic/angelic theme (ii) this allows them to use fewer resources than anticipated to fix and revive Diana (iii) they still need to crush the D rank tournament to get the materials to fix this (iv) Aalam has something happen with a skill and/or uniqueness (maybe related to developing uniquenesses for others) that requires them to still do equally well or better in the C rank tournament to keep the plot on track.
nugitoBambino
Right, so I'm on vacation and I just finished a full re-read. The re-read continues to confirm I'm a huge fan, this system (meaning magic system in general, not just as a lit-rpg) really is the most comprehensive and well-thought-out I've encountered and the world-building is fantastic. Altogether, hugely enjoyable. That said I have two recommendations, one for future plot and one for general editing. Feel free to ignore them as I think they're pretty minor but I thought as an author you'd appreciate the feedback.
Thirteen Life Legion
I won't say much because we might be in spoiler territory, but think about Diana and her and Aalam's half siblings and realize their mother's race is certainly way more powerful than Aalam's.
nugitoBambino
with all of these modifiers, if aalam and mila had a kid what would the kids race end up being in the best case scenario? my understanding is you can't go above legendary grade when born, but if the soul lord class can't go below fabled what would win out, an even more degraded soul lord or the incubus/sucubus previous line? and would the kid keep the full set of kickass modifiers?
Thirteen Life Legion
Sorry. Quite busy today, so only one chapter. Also, the end of the next chapter isn't where I want to leave you for a week. I want to leave you at the end of the chapter after that. So, two chapters next week, ending with one of the biggest developments of the entire story.
nugitoBambino
i don't mind getting the full low-down on race evo over a full chapter - but I'm hoping we get the racial advancement chapters as well today!
chilly_pench10
I did enjoy this chapter but i would rather if the race evolution took less of the chapter, still ty
