Epoch: A Berserker's Rise

Chapter 156: Relations

Meanwhile, within the village, Thalia was leaning against a tree, looking at the lake. It looked very beautiful from where she was, and it was a scenery she couldn't see in her original land.

She was also thinking about Adam, and the deal they had made. Inwardly, she felt that the value of the skill book for [Star Chains], even if only lent, was far more valuable than the manual she had given him.

This was because this skill book held insights on the unique Concept of Stars, which was a Sovereign Concept. Most Sovereign Concepts, like the Water Sovereign understanding that Adam was learning, was very hard for someone not attuned to it like he was to understand because the Water Concept not only had a Sovereign version, but it also had an Advanced one and a Basic one.

That's why, even with guidance on the water element like she just gave him, a normal person would only be able to grasp the Basic or at best the Advanced version. But because the Concept of Stars had a unique Sovereign Version, one would be assured to learn a Sovereign Concept were they to grasp the skill.

As a result, the skill book, even lent, was much more valuable than the manual she gave him. The worrying thing was, although Adam obviously didn't know the uniqueness of this skill book, he did understand for sure through their exchange she had had won in the end, and she owed him one.

Still, she was glad she had to deal with Adam. She didn't feel like it was a bad thing she owed him a favor. On the contrary, it could even become beneficial for her.

From what she knew, he wouldn't involve her into dangerous problems. For example, if he really kills those dragons and things escalate politically, he wouldn't use the favor to seek asylum in her family. Rather, it would most certainly come in the form of materials, skills or equipment. And while she owed him, they would be able to become closer with each other.

An outsider would think Adam was the only one winning out, getting closer with the most probable (in her mind) future Empress of Aldeneid, but the truth was Adam would most certainly become even bigger than her in the future.

She had made her research on Adam before they even met, because of how famous he was. In their current world, Adam could actually be said to be among the, if not the, most famous people in the world.

This was because he was the only Sovereign who was not hidden and who would do something incredible almost every day. And he was especially popular among young nobles like her who wanted nothing more than leave the palace they were confined in since birth and adventure the world.

Actually, it wasn't a coincidence she came to him. Well, it was one they met at that volcano, but she also had a certain artifact that allowed her to see what his cloak hide, and so she knew right from the beginning who he was.

As for her reaction when he took off his cloak well, acting classes took a rather big part of all the lessons she had learned as a child. As Adam said, those teachings aren't as useless as they seemed.

Anyway, after making research on him, she learned he started a Guild. Although it wasn't anything big today, under the lead of a Sovereign not bound by a Racial Power, it would most certainly rise up to become an incredible power.

And even if that wasn't the case, if Adam were to become a Legend Rank Sovereign, then he would probably become invincible in this world. Well, maybe not invincible, but he sure wouldn't ve far from it. After all, the legend of the Undead Emperor was still fresh in people's mind, and they knew how much it took to bring him down.

That's why, creating further ties with him may not be a bad thing. But as Thalia was silently thinking, she heard someone on the side say "Are you with Valiant Heart?"

She turned her head and saw the otherworlders who questioned Adam earlier. She could hear malice in their voice, but she didn't care and said "I am."

Some were scared by those otherworlders because they were undying, but she didn't. Those people weren't as invincible as they thought. As long as one damaged their soul they wouldn't be able to revive for some time, and she even heard that one family had been so angered with a particular otherworlder they had completed erased his soul, truly killing him. It seemed they didn't communicate well with one another

Actually, she was only partly right. While that particular player had really died in real life, if she had wanted Gaya could have protected his soul. However, this player had raped the daughter of a powerful noble, who was underage, so when his soul was threatened with extinction, she didn't step in.

This was one of the biggest issues with Epoch since the game had been launched, the freedom given to players. Theoretically, they were allowed to do anything they wanted. Any crime they couldn't do in reality, they could do it in the game world.

Of course this would always result in terrible punishments in game, but the issue still existed. But this was a matter for humans to figure out themselves.

Seeing Thalia wasn't afraid of them, Kaze said "Aren't you afraid we will attack you since we can't attack him?"

Thalia rolled her eyes and said "You have no reason to do that And I don't think you would dare." Kaze instantly frowned, but everyone suddenly heard an explosion coming from the canal.

Everyone, be it the players or the inhabitants of Marbles, they all looked toward the lake. There, they saw something astonishing.

Several hundred meters of water had suddenly been turned into ice. Thalia was as shocked as the others at first, but then she guessed this was the B Rank skill Adam had mastered. She looked at Kaze and said "This is his doing. Are you really going to challenge him? Before you do, I would suggest you take a look at the situation in the water."

Kaze and his Guild's elders were shocked learning this was Adam's doing, but they couldn't help but be a but suspicious. So a few of them decided to go check things out.

They were shocked speechless when they entered inside the water and saw the situation in there. Although several hundred meters of the surface water had been frozen, it was nothing compared to the huge block of ice underwater.

Even from where they were they could see giant aquatic monsters like 20 meters long alligators were trapped into the ice, an expression of fear frozen onto their face.

The most terrible thing was, they weren't even all dead, some were still alive, but they were trapped inside the ice, unable to move, unable to breath, as the cold of the ice entered their bodies and quickly killed the few still alive.

In the middle of this block of ice, Adam looked at his new notification with some surprise, as he didn't expect to level up to Level 39, but remained focused on his skill. Adam began recovering Aura as he inspected his own skill. He had wanted to do it to see how it had evolved already, and it might help him.

Ice Statue (B): If used as an Area Of Effect attack, deals 500% damage to every opponent within 50 meters. If the area of effect is extended, the damage will also be lowered. If used against a single target, deal 1000% ice damage upon touch. High chance of dealing Frost Bite effect, and 100% chance to weaken the Agility of those hit by 80%. Cost: 10 000 Aura.

As expected, the skill was quite strong. However, even though the skill multiplied his damage by a lot, he couldn't use it alongside his weapon so even though the single target attack would become stronger. The strongest part of this skill was probably the slowing effect as the opponent would become slow as a snail.