Apocalypse Healer - Path of Death-Chapter 21B2 - Next Step

“So, you mean to say we’re supposed to suck up to these idiots even though it’s obvious they’re taking advantage of their people?” David groaned begrudgingly after Melach explained how most people treated the gods of other races.

“I wouldn’t call it sucking up to them. Just add a ‘Your Excellency’ and don’t be a jerk,” Melach cocked an eyebrow. “And maybe don’t tell a god he’s talking nonsense—at least not in front of him and his people.”

Zachariah patted David’s back. “I don’t like it either, but it’s necessary. For now, at least.”

“For now?” Melach turned to the regressor. “Don’t tell me…”

Zachariah beamed at the elf. “It won’t take long before they have to be more careful. After all, it’ll be a while before they can descend upon the Earthen Union in their true forms. The World Awakening allowed them to use more of their Essence, but the System restricts the amount of extraterrestrial Essence entering the atmosphere. That’s why Fortress needed the Rift Core and why he was so happy about its level.”

David furrowed his brows, trying to process everything Zachariah said.

“Don’t sweat it. What I’m telling you is that while the System allows all transcendent beings to send their Essence forms onto the Earthen Union, each is only allowed a certain amount of Essence. The restriction loosened a little with the World Awakening, but most transcendent beings either used the extension to form more connections with natives, deploy their Rifts to the Earthen Union, or, like Fortress, used it all together—claiming a native Rift with a Protector.”

Most of Zachariah’s words went over David’s head, but he nodded slowly. “So, you’re saying Fortress spent his entire quota on the Sanctuary’s defenses, promoting Torb and altering the Rift to smuggle in his followers?”

“Yes. From what I can tell, bringing the swarm of dwarves to the Earthen Union should’ve cost more Essence than the gods are allowed to use right now. But since he had a Rift, one stabilized and amplified with Origin Essence, it only cost him an insignificant portion,” Zachariah nodded, his tone growing cold as he added, “And, of course, he tried to affect you with the leftover Essence. Either a weak attempt at scaring you, or he hoped you’d snatch the Essence to absorb it. Fortunately, you blocked him. That was a good move.”

Melach slowed, his eyes narrowing. “He did what?!”

“You guys are trouble…” The elf sighed. “I don’t understand how a pair of natives can cause so much chaos in such a short time.”

“We don’t cause it,” Zachariah looked at him, then wavered. “Most of the time. We’re just highly attuned to it.”

“It seems like we attract it. That’s for sure,” David added, exchanging a grin with Zachariah.

Melach shook his head, staring off to the side. “At least we’re getting stronger.”

Right. I’m not the only one growing stronger, David thought. Melach once mentioned that Protectors received a minor version of the Blessing of the World since they granted protection to natives, but David had never considered their growth. It wasn’t important how much others grew, but he was curious how far ahead or behind he was compared to the others.

“How much did the two of you grow?”

Zachariah chuckled. “Enough. I won’t go into detail, but my Body reached Advanced. But that’s not enough. The Blessing of the World is great, but my initial plan was to reach Advanced with all stats before the World Awakening.”

“I had some other things planned as well,” he sighed. “But the World Awakening rendered most of them useless.”

Zachariah’s lips twitched, and he sighed exasperatedly. “Regardless, I’ll have to go with the flow. Most things turn out differently than I expected. But that doesn’t mean it’s bad. Arc’s survival is a good thing. As long as we can continue to take advantage of that, we should be fine… probably.”

David wasn’t too worried. So far, they had survived everything thrown at them. Honestly, the first few days of integration were worse—everything was new, and survival had felt impossible. That was no longer the case. At least David didn’t feel like he was constantly on the verge of death. Most fights were dangerous, but it had been a while since he sustained life-threatening injuries.

He had grown a lot. Checking out his status screen made that much fairly obvious.

Name: David Stears

Primary Class: Lifeweaver

Rank: Bronze VII

Secondary Class - [Monk]

Rank: Iron VIII

Body:Middle(Intermediate)

Mind: Lowest(+)(Intermediate)

Soul: Middle (Intermediate): 12 Droplets

[Modification]

[Weave Optics]: [Bloodthrone Dominion]

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[Laws]

[Law of Blood]: [High(Minor)]

Bloodlust: (Basic)

Rend: (Basic)

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[Legacy Skills]

[Dao Comprehension]: [Intermediate]

[Class Skills]

[Weave of Life]: [Tier-2 III]

[Equivalent Exchange]: [Tier-2 II]

[Blood Patch]: [Tier-1 VII]

[Meditation]: [Tier-1 V]

[Reinforce]: [Tier-1 V]

Body: Average: I(0.00%)

Energy Pathways: Subpar– VIII(85.65%)

[Skill Runes]

[Restore]: [Tier-1 XIII]

[Purify]: [Tier-1 III]

[Holy Touch]: [Tier-1 XVI]

[Blessing]: [Tier-1 VIII]

[Blood Aegis]: [Tier-1 IX]

[Symphony Control]: [Tier-1 IV]

[Blood Blast]: [Tier-1 I]

[Slash]: [Tier-0 IX]

[Eagle Eyes]: [Tier-0 VII]

[Healing Sphere]: [Tier-1 III]

[Blood Armor]: [Tier-1 I]

Attribute Points: 4

His status was far better than before. It brought a smile to his lips whenever he looked at it. After all, it showed how much he’d grown in the last few weeks.

However, it also reminded him of how much more he could grow. David had some Skill Runes that were either rarely used or too low in rank to be effective. He’d love to push his Skill Runes to Tier-2, but it would take some time before his first Tier-1 Skill reached Rank XX, initiating its Tier progression.

Zachariah said his Body reached Advanced… so he’s either one rank higher than me or… David tilted his head and glanced at the regressor.

"What’s your plan?"

"Right now? To reach Arc." Zachariah chuckled. "I’m not sure, to be honest. Helping Torb affected some plans. The Dwarven Sanctuary will grow quickly and earn considerable prestige and power in no time. That will benefit Fortress a lot since the Essence used to empower his subordinates will be nourished as his zealots grow stronger. That, in return, will strengthen Fortress."

Huh? Fortress gets stronger when his believers accumulate more power with his Essence? David hadn’t known that. Was that why he tried to infuse his Essence into him? To gain something if David had grown stronger using Fortress’ Essence?

"Don’t look at me like that. The Divine Connection is usually not worth mentioning because gods expend more Essence than they regain in a short time. However, the World Awakening, combined with the Blessings, will accelerate the process a little. Still, I don’t believe Fortress will receive a lot of power. Not until Torb and the others reach Gold or Platinum Rank, at the very least." Zachariah waved dismissively. "Either way, other transcendent beings scrying us will probably notice what Fortress has done. They’ll try to copy his tactics—if they haven’t already. Some infernal beings will corrupt humans, turning them into puppets to summon the Gates to Pandemonium and beyond."

David still wasn’t sure of their next step, but at least he had a clearer picture of the power struggles between transcendent beings. Judging by Zachariah’s tone, things were about to get messy—not great. Still, it was important to know.

"Either way, back to the topic," Zachariah patted David and Melach on the back. "Since everyone has a Secondary Class at last, we can focus a little more on them. Secondary Classes are harder to train, so we might as well work on them until we reach a satisfactory rank. Of course, we shouldn’t neglect our Skills in the meantime. If we can push some useful Skills to Tier-2, possibly a few additional rank-ups on top, that would be best. For me, that means fighting, concocting, and as little sleep as possible until the Blessing wears off."

That sounded reasonable to David. His plan was to reinforce his Energy Pathways until the System acknowledged them as at least ‘Average.’ To do that, he’d use [Reinforce], supplied with Aether from [Meditation]. Both were Class Skills, meaning Monk would soon reach Bronze Rank. If possible, he’d reach Bronze Rank and initiate the first Class Promotion for his Secondary Class.

I should’ve stayed in the prehistoric Rift. If I had used Origin Essence to feed my body with superior energy, my ranks would’ve increased much faster, David lamented inwardly. He still had some Origin Essence left, but it wouldn’t last forever.

"I can always go back later," he muttered, turning to Zachariah. "Is it reasonable to push Tier-2 Skills to Tier-3, or does that require too much time and effort?"

"I think trading with transcendent beings might be easier at that point. Not for every Skill, but certain Tier-3 Skills aren’t something you’ll be able to procure anytime soon. We can go to the Familia and make a request for specific Tier-3 Skills. If someone connected to the Familia—whether they’re a god or not—has the means to give you the Skill Rune, they can make a request. They’ll demand something from you, and you can start negotiating. The prices are usually exorbitant, but since you’re fairly powerful and located in the Earthen Union, you might find some reasonable offers. Even if there aren’t any, you can always negotiate."

Zachariah snapped his fingers at David. "And you’re a Healer—I forget that sometimes—so some will definitely hire you to heal their Champions and the like in exchange for Skill Slates and much more."

David massaged his temple, trying to process everything. Ranking up his Tier-1 Skills was already frustrating. The idea of pushing Tier-2 Skills to Tier-3? He nearly groaned just thinking about how long that would take.

Regardless, David didn’t see himself replacing [Holy Touch] or [Blessing] anytime soon. They were powerful, and as long as he kept using them in battle, they would naturally grow stronger.

How about replacing less useful Skills with much stronger versions—Skills that have multiple uses? David considered, shrugging inwardly. He couldn’t make a decision if he didn’t know what Skills he wanted to obtain in the first place.

"Let’s get back to Arc first," Melach said. "We have stuff to sell and research to complete."