Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story)-Chapter 1148. Comparing Resonances

“The Gravity Core reacted well to my Specific Nex. Well, about as well I could hope without being kicked out of the fathoms of your Star, Knalzark. I wasn’t even given a name, and its concept still eludes me. I spent fifty days in there, only to come up with this. The Blood Stone. It grants immunity to all forms of Bleeding Conditions. It doesn’t matter if it’s a bisection or a decapitation. Blood will never leave the body.”

Indeed. Frost had spent fifty days in the smoke. Since there was an Isolation Sphere inside, only five days in Universal Time had passed. Specific Nex allowed her to interact with the Stars kept within the Aspects of Technology, albeit to a limited extent.

The reason for this was because she was limited by the level of Resonance she had with a Beholder.

Resonance

< A measurement of interpersonal affinity, self-development, and inner awakening of a Beholder afflicted by the hold of a Star >

< Note: This definition is specific to the Beholders. Resonance has countless more meanings >

One of Frost’s newest Corrupted Abilities: Twenty-Seven Trillion Neurons: allowed her to uncover information that Nav did not previously have access to. Hence, why Nav was able to fetch the meaning of a Beholder Resonance when she previously could not.

Resonance Levels

< Marionette/Clothina | Lvl 3 >

< Knalzark | Lvl 1 >

< Others | Lvl 0 >

Interestingly, Beholder Galia was not included in this list, since she was not beholden to her Gift. Frost suspected that she might be able to interact deeply with the Raw Fragment of the Warped Stone since she did not require Resonance levels.

Truth be told, the Gravity Core was just to see how it functions. Now that I understand it, it should be easy to infuse my Specific Nex into the Aspects of Technology.

“You did receive something else, didn’t you?”

Frost smirked.

Of course Nav would know. She had access to Frost’s Stats, after all. Two new Skills joined Frost’s ever-growing list. To demonstrate it, Frost raised a hand to the sky and then, she carefully squeezed the air.

A sudden wave of pressure pulsed from her body, sweeping to every corner of the Frosted chamber.

|| Singularity ||

< Compress the core of the heart to a single point so it may never be unraveled >

< EFFECT: Release a shockwave originating from your location. You may freely increase Quants of Gravity up to 50x. Circumference: 150 meters. Can strengthen physical attacks >

< ATT: 5,500,000 >

< COST: 5,000,000 NEX >

It was expensive, but she was happy to have another new Beholder Skill. Beholder Skills could be gained through using her Specific Nex on Aspects of Technology. However, this was also limited by her Resonance with the said Beholder.

Nav had previously pointed out to her on the thirty fourth day that each Gift itself could only grant one Beholder Skill, but a Resonance could grant as many as five.

“… Now I understand why we were called here.” Knalzark laughed, impressed by Frost’s feat. There was a sense of camaraderie in the way he smiled at Frost, and that turned into surprise when she entered his space and was not immediately damaged. “Immunity too? Haha, now isn’t that special!”

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“I’m just keeping your Quants in check. There’s no way I can maintain it without depleting through my Nex reserves.” Frost swiftly stepped back, much to his disappointment. “I hope you all brought the Aspects of Technology as my Stars have requested.”

* * *

The moment Frost discovered that she could gain Beholder Skills, as well as infuse a piece of herself into an Aspect of Technology, was when the Nexus deployed the Stars to gather the Beholders. With them, they were also instructed to bring as many unique Aspects of Technology as possible.

Frost didn’t know why she did not devour their Aspects earlier, but there was no better moment than now. She had access to Beholder Marionette’s Whitelight Apparatus and information from beyond the Collections. Furthermore, she could wildly experiment with the Aspects of Technology and gain Beholder Skills.

Thus, she wished to consolidate her power over the next several days, if not weeks, before her departure into Emvita. In saying this, Frost remembered the Black Box and the Aspiring Moon’s report.

* * *

“The Larin Empire, huh… No half measures. The Stars should be delivering a product from each of our Allies’ Gifts too. Either that, or we’ll have to pick them up ourselves.”

“The latter will be better. Their Gifts aren’t like what my Library gives to the Beholders. If you can go in person, then you can gain more Beholder Skills. The Gifts From a Star the Kingdoms possess aren’t the same as the Beholders.”

“What makes them so different?”

“The ones they find are remnants of the past. Half from Stars, and another probably from past experiments or eras this world underwent. Like AI, before they became obsolete because of the Gifts.”

A third category existed.

Gifts that were born from a dying wish. They were lesser forms of the Gifts From a Star. A Corrupted Item better described them. She only knew they existed because of her newest ODSE Amalgamation Profession: Wishgranter. Unfortunately, Frost had not yet developed Arts for this Profession since she was preoccupied with the Whitelight Apparatus.

That said, the Beholders produced an assortment of their products for Frost upon a raised platform. Eventually, it resembled a charcuterie board. Items from the CognitO Mediator to a crystal used for the Hyperwarps were neatly spread. The arsenal alone could elevate a village into an empire in a single week, yet to Frost, it was no more than an appetizer.

“Nothing from ImpulseWorks.” She commented.

“ImpulseWorks has no tech. Still waiting for word on the Abyssal Mother’s whereabouts.” Enoch shrugged, watching Frost grab the nearest item.

Her jaw unhinged to more than twice its normal size, and she slipped a white, angular object into her mouth. She did not chew, and once it had slipped past her throat, she buzzed with an approving sound.

< Unique Ability Gained >

< ABILITY: Isolation Sphere >

(Aspect of Technology | Time Reverberation)

< Serve as the focal point of an Isolation Sphere. You may deploy an Isolation Sphere at will >

“… You know, I want to slap the past Frost and ask her why she didn’t do this earlier.” Frost murmured self-depreciatingly after a moment of elation. “Haaaah. No point in complaining. What’s done is done. So stupid.”

“I suppose if your life is written somewhere, and if one were to read it, the audience can simply blame it on the Author.” Magus attempted to console her.

Frost just kept on eating. The way her eyes lit up with each object she swallowed caused Jury to become irrationally hungry.

“Is… Is it that tasty?” Jury wondered as she wiped a strand of drool from her chin.

“You’d be surprised.” Galia answered. “I’ve once drank the shavings of my crystals. Make no mistake, it was no fault of my own. It was quite delicious, but, it is the type of drink you can only have once in your life.”

“Gam?” Joy tilted her head, her face asking: “Why is that?”

Galia, as if understanding that look, devilishly smirked.

“Have you ever swallowed shards of indestructible glass? The esophagus is a very delicate muscle. Now, picture a cloth being dragged along the teeth of a:A”

“Don’t traumatize her!” Jury exclaimed, smacking the floor with her tail. “Joy hates gore! Isn’t that right, sweetie?”

“Malgam.”

“Awww! She’s so afraid! Look at her eyes! She’s saying ‘stop it!’”

“Preposterous. She’s interested.” Satania held out a glass of wine. “Drink up. See this red juice? It’s good for you.”

“Excuse me!?”

Somehow, whilst Frost was busily stuffing herself with their tech, Jury and several of the Beholders began arguing over Joy’s interests. Joy’s eyes became spirals as she moved away from Jury and found herself passing the other Beholders.

“So this is the Amalgam’s child. She has her…” Beholder E. stopped to think. He could not see the world accurately, since he was no more than a brain piloting a mechanical suit. “… Eyes?”

“Gam!” Joy happily nodded, pointing to both Jury and Frost.

“Hehe… She reminds me of my distant niece. Only without the purple hair… nor the fennec ears… Or my curse. Hehe…”

“I thought you were the last of your bloodline.” Enoch pointed out, as she created a balloon animal using her blood.

“From what is known. Hehe… Should I have not said a word? I am amongst friends, hehe… Unless you want to betray me? It always ends that way.”

“Does she have a name?” Descartes 3 became oddly curious about the existence of a blood relative of Carpalis.

“The Scapegoat was what the distant families called her. I was called the same too before I was cast into the sea… hehe… to never be seen again…”

“Betrayed by your own kind. Despicable. Where is their honor?” Knalzark spat uncharacteristically. “Betraying one of your own people… I thought Demons were better than that.”

“Hehe… It’s common enough in family as is.” Carpalis just smiled at the air behind him.

“Instincts. Greed. Ambition. Wrath… Betrayal only occurs when it is done willingly. Otherwise, is it betrayal if the broodfather devours its own kin, when it is but a part of their nature to cannibalize their own?”

“Absolutely.” Anna spoke up unexpectedly. “… Nature or not doesn’t change a thing. Betrayal only works when you look at the side of the victim. What did the little spider ever do?”

“Unless it’s a Hexanid.” Jury corrected. “Is that a popular sentiment?”

“From whose perspective?” Galia raised a brow. “Humans despise them. But ask the same question to an Elf and you’ll find yourself amazed by how far they’ll go to experience our taboos. Hexanids fall under the Highly Dangerous category of the followers of the Goddess of Lust. Goblins. Certain Mycelli species, even. I’ll avoid delving into specifics.”

Joy tilted her head, wondering what any of this meant. A pair of hands swiftly cupped her ears and Jury breathed: “Don’t listen to them.”