Chương 502: Chapter 471: Thalion in his Element

While chasing the Skarn, Thalion had the feeling that they might instinctively return to their swarm, and he would very much like to give them a warm welcome. This world really didn't need more of those annoying fish and sea creatures. Thalion slowed down slightly to give the Skarn the impression that they were faster and might actually escape, while he turned his attention to something else—his experience gain. After killing the sharks, he had been close to reaching the next level.

Right now he was on the brink of hitting Level 83. There was just one thing that bothered him. After evolving, he had been certain that reaching Level 81 required around six hundred seventy thousand experience points. Now, however, reaching Level 83 required more than one million. The increase in experience required per level clearly wasn't linear and seemed to rise more and more with every level. For now, it didn't make much of a difference. The next few levels would come quickly enough.

But when it came to the later levels of E-grade, he would likely start running into real problems. There was also another issue he needed to deal with during E-grade, and it would probably be the most difficult one of all. He needed to remove the Mark of the System. The system's voice had clearly stated that removing it was only possible at a lower grade, when the system had not yet fully assigned a true value to someone. The higher one climbed, the more difficult it would become.

Being sacrificed by the system at some point in the future was something Thalion would very much like to avoid, which meant he had to start thinking about a solution. He already knew the mark was attached to his soul, but that knowledge didn't help much right now. He would have to invest a great deal of time researching the topic and gathering information before evolving further. Meditation alone wouldn't be enough. He would need a master who could teach him about the soul.

If not a master, then at least reliable knowledge. Unfortunately, information like that was probably extremely expensive, and at the moment Thalion didn't even have his backpack anymore. Not that there had been much value left in it anyway. He had tried asking Ratgul about the matter, and the god had indeed strengthened his soul significantly. The problem was that Ratgul had never truly cared about the soul itself. He had simply reinforced it in the crudest way possible—mainly to increase mental defenses.

Another problem was that Thalion couldn't simply ask someone directly about the Mark. Doing that might attract the attention of some powerful entity overseeing the system, and being killed for asking the wrong question was not that high on his list of priorities. What Thalion really needed were forbidden artifacts, like the dark crystal he had bought during the tutorial. That crystal had contained countless blueprints for rituals and portals that allowed one to leave the system.

Without something like that, he would probably waste countless years without making real progress. The chances of finding such knowledge in the next two system events—those created by Lyrian and R-87—were probably very low. No. What he truly needed was to travel to Integrated Space and participate in one of the great trials where only the strongest elites gathered. Only there would he find the knowledge he needed. There might be one other option. He could attempt to leave the system with his soul alone.

The Golden Palace was no longer an option, and Thalion wasn't even sure if they would be willing to help him. They were probably not interested in the rise of another holy warrior. He would have to find another place he could visit. However, even with the massive amount of information the crystal had forced into his mind—and the convenient search function within that knowledge—finding a suitable location would still take time. These were the only two viable options Thalion could see.

The alternative would be spending thousands of years experimenting blindly until he finally succeeded, and that was not something he was willing to accept. For now, his plan was simple. Test his new forms. Get used to them. And keep leveling. He desperately needed those levels for what was coming. It wouldn't take long before the Chosen reached D-grade, and once that happened, the war would begin. Maybe Thalion would help. Maybe he would stay out of it. He hadn't decided yet.

At the moment, far too many people were trying to kill him. The only way he could see himself making a difference would be by hunting elves or vampires on his own, or perhaps working as some kind of unofficial agent for Eric—without the other Chosen knowing about it. Eventually, the Chosen would gain the ability to build portals to the domains of their patron gods. Using such a portal could have been a solution, but it was far too dangerous.

Thalion had no idea how the gods viewed him, or even how many of them already knew about his existence. Some certainly did. In that regard, he would follow the advice Ratgul and the others had given him. There were teleporters somewhere on this world. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Every faction was searching for them, because whoever controlled one would make enormous profits.

More importantly, it would provide a direct connection to Integrated Space. Getting his hands on one of those teleporters would be essential. As an alternative, Thalion had also considered using one of the Incursions to reach Integrated Space. But that option was probably just as dangerous as using one of the Chosen's portals. In general, Thalion preferred to stay away from beings that could kill him with their pinky finger.

Controlling such a portal himself and using it to enter the great trials in Integrated Space to obtain the forbidden knowledge he needed seemed like the best plan for now. For that, he needed power—and a lot of it. Even then, power alone would only be the bare minimum. At some point, he would also need to reconnect with his old group. For now, they should be safe with Eric, but he intended to visit them eventually.

When Eric was out pushing through the rest of E-grade, Thalion might have the opportunity to sneak into the camp and have a quiet conversation with them. It would be best if Eric and the other humans didn't know about it. Otherwise they might get in trouble because of him, and that was the last thing he wanted. This had also been one of the reasons why Thalion had gone off on his own once it became clear that resisting the elves' attack had been impossible.

Reaching a high rank in the treasure hunt had never been guaranteed, and it had been far better for the others to integrate into Eric's camp rather than stay with someone who might very well end up dead. But first, Thalion would have to find a teleporter, and then he would need to become strong enough to fight off a Chosen who might already have reached D-grade by that time. That could be difficult. Still, with his current forms, Thalion believed he at least had a chance.

Besides leveling, there was another way for him to become significantly stronger. So far, only his human form possessed a bloodline. Stealing bloodlines was difficult, but he believed he could manage it with both his Eclipsari form and his serpent form. Water and darkness control were very similar to blood control, after all. When it came to his wyvern form, he had no idea how he was supposed to manage or even create the tendrils. As for bloodlines, he already had a target in mind for his Eclipsari form—the prince.

He could also steal weaker bloodlines and use the one form to assimilate them, strengthening the bloodline in his human body. Even now it was already fairly powerful, but there was no reason not to make it even stronger. There were many things on Thalion's mind, and a great deal he needed to accomplish in a short amount of time. Gaining levels also meant that sooner or later his class should grant him one or two additional skills.

That alone was already a major power increase for anyone, no matter the rarity of their class. For a Divine class, it should be even more significant. For now, he would eliminate a few more Skarn before making his way back to shore. He needed a suitable place to test the Eclipsari and Wyvern. Since he would already be back on land by then, he could also visit his old friends before returning to intensive leveling. Getting used to all his forms was important, and he didn't want to spend too much time underwater.

If he encountered an enemy he couldn't defeat and needed to escape, he wanted to be able to switch between forms comfortably. That was, after all, what made him so powerful as a shapeshifter. So far he had mostly chosen the form that worked best against a specific opponent or environment. In the future, however, he wanted to shift fluidly in the middle of combat, catching his enemies off guard. Ratgul had also said that this would be a good strategy, since no one expected a shapeshifter to fight that way.

Most shapeshifters only had one or two useful forms, and switching forms mid-fight was almost unheard of. While chasing the Skarn, Thalion began picking up more trails belonging to other Skarn and even some sea-women, thanks to the ability of Hunter of All. This title really was remarkable. It didn't make him stronger directly, but never losing track of a target and detecting everything so early was incredibly powerful. Thalion finally spotted them near the surface.

For the Skarn, his arrival came at a very unfortunate moment. The sea-women were currently pulling a ship underwater, while the fish eagerly waited for their feast. Fortunately for the sailors, Thalion happened to be right there to save them from a terrible fate. <-- Lora was part of the Silver Coin Consortium. Originally, she came from Integrated Space and had arrived on this planet through an incursion.

Not every incursion was meant to annihilate or enslave everything in its path while conquering as much land as possible. The Silver Coin Consortium also sought power—but they pursued it through trade rather than war. They had hired a group of competent mercenaries to protect them should an attack occur. After all, they had brought valuable goods to this planet in the new universe. Trading items was only their starting capital. They had also brought many skilled craftsmen and alchemists.

This allowed them to continuously produce new items that could be sold for high prices. Since this world had none of the established currencies of Integrated Space, payments would be made in natural treasures or materials that could later be used to craft more items for sale. It was a good plan—and so far it had worked very well for the Silver Coin Consortium. Their strongest member and founder was a high A-grade, still relatively young and with a strong chance of reaching S-grade one day.

Even so, this made them one of the weaker merchant factions in Integrated Space, which was why it was so important for them to make the most of this world. There were many dangers for merchants. The greatest threats were pirates, ruthless powerhouses, and rival merchants. Fortunately, they had encountered none of those so far. Besides trading items, there was another valuable commodity they dealt in—information. That was why Lora was currently traveling across the ocean.

Her job was to help complete sections of the planet's map. Their scouts had already done excellent work. They were, of course, still far from mapping the entire planet, but they had already discovered several danger zones. These were regions where D-grade beasts were common—and naturally those places also contained the most valuable natural treasures. Chosen would pay a high price for such information—or more accurately, their patrons would. Mapping the planet was also important for other reasons.

First, it provided knowledge about potential resources and competitors. The basic maps wouldn't sell for an extremely high price, but they still provided steady income. Lora also had six water mages on board who occasionally dove beneath the surface to search for reefs or other natural treasures worth marking on the map. However, after one dive only a single mage resurfaced—and his face was completely pale. A moment later Lora understood why. She screamed in panic as the first Skarn slammed into the ship.

Their vessel was extremely durable, and under normal circumstances they could outrun most creatures before any real damage could be done. The problem was that the ship was no longer moving. The water beneath them had begun to churn violently. There were not only fish—but also some kind of fish-like humanoids who were extremely skilled at manipulating water. With the water mages too frightened to enter the ocean again, the only people who could help were the archers on board.

Unfortunately, trying to kill something fifty meters underwater with arrows was nearly impossible. There was also no land in sight, and their mana would run out long before they could escape through the air using movement skills. Right now Lora stared at the swirling water below them with a pale face, knowing that this would likely be her end—unless a miracle happened. Then she thought she spotted something beneath the Skarn. A moment later a shockwave erupted from below, killing several Skarn instantly.

At least the ones she could see from her position were dead. The shockwave was so powerful that the ship nearly jumped a full meter into the air, and several wooden planks cracked under the pressure. Lora had not been prepared for something like that. She hadn't been feeling well even before, with the ship constantly spinning in the whirlpool. That was why she forgot to hold on to the railing or activate a movement skill before she plunged into the water.

Her shock only deepened when she saw just how many Skarn and sea-women were in the water. She was so stunned that she completely forgot to swim away and instead just stared. Lora had never been a fighter, which meant she was not used to situations like this. Then she felt something vibrating beneath her. In the next moment a powerful jet stream of water shot upward through the ocean, killing several Skarn in a single strike.

Even being brushed by the attack seemed enough to kill most creatures—and they were fortunate that the ship itself had not been hit. Lora then saw a giant serpent moving swiftly through the water, devouring one Skarn after another. The water around the creature moved in unnatural ways, and at times the serpent seemed almost translucent, vanishing from sight whenever it dove deeper for a moment. One of the Skarn she had not noticed before tried to flee.

But barely ten meters beneath her, the creature was suddenly caught in the serpent's jaws, which bit through it effortlessly. With a single swipe of its body the serpent shot through the water like a rocket, covering over a hundred meters in an instant. Despite its immense mass and speed, it created almost no current. It moved more like a ghost than a physical creature. The Skarn and the sea-women tried desperately to escape, but the serpent was extremely thorough when it came to killing every last one of them.

Only then did Lora finally overcome her shock. She swam upward and climbed back onto the ship. She could hear water leaking through holes in the hull, but at the moment she was still too shaken to think clearly. What if the serpent finished with the fish and then returned for them?

"Lora! Lora, can you hear me?" one of the water mages shouted in panic. But she didn't know what to say. Everything had happened far too quickly. And then she noticed something else. Who was the golden-skinned man with crimson eyes standing calmly on the railing on the other side of the ship?