Chapter 23
“Hello, Host,” Theo said,
"Hello, Theo, it looks like your time in the solo tutorial is coming to an end." The Host said with a sad smile.
"It is unfortunate, but as the old saying goes, all good things must end," Theo said.
"Very true," the Host replied.
"Well, I’m off to take a bath, go to bed, and then evolve," Theo said.
"Well then, good night, Theo."
Theo went into the bathroom, took care of business, and then went to bed. The following morning, when he woke up, he got out of bed, got dressed, and sat in the chair at the desk. He opened up his notification:
"Would you like to evolve now?
Yes or no?"
Theo hit yes.
Theo blacked out.
As the process of mana all around him coalesced into his body, the will of Gehenna took over. It began by manipulating the mana, infusing a bit of their own into the process, thereby reinforcing Theo’s organs, bones, nervous system, and everything else, including his mana channels. From a metaphysical point of view, Theo looked like the center of a black hole; all the mana sucked into him. His bones began to crack and reform, absorbing the mana around him and the mana of Gehenna. His organs and other tissues rapidly absorbed both sources of mana, his cells divided, and replicated to replace the old tissue. His thin mana channels began to strengthen. Slowly but surely, they grew; about the same size as blood vessels. When it was all said and done. Theo woke up, and every bit of him felt relaxed. He got up from the chair, used some stretches, and felt more fluid than ever. Laughing, he decided to check his notifications:
You successfully ranked up to E grade. All of your stats have increased by 25 points, and due to outside help, they have increased by an additional 10 points.
Reaching out to Gehenna, did you mess with my evolution? Theo asked.
"Yes, I did, and you should be happy with the results," Gehenna said in a smug voice.
Theo continued to look at his notifications:
Gehenna helped you with your evolution and added a bit of its mana into your body. You have gained Flames of Gehenna, Common, Novice 0.
Flames of Gehenna is a spell that utilizes the unique flames from the genius locorum known as Gehenna, a dark red color.
"You have gained the skill, Greater fire resistance, which was absorbed by your resistance skill and was altered to lesser fire Immunity. Lesser fire Immunity means natural flames do not affect you. Your bond with Gehenna has deepened, which means it is harder to cut the bond by normal means."
He finally got to the notifications from the previous day. The last one was interesting:
Ding!
You have completed the quest: survive three months by completing the sub-quest: defeat the three guardians. Your reward is an item upgrade token. You can use this token on any item by applying a material; it will be magically upgraded.
"Well, I know what that focus can be used for," Theo thought.
Going back to the two notifications that he skipped, one was disappointing but yet understandable:
You have the highest rarity of class for mortals. You cannot upgrade your class any further until you become pseudo-divine.
"Annoying, but again, makes sense. My Battle Healer class is pretty badass," Theo thought. And the second one.
Would you upgrade your profession now?
Yes or no?
Theo chose yes.
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Looking through the list, the one standout was Warden of Gehenna. Without going into too much detail, he mentally gave his assent. A jarring feeling hit him of something gained and something lost.
Then another info dump hit him: more in-depth knowledge of Gehenna, time with its previous warden, and knowledge of what it’s done over the millennia alone. Theo has an idea that he can also gain knowledge from the prisoners who left scrolls, books, and other items, but he needs to designate an actual library for that function to work and set up the room filled with books in stacks.
“Weird, would a room filled with books in stacks still be called a library? Anyway, let’s check my status sheet from the info dump. I know my skills have changed.
Theodore Thompson
Race: Human E-Grade Lv. 25
Class: Battle Healer Lv. 25
Profession: Warden of Gehenna Lv. 25
Health: 1110/1110
Mana: 1350/1350
Stamina: 1120/1120
Stats:
Vitality: 111
Strength: 106
Endurance: 112
Agility: 108
Intelligence: 135
Wisdom: 120
Willpower: 143
Perception: 103
Free Points: 0
Class Skills:
Healing Touch, Common, Master 1
Cleanse, Common, Master 1
Target Healing, Common, Journeyman 6
Healers Intuition, Common, Novice 0
Clean Common, Novice 1
Sword Mastery, Common, Master 1
Club Mastery, Common, Journeyman 2
Profession Skills:
Warden’s Knowledge, N/A: Warden Site, Common, Novice 0: Universal Translator, N/A: Spectral Shade, Journeyman 6: Warden’s Suggestion, Journeyman 4: Novice 9: Warden's Command, Common, Novice 4: Warden’s Key, Common, Novice 0: Summon Binding Chains, Common, Novice 7: Respond N/A, Chains of Gehenna N/A, Flames of Gehenna, Common, Novice 0
General Skills:
Inspect, Common, Novice 1
Meditation, Common, Journeyman 8
Bloodline Skills:
Mental Resistance, Uncommon Novice 0
Physical Resistance, Common, Master 7
Soul Resistance, Common, Master 0
Immunity
Lesser fire immunity
Bloodline: Fortitude
Bonds:
Galaxy Trade Store Tablet, Chains of Gehenna, the Prison Gehenna, Sword Cane Rare
Deciding to go through the definitions of his new profession and skills. And seeing what is different:
Warden of Gehenna: The profession of Warden of Gehenna acknowledges that the genius locorum Gehenna has accepted you as its Warden. You are bonded and are the agent and voice of Gehenna. You can send people to the genius locorum by ritual and dictate how long they stay with Gehenna’s approval. With a bonus of +1 to all stats per level and two free stats.
Wardens’ Knowledge: This grants the warden from a newly integrated universe the knowledge of how mortal and supernatural prisons operate and how to manage one in the multiverse. Also provides insight and knowledge into Gehenna's workings and past.
Spectral Shade, a shade created from manna that is an echo of a former prisoner of Gehenna, is now bound as a protector for the genius locorum.
Warden’s Suggestion: This skill is based on willpower. If your willpower is higher than that of your opponents, they will be stunned. If their willpower is higher than yours, they negate the stun. The Warden’s Suggestion allows the warden to stun a person for 60 seconds, but the duration may vary depending on the target's skills or resistances, requiring 10 mana to cast. Can channel the power of Gehenna through you to affect someone lower or equal to pseudo-divine; the penalty and cooldown vary.
Warden’s Command: This skill is based on willpower. If your willpower is higher than that of your opponents, they will be stunned. If their willpower is higher than yours, they negate the stun. Warden’s Command allows the warden to command a room of people to be still for five minutes, but the duration may vary depending on the target's skills or resistance. This skill heavily taxes the body and soul, requiring 3/4 of the mana pool, 100 health, and 100 stamina points to cast, with a 24-hour cooldown. Can channel the power of Gehenna through you to affect someone lower or equal to pseudo-divine; the penalty and cooldown vary.
Warden’s Key: This skill enables the warden to unlock or lock any devices used for detaining or imprisoning individuals. It costs 20 mana to cast. Can channel the power of Gehenna through you to affect someone lower or equal to pseudo-divine; the penalty and cooldown vary.
Summon Binding Chains: This skill summons chains that can bind someone’s limbs. The spell duration is one hour, and it costs 10 mana to cast. Can channel the power of Gehenna through you to affect someone lower or equal to pseudo-divine; the penalty and cooldown vary.
Chains of Gehenna: These four chains have been infused with the mana of Gehenna, drawn from the blood of mortals, gods, demons, and other beings. As long as you are soul-bound to Gehenna, you can use that connection to control these chains and wield them as extra limbs. You can modify each chain into different shapes or designs that still retain the chain form. Additionally, the Chains of Gehenna can be utilized as a medium to create a ritual that will transport a prisoner directly to Gehenna.
“Well, damn, that is quite a bit of changes.” Theo thought
Mentally sending thanks to Gehenna, Gehenna responded back with smugness. He chuckled and got up. He stretched and summoned his cane sword for a few maneuvers, getting himself used to his new strength. It took a couple of hours, but he finally felt comfortable again, spending the rest of the day in his room for the last time. That night, the host said, “So you’re leaving tomorrow.”
“Yes, I am,” Theo said.
“Well, it’s been a pleasure. I hope to see you again,” the host said.
Theo ate his meal, went upstairs to his room, remembering the upgrade token. He grabbed that and the pseudo-divine focus crystal, pulled out his cane sword, thinking that, like everything else, he had to push mana into it. He did, to the upgrade token.
“Would you like to upgrade your cane sword using the pseudo-divine focus crystal? Yes or no.”
Theo thought, “Yes.”
With a flash of light and an odd feeling because the cane sword was bonded to his soul, the focus crystal went from his hand into the other crystal and basically took over the top of the cane. The other crystal, which was there first, became liquid and flowed across the wood of the cane, entering the engraved enchantments and infusing with them. Theo pulled up the description of the cane sword to see the changes.
Soul-bound sword cane/wizard focus Rare.
This soul-bound, well-crafted weapon can be used as a sword, a wizard's focus, and a club, enchanted for durability and self-repair on the cane and the sword. The sword is made from deep iron, a very durable metal that has been enchanted for its sharpness. Wood is made from a tree deep in a high mana zone and grows with the user. At the top of the cane is a pseudo-divine focus crystal that can channel a vast amount of mana through the cane sword without any detriment to the durability of the weapon. It can channel any mana through it, and a lesser focus crystal has reinforced the enchantments.
“This looks like it’ll be fun to use,” Theo thought.
With a yawn, Theo went to bed. The following morning, Theo got up, attended to his business, and gathered all his belongings. As he was doing so, he stopped dead, looking in the mirror. He saw an ideal version of himself in his late 20s; he still had green eyes and was still 5’9”, Taking off his shirt he actually had six-pack abs, he was in the shape of his life, athletic build, his hair still had some gray in it, which conflicted with his late 20s face, a sharp jawline, and average nose. setting a thanks to Gehenna through their bond. As usual, it had a smug satisfaction response. After that delay, he went back to the task at hand. He had put all the loose items in the room that he was going to bring with him in his storage ring and went downstairs.
“Again, it’s been a pleasure. Thank you for all the wonderful meals and the good conversation,” Theo said.
“You have been a pleasure to serve,” the host said.
At the exact moment, a portal opened in front of Theo. He waved and entered the portal.
