938 Crossroads
As soon as Jake paid the 10 quadrillion Aether points required per person, the once dormant Permanent Passive Faction Skill finally surged to life. The changes were instantaneous.
Hade, Will, Lucia, and Asfrid, standing nearby, immediately felt a medley of tingling, itching, pain, and pleasure coursing through their bodies like an electric jolt. These conflicting sensations mirrored the tumultuous transformations and unusual strains their cells were subjected to.
Swiftly, their skin, regardless of its original appearance or hue, lightened drastically, becoming alarmingly pale in Hade's case, who was already sickly in complexion. Even Lucia, whose skin originally bore a naturally tanned olive tone, found herself fair-skinned.
Cloaked in microscopic, invisible, crystalline scales, their skin shimmered as if they were vigorously rubbing glitter upon themselves, draping their bodies with a veil of stars.
Coinciding with and contrary to their paling skin, their hair darkened explosively. The golden curls that graced Lucia's silky tresses turned to a dark gold, while Will's now emerald-green and Asfrid's seaweed-blue hair similarly darkened. Once again, Hade, who already possessed jetblack hair, only had his sickly and shadowy appearance accentuated.
Through the Aetherdream, Jake could see the colossal Aether Symbol encasing each member of his faction, including himself, had begun to act like a magical formation, showering them with its mutagenic aura.
As with the Myrtharian Body, Jake, being a faction member, also benefitted from the Cosmic D Starfeyrves Body passive, boosting each attribute of his already exceptional physique by an additional 65%. His body, already fundamentally transformed, instantly experienced the bonus, but for his comrades, it would likely take anywhere from a few minutes to several days, depending on their individual Constitution and Vitality.
Evidently, his present friends were among the elite of the Myrtharian Nerds, and even Will and Asfrid, who weren't primarily melee fighters, completed their evolution within a matter of seconds.
Now a Dragon Rider, then a Soulspeaker, and finally a Dragon Soulspeaker, Will had addressed his primary weakness - his physique - through his fusion with Charizard.
Seeing Will's mutation finish before Asfrid's, who, in addition to her pure-blooded Eltarian lineage, was also a Nereid - a sea deity with a body adapted to the high pressures of the ocean depths - piqued Jake's curiosity.
"Is it just me, or has your body become much sturdier than before?" He asked with undisguised interest.
Will, sweating profusely and silently clenching his teeth in pain, his jaw tense as he tried to ignore the muscular and bony protrusions growing in his back and gradually tearing his shoulder blades, saw Jake's question as the perfect distraction and hastened to explain, "I have a Soul Class Skill called Draconic Link. It's a legacy from my previous Dragon Rider Soul Class. The connection between me and my dragon affects us both. Charizard becomes increasingly human, while I become increasingly dragon. It was meant to be a very slow evolutionary process, but since I became a Dragon Soulspeaker, I'm no longer limited to a single Draconic Link. All the dragons that joined me formed a Draconic Link with me, while my Draconic Link with Charizard evolved into Draconic Fusion. My bloodline is currently ambiguously called Half-Hybrid Dragon, but thanks to it, my Body Stats, which were once my weakness, are growing rapidly."
As Will concluded his explanation, a pair of emerald fairy wings blossomed from his back, albeit somewhat more membranous and cartilaginous, resembling dragon wings. After testing his newfound appendages, he retracted them into his body with a mere thought.
In contrast, Asfrid, Lucia, and Hade fumbled a bit more in mastering the art of concealing their own wings.
"I've grown accustomed to my partial dragon transformation," The merchant chuckled modestly, met with puzzled expressions from his friends.
Nevertheless, even Lucia, the least astute of the four, needed only a fraction of a second to familiarize herself with her new wings. The eager sparkle in her eyes revealed her anticipation to test them in open skies.
Unlike Lucia, Hade and Asfrid closed their eyes, utterly captivated by their newfound ability to retain all sorts of information within their cells, using it to evolve or modify their appearances.
"Fascinating," Hade finally sighed, opening his eyes. "Merely touching my skin to the artificial atmosphere of your Floating Island allowed my entire body to adapt and restructure. My skin cells now breathe as efficiently as my lungs, yet even more impressively, they emit nothing. Nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and other atmospheric gases are all converted into energy. Simply put, your respiration consists only of inhalation. If not for occasional speech with your own mouth, you'd have no need to exhale at all."
In truth, Jake didn't need to inhale either. His cells could directly absorb Aether and all sorts of energies, converting them into whatever they needed. Out of habit, he continued to breathe normally with his lungs, but it was entirely unnecessary. It also distinguished him from the lifeless and undead.
"I'm glad you're enjoying my Cosmic D Starfeyrves Body," Jake finally said before briefly reminding them, "We still have two Faction Skills to choose."
His friends grew serious, and further deliberations ensued.
The level 10 Faction Skill was unique, almost as special as the permanent level 1 skill.
Rather than being as expected, it acted as a crossroads for the Faction, determining its future direction and development. Faction Skills were limited, but each could have a decisive impact on the faction and its members if exploited properly.
All shared a common goal - addressing the Myrtharian Nerds' population issue:
[Megafaction: Allows the faction to exceed its member limit, normally restricted by faction level. Each additional level equates to an additional faction level concerning population limit.]
[Faction Expansion: Allows the faction to increase its size by subjugating new factions.
These vassal factions lose their previous Faction Skills except one, replaced by a nerfed 50% version from the dominant faction. Each level allows the subjugation of an additional faction.]
[Faction Diplomacy: Allows the faction to improve its relations with other factions and form strategic alliances. The faction leader can designate an allied faction as the primary ally at any time, allowing their faction to use a nerfed version of their Faction Skills (5%). Each additional level reduces this nerf by an additional 5%.]
[Faction Technology: Allows the faction to increase its theoretical member limit by not counting artificial life forms and intelligences. In compensation, the effects of other Faction Skills on these members are nerfed by 95%. Each additional level reduces this nerf by 5%.]
[Faction Citizens: Allows the faction to increase its theoretical member limit by not counting Civilians. Any Evolver who has completed four or fewer Ordeals and has not participated in an Ordeal for at least 5 years is considered Civilian. With each additional level, the conditions for being considered a Faction Citizen become slightly more lenient.]
[Faction Resources: Allows the faction to increase its theoretical member limit by not counting mineral, plant, or animal life forms whose sole purpose is resource production for the faction. In compensation, the effects of other Faction Skills are nerfed by 95%. Each additional level reduces this nerf by 5%.]
[Faction Territorial Aura: Any individual acknowledged as residing within a faction member's territory (Floating Island or Oracle City) may also benefit from a nerfed 95% version of the Faction Skills of said faction. Each additional level reduces this nerf by 5%.]
[Warrior Faction: Enables the faction to surpass its theoretical member limit by conscripting a temporary army for up to 1 month per year (stackable), endowed with all the privileges of regular faction members. This temporary army can comprise at level 1 ten times as many soldiers as the faction's member limit. Each additional level doubles the maximum number of soldiers and increases the duration the army can be maintained by 0.025 years.]
Beyond these, a few other notable Faction Skills existed, but to their discerning eyes, these were the most captivating. Each held its distinct strengths, from the harmonious, non-specific prowess of Megafaction to the razor-sharp situational expertise of Warrior Faction.
Jake could already fathom the skill New Earth had chosen. Faction Citizens was the sole option that deftly accommodated a substantial noncombatant population without imposing limiting conditions. All the others enforced restrictions, whether on the very nature of the additional members or their roles.
For example, Faction Resources might have seemed amicable at first blush, but Xi had corroborated that the term "resources" did not allude to associated jobs such as miners or farmers, but rather to the individuals themselves.
An Evolver apple tree, spontaneously yielding apples, fulfilled this criterion. Should Melkree ever bear fruit, she too would be eligible for the Resource Member status.
On the flip side... For certain life forms, some of these skills appeared, in no uncertain terms, to be tantamount to a cheat.
pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ Faction Technology was nothing short of a heavenly boon for the Replicators. If the Oracle had not incorporated hidden limitations, the theoretical population ceiling for the Replicators would know no bounds.
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