Chapter 22: Death from Above

  He stood on that branch, loosing arrow after arrow into the growing number of pained victims of war. Sam kept an eye on the movements of the healers, making sure to only shoot with the combination of soothing light and calm mind those he knew would be ignored and left to their slow death. He was doing his best to prevent the suffering, not because he felt something for those people but because he knew that no one deserved to die in such a way. Truth be told, it could be difficult at times to feel empathy for others. He was fairly ashamed of the fact that he didn’t seem to have the same heart for intrinsic compassion that his religion taught. This might have been because of his dad, who struggled with the same issue. But it was precisely because he couldn’t put himself in the shoes of others when they were suffering that he upheld so strongly the principles he had learned growing up.

  With his soul sight fully active, he could see whatever contaminant that had put those near the water in such a state was creeping forward making its way into the battlefield proper. In the intensity of the melee, the desperate warnings from the groups of healers fell on deaf ears. Eventually he saw the healers of both sides of the fight, run away in terror. He realized this was because a strong breeze was coming. Sam activated Inexorable Stride, pushing the skill as he took a step off of the branch such that he landed on a different tree upwind, hopefully keeping him away from whatever chemical was causing this war crime in progress. As he repositioned himself, he wondered if this world had something like the Geneva convention. After regaining his bearing and adjusting his aim from his new position. The gust of wind had fully saturated the contaminant all throughout the battlefield. The other fighters may not have noticed initially but now they certainly did. He could see panic rising across all the ranks as the pain from the degradation set it or at least he thought so, it had to have hurt based on the kinds of faces people were making. By this point no healers remained in the area. As they had made their escape, Sam saw them bring certain people with them, people he assumed were the present leadership of whatever factions were involved in the fight at the moment.

  He was working overtime to try and soothe the pain and calm the panic. At this point he didn’t even need to aim anymore. He was just shooting his magical arrows indiscriminately into the battlefield since no one was even fighting anymore, they were all just writhing on the ground. Sam wasn’t even paying attention to the mana consumption, and his frustration was growing because having to cast three separate spells each time he wanted to help someone on top of having to shoot the bow was taking far too long. Especially since he knew he could do something to comfort them, each time his soul sight saw another release their grip on life weighed on him. He really couldn’t imagine what kind of way dying like that must have been like. Each time he released an arrow, it was enchanted with the maximum effect of the spells he was casting on them. It came to a point where for the first time ever he had to down mana potions from his pack in order to keep up with the demand of the task at hand. He hated that he didn’t have enough time and training with magic to be faster at the process, and he hated that each step in the process had to be done individually.

  Glow of Restoration couldn’t heal these people, at least not as long as they were actively affected by the poison eating away at their bodies. The worst part about the poison was how slow it was. None of the ones that he had initially targeted with his spells when he first got here were even gone yet. They were just laying there, seemingly in contemplation and no longer in pain as their bodies slowly fell apart. He really didn’t think he was actually going to be able to save anyone right now. He was just doing his best to prevent any suffering that he could. Still, he did not think that such a thing ought to simply be forgotten, so he had subconsciously been recording the entire thing with his Archivist of Creation trait. There was something that he felt was deeply wrong with the situation, especially since whatever poison was ravaging these people clearly picked no sides in this conflict. It was a cruel thing, seemingly eating away at them in such a way that it prolonged everything as much as possible. Sam felt so powerless at the moment, and in the midst of his despair came a slight revelation. His Dark Drain was particularly good at corroding souls, and he knew that this wasn’t just limited to the souls of the living, just like he knew he could’ve targeted the shield held by that one hobgoblin in his final battle on Goblin Road Gauntlet. He now had a new idea. He shot another immaterial arrow at the closest victim but this time it was Dark Drain enchanting the arrow and the target he had in mind was the poison in the body. The only reason he even knew the poison was there was because he could see its soul with soul sight so he decided there was no harm in trying to erode the very poison afflicting these people. He stood with baited breath as he waited for something to happen and to his surprise it was working. While he waited for the spell to finish eating through the poison, he kept up his efforts at relieving the others of pain. Perhaps because it was less mass than that of an entire animal, regardless Dark Drain quickly eradicated the poison from the initial target. This time he shot the very same soldier with an arrow enchanted with Glow of Restoration. Again, Sam stood holding his breath; he was praying that it would work this time. His prayers were answered, he could see the soldier recovering with each passing moment. Now he knew he had a way to help them, except he now was at a race against time to eat away all the poison before it could eat away all the people.

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  He was back in his predicament of each spell casting simply taking too long. There were so many he had to reach and now that he knew he had a way to help his despair was renewed and deepened at the knowledge that he would not get to everyone in time. The poison may have been slow to kill, but it wasn’t slow enough that much he could tell for himself. In a similar state of stubborn anger as when he created his Legendary walking skill, Sam focused all his will and effort into trying to change his situation. He pushed at his spell matrices to the point that it felt like his soul wanted to tear in the process as he attempted to cast Soothing Light, Dark Drain, Calm Mind, Glow of Restoration, and Ephemeral Arrow at the same time. He needed them to fuse together and yet he needed them to target different things when he hit each person. He languished at his inability. All the while he did not let a single moment slip past his trait. He looked at each and every face he saw; he did not want to forget especially not if he couldn’t save them all. Slowly his willpower pulled together all the different aspects of his current efforts as he pulled at his spells harder, attempting to remold his very soul in order to align with his goals. A pressure was building up in his head, it was like the mother of all migraines was coming for him. He could feel his veins beating as he strained himself. And when his head finally felt like it was going to explode, a message from the system came.

  [Signature Skill creation imminent] [Any denizen of the multiverse may only ever have one signature skill and this can never be undone. Most don’t even get the opportunity to create one until far later in their path.] [Do you wish to create your Signature Skill?] [Doing so will erase all the spell matrices that are currently involved in the process but you will not regain the soul surface these matrices occupied. Because of your low tier, all special experience that has been set aside for you will be consumed in the process in order to let you survive the ordeal]

  He didn’t have the time to parse over any thoughts he might have on the opportunity presented to him. He could tell that if he accepted he would get what he needed from his spells right now so before he could get lost in the throes of overthinking, he assented to the creation of the signature skill. As soon as he did, he was engulfed in a cocoon of light that reminded him of the light rays passing through stained glass that he had seen in a cathedral he had visited once. As the shell fully covered him, he seemed to lose consciousness. Just as soon as he did, he was back. It was like he had simply blinked really slowly and the light surrounding him was gone. And again, another message from the system.

  [Mythical Achievement earned] [Your Sagacious Being Title has been upgraded multiple ranks] [Your Skill Prodigy Title has been upgraded] [You have touched upon the Form of Reaping]

  [You have earned the title: Progression Breaker]

  [You have tiered up to a tier E Human]

  [You have created your Signature Skill [Requiem Arrow]]

  [In order to accommodate your signature skill, all special experience you have earned so far has been consumed to forcibly tier up your species. Your soul may have received enough reinforcement to handle a Signature Skill but without tiering up your body would not survive the process. This also means that experience you earn toward your levels will be adjusted to the requirements of those of a higher tier.]

  [Be thankful to the Sages who helped you, your special experience would not have been sufficient to pay for the cost of everything needed to both create your Signature Skill and let you survive. Still, be proud. The System smiles upon you.]