The conversation, as it continued, was noticeably more withdrawn from Kumi's side.
Every now and then she carefully touched the back of her neck, where the brand tattoo was.
'It does nothing, yeah right.'
She didn't dive into the topic of Personality Traits as she didn't want Thursdon to learn much else about her. The fact that he knew she had more than one was already enough. Kumi didn't want to even hint towards any additional fact.
Kumi moved down from where Thursdon was steering the ship as the conversation teetered out, sitting down on the main deck.
She took a deep breath as she focused on her internal mana flow.
'The trigger for Advancement is the increase of Mana Quality, which in turn increases the Quality of both the Body and Soul since all three are inherently connected.'
Step by step, she slowly increased the speed of her mana flow as she theorised to herself.
'But how exactly does that connection exist? I had my soul absorbed by this body bit by bit, and considering my time in that flower the Quality or at least the Strength of my soul should be pretty high.'
Kumi's internal mana started generating heat, she distanced her thoughts from her theorising as she focused on the task at hand.
She attempted to feel the reaction of her entire being as she tempered her mana.
The heat caused by the internal friction of her mana was having minor effects on her body. She could feel her muscles tense and her bone structure slightly shift. Yet the details of these changes and how exactly the heat from her mana caused them remained impossible to properly sense.
It was the same for her soul. There were minor tremors she could now feel that ran across it as mana flowed through it like a sieve. The details remained a mystery.
There was one conclusion that Kumi came to as of this moment. Although Mana, Body and Soul were all connected, Mana acted more as a binding bridge for this connection rather than a separate participant. As such, it was entirely possible that the direct concepts of Body Quality Increases and Soul Quality Increases didn't exist as Mana held such a substantial importance in this three way connection.
Thursdon might have answered with 'maybe' since he actually didn't know or wasn't sure.
Kumi would have to finalise this theory at another time as the internal heat of her body reached the next level.
She focused entirely on her internal flow. She could feel strands of her elements in her natural mana flow now, as if the heat caused by friction had melted a single layer of ice, the separation between Mana and Element was more see-through. Infusing her mana in her elements started to seem as easy as colouring water by colouring it with a drop of paint.
A moment later, she felt a new sensation, as if she broke through glass.
{Master Rank Achieved}
{Minor Increase in Properties Gained}
{Mana Quality Increased}
{Master Perk: Bloodline Stimulation Unlocked}
{Information Unsatisfactory: Analysing Bloodline Data.}
{Multiple Achievements Catalogued}
{Grandmaster Rank Advancement Obtainable at Level 90}
{Name: Kumi
Gender: Female
Race: Angelic Devil
Rank: Master
Level: 41
—Titles: Dragon Slayer, Demon Slayer, Hero Slayer, Empress's Heir, Calamity Killer, Celestial Lotus Host, Potential Shatterer, Soul Witness
Potential: Z±
—Properties:
Vigour: E+ (100%)
Mana: E (100%)
Strength: E
Agility: D
Mind: E
Endurance: D-
Arcane: E+
—Elements: Lightning, Curse, Rot}
The boost in Properties was more than welcome but the Perk of this Advancement had a rather strange reaction.
'Bloodline Stimulation? I mean, it's logical that different Races and Bloodlines have differing natural talents and such. I think...'
She wasn't sure in her own logical conclusion.
'I thought I just naturally already had that unlocked. Well, maybe I did? It's Stimulation not Awakening. Then again, Stimulation could lead to Awakening? Whatever.'
Kumi carefully felt the flow of her mana, which was still rather hot. Immediately, she saw one slight change as she coated her finger with a film of mana.
For one, the Precision and Density of the coating was noticeably better, but other than that, she sensed something more integral.
Her natural internal mana, without even directly infusing any of her elements, was already stained in her colours.
Faint arcs of lightning and colours of red and black dotted her mana coating, barely visible.
'The benefits are all great. If only I knew what the benefits of my Bloodline are. If that is what Bloodline Stimulation does. It's naturally analysing it so I should get my answers soon enough.'
Kumi glanced at her enhanced Properties.
'Still feel really Low in Grade. If only the beasts I hunted at that corridor had dropped cores. Why didn't they anyway? Wait, I never fully buthered them to see what was inside... damn.'
"Congrats on Advancing, lass."
Thursdon congratulated from behind her. Kumi turned around and gave a thumbs up before refocusing on her internal changes.
"Hah! Alright, I' ll stop distracting you."
Thursdon said as he had somehow picked up on Kumi's internal thoughts wishing for him to keep quiet.
'Creepy guy.'
She thought as stood and moved her body.
'It definitely feels different as compared to the last time I Advanced in Rank.'
A light hop, a thin Coating Reinforcement of Lightning, everything was more efficient and radically faster and more powerful.
'Why don't people just...'
With wandering thoughts, she sat back down. Her Body and Mana had yet to fully cool down. Taking advantage of this, Kumi did exactly the same thing she just did moments ago to Advance her Rank.
She didn't want to try and trigger another Advancement early, so she took it slow at first since she wasn't sure about what the resulting reaction would be.
She increased the speed of her internal mana flow bit by bit, slowly generating heat.
She felt a tiny reaction in her soul first. Then a surge through her body.
Thursdon noticed a moment too late as he jumped straight towards her without time to even make a proper reaction.
The surge she felt was strange, it resonated with her body and it didn't feel like it would hurt or even damage her. It was like submerging herself in a hot bath of her own mana.
A hot bath... technically, a correct analogy.
Muffled and barely audible, Kumi could hear Thursdon's voice.
"-dot! Without the proper Level, your body can't handle the effects of-"
His voice was cutting in and out.
Everything felt slower than before, Kumi opened her eyes slowly.
Everything seemed dark red.
'Ah...'
She couldn't react properly. The feeling of a hot bath had rather been the feeling of her own blood flowing out of her pores and orifices.
She could feel foreign mana pierce through her back, forcing her body to stabilise.
She couldn't properly think as her mind was foggy and unable to focus.
Ever so tired, Kumi fell asleep, unable to see the benefits she received from accidentally gambling with her life.
{Achievement Catalogued}