Chapter 175: Rank 3—Forbidden Arcanist

"You’ve acquired Netherworld Seal."

...

[Netherworld Seal: A supreme skill born from the fusion of ten skills containing the power of Death and the Underworld. The user can engrave Netherworld Seals upon their body, allowing them to borrow the power of the Underworld.]

[Netherworld Engraving: The user can condense Netherworld Seals and engrave them upon their body. Each Seal greatly strengthens the engraved area and imbues it with the power of Death. The number of Seals depends on the user’s strength and affinity with Death.]

[Netherworld Authority: By activating the Netherworld Seals, the user can manifest the power of the Underworld within a certain area. The power of Death is greatly strengthened, living beings are suppressed, and Undead creatures receive a significant increase in power.]

[Netherworld Cataclysm: The user can sacrifice Netherworld Seals to unleash a catastrophic wave of Death. The more Seals sacrificed, the greater its power. At sufficient strength, it can even tear open a temporary passage to the Underworld.]

...

A single skill with three different effects, worthy of being something produced by the fusion of ten different death-related skills.

Even Aurelius was somewhat surprised by the dense lines of text in front of him.

The sheer number of different functions contained within a single skill was already extraordinary.

More importantly, each effect seemed to complement the others, all geared around the so-called Netherworld Seals.

Unfortunately, Aurelius had no time to go through the description itself, much less think over the skill’s potential.

With Infinite Fusion completed, his vision changed again.

His consciousness descended, returning to reality.

There, he came face to face with another long string of text.

This time, it was not a description, but a series of notifications.

...

[Ding!]

[It has been determined that you’ve satisfied Taboo Arcanist Advancement Ritual Option 3: Perform a successful Synthesis (Infinite Fusion) using 10 or more skills or Talents.]

[Do you wish to advance?]

...

Reading through these prompts and seeing the last one requesting an answer, Aurelius did not hesitate.

He had waited for this moment for a long time.

Although it had only been a short amount of time since his last advancement, the pressure he was facing made it feel as though years had passed.

Combined with the affairs of the Players and the Sol family, Aurelius desperately needed to improve his own strength.

As such, he immediately made his decision.

’Yes...’ he muttered inwardly.

The moment his words fell, every notification and every line of text in Aurelius’ field of vision disappeared.

Bang!

The sound of an explosion echoed within his mind as a black cloud spread through his field of vision, and it went dark.

He didn’t know how much time had passed.

It could have been minutes, hours, or days.

There was no sensation of time passing, nor could he feel his own body. His consciousness seemed to have been completely separated from reality, drifting through an endless darkness.

By the time his vision cleared again, Aurelius sensed an unfathomable power lurking within his unassuming body.

It felt as though something within him had been fundamentally changed.

The new prompts explained why that was.

...

"Congratulations to the Player for upgrading to Rank 3—Forbidden Arcanist."

"Gained: 50 Skill Points, Skills: Arcane Tower, Spirit Storm, Arcane Projection, Talent: Arcane Domain."

[You’ve reached Level 41.]

[You’ve gained: INT +7, STR +3, AGI +3, VIT +3]

...

His advancement had been successful!

Aurelius had finally reached Rank 3!

And with a single glance, he could already see that the changes were as great, if not even greater, than when he advanced to Rank 2.

The most obvious improvement was the acquisition of new skills and Talents, while the increase in Base Stats per Level had also become greater.

Yet what attracted Aurelius’ attention was the name change.

Taboo Arcanist.

Forbidden Arcanist.

There was only a single word of difference between the two Classes.

However, Aurelius wouldn’t make the mistake of downplaying its importance.

The word "Taboo" had fully described how the Arcanist Class functioned at Rank 2, with him being able to directly absorb Divinity. In a certain way, it had entered the domain of blasphemy.

Now, Aurelius believed the Forbidden Arcanist Class would also be the same.

Therefore, he immediately focused on it.

As he concentrated, its description emerged.

...

[Forbidden Arcanist (Rank 3): Those who have delved beyond forbidden knowledge and begun to touch the deeper mysteries of existence. Having crossed the boundaries of mortality, they walk a path that no mortal being can comprehend. Their existence has begun to transcend conventional limits, bringing them one step closer to the realm of the divine.]

...

The realm of the divine!

This was the sentence that caught Aurelius’ attention. He had a hunch that it was what represented this Class the most.

Of course, this made him feel strange.

From his point of view, Demigods should be apex Awakeners, having reached at least Rank 7 or even Rank 8.

Even the Undead Knight he had encountered was far from reaching that level.

He, a mere Rank 3 Awakener, should have no way to "get closer" to the realm of the divine.

’It’s no wonder that this Class has completely disappeared from Nova Roma. The Advancement Rituals are already blasphemous enough, requiring either the absorption of Divinity or the corpses of Demigods.’

’Now, Rank 3 Awakeners dare to claim to have touched the realm of the divine.’

Aurelius shook his head, feeling that Arcanists were clearly seeking death.

Although Forbidden Arcanists were only one of the paths that an Arcanist could take, and the final Class was obviously affected by the Awakener’s choices, Aurelius believed that the other paths were likely not to be any better.

He couldn’t help but sigh.

At the same time, however, Aurelius was faintly excited.

Opportunities were often accompanied by danger and vice versa.

Since Forbidden Arcanists made such absurd claims, their power was bound to be extraordinary, right?

The improvement of his already existing abilities and Base Stats was only one aspect of this extraordinariness.

More important, however, was what new abilities he had awakened.

Thinking of this, Aurelius focused on these new entries.

Three skills. One Talent.

Namely, Arcane Tower, Spirit Storm, and Arcane Projection for the former, and Arcane Domain for the latter.

These were likely to accompany him and become his main dependence until he reached Rank 4 at the very least.

Thus, Aurelius was curious.

He immediately worked to digest the information flowing through his mind while also pulling up their descriptions.

...

[Arcane Tower Lv. 1: A Forbidden Arcanist can create an Arcane Tower that autonomously attacks any enemies using the skills and Talents the Arcanist has mastered. The Arcane Tower can exist indefinitely as long as it is provided with Spirit as energy.]

[Arcane Storm: At the cost of exhausting all its remaining energy, the Arcane Tower can create a blizzard of skills, each faintly surpassing the limits of their power.]

...

This was a type of skill Aurelius had never seen before, whether from his own experience or in the inheritance of the Undead Knight.

Although he knew he would have to personally test its strength in actual combat, Aurelius’ mind wandered.

He could think of many uses for the Arcane Tower, though it would have to depend on later experiments.

Even so, just this skill alone was already enough to make Aurelius joyous.

More importantly, it filled him with anticipation for the rest of the skills and Talents.

...

[Spirit Storm Lv. 1: A Forbidden Arcanist can use their Spirit to form a Spirit Storm, targeting the souls of nearby enemies.]

[Depending on the Arcanist’s Intelligence and the disparity between them and their enemies, Spirit Storm will have different effects, ranging from momentary shocks to direct extinguishment of the enemy’s soul.]

...

[Arcane Projection Lv. 1: A Forbidden Arcanist can consume Spirit to summon an Arcane Projection of creatures they have interacted with. The summoned Arcane Projection can use any skills and Talents they possess, but their strength will depend on the Forbidden Arcanist’s understanding of that creature, as well as the degree of their relationship.]

[Reminder: At Level 1, the Forbidden Arcanist can only summon one Arcane Projection.]

...

A soul attack and a summoning skill.

The former was clearly an improved version of the Spirit Bullet all Arcanists would obtain at Rank 1, aiming to attack the enemy’s soul directly. This was already exceptional, especially against enemies that did not suspect anything.

Moreover, Spirit Storm was an area-of-effect skill, meaning it could target multiple enemies at once.

Yet compared to Spirit Storm, the last skill, Arcane Projection, attracted Aurelius’ attention even more.

He could already see Arcane Projection’s formidable potential.

This skill’s power directly depended on the strength of the summoned creature.

This meant that if the Arcanist summoned an ordinary person, Arcane Projection would be useless.

If the Arcanist summoned an extraordinary creature, however, Arcane Projection had the potential to help them fight well above their Rank.

For example...

’What if I summoned the Undead Knight? Or even the Corrupted Dryad?’ Aurelius thought of infinite possibilities.

He raised his hand and his Spirit flowed, looking ready to give it a try.

However, he quickly forced himself to calm down.

Using every ounce of his mental strength to suppress himself, Aurelius focused on the last and only Talent entry.

...

[Arcane Domain Lv. 1: ...]