SoK Chapter 189

Though he’d expected some measure of improvement from this meditation and enlightenment, TJ hadn’t predicted the two Skill evolutions, much less what had happened to Stormcaller and Storm Soul. All he’d allowed himself to hope for was the advancement in his Divine Authority’s progress towards Silver. Instead of losing himself in wondering about what these changes were, he stood up and stretched as he looked at his new Skills. As the core of it all, he decided to start with Wind Manipulations upgrade. The first thing he noted was that it hadn’t evolved, but was instead upgraded, just as Wind Scythe had been upgraded to Storm Scythe. Then, he jumped into the description.

Storm Manipulation (Copper (I)): The descendants of Kukulkan are blessed with an inherent affinity for the skies, winds, and rains, but you have transcended that inherent affinity. You have bent the fury of the skies to your will. This Skill will grant you the ability to affect the winds, clouds, rains, lightnings, and other mundane forces found within storms in your vicinity. Your Divine Transformation currently inherently grants a Dirt level Storm Manipulation, and while under the effects of the Divine Transformation Skill to a coatl or its subsequent evolutions, the Storm Manipulation Skill will ascend one tier. Usage of this Skill depletes MP at a rate inversely correlated to your Fixation and Intelligence while scaling in potency at a rate directly correlated to your Fixation and Intelligence. With this Skill comes the Affinity: Storm (Copper (I)).

Affinity: Storm (Copper (I)): All Storm related Skills, Titles, Classes, and other abilities gain a 5% boost while in the presence of a Storm.

The description of the new Skill initially threw TJ for a loop. Was he only able to use this Skill while in the presence of a Storm now? If so, then he’d absolutely crippled himself, and his immediate reaction was anger. Instead, as soon as he thought as much, the System injected understanding. No, now his Manipulation could control more than before, all the things found in ordinary storms. Rain, but not water, wind, as unlimited as before, as well as clouds and snow and lightning were all also under his jurisdiction. Sand could be controlled, but TJ realized that his influence would be particularly weak unless it was already actively in a Storm. 

On the other hand, the other parts of a Storm that he’d imagined, like magma, were currently out of his reach. Given that there were no storms like that “mundanely”, that wasn’t a surprise, and it just gave him greater expectations for the Skill and his Divine Authority as they continued to grow in potency. After all, these were things that he could better protect his son and Luz with and from. A thought of the thunderbirds coming to kill his people and finding themselves wholly unable to use their magic against him was a heartening thought. With that short encounter he’d had against them, TJ was reminded of just how dangerous the world was now, and how little he actually knew about it. There was the golem, the Asanbosams, as well as Acalan. The Minotaur colony had been weak, but TJ also realized that they’d been just a few combatants, then there was whatever else was found in the swamp just under their feet.

He thought again of leaving the location, but what he now subtly understood to be his Bloodline screamed in defiance. He’d leave a good area because there might be dangers nearby? During the Apocalypse? Yeah, no shit. Everything was dangerous, and there wasn’t any reason for him to think that going somewhere further away was going to be safer. Despite generally not wanting to give in to the Bloodline when it made demands of him, TJ could also see reason in this situation. Then there was this new Affinity. This boost, TJ realized, wasn’t like Monster Slayer or Primal Savagery. Instead, it was more like Wind Scythe, or, Storm Scythe, as he supposed it was called now, giving a boost to the abilities, not his Attributes. Though it was a little disappointing that his various Skills giving Attribute bonuses weren’t going to be impacted like that, he also wouldn’t be unhappy with getting stronger from thinking about his Skills for a little bit. 

TJ turned his attention to Storm Scythe instead of the more complex Storm Serpent merged Skill.

Storm Scythe, (Silver (II)): You are a Descendant of Kukulkan, and have displayed a familiarity with his rule over the skies, even going so far as to establish a Divine Authority over the concept of Storm and evolve to gain an Affinity over Storm. Beyond the limitations of the Wind Scythe Skill, you can now wield lightning, mist, cloud, and rain. You have hunted Copper (I) tiered Elites and Bosses with your winds. This Skill will better hone your ability to use Storm Manipulation as a weapon. This Skill will strengthen the cutting power of Storm Manipulation while decreasing the MP cost of all usage of the Storm Manipulation Skill with the intent to cut. This Skill will be enhanced by your existing Copper (I) tiered Divine Authority; Storm.

So, not much had changed there, mostly just the flavor text. The Skill adjusted to fit with everything else to reflect the changes that took place in Wind Manipulation, though it mentioned a couple more things. TJ moved his attention to the second entry, the one that he was most nervous to see what had changed.

Skill: Storm Serpent (Copper (I)): You have claimed the beginning of Divinity, becoming the Nascent Storm Serpent. With greater clarity, you have merged two related Class Skills into one, to serve as the baseline of your Path towards godhood. This Skill serves as a singular Skill to upgrade to impact every Skill that falls under its umbrella. At higher tiers, the Storm Serpent Skill will be incorporated into the Divine System as a whole, to be inherited by those deemed worthy by the Storm Serpent. As the Storm Serpent Skill is upgraded, every Skill that is currently tied to it will be upgraded to the same tier. Current Skills combined into Storm Serpent: Stormcaller, Storm Soul.

Stormcaller, (Copper (I)): You have embraced the storm and, with it, the Divine Authority of Storm. Some Divine Authorities are nearly or entirely omnipresent, while Storm, a violent, encompassing force, is fleeting and overwhelming. Those with a Divine Authority must have the capability to summon, create, and influence the concept, domain, or aspect that their Divine Authority encapsulates. Stormcaller allows its holder to create a storm in their vicinity that serves as a Storm for the purposes of Divine Authority and any other Skills. To create the storm, you sacrifice any amount of your current HP, MP, and Stamina over the course of any time longer than one minute. The strength, longevity, potency, and range of influence of the storm created is dependent upon how long you spend calling and channeling the storm, as well as how many resources you put into the creation of the storm.

Storm Soul (Copper (I)): You have seized a Divine Authority as a Dirt (0) tiered Participant, and your soul has been moulded by that Authority. Storm Soul is the manifestation of that influence. While within the domain of a Storm, you can draw on the Storm to replenish your resources, weakening the domain in exchange for your own recovery. While within the domain of a Storm, your resource recovery will passively be doubled. NOTE: This bonus to resource recovery is in addition to the bonus to resource recovery granted by Divine Authority.

Reading through it, TJ was struck by a realization. He wanted to get as many Skills lumped in with Storm Serpent as possible. How incorporating new Skills into the Skill from here on out would work was unknown, but that was wholly unimportant. Instead of worrying over the specifics of it, TJ would do everything that he could to ensure that he rolled as many of his Skills into Storm Serpent as possible, since each addition would make the improvement of the Skill even more impactful. Looking back at the description of Storm Serpent, TJ squinted his eyes. After reading it carefully once more, he settled on one thing that he thought might be a hint to rolling more Skills into this one. 

“... to serve as the baseline of your path towards godhood.”

As he strengthened his own idea of what his path to godhood would be, he would be able to incorporate more Skills into Storm Serpent. Only recently had he firmly decided that he would focus on the more magical aspect of his Skills and Bloodline, and now, two of his magically focused Skills were wrapped together. Sure, Wind—Storm Manipulation wasn’t included, but it would be once he figured out how to do so. He couldn’t say for sure, but he suspected that part of the reason that he’d been capable of having this stretch of enlightenment was because he had made steps in embracing the reality of divinity. He’d told people to worship him, he’d welcomed others into the fold of his followers, he’d called himself the Storm Serpent without guile or deceit, and if he hadn’t ever done that, would he have had the abilities to get this Skill now? Probably not.

TJ stood, taking note of all of his Skills, not only those relating to his Class, but also those of his Occupation. How could he incorporate Primal Savagery into his path? Even something as tangential as Equipment Fabrication or Introductory Divine Primitive Craftsmanship could potentially be a part of the Storm Serpent’s path, if he decided to make his focus on achieving true Divinity being a strong reliance on equipment and crafting, or Primal Savagery or Prehistoric Huntsman if he focused on the hunting and destruction of monsters. Interestingly, with some of the Skills, he viscerally disagreed with even the concept of incorporating them into his path, among them Equipment Fabrication and Introductory Divine Primitive Craftsmanship while Ritualistic Transfer remained a possibility. Something about them screamed in his mind that he was not going to apply those as his long-term, or more correctly, eternal focus.

Sure, the Storm Serpent could make equipment, but TJ knew that a blacksmith or crafter not what he aspired to be. The questions he’d posed to Mimi and Sam flashed through his mind, and he couldn’t help that laugh a little at himself. He’d forced these kids to confront eternity and what they wanted to do for that said totality of their existence, and he hasn’t thought of much specifically for himself beyond “protect Junior“. Yes, a part of his path was going to be carved in order to make himself someone who could protect his child, but how would he do that? There were dozens and hundreds of ways to do so. Would he protect by creating an unassailable city? Or would he make himself the perfect “tank”, able to transfer all of the damage given to someone he cared for to himself? On the other hand, he could become a diplomat and make deals with dozens and hundreds of different creatures and sects until he’d ingratiated himself to those stronger than him? Each of these were options that he knew would be able to protect his family. In fact, he had taken at least preliminary steps in his life so far to be able to do these things. 

However, these were not the paths that he wanted to tread. TJ was willing to negotiate, but not as a weakling begging for help. In fact, he refused to consider that as a possibility. The Storm Serpent wouldn’t be some mewling sycophant, hoping to find shelter under another’s wings. Instead, he would be the shelter to others, and not because of his willingness to take another’s hits. Instead, he would create a nation and a people under him who had the strength to approach any table for negotiations with an absolute confidence in their own worthiness to look other civilizations and even deities in the face as equals.

Yes, TJ would become a force that couldn’t be ignored, one that couldn’t be threatened. Under his guidance, every one of the Storm Serpent’s devotees would be respected. The one way that TJ would protect his own was by making his own existence a testament to his power, and as a promise to those who wronged him that they would face overwhelming retaliation were they to step out of line. Yes, the Storm Serpent would be one who forged a path for his people and paved it with the broken dreams and aspirations of his enemies.

The man behind the myth-to-be strode forward, ready to finally go and hunt down the thunderbirds once he found Farid. It was time for pure aerial supremacy to be his.