Bro, I'm not an Undead!

"Okay. Let's get to it," Skullius said as he lazed on Red Rage's back. The Apostle was racing at full speed on the hard ground, heading in the direction of Genhuis.

Skullius had opted to change positions as being princess carried made him feel weird, above the fact that he wouldn't be able to practise what he wanted to do stably.

He was about to explore all about his class and sort out all the skills he had, investigating their functions separately and in conjunction with others.

The fundamental element that made the Insurgent Magnus unique was the two special elements, [Evil Darkness] and [Just Light].

The skills related to basic [Evil Darkness] manipulation that he had so far were [Basic Evil Weaving] and [Evil Darkness Production].

There was also [Pseudo Evil Veneration] but it was not a skill.

From what he had gatherer so far, [Evil Darkness] had the ability to restrict, bind and control.

The many individuals locked within the Hall of Fulgardt in the Labyrinth of the Yoke were a prime example, Skullius managing to see the complex knots within Eldris' body that controlled him back then.

He had also seen the effect of [Evil Darkness] within the yokes as they had the power to seal away the power of the target.

This was likely as a result of the dark power used in conjunction with [Just Light] but if that was the case then Skullius knew nothing about this element separately altogether.

The same was the case with [Just Light] as he hasn't used it that much. He was quite clueless but the skill [Just Light Production] was supposed to help him with it.

The two production skills, as described by the guidance field were ones meant to actually generate the respective elements from his body which was incredible to think about.

Since there wasn't much to explore with his two elements, Skullius moved to check everything else that was exclusive to the Discount Human form.

There was the Luminant Seed which he had received after killing Dezrael. It was dormant at the moment and would bloom when he reached the Advancement Stage.

"Damn it! I still don't know what the flesh that is," Skullius complained as he lacked knowledge on the stages of power that humans adopted. He had a feeling that the answers would finally be revealed if he got to Genhuis though.

He had another thing that was similar. A piece of soul he had been awarded with after killing General Sila. He recalled that when he took damage to the soul after being killed in Eldris' body, a part of Sila had been used to mitigate the damage.

So far, there was nothing else apart from the stats it granted that even showed that he still had it, but that would change soon.

The [Binds of Fukal] were also another thing. They were the tattoos on his chest.

When Skullius saw their description he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

~~~

[Binds of Fukal]

Whoever is bound is never to associate with Deities and is unable to receive their blessings nor their curses.

~~~

"As simple as that, huh?"

It was blessing and a curse at the same time. Now he couldn't ask for help from them, that is if he would ever get a chance to speak to them.

[Pseudo Evil Veneration] was something else that Skullius was looking forward to progressing as it had saved him on two critical occasions, but he still didn't know how to do so.

The Fruit of World Myths which would appear as soon as he willed it was also something to be explored but the issue was that the two (it and Pseudp Evil Veneration) seemed to need a powerful understanding of the fundamental elements.

With all that said, Skullius decisively activated [Evil Darkness Production]. He would rather give more attention to the element he had the higher affinity to for now.

The skill didn't have a definite mana requirement as it converted mana to the respective element under a strict criteria.

Skullius felt a familiar sensation run through his body upon activation.

From his finger, a thin wisp of [Evil Darkness] sprouted, wiggling its way into the air!

Skullius pushed his focus to the limit, seeing the pitch black image struggle to remain alive, however it seemed that this was his limit!

Nomatter how much effort he put, groaning and grunting excessively, he could not produce more than the four inches worth of [Evil Darkness] before him!

"You've got to be kidding me! After all that?!" he yelled.

Was this just how trash his affinity was? But it had grown back to grade C after his experience with the Fruit of World Myths!

Was manipulating already existing darkness easier than creating your own?

Skullius withdrew his control of [Evil Darkness Production] and looked at the shadow that trailed along Red Rage's movement using a skill he thought to be useful.

[Basic Evil Weaving] had allowed him to manipulate Darkness before and he naturally thought it could help with this.

The Discount Human extended his hand towards the shadow and focused after activating the skill.

Yet...

Nothing!

The shadow didn't budge nomatter what he did!

'What?! But it worked in the Labyrinth! Or... wait! Is it actually different? Is [Evil Darkness] not derived from normal Darkness or something?'

This seemed to be the case and Skullius deflated.

At least he now knew that he needed to start from scratch and work smarter when dissecting this power.

What a hassle!

Being more intelligent was a hassle!

Clearing his mind, Skullius once again activated [Evil Darkness Production] and injected mana for another try with his newfound knowledge.

From the looks of it, it seemed that a conversion from mana to [Evil Darkness] depended on his affinity grade.

Another unsteady, squirming wisp of [Evil Darkness] protruded from his finger, becoming erect when Skullius' focus peaked.

The Discount Human gnashed his teeth while sweating, analysing the small wisp.

It looked intricate. Too intricate to be simple darkness that one would find anywhere but still... it was strangely lacking.

Different shades could be seen when one looked even closer but the light from the sun did not stain it. A sickly looking trail of darkness.

While having the wisp in bloom, Skullius activated [Basic Evil Weaving] which didn't require mana and tried to manipulate it.

It worked!

As he focused on the wisp, willing it to lean to the right, it promptly did so, which made Skullius heave a sigh of relief.

Unfortunately, he didn't feel much better as the this current progress spelled the strenuous hard work that he needed to do.

It was unfortunate that he didn't have infinite endurance to practise this like with his Penetrator form.

Still, the Discount Human didn't lose fake heart. He had managed to spend a thousand years doing something so unbearably monotonous so could he feel disheartened with just this?

While keeping both skills active, Skullius continued to try out different things with the wisp of darkness while injecting more mana to see if there would be a change.

The output to input ratio didn't change even as the figure for mana increased tremendously.

Was there something else he was missing?

Probably.

There had to be.

Skullius didn't expect to figure out this power so easily anyway.

After trying for a full thirty minutes without progress, Skullius stopped.

It just wasn't working. The conventional means weren't going to cut it.

'What else has a strong connection to [Evil Darkness]?' he asked himself.

What indeed?

There were a limited number of things that could possibly be the answer.

The Labyrinth.

Fulgardt.

And...

The answer didn't play hide and seek with Skullius as it had been something he had used earlier.

The Fruit of World Myths!

When he had used it, he had gotten a different feel of [Evil Darkness] and [Just Light], seeing it in the surroundings through [Crude World Projection].

Unfortunately, this new addition to his arsenal wasn't a skill and had to be deciphered from its source without the help of the guidance field.

Perhaps he had been wrong before.

Perhaps the Fruit of World Myths was what he needed to better understand the two elements!

Skullius willed the item to appear and the flower like, ethereal object floated before him with its golden center and dark fumes.

"Come on bro. Show me something," Skullius said as he reached out his hand to touch it from Red Rage's shoulder.

In the same instance, he activated [Basic Evil Weaving] and [Basic Evil Invasion] to try and see if something would come of it.

The result was something Skullius didn't foresee at all as instead of the out of body experience he had felt before, the Fruit of World Myths shot into his body, the Discount Human feeling it as it settled in his very chest!