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"People die when they are killed!"
- Shirou Emiya (Fate/Stay Night)
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<(Atem POV)>
"Seriously? Couldn't she just open a regular portal like a normal person? No—she had to toss me through time and space like she's auditioning for the role of the next Sorcerer Supreme. Such a showoff." I muttered, plummeting toward Earth. Even without touching down, I could feel it—this wasn't my universe anymore. It looked the same on the surface, but something underneath felt... off. Like stepping into a damp, decadent room that has been housing a rotting human body for years instead of an actual living being.
"Well, at least she had the decency to drop me in New York." I sighed, slowing my fall as I neared the skyline. "Most of the major Marvel events take place here anyway. Odds are I'll find some answers here." I said, landing softly on the roof of a random skyscraper.
"Hmm, I should probably check the system's backlog before anything else. I never did claim the reward from that Mephisto quest, and I'm pretty sure I heard a few pings during my chat with Mistress Death as well," I mumbled, pulling up the system notifications page.
[Mission completed successfully!]
[Mission reward has been placed in the Inventory]
[Special Skill/Item Upgrade card: This card can give a random upgrade to an item or a random evolution to a skill/ability/power. Cannot be applied to divinities or skills derived from divinities]
[Ding! Death has given you her blessing!]
[Ding! The system has successfully integrated Death's essence from the blessing!]
[Congratulations! New unique skill created from the Essence of Death!]
[Death's Touch: You can forcefully apply the concept of death to anyone you kill who is weaker than the concept of Death herself, irrespective of the type of immortality or method of resurrection they possess.]
"That's a pretty niche skill. Should be enough to deal with most 'in-universe' threats... though I can already think of plenty of multiversal heavyweights who'd shrug it off simply because they are on the same level as Death herself—or way past it," I sighed, clearly not too thrilled with the reward.
I mean, after unlocking something like Void Fire, it's hard to imagine any new ability really impressing me anymore.
But an upgrade card? Yeah, that's the real letdown. Just from the description, it already feels underwhelming. I mean, what exactly do I even need to upgrade? My healing power's strong enough to drag people back from the afterlife. Boosting the Golden Rule of the Stars would be a total waste—I seriously doubt more charm or luck is going to matter when I'm dealing with cosmic-level entities. I'm more than satisfied with Void Fire, and the same goes for Astral Manipulation. Honestly, I haven't even scratched the surface of what that last one can do, so upgrading it now feels pointless.
Hmm... maybe the ice ability I picked up after eating a few frost giants during that whole Loki situation? But again, I can't even remember the last time I actually used it.
Cosmic awareness is another option. If I could evolve it into something close to omniscience, that'd be huge—but let's be real, the system's never gonna be that generous.
"Maybe my psionic powers could use the boost," I muttered. Omega-level telepathy and telekinesis at a level equal to Jean's full potential could definitely simplify a lot of things. Yeah, that's tempting... or should I just upgrade my Chaos Blades and get this over with... Damn it, this is actually hard. Choices, choices, choices—too many damn choices," I sighed, rubbing my temples as a headache started creeping in.
