Chapter 139: Gaze of Fear
December 21, 2014
Author: Floating Tower
The faint light awakened the sleeping Soren.
The first thing he did upon opening his eyes was to roll over and reach for the weapon beside him. His expression relaxed slightly when his hand touched the curved blade. A series of memories began to surface in his mind. He had walked a long way and seen a city, feeling very tired, but finally reaching the pinnacle of his will. It was as if he had been sharpening a kn*fe along the way, and in the moment he was most exhausted, it was also when his will, spirit, and momentum were condensed to their peak.
Then he chose to merge with divinity without hesitation, and it felt as if he was dragged into a very real dream!
Soren seemed to see many demons, but there was only one thought in his mind—k*ll any being that dared to block his path. He didn’t know how many he had killed, but by the time he relaxed, all the demons, including the demon god’s will, were slain. He faintly heard Vivian’s voice calling out, but before he could see clearly, he fainted. The accumulation of fatigue and injuries from seven days finally erupted at the moment he let his guard down; he felt as though he had fallen into darkness.
Being too taut could lead to breakage!
Soren supported himself with his firm will until the last moment. But after he took down the demon god’s will and heard Vivian’s voice, he felt in the dark that she was unharmed. Suddenly, all the fatigue washed over him; the result of his nerves finally relaxing after separating from the predator was that he fainted.
He fainted in the icy wilderness, lying on the cold snow beside an unknown city road.
Soren slowly stood up.
His clothes had already been changed. Everything was neatly arranged beside him, as if no one had rummaged through them. The cracked wounds all over his body had almost healed; he didn’t know if it was due to the effect of merging with divinity or if someone had treated him. Perhaps it was a bit of both. The frostbite he had accumulated had put him in a serious injury state, and such severe injuries were difficult to regenerate from in a short period.
It should be the next day; Soren’s instincts told him he hadn’t been unconscious for too long.
There were sounds of human activity outside, and he surveyed the room in front of him. The furnishings were simple and solemn, entirely made of thick logs, which was the most common type of house in the northern region. The owner should belong to a reasonably well-off middle-class citizen. Fires were rare in the Frozen Kingdom due to the cold climate, and the trees there were tall, providing quality timber for building houses. He took off the clothes on him, which appeared to belong to another man, made of rough fabric, likely belonging to someone taller than him.
Soren changed back into his own clothes and then checked his dimensional bag; it had hardly been disturbed.
Someone must have rescued him.
After Soren fainted, he was brought here, and the person seemed to have good character, not even touching his belongings.
Such people were already very rare.
As if she had heard the noises in the room, a somewhat plump northern woman walked in with a heavy step. She looked to be in her thirties and was perhaps somewhat overweight, weighing over two hundred pounds. However, her expression was very kind, making her seem quite easy to get along with.
“You’re awake?” The plump northern woman smiled and said, “You’ve been unconscious for a day.”
Soren slightly bent forward to express his gratitude and said, “Did you save me? Rest assured, I will repay you.”
“No! No!…” The plump woman waved her hand and glanced at the curved blade in his hand. She seemed a bit afraid, so Soren quickly put the kn*fe down. The woman’s expression relaxed considerably as she smiled and said, “It was a noble lady who rescued you! She seemed to be of high status; her maid told me to take good care of you. She even spent money to hire a priest to treat you.”
“Truly a kind-hearted noble lady; I haven’t seen such kindness in nobles for many years!”
Noble?
Soren frowned slightly and then asked, “Where is she? Perhaps I should thank her and return the expenses.”
The plump woman chuckled and answered, “She left yesterday and didn’t even leave a name.”
“She also instructed me not to move your things, saying that someone like you, an adventurer, could be quite fierce. But you seem pretty decent, quite like my nephew. Your belongings are over there; I just placed them and didn’t touch anything.”
At this point, her tone grew a bit heavier, indicating she didn’t want to provoke any unnecessary misunderstandings.
Left?
Soren paused for a moment and then asked, “Where did she go?”
It seemed that he truly had some luck, encountering such a selfless good person.
“She seems to have gone to Arendelle,” the northern woman replied with a smile. “She seems to have a high status, surrounded by many guards, and she seemed to have more presence than the lord of Ice River City. You must be hungry, right? Shall I get you something to eat?”
Soren nodded slightly and thanked her, “Thank you.”
The plump woman quickly turned and left. Soren began to organize his belongings, putting each item in order, and it seemed that no one had touched anything. He didn’t discover anything missing, and his injuries healed rapidly, making it likely that her words were true. However, Soren truly didn’t remember who had rescued him; someone must have discovered him unconscious by the roadside and brought him here.
He looked at his data display and found that he had gained several new things.
“Weakened Cold Resistance [Personal Specialty]: In the process of resisting the cold, you are increasingly able to endure cold environments. You will adapt to most cold climates, and your resistance to special cold environments will also be significantly improved. From now on, you are immune to any cold damage below 3 points. Any cold effect damage taken when under spell or spell-like attacks will be reduced by 3 points.” [Prerequisite: Constitution above 18.]
Soren’s cold resistance had increased.
After accumulating hundreds of points of frostbite, he finally mastered the specialty of [Weakened Cold Resistance].
Next was another important specialty.
“Austere Practitioner [Background Specialty]: You have tried to hone your will in extreme environments. While resisting cold, pain, and the danger of d*ath, your will has been further tempered. You faced extreme survival conditions with a firm will. Through this process, your will has gradually become as strong as steel, and you will gain a +3 bonus on any will checks.” [Will +3, conditions for advancing to Austere Practitioner.]
Naturally, Soren would not advance as an Austere Practitioner.
He had come this far to hone himself, to counter the demon god’s will within divinity at the moment his will was forged to its peak.
Had he given up halfway or even entertained thoughts of abandonment, Soren would have given up on merging.
But he ultimately persevered!
With the merging of divinity, Soren also had an additional row of data—[3/10] (Weakened Divinity).
10 points of divinity are required to enhance to weakened divinity.
Soren temporarily could not gain any attribute bonuses from the divinity, but he had acquired some special abilities.
“Gaze of Fear [Innate Ability]: You have successfully merged with the Gaze of Fear. When you concentrate your will to exert fear pressure, anyone who meets your gaze will feel a whisper of fear. They must make a will saving throw against a difficulty of (10 + divinity value), or anyone facing your gaze will be affected as if under the effect of the Intimidate spell.”
The Intimidate spell is a level 0 spell.
Soren’s innate ability allows him to cast the Intimidate spell without limits on any target. If the opponent’s will is not strong enough, they could even be scared to the point of losing control.
This ability may work against ordinary people, but it is less effective against professionists.
Then there was the second innate ability.
“Fear [Innate Spell]: You have successfully merged with the Gaze of Fear and can cast the Fear spell instantaneously once per day. Any creature within 30 feet must make a will saving throw, with the difficulty equal to your spellcasting level plus spell potency. Any creature that fails the saving throw will feel extreme fear and exhibit emotional responses such as giving up resistance, panic, or despair. It could even k*ll some weaker targets.” [The number of uses for this innate spell increases with the elevation of divinity.]
The most important ability of the Gaze of Fear.
Soren looked at the newly acquired instantaneous spell and finally revealed a satisfied expression.
There are many spells that involve will checks, from the level 0 Intimidate spell to level 1 Terror, level 2 Mass Terror, level 3 Fear, and even higher-level spells like Robe of Fear, Edict: Fear, and Holy Word: Fear. All these spells are powerful control abilities, and if one fails the will check, it’s almost game over.
What Soren cared about the most was not the spell’s power, but that most spells brought by divinity are instantaneous!
What is instantaneous?
It means Soren can just point a finger, or even not point at all, and cast a Fear spell, forcing the opponent to make a will check.
What would your body do in response to your will when resisting a Fear spell?
Unless your will completely resists the Fear spell, there will surely be a moment of delayed reaction. Soren had previously suffered from a level 3 Fear spell; his heartbeat suddenly accelerated as if he had been greatly startled. Even if he passed the will check, it still took him a while to recover.
If one fails, the target of fear will completely collapse!
The most common reaction is to flee, otherwise, to tremble all over, or to give up resistance, and one cannot rule out the possibility of dying from fear.
The Fear spell can also k*ll.
It is entirely normal for a level 3 spell to scare someone with a weak heart to d*ath. (To be continued ~^~)
