Ex-Human Morphus [A Mutant Evolution Apocalypse LitRPG]
Chapter 258

Chapter 258

First, he wanted to remove the Fragile Body curse for now. After all, once he left the Void Temple and returned to the outside world, he intended to launch an immediate attack on one of Los Demonios’ bases. Having a curse on him would put him at a great disadvantage when fighting the bandits. 

So he looked at the golden shaft of light again and activated it with a thought.

The Void Temple

Player: Jake Turner

Current Tier: 2

EP: 114,150

[Tiers] [Curses] [Help]

He pressed [Curses], and a list of various curses he could put on himself appeared before him. Since he wasn’t planning to select any at the moment, he skipped the descriptions of all the curses and focused on the very last line of text instead.

Remove Curses: Fragile Body (Yes/No) 

Jake thought YES, and a short piece of text flashed through his mind.

Fragile Body has been removed.

After that, Jake decided to check his Resistances.

Elemental Resistances:

     Fire: 35% (+25% from Basic Elemental Shielding) 

     Frost: 25% (+25% from Basic Elemental Shielding)

     Shock: 25%

     Explosive: 35% (+25% from Amber) 

     Corrosive: 30%

     Radiation: 25%

Other Resistances:

     Pierce: 72%

     Poison: 30% (+25% from Basic Elemental Shielding)

     Mana Bleeding: 33%

     Mind Control: 25%

     Stun: 25%

     Chaos: 25%

     Ethereal: 25%

He was now well-protected against all types of damage, which was really great.

The next thing he wanted to do was check [Tiers] one more time. He focused on the first two he had just unlocked. 

Tier 1 – Relic, Charm, and Gemstone Consumption

Tier 2 – Basic Runes

He already knew what the first one was for, so this time he focused on the second. A new piece of text emerged in his mind.

Tier 2 – Basic Runes: Here, you can purchase basic Runes. Rune magic is a complex discipline that harnesses the power of arcane symbols to achieve magical effects. Unlike traditional spells, Runes are cast on any surface. Depending on a Rune, it is activated either by a mental command from the caster or when someone or something steps on or touches it. In idle mode, Runes are visible only to the caster, but they flare to life and become visible to everyone else when triggered. Once a Rune is learned, it can be cast at any time, as long as the caster has enough mana. 

Available Basic Runes:

Fire Trap: Places five fire Runes around the caster. They trigger when an enemy steps on any of them, causing jets of fire to spew out vertically from each one for a few seconds. Cost: 20,000 EP

Gust of Wind: Places a Rune near the caster, which activates when an enemy approaches, unleashing a powerful gust of wind. Cost: 20,000 EP

Clones: Places four identical Runes around the caster. They activate upon the caster’s mental command, creating four identical copies of the caster. The clones cannot be killed and cannot deal damage but may confuse enemies. They exist for a brief duration. Cost: 20,000 EP

Barrier: Places a Rune beneath the caster. When activated by the caster’s mental command, it generates a magical shield that provides protection from all types of damage for a short amount of time. The Barrier always remains stationary at its casting location. Cost: 20,000 EP

Cloud of Darkness: Places a Rune beneath the caster. It activates upon the caster’s mental command, creating a cloud of supernatural darkness that only the caster can see through. Cost: 20,000 EP

Jake took a moment to think. Some of these runes could be extremely useful to him. He had 114,150 EP left, more than enough to learn all of the available basic runes. At first, he wanted to refrain from buying all of them at once to keep some of his EP for later, but he quickly changed his mind. After all, he didn’t have any other use for EP other than to spend it here at the Void Temple.

So he purchased all five basic runes, spending a total of 100,000 EP, which left him with only 14,150 EP. He now had just enough EP to summon some items for 10,000 EP. Deciding to do so, he walked over to the Summoning Circle. 

Spend: 10,000 EP

Spend: 25,000 EP

Spend: 50,000 EP

Jake opted for the first option, as it was the only purchase he could make. Once he did, five random items materialized inside the Summoning Circle.

Echo of the Void (Shard) 

Essence of Time (Relic)

Fragment of Infinity (Shard)

Tongue of Flame (Relic)

Frost Essence (Relic)

All of these items were quite basic, improving his skills, abilities, and attributes. However, the Essence of Time relic stood out among the newly summoned items.

Name: Essence of Time

Type: Relic

Description: This is a quite rare and powerful relic, which contains the essence of chrono magic.

Primary Effects: Increases the rarity of any skill or ability bypassing any requirements.

It was really a good find. He decided to consume the relic to gain its effects but took a moment to consider which of his skills to upgrade. Most were already powerful enough and didn’t necessarily need any accelerated improvements. He knew that upgrading a skill to the next rarity level would unlock a new upgrade for that skill. He needed to choose wisely.

He returned to the golden shaft of light and placed his left palm, holding the Essence of Time relic, inside. He gave a mental command to consume the relic, and it was absorbed into his flesh. Immediately after that, a system message appeared, prompting him to choose a skill for rarity upgrade. He opted for Mind Reader.

After that, he stepped back from the golden shaft of light and closed his eyes to summon the information on the ability he had just upgraded. He didn’t bother to reread the descriptions of the first four upgrades he had acquired before, focusing only on the new one.

Mind Reader: Rank III (Upgrades: 4 of 5) (Epic)

Ability: Mind Reader  

Upgrade Options:  

5 – Allows you to view a target’s memories from a distance, without having to touch their head. Cost: 1 SP

After defeating the dungeon boss, he leveled up from 118 to 119, earning 5 SP. He had spent two of them, so he still had 3 SP to allocate. He used one of them to acquire the upgrade. After that, he allocated the remaining two skill points to his attributes.

Body: 141 → 142

Mind: 131 → 132

Magick: 180

Jake was excited. Previously, accessing a target’s memories required him to touch their head, which was why progressing this ability hadn’t been an easy and quick process. However, with the fifth upgrade, he no longer needed to get close and touch someone’s head to read their mind. He could now do it from a distance, without physical contact or the person’s awareness.

He could hide in one building, render himself invisible with Cloak, and use Mind Reader on any unsuspecting survivors who ventured in, all without them being aware. This way, he should be able to progress Mind Reader pretty quickly, which was really important because he needed to advance it to Rank IV.

Once he advanced this ability to Rank IV, he would finally be able to purchase Morph Disguise from the Genetic Development Interface, as one of the requirements for learning it was having Mind Reader at Rank IV.

Jake had only 4,150 EP left, which wasn’t enough to purchase anything else. It was time to leave the Void Temple for now. He turned and jogged to the rift gate on the other side of the chamber. Stepping through, he found himself back in the lava-filled level of the dungeon, where he had recently defeated the Magma Titan.

He jumped and used his grappling hook to pull himself to the island with the portal leading out of the dungeon. Once he landed, Jake stepped into the portal and was instantly teleported back to the outside world.

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