Tales of the Endless Empire
Chapter 185: More Power

Thalion had never felt stronger. He stood in his basement, staring at the swirling cloud of darkness. The elemental he would soon merge with the umbral predator. His belly still burned like hell after all the plants he had forced down his throat.

Back on Earth, he had always been a good eater. He never had a problem eating more, even when the food started tasting bad or when it felt like it wasn’t even reaching his stomach anymore. But what he had endured over the past few days surpassed anything he had ever experienced before. At one point, he could have sworn his stomach had partially torn apart, only to be instantly healed. Somewhere along the way, he had even lost track of how many stat increases he had gained.

Thalion hadn't paid much attention to the types of plants he was consuming, which resulted in him quickly losing oversight of their effects. In the end, he decided he would check his status screen after merging with the elemental.

His strength had also improved significantly as an Umbral Predator, thanks to the gravity array he had been training with while digesting. Performing such an intense workout with a stomach that felt like it was about to burst had been excruciating, and time had barely seemed to pass. It was frustrating, but now, as he stood on the other side of that ordeal, he felt a sense of pride. Of course, the fusion with the darkness elemental would be far more painful. So, technically, this wasn’t the end, just a pause between exercises. And the next one would be the most agonizing and difficult yet.

The system shop had already appeared hours ago, and after letting out a final sigh, he pressed the button and was teleported away.

The familiar voice greeted him with its usual phrase: "Greetings, survivor."

Thalion took a moment to collect his thoughts before speaking.

"Hey, mate. I'm about to merge the Umbral Predator with the darkness elemental… and I just wanted to ask if you have any tips. I assume some gods have probably broken quite a few of your rules by now." He grinned sheepishly.

This was precisely why he had waited until the system shop was nearly over. During this time, gods were allowed to communicate with their blessed ones or other survivors. He hoped that, with the special quest so close, some gods had been bending the rules even more than usual.

If the voice hadn’t been coming from a golden statue, Thalion might have sworn it was smiling. But since it wasn’t, he couldn't tell.

"Since you mention the elemental," he continued, "is it better to fuse with it before it evolves to E-grade or after?"

He was genuinely pleased that some gods had likely pushed the system too far, making the voice more talkative than usual.

"E-grade will be much better," the voice stated matter-of-factly.

"Thanks. Any more tips on the fusion or the upcoming special quest?" Thalion asked, hoping the voice might drop some crucial piece of information.

Unfortunately, the voice was not as forthcoming this time. "Nah. Just don’t die."

"Wow, thanks for the life-saving advice," Thalion thought sarcastically as he pulled out the small reclining chair he had bought last time. Normally, he would have cracked open a beer, but after all the food he had crammed into his body over the past few days, he had no desire to drink anything right now.

"Oh, on another topic," he said, suddenly remembering an old idea. "If I capture a vampire alive, then hypothetically rip out their eyes, take out my own eyes, and put the vampire's eyes in my sockets—what would happen?"

"Hmm… I suppose you want the vampires' mental abilities," the voice mused. "That’s actually not the only benefit. Vampire eyes also provide enhanced vision, allowing you to see blood more clearly. To simplify, they also grant a mental attack that triggers when you make direct eye contact."

Thalion listened intently as the voice continued in an almost elderly tone. "What you’re proposing is quite similar to what liches or corpse lords often do to gain more power. Your problem, however, is your high regeneration rate. You’ll need to properly prepare the vampire's eyes to make them as compatible as possible. Vampires have vitality, but they are also undead, which complicates things. However, you could use the same concept you applied when altering the affinity of the wind crystals for your sword. Just… don’t hit it with a hammer, if you know what I mean."

That sounded promising.

At the moment, it almost seemed like he could open his own eye business after the tutorial. That is, until the voice spoke again.

"Ah, but you need to be quick. The moment the vampire’s eyes fully regenerate, you won’t gain any advantages from them. Otherwise, people could just keep cutting off body parts repeatedly to upgrade their factions."

Thalion sighed, disappointed. So much for his grand business idea.

"What happens to the vampire after I take his eyes? Do they just grow back? And will he still keep all the advantages and skills they provide?" he asked, curiosity sparking in his voice.

The thought amused him—stealing a vampire’s abilities for himself. Oh, the outrage that would cause among their kind.

The voice responded, slightly surprised by the question. "Of course, they keep the skills once the eyes regenerate but they will be much weaker than before."

Thalion frowned, tilting his head. "Wait. So if I shove some metal into the empty sockets while working on their eyes, I get the skill, and then their eyes just regrow? That makes no sense. What happened to factions upgrading their members with body parts?"

"Well, yes, the eyes will regrow, but it takes time. And properly preparing a body part so that someone else can use it is always expensive. Also like i said before the effect gets weaker every time. Mass production is nearly impossible… unless a god is involved, instantly healing the subject," the voice explained in its usual, slightly bored tone.

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Good to know. At least now he understood how vampire eyes worked. He was glad he had asked, learning this the hard way would have been painful. Not that he was looking forward to yanking his own eyes out.

"Uh… do you have anything that could help me remove my eyes? Preferably with as little pain as possible?"

Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, a screen popped up in front of him, displaying an assortment of devices. Some looked relatively harmless—others resembled medieval torture instruments. One even had jagged spikes meant to grip the eyeball and pull it out. He swallowed hard.

Eventually, he settled on a tool that resembled a spoon, its edges lined with glowing runes. That one was for himself. For the vampire? He chose the spiked contraption. They weren’t expensive—only fifty thousand credits. Probably one of those items no one ever bought in the system shop. At least, that’s what he hoped. Then again, he had seen a guy with a literal torture pillar… so maybe these things did sell from time to time.

As he browsed, a thought crossed his mind. "Any recommendations for useful items I should buy?" he asked casually. If the voice had nothing useful to suggest, he would likely stock up on storm crystals. He barely had any storm-related treasures, and with the right formations, he could refine more.

Darkness wasn’t an issue—his Abyssal Devourer ensured a steady supply for body tempering. As a Tidecaller Serpent, he had more than enough pearls and crystals. Blood? That was laughably easy to obtain, especially with all the vampires running around on the fifth stage. But storm affinity… that was trickier. He could try converting wind crystals with Eagle by blasting them with lightning or keeping his domain skill active. Still, maybe the voice had some better ideas.

"There aren’t many items you can afford that would significantly benefit you," the voice admitted after a pause. "Ah, but you should definitely buy an escape token. Just in case things go south in the next stage. Even the strongest beings keep one on hand."

A new screen appeared, displaying multiple identical-looking tokens, the only differences being the inscriptions and—of course—the prices. They started at one million credits and skyrocketed to nearly five million. Thalion figured even more expensive ones existed, but the system likely wasn’t showing them since he didn’t have enough credits.

With a grimace, he purchased the cheapest token for one million credits. A ridiculous amount of money, but he doubted he could even activate multiple tokens at once. Then, another thought crept into his mind.

"Is there a way to stop these tokens from activating? Or are there environments where they don’t work?" he asked.

If the vampires had escape tokens too, things could get complicated—possibly dragging his eye-harvesting plan into a much longer ordeal.

It would be incredibly annoying if every strong fighter could simply teleport away at a moment’s notice. Those escape tokens were essentially like jumping to a higher stage—an easy way out of any struggle. Worse yet, as far as Thalion knew, there was no way to track someone who used one.

"You can’t block a teleportation token," the voice answered, as if reading his thoughts. "But they can’t be used underground or inside shields. After the tutorial, they’ll be extremely rare, and almost no one will have one. It’s just an advantage of being in the tutorial."

Good. That meant he should probably stock up on them next week. Thalion leaned back in his chair, contemplating the implications. These tokens would make things significantly more complicated—especially if his enemies had them—but for him, they weren’t all that useful. He couldn’t even activate them in the catacombs, which was exactly where he needed them the most.

With a sigh, he decided to spend the rest of his credits wisely. He invested in three large storm crystals, each one massive enough to need resizing. Lucan would be thrilled with the opportunity to work on them, gaining valuable experience in the process. After that, with a few hundred thousand credits remaining, he bought some everyday comforts: tea, more peanuts, and a high-end massage chair.

A sip of steaming tea warmed his throat as the chair worked its magic on his aching muscles. The rich, fruity aroma curled around him, and for the first time in days, he allowed himself a moment of true relaxation. But, as always, his mind refused to stay idle for long.

"Hey, voice," he mused between sips. "Is there a way to modify the skills I stole from the termites? Maybe shift them from earth affinity to darkness using the elemental?"

"Of course," the voice responded. "Bonding with the elemental can even change your race. Your skills should remain the same as long as they align with your new racial traits, meaning they would naturally shift to darkness affinity. However, be aware—the change might affect more than just the affinity itself. Full racial transformation is rare and requires a powerful elemental, but even if your race stays the same, your skills will still adapt."

That was interesting. He had a similar discussion once—back when he considered changing Eagle’s race. At the time, the voice had made it sound impossible. Looking back, that was probably for the best. Merging Eagle with a wind elemental might not have worked out well, and he never would have discovered the potential of lightning. Besides, fusion between a beast and an elemental wasn’t easy, and without the Outsider’s rapid regeneration, the risk would have been too high.

Yeah… things had played out for the best.

Taking another sip of his tea, Thalion let his mind drift. If Kael and the others hadn’t tried to kill him, he likely would have advanced normally, never considering the Outsider as an option. He would have deemed it too dangerous—too unpredictable. Strange how fate worked.

He exhaled slowly, sinking deeper into the massage chair. A few more hours of peace, then meditation. He needed to clear his mind and steel himself for the battles ahead.