Infinity Is My Affinity?!?-Chapter 117: To Be Tactically Elusive
I was slumped so far down in the desk chair that I was basically horizontal. The window beside me was pushed wide open, letting the cool night air and the muffled chatter from the street drift into the warm-lit room.
I half-lay there, keeping one hand thrown over my eyes, completely ignoring the long-grown cold box of pizza I’d pulled from my inventory right after the call ended.
[To think those Entropy peeps would turn out to be this big...] I thought as a dozen different ways we could end up lying in a pool of our own blood raced through my mind like a bad highlight reel.
[If Entropy does come after us... I highly doubt we would be able to chill on the sidelines and let the General sort this out.]
I let out another deep sigh before blindly reaching over to grab the slice. [Maybe I should skip this quest... pay the fine and stuff, and get back. By myself, I am the easiest target...]
Taking a bite out of the stiff cheese layered over what was basically now cardboard, I chewed thoughtfully for a moment before-
"Or maybe... I can use this. I am indeed the easiest target... and this is the perfect time for them to end me... and by extension, Nom-Nom. If they’re after us, they won’t miss this chance. After all, Nom’s presence greatly helps in filling the gap Amaterasu’s Crusader left behind."
I grabbed my cola and took a swig to wash the cardboard taste away, letting my head fall back against the wood. "And if they don’t, that’d mean they’ve got something going that makes even our presence irrelevant."
Popping open my Shop, I let the familiar blue holographic screens float up into the air.
"Don’t know which is worse... Either way, wolves are howling at my doorsteps."
With a long groan, I finally peeled myself out of the chair and made my way toward the modest bathroom.
[Let’s just get on with the quest... and make preparations. At least I’d know for sure if Entropy is going to be a problem for me.]
I stripped off my clothes, tossing them in a pile, and cranked the simple metal shower handle all the way to hot.
Stepping under the spray, I let out a long, slow exhale. The steaming water hit my bare shoulders, tracing heavy, hot lines down my chest and stomach to wash away the day’s sweat and grime.
And damn, did it feel good...
[I have Epic-grade tokens for both a magic and a skill...] I thought, leaning my head against the wet tiles to let the hot water run down my neck. [But I already have a decent repertoire of magic. Instead of adding a new one to the pile, I should focus on mastering the ones I already have in tandem with Spell-Splicing.]
I swiped my hand through the steam, pulling a brick of heavy-duty soap straight out of my inventory, and started working up a thick lather across my skin.
[I get a skill first... but what kind?]
I mentally tapped the ’Skills’ tab on the blue System interface, hovering patiently in the shower with me.
And the next moment, an endless, scrolling list of text cascaded down the screen.
Staring at the sheer volume of options, my eyes immediately glazed over as the weight of decision paralysis started to set in.
[Get a grip...] I sighed, pulling a bottle of shampoo from the Inventory before squeezing a massive glob into my hand and massaging it into my scalp to distract myself from the endless menu.
"System," I called out, blinking through the soapy water running down my face. "Gimme a list of the skills you’d recommend."
-Ding!
{I highly recommend the host learn to decide for themselves. What parameters would you like to set?}
[Dude...]
With a ’humph’, I aggressively worked the thick lather deep into my scalp as I went into deep thought.
[Fine... okay, the synchronization between my MP capacity and the magic I have is pretty solid right now,] I thought, leaning my head back against the tiles. [Constantly adding stuff that costs MP to use... may begin to work against me.]
"How about passives?" I asked, washing down the lather on my scalp. "Give me stuff that doesn’t cost mana to maintain. Like, you know... classic stuff. Sword mastery or whatever."
-Ding!
{Filtering for: Epic Grade. Classification: Passive.
Generating a list of recommendations tailored to decrease the user’s impending mortality rate via Mage’s Folly...}
[Wow. Screw you too.]
And the next second, a massive, glowing blue list unfurled in the steam right in front of my face.
Squinting through the hot water dripping off my eyelashes, I began scrolling.
-Ding!
{
Blade Synapse (Epic)
Description: Passively accelerates neurological mapping for all bladed weapons, granting enhanced comprehension of forms, parries, and edge alignment via training.
Notes: Does not enhance physical strength or speed. The host must possess the physical specs to execute the comprehended maneuvers.
Price: 145,000 Credits / 1 Epic Skill Token
----------------
Synaptic Assimilation (Epic)
Description: Adequately accelerates the neurological and mana-pathway adaptations required to turn conscious, deliberate practice into subconscious instinct.
Notes: Does not grant instantaneous mastery. Repetition and conscious effort are strictly mandatory to build muscle memory.
Price: 160,000 Credits / 1 Epic Skill Token
----------------
Kinetic Dispersion (Epic)
Description: Passively absorbs and nullifies up to forty percent of all physical kinetic energy striking the host, harmlessly bleeding it out into the surrounding environment as ambient heat.
Notes: The remaining sixty percent will be registered as immediate bodily trauma. Does not mitigate magical or elemental damage.
Price: 190,000 Credits / 1 Epic Skill Token
}
I stood under the streaming water, scrolling through the endless list of passive skills.
[These are all ridiculously good,] I thought, running a hand down my face to wipe away the water. [Blade Synapse would be really useful when I eventually learn close-quarters combat. And Kinetic Dispersion is basically a passive safety net against getting one-shot.]
But as I stared at the list, a bulb lit up inside my head.
"Actually, scrap all of these," I muttered to the showerhead as my train of thought completely shifted. "They’re great, but if I run into a higher-tier Entropy freak, being good with a sword or absorbing a punch won’t save me from pretty much losing all my range for Dominium Radicis by their domain... not to mention other magic.
[The power scaling for Domains is annoyingly straightforward,] I thought, leaning back to let the hot water hit my shoulders.
[If a stronger mage expands their domain, it naturally overpowers a weaker one. If I want to contest it, I have to invest more mana into my domain than the other dude just to push back... and the stronger guy only has to match my output to keep crushing me. It’s basically a rigged numbers game.]
Swiping my hand unnecessarily at the interface, I cleared the list.
"Okay, here’s what we’re gonna do, System," I called out, blinking through the water.
"We’re gonna pivot. Give me a passive that breaks the domain rules. Something that makes my domain completely undetectable or slash and puts it outside the bounds of a normal clash between Domains... yeah, those roots are entirely dependent on my domain to be manipulated... if a dude suppresses mine to that 3-meter absolute territory, it’d make an entire magic pretty much useless."
-Ding!
{Filtering updated parameters.
Generating recommendation tailored to user’s chronic inability to win to engage in a fair fight...}
[I prefer the term ’tactically elusive,’ you glorified calculator.]
-Ding!
{
Phantom Imposition (Epic)
Description: Fundamentally alters the spatial and magical footprint of the host’s domain, removing it from the standard dimensional hierarchy.
Upon expansion, the host’s domain becomes functionally undetectable and immune to natural suppression. Instead of clashing against a higher-tier domain, it will permeate seamlessly through the opposing territory without triggering a mana contest.
Notes: The host operates with full domain benefits inside enemy territory, completely unnoticed. The host retains the manual override to the domain’s borders and force a traditional domain clash at any given time.
Price: 210,000 Credits / 1 Epic Skill Token
}
I let out a slow, satisfied breath as I read the glowing blue text.
[That’s it,] I thought as a grin crept onto my face as the tactical possibilities cracked wide open in my head.
[If a high-tier Entropy freak expands their domain, they’ll think they have absolute control... They won’t even realize they’re standing right inside mine. I get all my buffs and environmental control, and they won’t even know to defend against it.]
It was the ultimate trump card for punching way above my weight class.
"Yeah. That’s exactly what I need," I said, shutting off the shower, and grabbing a towel from the rack before stepping out. "System... lock it in."
-Ding!
{1 Epic Skill Token consumed.
Skill: Phantom Imposition (Epic) successfully integrated.
Advisory: Being ’tactically elusive’ will not prevent blunt force trauma.}
I just smirked, aggressively rubbing the towel through my wet hair.
[Duly noted. But first, they’re gonna need to be able to survive me for more than a second.]
