"Hm. Can you stop here a second?" Haeun said, eyes narrowing.
Loki ghosted to a halt on a thick branch. "Something wrong?"
"I saw a boss," she said, pointing through the trees.
He followed her line and spotted a familiar shape.
[Cursed Blood Tree (Common) — Lv. 2]
"That's just a common-tier," Loki said.
"Well, I'd rather show you everything before we take on a Rare."
"Show me?" He sounded faintly puzzled.
"You don't know what my kit does yet. How are we supposed to coordinate like that?" she asked, like stating the obvious.
"…You're right."
In his past life, Seojin had known exactly how terrifying she'd become. In this one, this was their first meeting. Saying he already knew her abilities would be… weird.
He dropped from the branch without a sound and set Haeun down gently.
She stepped out of the treeline into the clearing—unhurried, like someone heading to a meeting she'd already won. She set her stance: lead foot angled, one hand lifted, the other centered just below her collarbone—clean lines, no waste.
The clearing smelled of sweet sap and damp rot. The ground bulged, and a trunk of bark and meat hauled itself upright. Dark bark plates slid over pale, stringy flesh that moved like muscle. Roots tore free of the soil with a wet rip and clawed for grip. As it straightened, seams split along its sides and thick red resin bled out in warm, sticky ropes. Wood groaned; fibers popped. Its knotty face opened into a splintered mouth that drooled sap like blood.
"Disgusting," Haeun said, frowning.
The Blood Tree slammed roots into the soil. Earth split. Child-sized saplings clawed free, limbs like razors and mouths full of splinters.
[Cursed Branch (Crude) — Lv. 1]
Haeun moved first.
[Void Lance]
She flicked her wrist like snapping a thread. A needle of black glass, rimmed in violet, stitched from her fingertip and punched into the Blood Tree's side. The wound didn't bleed; color dimmed there, as though stolen.
[Corruption +1]
Wrist, breath, release—lance.
Half-step—lance.
Pivot—lance.
Black darts buried under bark, lined like carved runes. Her rhythm stayed clean and relentless.
[Corruption +2]
[Corruption +3]
[Void's Grasp: Slow 12% applied]
[Target takes +5% Void damage]
The giant swayed on root-legs, each motion dragging like it was wading syrup. Around her, branchlings fanned into a skittering ring, chittered, and then surged as one.
Two fingers cut a small crescent in the air.
[Void Gate]
Reality thinned like wet paper; violet-rimmed darkness bled along a hairline seam and her outline went ghost-pale.
The Blood Tree hurled a volley of sap-knives. Branchlings slashed and clawed.
Haeun didn't move.
The strikes passed through her fading silhouette—no sound, no impact—while bruise-dark veining bloomed along the limbs that crossed her outline.
[Applied: Corruption +1]
[Applied: Corruption +1]
[Applied: Corruption +1]
Just before the intangibility bled away, she stepped sideways into the seam and slipped out ten meters off with a soft thread-snap.
[Void Lance] — a branchling pinned, chewing at nothing.
Her mana dipped hard.
She inhaled; her shoulders settled.
[Mana Rush]
The air tightened around her like a pressure sleeve. Her pupils pinned, then steadied.
[Void Lance]. [Void Lance]. [Void Lance].
She slashed a knife-hand across the air; two void darts snapped along the cut and punched neat tunnels through bark. Nearby, three branchlings stuttered as Corruption stacked—motion dragging, splintered mouths working in soundless panic.
Haeun shifted targets.
[Judgment: Rupture]
She closed her hand around invisible threads; darkness whipped off the nearest branchling into her palm. She knotted it—silence—then the target buckled inward as if the space inside it collapsed. A black ring rippled out.
[Consumed: 3 Corruption stacks]
[Damage: 25 + (20 × 3)]
[Void Aftershock Triggered: 18 Void damage, apply Corruption +1 to enemies hit]
Aftershock hammered the pack; half a dozen wore a fresh brand of void. Fine threads of power ran back along her wrist—quiet as breath.
[Void Siphon Triggered]
The Blood Tree bellowed. Roots hammered; a spray of sap-knives ripped toward her like a volley.
Haeun drew another crescent.
[Void Gate]
Knives tore trenches where she'd been; her outline reformed at the boss's flank, already mid-cast.
[Void Lance] — a palm press sent a shorter, harder dart thumping deep.
[Corruption +4]
Another flick—almost lazy, like the enemy's gravity tugged the shot out of her hand.
[Void Lance]
[Corruption +5]
The giant's swings turned late and heavy—drag gnawing up its trunk. When the branchlings rallied, she pivoted; a lance threaded two in a line. Their edges feathered with static; debris drifted toward them as if the air had thickened.
Her mana ticked down, then up again in neat sips as Corruption ate.
She opened her palm toward the boss in a calm benediction.
[Judgment: Rupture]
The void inside the Blood Tree folded with a low, crystal twang, then snapped outward. The monster rocked—flinching—sap coughing green-red.
[Consumed: 5 Corruption stacks]
[Interrupt Triggered]
[Damage: 25 + (20 × 5)]
It sagged to a knee of roots.
She didn't rush the finish. Haeun slipped sideways and went back to work—needles of violet-rimmed black light ticking from her fingertips.
[Void Lance] — [Corruption +1]
[Void Lance] — [Corruption +1]
[Void Lance] — [Corruption +1]
Branchlings faltered, then fell.
When Rupture came off cooldown, she turned, pointed at a half-broken branchling at the center of the pack.
[Judgment: Rupture]
It vanished with a soft crack; aftershock scythed the ring, seeding the survivors with one final brand.
[Void Aftershock: 18 Void damage, Corruption +1 applied]
Back to the boss: one more mark—
[Void Lance]
[Corruption +1]
—then she paced it, lancing and letting Rupture's timer bleed down. The Blood Tree heaved, scythed a root, and spat a fan of sap-knives toward her.
[Void Gate]
She didn't flinch. The volley passed through like rain through smoke. A brushing root stained bruise-black as she slipped the seam.
[Applied: Corruption +1]
She stepped out at its flank again.
[Void Lance] — [Corruption +1]
And then Judgment came due.
[Judgment: Rupture]
The Blood Tree shuddered from crown to root. The light in it died; the mass unraveled into drifting motes.
[Acquired TLE: 112]
[Acquired NTLE: 128]
[Acquired 200 EXP]
[You have reached Level 3]
Silence crept back—wind in leaves, the soft drip of harmless sap.
Haeun walked forward, unhurried, and picked off the stragglers with a few tight lances. She turned and crossed the last steps to him, breath even, eyes cool.
"Well?"
--------------------
[Alias: Imu-Ha]
[Class: Void Adjudicator (Legendary-teir)]
[Level: 2]
— Core Attributes —
[Strength: 11]
[Constitution: 11 (+2 class)]
[Agility: 11]
[Intelligence: 11 (+4 class) → 15]
— Special Stats —[Mana: 150](INT × 10)
[Mana Regen: 1%/sec in combat; 2%/sec out of combat (after 5s no damage)]
[Corruption: +1]
— Affinity —
[Void](can learn/cast only Void magic; Arcana/utility skills excluded from this restriction)
— Universal Mage Class Passives —
• Mana Conduit: Gain Mana and Mana Regen as stats.
• Elemental Attunement (Void): Your magic affinity is Void; you can only learn/cast Void spells (Arcana/utility skills exempt).
• Attuned Drops: Skill books dropped for you have a 60% chance to match your Affinity.
— Class Passives —
• Voids's Corruption: Acquire the Corruption stat (+1). Void hits apply 1 stack of Corruption (some skills apply more).
• Void's Grasp: Enemies at ≥3 Corruption stacks are Slowed 12%(bosses 6%) and take +5% Void damage.
— Skills —
[Void Lance (Crude), (Active)] — Flick a concentrated dart of violet-rimmed darkness.
• Damage: 20
• Range: 10 m
• Cost: 8 Mana
• CD: 0 s
• On Hit: Apply Corruption +1.
•If the target is at ≥3 Corruption stacks, refund 4 Mana.
[Void Gate (Crude), (Active)] — Become intangible and slip through a short tear in space.
• Effect: Intangible for 3.0 s; may reappear at a chosen point within 10 m (line-of-sight).
• Contact During Intangibility: Touch applies Corruption +1 to enemies brushed.
• Cost: 22 Mana
• CD: 16 s
• Notes: Cannot pass through solid barriers you can't see through; no carrying allies through.
[Judgment: Rupture (crude), (Active)] — Collapse the void inside a marked target, consuming Corruption.
• Base Damage: 25
• Per Corruption Stack Consumed:+20 damage
• Threshold: If target had ≥3 stacks, apply a brief interrupt 0.5 s(bosses: flinch only)
• On Kill:Void Aftershock (5 m): 18 Void damage and Corruption +1 to enemies hit
• Range: 12 m
• Cost: 30 Mana
• CD: 16 s
[Void Siphon (Crude),(Passive)]—When you consume Corruption stacks with Judgment: Rupture, restore 2% Max Mana per stack (up to 10% per cast). Additionally, when a Corrupted enemy dies within 8 m of you (from any source), restore 3% Max Mana (3 s internal cooldown).
[Mana Rush (Crude), (Active)]
• Effect:+100% Mana Regen for 20 s
• CD:35 s
[Mana Bank (Crude), (Passive)]
• Effect:+100 Max Mana
Note: Might adjust later.