Chapter 8: Status Of An Awakened
"I can give you the Divine Water pond, but I want something in return."
Their expressions underwent quite a few changes when they heard him.
Doubt, hope, distrust…
Amelia opened her mouth.
"Really? We can pay as much money as you want—"
"Not money."
The Divine Water pond had served its need.
It could bring Neo fortune if he sold it.
But
Important treasures could not be brought with money.
"I want a Tremor-ranked Magic Spell."
"What? That… that's the inheritance of our royal family. We can't give it to outsiders."
Amelia felt torn.
She wanted to get the Divine Water pond, but a Tremor-ranked Magic Spell was too much.
Magic Spells were divided into five ranks:
Whisper
Echo
Resonance
Reverberation
Tremor
The Mermaid Country had only one Tremor-ranked Magic Spell.
It was given to Amelia's ancestor by the Great Ocean God, Poseidon.
The spell was the reason why her ancestors could establish the Mermaid country in the harsh seas of Alaspa.
Amelia was lost in thoughts when Clara put a hand on her shoulder.
The bodyguard looked at her with a deep gaze.
A sigh escaped Amelia's lips.
She understood what Clara meant.
They had no choice but to get the Divine Water pond.
She saw Neo was not going to budge and spoke,
"I can't make an important decision like that myself. We can appeal to the Queen, my Mother, and.... I think she will agree to your demand."
Her words would've sounded like a lie to anyone.
The Queen of the Mermaid Country was called the Tyrant Queen.
She was not someone who negotiated and instead took everything from others.
While it was true the Tyrant Queen urgently needed Divine Water in large amounts, she could force Neo to give it to them without any compensation.
Amelia did not think such a scenario would come to pass.
Neo was strong.
Her mother wouldn't be able to use her weapon, the overwhelming strength of hers, to take the Divine Water pond from Neo.
Neo thought about it.
He found Amelia's words to be plausible.
And
Although he was not strong, he was sure the Tyrant Queen would not take the Divine Water pond from him unethically.
The reason was related to why she urgently needed the Divine Water.
"I have no problem with it. When can I meet the Queen?"
"Right now. Let's go, right now!"
A small smile appeared on her face.
She looked especially beautiful at the moment.
The three left the underwater cave after Neo wore the respirator, he couldn't breathe underwater without it.
Amelia and Clara found it weird how someone like him had to use oxygen tanks.
But they did not point it out.
They came out of the underwater cave and Neo noticed a gigantic eastern sea dragon swimming inside the sea.
The sea dragon had blue scales.
It had a ferocious expression and a powerful aura.
All the fishes in the vicinity had disappeared after the dragon's appearance.
Noticing Neo's lingering gaze at the sea dragon, Amelia explained,
"That's our ride. Only the Azure sea dragons can travel in the Alaspa Sea."
She could talk underwater without problem.
Clara was the same.
Both of them had Mermaid Bloodline, underwater seas were their home turf.
They swam and positioned themselves above the Azure Dragon's back.
At the moment, a no-water zone appeared at their location.
They landed on the dragon's back with their feet.
Neo could see that the water was being blocked by an invisible dome, probably an ability of the Azure Dragon.
He could breathe without problem.
They began the journey.
The sea animals ran away whenever they sensed the Azure Dragon.
Traveling underwater, Neo felt the journey was no different from an airplane ride with a good view.
Neo could see Amelia sneaking glances at him, as if she wanted to talk but was afraid to initiate the conversation, and Clara staring at him with furrowed brows.
He did not converse with them and instead focused on himself.
He had yet to see the changes brought by the evolution of his skill.
'Status,' he thought.
[Neo Hargraves]
[Rank: Grade 5 Awakened]
[Divine Energy Purity: Grade 1 Awakened]
[Stats]
﹂Strength: 18
﹂Speed: 21
﹂Dexterity: 17
﹂Constitution: 12
﹂Luck: 0
[Affinity: Death, Shadow, Darkness, Void]
﹂Magic Spell: Necrotic Touch
[Bloodline: Monarch of Death]
﹂Unique Skill: Death, Immortal
[Quest: None]
His status screen changed after he evolved into an Awakened.
His stats were on the low-end for an Awakened, which was understandable since he evolved recently.
The Luck, however, was quite surprising.
He did not know anyone with Luck below 1.
Neo's Divine Energy purity was very high.
He attributed it to him absorbing a large amount of Divine Water.
'The Magic Spell is the one the Grim Reaper gave me. I wonder what rank it is.'
[Necrotic Touch]
[Rank: Tremor]
[Mastery: Apprentice]
[Effect: Applies Death mark to the target through touch. (Max Stack: 5)]
Demigods mainly fought with Magic Spells and used their Unique Skills as trump cards.
To use Magic Spells, one had to burn their God Blood.
While the God Blood could be naturally restored over time, consuming too much too quickly could kill the demigod due to anemia.
Neo was surprised to see the rank of the spell.
It seemed the Grim Reaper he met was a high ranked personnel.
Thinking again, just not any Grim Reaper would've been sent to bring the soul of the bloodline of Hades.
[Unique Skill: Death]
[Exp: 10/10]
[Skill Effect: You Die]
The Death skill had been completely mastered.
Thanks to it, Neo gained another skill.
He checked the new skill's detail with anticipation.
It had to be powerful considering how much trouble he had gone through to get it.
[Unique Skill: Immortal]
[Exp: 0/100]
[Skill Effect: You gain an extra life every 24 hours. (Max Stack: 3)]
"…?"
His face contorted.
What was this fucking bullshit?
The skill was incredibly useful, but, what would he do with so many lives?
If an opponent could kill him once, he could kill him twice!
Even three or four times!
Dammit! Were all skills from the Monarch of Death bloodline so weak?
'Calm down.'
'It isn't a powerful skill, however, it's remarkable as a support skill.'
'Besides, time passes slower in the Underworld. I can go there to train my Magic Spells.'
Neo sighed.
It seemed he had to keep dying in the near future.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone