Chapter 59: Three Tails

Three Tailed Mana Immune Runalymo Sage:(Major) (Unique)Requirements: Two Tailed Runalymo, Have bond at level 200 before age 10, Have bond at level 250 or more before the age of 15, Have Sense Mana at level 200 before age 10, Have Sense Mana at level 250 or more before the age of 15, Have 20 or more breakthroughs in Sense Mana before the age of 10, Have 25 or more breakthroughs in Sense Mana before the age of 15, Have Mana Toxicity Tolerance over 100, Have over 10 breakthroughs of Mana Toxicity Tolerance, Have Mana Toxicity Tolerance maxed, Have bathed in liquid fire mana, Have taught over a hundred people a high tier general skill, Have spread knowledge of Sense Mana to the Runalymo people, Have spread knowledge on how to improve enchanting, Have invented Spell Crystals for your society, have improved Spell Crystal design, Have invented Bond Crystals, Have invented Airships, Have improved Airship design, Have the knowledge of another realm, Have Been taught by Safyr The Guardian of the East Nexus, Have learned from an ancient ancestor, Have learned of lost history, Marked by Venaro the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, Age of 10 or higher.

A scholar, a scientist, inventor, Immune to mana toxicity, and a master to all things mana related; this Runalymo revels in discovery, her ability to learn and memorize is second to none. This Runalymo is able to sense almost everything about mana which makes them perfect for studying mana; their natural immunity to mana toxicity allows them total freedom to study everything about the energy that fuels magic. This Runalymo will not only revolutionize her race but her society too, and bring forth an age of discovery and technology.Note: Skills may be merged or replaced.Note: As the progenitor of an heirloom race the merged skill will continue to level and achieve breakthroughs normally. Take your race to ever greater heights, or burn to ashes trying.

Three tails now and it's Unique, a step above Heirloom. It also has the note that another skill will be merged or replaced again, I can only think of [Mana Toxicity Tolerance]. As for what it will merge or replace I can only think of [Nexus Adaptation] which serves the same function... but [Nexus Adaptation] also comes with some heat resistance, will I lose that or keep it? If that's the case, then would I still be able to level it up, if it merges and becomes a new skill?

The risk is worth it, if the skill is merged and I keep the heat resistance, but do I want to risk it? What if I lose the heat resistance? Will I always be uncomfortably hot here? But then I could just replace [Mana Toxicity Tolerance] with [Heat Resistance] and gain another defensive skill. Ultimately it's better, but I'd still have to use a general skill slot. In either case, it's worth it; I really want this evolution because my other options aren't great.

After the day's Lojyo I accept the evolution, saving the surprise for my family for the morning.

Smells and sounds woke me from unconsciousness. It wasn't unpleasant, mostly. The smells are... strange... indescribable, as are the sounds; it's almost like seeing the colors of mana but with smell and hearing.

The sounds are almost like static, but not the gritty, grainy sound I am familiar with, it's... softer, like background noise. Along with the static is a beautiful melody and a heavenly smell. I try to block the static out, which helps dull it, but it doesn't go away completely. I'll have to learn how to block it out entirely, but for now I check my system to see what changed.

Three Tailed Mana Immune Runalymo Sage:(Major) (Unique)Race Trait 1: Mana GenerationHaving traded the now unneeded physical boosting trait of their parent species, the Runalymo has instead gained heightened mana generation rate by 300% and a 25% boost to their mana capacity).

Almost doubled the bonus, I was really close to getting Grand tier, even if it would be on the lower end of that tier.

Race Trait 2: Sense mana (252/270)This skill has been evolved by Alysara, the progenitor of the Two Tailed Runalymo. This race is not limited by what it can sense in mana, but by what it can't, which is not much. Born from the best, this race is gifted with the ability to see what mana really is, but unable to discern its mechanisms.

I'm almost at the end of this skill, I've almost gotten all the breakthroughs there are to get. Will I get a legendary point for capping this skill? Will it evolve even further? Will it just be a testament to what I have achieved?

Race Trait 3: Nutritional MilkHaving suffered through near extinction by starvation, this race has turned to whatever it could in dark times in order to not succumb to the cursed act of cannibalism. This race's milk is very nutritional, providing a creature with all their nutritional needs for 1 meal.

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Race Trait 4: Mana SensesAn evolved trait that has been honed and kept through the eons, this race still has very acute hearing, smell, and sight. Through a decade of exposure, the moment a member of this race has their third tail manifest they have the ability to smell and hear mana. They are able to smell and hear what no one else can, and as such can hunt and track anything that leaves a trail of mana.

Is that what the smells and sounds are? It's mana? I never expected this trait to be influenced by [Sense Mana]. I wonder if my tracking breakthrough is responsible, it did mention hunting and tracking. Also, it seems this new ability only comes with my third tail.

Race Trait 5: Mana GluttonHaving adapted to a low food environment and constant starvation, this race now passively consumes mana to sustain bodily needs and draws in mana from their environment to sustain themselves.

This trait was also influenced by a skill, [Mana Toxicity Tolerance] this time. It doesn't say my mana generation is used, does that mean that I am consuming the ambient mana? If I am I can't notice it's too small of an effect, for now, perhaps if my body is more demanding for its needs it will be more noticeable.

Race Trait 6: Runalymo's BeautyThis race is among the most beautiful and its connection to the essence has increased the amount they have by 350%. In addition, they can naturally channel it to use beauty magic. Their strength with this magic is boosted by 180% once their second tail manifests at the age of 5, this is further boosted to 300% once their third tail manifests at the age of 10.

Another direct upgrade, interesting to see that the tails are additive and manifest with evolution intervals.

Race Trait 7: Inquisitive PerfectionThis race can easily spot flaws and will never overlook them. Memories are forgotten only if desired. They are masters of finding and solving mysteries, puzzles, and other curiosities. Additionally, the more creativity essence a member of this race has, the faster they'll learn and master their arts and crafts. The more wisdom essence they have the better they'll solve problems, finding better and more efficient solutions.

This one has expanded a lot, not only covering the arts but now including intellectual things and even giving me perfect memories. Even better than perfect since I can forget if I want to. Do I have to do it manually or is it automatic? Testing is required.

Race Trait 8: Nexus Immunity 140/140Adapting to the hostile environment of a nexus, even if the vast majority of the ambient mana is being siphoned, has made this race resistant to extreme temperature and immune to mana toxicity. They can better resist mana given off by great beings, recover faster from mana toxicity, resist mana storms, push against highly dense mana, convert mana toxicity into vitality, slightly resist spells, prevent toxicity from specific elements, store vastly more mana in their body, and resist extreme mana densities and liquid mana. Due to their adaptation to extreme environments, this race receives a 25% bonus to their endurance.

[Mana Toxicity Tolerance] has merged, becoming an entirely new trait, and upgraded the heat tolerance into temperature resistance. Again it seems to list off breakthroughs that I have gotten, which means if I don't get more breakthroughs it won’t include them in the race for my descendants.

Race Trait 9: Inspirational GreatnessThe dedication to the arts, crafts, study, and invention have made this Runalymo more creative and intelligent, granting them a +350% to creativity and wisdom essences. +10% wisdom, +15% intelligence

A massive upgrade with the stat boosts and it has expanded to cover wisdom essence as well.

Race Trait 10: Alysara's ChildrenThis Runalymo is tied to beauty magic, increasing their magic potential and control of it by 350%.

It's no longer [Myrou’s Children]. It lost the bonus to creativity magic but the beauty magic boost is stronger and includes control. I don't really use creativity magic anyway so it's not too much of a loss.

That is quite the improvement, every trait has improved except one, the one I refuse to accept. I guess this is what it means by a ‘Unique’ race, hearing and smelling mana is certainly unique and the traits are beginning to resemble class skills.

I get up out of bed, examining the mana around me. A clump of fire mana passes my left ear, the static sound changing into a chorus for a moment. It’s hard to describe, not pleasant but not unpleasant, easily forgettable like a song I don't care about. A stream of light wafts by my nose, its scent equally difficult to put into words. There is simply no concept the Runalymo language has that I can compare these new experiences to, and that’s a feat for a language built around combining ideas and concepts to form words, even new words previously never spoken before.

I quickly discover the source of the melody I am hearing and the heavenly scent I am smelling, obviously it’s beauty essence, which one of my tails is producing at an incredible rate. My new tail is producing wisdom essence, a lightning-based essence with a soothing and unintrusive melody that easily fits into the background. The mana coming from my tails has doubled what it was previously; I’ve become like an endless fountain of essence, a fact that pleases me as it makes the ambient static dull somewhat.

My tails now have a very high concentration of beauty mana, the soft silky fur almost like it's mana infused. The skin, blood, muscles, and bone are all fully saturated with the mana too... more than fully saturated, it's as if the mana is squeezing together, filling my cells completely like mana toxicity, but not quite the same.

My core’s passive production, while still rather inefficient, is producing much more beauty essence and much less random ‘waste’ mana.

The skills in my mana signature, specifically my race traits,have changed but one in particular, is looking strange. Almost complete, like a mosaic with just a few pieces missing. It glows and pulsates, eager, almost excited. It needs not be said what skill this is: [Sense Mana] seems ready for something, a frame to complete it, or perhaps a foundation for something more, a structure to continue growing and expanding.

I test my new balance, finding it easy to adapt to. My mind feels clearer and sharper and ideas flit around it, ways to improve the airships, ways to make a mana filter work. It gnaws at the back of my mind much like how [Perfectionist's Eye] had acted when I failed to measure up. Solutions to problems I have been trying to solve become clearer, not perfect solutions but it's a starting point for my newfound [Inquisitive Perfection] to work off of.

Of course, [Inquisitive Perfection] isn't a trait that will always show the best and most perfect solution. It still works off of what I know, it just points me in a direction that I should focus my efforts to, so the less I know the less accurate and sure it is.

I walk out of my room, my parents finally noticing me through their [Sense Mana].

"You evolved again, why didn't you tell us?" Mom asks as I walk into the kitchen, following the delicious smell of grilled Domr.

"I wanted it to be a surprise!" I announce with a grin.

"How many tails do you plan on getting?" Dad jokes, cracking a smile.

"Nine's a good number," I deadpan. Although the myth of the nine tailed fox has resurfaced to me, I can only think of our parallels as a coincidence. I mean, fitting nine tails on someone is an impractical biological feat; they would just get in the way. Having three tails is already reaching the peak of what can be done without major problems, nine is just too much.

"You're joking, right?" Dad asks.

"Yes," I say with a plain face.

"I'm not convinced."

Yafel and Yafe came in at that moment. Noticing my new tail, they tilt their heads in confusion in synchronized movements.

"You got a new tail?" "Is this a trick?"

The twins are confused, not having much experience with race evolutions.

"No trick!" I say and bring my tails around to tickle their faces.

After a few minutes of family bonding time, we eat breakfast and go to the baths. I catch wind of Mom's unique mana scent, it is... strange, too many things to smell. There is a familiarity to it that I think comes from the race, there is a strangeness that probably comes from the class. There is a sense of ‘lesser’ that I attribute to her tiers and a sense of power that I can only think is her level. There is a lot more to it that I do not understand.

Hearing her mana is a sweet humming like a lullaby, I sense kindness and warmth in the sound. These new senses are a little overwhelming, something I'll have to spend a great deal of time learning, like learning how to walk and talk all over again.

The lingering sensations of peoples’ unique mana in and around the baths prove too much for my minds to sort through. There's just too much information, too many different scents and sounds, it makes my head spin.

"What's wrong, Aly?" Dad asks, her worry visible in her expression, while Mom is playing with the twins.

"My new evolution made my senses better and it's a little overwhelming here," I say, trying to not smell the mana.

Dad smiles at me, worry fading from her face, replaced with encouragement. "I see, take the day to learn your new abilities."