Saintess Summons Skeletons

Suhen cast some sort of sound dampening barrier around the balcony, isolating Sofia and herself in a silent bubble, then sat in the air in front of Sofia.

“An efficient skillset should be built wholly around one or two concepts at most. A defined role, solidified by efficient spell choices, and automatic synergies. You are about as far from that as one can be, a spread-out blurry amalgam of different utility spells, all with strong individual power, but struggling to work together as a cohesive whole. It has served you well so far, but as you encounter more powerful individuals, it will become a handicap.”

“I cannot imagine getting rid of any of it…”

“That is where you are erring. It is holding you back. Compared to your skeleton companion, you will soon feel the difference if nothing changes. Your fighting style will struggle to keep up with stronger enemies, while his simple and specialized spellkit will only make him more and more efficient at surviving blows far beyond what should be possible for his level and striking back. That being said, it is also high time he learned some of your skills, but that is another subject.”

“So what do I get rid of?”

“Get rid of?” Suhen repeated, staring down at Sofia, “Daughter of Sorrow, you misunderstand. You, by some twist of fate, have acquired something you had absolutely no business getting your hands on so early. Something that I– have been playing around with for the better part of twenty thousand years. For us, there is no getting rid of a spell. There is only what makes humans the uncontested superior race. The [Convergent Evolution].”

“Wait… You were human?”

“Surprised? You would be hard pressed to find a ‘human’ from my time that still looks like one.”

“... Do you know Velania?”

Suhen was silent for a moment. “You got me there. Although she is quite far removed from regular human biology as well.”

“Her leveling technique does that, apparently. Speaking of which, can I assume you have known ‘Gray Sunset Immortal Venerable’?”

“If I know him? I was the one holding onto that book for an eternity. His body ultimately could not handle the technique he himself created. It should be just fine for you. Now back to the serious talk. The skills you need to focus on.”

Sofia nodded, “I feel like I already know what you are going to suggest.”

“Then hearing it from someone else might just be the push you need. Here is what I would do, going top down. [Spine of the Black Sun] needs to be reworked into a permanent passive with toggles. Your main weapon should never not be enhanced, even at rest. The cost is negligible, so make it happen.”

“That’s shifting the mana circuits a lot… It’s going to take months to get right.”

“Months? What are you, a quadruple amputee? Map out the spell and alter it. You have high processing and even have fast reading bonuses! There is really no excuse. Get this done in two weeks. Next up is [Summon Odalite Blood], to speak bluntly, this is utter trash. Get rid of it.”

“What? Do you know how valuable that blood is?!”

“Oh I do, your nutcase of a ‘grandmother’ has been advertising it, alright. I’m not saying it all needs to go, but the basic blood summon should be gone, and when it comes to the special one, two steps. Firstly, you should heavily trim it. From what I understand you use it as a flux in reforging, there is absolutely no need to have it be permanent matter. Secondly, this is a powerful blood with material-enhancing properties. Get that stuff running in your veins, or your armor, or anything! Fuse it with something and temporarily harvest some when you need it for forging. Do something with it for Sorrow’s sake! Leaving it as is… It’s downright criminal!”

Sofia’s gaze shifted to the side. “I can’t believe I never even had that idea…”

“Well now you do, so hurry up with it. It may have served you well until now, but you cannot have this useless spell take so much blueprint space. Absolutely not.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Duly noted… Honestly I have known I needed to do something about it for a long time, but it being one of my first spells and being able to create permanent matter out of nothing has made me reluctant to touch it.”

Suhen smirked, and placed a rough hand on Sofia’s shoulder. “Letting go can be hard. Changing the way you approach battle is too. But it is necessary. Your instincts and quick-thinking have given you a strong head-start but they will only take you so far. Our realm is one of monsters.”

“That, I am well aware of… Is the next target on the list the [Skull Choir]?”

“Hmm, no. That one actually fits quite well. Your style is that of a hybrid skirmisher, your strong points are at very long and very short range, with very little in between, this skill has good synergy with the rest of your skeleton-related spells and is adaptable enough to fit both range points. I do strongly believe there to be issues with the way you use it, but that is for you to figure out on your own. [Reign over shadows], on the other hand…”

“I know… I just have a hard time getting rid of resurrection spells, even if they are for a single person…”

“An honorable feeling, but this needs to go. Not that it is completely going to waste, however. You should be able to fuse it with the next skill down the list, [Saintomancer’s Star] to great results.”

Sofia had to think that one through for a second. “I– I don’t really see how that would combine, but I suppose I can trust you.”

“You better. Next is the avatar… This one I believe you should not touch for now. And the four skills after that one… I will not mention. In fact your passives are already fine, and interlocking in very complex ways. It is not a bad thing. Most of the space you free up with the rest, invest in more passives. It will serve you well. Picking them from the system classless bank is fine. Do not get more actives at this point, or if you do, have a goal in mind for them.”

“A goal such as? A fusion with something else?”

Suhen nodded, “you learn fast. Ultimately it is up to the system what your class gets, but you should be leaning one of two ways when getting a new active into this loadout. It should either be something that will help your active defense, or something you can fuse for utility into one of your other skills.”

“Active defense? Like an emergency mana shield?”

“A protection against physical blows, to be precise. You have Pareth to block for you, but every time he must reposition himself to protect you, his own flow of battle is disrupted.”

“I see… It’s true that it has been a bit of a weak point of mine… And for fusing, what am I looking for?”

“Oh, you want more electricity. You have high resistance against it and explosions, making it the best attack element for you, and the more you have the better you can use the avatar. Your highest priority is to get that [Summon Self] into an actual spell instead of a cheap trick that will save you once in a fight.”

“Won’t that make it harder to use? [Summon Self] is great for its simplicity.”

“Do you not have [Regret] for the exact same purpose already? Are you trying to piss on Sorrow’s rune? You are an Apostle, so fight like one. Get that paltry teleportation skill hooked up with a plasma nova or a nerve-hijacking electrical pulse, and make it have an actual impact!”

“When you put it like this… Getting electricity-related skills now is pretty unlikely, though. I tend to get more bone or light type skills now.”

“You should avoid those for a good while unless they fit into what we discussed before. You already have a critical mass of summons where they will be hindering each other if you keep getting more, and light skills ultimately have very little synergy with the rest of your abilities. The light abilities you have are already self-sufficient.”

“Alright, I will keep that in mind when I get my new skills.”

“You do not look convinced,” Suhen noted, a confident expression etched upon her face.

“It just seems strange to purposely avoid bone skills considering my aura,” Sofia explained, “they are not all about getting more skeletons.”

Suhen shook her head, “You are thinking backwards. Many bone skills you might get would end up invalidated by your aura in a filter or two. A complete waste.”

The two stared at each other silently for a few seconds, before Suhen continued, “Still not convinced I see. Then let me show you what it means to have the level of insight I have. I will make you fuse skills right here and now,” she declared, grabbing Sofia’s arm.

Sofia immediately shot up and pulled her arm back. “What?! No, thank you. I don’t think so.” Although Suhen could keep Sofia locked there if she wanted, she let her arm go, but opened her mouth.

“Two gods’ skeletons.”

Sofia, who was about to leave, froze like a statue.

“Only if you dislike the final result, of course.”

Sofia sat back down, even willingly extending her arm.