Chapter 247: Chapter 247 - Stormcall Domain
Ember struggled to pull Celestia’s hands off her eyes, peeking out just enough to catch another glimpse of Atlas before blurting out in mock outrage.
"Hey, Mr. Thor! Mind putting something on? Some of us still have innocent eyes to protect from that dangerously divine body of yours!"
Atlas blinked, startled. He glanced down, finally realizing the full extent of his... exposed state. With a sheepish chuckle, he quickly summoned his usual outfit. A faint shimmer of light wrapped around him, and in a second, his upper body was covered again.
"Sorry," he said with an apologetic smile.
The girls slowly lowered their hands, one by one.
"I didn’t know you were all here," Atlas added, brushing a hand through his damp hair.
Before anyone could respond, Serenith zipped toward him like a bullet and threw her arms around him.
"My Lord... so it’s true? You really finished the quest?" Serenith asked, her voice light but a little shaky. "You were in there for so long... and the lightning just kept going... You didn’t answer when I called out. I got really scared!"
Atlas smiled gently, patting her back with quiet reassurance.
"Yes, it’s done. Finally. Though... I might have a rash, and a bit of a fever. Pretty sure I caught a cold from running in the rain for hours."
"Fever?!" Ember yelped, eyes wide, just as Serenith pulled back and gave a relieved smile.
"You’re insane!" Ember shouted, laughing now. "Normal people die in storms like that, not walk away with a runny nose!"
Atlas just grinned and shrugged.
"So... what kind of upgrade did you get, Mr. Thor?" Ember asked again. "Can you summon lightning now? Like... full-on God of Thunder mode?"
"Uhm..." Atlas hesitated for a moment. "You might want to cover your ears."
He lifted his right hand.
In an instant, the skies rumbled. And the storm above obeyed. A bolt of lightning ripped through the clouds and struck a peak nearby with a deafening CRACK
, just a few meters from where they stood. The shockwave sent them all stumbling backward, yelping and ducking for cover."WHAT WAS THAT?!" Ember yelled.
Celestia just laughed, brushing her windblown hair from her face.
"So... you can call down lightning now? Yeah, I’m never challenging you in a Lord Battle."
Atlas chuckled. "I’ll tell you all the details later. Right now, I need to sleep."
He wrapped his arms around himself and gave an exaggerated shiver. "I’ve got chills, a fever... probably the flu."
"Shut up, you freak!" Ember called out, bursting into laughter with the others.
Some time later, they all prepared to return to their respective islands.
Luna and the others boarded their carriage, waving warmly toward Atlas.
Atlas returned the gesture before summoning his own, Nimbus Carriage. The sleek vessel appeared. His team climbed aboard, settling into their seats as the carriage lifted from the jagged storm peaks.
Within moments, the two carriages soared upward and vanished into the clouds, leaving the roaring peaks behind.
Atlas leaned back in the middle seat, arms resting loosely on the sides, letting out a slow, tired breath.
Serenith stood in front of him, scissors in one hand and a razor in the other, carefully snipping at his long, wind-tossed hair.
"Look at you, my Lord," she said with a playful smile. "I do think the long-hair look kind of suits you."
"No thanks," Atlas replied with a smirk. "It gets in my eyes when I fight."
He stayed still, letting her continue, as she trimmed his beard next. Gently neatening the rough edges of weeks’ worth of battle-worn stubble.
As the soft snipping filled the quiet cabin, Atlas opened his system panel and glanced through his stats.
Sure enough, after all the weeks of brutal training, his base stats had received a noticeable boost. Strength, Stamina
, Constitution, even Agility. All had risen beyond what he’d planned.[Level: 98]
[Strength: 273 | Agility: 235 | Intelligence: 242 | Constitution: 204 | Stamina: 243]
[Available Stat Points: 55]
"...Ugh. Now the numbers look all uneven," he muttered to himself, eyeing the unspent points. "Guess I’ll figure out where to allocate those later."
He turned his attention back to the main system panel, this time pulling up the details of the upgrades he’d earned after completing the quest.
And as he scrolled through them, his eyes widened slightly.
These... were far beyond what I expected.
Even earlier, when he only skimmed through the skill descriptions, he’d already felt the excitement bubbling beneath the surface. But now, with time to actually analyze each one, the reality of what he had gained truly began to settle in.
[Quest Completed!]
[The storm now bends to your will.]
[Rewards:]
[+200,000 EXP]
[New Skill Unlocked: Stormcall Domain (Unique)]
[Summons a massive 50-meter radius storm field at a target area for 10 seconds.
Every second, up to 5 lightning bolts strike random enemies within the area.
Each bolt deals 120% lightning damage.
Enemies struck are slowed by 30% and have their attack speed reduced by 15% for 3 seconds.
All healing received by enemies in the field is reduced by 50%.
Allies inside the storm gain +10% evasion and a lightning barrier that absorbs 1 spell every 10 seconds.]
The first skill he unlocked... was nothing short of extraordinary.
In fact, it was the first Unique-grade skill he had ever acquired. Unlike his other abilities, this one had no level progression, its effect would always remain the same. But because its damage scaled with percentage and relied on his Magic stat, its power would only grow stronger the more he advanced.
The skill created a massive area-of-effect zone for ten seconds, unleashing lightning bolts over and over. Fifty strikes in total across the target area.
At first glance, it seemed to fall short when compared to his Sea of Storms skill from the Wavebreaker Spear, which could summon a hundred water spears from the sky. But the difference was in the numbers: this new lightning skill had far higher damage scaling per strike.
And that wasn’t all.
It also applied multiple effects: Slow debuff to enemies, a healing reduction effect, and even a buff for allies within the zone. That buff could absorb one incoming spell, turning the battlefield into a temporary sanctuary.
This is insane... absolutely insane!
Still, with effects this powerful, Atlas knew there had to be a cost.
And there was.
The skill would burn through a massive amount of both Mana and Stamina, making it the kind of move he could likely only use once in a fight, at least for now.
But the radius... 50 meters.
That was huge.
It also meant that enemies had the opportunity to escape the zone if they reacted fast enough. It would require precise timing. He’d need to deploy it at just the right moment to get its full value.
Still, if he dropped it on a clustered group, the overlapping damage from multiple lightning bolts could be devastating.
Sure, it wasn’t natural lightning. It was mana-based, but even so, the raw impact couldn’t be ignored. It was still top-tier area damage.
And thinking about it... for someone like him, a spear-user, to have so many large-area spells was kind of ironic.
But it also made him versatile, capable of handling both AoE bursts and focused combat. Well... except for one thing.
Atlas frowned slightly.
His single-target damage was still a weak spot.
But no... actually, not anymore.
Because the second skill he gained had massive potential for single-target damage.
[New Skill Unlocked: Storm Chain: Judgment Spear (Epic)]