After seeing the small notation on his mini-map, Hunter was feeling a little nervous. If there were more people like the dead woman at the location, then he could be in serious trouble. After looking at the icon, the young warrior realized that it was directly between him and the peak of the mountain. He would have to spend most of the day traveling that far. He could either go back to the Sanctuary and finish his previous plan of cleaning up the mountain tier by tier or directly ascend to the icon on his map.

He couldn't be sure what awaited him on the mountain, so he pulled up his notifications from the last battle as he thought. He had earned more than a few levels in Midas Touch after transforming his equipment, and in the latest battle, he had earned 1 level in Charge, 1 level in Dodge, 2 levels in Battle Meditation, 2 levels in Covetous Eyes, 1 level in Cleave, 1 level in Running, 1 level in Sword Mastery, 3 levels in Sneak, 2 levels in Mana Manipulation, and 2 levels in Deft Hands. Combined, he now had a total of forty-five path points.

Now that he had enough points to pick a couple of Paths, he debated over his choices.

Rift Walker (0/100), Greed III (0/50), Archive Acolyte (0/25), Acrobat (0/20), Monster Hunter (0/25), Common Runner (0/10), Warrior Monk (0/25), Eyes of Avarice (0/25), Way of Shadows (0/25), Mind of Will (0/50), Midas Touch (0/25), Cleave (0/25).

Common Runner still waited for him. It was tempting to pick the smaller Path just so he could gain its immediate benefits. Hunter also had a couple of new choices. Midas Touch and Cleave appeared after he reached level 10 in the requisite skills. He had dismissed the notifications automatically, preferring to spend time to consider his choices instead of looking at them in the heat of battle.

Hunter tapped a finger to his chin. Since he had enough combat skills for now, he wanted to pick something with utility. The young warrior needed to capitalize on his strengths and open up some more options for himself. With that in mind, he picked Acrobat and Way of Shadows. They both sounded like available options that would give him more movement on the battlefield.

You have earned +5 to Dexterity and +10 to Endurance.

You have earned +10 to Intelligence and +5 to Perception.

Congratulations! You have completed the Acrobat Path. You have learned to use acrobatic movements in combat. Synergy Detected.

Congratulations! You have completed the Way of Shadows Path. Stealth and subterfuge inhabit everything you do. You have learned to draw on the shadows to aid you in combat. Synergy Detected.

Analyzing relevant Paths, equipment, and skills.

Synergy detected with Paths, equipment, and skills.

Evolution initiated.

The Paths: Common Runner, Warrior Monk, Midas Touch, and Cleave have been consumed. The Active Skills: Charge, Dodge, Cleave, and Midas touch have been consumed. The Passive Skills: Running, Sword Mastery, Sneak, Mana Manipulation, and Deft Hands have been consumed. Effects from the Cynosure of Avarice, Blanket of Avarice, Grasp of Avarice, Trappings of Avarice, Treads of Avarice, Bastion of Avarice, and the Sword of Avarice have been consumed.

Congratulations! You have developed the unique Combat Style: The Black Wind.

The Black Wind (Common): The Black Wind finds every weakness and then chews an opponent of dust. This combat style eschews protection to focus on single-target damage, evasion, stealth, and the erosion of defense. If suitable, newly learned skills can be adopted into this style. As this style evolves in rarity, effects will be enhanced.

Grants the Active Skills:

Gale Rush (Lvl 1), Tempest Strikes (Lvl 1), Erosion Touch (Lvl 1), Black Tornado (Lvl 1)

Grants the Passive Skills:

Black Wind Evasion (Lvl 1), Kata of the Black Wind (Lvl 1), Aura of the Black Wind (Lvl 1), Shadow of the Black Wind (Lvl 1)

Hunter had mixed feelings about the revelation. An increase in power was a welcome one, but he was disturbed by his lack of passive skills. He had been relying on his passives to help him earn Path points. Now that they were almost halved, he felt their loss. Trying to calculate the extent of his reduction, he checked his gear. When he read their statuses, his heart dropped into his stomach. Every piece of equipment had been rendered inert. With the exception of his Wrap of Avarice, every other item had its abilities stripped away. They were nothing more than fancy looking pieces of metal and leather. He had even lost a bunch of his available Paths that he had worked so hard to earn. The Archives were truly vicious.

Maybe the Archives were trying to prevent more demonic corruption? It hasn't cared so far. Perhaps this is truly what it appears to be, a synergy of my style.

Hunter had been thinking about his combat style more and more during the recent fights. It was possible that the system reacted to his visualization of his efforts coming together and rewarded him with a suitable style. Now that he wasn't so focused on the numbers, he could feel a new sense of rightness in his body. First, the influence of greed was practically eliminated. He couldn't feel the stirring of his sword or armor. He felt remarkably clear-headed for the first time in a long while. Before, using the equipment felt he was holding a heavy burden on his shoulders. His Willpower had been enough to reduce the weight—all but reducing the sensation to a muted discomfort. Now, even that minor discomfort had been banished.

Beyond that, his steps felt lighter, and every movement felt like it was assisted in a small way. It was like he was moving with the wind instead of against it. The sensation was an indication that his combat style had evolved more than it would appear. Hunter started checking the new skills.

Gale Rush was just a variation of his charge skill. The cool part was this his body turned into actual wind to buffet the opponent before coalescing into his figure. The black wind had properties that drained small amounts of health, stamina, and mana. There was even a bit about absorbing soul energy.

Tempest Strikes had replaced his cleave skill. It no longer did splash damage, but it did allow him to release a flurry of different strikes that were aided by the black wind. It was an attack uniquely suited to taking down large single targets.

Erosion Touch was a combination of Midas Touch and the effects of his Gauntlet of Avarice. It was another single target skill that weakened the target's equipment and sapped them of energy. It would be difficult to get close enough to use it, but once he laid hands on an enemy, they would quickly be disabled by the skill. Easily finished off with the thrust of the sword.

Black Tornado was another amalgamation of skills that he had already been using. It took the active effects from Midas Touch and combined it with his Cynosure. Instead of summoning a fireball, he could create a small tornado in the palm of his hand. The whirling black wind could be lobbed at a foe. After that, it would explode into gales of wind that stripped energy from anything it touched. It wasn't as eye-catching as fire, but it also wasn't a greed-aspected skill. He wouldn't have to worry about becoming mana-starved and falling to its influence.

His new passive skills were variations of his existing skills and equipment effects. Black Wind Evasion was purely a movement-related boost. All actions were subtly enhanced by the wind—something Hunter was already feeling—and would boost his survivability by a fair margin. Kata of the Black Wind was a formalized instruction manual in fighting. The skill was frustrating because Hunter could sense that there were forms and attacks hidden in the depths of the skill that he didn't understand. He only saw how his current efforts were reflected.

Hunter hoped that with proper meditation and practice, he could level up the Kata and learn more about fighting. He had to admit it was a better way to learn than simple Sword Mastery, which only helped when he was using a suitable weapon. It did give him another idea. He wanted to try fusing Battle Meditation and Cleanse into a new skill. Now that he knew it could be done, he hoped to turn it into a resting and meditation technique that would allow him to unlock more of the Kata.

Aura of the Black Wind handled all of his stealth related matters. It silenced his footsteps, allowed him to manipulate the sounds around him, and hid his identity from analysis. It was basically a bastardized ability that combined the effects of his boots and cloak. It was nice that they were abilities instead of effects granted by equipment, but he still felt cheated.

Shadow of the Black Wind was probably the most interesting. It turned his active camouflage abilities into both a passive and active ability. Passively, it made him harder to detect in shadows and allowed him a movement boost in the dark. Actively, he could camouflage himself to become practically invisible. It wasn't true invisibility; it was like a layer of wind subtly covered his body that changed colors to match his surroundings. It was slightly less effective than his equipment, but unlike his gear, it could be leveled. That meant that in due time, he might be able to achieve true invisibility.

Overall, Hunter was happy with the changes if it felt like starting back at square one. His combat prowess had been reduced in the short term, but now he had a more stable base from which to grow. He could already see how these skills would influence his future fights. He wanted to try them against other foes. All of a sudden, he wasn't so intimidated by following the compass on his map.