Chapter 122: Improved Puppets
William made use of the newly improved Arrays Talent immediately. He used the Plant Element to create a wooden Puppet and started adding improved Perfect Arrays to it. The process was simple at first, and many different Arrays were added to each part of the Puppet.
The situation changed when William tried to add the eighth improved Array to one of the Puppet’s Arms. At this point, the number of Runes in each Array was 32, the maximum number he could control, which meant one of the Puppet’s arms had almost 256 Runes.
He watched in frustration as the Puppet’s arm disintegrated, unable to hold the power of all the Arrays. He tried again on another arm, but it was the same result.
So this is why people don’t add too many Arrays… It all makes sense now… He thought of his residence in the Sect that was only protected by a few hundred Arrays despite its size that could easily fit several thousand.
My Plant Element can’t create strong enough Puppets. That’s an easy fix.
System, upgrade my Plant Affinity to S Rank.
-1350 PP
———
TALENT UPGRADED
Plant Affinity: (C –> B)
Plant Affinity: (B –> A)
Plant Affinity: (A –> S)
Next rank up: 2500PP
———
William’s skill over the Plant Element increased dramatically with the three consecutive upgrades. The effects of the upgrade didn’t pose a threat to him, the vines that wrapped around his body snapping to pieces when it tried to squeeze against his Hard Skin.
Any damage caused by the upgrade didn’t even require William to raise his Forcefield or use the Life Element. His natural regeneration was more than enough to recover from any slight injuries he received.
He tested the Plant Domain’s effects first.
William opened the Domain, a field of grass instantly sprouting up from the ground. If he wished it, he could raise a forest of trees instead. William felt that his vitality increased greatly while inside the Domain, and any plants formed would be much stronger than before.
He used this to create around forty blank Array Puppets while the Domain was still active. He deactivated his Plant Element and started forming Arrays on their surface like before.
This time, the arm didn’t disintegrate the moment William applied more than eight Arrays.
He added ten Arrays on each arm and fourteen on the legs since they were longer, their burden distributed throughout the Array Puppet as evenly as possible. He then added six on the chest and another six on the back.
Five Arrays were placed on the head, one each where ears would normally go, one on the face, one on the back of the head, and the last on top of the head on a single four-centimeter antenna he decided to add later.
This final Array functioned much like a radio, allowing William to send and receive signals from the Array Puppets even from long distances. The two boys that tried to run off with his precious loot made him think of adding this feature.
If he was near the Array Puppets while they were fighting, the Array wouldn’t have any use and would just remain idle, but the moment he was further than five hundred meters away, the Array would activate, sending William information from up to three kilometers away.
Of course, he didn’t plan to let the Puppets get more than a kilometer away from him, because the transmission delay might cause him to make many mistakes when controlling them.
He ensured all parts of the Array Puppet were in working order, then checked the time. It had already been over an hour and a half, not including the half-hour spent forming the Array Puppets with the Plant Element.
His speed of forming Runes was much faster, but because he added more Arrays, his progress was slower than before. William spent the next six days forming Runes on the Array Puppets, meaning he had been in the Gravitas Ruins for ten days now.
This was the longest amount of time William had spent doing only one thing, but for some reason he didn’t mind it. Rather than feeling like a job where he would be paid hourly, just to spend all the money on groceries and rent, William felt like his work actually meant something.
It was better than grinding in a video game for hours just to earn a slightly better helmet. He was increasing his strength, to find more loot! And these Array Puppets would assist him in his Quest to loot the entire Gravitas Ruins!
But if I’m going to do that, I need to be fast!
There was no telling how large the Gravitas Ruins were. The entire Ruin was probably explored already, but the various Sects were unwilling to share the information with each other.
Each Sect held a map of the Gravitas Ruins with some overlap here and there, but overall, it remained a hundred-piece puzzle that could easily be fit together if all of the Sects got along.
Ah…human greed. It’s a good thing I’m not like them. William thought to himself with a slight smile.
-You are the same.
“F*ck!”
William wished there was a System mute button.
-I can leave and take all your skills with me.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it!”
-Hmph!
***
Four hours later, in the Labyrinth of Tears.
William was walking through a thick fog that had suddenly appeared after taking a sharp turn to the right. He had been tailed by multiple groups of Cultivators since entering the Labyrinth, who all must have heard that he was in possession of the Ancient Gravitas Mummy’s greatsword and his Magic Staff.
It wasn’t difficult to lose them, but now William had entered so deeply into the Labyrinth that he would be incredibly lost if not for the Navigation Talent. The air became colder, the fog freezing into ice crystals on the walls and floor of the maze.
William used the Fire Element to offset the cold, but his Mana expenditure was greatly increased in this area. He checked with the System for spectators, then used thirty Potential Points to upgrade his Cold Resistance Talent from E Rank to C Rank, which was enough for William to comfortably continue through the maze.
Less than ten minutes later, the air became even colder, instantly dropping to -18 degrees Celsius. Even with William’s Cold Resistance at C Rank, it still felt like thirty degrees, and he wasn’t wearing thick robes.
He spent another 350 Potential Points and upgraded the Cold Resistance to A Rank, hoping that would prevent any further issues. The air now felt like a perfect sixty-five degrees, even though William could see the ice trying to form on his hands and face, repelled by his own body heat that would blind a thermal scope.
The air continued to cool, but there was no change on William’s end. He continued walking forward, finally reaching an open area where a vibrant blue piece of ice rested on a small pedestal.
Oh, this was a trial? Oops.
Only William would say “oops” to clearing a trial in the most dangerous region of the Gravitas Ruins.
He reached out his hand to pick up the piece of Ice, his hand feeling incredibly cold even with all the Cold Resistance upgrades.
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