Chapter 298: Chapter 298 - Luminveil Curse
"Now, Everburn, could you make it easier for us to recognize you and show yourself," Atlas said
The invisible figure in front of him hadn’t done anything yet. His clothes just floated there.
"Ah, haha. Yes, so... hahaha," the voice stammered.
"Come on, Burny," someone from the crowd shouted. "Show yourself! What’s wrong, are you too ugly to appear?"
Laughter broke out across the plaza.
"Yeah, maybe he doesn’t even have a face!" another added.
Atlas couldn’t help but smirk, though he folded his arms, deciding to wait and see what this strange being would do. He was just as curious as everyone else.
What kind of ability did an invisible, laughing fire spirit even have?
"Oh yes, sorry again!" the voice replied cheerfully. "I forgot to properly introduce myself, my lord!"
He continued, "My name is Everburn Legionnaire, and. Uh... I got cursed!"
Atlas raised an eyebrow. "Cursed?"
"Yes! Totally cursed!" Everburn said brightly. "My body can’t be seen by anyone anymore. Bit troublesome, isn’t it? Hahaha!"
"So you were really naked earlier?" one of the soldiers called out.
"No way. He was naked!"
"You’re shameless, Burny!" someone else teased.
"No, no, no!" Everburn quickly protested. The floating beach shorts and shirt spun around as if he’d turned to face the crowd. "Okay, yes, I’m not wearing clothes. But that doesn’t mean I’m naked! Don’t get the wrong idea, it’s not what you think! I can explain!"
"Don’t even think about taking off your clothes again, Burny."
"No, no. It’s not as dirty as it sounds!" the invisible man insisted, clearly trying to defend himself.
"How does that even make sense?"
"You literally said your body’s invisible! You’re only wearing clothes so we can tell where you are!"
"So... yeah. You were naked."
"Hahaha! How do I even explain this?!" Everburn replied, clearly flustered. "Yes, I don’t wear clothes. But I’m not naked!"
Atlas exhaled heavily, rubbing the bridge of his nose again. "Right. Alright, Everburn. How about this: instead of explaining... show us what you can do?"
Everburn straightened instantly, the air around him heating faintly. "Yes, my lord!" he said with sudden enthusiasm.
Faint embers began to flicker inside the empty floating outfit. Small tongues of flame dancing in the hollow where a body should be.
Atlas narrowed his eyes. "Everburn, what are you doing?"
A sheepish laugh came from the flickering void. "Ah. Sorry, my lord. The clothes might burn a little, but trust me. I’m not naked!"
The flames suddenly roared to life, swallowing the shirt and shorts in an instant. The crowd gasped and flinched as the fire grew brighter, hotter, until, through the blazing inferno. A shape began to emerge.
The outline of a skeleton, burning from within, stood where the invisible figure had been.
"So, hahaha!" the fiery skeleton said. "I am an undead skeleton, blessed with Fire, and master of Blaze!"
"Blaze?" Atlas muttered. That was the advanced form of Fire Element.
Everburn tilted his flaming skull slightly. "Yeah, had a bit of trouble in the past, hehe... let’s just say my skeletal frame stopped being visible. But hey, I can do something interesting!"
Someone in the crowd shouted. "Yikes, he’s actually naked!"
The skeleton chuckled. "Relax! It’s all bone and glory!"
Then, before anyone could retort, he stretched his arms wide. And the flames around his limbs shifted. The skeletal structure morphed and elongated, bones reshaping themselves into the form of fiery wings.
A heartbeat later. FWOOSH!
A wave of scorching heat exploded outward as Everburn took off, soaring upward in a burst of fire, his skeletal wings beating furiously. Trails of molten light carved through the air as the flaming skeleton spiraled high above the plaza.
"He can reshape his own bones?"
Everburn then seemed to show off in the air, spewing a massive burst of fire that blazed above them, as if trying to cover the entire sky with flames. The crowd flinched, even though they were used to dealing with fire by now.
The figure dropped down in the midst of the scattering people, landing with a laugh that echoed through the chaos. Its skeletal frame shifted again, twisting into the form of a four-legged beast. Something like a cheetah, or maybe a large cat?
Everburn dashed through the crowd, still laughing, weaving between the panicked people.
While watching this undead skeleton stir up chaos, Atlas took a moment to check the status of this new summon.
[Name: Everburn Legionnaire]
[Level: 125]
[Strength: 300 | Agility: 320 | Intelligence: 320 | Constitution: 210 | Animus: 311]
[Job: Specialized Fighter]
[Luminveil Curse (SSS) - Morphic Reconstruction (SS) - Cheerful Undeath (B) - Bone Cracker Symphony (B) - Eternal Storyteller (C) - Blaze Pressure Control (S) - Ember Reforging (S)]
Level 125? That was even higher than Orren. And Everburn had fairly balanced stats, plus he was classified as a Specialized Fighter. Interesting.
And just like Dullorak, Everburn also had the Animus stat instead of Stamina. And yes, there were now two elite undead subordinates among them. Not a bad thing at all, since people had grown quite used to creatures like them by now.
One thing Atlas noticed about his talents was the presence of one SSS-rated talent, and another rated SS, while the rest were a mix of S, B, and C. Truly unique and exceptional. Atlas let out a quiet chuckle as he read through it.
[Luminveil Curse: Body remains eternally invisible under natural light. Only heat shimmer and flame outline reveal presence. Grants passive evasion.]
[Morphic Reconstruction: Skeletal structure can be freely reconfigured into any anatomical shape. Strength, mobility, and mass adapt to current form.]
[Cheerful Undeath: Maintains stable emotional aura that counteracts fear effects around other undead or mortals.]
[Bone Cracker Symphony: Produces rhythmic clacking noises by snapping its own joints. Entirely cosmetic.]
[Eternal Storyteller: Capable of recounting thousands of deaths and rebirths with comedic timing.]
[Blaze Pressure Control: Compresses inner flame to detonate in controlled bursts, enhancing strikes or jumps with explosive propulsion.]
[Ember Reforging: Upon destruction, remaining flames coalesce into a new skeletal form after a short delay. Limited to once per day.]
So, Everburn really could go completely invisible, and had full control over both Fire and Blaze. On top of that, he could reshape his skeletal frame into any form he desired.
That might be exactly why he was placed under the Specialized Fighter classification. He could adapt his form to suit all kinds of combat situations. He could fly, shift into a beast for fast attacks, or maybe even take on a tank-like form. Truly, a highly versatile unit.
But perhaps the most remarkable one of his talents was Ember Reforging. It was similar to Phoenix Mockery, like Serenith’s. A talent that essentially allowed him to rise again if he was completely destroyed. Though, in this case, it was clearly stated that he could only do it once per day.
Well... not bad at all. Everburn should also make an excellent assassin and scout, especially with his ability to become completely invisible. Though that did mean he had to remove his clothes to do it.
But really, who cares if he’s not wearing anything? He’s an undead skeleton. No one should be seeing a naked skeleton as something indecent. Right?
With this undead skeleton’s ability to fly, Atlas now had another unit capable of engaging in aerial combat. It was a truly remarkable power boost, and something that definitely needed more focus moving forward in Gacha Haven.
A truly unique summon, and one that would be a perfect match for Brigid in Team Inferno. Both of them were fire-aligned and would complement each other well.
Everburn had now returned to the stage, this time wearing another set of relaxed beachwear, and his flames had died down once more.
"My lord, I really love this place! They’re so enthusiastic," he said. "Just look at their faces. They love fire."
"Shut up, Burny! You burned my clothes!" someone shouted.
"Stay away from me with that bare body of yours!"
Atlas gave a small nod before turning back to the others. "Let’s give another warm welcome to our new friends tonight. Orren and Everburn. Now, please join the others."
"Burny!" Everburn said cheerfully. "I’m okay with that name, haha. New life, new name, that’s fine."
"Shut up, Burny! You’re undead, you don’t even have a life, hahaha!"
"Ha! Yes, you’re spot on! Perks of being dead. I never have to pay taxes again!" The invisible skeleton burst out laughing, then leapt down from the stage and joined the rest.
So, he didn’t mind being called Burny. That would definitely make things easier, since Everburn was a bit too long and dramatic to say every time.
"Burny," Atlas added once more. "Over there in the corner is Brigid and Team Inferno. I’m sure you’ll fit right in with them. And I’m confident you can bring something valuable to that team."
"Alright, my lord!" the skeleton replied loudly.
It was truly a fiery night. Two fire summons and one fire item. Could the next Rank-A ticket really bring out another fire-based reward? No way, right?
Without wasting another moment, Atlas reached out and touched the purple ticket floating in the air.