Angel Monarch

The night came and went quickly. Sera made steady progress, nothing attacked her and she only had to hide a couple of times. The one thing she learned was that around here, the Pet controls the skies.

Sera could hear it, the beating of wings, the horrible screeching sound and sometimes other monster's painful screams. It sent shivers down her spine every time it happened, so after the first two tries she gave up on flying.

Sera even dismissed her wings which meant her Essence usage decreased by a lot. As the Sun came up she prepared some breakfast. While it was cooking she started to actually feel bored.

'What should I do? I never really learned how to use my transformation's ability, I probably should work on that. It always came in handy.'

After breakfast, making good on her promise, she hid in the branches of a tree, summoned her wings, and started to figure out how to use their ability.

Sera decided to spend the whole day like this, the reason was pretty simple the city will most likely be full of monsters. In battle every advantage could mean the difference between life and death.

The first thing Sera did was meditate for about an hour, then thoroughly looked through each memory when she used her ability.

'Every time I used it, I was under the effects of bloodlust, that can't be a coincidence. But the feeling I get when using it is not even remotely similar to bloodlust. It feels more like being in perfect control of my mind, like everything becomes clear.'

Sera felt like she was about to reach a greater understanding about her power.

'The key is not losing control that wouldn't make sense. Which is scarier, a mindless beast or a calculating monster. The answer was quite obvious. So with that in mind, how can I achieve that much control.'

Sera began trying to gain control and use her ability, but it just didn't seem to work.

'Maybe I'm looking at it all wrong. If control would be the key, then how did I use it when I wasn't even in control of myself?

The answer was just within her reach but she couldn't grasp it.

'Okay let's backtrack the feeling when using it feels like control but it's not and when I used it I was basically a mindless beast.'

"Wait! Mindless... Beast... That's it! It's not control, or it is in a way. I need perfect clarity of mind to be able to use it.

And what has perfect clarity of everything? A mindless beast, they always see everything clearly, no second guessing decisions, just acting upon them."

'The question is how do I achieve that or close to that clarity.'

After thinking about it for a bit Sera decided to try something. Instead of what she had done trying to take control of her ability, she let go of it.

Her mind turned completely clear but at the same time full of thought. Everything became sharper the movements of the leaves where more defined. She could perceive every small movement.

And Sera felt it on her back, in her wings, a power she couldn't access before. She turned it on and started feeling a heavy drain on her Essence.

"This... This is amazing! It's like being in control, and at the same time different. This is Clarity!"

Sera turned off her ability and dismissed her wings, half her Essence has already depleted, but she didn't care. Nothing could wipe the stupid grin of her face it seemed.

The reason for the grin was the voice inside her head, which said:

"Congratulations, Angel Monarch! You unlocked a Heritage, named: Clear Mind!"

She actually started to laugh at the end of the sentence and couldn't stop for minutes.

After calming herself down a bit, Sera opened her status window.

Name: Seraphine

Title: Angel Monarch

1st Kill: Archangel of Despair, Horror of the 3rd Tier

Life Essence Absorbed: 114/1000

Abilities: <Lightbringer>

Passive Abilities: <Angel Sight>

1st Transformation Ability: <Wings of Despair>

Transformed Passive Ability: <Indestructible>

Heritage: 1st Transformation: <Clear Mind> <...> <...>

Items: <Insatiable Hunger> <Fiendish Garb>

Sera couldn't believe her eyes, she unlocked her first Heritage already. There are people who after years of trying couldn't figure it out and she had done it in a couple of weeks.

"I thought I was only finding a way to use my ability, but who knew in order to use it I needed to unlock my Heritage. Wonder what the other two is? I should probably read it's description maybe it will give some clue."

<Clear Mind>

Description: <Once his two friends fell to Madness, he started feeling true despair and in that he found clarity. With that clarity he continued to fight, because giving up meant the destruction of his people. This went on until his last breath, when Madness claimed him, just as his friends and eventually everything else.>

Clear Mind allows the user to gain clarity in the heat of battle. It's also a prerequisite for the usage of Wings of Despair.

"So that's what it does! This is invaluable! I can finally use my glaive without having to fight the constant bloodlust. Well, eventually the bloodlust would probably win because it's constantly increasing. Still this is great, and being able to use my Transformations ability, finally."

While Sera was thinking of all the different ways to use her ability she dismissed her clothes. It was already afternoon and she needed all her Essence for the nightly walking.

She read through the description again and her mood plummeted a bit.

"The description was sad again. Why is it have to be sad? And this Madness again, did the Archangels whole civilization succumbed to it? Then there is that line: 'With that clarity he continued to fight, because giving up meant the destruction of his people.' Is this a clue for the next heritage?"

As Sera thought about it she realized, that it didn't matter right now. Yes she learned Clear Mind but she had to master it first. Until then, finding the other Heritages is probably impossible.