Arcadia's Judgement

*Only judgment awaits those who encroach on the mandate of Arcadia.*

## Summary

Arcadia's Judgment is a peak-quality E-Grade skill that Zac gained by using one of his two skill upgrade quests given by his Edge of Arcadia class to fuse two of his class skills, Deforestation and Nature's Punishment. The new skill creates an enormous hand wielding a primal axe to deliver a world-shattering blow, the strongest any of Zac's skills can deliver except for Desperation's End, followed by an eruption that delivers the punishment of the Earth. At higher proficiency the skill is more powerful, gains restrictive qualities, and more potent punishments. Zac can, to some extant, control the amount of time between the Axe Strike and the Earth Punishment.

Zac used the lesser enlightenment reward of his Flamebearer of Zecia (2/?) quest to create the skill fractal to upgrade Arcadia's Judgement to D-grade with enough alterations to change it's name.

*Note: The spelling "Judgment" used in the edited Book 8 is used for all non-quoted material. Both variant spellings, Judgment and Judgement, are used in the Patreon chapters as quoted.*

## Fusion

* Zac had gained his first skill upgrade quest at level 90 as expected, and another one at level 100. Both of them provided him with one opportunity to freely fuse or upgrade one of his F-grade skills, though the upgrade only allowed for upgrading Class-specific skills. **Book 7, Page 629**
* He figured that the fusions he had planned for his Edge of Arcadia class were more straightforward, and the accumulated experience would hopefully help him when performing the more transformative fusions of his Draugr side. **Book 7, Page 630**
* Zac looked at the prompt from the Nexus Node in front of him and took a deep breath before choosing **[YES]** and swiftly picking his first two skills to fuse. It was **[Deforestation]** and **[Nature’s Punishment]**. He was very happy with both skills, but they ultimately served a similar purpose in his skill set. **Book 7, Page 630**
* So Zac had decided to fuse the two into one, creating one terrifying ultimate skill that would crush all opposition in one go. It was a combination of two of his Daos as well, the Fragment of the Bodhi and the Fragment of the Axe, the essence of his Edge of Arcadia class and his cultivation path. Now with his burgeoning ability to braid two Daos into one attack, it held even greater potential. **Book 7, Page 630**
* A rippling force shuddered within the stardust, and Zac felt certain his general idea for the skill had been accepted by the System. **Book 7, Page 631**
* First of all, the energy requirement and strength of his new skill should be around twelve times greater compared to the old ones. **Book 7, Page 631**
* Furthermore, Zac was elated to see that the transformative patterns had a decent balance between nature and axe, though it looked to be a sixty-forty balance in favor of his Dao of the Axe. **Book 7, Page 632**
* The skill wasn’t completely formed just yet, though, as two streams of starlight washed over the skill, each one transforming the pattern a bit. Zac couldn’t put his finger on it, but the fractal looked a bit more perfect afterward. This was the benefit of the System doing the fusion rather than doing it yourself. **Book 7, Page 633**
* A fusion reward from an Epic Class would result in a Peak-quality E-grade skill without fail, which was especially important in Zac’s case. **Book 7, Page 633**

## Skill Location

**Right Forearm**

A wide smile spread on his face the next moment as it settled in the position of **[Nature’s Punishment]**. **Book 7, Page 633**

## Skill Window

[E] Arcadia's Judgement - Proficiency: Early. Only judgment awaits those who encroach on the mandate of Arcadia. Upgradeable. **Book 7, Page 634**

[E] Arcadia's Judgement. - Proficiency: Middle. Only judgment awaits those who encroach on the mandate of Arcadia. Upgradeable. **Chapter 898**

## Early Proficiency

* Zac wasted no time and infused his new skill fractal with Cosmic Energy, and a slight frown emerged when it only stopped after two seconds and gobbling up 25% of his total reserves. **Book 7, Page 635**
* It looked a bit like the old wooden hand of **[Nature’s Punishment]**, but it was over ten times larger, a mountain of bark, vines, and wood covered in glaring red runes. **Book 7, Page 635**
* And it didn’t come alone, as a massive primal axe was held in its hand. The axe was wrought from wood and stone, and it felt like it was a natural product of mother nature itself. **Book 7, Page 635**
* The hand in the sky mirrored his action, just like **[Deforestation]** did. **Book 7, Page 636**
* It felt like the whole planet would get cleaved in two as the axe slammed into the ground, digging over twenty meters into the valley. Thousands of beasts were instantly crushed and ground to dust as a scar over five hundred meters long was formed. **Book 7, Page 636**
* The vibrations turned into a full-blown earthquake, but it only lasted for a second before the whole valley veritably exploded in a chaotic jumble of broken flesh and stone. **Book 7, Page 636**
* The direct force unleashed from the enormous stone axe matched and even eclipsed the third swing of **[Deforestation]**, while the scope of the secondary eruption was a lot larger than any of the punishments from **[Nature’s Punishment]**. Power and scope, **[Arcadia’s Judgment]** had both. **Book 7, Page 637**

## Middle Proficiency

* In fact, most of his skills were evolving, proving just how powerful the altar was. That was not to say it was all thanks to this temple. Many of his skills were long overdue for an upgrade, ... After having been through two tremendous epiphanies and getting blessed by the altar, they were all bursting forth at once. **Chapter 897**
* Space broke apart as the enormous hand of **[Arcadia's Judgement]** emerged. The hand and its axe had grown even larger since the upgrade, gaining roughly five meters in length. **Chapter 903**
* That was not the only change, as a familiar feature had returned. A massive sigil had formed in the sky, towering over even the enormous avatar. It covered the whole basin, and Zac was amazed to see the avatar was pushed down toward the ground from the pressure. **Chapter 903**
* The axe descended with unprecedented force, and the whole mountain range shook. **Chapter 903**
* A moment later, it was like the world itself unleashed its anger on them as thousands of spikes shot up through the ground. **Chapter 903**

## Peak Proficiency

* He'd turned a hill even larger than the Sinner Mound into a crater with the light alone after he'd finally evolved **[Arcadia's Judgement]** to Peak Mastery. **Chapter 993**
* Cosmic Energy surged in his body, and a gate appeared in the sky. It was completely different from the crude scar in space that appeared with the weaker versions of **[Arcadia's Judgment]**. It didn't even close after the huge wooden hand emerged. Instead, it grew over ten times in size as it teleported over to hover right above the Sinner Mound. A dense set of patterns formed at the portal's edge, and the whole mound groaned as it was drowned in golden-green light. ... Instead, it almost looked like the essence of Arcadia shone down at the world from within the spatial gate. **Chapter 993**
* The wooden hand was even larger than before, and the runes covering its hands were no longer indistinct. They glowed with mesmerizing light, holding the truths of Life and Conflict. At Peak Mastery, the skill had truly become an avatar of his Daos. The twenty-meter axe was perfection, seemingly a treasure born from nature and the Heavens themselves. **Chapter 993**
* Thousands of runes fell through the gate of Arcadia, and they all poured into the stone axe as it fell. The emerald runes covering the handle and head lit up with unquestionable might, suddenly holding a wrathful aura like it contained the will of the ancient heavens. It crashed down with world-ending force, hitting the spike with enough impact to cleave mountains. **Chapter 993**
* A huge scar cut the Sinner Mound in two, hundreds of meters across and just as deep. It formed a canyon over twenty meters across, and the desiccated corpses were simply erased from existence. **Chapter 993**
* The ground shook and heaved until a primal fury from the depths of the earth erupted. The ground split apart, and thousands of rune-covered spikes emerged. The reformed mound immediately collapsed again when faced with the wrath of the land it had soiled. A storm of destruction swept through the rocky formation, ripping apart corpses by the thousands. **Chapter 993**

## **Synergy**

* An unmistakable resonance in the golden barrier around him indicated a synergy between his two skills - those shielded by **[Empyrean Aegis]** were exempt from **[Arcadia's Judgement]**. **Chapter 903**
* Unfortunately, **[Arcadian Crusade]** could only cut down on the cooldown of **[Judgment of Arcadia]** [*sic*] by a few hours, which meant it was still a once-per-fight type of skill. **Chapter 1,070**

## Upgrade to D-grade

* **[Arcadia's Jugment]** [*sic*] packed quite a punch, but Zac felt it too unwieldy and telegraphed for battles at the D-grade. A skilled enemy would have time to figure out a counter-attack unless he used Void Energy to trigger it. The skill's second stage was also useless when fighting in the air. The upgrade needed to be faster, more ruthless and unpredictable. **Chapter 1,166**
* A million ideas were born and discarded as Zac closed in on the solutions he sought, and the last motes of light dissipated just as a third skill fractal was completed. **Chapter 1,166**
* Zac had come away like a bandit, figuring out upgrades for the strongest attacks of his two classes, **[Arcadia's Judgment]** and **[Desperation's End]**. Both fractals had seen enough change to warrant a new name ... **Chapter 1,166**

## Commentary

* The stone edge was emitting a terrifyingly sharp gleam, infused with his recently upgraded Fragment of the Axe. **Book 8, Page 228**
* It was **[Arcadia’s Judgment]**, and not even the terrifying pressure of the ocean could withstand the wooden hand as it ripped open a tear in an unseen shield. **Book 8, Page 406**
* Its edge radiated a blinding sharpness, but there was something different about **[Arcadia’s Judgment]** this time. Thick golden veins covered the wooden hand, adding a second set of inscriptions on top of those that naturally formed in the bark. The golden tendrils didn’t stop at the hand either, covering the enormous axe as well, imbuing it with a unique power—the power of Creation. **Book 8, Page 623**
* Space shuddered above his head as he activated **[Arcadia's Judgement]**. But before space had a chance to crack and unleash the huge wooden hand, he felt his connection to the skill get cut, prompting a sharp pain in his head like his mind had been stabbed. **Chapter 788**
* ... the process where Dao and some inscrutable patterns turned into magical things like the huge wooden hand of **[Arcadia's Judgement]** ... **Chapter 863**
* Zac considered trying **[Arcadia's Judgement]** as well, but he was pretty certain the hand would be destroyed before he could even finish his strike. **Chapter 878**
* The huge axe descended, empowered by his braids of War Axe and Kalpataru, his **[Spiritual Void]**, and **[Arcadian Crusade]**. It was the most powerful strike Zac was able to unleash without using something like his Annihilation Sphere. If this couldn't deal with the beast, nothing in his repertoire could. **Chapter 883**
* **[Desperation’s End]** had a glaring weakness, being the slowest skill to activate between both his classes by far. ... So that the class’s ultimate finisher was a blast of utmost destruction ... Not even his **[Arcadia's Judgment]** contained this level of raw power, though it did deliver two consecutive strikes ... **Chapter 851**
* At first, he was afraid that he would find himself attacked by the second stage of **[Arcadia's Judgement]**, but he was surprised to see the second shockwave completely blocked and nullified by the tiles. **Chapter 896**
* With a piercing shriek, hundreds of slimy tendrils pierced into the descending hand, and Zac groaned in pain. The damage to his skill was transferred to his own body, and Zac felt like thousands of maggots had burrowed into his flesh. **Chapter 914**
* The wooden hand and its humongous axe were so dangerous it forced most opponents to activate their strongest defenses or counter with an all-out strike.However, that left them vulnerable to the judgment of the earth, and the skill would pincer the enemy like the closing jaw of a primordial beast. **Chapter 958**
* Thankfully, his skill was still not over, and he'd held the final component in reserve as long as possible just for something like this. **Chapter 993**
* And then came the judgment. The axe slammed down, utterly destroying three Beast Kings in one go. Their bloodline skills were utterly incapable of rebuffing a dual-branch-empowered finisher. The spikes were even more dangerous, being formed of the incredibly sturdy rocks the island was made of. Another five Beast Kings fell, and hundreds of their underlings were ripped to shreds by the ferocious resonance between the spikes. **Chapter 999**
* The E-grade skill still packed plenty of power, but it required strict conditions to ever reach a Middle Hegemon. **Chapter 1,133**