Chapter 278: Royal Advice (2/2)
“Just Ilea is fine, Maro?”
He nodded lightly, “I’m at seven hundred Vitality, seven hundred Intelligence, nine hundred Wisdom, four hundred Endurance, three hundred Strength and a little over two hundred Dexterity. I’ve got skills boosting my Intelligence as well as Endurance. Make of it what you will.”
Ilea listened. He was definitely more specialized but not as much as she would’ve expected. Why a necromancer had more than fifty Dexterity was confusing. “Why the Strength and Dexterity then? Wouldn’t fifty or even less be enough?”
“That’s what I did early on. Dodging projectiles when my mana was near empty, shields down and only my body to defend myself against a warrior and his weapons. Let’s just say I found reasons enough to invest in physical stats. Fighting against higher leveled beings, even with the multipliers from my skills, I would never trade one of the few points in Strength that I have for one in Intelligence. The latter is what allows me to kill them in the first place but the rest enables me to survive until then. I do believe my Dexterity is a little higher than necessary but I’ve always been more on the impulsive side.” He laughed, having explained in detail.
“Same here. I found most monsters more susceptible to mana intrusion than pure physical damage. Why I focused on Intelligence more lately. Plus most of my skills are magical in nature.”
Maro laughed again, “You must have had a bad time against my knights then. Stonehammer coupled with the constant healing must’ve made them formidable opponents.”
She just stared at him, “Definitely.” She said, grinning. Ilea wondered how the fights would’ve gone with six hundred Strength instead of Intelligence. With her Auras that value would’ve skyrocketed to over three thousand. Nearly all her other skills as well as Destruction and Wave of Ember would’ve been significantly less powerful. Plus her auras themselves were magical in nature. Wisdom would bring her more mana and mana recovery, more healing and more sustain.
“You’re not entirely wrong by the way. There’s a reason people try to defend against mana intrusion. Same as mind magic or blood magic. I’ve found destructive healing magic part of that list as well.” He sighed, “You make me want to get out there again and I’ve only been stuck for a couple weeks here.”
Ilea nodded, “Soon enough. I’ll be happy to have a bout against you.”
The man smiled brightly, “Something to look forward to, other than the fact that Rhyvor is no more.”
“She doesn’t seem to be convinced completely.” Ilea whispered.
Maro smiled and looked past her, “Elana always confirmed, wanted to see for herself and make sure there was no stone left unturned. Don’t fault her for it, she has shouldered the fate of hundreds of thousands.”
Ilea was aware, cutting off the last part of his beard she was working on. There was still some left, some sections worse than others but again, it certainly looked better than what it had been before. Dissolving her ashen knife, she sat down again, “You mentioned an ash creator you knew?”
Maro nodded, “Thanks for the shave. Not being able to scratch myself has been driving me mad. A member of my late party, Khan. He was working towards the three hundreds but hadn’t reached it yet when this all started.” He said, gesturing around himself with his head, “He used ranged attacks, spears and clouds of ash mostly. Blood enhancer as his second class. Nasty attacks, that’s for sure. He was always complaining that he couldn’t get his ash creation and manipulation to the third tier. I think he refrained from spending his third tier points because of that.”
“You think that was the right decision?” Ilea asked, not mentioning that she had both in her third tier already. She wondered how a ranged attacker would benefit from the third tier manipulation. Might be a different third tier for him?
The king thought about it and then shook his head, “I don’t think it was. Know that this is only one way to look at things but I always thought the reason third tier skills needed certain unknown requirements was necessary to enhance once’s strengths, focus on what you’ve proven to have mastered. Perhaps his talents never lay with manipulation and creation, maybe he didn’t understand the element very well after all. His eyes however were second to none, his ability to spot and utilize enemies’ weaknesses. The man just didn’t want to waste a point in such a skill he deemed so natural and second nature. The fact that he treated it that way would’ve been reason enough for me to chose it before all others.”
Eyes of Ash, Ilea thought. A passive skill she rarely thought about, the second tier usually ignored. To think the man had been so good at it Maro called his eyes second to none. “I always just chose what felt right.”
“Exactly how I did it. And look at me, still alive after likely thousands of years.” He laughed, “I’m pretty sure Khan died in one dungeon or the other. Maybe he’s still trying to get his ash creation to the third tier.” He didn’t laugh, the realization that his friend had likely died a long time ago likely surreal.
“You’ve been to the Descent haven’t you?” Ilea asked, trying to change the subject to something a little less heavy.
“That one still around?” He laughed, “Was harder to sneak into the city than fighting down into the dungeon. The first twenty levels were trivial but then the first level two hundred creatures showed up. The increase after that was ten or more levels fore each level. Wore us down and after three days we left again. I would’ve liked to try again but Elana screamed at me for a full four hours because of the diplomatic problems this brought to the kingdom.”
Ilea snorted, “They found you?”
“Of course. Not too many people at the twentieth layer, let alone the twenty fifth. Some even recognized me, old friends and rivals.” He smiled at the memory.
“There are level two hundred monsters at layer two now. Level three fifty at layer four.” She said.
He looked at her, intrigued rather than shocked, “Interesting. A truly dangerous place then. Terok has told me about the north… the arcane storms and the mists at night. I would love to study either. Get on with it Ilea and get more powerful. When will you try again anyway?”
Ilea thought about it, “Three hundred I guess. Not sure if I’ll win. Depends on the evolution I guess. How much power I gain.”
“I got a pretty solid increase but I don’t want my only hope to die because of my impatience.” The king said.
“You’re aware that your wife has been down here, conscious for at least a couple decades.” Ilea teased and he just shook his head.
“She’s made from a different material. Patience and intrigue. Place us both in front of a wild beast and you’ll see who will face it.”
Ilea rolled her eyes, “I don’t think she’d run. Only if it’s too strong for her.”
“Exactly.” He brimmed with joy.
This time she laughed, “Yea, you really are an idiot. Once I get you out we’ll go hunt monsters together. You need some creatures to raise after I destroyed all your knights.”
He nodded, his smile waning, “Can I ask you for something Ilea?” She gestured for him to continue, “The kingsguard… once you are able to face them. Please keep their corpses. I would like to… see them off myself. You have a storage item do you not? Otherwise I’m sure there’s one or two left in the treasury. We’ll get it open before you reach the necessary strength.”
Ilea nodded. “I have one and I won’t burn them before you’re free. Even if you just want to raise them and use them against me.”
He laughed, “My evil necromantic plan, exposed! Bring me my scheming wife, she must learn of your incredible foresight.”
Ilea didn’t react, instead summoning the dead life serpent she had found, “Any use for this? Supposed to have been a life serpent.”
“A good find.” He commented, looking at the skeleton in her hand, “The machine doesn’t allow me to add more than the designated corpses but I’d love to experiment with it once I’m free.
Ilea put it on one of the counters next to his machine. “The Descent holds a bunch of monsters inside that I believe were changed by something called a Tuner. Ever heard of anything like that?”
Maro nodded, “I heard of it. Security was too tight in the dungeon back then but it was a closely guarded secret in Eravor. Blood manipulation… I tried to get to one but their enchantments were annoying to say the least. Plus any relations Elana had built would’ve been reduced to ashes.”