Chapter 148 (1/2)

Flickeringly, the completion notification appeared before him.

Congratulations! You have completed the Path of Carnage I! You have started down a bloody road, but sometimes it is a necessary path. You walk forward, and you are haunted by your choices. You have encountered an Extending Path! Continue, or receive your current rewards?

Randidly figured he would continued on this for a while anyway, so he clicked on the continuing path options. However, it was slightly annoying to see that he received no completion bonus, other than the additional point he got in Strength.

In addition, his previous Path of Carnage I 25/25 shifted to become Path of Carnage II 25/50. Gritting his teeth, Randidly put another 25 points into it. For this, he received a point in Perception at 30, 40, and 50. Then a notification popped up in front of him.

Congratulations! You have completed the Path of Carnage II. As you continue forward, the bones begin to form piles. The path ahead of you is desolate, and the future seems bleak. To your left, you see a small altar of skulls. Shall you depart from this path here? You have encountered an Extending Path! Continue, or recieve your current reward?

Randidly’s eyelid twitched. It did not seem like this would be a very efficient use of PP. But he was the stubborn type, and now that he had gone down this path, he wasn’t going to stop now. After all, pushing all the way through on the Pathless Path had led him to his Soul Skill, which continued to pay dividends. Better to just bear the cost. So Randidly selected to continue.

You have passed the Chieftain's Alter. The rewards for choosing the Chieftain's Alter: +5 Str, +3 End and Agi, +2 Vit and Per, +1 React.

How generous of them to remind you what you gave up on, Randidly thought with a bit of acid in the back of his throat. Instead, he opened the path menu back up. What he saw caused his eyes to bulge. He now had Path of Carnage III but it was at 50/100. So the cost increased too…?

Unhappy, Randidly poured most of his remaining 62 into completing the path. He received something at 75 and 100, but it was 2 distributable points at both, so he was a little mollified. All 4 of these Randidly put into Perception, in an effort to raise his ability to contend with the spear-users he would encounter soon.

Congratulations! You have completed the Path of Carnage III. The bones flow like seas around you, silent and still swamps of blood dotting the landscape. This is a path you walk alone, you realize. You wonder if it is truly necessary, or if you enjoy the road you walk. That answer is very important. To your right, you see a wooden cup filled with blood. Shall you depart from this path here? You have encountered an Extending Path! Continue, or recieve your current reward?

Resisting the… admittedly large temptation of the very unappetizing sounding cup of blood, Randidly elected to continue.

You have passed the Bloodseeker’s Cup The rewards for choosing the Bloodseeker’s Cup: +8 Str, +7 End and Agi, +1 Vit and React. Bloodseeker Strike (Un) Lvl 1

Randidly shut his eyes to the rewards and looked at his path page. He almost wished he hadn’t. Path of Carnage IV was at 100/200. It would require 100 more PP before he was able to accept the reward again…? Would it be worth it to take the next one, if it seemed interesting…?

But Randidly shook his head, refusing to give in, his stubborn streak still strong. So he put his final 12 PP into this next path and struggled to control his breathing.

After all, soon Shal would come, and it would be time for them to leave Qtal for a time. He needed to handle a few small tasks first. For the moment, Randidly stood. It had been a week since he had personally met the merchant Claptrap, and he supposed it was polite to tell him what was going on.

****

Claptrap’s eyes widened when he once again, in a strange sense of deja vu, opened up his door late at night to find the Ghosthound waiting on his doorstep. He quickly ushered him in and offered him some rather nice tea. The Ghosthound politely declined and spoke, explaining how he would soon go away for a time, training in preparation for the Regional Tournament.

Nodding rapidly, Claptrap brought out another 100 of boots and breast plates, and 200 of bracers. The members of the Crashing Wave Style were extremely pleased with the bracers over 60%, and were very interested in obtaining more after seeing the strange Rain Engraved bonus attribute that all of the armor had begun to possess. Although it only provided a negligible amount of mana and a point in focus, as that process continued to be refined and focused, those rewards would only grow.

It also seemed to cement in the members of the Crashing Wave Style that this engraver would soon be cracked down upon by the guilds, and they began offering more money. As such, Claptrap had profit projections that left his head spinning. Even though his attitude cooled somewhat when he had been approached by various other larger Styles, who seemed to somehow have caught wind of what was going on with his armor.

At the moment he wasn’t sure whether to start a bidding war or to remain faithful, but Claptrap knew he had to act fast. But when he produced the large amount of armors, the Ghosthound frowned, his brow furrowed.

“You…” He said, hesitation in his voice. “...Is this not most of your supply…? I’m not sure where I’ll be going, but if Shal considers it training…”

The Ghosthound hesitated. “...there is a chance I may not come back. Perhaps you should keep some.”

Claptrap shook his head. “Without you, I would just go back to being a normal merchant. The Engraving is the profit bringer right now. No one out here cares about quality and craftsmanship; only cheap results. And your Engraving-”

Then Claptrap stopped, paling, realizing he had just referred to the process that undoubtedly took quite a bit of time and effort as cheap results. But the Ghosthound simply chuckled, and beckoned for him to continue. So, slowly, Claptrap said.