13 Spoils of War (1/2)
When I woke up, bats swarmed in every direction that was far away from me. At this point, I didn't get exp from killing them, as they were over twenty levels below me now. How the times have changed.
I turned oppression off. No point in killing the bats if I got nothing from it. I just wanted them to clear out all these bugs. With that handled, I sat up and glanced at my notifications. The first one was awesome.
Baldag-Ruhl, of Many(lvl 152) slain. 228,000*7.7*1.5 = 2,633,400 exp gained. 17 level up!
Additional Reward: Dungeon Core(Rare) - Adds an additional perk for free and allows passage from and to the dungeon through the gate. Reap your rewards. You deserve it.
I balled up my fists then laughed aloud, ”Mwahahahaha!”
I started assigning attributes. I put two more points into strength, two into endurance, and two into willpower. I wanted the three perks given from them, and maybe 50 endurance will give me something, who the fuck knows. Even after spending all those points, I still had 11 attribute points left.
Fuck man, so many choices. Well, I had five perk unlocks with the agony refund, the dungeon core and the three perks from defeating Baldag. I might as well try to unlock as many perks as I can. I check out my attribute screen and I find a nice set of even numbers. That fact pleases me far more than it should.
I'm about to be out of this dungeon, so charisma may be useful now. I doubt it though. There's no way I could afford armor better than my own. With that in mind, I put six points into perception, unlocking the first tier perk, and 5 more into dexterity.
The increased flexibility helps me once more, and my nerves tighten their control of my body. I'm able to flex every toe in opposite directions now. It's really weird. The perception is even stranger. It's like I can comprehend more, even if I don't fully understand it. You know how it feels to move your arms while your eyes are closed? I felt that same feeling, just for more than my body.
That awareness stretched out about 5 feet from me. My other senses sharpened as well. I could smell the bat's nasty ass breath. I could see just how gross they were. I could hear their mouth's smacking like an old lady's gums who forgot her dentures. I cut back on oppression.
The points in strength and willpower I hadn't noticed near as much. I already had excellent totals in both, so that's understandable. With the attributes assigned, the perk menu's come up. I'm ready and waiting for a ton of choices. They don't disapoint.
[Willful(Willpower of 10 or more) - Your willpower is good. Doubles mana regeneration.]
[Disciplined(Willpower of 20 or more) - Your willpower is excellent. Willpower adds an extra 2% mana regen for every 1% missing max mana. Your mana can form a shield around you, blocking 2 damage for every 1 point in mana.]
[Uncompromising(Willpower of 25 or more) - Your willpower is incredible. Doubles mental resistance. Half of mental resistance from willpower added to elemental, plasma, and radiation resistances. 1/10th of willpower is added to intelligence.]
[Arbiter(Willpower of 30 or more) - Your will can change fate. Another 1/10th of willpower to intelligence, 10+ mana regeneration. .2+ mana regen per level. Extra internal motivation and .2% mental resistance per level.]
[Strong(Strength of 10 or more) - You are strong. Doubles bonus physical damage.]
[Powerful(Strength of 15 or more) - Your strength is admirable. Doubles carrying weight.]
[Cataclysmic(Strength of 30 or more) - Your strength can move mountains. Doubles maim chance, adds 1% physical damage bonus per level, Strength adds 5 health per point, and gives 1% total increased total physical power for every 1% of health missing. Doubles stamina consumption.]
[Flexible(Dexterity of 10 or more) - Your dexterity is good. Doubles flexibility bonus.]
[Lithe(Dexterity of 15 or more) - Your dexterity is admirable. Doubles reflexive and reaction time bonus from dexterity.]
[Perceptive(Perception of 10 or more) - Your perception is good. Doubles sensory bonuses.]
[Arcane Blood(Convert any portion of your body into mana, Refunds discipline and willful perks, canceling their effects and perk point consumption) - Your flesh becomes the arcane, the unknown. Converts mana into health and mana regen into health regen. Can use health in place of mana for spells.]
What a list. I had some interesting perks here. I went ahead and picked up uncompromising, arbiter, cataclysmic, and strong. Those would add permanent, stacking bonuses that would make me overwhelmingly powerful at later levels.
The most interesting perk of all, however, was blood magic. It just so happened that I had much, much more health than magic, a ton of pain tolerance, and a ton of health regen. I picked that perk and finalized my choice. The perks took effect.
I surge with a sudden, explosive strength. The armor and limbs become easy to move. My understanding of things solidifies. My memory is clearer. As I clasp my hands, my fingers clamp down like a lion's jaws. Alright, I'm ready for anything.
I check out my attribute screen.
Level 82 Attribute Totals
Strength - Increases carrying weight, maximum speed, and physical power 30
Constitution - Increases hardness, density, and weight of your body 36.3
Endurance - Increases regeneration of stamina, health, and their totals 51
Dexterity - Increases ease of movement, flexibility, and reflexes 15
Willpower - Increases internal motivation, mana regen, and Mental Res 30.3
Intelligence - Increases memory, critical thinking, and total mana pool 10
Charisma - Increases likeability, persuasion, and decreases prices at shops 4
Luck - Increases money found, odds in your favor, and chance of rare events 3
Perception - Increases comprehension, the five senses, and awareness 10
My attributes are quite high now. Honestly though, the per level perks made the largest difference. I imagined that was how most higher level people would play. Gain the level 30 perk that unlocked the per level bonuses for every attribute, then focus on leveling. Every level would count for a lot more than a single attribute at that point. Well, at least that's what I'm going to do.
With that handled, I check out my player screen. A message appears.
You have reached an effective damage resistance cap of 95%. You may have higher damage resistance, but it will only be effective up to 95% reduction.
Dawwww. I was hoping I'd hit 100% and be invincible. I mean, I knew there had to be some sort of cap. I guess even the Schema has limits, even if those limits are self imposed. Another screen appears,
I Harbinger of Cataclysm(Armor, Legendary Unique) - Armor that can absorb rift energy(Ambient Mana) for evolutions. These evolutions may add other special effects. Cannot be removed, only altered. Armor is regenerated with health. 0/2,000,000 Mana left till next evolution.
A Harbinger's Might - Increases Damage reduction cap by 1% | Current Max: 96%
The Walking Calamity - Gives unique ability Oppression | Current Damage: (5000 + 15% of your health/min) within a 100ft radius
- From a different world I rise. We usher forth creation through ruin.
Kind of a spooky line there at the end. Well, I can't say it's a surprising turn of events. The armor's made out of a soul and quite a bit of the other dimension's energy. It was bound to cause some serious shit. Oh well. Nothing I could do about that, especially at the time. The character screen appeared next.
Daniel Hillside Totals Regen Buffs/Debuffs
Health 1490/1490 323.6/min Oppression Damage- 5000+15%hp/min
Stamina 1004/1004 27.7/sec Elemental Res - 96%
Harbinger of Cataclysm 344/2,000,000 0/per min Plasma Res - 96%
Phys Dam Reduction - 96% Rad Res - 96%
Phys Dam Bonus - 327% Mental Res - 93.4%
Well, I am a tough cookie now. The physical damage bonus went through the roof, my health regen doubled with blood magic, and the extra hp from cataclysmic helped a ton. Now that agony turned into oppression, I could also get some use out of the hp regen during fights. In essence, I lived up to the name of my skill, dreadnought brute.
The armor I have, Harbinger of Cataclysm, could get even better with ambient mana. From what I know about it, ambient mana is mana that isn't connected with a living person. In other words, most creatures and pools of mana would fall under this category. The more monsters I killed, the stronger my armor would grow. Awesome.
With all that handled, I stood up and started my walk out of the middle chamber. There were too many bugs for me to loot here, and I doubt Baldag-Ruhl had much useful stuff anyway. A few bat's had even gained a few levels. I almost killed them for exp, but it just wasn't worth it anymore. I had bigger fish to fry.
The main thing I'd want to keep would be the runes he's carved. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that they're useful. With that in mind, I resolve to come back once I know anything about magic. Thinking of which, I reach for my mana. I find none waiting for me. I try to summon the little blue mana stream from before. A very, almost non existent burn spreads from my hand as a red fog appears.
I place my hand over the reddish cloud, and the same cool air appears. A notification appearred.
New Skill! Arcane Blood Manipulation(lvl 1)
Skill deleted, Mana manipulation(lvl 1) Half of skill's ungained points converted into skill points.
Hell yeah, an easy 49 skill points. I put them into the obliterator tree and start running towards the outer ring that Baldag took me from. Before he'd taken me from our camp, Schema had marked my camp with a little red dot. For the first time, Schema was looking out for me. What a bro.
Anyway, I picked up my pace. My feet pounded against the stone and wind passed by my face. I picked up ever greater speed, running faster than I ever have. I kept running faster, finally free from the chains of high constitution. My strength and dexterity gave me the mobility that I wanted, no, needed.
I never knew I missed running fast so much. The rush of speed. The sensation of my body flowing as one unit. The rush of speed. Alright, I said it twice. Go ahead and sue me.
I sprinted down the hallway, my feet cracking stone with each stomp. Within an hour, I rushed out of the tunnel and crashed into a boulder hiding it. A thunderous explosion echoed throughout the cavern. I sunk several feet into the rock, dust floating around me. Gaping fissures lined the boulder before I pulled myself out. With a quick dash towards it, I crushed through it.
The bits of boulder flung outwards as I smashed out the other side. The rush of power was intoxicating. It was a good day to be alive.
But that was over with. Now it was time to find Stacy and David. They wouldn't be able to get out without my help. I didn't care too much about them, but I wouldn't leave them here stranded.
I sprinted towards our previous encampment, cutting off oppression. I would kill them in one second with it on. I'd have to be careful about that skill from now on. It would be brutally effective at mass murder if I wasn't.
My feet pounded against the stone as I ran, excited when I saw a fire at the red dots location. Stacy and David sat around it with a book between them. Worn, ragged, and thin, the book looked more like a used napkin than a proper book. The two of them looked enraptured by it, however.
At least, before I came running up. Once they heard me, they pulled out their bows as David said, ”It's over. We're fucked. I told you we should have never came to this god forsaken cave.”
Stacy shouted, ”Fuck you David. You're the one that mentioned it before we left. I would never have thought of this stupid shit if it wasn't for your dumbass.”
Their arrows bounced off my armor like throwing sticks at a tank. I slowed down as I reached them. I glanced up, slow and foreboding as I said in a deep voice,
”I have come. Come to steal your souls and devour your bones.”
David and Stacy screamed before I busted out into laughter. They glanced at each other, confused as fuck before David said, ”Wait a second. That voice is familiar.”
I nodded before saying, ”Of course it is. I got this sweet new set of armor.”