72 Last Nigh (2/2)

“Thanks for keeping me safe there.”

Kessiah frowned, “Sorry. Didn’t mean to miss.”

She lied through her teeth, but I smiled at her, “Eh, it happens to the best of us. Any who, I finished your ring.”

Her frowned flipped as she walked up, bouncing on her heels, “Really? I can’t believe you did it so fast.”

I tossed the ring at her. She snatched it out of the air, putting it on before raising an eyebrow. She siphoned mana into the ring, a slight aura of red forming from it. An almost invisible pull appeared in me, like a mosquito draining blood. Kessiah’s eyes opened wide, her fists clasping. The flow of mana ceased as she stepped up with a growing grin,

“What did you do to make this?”

I shrugged, “I had to make a conduit. I figured I could make your jewelry useful and nice to look at, all at the same time.”

Kessiah clenched her fist, siphoning the mana again. The same slight pull nagged me. Kessiah’s shook with frenzy, the grin on her face turning maniacal. She laughed before throwing up her fists,

“Wow. I’m impressed. I can clench a fist without the ring breaking and it’s useful? Just, wow.”

Althea walked up, setting the rifle I made her onto the ground before reforming her arm. Before she reached me, I tossed the scope at her. It hit her chest before she fumbled a bit before grabbing it. She inspected it. Once she realized what it was, she beamed. I grinned at her too, walking up to the rifle at her side.

I lunged onto a knee, squeezing out a bit of the liquid metal onto each attachment of the scope. I lifted the rifle with one arm, aiming with it for a second. I lined up the scope with the iron sight. After placing the scope onto the rifle, I heated it with a bit of ascendant mana from my palm. Moments later, and the attachment was in there like swim wear. Yeah, the phrase makes no sense, but it sounds smooth, so I like it.

Regardless, I handed the rifle to Althea. She grabbed it, putting her arm into it before it reformed into the intricate parts. She aimed it, shifting between targets. She fired, a pang of mana being used drawing at me. It was almost nothing though, like the tiniest, most minute of twitches.

She blinked once before firing again. In a rapid burst, she shot out three bone spears.

Unique Skill unlocked! The fusion of Carving Into Oblivion(Maxed so it counts as two skills during fusion), Comprehension of Oblivion, Enchanting, and Mana Conduit combine into the unique skill Thaumaturge. Half of unfinished skill points are rewarded. 103 Skill points gained.

Thaumaturge(lvl 1) – Most sorcerers destroy. You make miracles, both of destruction and harmony. Ability to create enchanted items is enhanced by the level of this skill.

Giving myself a silent pat on the back, Althea's spears dug deep into the ground before she turned to me,

“I don’t understand. How’s it making my mana cost so low?”

I pointed at myself, “Because it’s using my mana instead of yours…for some of the process at least.”

She frowned, looking at her rifle in shock, “You’d take on the pain.” She bored a hole into the rifle with her stare before glancing back up at me, “Doesn’t it hurt?”

I rolled my eyes, “I have a lot of health.”

She blinked, “Like forty thousand?”

I laughed before frowning. I didn’t actually know how much health I had. I hadn’t checked since getting the strength perk and using the dungeon cores, so I opened my status screen.

Level 997

Strength – 971.4 | Constitution – 1110.7 | Endurance - 1077

Dexterity – 315.4 | Willpower – 1000.7 | Intelligence – 421.4

Charisma – 74.6 | Luck – 150.4 | Perception – 164.6

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Daniel Hillside Totals Regen Buffs/Debuffs

Health 89,851/89,851 27,579/min or 460/sec Oppression Damage- 15,000+(80% hp)/min

Stamina 28,647/28,647 459/sec Elemental Res - 98%

Harbinger of Cataclysm 1.48 Billion/56.6 Billion 69.4/per min(conduit) Plasma Res - 98%

Phys Dam Reduction - 98% Rad Res - 98%

Phys Dam Bonus - 9239% Mental Res - 98%

Total Damage Bonus 20% Boundless Storm

The first thing I noticed was that my physical damage bonus hadn’t moved up much. I was a bit disappointed at the sight, but then I remembered why. I didn’t have 1,000 strength yet. The perk wouldn’t give me the bonus until after I hit that threshold.

I didn’t have much time to dwell on it though. I closed my status screen while meeting Althea’s eye, “Think more like 90,000.”

She smiled, “That’s...crazy.”

I nodded, “So is your true damage passive.”

Althea frowned, ”It's armor penetration.”

I waved her defense off with a hand, ”Pff, It turns your damage into true damage. Same thing.”

She nodded, “Yeah, I guess you’re right about that.”

Kessiah walked up, “It’s good to see you two get along.” Kessiah grinned at me, “I mean you both really warmed up to each other.”

I rolled my eyes, “Yeah, yeah, of course we did. Anyways, just stopping by to drop this stuff off. Oh yeah, and before I forget, good damn job guys.” I turned to them both, “It’s heartening as hell to see you guys getting on with the grind.”

Kessiah propped onto her hip, “It’s not my first rodeo, and you know I can’t let you beat me. My pride as a warrior won’t allow it.”

I shrugged, an obvious but hidden confidence lacing my words, “Good luck with that.”

Althea interrupted our rivalrous words, “Thanks.”

I nodded, “No problem, glad to chip in here or there.” I glanced at he spears in the ground then back at them, ”Do you guys mind me joining in on this? I figured I’d try it out.”

Althea perked up, “Yeah, absolutely…I mean, yeah, sure. Whatever.”

After what John said, I was hypersensitive to what Althea said. Her sudden burst of enthusiasm at my company…well, it was cute as fuck, what can I say. It was the sort of affection you get from someone really young and really naive. Considering I was the first guy Althea ever liked, her fumbling was expected. She was a lab experiment and bounty hunter before all this after all. Not the best environment for learning love.

Kessiah sighed, “Bah, I’m trying to get some catching practice in. Why’d you have to go and ruin it.”

I frowned, “I can throw stuff at you too. I practice throwing on a moving target. You get double the difficulty. Sound good?”

Kessiah glanced up, placing a single finger onto her chin. A second later, she pointed the finger at the sky, “Ok, I accept.”

She jogged off fifty feet(15~ meters) away before Althea and I set up shop. Kessiah stretched herself, warming up for the movement. As she did, I checked out my tree menu. With Telekinetic Augmenter and Thaumaturge, I gained around two hundred tree points. Combine that with a few level ups in various skills, and I had enough tree points to max out my invincible tree. I did so in an instant.

To be invincible is to live despite. Whether that be the struggle of facing an enemy or perhaps the struggle of facing yourself, invincibility means being unbreakable in mind and body. Only 90% of your health may be deducted from any single attack.

No matter the calamity, those who rise above it are the unbroken. No matter how hard the life, those that truly live carry on through legacy. Live so that your memory may live on, even after death. Only 85% of your health may be deducted from any single attack.

Some warriors struggle to survive, but you must look past the day and see tomorrow. In the end, all will end. The mark you leave behind will be remembered in history. Leave a mark that stretches wide. Only 80% of your health may be deducted from any single attack.

Become a scar on history or the phantom pains of a missing limb. To kill a man is simple. To kill a memory is much harder. Only 75% of your health may be deducted from any single attack.

For your last words echo through eternity. Make them mighty. Make them memorable. Only 70% of your total health may be deducted from any single attack. Any damage received over 70% of your total health will not do damage. Instead, it will be added to your next attack as flat physical damage.

It was an interesting tree. Unlike most, it seemed more situational. Most of the time, I wouldn’t worry about taking more than two thirds of my health after all. Versus someone like Kessiah or Yawm, the tree could be very useful though. The tree’s last bonus was interesting too. It seemed like a way of turning the tides of a battle in my favor.

If someone would have killed me ten times over, converting that into physical damage would be huge. If you factored in my physical damage bonus, the increase became downright deadly. Against most enemies with maxed physical damage resistance, the added physical damage was notable. I could dish out about half of the damage I received from the attack if I was right. That's without factoring in the true damage part of the strength perk.

In the end, the invincible tree wasn't a game changer, but it was enough to notice. It was about what I expected from a 250 point tree. With it finished, I added the rest of my points to my last tree, fearless. No more messages popped up, so I closed my menu screen.

Glancing up, Kessiah finished her warmup. I reoriented myself with reality, getting near a pile of rubble. Once Kessiah bent her knees, Althea and I began our barrage.

We threw and fired boulders and bolts at Kessiah. At first, she struggled keeping up. Over time, she familiarized herself with all the projectiles. By the time the sun peaked over the horizon, a crowd of spectators watched us. They sat just outside the dome of deafening magic.

We fell into our positions, each of us an ebb and flow of movement. Smooth and fluid, we maintained our exercise with an inhuman precision, each bolt or stone aimed at a vital area. Over time, Althea and I changed up how we shot and threw. She would aim to make Kessiah dash a certain way, then I would throw to abuse it.

Our tricks turned more elaborate over time. I threw chunks of rebarb, then Althea would fire a bolt just as it reached Kessiah. Her bolt would split the rebar, spraying three projectiles at Kessiah. The first few times we tried this, our attacks crashed into Kessiah head on. After a while, Kessiah adjusted to our tricks.

With more vigor, I flicked my wrist at the end of my throws, setting spins on the boulders. The rocks arced in flight, like a curveball. Althea adjusted her bolts into bursts of three at this, one of the bolts hitting and splitting the boulder. Once Kessiah adjusted to the new tactic, I threw the boulders so that whenever Althea shot them, the spin would redirect her bolts too.

The projectiles would collide in front of Kessiah, sending them spraying like spitfire in all directions. Kessiah struggled with these, sweat building as the collisions occurred closer and closer to her. By now, a sizable crowd stood behind Althea and me, spectating the event. I couldn’t blame them. With the fervent pace and clashing lights of the collisions, it was a sight to be seen.

It came to a crux whenever Althea learned something rather special. She already had two unique skills, sharpshooter and tinkerer. During this training, she gained her third, Bullet Bender. She would whip her hand, creating a curve in the firing trajectory of her bolts. I learned a skill or two for throwing as well, mainly the Magnus Effect skill. It allowed me to curve my shots with greater precision.

It was hellfire on the other side of our onslaught after learning those skills. Kessiah siphoned more and more of her blood into her mythical skill before she finally relented. With sweat pouring down her face, she walked up before leaning against a wall beside us. She let herself drag down before laying her hands against her knees,

“Good session guys. I can’t keep this up though. Too much bullshit being thrown at me.”

Over the course of the training, Kessiah missed about 1/10th of our shots. In all honesty, it was incredible seeing it. I couldn't have done that shit, that's for sure.

Once she rested for a bit, Kessiah pulled out a gem from her pocket. She surged mana through it, evaporating the dome over us. The white noise of a fall morning and the crowd poured in. Suddenly, a black portal opened beside us.

From it, Torix stepped out. He turned to me, “You know, this is quite the crowd the three of you have collected. Giving them a bit of a push before you and Althea leave would be quite helpful. I believe you would be perfect for just such a task.”

My stomach sank,

“Wait…what? Right now?”

Torix nodded, an awful, evil grin lining his lips. His blue fire eyes blazed with what could only be considered hatred and malice as he lifted his hand. Alright, maybe I was just imagining it that way.

Regardless, with a snap of his fingers, the sound from our group heightened. Torix spread his hands, lifting them up. As he did so, a pillar of ground grew from beneath us. He hadn’t lifted us, instead he expanded the ground underneath us.

Sitting above house level, a group of about two hundred soldiers could see us. I whispered to Torix, ”No way. Not happening.” His grin evolved into pure treachury. I seethed, ”You evil piece of shit, why didn't you tell me?!”

Torix cackled with a bit too much glee in his voice before he glanced around, speaking through the voice enhancing magic, “Hello soldiers. Today, my harbinger and Althea leave towards a rift. Once within, they face the might of monsters and their endless reincarnations. Before then, the Harbinger would like a word with you all. May his words inspire you to work hard in his absence.”

My blood ran cold as Torix gestured towards me, speaking in a low murmur without his voice entering the magic,

“Since you won’t take the initiative to learn the unique skill on your own, I decided to do it for you. Think of it as a little push. Good luck.”

I sighed. I glanced around before speaking out my first word, “We-Eck.“

Within my first word, my voice cracked louder than a whip snapping across my cheek. I sighed.

This was going to be a long and painful next few minutes.