Luke let the guardian of the platform have her fun. He was more concerned about the gains from the last battle.
Most critical to him was understanding that new ability of his, Essence Lance. Luke tried to use it while on cooldown, a near-fatal mistake. The tooltip for the ability popped up before him with a mental command.
[Essence Lance]
Reaver creates a focused lance of essence. Multiple effects dependent on use. Upon impact, the lance pierces through 50% of the target's armor and resistances, dealing 30 extra damage. Inflicts a 30% slowing effect on the target, reducing their movement and attack speed for 12 seconds. Targeted slowed have a 1% chance of having a stat stolen per second. Cost 30 Essence. Cannot Critically Strike.
Cooldown: 30 Seconds
Upon seeing this ability, what caught his eye most was the wording. "Multiple effects dependent on use, huh?" Luke wondered aloud.
When he used Essence Lance last time, the specter died immediately from the ability, so he never saw the slowing effect. Luke hoped the stat-stealing power of Essence Lance would come often. He was shitting bricks fighting with next to no health points or stats in general. Sooty had saved his life many times already. He had lost count and didn't bother to keep score anymore. Luke felt he had leveled up. This time, he noticed the cut from the shoulder immediately healed. Either way, Essence Lance needed an upgrade, so Luke put all three remaining skill points into Essence Lance. He managed to do two upgrades with all three skill points spent.
The newly updated Essence Lance III came before him. The slow had increased to 40%, the piercing effect was unchanged, and the slow duration remained 12 seconds. Its damage had increased by an additional 20. The cooldown decreased by four seconds. Best of all, the stat steal had risen to 2%.
Sooty had gained a level, too, and seeing her fly around good as new put a smile on Luke's face. Luke's smile grew wider when he saw the log notice of the amount of stats he stole this time, a new record.
[You have stolen 2 HP, 1 Strength, 2 Agility]
This was equal to basically everything else he stole earlier combined. Luke felt his class was finally showing hope. Although the deadly early stages weren't over, an end was in sight.
"Now, where's me share of the treasure, eh? Come, spruce me up! You've been using me like a mere flail. It's time for you to treat me." Wayfinder pushed for an upgrade.
Luke gave him what he wanted, but his experience build-up had fallen to rock bottom. His range of vision expanded again. Thinking it was an upgrade to the passive he already knew, Luke didn't bother to look. He had little time to by this point anyway.
"Let's see you manage your way out of this one, young Reaver." Veronica laughed to herself.
Thirty shadowy figures began to morph into existence. In a moment of incompetence, Luke had forgotten to pick up his throwing knives, and they were all turned to rubbish by the phenomena before him.
"I can't keep messing up like this. Come on, Luke, what are you doing!" Luke scolded himself for a moment. Sooty looked used to his habit and only kept her attention on the fast-forming shadows.
"That's not good for your health, lad." Wayfinder reminded, poking at Luke's self-talk.
"Not now, compass."
Luke inspected the interface to see what his enemies were this time, something he had mistakenly not done in the previous round.
[Shadow Shard]
Level: 6
HP: 20/20
"So, that's the catch, then?" Luke confidently stated.
Sooty understood what he meant by that. There may be many of these shadow shards, but their health points were far below average.
"Get ready, Sooty; strike the second they're done spawning."
Sooty flew over, and Luke was ready to aim an Essence Lance and run. The shadow shards came into being, and Luke, in his haste, threw the Essence Lance so fast he slipped, altering his aim.
"Shit!" He cursed, falling on his ass.
Hurriedly, Luke reapplied Infusion onto himself, and as Luke got up, he heard a loud shattering. A massive influx of energy came back to him. His eyes saw what looked like a giant blue frosty wave stain the floor of the platform, and twenty shadow shards in the middle started to despawn. The other ten remaining were far enough from the center of the impact, so they lived but were under the slowing effect. Sooty was in a daze for a moment.
Seeing this, Luke shouted out. "Sooty quick, I'll be toast if we can't take down some more while they're slowed down."
After that, Luke put Essence Bond on one Shadow Shard about to pounce on him and returned to his trusty role as bait. Sooty started to make short work of the poor Shadow Shards. Each rend of her claws, peck of her beak, or use of an ability tore them apart.
As she was about to take out the last one, her bond with Luke alerted her, and she stopped. Luke had an inkling of what happened but wanted to keep this Shadow Shard running in circles. He needed time to make sure his hypothesis was correct. After the necessary time passed, Luke formed another Essence Lance and threw it at the ground. The Lance shattered against the floor, causing an AOE attack. Moreover, the frost aura leaking out must also slow enemies.
Jackpot. That was the only word to describe Essence Lance to Luke in this situation. Dumb luck had made an otherwise deadly situation almost painlessly easy. Throwing an Essence Bond on the last shadow shard, Sooty knew the drill by now. She waited until the last few seconds, then used her Reaver Beak to put the Shard to an end. The log gave him plenty of rewards, and one of the shadow shards even dropped some loot.
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[You have gained two levels. Acquired four skill points]
[Your companion has gained two levels. Acquired two skill points]
With Sooty leveling quickly, he felt reassured; his companion was integral in finding a way out of here.
[You have stolen 5 HP, 3 Strength, 2 Agility, 2 Intellect]
[You have received a torn page]
[Quest Updated! 2/5 torn page found]
Luke sucked in some cold air. The amount of stats he was stealing started to go up dramatically. Then again, he did fight off thirty separate mobs. If Luke could get a few more massive fights going…
He shook his head. He only had one area of effect ability at the moment. Essence Lance didn't include its area of effect form in its description. Chewing off too much at once would cause him to choke. Plus, Luke wasn't exactly in a situation to leave the tomb, with a timer on his heart and all.
"Most of your kind die on that round, Reaver. One more to go then." Veronica was almost sullen as she said so.
Sooty let out a rattle in response as if telling her to shut up already. Luke could hear Wayfinder letting out a chuckle. Knowing another round was coming, Luke quickly put his skill points into Infusion. With that upgrade, three skill points disappeared. Due to his previous experience, he didn't bother trying to spend the last one, knowing it wasn't enough to upgrade anything. Instead, a different notice came up in red.
[Warning: Infusion has reached rank V and is going up in tier; unable to use Infusion for thirty seconds]
With a defeated sigh, Luke didn't let the surprise ruin his focus. The last round wasn't going to wait for thirty seconds. Luckily, both Sooty and him had an Infusion on them.
Two living armors materialized right next to each other. Knowing that his baseline ability was down and wouldn't be back fast enough, Luke played it cautiously. He put an Essence Bond on one and started to book it. Sooty gave him another surprise.
She released a screeching cone, and his Essence Bond appeared on the other living armor. The two living armors had their stats reduced by 15%. Luke glanced at their information.
[Living armor] (Special Elite)
Level: 10
HP: 400 (reduced)
Their favorite snack is Reaver bones.
The living armors more than walking tanks. They had a ranged melee combination—one as an archer, the other a knight with a tower shield—the living armor with a bow aimed directly at Luke.
To Luke, this was a mistake on their end. Sooty was the real threat. A fact she proved immediately. Sooty placed an Iron Feather on herself. She dived, letting the Iron Feather slow the interception of the knight-type living armor. Adding the reduced stats from her Reaver's Essence Bond, she completed her Talon Strike.
Sooty freshly upgraded the skill upon seeing the living armor. Luke also generated an Essence Lance, firing it before Sooty struck the archer-type living armor. With its slowing effect, the Essence Lance strengthened Sooty's Talon Strike, enabling a critical strike.
At the same time, when Luke threw the Essence Lance, he rolled forward, causing the ranger type to miss his shot. The living armor knight, too concentrated on stopping Sooty, didn't defend the living armor archer in time; the combination strike tore the living armor apart but didn't kill it. Sooty didn't push her luck and immediately left, avoiding a counterattack. Seeing the tactics of its opponents, rather than continue the defensive play, the living armor knight charged Luke.
Luke had used the single-target way of Essence Lance, so the knight only had slightly reduced speed from Essence Bond. His speed couldn't match up to the melee-type knight. Luke ran towards a pillar, and the knight chased after him.
He had made a mistake, not keeping track of the living armor archer. The archer took aim once again. Sooty, alarmed at the deteriorating situation, struck the arm, aiming the bow with Reaver Beak. Knowing that Luke wasn't fully aware of the ranger, Sooty stuck to it, attacking as she could.
Wayfinder said, "You've got two enemies, not one. That birdie's going have a stroke trying to keep you in the land of the living."
Luke internally face-palmed himself for barely being aware of a ranged enemy. It's the most severe mistake he's made yet. The living armor knight was about to run him through. Unlike the living armor archer, Luke was fully aware of this one. Making it to the pillar in time, he kicked off it, changing his direction away from the impending sword.
Coming to admit the talkative compass had a decent mind to it, he asked for help. "Things would be far more manageable if I had an actual weapon. Any ideas, Wayfinder?"
"Your agility's too low, lad. You won't make it to the next pillar to pull that trick again. Your feathered pal has got the other living armor occupied. Face forward and dodge like your life depends on it, 'cause it does. You've won if you can hold out until the birdie sorts out the archer." Wayfinder advised.
It wasn't the answer Luke wanted, but the one he knew would work best. Turning to face the knight he was running from, Luke maintained the distance to the edge of its melee range. His heartbeat slowed; even with his health points reaching ten, he knew one solid strike, and it was all over.
"Focus on sidestepping, lad. Leap out of its reach and stick to its edge. Give yourself the most time you can to dodge."
Luke's eyes focused, his range of sight dramatically closed. He trusted his partner Sooty and only put his attention on the shoulder and sword of the living armor knight. A deadly dance began. The living armor being led, and Luke, the leader.
Except there wasn't any room for mistakes. More than once, Luke jumped back, only to find a slight cut on his cheek or clothes. He had managed to avoid any severe blows, but the glancing ones were still dealing some damage. Things weren't working at this rate, but he couldn't find any better answer.
His spatial awareness was going off. Subconsciously, he had been dodging back to a pillar this entire time. Luke let his blood flow to his feet; he'd only have one shot. As the sword was going to jam into him, he ducked.
The living armor, not one to hold back, had its blade stuck into the pillar. The living armor struggled to pull the sword out immediately, instead opting to shield bash Luke. Reflexively, Luke rushed off and out of its range. He was giving Sooty some additional time.
Sooty used that precious time well, landing another Reaver Beak on the archer. With its health critically low, its movements slowed further. Finally, the living armor knight ripped its sword out of the pillar and began to hunt Luke down with a vengeance.
Essence Bond was about to wear off, but that also meant several other abilities were about to come up. Sooty continued to tear at the archer, who was helpless against such a fast and small target. Even when switching to its dagger, it was useless. Seeing its partner in dire straits, the knight made the mistake of taking a few seconds to come to its aid.
Those few seconds decided the outcome of the battle.
Luke, now free, used the Reaver's Link to direct Sooty. As soon as the living armor knight got in range, she was to use her speed to fly off in the opposite direction. This tactic created an even more significant period, and soon, her Talon Strike was back up.
Steeling himself, Luke rushed toward the archer, who had completely ignored him and only aimed toward Sooty. The knight, alarmed, stood at the ready, striking forward. Knowing the patterns of the living armor knight by now, Luke sidestepped, then dodged back, making the knight miss two strikes and take a step away from the archer.
Sooty was merciless. With the knight's attention momentarily away from the archer, Sooty used her Talon Strike to tear a massive hole in the living armor, obliterating its core.
The living armor archer was dead.