November 3, 2022
Day 14 / Dungeon Day 5
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"Today's our last day in the dungeon and we can't postpone this any further. We've got to start dealing with the alphas now."
Ivan told Rahul.
"Just one more tree?"
Rahul pleaded, his expression disturbingly similar to that of an addict who walked into a family gathering only to find out it was an intervention.
For him.
"No, you can level up as much as you want after we've killed all the bosses. We don't know how tough the alphas are going to be, and I don't want to lose out on Titles and Dungeon Points just because we waited too long to fight them. We have just a day to kill the six of them, and you know how far apart their trees are."
Rahul didn't give up.
"Only the first alpha will be a challenge! You know all their levels will get locked to our maximum level the moment we confront the first one. As for the trees, they are far, but we are fast! And while they are stuck at that level, we will keep getting stronger with every alpha we kill."
Ivan shook his head.
"That again! We don't know if that hypothesis is correct. It's based on just one dungeon dive experience you guys had. With how much the dungeon masters tweaked this dungeon's settings, anything is possible."
After Maya, Matt, and even Daniel started proposing an end to the grinding spree, Rahul finally gave in.
"I really wanted to fight level fifty alphas, but fine! Let's go. "
It had been a productive three days, but their time in the dungeon was soon going to come to an end.
"Before we do that, let's all assign our free stats."
Daniel said.
Rahul nodded, even though he had already assigned all of his free points.
He opened his stats.
Character Overview Name Rahul Sharma Race Human (F) Class Melee Level 44 HP 420/420 MP 270/270 Stamina 1120/1120 Intent Points 2/7 Strength 127 (139.7) Endurance 110 Dexterity 127 (133.35) Vitality 42 Intelligence 27 Perception 77 (84.7) Presence
Name Momentum Level 1
The numbers had nearly doubled, with the 17 levels he had gained in the last three days. He had gained +17 strength, +17 dexterity, +34 endurance, and -17 vitality, in addition to 170 free points.
70 of the free points immediately went into offsetting the -17 vitality and bringing it up to +18 instead. The remaining 100 points Rahul distributed evenly between strength and dexterity, prioritizing those two stats over endurance, which was naturally growing at 2 per level and was quite adequate at 110 points.
His total stats now number 433, nearly twice the 232 he had at level 27.
And that difference in stats showed as they ran at speeds rivaling cars toward the boss tree they had marked as their first target.
And I'm not even running at my top speed.
Rahul thought as he turned to inspect his intelligence-heavy friends running behind him.
Maya Kapoor - Human (Lumomancer Level ???)
Maya had received Elementalist Mage, Pyromancer, Apprentice Pyromancer, Journeyman Pyromancer, Fundamentalist Mage, and Lumomancer specializations.
The Elementalist tree contained the Pyromancer path, and at level 3 on that path, the Journeyman Pyromancer was her strongest choice. It was the system acknowledging her accomplishments with discovering mana bullets, even though the bullets had not become a distinct skill yet.
After a lot of thought, Maya had decided to play the long game and pick the Lumomancer specialization of the Fundamentalist Mage tree. It had a 20% stat bonus and 3 fixed stats per level, as opposed to the 30% stat bonus and 5 fixed stats Journeyman Pyromancer would have had.
Maya had been working her ass off to make up for that by leveling at a breakneck pace and refused to tell Rahul how many levels ahead of him she was.
Daniel Walter - Human (Apprentice Intent Weaver Level 42)
Daniel had received the Elementalist Mage, Pyromancer, and Apprentice Pyromancer specializations, but not the Journeyman rank. He also received the Reality Shaper, the Intent Weaver, and Apprentice Intent Weaver specializations.
His decision was a no-brainer, and quite in line with what Martin had told him to do.
As a level 2 specialization in the Intent Weaver path of the Reality Shaper tree, Apprentice Intent Weaver gave him a +25% stat bonus and 4 fixed stats every level.
Next, Rahul focused on the two rogues running by his side.
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Matt Williams - Human (Empathic Knight Level 43)
Beyond some weak choices in the rogue tree, Matt had gotten choices in the Honorbound Warrior tree of all things. On top of the base Honorbound Warrior specialization, he had the Gallant Guardian path and the Chivalric Knight Path. The Empathic Knight specialization that he picked was a level 2 specialization of the Chivalric Knight path, and the Empathic part denoted his expertise in repelling intent-based mental attacks.
And hopefully, it also means that Matt will be able to carry out some mental intent attacks of his own.
As long as it's for an honorable cause, of course.
Rahul thought, before moving on to the star of the show, who had received not one but two level 3 choices and a total of 9 choices, just one short of the max.
Ivan Antonov - Human (Journeyman Timeweave Tank Level 40)
Ivan's first choice was the Tank specialization, which was also the base for the three paths he got, the Indomitable Tank, the Timeweave Tank, and the Immutable Tank.
For the Immutable Tank path, Ivan got only the base and Apprentice specializations, but for the other two, he got the base, Apprentice, and Journeyman specializations.
After a lot of analysis, the group concluded that the Immutable path utilized all aspects of Immutability, something that Martin had warned against doing given the complex nature of Immutability. The other two paths then obviously incorporated the Time based and Immovability based aspects each.
The Immovability-based Indomitable Tank would build upon Ivan's use of reinforcing intent to strengthen his body beyond what his regular stats would imply, in addition to obviously focusing on Vitality and Strength. That was a standard tank build, relying on high HP and defenses to stomach attacks.
The Timeweave Tank would build upon Ivan's use of intent to slow down time and dodge and counterattack at superhuman speeds. This was more akin to a dodge tank build, one that would draw the enemy attack's away from allies, but rely on damage avoidance using superior dexterity stats and counter skills.
The third path seemed to be tailor-made for the Immutability presence, and despite Martin's warning about trying to follow a complicated path, was something Rahul would have advocated for, had it been at Journeyman level. Since it was not, the choice was between a regular tank and a dodge tank, and Ivan's desire to be there for his team at a moment's notice led to the choice he made.
It was also what lead him to continue to work on the reinforcing aspect of his intent alongside the time one, making sure that the dodge tank could also play the role of a solid tank when the situation called for it.
A dodge tank, an intent repellant knight, an intent weaver mage, a melee damage dealer, and a magic damage dealer. All we need is for Shahid to return with our range class friends and we'll have a balanced party.
Well, except for the lack of a healer. But that's what healing potions are for.
Rahul thought as they closed in on their target tree.
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"Same rules?"
Rahul asked, from the base of one of the six trees where Matt had got the alpha vibes.
"Same rules, but we'll immediately stop once we get close enough for the alpha prompt to trigger."
Daniel replied.
Ivan shook his head.
"And if it doesn't trigger? It's too risky. We don't want to be caught alone with the alpha, especially considering it'll have Maya's level, a number she isn't telling anyone."
Maya replied.
"It's in the upper 40s, that's all you need to know. And as far as getting caught out alone is concerned, that's quite unlikely, you guys catch up to us in no time, and then we are more or less together throughout the climb."
Everyone thought about it, then nodded.
That was all the response Maya and Daniel needed, as they immediately started climbing up the tree trunk.
To give their friends a headstart, Matt, Ivan, and Rahul counted down from sixty. Once the countdown was finished they too got moving.
But instead of climbing the trees, all three of them crouched and jumped to the nearest branches. They'd had enough practice with this in the last three days that they all landed on different branches.
Rahul's branch lowered slightly as he dropped on it, and then, as it sprang back up, so did Rahul, jumping more than a hundred feet to the next cluster of branches.
This never gets old.
Rahul thought, as he rapidly ascended the tree, Ivan and Matt right at his heels.
After about twenty jumps, they saw the site of the first encounter that Maya and Daniel had with a flock of birds. There were about a dozen charred bodies, the result of Daniel's fireball spells, and twice as many birds with their wings detached and holes near their heart. The latter was Maya's handiwork, as she used her light mana to cleanly cut off the wings and then her fire mana bullets to kill the plummeting birds. Even at nearly twice the bird's level, her light mana laser-like attack could only sever their thin wings.
After another minute of jumping, the trio found another similar sight.
They didn't stop, and continued climbing, soon catching up to Maya and Daniel.
They just as quickly left them behind.
The third pack of birds was alive and there for the taking.
Now that he was at level 44 and fighting against level 24 birds, Rahul understood just how much Shahid had been holding back, and how his use of the knife in attacks was just meant to give a false impression that he was getting serious.
Rahul kept his two knives in his pockets as he pushed off against a branch and aimed straight toward a cluster of birds. He angled himself as he moved through the air and landed feet first against the Talon Guardian's chest. He pushed off with all his might, shattering the bird's ribs and turning its heart into mush, changing his direction at the same time to move toward another unlucky bird.
You have killed a Level 23 Talon Guardian. 2300 experience earned.
The notification immediately popped up, but that was not all that Rahul had achieved with his kick.
The limp body of this bird crashed into another and the two flew at breakneck pace toward the trunk of the tree. Before they impacted the tree, Rahul himself had reached his next target. His kick hadn't redirected him well enough to rebound off another one of the birds, so all he could do was punch and crack the bird's spine, triggering the second notification.
You have killed a Level 22 Talon Guardian. 2200 experience earned.
As he dropped towards a nearby branch, the 'dead' and 'nearly dead' bird finally collided with the tree trunk, triggering the third notification.
You have killed a Level 23 Talon Guardian. 2300 experience earned.
The moment his feet touched the branch, Rahul took off again, this time he executed his first kick perfectly, managing not just to kill the bird and the one it crashed against immediately, but also to orient himself well enough to kick off a third bird and grab onto a fourth's neck before he landed.
One last bird was remaining in the area he had targeted, but before he could do anything about it, a mana bullet pierced through its heart and killed it instantly.
Maya and Daniel have caught up.
Rahul thought as he started moving up. Ivan and Matt had cleaned up most of their targeted birds, but instead of killing the rest, they too were jumping up to get more time with the next flock.
Because while the mage duo may be slow climbers, they were far from weak.
Maya in particular could be unstoppable.
She doesn't need to cut off the wings with her laser before killing the birds with fire mana bullets, and does it only for practicing her light mana skills, and only when her melee friends were far behind.
Now that everyone had caught up, she will turn into become a machine gun.
And there's no way that a jumping ninja can kill faster than a machine gun.
Even as Rahul had these thoughts, six mana bullets cleaned up the remaining odd birds, and Maya and Daniel were once again climbing up.
I'm gonna miss this.
Rahul thought, as a prompt appeared in all their visions, and brought their friendly competition to an end.
They were now close to the alpha, and shit was about to get serious.
Good.
Rahul thought, as his high perception picked up rustling coming from hundreds of trees off in the distance.
If this is anything like the all-out and endless stream of crocodiles that we had faced while fighting the first alpha, maybe the leaderboard top 10 is not outside my reach after all.