On a mountain spewing lava from time to time, there was the noise of fighting.
The growls of beasts and roar of the Salamanders that roamed this land were fierce and, pardon the pun, fiery… both literally and metaphorically, as Arthur dived out of the way of one of those flamethrower attacks.
“Emilia, we’re waiting!” Arthur shouted, a burst of fire rushing towards him as he lifted his arm, a wall of Darkness blocking the heat and allowing Arthur to Blink to the back of the Salamander, stabbing into the back of its neck with his Dagger and sword.
“Hey, it’s not that simple you know!” While it would sound like they were arguing, Emilia and Arthur were really just making conversation as they fought the monsters in the Ninth Area, the Blazing Volcano.
“Lover’s quarrel later, kill monsters now!” Alice shouted, blocking a blow from pile of rocks and fire glued together, a ‘Magma Soldier’ before she thrust out with her spear, ending its life.
“I’m never going to get used to this.” Drew complained as he and the other members of Jotun fought two Salamanders and three Magma Soldiers themselves, Einherjar had been dealing with five and seven respectively, now four and six.
It had been two weeks since the confusing situation of the Eighth Demon Lord, and Einherjar were rushing through the Ninth Area, now knowing that they were facing more than just the other Chosen.
Since the fight with the Eighth Demon Lord, and confirming that Jotun members were now in the lower eighties in level, Einherjar had actually been going into the Dungeon alongside Jotun, making their Dungeon dives faster.
There was, admittedly a downside to this arrangement, in that Skill Levels were increased through using the Skill multiple times. There were a limited number of enemies, and so Skills levelled up slower after the enemies were divided among members.
The upside was that they all received the same ‘experience’ and so Jotun were levelling up rapidly in comparison to Einherjar. Since entering the ninth Area, Jotun were now in the upper eighties while Einherjar members were all around level ninety seven or eight in some cases.
Arthur himself was level ninety nine… and closing in fast on that long awaited one hundred.
It was the reason why they were rushing through the Dungeon right now actually, Arthur felt that the hundredth level was a major milestone and thus, very important.
Knowing that his hunches were rarely if ever wrong, Einherjar and the newly indoctrinated Jotun agreed that getting Arthur to level one hundred was something worthy of being done as soon as possible.
Jotun had been sceptical about Arthur’s ‘hunches’ up until Arthur managed to simply look at them (with the help of Soul Sight of course) and tell them their specialties, magic types, Anima, and weakest stat.
Confirming that it was a ‘Skill’ of Arthur’s, Jotun believed his hunches.
Not that Soul Sight had anything to do with such hunches though, but it was a good excuse.
So after calming down the suddenly terrified members of Jotun, Einherjar got them to simply accept that awesome things would be happening at level one hundred.
So here they were, on floor eighty eight.
The collection of Einherjar and Jotun, known by their Kingdom name of Valhalla, were running around looking for the stairs to the next floor, yes, but they were doing so in the worst possible way.
“Do you know how difficult it is to map an area we just ran through! Kill everything so we can go back and I can confirm this!” Emilia was typically soft spoken and kind, so hearing her shouting like this, one could tell the type of stress being heaped on Valhalla’s shoulders.
As Emilia shouted, they had been running through areas, the moment an enemy was found, instead of moving past if capable, they ran towards the enemy for a fight.
The result of doing this was their current fight against almost twenty enemies at once, and yes, it was difficult… but not the end of everything.
“Alright, stop playing around.” Arthur demanded, his voice suddenly softening as sparks began to dance around him, warning his teammates about what Arthur was about to do.
“Erase them.” Arthur ordered, a buzz in the sparks around him occurred, the Salamander he stood one was already dead and evaporating, leaving Arthur to drop to the floor… yet the lightning that surrounded him remained.
“Yes Master.” The Lightning itself buzzed, the buzzing forming into disfigured words before the Lightning blasted towards Jotun’s Salamanders.
“Leave the Salamanders to the Elemental, face the Magma Soldiers.” Arthur commanded as the members of Valhalla moved, attacking the Magma Soldiers as a group.
After Alice killing one, along with Drew and his team ending the lives of another, there were only ten left, basically meaning one Magma Soldier for each member if the healers were left out of the fight, as usual.
Not that John or Miles weren’t helpful in a fight beyond just healing, the two could use magic and were capable of fighting well, especially Miles as he had a primary Water affinity compared to John who unlocked Water as his third.
All the monsters in this Area were fire based after all, and Water users such as Emilia would be especially good in this Area.
The Salamanders were stronger than the Magma Soldiers, and yet they were nothing before the Lightning Elemental, even a lesser one like the one Arthur had summoned.
Reaching the fourth rank in his Lightning Elemental Skill had allowed Arthur to actually do what it said on the tin, summon a Lightning Elemental to support them in a fight…
The downside was that it ate a huge amount of Mana, even more than the Greater Spark Step that Arthur considered his greatest spell…
And Arthur would also be incapable of using Lightning Element magic while the Elemental was away from him, even if he had the Mana he wouldn’t be able to use other Elements.
Then for the upsides, the Lightning Elemental was as fast as Arthur when he used the Greater Spark Step innately, and it was extremely powerful against living creatures such as the Salamanders.
Against the Magma Soldiers who were essentially weaker Elementals themselves, the Lightning Elemental was worthless as a combatant though.
Against the Magma Soldiers, Arthur moved first, lashing out with the Dagger of Hunger, stabbing it into the ‘skull’ of the Magma Soldier, dragging it closer before he used his new sword to pierce through its heart where its core resided.
Name: Solaris (Sword of the Sun)
Requirements:
Level: 83
Swordsmanship Skill (or some alternative) above rank two
Strength: 110 - Dexterity: 95
Offensive Ability: C+
Passive: Damage lessened from Fire and Light Elements (C+)
Despite how it appeared, it wasn’t actually a drop from the Dead Sun, instead it was a sword made by Dante using the Soul Stone of the Dead Sun and a few other rare materials.
The Magma Soldier died with nary a scream, dropping its Soul Stone behind, leaving Arthur to watch the rest die at the hand of his teammates.
Emilia’s water covered Bloodletting Daggers caused the Magma Soldier she hit to hiss and sputter with steam, groaning in pain as she wrenched at the core, killing it with a good hit.
Alice on the other hand, was using the weapon dropped by Gerard, Scar-Fang to simply strike with her full force at the core of the Magma Soldiers.
In truth, they had quite a bit of defence around their core, they were similar to the old Lantern grouping of monsters in that regard, except that Magma Soldiers had stronger defences in front of their core instead of weaker.
Lanterns were made of metal with glass protecting their core, Magma Soldiers were made with fire (oddly not burning Adventurers until they attacked with said fire) and rock, the rock protecting the core and being their hands and feet.
That didn’t stop those with high Strength stats or powerful weapons from easily breaking through said rock with a hit or two, as shown when Alice practically drilled into the chest of her Magma Soldier, raising it into the air as it was impaled, vanishing and dropping a Soul Stone.
Right… she was a berserker, even if everyone seemed to forget that from time to time.
Michael took out his Magma Soldier in a relatively simple manner, stepping backwards, and letting the monster approach him before he ducked, spinning and tripping the thing.
As it lay on its back, Michael stepped on its chest, aiming down and executing it, his arrow of Light piercing through its armour with a bit of difficulty judging by the frown on Michael’s face.
Matt was almost as ruthless as Alice, rushing his own enemy and shield bashing it in the chest over and over, not even giving it a chance to do anything as its chest cracked, and then the shield user delivered the final blow easily.
His hammer was best suited for breaking that thing in the first place, so even if he hadn’t used his shield he probably could have done something.
Then from the Jotun side, Drew dashed forward, shield held out in front of him, and then suddenly lowering his stance just as the monster took a swing at him, ducking under the blow, Drew slammed his shield into its ‘legs’ and pushed up, flipping the creature behind him with a grunt of effort.
It was well placed for a similar execution to Michael, leaving Drew breathing heavily… he was tired after getting to this point, understandably.
His teammates weren’t faring much better, tired much like he was, but they were still able to fight Magma Soldiers who weren’t as smart as humans.
Brandon, the Fighter of Jotun used his bare fists and had started learning boxing and muay-thai under Arthur’s orders, striking quickly at the chest of the Magma Soldier, knocking it backwards and making the creature stumble before he aimed for the stomach of the monster in an uppercut.
While not recommended, it was possible to bypass the armour by moving through the fiery areas of a Magma Soldier’s body…
Doing so had understandable repercussions involving burning sensations or damaging your weapon, so most of the time no one bothered doing this, instead hitting straight through into the core.
Brandon, the jock guy, had armour covering his fists and could do this with minimal damage to himself, grasping the core and squeezing it, killing the Magma Soldier.
It still annoyed their healer, Miles, to have to check for burns after this action though.
Vanessa, the magician of Jotun was luckily a Water Magician, meaning that she had free rein of the area, with a bit of focus and the muttering of the name of the Spell, her Magma Soldier was now nothing but rock after getting hit with very cold water, incapable of moving, the core shattering from the change in temperatures and killing the creature.
Emma, the archer of Jotun, was still trying to gain strength in comparison to Michael, who she was now dead set on imitating.
Unlike Michael, Emma’s Anima was a Skill, not a bow, though luckily she didn’t need arrows, which summoned themselves with Blacksmith made bows. She did struggle with Elements though…
But in Emma’s favour, her Element was Metal, so when she did infuse her Element into her arrows, they tended to… punch through everything unless blocked by a powerful enemy.
With one arrow, the chest plate of the Magma Soldier was gone, shattered into the wind, leaving Emma ample time to use her Element to create a blade, thrown accurately at the core of the Magma Soldier.
Another difference between Michael and Emma, Emma’s ability to use her Element in a fight compared to Michael was better, Michael either attacked with his legs, or his bow, nothing else, while Emma would use her Element to attack with blades.
Anima did not allow other weapons to be equipped above them, Arthur could not use two weapons unless one of them was the Dagger of Hunger, and it was why Michael never bothered to get anything for close range.
But Emma’s blades weren’t technically ‘weapons’ they were ‘magic’ and thus allowed.
In this sense, Emma was starting to suggest moves for Michael to do with his own magic of Light or Fire, and he was teaching her how he fought, minimal movement and always attacking.
It was apparently working.
Carlos, the tank of Jotun was another interesting character, Arthur had considered that a shield was technically a weapon, especially with how Matt used the spikes on his shield when he bashed someone, but Carlos shields were awesome.
Two ‘half’ shields with blades on them, they could be slotted together if Carlos took the classic ‘peakaboo’ boxing stance, creating a large hexagonal shield.
When they weren’t slotted together, the half shields could rotate into the direction Carlos demanded, allowing him to use the shield’s freely as blades attached to his arms.
Even better, they technically weren’t in his hands, so Carlos didn’t actually have a limitation on weaponry if he chose to use some.
Not that he did, his shield’s bladed edge was quite sharp so he was alright…
Carlos attacked the Magma Soldier, his left arm coming up to block a heavy strike against his shield, Carlos standing strong because of his high Endurance stat, and his other arm came up with the blade of the shield being used to pry the chest piece of the monster off, revealing its weak-spot for Carlos to strike.
Arthur did note that Carlos, defensively, wasn’t as good as Matt (no one was) nor Sheikh (a more realistic goal) but Carlos was able to more fluidly attack compared to those two.
Matt remained the greatest tank in the world in Arthur’s eyes though. Arthur had competition as a magic swordsman from people like Shaun or even George to an extent, but Matt’s only competition was Sheikh.
Sheikh was strong, no doubt, but he couldn’t block as well as Matt could.
Michael also could be considered the greatest archer that Arthur knew of actually… though the leader of the Mongolian strongest team would disagree, if Arthur actually met the man.
Side-track in his thoughts taken, and the Magma Soldiers defeated, Arthur looked to the final encounter between the Salamanders and his Lightning Elemental…
The smell of heavily cooked flesh was wafting from the Salamanders as they attempted to breathe fire at the Elemental, the only way they could harm the powerful magic, but it was too fast to be hit by such obvious attacks…
In fact, the Lightning Elemental moved around so erratically that the Salamanders would occasionally hit each other instead, and the Lightning Elemental would take the opportunity to attack whenever their mouths were open and fire didn’t spew out…
By sending a bolt of Lightning into their mouths and cooking them from the inside.
“Is it just me, or does your Elemental have your subtle sadism?” Michael commented as the humans of the group gathered, watching the Elemental attack before they’d join in…
If it wasn’t done by then, there were originally seven Salamanders and now there were only two left.
“I deny that claim. By the way, I’m running low on Mana, let’s get them.” Arthur pointed out, as the Lightning Elemental seemed to flicker, realizing that its time was at an end as it popped into nothingness, leaving a few sparks in the air that vanished along with it.
The encounter had barely taken three minutes, and yet Arthur was at about… twenty per cent of his Mana.
About sixty, seventy per cent of his Mana taken in three minutes, disregarding his regeneration, and factoring in that Arthur was not at full capacity when he started that Spell…
Arthur was really going to start putting points into Intelligence… that, and his Endurance.
He really didn’t want to be a ‘jack-of-all-stats’ though…
He’d be alright in three minutes anyway, his Mana regeneration was now at twenty six point six per cent of his total per minute.
He could go from full to empty, and he’d be back to full in less than four minutes.
It sounded quick, and it really was damn quick if Vanessa, John and Miles were to be believed given their use of magic…
But as a close up fighter, Arthur operated in seconds.
With his speed Arthur could launch almost as many attacks as there were seconds in a minute, and each would be powerful.
When in a fight, their perceptions of time were also beginning to slow down, their focus that high, meaning that a second would start to feel longer.
And they weren’t anywhere near their limit in their growth yet. At some point, even regenerating one hundred per cent of his Mana per minute would feel to slow to Arthur, he just knew it.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
The last two Salamanders were pitifully easy to slay with twelve people facing them, even if two were ‘non-combatants’ majority of the time.
“Alright, gather up the spoils, we’re getting out of here… my level up is done.” Arthur smirked as he said this, letting the group know of his excitement as they all smiled in agreement.
“You got it boss!” Brandon said, rushing over to go pick up the item drops, leaving Drew chuckling…
He was well aware that Brandon didn’t quite respect Arthur when they had first met, and Arthur had picked up on that.
After Arthur started messing with Brandon and being a bit stern, Brandon was respectful to Arthur now… a bit too respectful for a casual work-relationship, but in the Dungeon at least it fit.
It also helped that Arthur helped pick up the items himself.
Most of the items were carried by Matt due to his Lightened Load Skill, and the group began the journey to the entrance.
Funny enough, the stairs in the ninth Area were really weird, Valhalla found themselves walking ‘up’ stairs only to end up further ‘down’ on the volcano that was the ninth Area.
More ‘space-time fuckery’ as Arthur put it gently, to get to their current ‘floor’ they had walked down quite a few flights of stairs and yet they were closer to the top of the volcano than ever.
Really fun.
Not to mention that Arthur still liked the stairs, he always claimed that the stairs between ‘floors’ made him feel calm for some reason, and the group had to admit that, for something as simple as stairs they always got attention.
Walking ‘up’ the last flight of stairs, the stairs obsidian and the walls covered in lava creating writing and images, the ceiling being open to a sky dropping ash that seemed to dissipate before it could hit anyone.
Finding themselves in the room where they once fought the Dead Sun, the group moved towards the fast travel podium…
Jotun had yet to fight the Dead Sun actually, but at this point they felt that skipping a Demon Lord wasn’t really a train-wreck considering their boosted growth.
Arthur had even admitted that once Jotun was around the same level as Einherjar he’d be thinking about more people to bring into Valhalla.
Emilia slapped him on the head when she reminded that saying it like that sounded like he was saying he was going to go kill people to take them to heaven or something.
Using the fast travel, Valhalla exited to the Dungeon Entrance, coming across a team about to use the Entrance themselves, staring at Valhalla with the ‘deer in headlights’ look.
“Ah. Pardon us, go ahead.” Arthur said, motioning for his teammates to get out of the way while the team of Adventurers stared, before the leader eventually remembered that they were going into the Dungeon.
It was rare for teams to go in at night, but it wasn’t unheard of, some Areas such as Area six actually had unique monsters to face at night, not that Einherjar fought such groups.
Information on ‘night’ monsters usually came from Shaun and his team instead of Einherjar thanks to their schedule.
Also rare, but not an impossible occurrence… was walking out of the Dungeon and finding a team waiting to enter it. This wasn’t the first time for Einherjar, though it was a first from Jotun who were also a bit confused like the team they witnessed as they came out of the Dungeon.
The team soon walked in, the door of light shining as Arthur gestured for everyone to get their level ups out of the way.
Also, because Arthur could see Status Pages even though he shouldn’t- probably thanks to Soul Sight- he knew Jotun’s Status even though he had never explicitly asked for it.
They were admittedly a bit interesting to Arthur who liked learning information like that.
Drew Simmons
Level: 89 (C-Rank)
Class: Heroic Swordsman- Grants one stat point to Strength and Endurance per level
Gives Swordsman Skill and the Rally Skill
Anima
Sword of Courage
Anima Skills
Brave- erases debilitating mental effects from team
Gold Heart- Increases Endurance when in acting in defence of another
Roar- scares enemies into a stupor for five seconds, costs 6 Strength per use a day
Charge- Mana infused into the blade stays longer and has a greater effect.
Primary Element: Light
Other Element(s): Fire
Personal Skills
Swordsman IV (188/200) – Increases sword based damage by 10%
Rally V (41/250)- Inspire your team, increasing all stats by 5%
Knight Stance III (275/300) – Greater use of a sword and shield combination
Hero’s Strength V (31/250)- increases Strength by 30%
Stand Strong IV (172/200)- increases Endurance by 25%
Stats
Strength: 140 (182)
Dexterity: 140
Intelligence: 60
Wisdom: 60
Endurance: 140 (175)
Vitality: 106
Drew’s Skills and Stats all pointed him out as a damn well balanced swordsman, he had taken what Arthur had spoken about to heart.
Originally Drew had focused on Strength and Dexterity… but he had brought up his Endurance to the same point as those two stats, leaving his Intelligence and Wisdom behind.
Not only that, but Drew’s entire Status Page wrote him out to be an extremely beneficial member to any team, his mere presence would keep his teammates from being paralyzed by fear, indecision, things like that.
It probably didn’t affect things that were part of a person, but allowed his teammates to act in spite of fear or worries… hence, ‘courage’.
Arthur really wanted to tease Drew about his class name, but he had actually lied to everyone and just said that his class was named ‘rallying swordsman’ to explain his Rally Skill.
If they knew his Class qualified him as a ‘hero’ Drew would probably get really embarrassed.
Arthur didn’t blame him, Arthur would probably be just as embarrassed with a class named like that, at least his made little sense to anyone as a ‘Linked Swordsman’.
After assigning his stats, Drew stepped away from the podium and let his teammates step up…
The members of Einherjar were content to wait, Arthur was always the last to see his Status Page and they were fine with waiting for the Jotun members to finish their stuff first.
The next in line, after Drew, was their healer Miles, whose Stats were or particular focus to John…
Understandable as he was also a healer.
Miles Grant
Level: 89 (C-Rank)
Class: Brine Healer- Grants one stat point to Wisdom and Intelligence per level
Gives Ocean Call (Rare) Skill and Light Scripture Skill
Anima
Soothing Staff
Anima Skills
Healing Efficiently- decreases Mana cost of healing Spells by 10%
Still Pool- Mana for Water Spells can be stored for later use
Healing Potently- Increases effect of Healing Spells by 10%
Soothing Aura- increases Vitality of teammates by 20 when outside of combat
Primary Element: Water,
Other Element(s): Wood, Metal
Personal Skills
Ocean Call IV (21/400)- Grants access to Disruptive Water Spells
Light Scripture V (231/250)- Grants Healing Spells, lowers Mana cost
Staff Arts V (18/250)- increases spell effects by 50%
Tactician IV (162/200) - increases Wisdom by 25%
Computation III (141/150) – Increases Intelligence by 20%
Stats
Strength: 92
Dexterity: 83
Intelligence: 142 (170)
Wisdom: 158 (197)
Endurance: 68
Vitality: 103
Miles, as a healer, would arguably be better than John, increasing the rate of healing for his teammates outside of battle, but he wasn’t able to remain out of a fight like John.
Their enemies, the living, intelligent ones such as Salamanders, would target Miles the moment they figured out he was the healer, whereas with John they’d never know he existed.
Miles was a better magic user though, his Ocean Call Spell list allowing him to do things like create a wall of water, make a burst of water hit a monster into the air, or even simulate underwater pressure for monsters to slow them down.
It was, as the screen suggested, disruptive magic, it threw off the monsters in odd ways and made them confused… Arthur could admit that he’d like using such magic.
Arthur was then told, in no uncertain terms, that he should never be allowed such magic when he was already a bit sadistic in a fight, and that magic seemed made to toy with enemies.
Miles denied all sadism claims after that by the way.
After Miles looked at his Status, nodding at the increase to his stats and Skills, he walked away, content to stand near a wall, keeping his Staff in his hand, leaving them all to recover faster.
Miles was really a nice guy, even if most wouldn’t notice him boosting their Vitality slightly to recover their stamina.
The next member of Jotun to go up to the podium was Brandon, the Fighter who was now scared of Arthur to some extent…
Brandon was the one greatest affected by Arthur’s new ‘predatory’ Soul Sight by the way…
In case that wasn’t obvious.
Brandon Jones
Level: 88 (C-Rank)
Class: Strong Fighter- Grants one stat point to Strength and Dexterity per level
Gives Hero’s Strength Skill and Martial Art Skill
Anima
Brawler’s Gauntlets
Anima Skills
Combo- consecutive hits increase damage, bonus lost if the user is hit
Grapple- Grip strength increased massively
Ripple Effect- attacks bypass armour slightly
Rapid Fire- consecutive hits increase attack speed, bonus lost if the user is hit
Primary Element: Fire
Other Element: Earth
Personal Skills
Hero’s Strength V (162/250)- increases Strength by 30%
Martial Arts VI (5/300)- Increases damage dealt without a weapon
Regenerator IV (175/200)- Increases Vitality by 25%
Quick Reflexes IV (113/200)- Increases Dexterity by 25%
Magic Resistance III (214/300)- Grants 15% resistance to Magic Elements you possess
Stats
Strength: 145 (188)
Dexterity: 143 (178)
Intelligence: 51
Wisdom: 54
Endurance: 104
Vitality: 142 (177)
Brandon’s stats were erratic and annoyed Arthur to look at. Curse his minor OCD when it came to wanting numbers to be multiples of two or five… and Brandon would only truly become a threat when he started dodging.
There was a reason his Regenerator Skill was rank four.
Emma Polanski
Level: 88 (C-Rank)
Class: Ballista Wielder- Grants one stat point to Strength and Dexterity per level
Grants Archery Skill and Impact (Rare) Skill
Anima (Skill)
Nimble Archer- Increase Dexterity by 25% when wielding a bow
Devastation- Arrows have a 20% chance of destroying armour
Ranged Fighter- 15% increase in arrow distance and accuracy
Primary Element: Metal
Other Element(s): Wind
Personal Skills
Impact IV (38/400) –Arrows gain 20% knockback effect
Archery V (43/250) – increases accuracy with ranged weapons
Hero’s Strength V (16/250) – Increases Strength by 30%
Stand Strong III (112/150) – Increases Endurance by 20%
Stats
Strength: 160 (208)
Dexterity: 139 (173)
Intelligence: 60
Wisdom: 60
Endurance: 110 (132)
Vitality: 110
After checking, Emma really wasn’t related to the movie director by the same surname, but Emma was truly a different breed from Michael, Michael being mobile, striking weak points non-stop even as he moved around…
Emma could stand still and simply blow her enemies away though, especially if she increased that Impact Skill and her Strength Stat.
Granted, her Dexterity was lower than Michael’s by quite a bit, but damn, her Strength was higher than Michael’s was when he was that level.
After Emma was Carlos the tank of Jotun.
Carlos Garcia
Level: 89 (C-Rank)
Class: Bladed Guardian- Grants one stat point to Endurance and Strength per level
Gives Shield Combat (Rare) Skill
Anima
Warrior Shields
Anima Skills
Combination- Shields can be combined into one larger shield, using the larger shield reduces knockback by 25%
Spinning Blades- shields can rotate on arms to change angle of attack
Boomerang- shields can be flung and will return to position ever
Deflection- magic can be parried with each half-shield, ability disappears when shields are combined
Primary Element: Wood
Other Element: Metal
Personal Skills
Shield Combat IV (231/400)- decreases Damage taken when blocking, increases damage when attacking with shields
Stand Strong V (165/250)- increases Endurance by 30%
Hero’s Strength IV (197/200) – Increases Strength by 25%
Martial Arts III (82/150)- increases damage done without weapons
Stats
Strength: 160 (200)
Dexterity: 105
Intelligence: 60
Wisdom: 60
Endurance: 160 (208)
Vitality: 101
Much like Matt, Carlos had a really high Endurance Stat… still lower than Matt’s though, but in exchange Carlos had a much higher Strength Stat, along with his Dexterity and Vitality being above Matt’s.
Again, Matt was still the greatest tank in the world at current.
Vanessa Lenard
Level: 88 (C-Rank)
Class: Agile Magician- Grants one stat point to Dexterity and Intelligence per level
Gives Staff Arts Skill and Wind Arts Skill
Anima
Focus Staff
Anima Skills
Channelling- by charging a spell, it may deal an extra 50% damage, charging cannot be done while moving.
Recovery- Increases Wisdom by 10%
Low Cost- lowers Stat requirements for Skills by 1
Change Up- Spells can be swapped during casting
Primary Element: Wind
Other Element(s): Lightning, Water, Darkness
Personal Skills
Staff Arts V (231/250)- increases spell effects by 50%
Wind Arts VI (22/300)- Grants general Wind Spells, lowers cost of manipulating Wind
Computation V (103/250) – Increases Intelligence by 30%
Tactician IV (75/200) - increases Wisdom by 25%
Tempo Reading III (89/300) – increases team work ability, lowering chances of friendly fire
Stats
Strength: 60
Dexterity: 120
Intelligence: 189 (245)
Wisdom: 150 (202)
Endurance: 60
Vitality: 60
Arthur actually liked Vanessa’s Stat Page, her Tempo Reading Skill was originally an oddity until Arthur watched her fight with Jotun without stepping in himself, watching as she could ‘channel’ an attack aiming at her own teammate, but by the time the spell released the teammate would have already moved.
Vanessa couldn’t actually explain how she knew the timing, she just understood that she had to start her attack ‘now’ and then she would.
Of course, just in case it didn’t work properly, she did warn her teammates when she was attacking so that they could step out of the way if she channelled at the wrong time.
With all of Jotun done, the other members of Einherjar walked up to the Podium, one by one checking their stats, Arthur not needing to look at theirs as he already knew their stats.
The last time Arthur saw Jotun’s stats was when they were around level eighty, so he felt a need to be informed…
Arthur found it odd, looking in from the outside of course, that Arthur would be so nosy when it came to his friends, but ignore two strangers shouting at each other on the sidewalk as he walked past.
Eh, he struggled to care for people other than those he was connected to... that being said, it was finally his time to step up to the podium, looking at his left wrist, seeing the ‘LEV 99’ glowing tattoo… for the last time.
Stretching out that same hand, Arthur placed his hand on the Podium and-
Ah… you’ve grown.
Unlike the last few times Arthur had felt this sensation, had conversed with this being, he felt he could finally see… not much, but he could actually see.
Indeed, you can see… the world is beautiful, is it not?
Arthur looked at what he could, seeing the bright white surrounding himself and the being, before focusing on the being…
The world may be beautiful… but sometimes beauty hurts.
The being stood, not looking to Arthur, but looking far ahead, to something far from its grasp, let alone the grasp of Arthur whose vision was clearing slowly.
That it does… so, like always, the questions must be asked. How have you grown?
Arthur felt his own view upon the being finally become clear and felt a lack of words to describe what the being was wearing, the closest descriptive would be a long, split-tailed coat resembling the night sky, dotted with stars and flapping in some unfelt breeze, the being having its hands in its coat pockets.
I… I have grown in the sense that I know more.
Arthur looked upon the being, the being tilting its head, as if wishing to turn around and look upon Arthur, but finding itself incapable of it as the being spoke once more.
And what do you now know?
Arthur smiled a sad smile as he tried to look away from the being, but found himself incapable of doing so, left staring at the back of… whatever this being was.
I know enough to know that I know nothing.
The being’s shoulders shook, its unimaginably bright, short blonde hair catching Arthur’s eyes as it chortled in silent laughter at Arthur’s response.
That is actually good… acknowledging your lack of knowledge… do you wish to know more?
The being questioned Arthur after laughing, and Arthur frowned at being laughed at before thinking about the question, thinking for a while before opening his mouth.
No… I don’t think I do… knowing too much can be painful.
The being tilted its head, visible from where Arthur stood, but not seeing its face.
So what do you want to do with your knowledge? There is so much… you could fight smarter, could lead your people better, you could create wonders with your power… what will you do with your knowledge?
Arthur thought to the being’s words, before closing his eyes and smiling gently, at the most peace he had been since that dark voice had begun whispering violent suggestions to him.
I… I want to… understand what I do know. Rather… I want to understand you.
The being froze at Arthur’s words, the wind unfelt dying out, as the being turned, making Arthur freeze… out of fear, at the being’s missing face, only showing a large inhuman grin and nothing else, the shark-like teeth in the grin a deep blood red
Knowing me huh… I don’t think you should do that… but so be it.
And with that, Arthur gasped as he came back to reality, feeling John healing him as the rest of Valhalla stood nearby in worry as he looked to his status…
Arthur Clive
Level: 100 (B-Rank)
Class: Melding Sorcerer- Grants one stat point to Strength and two stat points to Wisdom per level
Gives Soul Melding Skill
Anima
Starving Cutlass
Coat of Recovery
Anima Skills
Cutlass- Hunger- Increase Soul Gain by 10%
Coat- Generator- increases Wisdom by 10%
Primary Element: Lightning
Other Element(s): Darkness, Mind
Personal Skills
Tactician V (131/250) - increases Wisdom by 30% (total 140%)
Sword Sage III (141/500)- Any bladed weapon deals 40% extra damage
Soul Sight III (208/500) - Allows insight beyond mortality
Dual Wielding V (114/250) - Greater use of two weapons
Lightning Elemental IV (143/400) - Use supplementary lightning spells
Quick Reflexes V (93/250)- Increases Dexterity by 30%
Hunter II (145/200)- Increases damage against previously killed enemies.
Regenerator I (0/50)- increases Vitality by 10%
Soul Melding (1%)- Approach Unity
Stats
Strength: 135
Dexterity: 150 (195)
Intelligence: 70
Wisdom: 163 (228)
Endurance: 70
Vitality: 135 (148)
“Arthur, what the hell man?” Michael shouted in worry as Arthur gasped, the burning in his lungs slowly evaporating his legs buckled, only able to keep himself from falling when he gripped onto the podium to stabilize himself…
Rather, Arthur could actually remember what happened when he ‘passed out’ this time… he… he couldn’t remember what had happened the previous times, but now, it was clear.
That being, without a face and a dangerous grin, speaking to Arthur… as if guiding his Soul… rather than that, instead of addressing the concerned glances being sent Arthur’s way by the members of Valhalla-
“I… I understand, just a bit more… Soul Melding…” Arthur looked upon the skill in both worry and anticipation, as the Skill was clearly unlike his others, it’s description being really vague and instead of a Rank, this one only had a percentage, the percentage currently reading at one per cent.
Breathing in deeply, Arthur stood, stabilizing himself as he turned to his team, looking at them all as he smirked.
“I’m alright… it was… similar to Awakening, that’s all.” Arthur admitted, drawing wide eyes as Arthur focused on himself, feeling his weakened Mana regeneration…
Instead he summoned his new Animae, his coat appearing on his frame, a short tail at the back while hugging his upper-frame, the coat being black with dark blue accents…
And his Dagger… no, Cutlass, appearing in his left hand, short, and slightly curved, but larger than the Dagger once was… and just like the Dagger, it caused the spines of those nearby to shiver at the feeling of a predator stepping into the room.
“I’m… fine.” Arthur said with a smile that unnerved his team.
Arthur would find out the next morning, after looking in a mirror… that his eyes were now an eerie yellow.