I sat there at the foot of the massive ogres corpse in disbelief. I had just killed something that could raze entire villages by stabbing it in the front with small knives while it tried to kick me from under a massive tree. I was torn between laughing and crying. The falcon hopped over to me and landed on my shoulder, rubbing its head affectionately. I checked over my notifications first, seeing that neither enhanced explosion nor Identify had leveled. I wondered if there was a cap to the level they could earn. I would have to dig through the guide for that information if I survived this event. I combed over the combat log and confirmed that the wave leader had a skill that gave it 90% explosion resistance. The falcon distracted it and it broke the concentration required for the skill, allowing me to damage it. The tree falling had done the rest, the old forest looking out for its sole inhabit I guessed.
I took a few minutes to think about what I saw in that dream after being knocked unconscious. If those events were real the emperor of Norx was able to control the dead bodies of his citizens. I couldn’t believe he had murdered his wife like that, so carelessly. I had heard rumors of his supposed cruelty even before the framework but most assumed it was just gossip towards the enemy nation. I shuddered remembering the scene, if I survived the night I needed to warn someone of the danger coming from the north.
I drank another health potion and watched my health tick back up closer to full. My leg was still painful but it was healing rapidly. I was able to put my weight on it and began to trek towards the portal. I needed a new plan in case the next beast wave was even tougher to kill than these ogres were. Their thick skin and incredible resistance to explosion damage was a problem if there were more coming later.
I opened my item boxes after I made it to the clearing around the portal. The silver box contained 10 simple bombs, the first gold box contained 10 standard bombs and the second gold box contained 10 shrapnel bombs. I could only hold 10 in my bandoleer at a time, thankfully framework granted items could be held in my inventory. There was a few seconds of lag time between thinking of an item in my inventory and it appearing in the real world. I wondered if this was tied to one of my stats or if it was standard for everyone. Most information I could only get from a larger town. I opened the first ruby box to find a new knife. It was plain and only about 6 inches long, larger than a throwing knife but smaller than a combat style dagger. I triggered Identify.
Stryker Dagger - Unique - Upgradeable - Base Damage 35 - Blade will not dull over time.
I thought it strange that every piece of equipment I received was labeled as stryker gear. Sure we had used a standard uniform back at camp but for the most part we were all allowed to choose our own gear to our own preferences. I wondered if these items were being given to any remaining strykers as well, if any remained that is.
“Maybe it's because the items are tied to my class, what do you think”? I asked the large bird sitting on my shoulder. I had become so used to it perching there I didn’t even notice sometimes when it landed and took off. The last ruby box contained a recipe for another type of explosive and the description gave me chills. An immediate sense of dread forming in my mind for the next wave.
Hallowed Bomb - Bomb that does extra damage to unholy type beasts.
I checked the timer and I had 40 minutes to go before the next spawn. There were only two ingredients listed, a container of hallowed light and a standard bomb. The two needed to be kept separate until the moment of desired detonation. I would need a new type of container to continue making these in the future but for now I could just place the hallowed light on the ground next to a standard bomb and then detonate it, at least I hoped that was how it worked.
I replaced the bombs near the portal, using most of the standard bombs near the front this time and simple bombs around the outside. I kept a few simple bombs and standard bombs in my bandoleer. For good measure I also placed a shrapnel bomb directly in the middle front of the portal.
Limping back to the mine to have a quick meal and grab the hallowed light. I didn’t know if I would need to place the hallowed light near the portal for an immediate explosion or not. I would have to take the risk of waiting to see what type of beast arrived for the next wave. There was a moment with each wave where the beasts remained still before moving, this would give me a small window to Identify and decide, I had to be quick and decisive.
I arrived back to the clearing with 3 minutes left before the wave. The falcon hovered in the air a few dozen feet above my head, waiting. The timer reached 0.
00:00:00
Dark spindly shapes started to form in front of the portal. I began to trigger Identify in rapid succession until one finally took.
Dusk Arranx - Event Beast Wave 6 - Level 17 - Health 50/50 - Type : Unholy
As soon as I read the words unholy I lobbed the hallowed light in the middle of the crowd and detonated both standard bombs closest as well as the shrapnel bomb. I was treated to the spectacular sight of brightly glowing shrapnel shards flying through the air and skewering the arranx. I triggered the simple bombs that were in range and help a standard bomb in my hand. I didn’t know if these were only susceptible to the hallowed bomb or if anything could hurt them. I watched as the entire group of beasts was destroyed.
Congratulations! You have slain the Beast Wave Leader!
Congratulations! You have survived Beast Wave Level 6!
Congratulations! You have reached level 20!
Congratulations! You have earned Platinum Item Box x1!
I started suspiciously at the portal, that had almost seemed too easy after the last wave. The framework had given me exactly what I needed to complete that wave. I would never trust this malevolent system but my disbelief in what it did was wearing thin. I could only be surprised so many times before the abnormal became normal.
4 new skill points had appeared on my interface and I placed them in remote detonation. It was still limited to 3 explosives but the distance kept improving, it was now at 540 feet which was farther than I could physically see in this type of dense forest. I opened the platinum item box and cringed at the sight of an even bigger bomb. I was hoping to continue to restock my smaller bombs after each level so I had placed them and triggered them liberally. Even distrusting the framework I had still trusted it too much. I triggered Identify.
Major Bomb - Base Damage 300, Blast Radius 150 Feet.
The base damage and blast radius were ramping up at alarming rates, what was coming next that required such a large radius and powerful blast? I did the math on enhanced explosion. 300*(10-20)*3 was an astounding 9,000 to 18,000 damage at the center of the explosion! That was an unreal amount of damage even considering the ogres explosion resistance. I only had 40 minutes to decide on a plan of action for wave level 7.
My current supplies were 2 standard bombs and 2 simple bombs left in my bandoleer. I was able to put the larger bombs in the same size pocket in my bandoleer which made it convenient even if confusing. I looked up to find my friend and couldn’t see it in the sky, it wasn’t in the clearing. I began to panic as it hadn’t left my sight all day. I began to frantically search around the clearing and found the bird with a large metal shard through its wing a few hundred feet away. It must have been clipped and then fell a long distance. I triggered Identify and found it only had 3 health left.
I forced a health potion down its beak and then removed the shard from its wing. I cradled it in my arms and ran back to the mine as fast as I could. I didn’t know if the bed regeneration bonus was applied to the falcon since it was considered a beast by the framework but I didn’t have any better ideas. I wrapped it in a blanket and waited to make sure its health increased before I left. It didn’t increase but it at least didn’t drop any faster. I waited out the potion cooldown and forced down another potion, the falcon didn’t respond. Tears were flowing out of my eyes and I started to sob. This couldn’t be happening again, I had already murdered my friends once. I checked the timer and it was down to 8 minutes. I had to go. I gave the unresponsive bird a kiss on the head and headed back out to the portal.
Sylar at the end of chp 25
Sylar Till Age 17 Race Human Class Wildcard Level 20 Strength 21 Stamina 44 Agility 27 Intelligence 25 Wisdom 46 Charisma -2 Luck 3
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Equipment - Armor/Base Damage - Condition Head None Chest Stryker uniform 10 Good Arms Stryker uniform 10 Good Hands None Belt Stryker Bandoleer 10 Good Legs Stryker uniform 10 Good Boots Stryker uniform 10 Good Weapon Stryker Bow 20 Good Weapon Stryker Dagger 35 Good Cloak Stryker Cloak 25 Good
Quick to violence 4th person in Eter to commit murder Violence I First person in Eter to reach 10 kills Fickle ally First person in Eter to murder allies Slayer of Norx I First person in the world to slay 10 Norx soldiers Out with a bang Planted a bomb that you did not know you would survive the explosion of Bombadeer First in world to kill with an explosive device Unorthodox I Creating an unorthodox shelter Crafty Creating something with your bare hands and knowledge Punching above your weight class II Kiling a beast 2x levels higher Well rounded II First person to reach 150 cumulative stats Slayer of regional beast lord Kill a regional beast lord Survivor II Survive two encounters that leaves you with less than 5 health Dungeon Explorer First in Eter to complete a dunegon level! Weapons Of Mass Destruction II Killed a Beast Wave Leader instantly!
Skills - Level - Description Enchanced Explosion 10 Explosive base damage*8(8-18)*(Luck) Identify 10 Displays all known information about a target Natural Explorer 10
All resources known to subject added to explored areas.
Remote Detonation 14 2 explosives, distance = (10)*20 feet
Crafting - Level Skinning 3 Ability to quickly and effectively skin beasts Rigging 3 Ability to quickly and effectively rig things together with minimal supplies Unorthodox 3 Ability to craft items from unorthodox supplies Foraging 1 Ability to gather resources without damaging them increased, efficiency increased. Alchemy 6 Ability to combine reagents to create potions, pills and bombs.