[Bloodfire Annihilator]

C-Rank Class

Stats on Level: +4 DEX | +4 STR | +7 VIT | +7 MAG | +1 PSY | +1 DEF

This class grants the following benefits:

* You merge your [Blood] and [Mana] into one resource, [Bloodfire], which can be spent to fuel your abilities and regenerate any damage you sustain.

* Any hellfire that you create can now be absorbed to replenish your [Bloodfire].

* You can now form your armaments out of hellfire. When you dismiss an armament, you may cause it to burst into hellfire.

Ashtoreth read the class with wide eyes. Then, tentatively, she stepped forward and cast a gout of hellfire onto the dead boss’s arm, keeping the flames on it long enough for the arm to ignite.

She watched the fire burn a moment, then called the flames back into herself, sucking them back into her palm and watching her [Bloodfire] go back up, restoring about half of what she’d spent on the flames in the first place.

She felt a warm, fuzzy feeling grow inside her.

“It’s… beautiful,” she said.

Hellfire itself was now her health and mana resource, [Bloodfire]. Her total [Blood] had been determined by [Vitality], which between her class and her race was her highest stat per level at +15 total. And she’d been getting 20 per level, not 10 the way that [Health] worked, because she was a vampire.

Now that it was combined with [Mana] to create [Bloodfire], she had a truly stupendous resource pool. The 5 [Mana] per [Magic] and [Psyche] had given her a little over 1000 [Mana] before she’d levelled.

She opened her stats:

[Dexterity]: 121

[Strength]: 126

[Vitality]: 108

[Magic]: 126

[Psyche]: 105

[Defense]: 89

[Bloodfire]: 3315 / 3315

Now that she could re-absorb her hellfire, she had far more capacity in battle for regeneration and offense. And she could replenish her [Bloodfire] just by setting things aflame and letting the fire spread.

Her greatsword was now also a hellfire attack spell. In fact….

“Dazel, you should move.”

“Wha…?” he said, his head coming up from where he’d curled up next to the blade protruding from the boss’s eye.

“Did you go to sleep again?”

“Mm? No,” he said defensively, blinking.

“I’m not even mad,” she said. “I’m sort of impressed you can do that so quickly. Anyway, move.”

He groaned and hopped down off the demon’s face.

Ashtoreth dismissed her sword… and watched a roaring plume of violet fire burst from its eye socket and rise a dozen feet into the air. She felt hot, steaming eye-gunk splash her face as she grinned up at the flames.

“I’m just so happy….” she said, her voice wavering.

“Uh-huh. It really suits you, boss”

“Okay,” Ashtoreth said. “There’s more yet. I’ve got an upgrade from taking the [Hellfire] aspect and an upgrading from hitting level 2.” She jerked her head toward the now-smoking corpse of the boss. “Then I gotta eat this thing’s heart.”

“Wait,” said Dazel. “So if I’d gone to sleep somewhere else, I could have kept napping?”

“No!” she said. “Go find the boss chest, you lout.”

He grumbled. “It’s probably on the bridge—I don’t think I can get back up there.”

“No? I can toss you.”

“...Though actually, I see a path up these cavern walls that I can try. I’m gonna check it out.”

“Great,” Ashtoreth said flatly.

But her useless familiar couldn’t detract from her moment. She still had progression to look forward to.

{Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options}

Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire Bolt]:

For a low [Mana] cost, you can form your conjured hellfire into a dense missile that you launch with high accuracy.

Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire Efficiency]:

The cost of conjuring hellfire is reduced by 20%.

Upgrade [Hellfire] with [Hellfire Aura]:

Creatures in close proximity to your hellfire are affected by any auras you possess.

Gain a beneficial aura that renders allies immune to damage from your hellfire.

[Hellfire Efficiency] was probably useful in the long term, but right now Ashtoreth had a lot more hearts than she had [Bloodfire] problems.

She still wanted the aura… once she had allies, and better yet more aura effects. Archfiends could get all manner of both detrimental and beneficial auras from their racial progression, and her class made it clear that setting the world ablaze was a life goal… but at this low level, and with no auras to speak of, the skill was mostly useless.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

She wasn’t sure if it was appearing here because she’d retained it in her racial progression, though. If she chose to replace it in her [Hellfire] advancement path, would she never see it again?

She didn’t want it, but she didn’t want to get rid of it.

So she chose [Hellfire Bolt] and retained both other options. It would be nice to have some ranged capabilities, at least.

{Gained [Hellfire Bolt] upgrade for your [Hellfire] ability}

“Thanks!” she said. “Next up: level 2!”

{Reaching level 2 has granted advancement. Choose one of your progression paths.}

“Armament, please!”

To Ashtoreth, it was a pretty straightforward choice. [Armament] was the only path that her racial advancement couldn’t buff, and it was the path she had most training in. [Hellfire] could deal with hordes of monsters, but Luftschloss was her boss killer.

{Choose an upgrade to gain, then choose to retain or replace all other options}

Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Proximate Telekinesis]:

You can telekinetically move Luftschloss in any direction while it is close to your body (within three meters). This telekinesis does not apply any counterforce.

The maximum force you are able to apply to the blade depends on your MAG and PSY stats.

Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Mighty Wielder]:

While Luftschloss is conjured, you gain a 25% bonus to your STR.

Upgrade [Conjure Luftschloss] with [Luftschloss: Mighty Blow]:

You can spend a moderate amount of [Blood], [Mana], or hellfire to infuse your next strike with incredible force.

“Well then,” Ashtoreth said. Reading them over, she’d probably be retaining whichever two she didn’t pick.

She was a spellsword through and through, and her sword was heavy. For most intents and purposes, [Luftschloss: Proximate Telekinesis] would let her casting stats function a lot like [Strength].

The telekinesis in this case wasn’t reciprocal, meaning that the minute manipulations on the blade wouldn’t push and pull her around. It would be similar to her racially-provided flight power in that she could affect minute adjustments to position, but for the sword.

Helpful, especially when combined with the [Luftschloss: Counterforce Telekinesis]: she could use it to get just the right angle when using the counterforce to throw either her sword or herself.

All in all, [Luftschloss: Proximate Telekinesis] gave everything that [Luftschloss: Mighty Wielder] would give her, but better. She’d still want both eventually, but one was clearly superior on account of the balanced stats she got from her race.

It was a tempting upgrade… but [Luftschloss: Mighty Blow] was a boss killer, plain and simple. Creatures with high [Defense] stats or huge bodies would require high bursts of damage to seriously harm. The higher her burst capabilities, the stronger the bosses she’d be able to fight.

She wanted both, but she had to pick one. So she picked the one she’d most regret not having, if it came up:

{Gained [Luftschloss: Mighty Blow] upgrade for your [Conjure Luftschloss] ability.}

“Thanks!” Ashtoreth said to the system.

That done, she turned to the final matter at hand—the smoking corpse of the boss that lay next to her.

“Somehow I gotta eat this thing’s heart,” she said.

It took her a while, but she found that [Consume Heart] could still tear out a heart even as big as the boss’s… it just needed a little time to slowly open up the ribs, tear open the skin, sever the heart’s connecting arteries and then heave the whole thing out into her arms.

Ashtoreth caught it in her arms, her mouth forming an O while her eyes widened.

“It’s huge!” she said. “It’s like a softer, inside-out pumpkin!” She beamed as she hugged the organ to her chest. She squeezed it tight, using her [Consume Heart] ability, and it burst into violet flames, dissolving and being absorbed.

Unsurprisingly her [Bloodfire] went to full. What was more:

{You gain a [Devoured Flesh] buff: + 6 DEX | + 65 STR | + 44 VIT | + 33 DEF}

{You gain a [Connoisseur] buff: + 10 Death Resistance | + 10 Fire Resistance | + 10 Shadow Resistance | + 6 Frost Resistance | + 6 Lightning Resistance | + 6 Physical Resistance | + 6 Poison Resistance}

Ashtoreth snorted as she saw the stats she’d received. The boss had apparently had no [Magic] or [Psyche] to speak of… but 650 [Strength].

“Min-maxing is a legitimate strategy!” she said, grinning as she brought up her stats:

[Dexterity]: 123

[Strength]: 186

[Vitality]: 147

[Magic]: 126

[Psychic]: 105

[Defense]: 120

[Bloodfire]: 4095 / 4095

Ashtoreth grinned and shook some of the leftover blood off her arms. The buff, combined with her level, had close to doubled her [Strength]. She wouldn’t have much trouble hefting Luftschloss now, even without the proximate telekinesis upgrade.

“I’m so much more powerful,” she said, her voice once again trembling with joy.

She formed her claws and used the pull of her racial flight ability to climb the walls of the cavern with relative ease. She found Dazel up on the bridge, napping atop a chest of burnt black iron whose lock clicked open at her touch.

She threw open the lid, sending the cat sprawling onto the stones of the bridge below.

Dazel yelped, then got up and looked around, finally fixing his eyes on her. “That was cruel, boss.”

“Why did you fall asleep on the one thing I had to open?” she asked. In a chiding tone, she added: “Dazel. Are you a masochist?”

“I’m not even going to dignify that with an answer.”

A soft, violet glow emanated from the chest. “They even got my color,” Ashtoreth said appreciatively.

But inside the chest was nothing but a note, seemingly handwritten on a piece of vellum in spidery violet ink.

You entered the tutorial with a magical item, [Ashtoreth’s Glamourous Diadem]. Your boss rewards will be allocated toward that item until you’ve fully earned it.

You are 82% of the way toward earning [Ashtoreth’s Glamourous Diadem].

“Okay,” she said. “Well that’s nice.”

Still… 82 percent? It would have been nicer if she’d been able to forgo have her item budget reallocated until she fought a boss that would be worth the whole diadem.

“Well, I suppose it is a pretty powerful magical item.”

“Hey boss,” said Dazel. “Do you hear that?”

Ashtoreth paused, listening. She could hear something… in the distance—through the doorway on the other side of the bridge. A frequent, staccato burst. A high crack that seemed to reverberate off the walls.

She smiled, eyes widening. “Dazel, do you know what that is?”

“Uh…?”

“A gun!”

And she ran through the doorway at the end of the bridge, seeking the sound of the weapon… and it’s wielder.