Lucius returned to the far side of the cavern, taking shelter in the caterpillar’s cave once again as he began integrating his tremendous spoils from the last battle. The first thing he did was allocate nine of his thirty free attribute points into Magic Power, bringing his base total up to the forty point threshold.
Congratulations!
You have reached 40 points in the Magic Power attribute, passing the first magical threshold! There is now enough magic in this attribute to generate a related Talent. Based on your current attribute distribution, talents, aspect, and personality, the system can generate a new Talent for you.
Would you like to generate a Talent now?
"Make it so!"
Generating...
...
...
Congratulations!
You have unlocked the Talent Burst.
Burst - Focus your body's Magic Power into each attack, adding a burst of magical damage to every strike. This is a channeled ability that remains active until canceled or until the user’s Magic Power is depleted.
Lucius rubbed his chin as he read about his newest Talent. He was beginning to shape into a powerful damage dealer. If he could sneak up on a target, he could unleash a tremendous amount of punishment in a short period of time.
What would happen if he combined Flicker, Assassinate, Blood Sacrifice, and Burst? Lucius figured he could probably take down opponents much higher level than himself—He just needed to get close enough without getting killed.
“Now… how to distribute the remaining twenty-one points.”
Tapping one finger on his chin, Lucius pulled up his status to assess his current situation.
Strength 40(45)
Vitality 40(45)
Dexterity 40(45)
Intelligence 5(15)
Creativity 6(16)
Luck 1(6)
Stamina 23(28)
Magic Power 40(45)
Magic Resist 6(11)
…
…
Free Attribute 21
Lucius considered his options as he looked down at his mythical companion. Whisper had grown a bit more once again. It was becoming clear that the purple bat would continue to grow alongside Lucius' Magic Power attribute.
Because of this, he was tempted to invest all his free attribute points into Magic Power, but after further consideration, he decided against it. Dexterity was still his main attribute, and until he reached C-Class, he was determined to keep raising it.
Whisper’s abilities were useful, but not as beneficial as faster movement, which also translated to increased attack speed. Lucius finalized his decision, allocating twenty points into Dexterity and placing the leftover point into Intelligence to balance it with Creativity.
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Strength 40(45)
Vitality 40(45)
Dexterity 60(65)
Intelligence 6(16)
Creativity 6(16)
Luck 1(6)
Stamina 23(28)
Magic Power 40(45)
Magic Resist 6(11)
…
…
Free Attribute 0
“Good… now that that's done, we can get to the really fun part!”
Lucius waved his left hand, and a massive, five-foot-long stinger appeared on the ground before him. He scratched the back of his head as he took in just how large the stinger actually was.
“Hmm… it’s a bit longer than I was expecting, but no matter! This will work.”
Reaching forward, Lucius placed his hand on the long, black stinger, his eyes tracing its needle-like tip. Thick purple venom could be seen slowly oozing from the hollow tip of the stinger. A system description promptly appeared before his eyes as he focused.
Hornet King’s Stinger - Biological - Quality [Rare]
The venom-filled stinger of an adult male Rex Crabro, otherwise known as the Hornet King. The venom in this stinger is a potent paralytic capable of slowing even top C-Class creatures.
Lucius pumped his fist when he saw the stinger's quality was marked as [Rare]. That meant he could use his remaining [Rare] item upgrade, along with the [Extraordinary] upgrade he’d just earned from slaying the Hornet King, to create his first [Legendary] grade item.
He had decided long ago that when he received an item upgrade of a higher grade for the first time, he would use it on a weapon first—and he was in need of a larger weapon that could better utilize his Piercing Throw talent. Matriarch’s Fury was a great short sword, but it was best suited for close-range combat and wasn’t ideal as a thrown weapon.
Lucius knelt beside the stinger, placing both hands on the item as he activated his two upgrades simultaneously. The familiar swarm of lights filled the room within a few breaths time, but there were two differences that became immediately noticeable.
First, instead of the usual light golden hue, the magical lights shone with a brilliant platinum color. Second, the size of the orbs had increased significantly; what had once been as small as fireflies were now the size of marbles, three to four times larger than they had always been before.
The platinum lights swarmed around the stinger in the manner that Lucius had seen many times, enveloping it until none of its black surface remained visible. Yet the lights kept coming, their glow intensifying as more and more magic was forced into the material.
THUMP THUMP THUMP
With a sound like a giant heartbeat pounding in his ears, Lucius watched as the platinum corona surrounding the stinger began to contract rhythmically, growing smaller with each resounding beat.
Finally, with a loud hiss, the remaining magical light forced its way inside, exposing the red-hot surface of the newly crafted spear.
“Ouch!”
Lucius jerked his hands back as the spear burned his skin the moment the magical light was no longer there to separated him from the item's scorching surface.
Quickly pulling a few bottles of water from his storage ring, he poured them over the new spear, cooling it enough to finally pick it up.
Lucius’ newest weapon was rather simple in design. It was a perfectly straight, jet-black spear about five feet long, with dark gray runic symbols etched along its surface. The runes were subtle, barely visible against the dark material.
What the spear lacked in flashy appearance, however, it more than made up for in power. Just standing near the weapon, Lucius could feel the immense magical pressure radiating from it.
Without hesitation, he prompted the system to display the details of his new weapon.
Lament of the Hornet King - Biological Spear - Quality [Legendary]
This is a powerful weapon crafted from the rare venomous stinger of an adult Hornet King, enhanced using multiple item upgrade tokens. The Hornet King’s venom serves as a magical base, granting this spear a permanent venomous effect.
Paralytic Venom: Enemies pierced by this weapon must undergo a resistance check. Those who pass the check will suffer a 1–25% movement speed debuff, while those who fail will be paralyzed.
Sky King: Increases damage by 45% for each attack made while airborne.
Sudden Sting: This weapon can retract or extend by up to three additional feet.
Lucius couldn’t suppress the wide grin spreading across his face as he held his first [Legendary] weapon. The black spear was everything he had hoped for—no, it was even better. It was perfect for his needs.
Whisper perched on his shoulder, his small eyes fixed on the impressive weapon.
“I was wrong, Father. Defeating the hornet has greatly increased our strength. If you had listened to me, we never would have gained such a powerful tool.”
Lucius lifted the spear, aiming its razor-sharp tip at the stone wall of the cavern beside him. With a single thought, the five-foot spear extended to eight feet, piercing through the rock with ease. A massive chunk of stone crumbled to the ground.
Smiling as he retracted the weapon, Lucius glanced at Whisper.
“Yeah, yeah, you can make it up to me later. Right now, I want to go kill something!”