Narzagul took another swing, but he clearly felt fatigued from the prolonged fight, and his movements were no longer fast enough. When the shaman's interference was interrupted, his opponent began to resist again.
'How can a human be so strong? Fuck. If Urguluk hadn't gotten caught, we would have had victory in our pocket,' Narzagul thought.
"Aa! Die already, I want to take your elf!” Shouted the orc.
*Dodge*
*Cut*
Gaz did what he could to avoid being killed. Now that no one was trying to trick his senses anymore, he could fully concentrate on the fight.
The orc swung, his stamina was on the wane. Gaz, dodging the attack, took a step forward and cut off his opponent's hand, ending the duel by putting the blade to the opponent's throat.
“I lost,” Narzagul said, disappointed.
“I didn't expect anything else,” replied Elrianthe, walking up to him.
Gaz stepped aside to let Elrianthe judge the Orc.
“Kill me at once. I don't want to speak with you,” replied Narzagul, kneeling on the ground.
“You don't have to tell me twice. That's why I'm here-” began Elrianthe, when suddenly the orc broke off and reached out his hand, trying to grab her.
“HA! Gotcha-”
*CUT*
The massive green arm flew up several meters as the heavy axe suddenly came between the orc and Elrianthe.
“Aaa, you fucking cat!” Shouted the orc in pain.
'How could he be so fast! Did that witch put the weakest of the group into battle to laugh at me?!' Thought Narzagul, lying on the ground and holding his severed stump at the elbow.
“Thank you, Taygeer. I didn't think this idiot was going to break his own rules.”
“You whore! You planned to break the rules yourself when you lose!” Shouted Narzagul. “Be cursed!”
“Will you shut up already, you filthy scumbag!” She answered him.
“Boss, you need to be more careful,” said Taygeer.
“Forgive me. Sometimes I forget that I'm not immortal,” replied Elrianthe with an innocent smile.
“May Morana, the Goddess of Death personally doom you to hell!” Blasphemed Narzagul, bleeding on the ground.
“SHUT THE-”
*stab*
“FUCK!”
*stab*
“UP!”
*stab*
Narzagul died, pierced by a spear blade.
'I hate orcs.'
[ +52600xp (x2)]
[ Promoted to level 11 ]
[ Received +100 HP and +200 MP ]
The number of experience points she earned for defeating the chief left her stunned. Narzagul was level 14, so she expected a significant gain, but thanks to the level difference, she received double the amount as a bonus. The stat points awarded for advancement also increased after she passed level 10.
[ Level: 11 (46450/102400xp) +20740 ]
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'Just a while ago I was only six thousand short of level 10. I love to farm XP,' she thought with satisfaction.
“What about the rest?” Matt asked.
Two of Narzagul's wives and a shaman who lay unconscious on the ground remained in the settlement.
“We take the shaman with us. Kill the rest and burn the village,” decided Elrianthe.
According to her will, the orc fortress was burned to the ground.
Three days until the meeting with the marquis...
The next morning Elrianthe woke up in a great mood. Everything was going her way, and with her new skills, she didn't even have to leave her comfortable hiding place to gain experience.
The obvious decision was to send the boys alone while she could rest in a comfortable bed. While this vision was tempting, she had to take a moment to catch up.
She appointed Taygeer as team leader, to be supported by Gaz, and sent them on a hunt. While farming XP, Taygeer would have the opportunity to brush up on his leadership skills. Elrianthe was well aware of how valuable allies are good and resourceful comrades. She hoped that Taygeer would become a fully independent and strong subordinate.
'Oh, I forgot to change their XP sharing. I hope they will quickly advance to level ten,' thought Elrianthe, modifying the settings in the system.
'Good. Let's check what classes we have to choose from,' she said in her mind, clicking on the window in front of her.
[ Changing class ]
[ Available classes to choose from:
- Puppeteer (Class A) A class that has the advantage of being able to control the bodies of its puppets. A Puppeteer can transfer part of his mind into the body of a puppet to wield it as if it were his own body. Experienced Puppeteers are even capable of controlling the bodies of those outside their sphere of influence, but only for a brief moment.
- Manipulator (Class A) A class whose abilities specialize in manipulating the minds of their victims. The impact of the abilities and their power is increased several times but at the expense of the number of puppets, which is limited to two.
- Grim Shepherd (S-Class) A class whose main strength is the number of puppets it can maintain under its rule. The Grim Shepherd has weaker control over the puppets, but the available number of puppets is increased. The Good Shepherd has a strong bond with his herd, so in this case, the host is given the ability to communicate telepathically with his puppets to ensure their care and welfare. ]
Elrianthe carefully studied the descriptions of all the characters. Each was unique and specialized in different areas. The choice proved difficult, as it had a significant impact on the way she would have to make decisions.
'Honestly, I would like to have everything in one. Aaah! On the other hand... I want telepathy so much... I think it's the perfect class for infiltration,' she mused.
"Wait a minute! How could I be so stupid!” She shouted in disbelief.
Elrianthe suddenly realized that she had missed an opportunity to acquire cheap labor. If she had decided to change classes before attacking the fortress, she could have made the entire village her loyal laborers, who would have worked day and night, earning her the money she would need in the future.
“Fuck! Fine! I choose the Shepherd!” She decided in the end.
[ Warning: Changing class involves a level reset. The choice can be delayed until later. ]
[ Do you want to change your class to Grim Shepherd?]
“No!” She shouted suddenly, changing her mind. “I can't lose everything now and go back to the first level...”
There was still a lot to do in her plans, and she needed her current level for most of it. The effectiveness of her skills was based on the level difference, and while she could advance quickly by hunting dangerous creatures, the risk of not being able to complete her plans before the day of the sale was too great for her.
[ +40 XP bonus ]
[ +28 XP bonus ]
Elrianthe noticed that despite setting 100% XP for Taygeer and Gaz, she still received bonus experience points that added to her pool of free XP.
'Interesting. I didn't notice it before. Never mind.'
“That's right!” She exclaimed suddenly, remembering another important change.
She recalled the status and started searching through the bookmarks. She went into Daily Challenges and read the contents of one of them.
“What the fuck is an essence?” She asked herself, looking through the list of challenge rewards.
Previously, she had received modest amounts of XP for completing these simple tasks, but now something had changed - instead, she was being awarded some kind of strange essence.
“System, what is an essence?” She asked.
.
.
No response was received.
'I should really learn to use it...'
“Oh, I remembered. I should check the store.”
The store was another new feature she unlocked after being promoted to level 10. When she selected the tab, a new window opened, and a long list of the categories of 'goods' it offered appeared. There were weapons, clothing, armor, rings, magic necklaces, wands, and even skills and passive effects. The selection was huge, but the prices - ridiculous.
'This is some kind of an overpriced Admin Shop,' stated Elrianthe rightly.
She entered the skill category and began to search through the available options. She quickly unraveled the mystery of the enigmatic essence, which turned out to be the main currency in this store. Most of the low-end skills could be purchased for the right amount of essence. Others required certain conditions, and still others required additional rare currency.
'I could use something that would allow me to command people who are not under my control. Something that could even work on a whole crowd at once...'
In her search, she came across one skill that meets her requirements.