You defeated a - Level 49 Skeleton Elite Brute.

| Extra experience gained from fighting a higher levelled monster!

You have Levelled up!

| Noah ( Phantom Lancer ) level 43 -> Noah ( Phantom Lancer ) level 44

Krall, the Scourge of the Jungle has levelled up.

| Krall level 43 -> Krall level 44

Noah stood over the skeleton, huffing in stale air. The fight had lasted much longer than he thought, as even with access to his Shards, the monstrous Constitution the brute held was enough to cause Noah to grind his teeth.

He had to resort to fueling his Thrust Shard into long range projectiles. It worked. But it did take a while before he pierced its skull with repeated attacks.

Thankfully, the groaning walls, ceiling, and the grumbling floor had stopped just after the brute emerged.

Noah believed that something was triggering them to come to life. He didn’t have any evidence to back up his claim, but it was too unusual. The moment his foot stepped into a room, it came to life. Or maybe it was some perception technique that was unique to the undead?

Despite the long fight, he hadn’t suffered a single injury. If he did, it would be worse than just a few broken bones. He could still feel the air strike his flesh as the monster swung its heavy hammer made of strange bone.

Taking one last, long breath. He settled himself as something caused his excitement to blossom. It wasn’t from a Rare skill of any kind that had spawned in the air, only shards welcomed his sight above his defeated foe. No, it was the system notification he received that made his fingers twitch.

Strengthened Body has evolved to Stage 2

| …Upgrade path is being displayed.

| Upgrade path is based on the starting rarity of the Skill and the Achievements you have accrued.

False Step has evolved to Stage 2

| …Upgrade path is being displayed.

| Upgrade path is based on the starting rarity of the Skill and the Achievements you have accrued.

A wall of text appeared in his vision. Filled with choices he could choose from. At the best of times, Noah wasn’t all that adept at figuring out things on his own. Thankfully, Peter had gone over a lot of different paths the different skills could take.

His friend had picked out the ones that would work perfectly with his class and personality.

After sifting through all the skills, he settled on three choices each for either skill. All of them increased the base defensive stat just like Strengthened Body did, but also granted some unique effects.

First off was Strengthened Body.

Uncommon - Shadowed Body: Your body will be imbued with the power of the shadows. It will decrease detection rate, and allow you to slink through the darkness with ease.

Uncommon - Stalwart Bones: Bone density will be increased. Harder bones make using stronger skills easier to endure.

Uncommon - Beastly Body: Take the defensive properties of your tamed monster and cover your flesh. This skill is determined by what your tamed monster is.

For Noah, it was a tough decision. If he activated all of his skills at once, the pressure it put onto his bones was immense. It made every attack he made painful, but at the same time, it was a pain he was able to endure.

However, if his constitution didn’t match with his power, his body would break under the might of his own attacks. It was a double-edged sword.

Then there was Shadowed Body. It would improve his stealth skills greatly, allowing him to to bypass even stronger beasts that specialised in detection, or smell.

Lastly, Beastly Body would take the form of Krall. It would most likely grant him the armoured scales of his evolution, and it would scale based on the monster he tamed. If the little egg hatched into that of the wolf-bat, it would be incredible. Would he gain wings, or something else entirely? He didn’t know. It was a bit of a gamble.

Each choice was a good one, but important.

The one he picked would determine what route he travelled. Although he could change it down the line with the same stat Skill Essence, it would be a pain. And it wasn’t guaranteed he would even gain one unless he managed to trade with others.

That would be a long shot. Noah chuckled. After this dungeon was over, groups would be tightly formed. They would only trade within them, at least that’s what Noah guessed. He wasn’t exactly a prodigy when it came to group politics.

Noah had seen his fair share within the gang, but that was mostly just violence amongst other gangs. Politics there was simple. Who could hit harder than the other.

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He boiled the paths into three points.

Shadowed Body would improve stealth.

Stalwart Bones would allow him to use his powered attacks more often if he had the energy, of course.

Beastly Body would grant him random defence effects based on what tamed monster he had.

In the end, he decided to boost his stealth capabilities. His class was granted a boost in his attack capabilities when leaving shadows, and this would empower both him, and Krall; or whatever other tamed monster he was able to get his hands on when he could.

He was also leaning towards Beastly Body, but he felt like it was a bit situational. What if he had a tamed monster that didn’t have many defensive qualities? He would be left with a skill without much use.

Strengthened Body -> Shadowed Body.

Noah tested it out right away. A habit he had as excitement took hold of him. He couldn’t get used to it.

He used [Shadowed Presence] and could immediately feel the difference. He sped out of the shadows faster than before, and could feel the extra strength within, but without his mount; it was difficult to feel the full effect.

Even so, he was satisfied with his choice.

Noah swiftly moved onto the next three choices, and it was a skill he had waited on for a while. Something to increase his mobility.

Uncommon - Boosted Step: Increases movement speed by a small amount when activated.

Uncommon: Counter Step: Increases the damage you deal after the step is complete.

Rare: Shadow Blink: While surrounded in shadows, you can step into the darkness a short distance.

Unlike the [Strengthened Body] choices, this one was too easy for Noah.

False Step -> Shadow Blink.

Noah focused on the skill and attempted to blink forward, but it didn’t work.

I guess I need to use it in the darkness. It wasn’t a problem for Noah. He just happened to have a skill that worked perfectly with it.

He activated [Shadowed Presence]. The darkness swirled around him like he was the centre of a blacked out smoke cloud.

Then he used the new skill. His body transformed into darkness itself as he reappeared a few feet to the front. It wasn’t capable of distance, but it was instant.

It reminded him of Victor’s movement skill. But where Noah’s required darkness, the wolf’s didn’t seem to have the same restriction.

Recalling the wolf that had attempted to kill him three times now, a boiling anger coursed through his blood. Teeth itching, he couldn’t wait to tear him apart. The next time, he would stop at nothing until his spear ran through his still beating heart.

Rousing himself from his dark thoughts, Noah removed them for the time being. It was a skill he learned back in the gang. Festering on thoughts of revenge was what caused mistakes. He had learned it the hard way–with a harsh beating.

The other skills he had were right at the threshold of evolving. However, without Krall with him, they weren’t levelling up. They would have proved to be useful, but he would have to make do with the upgrades he was given.

He had one thing left to do before he walked into the next room. Check his stats.

Strength: 208

Dexterity: 130

Constitution: 139

Willpower: 223

Magic: 52

Mana: 51

Perception: 56

They were coming along nicely. If it wasn’t for the world first titles, his Magic, Mana, and Perception would remain at a pitiful amount.

With everything checked and ready, Noah sauntered forward into the next room. Ready for any new challenge that awaited him.

At least he thought he was. That changed when the entire room rumbled far louder than all the previous times before. Noah almost had to cup his ears to protect them, but it didn’t last long.

Three sets of thick skeleton hands blasted out of the walls. He didn’t even have to check [Identify] as the familiar sight of a towering set of bones excavated the dirt walls around them. Elite brutes. It had been a struggle with just one of them, now there were three.

Noah cracked his neck as he threw his spear to the side. It seemed like the theme was going to continue. Undead. His spear was of little use against their bones.

In the fight before, he had used it to power through its skull with repeated [Thrusts]. If he tried that now, he would exhaust himself before he dealt with the others. But now, he would need to resort to another tactic.

Thankfully he had a weapon that was useful against them. His mace. He hadn’t yet tried his new Shard with it, but like the skill [Thrust] it also worked with his mace. In theory, it should still be the same. It was the nature of thrusting. No matter the weapon.

His mace had a very small point, but it was still meant to crush.

The skeleton brute was upon him fast and hefted its large warhammer. Noah activated [Shadowed Presence] and darkness swirled around him.

[Shadow Blink] activated the next second, teleporting him to the shadow to his right. The hammer blasted the area where he once stood, then Noah attacked. He activated all the powers he could, then the thought of thrusting his mace pervaded his mind. He willed it to reach, to extend, and shoot forward like a projectile.

It listened. It screamed through the air and smashed the skeleton's leg. Chippings flew into the surroundings. Then, like a lumbering tree–it fell to the floor with a crashing thud.

Noah’s attack worked. With a mace, no less.

With new found confidence from having his attack work, he was like a phantom within the dim room. His energy expansion was great, as was his stamina, and mana, but he could recover once they were defeated.

Blinking to the side, his next attack crushed another leg of a new brute. In the next few moments, the movement of his foes were destroyed.

Noah was the reaper within the shadows and even without his tamed monster, he was still a force to be reckoned with.