“It ran away?” Lefie asked once the fog had cleared a bit, the fans whirring away in the bunker.
“Yeah. Last one left and it turn-tailed and escaped. Retreated.” The last word sparked a curious thought in Riza.
“Odd. But I levelled up!” Lefie exclaimed excitedly, both arms in the air as she vibrated.
“Nice. 16?”
“17, I’ll have you know,” She said cheekily.
“Same with me. Level 19. Four more left in the tank.”
“I never would’ve thought I’d be this strong. Like, just look at what we just did! Nine greater demons in minutes! We’re amazing!” Lefie’s joy was infectious and Riza couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Not as close as I thought, either. I still have a good bit of essence left. I was definitely overestimating their health.”
Riza collapsed down to the floor, heaving out a large sigh. Even after such an outcome, she struggled to feel positive.
“What’s wrong?” Lefie quickly asked, crouching down besides her.
“I feel like a hamster in a cage. They could’ve sent 10 greater demons earlier and we’d definitely be dead. They can probably send 11, 12, or 20 tomorrow and we’d be dead.”
Lefie’s good mood was quickly extinguished.
“If this was open, rather than tight corridors, we’d be dead. If they could attack at range, we’d be dead. A humanoid demon…” The result was obvious.
“Wha-what are you saying?” Lefie slumped down as well, looking dejected.
“We got lucky. This,” She gestured between the two of them, “Won’t work next time. Too many issues. We need more options.”
[Animate Critter] is too weak. Useless against greater demons. It only shines against beast demons, where it can take them out without consuming any essence.
“We need more skills,” Lefie said.
----------------------------------------
They headed back to the dorm, where the corpse of a humanoid demon lay. In one of the rooms was a still living eye demon, tucked away out of sight.
Neither had spoken much while walking back, both going over their options. Riza felt the decision particularly heavy, knowing Lefie would want her opinion on things before purchasing anything.
They arrived in one of the personal rooms, Riza flopping down on the bed and Lefie cuddling up to her, eager for the warmth.
The day had been long and the fight had tired the both of them out; rather than making any important decisions on an exhausted brain, they both elected to sleep to recover their energy. Riza raised a few spiders, had them stand guard outside and at various points away, commanded to wake them up if they sensed anything.
The night passed by smoothly and without disturbance, Riza groggily waking up with Lefie in tow. The pair freshened up with whatever amenities they could before settling back down in the comfort of the personal space, ready to get down to business.
Name Riza Level 19 Health 100/100 Stamina 74/100 Essence
7400/7400
Power 5 (5) Constitution 5 (5) Endurance 5 (5) Vim 6 (6) Essence
5 (370) Spirit
115 (1740)
Health Regeneration
100/day Stamina Regeneration
120/day Essence Regeneration
507/minute
Let’s start simply: what are our strengths?
Attrition. We get stronger the longer a fight goes on. I can [Heal] and my super regeneration means I can also restore essence. Lefie’s [Conductivity] means the more she has attacked, the stronger each subsequent attack is.
The biggest issue there is my regeneration requires me to not be using an active skill.
The obvious direction, then, is to develop Lefie into a main damager dealer while I am either on the front line or focus on using zombies. That places me more into a support role, then.
So, straight off the table, I’m not interested in any damage dealing skills. They’re not conducive to our current roles.
“What are you thinking?” Riza asked, squeezing Lefie’s arm that she was touching.
“Just going through my skills. It feels weird but I’m thinking of focusing more on lightning than water.” Riza nodded in agreement.
“I think the best direction for us is to get you to deal more damage while I can support better.”
“Yeah. Exactly what I was thinking,” Lefie replied. “There’s a [Chain Lightning] skill that’s 1st tier. It deals more damage at level 1 than [Lightning Bolt] did and can hit multiple entities. I feel like it would’ve been useful.”
“How many skill points do you have available?” Three was the answer, same as Riza.
“Actually, [Chain Lightning] sounds really good for what we want. Higher damage and can hit multiple creatures. How many does it hit at level 1?”
“Two but the damage is less on the other one.”
“That’s fine. With [Double Cast], that increases to four which is great. What metamagic options do you have?”
“Er… There’s [Range Compression], [Overcharge], and [Triple Cast] on tier two.”
“[Range Compression] seems great as a flat increase to damage. [Triple Cast] would work multiplicatively with [Chain Lightning]. [Overcharge] not working with [Conductivity] is annoying.” A sudden idea emerged in Riza’s head.
“Skills that decrease casting time would be great for you. They’re synergistic with [Conductivity] and you might be able to have them work with [Overcharge].”
“No chanting,” Lefie said vehemently, shaking her head. “Saying the same word every second won’t work. I’ll mess up, get the chant wrong.”
“So runes would be better. It’d be like a magic wand; you hold out a stick and lightning emerges from it.”
“Yeah, but that requires two skill points: one for a [Magical Focus] and another for the rune.”
“Shit. I forgot about that. Sounds like [Triple Cast]ing would be the next best thing, contributing to your [Conductivity]. What do you have with water?”
“There’s [Alter Water] that I already told you about. [Water of Life], [Water Transmute], [Water of Ichor], and [Call Storm].” Lefie supplied.
“I think I can guess what the last one does. What are the first three?”
“My regeneration is increased when in water, I can turn something into water but not permanently, and I can automatically [Conjure Water] when I lose health.”
“Those are… very unexpected skills, apart from [Call Storm]. None of them seem that conducive to your optimal build.”
“Uh hm. [Water of Ichor] is the only one that interests me because it conjures water for free. Apart from that…”
“You should also take into account how long things will take to level. [Chain Lightning] is strong even at level 1 but if [Triple Cast] is like [Double Cast], it’ll be a while before it’s worth using over [Double Cast].”
Lefie nodded, serious taking in this information.
“I’ll leave you to your thinking. Tell me what you decided on.”
As for me...
Life
0th Tier
[Heal+] -Learned
Restore 190 health, 2 stamina, 2 essence to a living entity
Cost: 10 es/sec
[Leech] (10/10)+ -Learned
Drain 110 points of health from a living entity
40m range
Cost: 10 es/sec
[Cleanse] (passive) -Learned
You have immunity towards any toxin, disease, or contamination
1st Tier
[Sapping Curse] (1/10)
Prevent a living entity from recovering health for 2 hours
Casting Time: 1 sec
Cost: 5 es
[Animate Critter] (10/10)+ -Learned
Raise a corpse smaller than yourself into a level 18 zombie
Casting Time: 5 sec
Cost: 14 es/sec
[Life Sense] (1/10)
Scan for either a general or specific form of life
2m radius
Casting Time: 1 m/sec
Cost: 1 es
[Last Words] (1/10)
Extract thoughts from an entity that died within 2 hours
Casting Time: 1 min
Cost: 5 es
Hidden Skill
Requirements: [Heal] (10/10)
[Rejuvenate] (1/10)
Restore 100 points of health and regenerate any wounds to a living entity
Cost: 15 es
2nd Tier
[Reanimate] (1/10)
Raise a corpse into a level 0 zombie
Casting Time: 1 min
Cost: 10 es/sec
Requirements: [Animate Critter] (5/10)
[Inanimate Life] (1/10)
Bestow the gift of simple life to an inanimate object
Cost: 100 es
[Remnant Memories] (10/10)+ -Learned
Summoned entities are created with a 100% higher level
Cost: 30 es
Hidden skill
[Leech](10/10)
Animation skill (1/10)
[Parasite] (1/10)
Implant up to 2 parasites in summoned entities. When your health drops to 0, automatically drain all the health from a summoned entity regardless of distance
Cost: 100 es per implanted [Parasite]
3rd Tier
[Resuscitate] (1/10)
Bring an entity that has died within the past 2 minutes back to life
Casting Time: 1 minute
Cost: 1000 es
Requirements: [Rejuvenate] (10/10)
[Amalgam] (1/10)
Combine 3 summoned entities into one entity
Casting Time: 5 min
Cost: 500 es/entity
Requirements: [Heal] (1/10)
[Senescence] (1/10)
Alter the age of something by 2 minutes per second
Cost: 50 es/sec
Requirements: [Rejuvenate] (1/10)
[Raise Dead] (1/10)
Raise a corpse into an undead version of itself beginning at level 2
Casting Time: 5 min
Cost: 1 es/sec/level
Requirements: [Reanimate] (5/10)
Hidden Skill
Animation skill (5/10)
[Essence Monarch] (1/10)
Gain 2% of each summoned entity's essence regeneration
So many options. I have to admit, I want to take [Raise Dead] right now. It’s so tempting.
But first, I should look at all my level 10 skills. See what’s there. I’m a support so I’ve got a lot of potential for what to invest in.
[Leech] has reached level 10.
You can choose to spend a skill point to upgrade the skill or turn the skill into a passive.
[Leech+]
Drain 110 health, 2 stamina, 2 essence from living entities
40m range
Cost: 10 es/sec
[Leech] (passive)
Constantly drain 20 points of health from nearby living entities per second
4m radius
Right off the bat, I can discount this one. Not interested.
[Essence Transformer] has reached level 10.
You can choose to spend a skill point to upgrade the skill or turn the skill into a passive.
[Essence Transformer+]
Convert health into essence
Conversion rate: 20 hp/sec
Efficiency: 50%
[Essence Transformer] (passive)
50% of health regeneration is converted into essence regeneration
Efficiency: 20%
Honestly, I regret taking this skill. Really fell off. Combining it with [Heal], even with [Alteration Mastery], is less essence than [Meditate] gives me. That fact doesn’t change if the efficiency increases either, and I have too little health regeneration for the passive to be good.
I don’t know what I’m going to do with this.
[Animate Critter] has reached level 10.
You can choose to spend a skill point to upgrade the skill or turn the skill into a passive.
[Animate Critter+]
Raise a corpse smaller than yourself into a level 24 zombie
Casting Time: 5 sec
Cost: 14 es/sec
[Animate Critter] (passive)
20% chance after killing an entity for the entity to be raised as a level 0 zombie
Higher maximum level. Not that interesting and the skill point would be better spent on [Reanimate] or [Raise Dead].
The passive, however, completely changes what this skill does. I suppose the higher tier animation skills make this one a bit redundant so a way to give it utility is nice. However, a level 0 zombie is extremely weak and not that useful.
The best application would be it’s synergy with [Parasite]. Kill a bunch of spiders, get spider zombies that don’t consume anything, and [Parasite] them all. A bunch of extra health that doesn’t impact my regeneration or total essence. Plus, a level 0 zombie can have 120 health so I’d [Heal] back to full.
It’s got potential there so definitely something to think about but it doesn’t help me being a ‘support’.
[Remnant Memories] has reached level 10.
You can choose to spend a skill point to upgrade the skill or turn the skill into a passive.
[Remnant Memories+]
Summoned entities are created with a 200% higher level
Cost: 50 es
[Remnant Memories] (passive)
Summoned entities are created with a 20% higher level
Similar choices to [Maximise Mastery] and probably [Seeker Mastery] as well.
With how the maths work out, the upgraded version would let lower level zombies be cheaper. For [Raise Dead], because the cost scales with level, it wouldn’t be that good as it’d be far too expensive.
Since skills and boons are what best confer strength, simply a higher level isn’t as good. The point would be better spent on [Reanimate] or [Raise Dead], again.
The passive is just not worth it. Cost is upfront and not even that much. Pass.
[Message] has reached level 10.
You can choose to spend a skill point to upgrade the skill or turn the skill into a passive.
[Message+]
Telepathically send a [Message] to up to two entities of up to 200 words. They can send a [Message] back.
100m range
Cost: 23 es
[Message] (passive)
Choose an entity. You can telepathically send a [Message] to them up to 20 words every hour.
The upgraded version has some use. Much quicker and conserves some essence, but neither of those facets of the skill are a big problem for me.
The passive is downright creepy. I’ll always be in someone’s head. I suppose Lefie would be the only viable option but… it’s permanent. What if… No. Nope, no. Definitely not taking this one.
Those are all the level 10 skills that have additional options. What about entirely new skills?
Primordial Magic
0th Tier
[Well of Essence] (10/10) -Learned
Essence is multiplied by 5
[Well of Spirit] (10/10) -Learned
Spirit is multiplied by 5
1st Tier
[Knowable Essence] (10/10) -Learned
20% of Essence contributes to Spirit. 20% of Spirit contributes to Essence
Requirements: [Well of Essence] (5/10), [Well of Spirit] (5/10)
[Essence Manipulation] (1/10)
Manipulate essence to some degree of acuity
2nd Tier
[Essence Congruency] (1/10)
Use 2 active essence skills simultaneously at 20% intensity
Requirements: 10 active essence skills
[Essence Congruency] is really appealing but I’m nowhere close to meeting the requirements for it. Being able to have [Meditate] constantly running is insanely powerful. That, with [Leech], means 77 damage every second while I still regenerate 0.7 essence a second, which is still more than I regenerate without [Meditate] right now.
Metamagic
0th Tier
[Alteration Mastery] (10/10) -Learned
Control the strength of an active essence skill with finesse
[Seeker Mastery] (1/10)
Multiply range of an active essence skill by 1.4
Cost: 1.4 time original skill cost
[Maximise Mastery+] -Learned
Multiply intensity of an active essence skill by 7
Cost: 7 time original skill cost
1st Tier
[Distinguish Life] (1/10)
Extend a continuous, single-target skill to affect 2 more entities. Additional entities experience 10% of the skills effects
Cost: Original skill cost per additional entity
[Double Cast] (1/10)
Activate a discrete skill 3 times simultaneously
Cost: 190% of original skill
Neither [Double Cast] or [Distinguish Life] are that useful or conducive to what I’m trying to do. On the next tier, however, [Overcharge] is interesting but it’s the same problem with [Remnant Memories]; any increase in strength is a proportional increase in cost with [Raise Dead].
[Range Compression] is the best way to boost [Leech]’s power and works great with [Lone Wolf] already doubling the range. It’d probably work well with [Seeker Mastery] as well, then.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Lefie, have you decided?”
“Only on [Chain Lightning] and [Range Compression]. I’m hesitant about [Triple Cast]; it’s going to feel like such a useless skill for soooo long.” Lefie whined.
“[Seeker Mastery] would be a good one as well. I forgot about it initially but it’s great with [Range Compression] and you can probably max it out within a few days.”
“Hmm. Sounds good. I think I’ll take that as well.”
“[Chain Lightning], [Range Compression], and [Seeker Mastery], then?”
“Yup!” She nodded.
“Just me that has to decide, then.”
“Oh. What are you going to take?” Lefie’s excitement was infectious.
“Definitely [Raise Dead]. That means I’ll need [Reanimate] as well. Gotta train that up,” Riza said, looking off to the side as she mentally did some maths. “Just… 20 minutes or so.”
Thus, the pair finally got off the bed and trekked to the closest pile of bodies, Riza pulling out a beaten up beast demon corpse.
She focused on how the essence revved up the electrons in it’s brain, squeezed it’s heart rhythmically, metaphorically pressing the start button.
She recalled the feeling of [Animate Critter], a skill she had used so much it had been ingrained in her muscles just like walking.
And like that, the essence began to flow out of her, the beast demon twitching and spasming for a whole minute until suddenly stopping.
Necromancy is the easiest magic for me to use. No wonder the Dominion doesn’t like me.
The beast demon slowly got to it’s feet, legs shaking like a newborn calf.
Name Unnamed Level 0 Health 20/20 Stamina 20/20 Essence
20/20
Power 1 (1) Constitution 1 (1) Endurance 1 (1) Vim 1 (1) Essence
1 (1) Spirit
1 (1)
Health Regeneration
100/day Stamina Regeneration
100/day Essence Regeneration
100/day
Stat Points 0
“What are you going to name this one?” Lefie asked, leaning in close towards the zombie.
The body was still damaged in places, with skin loose and drooping at points while singed and burnt at others. A hole pierced straight through it’s head, creepy to look at. Thankfully, it could only be seen from above.
“I wonder if there’s a size limit on this skill?” Riza mused out loud.
“Eyeing up some greater demons?”
“Perhaps," Riza grinned.
[Reanimate] [Level up]
As soon as the skill leveled up, Riza cut it short, the short-lived beast demon flopping to the ground like a lifeless fish.
[Reanimate] (2/10) -Learned
Raise a corpse into a level 2 zombie
Casting Time: 1 min
Cost: 12 es/sec
Requirements: [Animate Critter] (5/10)
It rose once more, new and improved.
The next thirty odd minutes were filled with Lefie practising her aim on the beast demons whilst Riza continually [Reanimate]d them.
They kept on getting stronger even as she kept their cost the same, a consequence of not being 1:1.
Eventually, the skill hit level 5, the demon falling to the ground almost instantly.
“Finally,” Riza said, swiping to the right menu and purchasing [Raise Dead].
[Raise Dead] (1/10) -Learned
Raise a corpse into an undead version of itself beginning at level 2
Casting Time: 5 min
Cost: 1 es/sec/level
Requirements: [Reanimate] (5/10)
Life
0th Tier
[Heal+] -Learned
Restore 190 health, 2 stamina, 2 essence to a living entity
Cost: 10 es/sec
[Leech] (10/10)+ -Learned
Drain 110 points of health from a living entity
40m range
Cost: 10 es/sec
[Cleanse] (passive) -Learned
You have immunity towards any toxin, disease, or contamination
1st Tier
[Sapping Curse] (1/10)
Prevent a living entity from recovering health for 2 hours
Casting Time: 1 sec
Cost: 5 es
[Animate Critter] (10/10)+ -Learned
Raise a corpse smaller than yourself into a level 18 zombie
Casting Time: 5 sec
Cost: 14 es/sec
[Life Sense] (1/10)
Scan for either a general or specific form of life
2m radius
Casting Time: 1 m/sec
Cost: 1 es
[Last Words] (1/10)
Extract thoughts from an entity that died within 2 hours
Casting Time: 1 min
Cost: 5 es
Hidden Skill
Requirements: [Heal] (10/10)
[Rejuvenate] (1/10)
Restore 100 points of health and regenerate any wounds to a living entity
Cost: 15 es
2nd Tier
[Reanimate] (5/10) -Learned
Raise a corpse into a level 8 zombie
Casting Time: 1 min
Cost: 18 es/sec
Requirements: [Animate Critter] (5/10)
[Inanimate Life] (1/10)
Bestow the gift of simple life to an inanimate object
Cost: 100 es
[Remnant Memories] (10/10)+ -Learned
Summoned entities are created with a 90% higher level
Cost: 30 es
Hidden skill
[Leech](10/10)
Animation skill (1/10)
[Parasite] (1/10)
Implant up to 2 parasites in summoned entities. When your health drops to 0, automatically drain all the health from a summoned entity regardless of distance
Cost: 100 es per implanted [Parasite]
3rd Tier
[Resuscitate] (1/10)
Bring an entity that has died within the past 2 minutes back to life
Casting Time: 1 minute
Cost: 1000 es
Requirements: [Rejuvenate] (10/10)
[Amalgam] (1/10)
Combine 3 summoned entities into one entity
Casting Time: 5 min
Cost: 500 es/entity
Requirements: [Heal] (1/10)
[Senescence] (1/10)
Alter the age of something by 2 minutes per second
Cost: 50 es/sec
Requirements: [Rejuvenate] (1/10)
[Raise Dead] (1/10) -Learned
Raise a corpse into an undead version of itself beginning at level 2
Casting Time: 5 min
Cost: 1 es/sec/level
Requirements: [Reanimate] (5/10)
Hidden Skill
Animation skill (5/10)
[Essence Monarch] (1/10)
Gain 2% of each summoned entity's essence regeneration
4th Tier
[Resurrection] (1/10)
Bring an entity that has died within the past 2 day back to life
Casting Time: 1 hour
Cost: 10000 es
Requirements: [Resuscitate] (10/10)
[Chimerical Spawn] (1/10)
Bestow the gift of complex life to an inanimate object
Casting Time: 10 min
Cost: 1000 es
Requirements: [Inanimate Life] (10/10)
[False Life] (1/10)
Raise a corpse into an undead version of itself beginning at level 2
Casting Time: 1 hour
Cost: 2 es/sec/level
Requirements: [Raise Dead] (10/10)
Hidden Skill
[Leech](10/10)
[Essential Leech] (1/10)
Choose a living entity. Upon death, drain 0.2 stat points from it's highest stat if possible
Casting Time: 5 secs
Cost: 5000 es
Wow.
Riza didn’t say anything for about a minute, just looking at the skill that had opened up for her.
“Riza?”
“Sorry. They’re… Is there a limit to magic? A highest tier?” Riza had to ask. 4 isn’t even a high number yet this is what she had access to.
“Er… I don’t think so? I’ve never heard of a limit.”
There’s got to be a limit somewhere, otherwise you’d be able to become a god!
Let’s look at these skills.
[Resurrection] is just a straight upgrade to [Resuscitate]. Costs too much essence for me to use even once right now, not without altering it. With all my essence, it’d be a 32 hour window. Heaps better than [Resuscitate] and long enough to regenerate enough essence as well.
It’s a massive failsafe if Lefie dies but… I don’t even want to think about that possibility. Just stop it happening in the first place.
[Chimerical Spawn] is just weird. What does it mean? What does it do? Humans are complex life. Can I make… people? A shiver went through Riza’s spine.
Moving on.
[False Life] is just an upgrade to [Raise Dead]. Retains all levels but I don’t think that’d be that good. [Maximise Mastery] multiplies by 7 so with [Raise Dead] at level 10, that’d be up to 140 levels I can retain. When the highest leveled person is 60, I don’t think [False Life] is particularly worth it. Definitely not at double the cost.
Maybe there’s a hidden aspect to it, like how [Heal] had an initially lower value than [Leech] but scaled better.
Essentially [Leech]. I don’t think this skill should even exist. And I can use it.
It’s just insane. Absolutely insane.
All these skills are impossible. It’s literally god-like power.
Riza sat down, not far from the bodies, as she thought about this.
[Resurrection] says 2 days. Most skills have a pretty intuitive number they increment by so, assuming each level gives an extra 2 days, that’s 20 days at level 10. [Maximise Mastery] makes that 140 days.
Let’s say I can also take another boon at level 25. [Way of Life] would double my life skills, meaning 280 days. If someone had died within 280 days, I’d be able to resurrect them, cost notwithstanding.
What about now, at level 18? 140 days. Costwise, though, it’d be about two thirds of that, so like 85 days.
I regenerate a bit more than 600,000 essence a day. That’s 60 people I could resurrect every day if I didn’t sleep.
If we had an army that was a few hundred strong, after every battle, I could bring everyone that had died back to life probably before another battle. That’s…
Also look at [Reanimate]. Assume when it’s level 10 the choices are the same as [Animate Critter]. Anything I kill would have a 20% chance to be raised as a zombie. I could create a massive army by slaughtering villages, then towns, then cities.
What about dying? [Parasite] the zombies, then. Again, 2 per level, 20 max. If [Maximise Mastery] would work, 140 max. A cat has nothing on this.
Look at [False Life] or [Raise Dead]. Say, the opposition sends out a level 60 to fight. If I killed them, boom, they’re fighting for me. Any fight I win I would not only incur zero losses but get stronger off the corpses of my enemies.
Fuck me. That’s all in the far-flung future, though. The potential is there but it’s incredibly expensive. Those theoretical armies are surely impossible with my rate of growth; you’d need hundreds to thousands of essence per second to maintain them.
Especially considering how strength is vertical rather than horizontal. A single level 10 is stronger than 10 level 1’s. A level 60 is stronger than a thousand level 1’s.
I’m going off on a tangent. Back to the tier 4 skills.
[Essential Leech]. This is truly insane. Makes levels redundant apart from skill points.
5000 essence for 0.2 stat points. Let’s work with this level of power because I can afford it.
Take beast demons. Whenever I fight them, it’s often in groups of five or ten--around that size.
5 beast demons and I’d increase a stat by 1, most likely power. I wouldn’t even have to kill it myself.
I could target a beast demon, Lefie kills it, I gain the additional stats. 50 deaths to be the equivalent of a level up currently. We’ve killed more than that already.
The downside? No increase to my spirit or essence. All physical stats. Not really much of a downside, considering how much I’m lacking.
This skill is quite literally game breaking. It’s so tempting to take. It’s useable but so far off from being impactful; one usage per encounter and then I’d have to regenerate.
Lefie had been waiting patiently as Riza went through her options, blasting off bolts of lightning to train.
“A shame I've got no skill points left,” Riza started out of nowhere, drawing the teenagers attention suddenly. “The tier 4 skills are incredible."
Lefie’s eyes went wide at the mention of them, rushing over and falling to her knees before Riza.
“Tell me! Tell me what they are!”
“Two stand out. [Resurrection] lets me bring anyone back to life that had died within 2 days at level 1. If essence wasn’t a problem and I had [Way of Life], it’d be 280 days at level 10.”
Lefie was speechless.
“That’s not all. Another, called [Essential Leech], exists. I can target an entity and, upon its death, I gain 0.2 stat points in it’s highest stat.” Riza took a breath.
“It costs 5000 essence to use. I have 7400.” She looked into Lefie’s eyes, trying to communicate how tempting it was to take.
“I-I’ve never heard of a skill like that. That exists?” A nod. “You should take it!” She said insistently.
“I don't have any skill points.”
“So? Take it for your next level.”
She’s really insistent on it, but… it’s a lot of essence. At level 18 I had 6800 essence. Now, 7400, from 10 points going into spirit. I’ve got 4 levels left which means I’ll have 9800 essence by the time I’m level 23.
Not enough for two uses per fight.
But levels will be harder and harder to come up. I’ll need to kill more things each level, not to mention finding something to increase my cap.
Riza thought back to the close encounters she had so far.
Better stop thinking about it. Wait until I actually have a skill point available.
----------------------------------------
The rest of the time was a dedicated training time, levelling up their skills to a useful level.
[Reanimate], Riza tentatively deemed, was strong enough, capable of outputting a level 16 demon so [Raise Dead] it was.
She sat herself down at the same corpse she had been using so far and got to work.
It didn’t take long to get the skill to work. Initially, Riza inadvertently used [Reanimate] again, the activation process so similar.
What finally clicked was Riza focusing on the impression the demon left on her. Reflecting on how it moved, its behaviours, how it attacked. Truly, creating a unique and lasting memory of how it lived and transposing that onto it’s corpse, creating a lifeless facsimile of the original.
The minutes passed and then the essence flow ended, the beast still for a pregnant couple of seconds.
It shot up without a start, movement so abrupt, and immediately lunged towards Lefie, startling the pair of them in the process.
The sudden movement caught Riza off guard but she managed to grab the demon by the scruff of the neck, weak enough at level one for Riza to pin it to the ground forcefully, climbing to sit on it.
“What happened?” Lefie asked, noticing the sudden movement.
The demon was biting the air, showing clear aggression.
“I don’t know. It wasn’t like this earlier,” Riza grunted, not wanting to accidentally release the thing.
A few more seconds passed, the demon unrelenting, before Riza finally decided to kill it.
“Kill yourself,” She ordered, the same command she had given time and time again.
Nothing. The demon continued its futile snapping as if she hadn’t said anything at all.
Strange.
“Die.” Again, no effect. Riza had to resort to her dagger, sinking it into the neck, to actually get the creature to die.
With a sigh of relief, she stood up and immediately brought up [Raise Dead].
[Raise Dead] (1/10) -Learned
Raise a corpse into an undead version of itself beginning at level 2
Casting Time: 5 min
Cost: 1 es/sec/level
Requirements: [Reanimate] (5/10)
What’s different between you and [Reanimate]?
[Reanimate] (5/10) -Learned
Raise a corpse into a level 8 zombie
Casting Time: 1 min
Cost: 18 es/sec
Requirements: [Animate Critter] (5/10)
[Reanimate] creates a ‘zombie’ while [Raise Dead] creates an ‘undead version’. That’s the major difference.
The zombies were always unthinking. They didn’t do things on their own and needed my commands.
The undead version of the demon immediately tried attacking Lefie. I guess, that’s because that’s what it would’ve done when alive. It also didn’t obey my commands, but the fact it didn’t try to attack me suggests it has loyalty to me.
A conundrum; summons she cannot control. This was cause for some experimentation.
A spider was the next demon to be raised, jumping to its feet and promptly scurrying off until Riza’s foot came stomping down on top of it.
Both of them instantly ran off. Is there a demon that doesn’t want to fucking run away or attack us? A memory came to mind, creating a sudden sense of anticipation in Riza.
“You finished, Lefie?” Riza asked quickly.
“Yeah. I’m, uhm, out of essence already.” Shit. Yeah. She regenerates far too little to get more progress going.
“Any levels?” Lefie nodded.
“They all gained a few.”
“Good enough. Let’s go back to the dorms.”
----------------------------------------
It wasn’t a long walk but the excitement kept building and building until Riza finally had her hands on the corpse of the humanoid demon.
Hopefully, it’ll work.
The essence flowed through her, energising the body like jump starting an engine. The time it took for the skill to activate felt agonisingly slow but, eventually, Riza felt the link between them cut off.
A quiet few seconds passed until, abruptly, the humanoid demon sat up, looked around, and settled its head in the direction of Riza.
Yes! Riza screamed internally at the lack of hostility or running away.
“Er..H-hello,” She said awkwardly, unsure of how to start.
No response. The demon just continued to stare at her.
“It’s kind of creepy,” Lefie chimed in, standing a good distance away just in case.
“I suppose so,” Riza said, looking in her direction before turning back to her summon. “Do you understand me?”
Still nothing.
This will be harder than I thought but it’s an improvement!
“Got any advice on how to communicate with him?” Riza asked.
“A name? Oh! There’s a pet skill that lets you communicate with pets. Maybe you need a skill to communicate with him?”
“That’s shitty. Why make a skill need another skill without saying it. Runes doesn’t do that.”
“It probably wouldn’t be a problem if he was human. Or an animal. You can train animals without skills,” Lefie chimed in.
Training. Yeah. I could probably train beast demons, then.
Except, I’ve never trained anything in my life! And I can’t take another skill anyway.
Was this just a waste of a skill point?
Riza frowned, sitting backwards as the humanoid demon watched her.
“Do you have any advice, Dave?”
As expected, no response. She had to admit, it was a bit creepy how statuesque Dave was being.
“Dave?” Lefie giggled. “Is that his name?”
“Don’t make fun of him; he didn’t choose it,” Riza playfully scolded.
Needing to start somewhere, Riza went to her skills, checking out everything in the life tree.
Unfortunately, that bore no fruit.
Pet Taming
0th Tier
[Tame Pet] (1/10)
Gain knowledge on how to tame a 0th level pet
Cost: 5 es
[Pet Communication] (1/10)
Your pet can understand you
Range: 2m
Maybe pet taming would work but she doubted Dave counted as a pet. Were there other skills that allowed her to communicate with other entities?
Linguistics
0th Tier
[Linguistical Immersion] (1/10)
Greatly enhances your ability to decipher a language
Cost: 1 es/min
[Archive Language] (1/10)
Submit a deciphered language to a personal codex
Casting Time: 1 min
Cost: 50 es
[Translation] (1/10)
Communicate innately in any deciphered language
Cost: 10 es/min
It had been so long since she looked at this; maybe it had some value now? They would allow her to speak another language quickly but was it actually a different language Dave was speaking?
Remembering how the first humanoid demon had gargled at them, Riza was reminded of whale songs; it’s not just a language but a completely alternate way of communication, indecipherable to humans because they lacked the physiology to communicate in such a way.
Wait. I’m just assuming they have a different biology to me but is that really the case? Dave was originally a human, so maybe he retains the ability of human speech? Maybe the gargling was a result of a lack of knowledge rather than a physical inability.
Then… I teach Dave English? That’d take a very long time.
[Raise Dead] [Level up]
Oh! Already done.
“Die,” Riza gave the command instinctively, quickly remembering it didn’t work when Dave didn’t even move. She promptly rectified the problem with her dagger, resurrecting Dave once more but now, at a higher level.
[Raise Dead] (2/10) -Learned
Raise a corpse into an undead version of itself beginning at level 7
Casting Time: 5 min
Cost: 1 es/sec/level
Requirements: [Reanimate] (5/10)
Will there be an effect if I increase his stats? Is essence secretly intelligence?
Name Dave Level 5+ Health 20/20 Stamina 20/20 Essence
20/20
Power 1 (1) Constitution 1 (1) Endurance 1 (1) Vim 1 (1) Essence
1 (1) Spirit
1 (1)
Health Regeneration
100/day Stamina Regeneration
100/day Essence Regeneration
100/day
Stat Points 25
Now this is strange. I could’ve sworn it said level 7. Let’s try again.
A quick stabbing later, Dave was as good as new again, excluding the additional holes.
Name Dave Level 5+ Health 20/20 Stamina 20/20 Essence
20/20
Power 1 (1) Constitution 1 (1) Endurance 1 (1) Vim 1 (1) Essence
1 (1) Spirit
1 (1)
Health Regeneration
100/day Stamina Regeneration
100/day Essence Regeneration
100/day
Stat Points 25
Still level 5. That has to be the intended way the skill works. Does [Remnant Memories] just not work? No, since [Raise Dead] at level 2 only gives a level 4 summon, while Dave is level 5.
So, clearly [Remnant Memories] increases the level up to level 5, where it’s capped.
Capped… Don’t tell me Dave has a level cap! Riza groaned in frustration.
Maybe he doesn’t, though. Maybe, he just has to take a boon. There’s a plus next to his level, just like what happens to me.
You have reached level 5 and can now choose a Consolidation Boon
[Boon of Labour]
Effect: Non-combat skills level up twice as fast
[Boon of Body]
Effect: Physical skills level up twice as fast
[Boon of Mind]
Effect: Non-physical skills level up twice as fast
Hidden Boon
[Lone Wolf]
Requirements: Have never been in a party
Effect: All skills are 2 times as effective when not in a party
Not even [Touched by Essence], huh. [Lone Wolf] is up there. That has some implications.
I guess I’m not automatically in a party with Dave? So, if he kills something, I don’t gain experience from it?
Let’s just get [Boon of Mind].
What level is he now?
Name Dave Level 5 Health 20/20 Stamina 20/20 Essence
20/20
Power 1 (1) Constitution 1 (1) Endurance 1 (1) Vim 1 (1) Essence
1 (1) Spirit
1 (1)
Health Regeneration
100/day Stamina Regeneration
100/day Essence Regeneration
100/day
Stat Points 25
Still 5. Fuck. He really is capped, then.
This must be the big difference between zombies and general undead. The former are mindless and extensions of myself while the latter are basically living entities who are ultimately loyal to me.
Wait. Can Dave get skills?
Life
0th Tier
Heal (1/10)
Restore 5 points of health to a living entity
Cost: 1 es/sec
[Leech](1/10)
Drain 10 points of health from a living entity
2m range
Cost: 1 es/sec
Cleanse (1/10)
Cleanse an entity from any toxin, disease, or contamination
Casting Time: 1 sec
Cost: 1 es
Yes he can. Riza’s face scrunched up in thought.
Linguistics
0th Tier
[Linguistical Immersion] (1/10)
Greatly enhances your ability to decipher a language
Cost: 1 es/min
[Archive Language] (1/10)
Submit a deciphered language to a personal codex
Casting Time: 1 min
Cost: 50 es
[Translation] (1/10)
Communicate innately in any deciphered language
Cost: 10 es/min
Five skill points. Let’s get all three.
Only when the first skill was purchased did Dave finally shift, his head turning to regard his surroundings and then, finally, himself.
“Hello? Are you using the skills?”
“Skills?” Lefie instantly asked.
“He now has all three linguistics skills.” Lefie was stunned speechless, her face contorted in amazement.
“I guess this’ll be like with Belfore all over again. I just have to talk. Should I speak English? No; it’d be quicker if he could learn from me talking to Lefie.”
Her memory was foggy by this point, barely recalling the details of that day--it felt so long ago by now.
She began simply, describing weather, places, who she was, and eventually roped Lefie into having a conversation with her, going over a whole range of simple but varied topics.
Dave was at risk of running out of essence but Riza kept an eye on it, healing him up whenever necessary.
And, before she could even finish her next sentence:
“Hello.”
Dave spoke.