Monica came back to life after half an hour, wheezing and coughing.
*Ding*
Class – Phoenix Healer (Rare, Enhanced) reaches Level 17
+5 VIT, +5 END, +5 STR, +5 DEX, +5 WIS, +5 SPI, +5 INT, +5 CHA and 6 Free Attributes
*Ding*
Class – Phoenix Healer (Rare, Enhanced) reaches Level 18
+5 VIT, +5 END, +5 STR, +5 DEX, +5 WIS, +5 SPI, +5 INT, +5 CHA and 6 Free Attributes
*Ding*
Healing Skill – Golden Flame reaches Level 25
*Ding*
Healing Skill – Golden Flame reaches Level 26
*Ding*
Healing Skill – Golden Flame reaches Level 27
*Ding*
Offensive Skill - Obsidian Flame reaches Level 29
*Ding*
Constitution Skill – Phoenix Feathers reaches Level 15
*Ding*
Perception Skill – Mana Sense reaches Level 28
*Ding*
Movement Skill - Phoenix Step reaches Level 7
*Ding*
Movement Skill - Phoenix Step reaches Level 8
*Ding*
Offensive Skill - Obsidian Impact reaches Level 10
*Ding*
Offensive Skill - Obsidian Impact reaches Level 11
*Ding*
Offensive Skill - Obsidian Impact reaches Level 12
*Ding*
Offensive Skill - Obsidian Impact reaches Level 13
The Obsidian Flame had gained only one level versus the three that Golden Flame had gotten. It was most likely because she wasn’t using the Obsidian Flame directly anymore, but she channeled it through Obsidian Impact, which had reaped way more levels than any other Skill so far—probably also because it was one of her lowest-level Skills.
As she sat up, Monica looked at the loot notification.
*Ding*
Auto-loot is on.
You obtain:
Corrupted Spider Construct Leg (Corrupted) x2
Corrupted Spider Construct Core (Corrupted) x1
Mithril Thread (Corrupted) x1
Gold Coins x10
First of all, that was a lot of money. Monica had already gotten plenty Platinum Coins from the Corrupted Metallic Wolf Boss, which she had mostly left to Lucas in order to rebuild the village and make it prosper. Twenty Platinum Coins equated to two-thousand Gold Coins. But if Monica was going to get 10 Gold Coins for each kill on the first floor of Viscera, would she be getting Platinum for the kills at the lowest level?
Maybe I should invest in Madeline’s city. I could use it as a pickup point, especially if I managed to find more anchors for Thraldrirlum’s Bridge. We could hop in and out—it’s distant enough from the rest of civilization that it would keep us away from politics, too.
At the thought of politics, Monica briefly glanced at Sir Tristan.
I might need to kill his Duke first. I don’t think they’re going to send more Knight to check on Rock’s Heel for now, but I need to make sure he doesn’t mess with them.
Monica wouldn’t allow anyone to take advantage of Madeline and Ronnie.
She then opened her Akashic Record to check on her progress.
Name: Monica Monroe
Race: Earther
Title: Avatar of the Twin Phoenix (Unique)
1st Class: Phoenix Healer (Rare) - Lv. 18
2nd Class: None
Talent Class: None
Attributes:
Vitality - 159
Endurance - 90
Strength - 90
Dexterity - 125
Wisdom - 90
Spirit - 90
Intelligence - 90
Charisma - 90
Free Attributes: 54
Skills:
Golden Flame (Healing Skill) - Lv. 27
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Obsidian Flame (Offensive Skill) - Lv. 29
Phoenix Feathers (Constitution Skill) - Lv. 15
Mana Sense (Perception Skill) - Lv. 28
Phoenix Step (Movement Skill) - Lv. 8
Obsidian Impact (Offensive Skill) - Lv. 13
Equipment:
Steel Talons (Uncommon)
Twin Phoenix Bracers (Divine) - Twin Phoenix Set (1/12)
Nightshade Battle Wear (Rare)
Racial Abilities (Earther):
Tutorial
Quest System
Inventory
Map
Myriad Tongues
Obsidian Impact was quickly becoming her favorite Skill. When empowered by Ted’s Song of the Phoenix, Monica could apparently tear through one Corrupted Spider Construct on her own.
But that’s not good. I can’t die at any engagement. I need Tristan to stand back and let us kill these creatures. I need to at least get a few blows in to get the Loot, too.
But she wasn’t strong enough.
I still have Phoenix Fury and my Free Attributes.
“Ted, come here,” Monica said to the Bard.
* * *
Monica squinted at the piece of paper Ted was scribbling on after they entered one of the empty dwarven houses. They had checked out a few before, but the statues inside had made all of them squeamish. It felt extremely disrespectful to stay around the statues and act as if they didn’t exist.
“So, dude,” Ted cleared his throat, “let’s assume you get one more Phoenix Feather by the time we fight, or maybe two. Right now, for every level you have in Phoenix Feathers, it burns three Vitality per Level because you gain five Vitality per Level, and the Skill, with two feathers, burns six per Level; therefore, you should be putting one Free Point into Vitality per each Skill Level. You currently have one hundred fifty-nine points in it, and Phoenix Feathers is at Level 15. That means you have nine safe points. By the time the Skill gets to Level 24, you will die by the time you activate it.”
“Huh,” Monica nodded hesitantly. “Ok?”
“So,” Ted pointed at the piece of paper, “at the moment, burning two feathers gives you a malus of one hundred and fifty Vitality. You have nine ‘extra’ points. If you wanted to be safe for one more feather in advance, which I think is the most reasonable option, you would have to put…”
Ted checked the notes.
“Seventy-five points into Vitality minus the nine you have. I guess, plus one so that your Vitality doesn’t hit zero. That makes it sixty-seven Vitality, that would put your current Vitality at two-hundred twenty-six. That would leave one Vitality point that would spare your life.”
Monica ignored the math for a moment.
“You’re assuming that I would be fighting with Fury of the Phoenix all the time, Ted. I don’t think I could sustain that.”
“Huh?” Ted looked up from the piece of paper. “Why not?”
“The Skill takes a mental toll. I don’t know exactly how many times I could use it at once, but definitely, no more than three a day without my combat capabilities being impacted by it.”
Even though Fury of the Phoneix had no written Cooldown or specific side effects as long as Monica had enough Vitality for it, she doubted she could keep using it recklessly.
"That changes things," Ted said, scratching out some calculations. "If you're only using it three times max per day… Actually, you know what? I still think you should bank on the extra Vitality anyway. You’re getting bonuses to the other Attributes from the normal effect of Phoenix Feathers anyway. Once you reach the amount of Vitality needed for three Feathers, you would need to keep putting four out of six Free Attributes into Vitality at each Level. And that’s while burning three feathers. Unless the Skill malus gets reduced, I don’t think you can use four feathers without dying. You should probably try to level up the skill to Level 100 so that it evolves. At that point, it should get better. In fact, if I had to guess, you should get one more feather at Level 25 and then one at Level 50. If Skills have any steps, that’s usually how it goes. It’s like rewards for killing strong monsters. You get them for five, ten, twenty-five, fifty, and a hundred levels. No in-between. The System likes those numbers.”
"So what you're saying is, I should focus on having enough Vitality to safely use three feathers while working on getting Phoenix Feathers to a higher level?"
"Exactly," Ted replied, tapping his pencil against the paper. "The higher level the Skill gets, the more likely it is to either reduce the Vitality cost or give you some other kind of bonus. Plus, you never know when you might need that third feather for an emergency."
"Alright," Monica said, rubbing her temples. "How many points would you recommend?"
“How many Free Attributes do you have right now?"
"Fifty-four," Monica replied, watching as Ted's eyes widened.
"Dude, that's a lot. Okay, here's what I think: Put all of them into Vitality until you reach Level…” Ted looked at the paper. “Level 21, yes. That'll give you enough buffer to safely use three feathers when you need to. Then, keep putting four Free Attributes into Vitality at each Level. The remaining two should be split between Dexterity and Strength. You need three Dexterity for each Strength point. But!"
Ted smacked his lips.
“What, now?” Monica lamented. She had thought they had finally reached a conclusion.
“Well, do we know if Phoenix Feather Attributes work like normal ones or whether you need more Vitality?”
“Thank goodness,” Monica sighed in relief.
“Huh?” Ted said.
“I know the answer to this one. The Attributes don’t work like real Attributes. They boost my power, but they are not counted toward Attribute limits and combinations. It’s good, but… it’s also bad. I would have needed fewer points in Vitality if they counted for real.”
“That’s disappointing,” Ted shrugged. “But the Skill is already insanely strong enough. Well. I guess we can move on.
Monica considered this, remembering how the spider's legs had pierced through her defenses. "What about Endurance, though?"
"Your Golden Flame handles most physical damage," Ted pointed out. "And Sir Tristan can tank the big hits now. I think you need to hit harder and faster rather than tank more damage. Just heal yourself when it happens."
Easy to say when you’re not the one with holes in your belly, Monica thought.
"Speaking of Sir Tristan," Monica glanced toward the door where the knight stood guard, "I need him to let us fight more.”
us from everything."Ted nodded. "Yeah, but did you see how fast he moved with that shield? Level 129 is no joke."
"Which is exactly why we need him to hang back unless things get really bad." Monica stood, brushing dust from her armor, which had already gotten dented again despite the recent repairs. "I'm going to distribute these points, then we need to talk strategy with everyone. Eighty spiders is a lot, but this quest mentioned it's only the first floor. Things are going to get much worse before we reach Machina."
She opened her Akashic Record and allocated her Free Attributes.
Name: Monica Monroe
Race: Earther
Title: Avatar of the Twin Phoenix (Unique)
1st Class: Phoenix Healer (Rare) - Lv. 18
2nd Class: None
Talent Class: None
Attributes:
Vitality - 213
Endurance - 90
Strength - 90
Dexterity - 125
Wisdom - 90
Spirit - 90
Intelligence - 90
Charisma - 90
Free Attributes: 0
Skills:
Golden Flame (Healing Skill) - Lv. 27
Obsidian Flame (Offensive Skill) - Lv. 29
Phoenix Feathers (Constitution Skill) - Lv. 15
Mana Sense (Perception Skill) - Lv. 28
Phoenix Step (Movement Skill) - Lv. 8
Obsidian Impact (Offensive Skill) - Lv. 13
Equipment:
Steel Talons (Uncommon)
Twin Phoenix Bracers (Divine) - Twin Phoenix Set (1/12)
Nightshade Battle Wear (Rare)
Racial Abilities (Earther):
Tutorial
Quest System
Inventory
Map
Myriad Tongues
Even with her malus on experience gain, Monica realized she would level quite fast in Viscera. These monsters were far beyond what she was meant to fight at her current level, which meant she would get far more experience than normal. She'd gained two levels from a single fight despite the experience penalty from her Class.
"Oh right, the loot," Monica said, fishing in her Inventory. She pulled out the strand of Mithril Thread that had dropped from one of the spiders. Despite being marked as Corrupted, it still gleamed with an otherworldly silvery sheen. She cleaned it up with her Golden Flame, and its murkiness disappeared, becoming so pure that it was almost white. "Ted, can you Inspect this for me?"
“What’s this?” Ted took the thread carefully, holding it up to the artificial light that filtered through the dwarven house's windows. His eyes widened suddenly, and he nearly dropped it.
"Dude!" he exclaimed, hands trembling. "This is... this is actual Mithril Thread! Like, the real deal!"
"I'm guessing that's special?" Monica raised an eyebrow at his reaction.
"Special? It's not just special, it’s. It’sght-up impossible!" Ted was practically bouncing with excitement. "Mithril Thread was one of the dwarves' greatest secrets. They used it in their most powerful magical items. It's stronger than steel but flexible as silk, and it can channel mana like nothing else. The method of making it was lost when Viscera fell." He ran the thread through his fingers reverently. "Even Corrupted, this is probably worth more than Rock's Heel's entire village! This is so hard to price. You can usually only barter for it!"
"And we might get more from the other spiders," Monica mused. "Think we could use it for anything?"
"If we find someone who knows how to work with it, maybe. But that's the thing – no one knows how anymore. The dwarves were the only ones who could manipulate Mithril like this." Ted suddenly straightened. "Unless..."
"Unless what?"
"The Blacksmith District has to be down there somewhere," Ted gestured vaguely at the lower levels. "If any of their forges still work, if any of their tools survived... Monica, we might be able to find their secrets. Their techniques. This could be huge! One notebook would be worth more than any amount of money you could imagine!"
*Ding*
Quest Reward Updated – ‘Eradication I/III’
Destroy all the Corrupted Constructs plaguing the first floor of Viscera.
Progress: 3/80
Reward:
* Rare Loot Chest x3
* Second Class Slot