Now, about that new skill. He needed something that would make up for his missing attributes. Maybe something that assisted his architype. He was a magic bunny, right? So, something that boosted his insane [MONSOON] magic. He had already been given a skill that helped to control magic when he evolved at [LEVEL 80], [HONED FOCUS]. The new skill was levelling nicely. Now he just wanted something that would assist the ‘power’ aspect. Opening his skills list that the Nexus would currently allow him to buy, he mentally projected what he was after. The listing had over ten skills ranging from [LESSER] all the way up to [UNIQUE], though the lone purple skill was way out of his price range. Skipping over the [LESSER] and [AVERAGE] grade skills, he read through the info for the higher-grade ones.
Available Skills:
[BASIC BOOST] – 10 Points
[MANA GATHERER] – 10 Points
[MAGIC POWER] – 20 Points
[MORE MAGIC] – 20 Points
[INCREASED MAGIC POWER] – 30 Points
Increases power of magic in use by 20%.
[MANA MAGNET] – 30 Points
Mana is drawn to your very being. Can now be altered to target specific affinities.
[MAGIC STORM] – 40 Points
Increases power of magic in use by 40%.
[ELECTROMAGNET] – 40 Points
Mana is drawn to your very being. [STORM] related affinities are drawn more rapidly than others. Can be altered to target specific affinities.
[ENHANCED MAGIC STORM] – 50 Points
Increases power of magic in use by 80%.
[ELECTROMAGNETIC FOCUS] – 50 Points
Magic hears your call and you are its focus. [STORM] related affinities are lured by your essence. Can be altered to target other affinities.
[SPELLBINDING MONSOON POWER FOCUS] – 100 Points
Increases power of magic in use by 100%. Magic hears your call and you are its focus. [MONSOON] related affinities are lured by your essence. Can be altered to target other affinities.
[SOVEREIGN’S POWER FOCUS] – 500 Points
Increases power of magic in use by 500%. Magic heeds your call for power, your very will is its focus. [MONSOON] related affinities submit to your essence. Other affinities stand by, ready to gather at your whim.
There wasn’t really a need to think it over. The choice was obvious. He was also hoping that by purchasing [SPELLBINDING MONSOON POWER FOCUS], the cost of [SOVEREIGN’S POWER FOCUS] would go down, just like his storage skill had.
After his previous evolution, he had felt a rush of power that rivalled any level up. As soon as the [RARE] skill activated, he felt a similar explosion of energy. The description had said that mana would hear his call, but it felt the other way around. The surrounding magic seemed to draw him in. He could sense the call of [STORM] related affinities even more loudly than the rest. Over the initial shock of the skill, he channelled mana from just his own personal magic… and felt like he was holding a bomb. He could still technically add environmental mana to increase the power even more, but screw that! He could barely control his own magic now, [HONED FOCUS] factoring into that control.
Time to put his new potential to use. Creating a storm in the air above them, he enclosed himself and [MAX] in a [MAGIC SHIELD] bubble, then released a blizzard of piercing sleet. The monsters fell in droves. His power was turning the usually miniature balls of ice into slightly larger magical spears of ice that pierced through all their foes in the area.
“Decent,” [ABRAXAS] commented at the display, “but I thought you’d be more powerful, must have been those names you gave away.
The bunny was annoyed at the remark. In defiance he sent out a chain of lightning that passed through the remaining monsters leaving burnt out husks. This time there wasn’t just his own power in the continuing attack though. He was empowering it even more with the surrounding mana. An ocean seemed to flow through him, and exploded across the entire floor. In the distance came a pained roar. The echo resounded through the cavern ominously.
“Well, that was more impressive” the demon resumed his unwanted commentary.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Then another voice rumbled through the cavern, gravely and exhausted sounding.
“Alright, I’ve had enough. Just let me get back to my nap and I’ll submit. If you had of just asked first, I would have told you I’m too sleepy to fight. Youngsters these days, too fired up to consider if a monster even wants to fight. Now, if we’re done, go away.”
The power of the voice made both the jackalope and Fenrir tremble. That had just been the voice? But it was submitting? Why? How? Before he could consider any further a notification blazed in his vision sending all other notifications about kills and level ups behind it.
*DING*
Achievement Earned: Have the Seventeenth Floor Boss submit to you.
[COMPLETE]
Reward: 1x Random Equipment Token up to [UNIQUE] grade.
Excitement ran through his veins. This wasn’t some dubious contract that could hurt him. The explanation was far more tangible. He was getting equipment! But what equipment could a rabbit like monster even wear? With trepidation, he submitted the token.
Would you like to submit 1x Random Equipment Token?
[Y/N]
*DING*
1x Random Equipment Token has been consumed.
*DING*
You have received [SOVEREIGN’S PENDANT OF STORMS]
Grade: [UNIQUE]
While worn, any land you consider under your rule will be guarded by storms.
Those you consider enemies will automatically be harassed with storms while in your lands.
The rain from your storms will debuff the magical attributes of all enemies and trespassers with ill intent by 40%. All debuff cancelling skills or items [UNIQUE] grade or under will be bypassed. *Abilities do not apply.
The rain from your storms will buff the physical attributes of your people and livestock by 10%.
The rain from your storms will buff the growth of your land’s crops by 20%.
Wow. This was amazing. Especially for those considered under his leadership. Not really useful inside a dungeon, but maybe his family and people could now live in the area surrounding the dungeon without fear. Living under an open sky again would be nice. And the clouds from his storms would protect the undead from the sun’s rays. The more he thought about it, the more excited he got.
As he read through the description, an opalescent teardrop shaped pendent swirling with lightning and the colour of dark clouds appeared attached to a thin silver chain. The item had automatically been placed around his neck and the opal rested against his chest.
His companions noticed and he explained the item to them while skimming through the rest of his notifications.
*DING*
[LEVEL UP] You have reached Level 95.
[LEVEL UP] You have reached Level 96.
[LEVEL UP] You have reached Level 97.
[LEVEL UP] You have reached Level 98.
[LEVEL UP] You have reached Level 99.
125 Attribute points have been distributed according to the natural inclinations of your race.
You have 29 Skill points and 25 Attribute points to distribute manually.
[MAX] was a little impressed, but [ABRAXAS] stared at him wide eyed after the clarification of what exactly he’d been awarded.
After some time processing the prince stated in awe and horror “I’m contracted to a monster of monsters.”
Ignoring him, the black wolf brought them all back to reality. “So, what’s the plan from here? Next floor down? I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve been down here too long already. I need to get out and see some blue sky.”
[ROGER] nodded at seeing where his old neighbour’s thoughts were headed. “I think something big is going to happen on the hundredth floor so I think we should rest up before going. Also, I want to check on my family, just make sure their okay.”
“As always, I’ll follow your lead my lord” [ABRAXAS] said in deference.
With the trio in agreement, they travelled back up through the dungeon floors.
****
Count Vladislav Ontairo was perplexed. Among the high court of vampire lords in the city he was considered one of the weakest. This meant that whenever he brought up his concerns with the rest of the court he was brushed off as mad or crazy. He could see their point of view. Old and powerful vampires had their own quirks that made others consider them lunatics. If anything, he was the weird one among his peers for his purely theoretical studies which only required studying books already written. Meanwhile Dame Wilafred wandered the mountains splicing different wildlife together just to see what would happen, Viscount Hannabil had a thing for dissecting scalekin, and Madame Lucielle experimented on undead. Well, had experimented. For such a social creature, no one had seen her in a while. Of all the vampires in the high court she was the one who creeped him out the most, despite her slightly lower level than his own. The constant enthusiasm in her eyes had always sent chills down his spine. As cruel as the thought was, he hoped she was dead.
Come to think of it, his concerns had began right after her disappearance. Then there was that fire which had ravaged an eighth of the estate properties in Thrallton. There were of course all the rumours about sensing powerful teleportation magic that same night. He wasn’t sure what he had felt that night, but it was definitely something.
Then his suspicions had grown over time. His interests were in study and observation. Nothing more, nothing less. A non-interference policy. However, during his nighttime walks around the city, he had been observing some odd and worrying coincidences. He had brushed it off at first, just like those he was now trying to convey his suspicions to. Rats and mice of every species were coordinating with each other and spying on the city. As he paid more attention to the coincidences, he realised they weren’t coincidences at all. Even his pet gerbil seemed to stare at him with intelligence. Just what was going on. And why wouldn’t anyone believe him? No, he knew why, it was almost impossible.
Vladislav sat at his desk of ancient oakwood, staring out the window, the sky was slowly turning grey with dark clouds. His trundling thoughts came to an abrupt halt. That’s right, almost impossible. There were only two rarely seen exceptions. Either a beast that had been given some [INTELLIGENCE] by its tamer had miraculously slipped out of their control, or a random beast’s natural attributes had implausibly mutated to allow the increase of [INTELLIGNCE]. Even at this realisation the count slumped in defeat. Even if either of those events had occurred, awakened beasts were too stupid to go around awakening other beasts. It just didn’t happen. The legendary Kitsune, the beast that most often had a rare awakening and were smart enough to keep increasing their [INTELLIGENCE], were too selfish to awaken their brethren. To repeat, it just didn’t happen.
But it had! He was watching it take place right there in Thrallton. Somehow. Why? How? It was his greatest wish to find out. Continuing to gaze out the window he saw the dark clouds were merging quickly and the slight wind had turned into a gale. That was fast. It almost looked… magical? With that thought thunder echoed loudly throughout the city, then lightning struck again and again. Each strike blew apart sections of the mansions neighbouring his. Rain began to fall heavily, the now screaming wind hammering water against the window. What was going on? It all came on so fast. Opening the study window he was soaked by the storm… And instantly felt lighter. The heaviness in his shoulders was gone, his mood improved and he felt younger than he had in hundreds of years. The count didn’t know what was happening, but he had a feeling these events were all connected. He grinned in excitement as the now hail turned back to water as soon as it touched his aura and gently splashed his drenched clothes. Should the mastermind appear, he would be ready to kneel in service.