Chapter Thirty-Three

Ambrose brought up his skill options with a thought.

[Infernal Shield of Conviction-Rare]: Your shield of conviction now absorbs some of the damage from attacks and transfers the power to you.]

He looked over at Noelle who was drawing lines in the ash. He tugged his lips up into a small smile.

“What do you think? A more powerful shield a good idea?”

Noelle looked up at him, cocked her head to the side and then sneezed before going back to playing in the ash. Ambrose chuckled. Something seemed different about her. She was more…cat-like. Ambrose nodded to himself, looking at the other skills.

[Infernal Recall-Rare]: Recall any object, limited to large objects, to you that you have infused with your mana. The upgraded version of this skill now allows you to control the path the object takes back to you.]

Ambrose rubbed the bridge of his nose. That wasn’t a bad upgrade. He got to pick two, so he put that to the side. The next skill floored him, but there was a cost to it.

[Infernal Aegis-Rare]: Project an infernal shield that absorbs incoming attacks up to mid D-Grade or higher the more mana you put into the skill. An aura of righteousness surrounds you, instilling fear and doubt into your enemies. The flames of this skill can harm attackers. Note that selecting this skill requires you to lose [Aura of Righteousness] and [Shield of Conviction.]

The System was trying to be balanced, or so it seemed to him. This skill was basically a combination of those two skills. It was undoubtedly better, and would only continue to get better as he was offered more upgraded options for it later down the line.

Except I lose any unique benefits those two skills may have on their own if I pick this. Ambrose put the skill to the side in his mind, bringing up the next one.

[Infernal Aura of Righteousness-Epic]: In addition to increasing the power of smites, this skill now empowers allies around you and protects from mental assaults.]

I knew it. Ambrose shook his head. If he picked this skill, he would get not only increased protection and power for himself, but for Noelle as well. He flicked his eye over to the white tiger. She was sniffing at one of the holes a skeleton had burst out of. Her expression turned sour and she jerked her head away from it, batting at her nose with a paw.

Choosing this skill meant more protection for her. He sighed and put it to the side, looking at the last skill he could pick.

[Infernal Insight-Rare]: See through illusions as well as glean more information about those you use this skill on.]

He crossed his arms, bringing his eyebrows together and downward. This was a no go for him. Not because it wasn’t useful, it was. In fact, he was certain his father would have insisted on it as Raylen had believed the more knowledge you had, the better. Ambrose just wasn’t concerned right now with seeing hidden things. He wanted more combat oriented skills.

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He could hear his father now.

That’s all well and good until you trigger a trap and blow your head off, boy. It’s often what you don’t know about that kills you.

Ambrose grumbled at his fathers voice in his head. Raylen’s training saved him many times over his life, but there was one thing that held him back from picking the skill. It didn’t matter if he knew about the threat if he couldn’t do anything about it.

He dismissed the skill and considered the others. The bottom line was that he felt [Infernal Aura of Righteousness] was not only not powerful enough for being an epic skill, but Aegis simply did more. Furthermore, aegis would grow too, and in better ways because of everything it did. Yes, that meant he couldn’t empower Noelle, but it didn’t mean this skill couldn’t help at all.

An uncertain enemy filled with fear and doubt was easier to kill. A dead enemy was no threat at all.

He also wanted [Infernal Recall] because it was better and having greater control over his axe’s movement could prove useful. Ambrose selected those skills. He felt the knowledge of them settle into his core.

Onto the stats. Ambrose had forty-eight points to spend. That was a sizable chunk, which sort of made his class feel overpowered to him. Not only was he getting points from it, but points from his profession as well. Briefly, he wondered if some people had just a profession and not a class.

Brushing the thought away, he considered where to put his points. Mana was always useful, but his wisdom was falling behind. Ambrose was certain that wisdom governed the perception he had of his surroundings, possibly insight as well, and that was always a good thing. He dumped ten points into it. There, Dad. Stop your whining. He thought at the shade of his fathers memory.

He put five into strength, because that also was becoming increasingly important. Next, he put a full twenty points into constitution. Health potions were nowhere to be seen so far, and he had used his last one. That made health important, a single point could mean the difference between life and death.

At least, if I do die, I’ll see Alice again, with any luck. Ambrose closed his one eye. His jaw clenched, and his knuckles popped.

Not until Eric lies dead at my feet. Ambrose felt a warm presence rub against him and he looked down to see Noelle purring and moving her head up and down his shin. Anger melted away from him like butter in a microwave, he reached down and stroked the cat's ears.

“Yeah, okay.”

With the last thirteen points he put ten into willpower and the final three into intellect. After the wave of surging power passed through him, Ambrose took a breath and called Noelle to his side. The tiger took her time returning to him, tail stuck in the air.

He put a hand on her head and regarded the hall ahead of him. Mordred’s third avatar was lurking, waiting for him. He was sure of it, and it was time to deal with it. Permanently.

_______

Ambrose stepped through to the next area of the vast catacomb and a wave of power slammed into his mind. He should have been ready for it, but he hadn’t been prepared for a mental assault. He felt Noelle’s concern vibrate through him as he collapsed to the ground.

Now…let’s see how your mind fairs in battle, Knight.

A cold, raspy voice echoed through his head. He wasn’t aware of it, but he had collapsed to the ground, his face a blank mask, one eye staring upward, as if seeing nothing. Darkness encroached on his vision, until there was nothing but a sea of black.

When he awoke, he was outside a bar. Not a strip-club exactly, but there were dancers inside, mostly clothed. Eric had sent him here to deal with the manager.

Ambrose knew the place very well. It was called The Varsity, and it was here that he had met his wife. Alice.