Shin stood in a trance within the walls of the training grounds. The soothing presence of the energies of the world enveloped him, seeping deep into the core of his being, and he chose. Light burst around Shin and the dense feeling of mana remained.
[Meditation has upgraded to Mana Meditation.]
A more limited version of the general skill before, no longer increasing the speed of aura recovery nor being a substitute for rest but Shin had nearly outgrown the need for sleep in the short term and mana was of far more importance than aura. He channeled the skill and as before, it compounded with the recovery increase of his black silk shirt.
“Hey, we’re ready.”
Shin stopped his training as Yen and Kamala approached him. Donny’s eyes opened from a quick nap leaning against a wall and walked over. The four left the training grounds for the final time without ceremony and walked calmly through the silent streets.
“It’s like a ghost town now…” Yen muttered.
“It is.”
“Didn’t recognize any storekeepers in the horde. Must have got sacrificed with the others.” Donny mentioned and Yen glanced at the tailor store with a quiet, difficult expression.
Shin led the party to the inscription store covered in talismans and knocked twice on the side door. Nothing happened for moments but the door soon opened to an old short gnome who glanced around.
“They’re dead.”
“Shame.” Her tone blunt and distant but a faint sincerity held her expression.
“I’m going now.”
“Yeah, seems about time.” Grenda tossed a spatial bag into his hands. “That should tide you over for a while. No one left to sell them to anyway.”
Shin looked back. “Where are you from?”
Grenda kept silent for a few somber moments. “The Tower is vast. We won’t meet again.”
Shin tilted his head to the side just slightly then looked back at the old mentor. “Bye.” With a casual genuine word he walked off.
“Good luck, boy.” Grenda watched them walk away for a moment and closed her door.
“It’s always weird when you have actual feelings.” Shin didn’t respond to her jab, turning her expression a bit awkward and guilty. “...it’s good she made it though.”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s celebrate by killing some drakes, yeah?” Donny encouraged from the side.
Shin looked ahead. “Yeah.”
---
A firebolt from the roaring drake dissolved in the wind. Shin appeared above the monster and shattered the section of flame nova around him as his tremoring fist crashed its head into the ground, skull caved in. The horn of the twin drake’s other head shone and an axe cleaved through half its neck. It wreathed for only an instant before a second swing beheaded it fully.
Shin tapped the four chests appearing before the twin headed horned drake’s corpse and pocketed the fire resistance item himself, the last they needed. Two portals opened up to the side but the party only took interest in the large one ahead swirling into existence.
“Final boss…” Yen declared.
“Gonna put in 300. My stats are spread out.”
Shin opened his status as well and allotted 200 points without a second thought, 75 into Spirit and 125 into Perception. He had initially planned to put it all into Spirit but his fight with Cesar proved his vision was still lacking at this level. He could still manage his preparations, if just barely.
[Rank has advanced to Greater Lord. 300 Attribute Points rewarded.]
[Acquired uncommon tier skill Soul Strike.]
[Acquired uncommon tier skill See Through Spirits.]
Shin picked his two options without a second thought. Soul Strike opened a new avenue of attack he greatly needed. Something that could get around the invulnerability and high tier defensive skills growing more common by the day. Soul traits were far rarer in comparison, at least by his experience up until now. See Through Spirits was rather unremarkable but a necessary bare utility, he felt, as his eyes did have limitations, especially within dungeons.
[Human Onmyoji (epic) - Greater Lord]
Strength - 200 (260)
Agility - 600 (780)
Constitution - 50 (65)
Vitality - 115 (149)
Dexterity - 33 (43)
Perception - 300 (390)
Force - 24 (31)
Spirit - 578 (751)
Control - 150 (195)
Willpower - 100 (130)
Skills:
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Heal lvl. 1, Mystic Protection lvl. 10, Summon Mystic Kitsune Guardian lvl. 10, Grand Martial Combat lvl. 10, Rapid lvl. 10, Befriend Spirit lvl. 10, Mana Meditation lvl. 1, Galvanize lvl. 10, Harvest Spirit lvl. 6, Invoke lvl. 10, Tremor lvl. 10, Condense lvl. 10, Greater Spirit Orb lvl. 10, Greater Spiral lvl. 10, Ward lvl. 1, Soul Fusion lvl. 1, Soul Strike lvl. 1, See Through Spirits lvl. 1,
Traits:
Body Supremacy, Eyes of the Spirit King, Ethereal Soul, Spiritkeeper,
Donny and Kamala allotted their points and chose their skills calmly but Yen hesitated before her screen with a troubled expression. Arguments and second guesses swam through her head as her unsure expression fell low, standing still for a few moments after making her choice before joining up with the party last.
“Good?”
“Just stand in front of it long enough for me to carry this team.” Yen snapped back. Donny smiled and looked ahead.
Shin stepped first and they followed him through the portal into a wide towering corridor across and another straight ahead. The walls and floor meticulously constructed from dark brown stone, lined with intricate pillars and carvings. A far cry from the savage nature of the tunnels they had spent so much time in, the only similarities being the torches along the walls dimly lightning the way.
Donny relaxed his stance a little but not his focus. “Guess we’re not getting into it right away.”
“Another maze… Boss room is hidden somewhere through all this. Hey Shin, which way?”
A puff of smoke gave way to a floating paper ball with a dotted vertical square in the center, and a second summoned a fat humanoid being. Shin closed an eye, the other turning prismatic, and led them right for no particular reason. The lumbering Oaf origami’s footsteps silent but seemingly having a fair amount of weight. The party followed after equally without word, Donny taking position at the rearguard.
Through the corridors veering right or left as Shin chose their path random, the crossroads all the same they walked, the design of the walls flanking them indistinguishable by any metric. No sign of monsters nor traps for a long stretch which only heightened their wariness.
“People. Seven.” Shin dashed ahead silently, his presence fading.
He snuck closer to properly inspect the party before them and with a shift in his eye, darted forward beheading two in an instant. Knives sank into three who started to open their mouths and he slew a sixth while taking only the sword arm and punching the throat of the last. The man fell gasping for air in pain, donning white robes and a scaled mask covering the top half of his face just as the others did, the only difference between them the weapons they wielded.
“Where is the boss?” The others appeared as Shin began his questioning.
The masked man’s face stretched into a mad strained smile. “All will serve Him. All will see His greatness and kneel.”
Shin stabbed a sword through the man’s leg. “Where is he?”
The man winced in pain but quickly grew into mad cackling. “All will serve. Surrender to Him.”
He inhaled sharply and Shin beheaded him. He didn’t know what the man had tried to do but It didn’t seem like he could get reliable information from him anyway, whether interrogation or torture. Owing to that sentiment was their status.
[Dragon Cultist (rare) - Greater Lord]
Strength - 300
Agility - 300
Constitution - 300
Vitality - 300
Dexterity - 300
Perception - 300
Force - 300
Spirit - 300
Control - 300
Willpower - 300
“What’s wrong with their stats...?” Yen looked around at each.
“Are they players or monsters?”
“Doesn’t matter.” Shin rose to his feet at Donny’s question. The floating eye and oaf moved to the front again and continued on.
“Guess not.”
It took only three turns to find the next batch of cultists. Shin signalled the party and sped ahead. The broadsword turned to two in his hands as he blurred, taking the heads of six before they could even move. A seventh variant stood at the back, muscular and donning simple scaled armor with a helm for a mask covering all but his mouth. Shin flickered towards him, a thrust faded into a feint and he slashed down on the warrior’s neck.
A dull clang sounded as his blade struck scales that spread across the man’s skin, and a draconic wail left his lips, loud and piercing. Shin flickered an estoc through the man’s eye and kicked his body away, sliding back to the three way intersection. He could feel no damage to his body nor was there any strain on his mind.
The others raced next to him, Donny and Yen each taking point at one of the other directions and Kamala in the center ready to assist whoever needed it, all having come to the same conclusion. Silence held the air, and then a torrent of noise.
Hordes of cultists charged from all directions, along with their variants. A firebolt blasted away the enemies at Yen’s side and then another but still more burst forward, charred and zealous. A sharp vine broke through the cracks in the ground and speared a cultist, shooting forth to skewer several more before a ball of frost froze it solid at the center and a scale armored woman sprang forth.
Fire streamed over her but still she charged to Yen’s panic. The stream of fire condensed burning the relentless warrior until she fell over, her face shattering on the ground like charcoal. The vine broke off at the frostbitten section and snaked around a mana wall to skewer a hooded cultist.
Donny carved through his share of cultists with a keen edged obsidian axe, his eyes scanning the wide corridor. He darted to the side, and sent one tumbling into the crowd with a bash of his shield. He darted back to the other side and slew a cultist with his swing.
An armored man burst in front of the fray, scales covering sharp clawed hands, and a great impact shot his body into the crowd like a cannon, breaking and mangling all he struck. Aura dissolved from Donny’s shield and he charged, slaughtering all with abandon.
A fireball parried off his shield into a cultist rushing from his side and he darted forward, sidestepping the mage’s mana wall and cleaving through his head. A quick shockwave from his feet threw the disorganized mess of cultists to the floor and walls once more and he reaped them one by one. He spun around sharp, parrying a clawed fist from a second warrior.
The warrior’s glance snapped to the side and reached out to an axe swung at his waist, catching nothing but the false image of a feint as Donny cleaved through his neck. Fake, the skill was called, upgraded from a skill he learned naturally, and it was already showing its worth.
Donny gave the bodies on the floor and the path they came from a quick glance and rushed back to the group before his steps slowed to an easy walk. Shin had already rejoined the casters, both having taken care of their sides, and now glanced around at the variants, finding all identical in status.
[Dragon Cultist Mage (rare) - Greater Lord]
Strength - 300
Agility - 300
Constitution - 300
Vitality - 300
Dexterity - 300
Perception - 300
Force - 700
Spirit - 500
Control - 350
Willpower - 400
[Dragon Cultist Warrior (rare) - Greater Lord]
Strength - 600
Agility - 400
Constitution - 300
Vitality - 500
Dexterity - 350
Perception - 300
Force - 300
Spirit - 300
Control - 300
Willpower - 300
“This is worse than the dens… One shout and we have to deal with a horde?” Yen glanced at a body before inspecting it with a kick. “They don’t seem like golems or anything so why do they fight like zombies and why are their stats so fucking clean?”
“If we have to deal with this every time, we’re not going to have much left for the boss.”
“Shin’s just gonna have to assassinate them cleanly.”
“Could be a long trip. Making our trump card run out of energy isn’t much better.”
Yen fell silent in thought before turning to Shin. “How did they even get a chance to use that roar?”
“Scales.” Shin answered, one eye closed.
“Can you take down a squad without using mana?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe? Seven of these assholes should be easy for you.” Shin looked back to her, one eye still closed. “What?”
“Someone’s over there.”