Shin dominated the golden skeleton in close combat as he had many times before over the long hours of the challenge. Greater Invoke and Overshadow alone were enough to render it near helpless. Midway through an exchange, Shin felt the urging of Inari push against him and allowed her to take the reins. A white masked Shin burst into action, the nature of his movements more straightforward and indulgent, Inari taking the utmost joy in towering above her opponent.
Shin watched through his own eyes in the backseat of his body. An innate aspect of Overshadow was it gave greater power to the invoked spirits to usurp control of his body but he had felt no difference to before, not that any of them besides Inari actively tried, and even then, he could give and take as he pleased.
The phantom sensation of a hand on his right shoulder interrupted his thoughts and he took back control to Inari’s annoyance, letting the invoke fade away and the golden skeleton’s blade take him back to the hallway.
“You went the DIY path after all. Thought you might become the spirit tamer type at some point.” Shin turned to the orange haired mage, who casually withdrew her hand seeing him return. “Do buffs work while you’re a monster?”
“Yeah.” Shin answered, casting a ward just behind Kamo Warder’s latest one, who entered a challenge without a word.
“So stupidly broken...”
“Losing confidence in the master plan?” Donny asked, the other one standing guard with her at the moment.
“Shut up. My build is long term and fucking flawless, worry about yourself.”
Kamala and Karla returned from their challenges as they spoke, Karla bearing a noticeable change.
[Human Amazon (legendary) - Greater Lord]
“Alright, that’s our heavy hitters sorted.”
Donny’s words only took a moment to ruminate in Karla’s mind before she turned to Shin. “Fight later?”
“Okay.”
“Still, couldn’t have picked a more accurate class. Specialize in hand to hand?” Donny asked the new amazoness.
“Yeah~. I got a strong skill.”
“I’ll try to make sure I can handle the other end of it tomorrow.”
“It suits you…” Kamala complimented from the side.
“Thanks~” The priestess stared back at Karla’s sincere smile in stoic silence.
“Just make sure you don’t use that strong skill to get kicked out, okay Wonder Woman.” Yen interrupted.
“My name is Karla.” She reminded.
“No, that was… Nevermind. The heavy hitters can sit out now and wait for the rest of us.” Yen entered the ogre wave challenge once more, followed by Kamala and Donny with a quick nod. Shin opened up his status to scroll through as they left.
[Human Invoker (legendary) - Greater Lord]
Strength - 200 (260)
Agility - 600 (780)
Constitution - 50 (65)
Vitality - 115 (149)
Dexterity - 33 (43)
Perception - 300 (390)
Force - 24 (31)
Spirit - 700 (910)
Control - 150 (195)
Willpower - 100 (130)
Skills:
Heal lvl. 10, Greater Mystic Protection lvl. 10, Summon Sorcerous Kitsune Guardian lvl. 10, Grand Martial Combat lvl. 10, Greater Rapid lvl. 10, Befriend Spirit lvl. 10, Greater Mana Meditation lvl. 10, Invigoration lvl. 10, Harvest Soul lvl. 1, Greater Invoke lvl. 10, Quake lvl. 10, Channelling lvl. 10, Spirit Gyro lvl. 10, Greater Ward lvl. 10, Soul Fusion lvl. 1, Lambast lvl. 10, Greater See Through Spirits lvl. 10, Invoke Skill lvl. 3, Overshadow lvl. 8,
Traits:
Body Supremacy, Eyes of the Spirit King, Ethereal Soul, Spiritkeeper, Survival State,
The class upgrade had given him five more skill slots again. Even with the two new skills, he had room for 5, but refrained from acquiring any more naturally remembering Onamuji’s advice. It wouldn’t take much longer to max Overshadow and Invoke Skill would be easier to level, something of high priority.. The level of the skill related to efficiency of the borrowed skill. At lvl 3, the potency was only 65% of what it should be.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
After that, all he needed to do is max Soul Fusion to raise Mara and Kong to a higher tier, although he doubted he had enough epic tier souls to do so, and as long as there was the chance of unavoidable failure in using the skill, he wouldn’t use it on them.
“Lots of strong fighters~”
Shin looked up to Karla from his status then out to the crowd. They weren’t the only legendary tier classholders.
Titon Saba
[Human Champion (legendary) - Greater Lord]
Zerah Saba
[Human Seer (legendary) - Greater Lord]
The blind Saba swordsman
[Human Poisonous Samurai (legendary) - Greater Lord]
Wumei Hua
[Human Ascetic (legendary) - Greater Lord]
Lu Kang
[Human Battlemaster (legendary) - Greater Lord]
The Kamo Warder
[Human Kekkaishi (legendary) - Greater Lord]
The young Kamo Scion
[Human Spellweaver (legendary) - Greater Lord]
But more than just the current standouts, the level of the group as a whole was steadily rising, the vast majority now with epic tier classes and sitting at greater lord. It couldn’t be told at a glance who was close to legendary and who wasn’t, but there was no shortage of players who gave off a feeling above the norm.
“Fight them later?”
“Yeah.”
“Hi~” A beautiful young woman around Shin’s age leaned over to the side in front of him, arms behind her back. Pale skin and long pine green hair, almost teal, with a playful smile and yellow eyes, alluring with a gleam of danger. Shin’s silent inquiring direct gaze only seemed to result in her eyes narrowing ever so slightly in further interest.
[Human Assassin (epic) - Greater Lord]
“Can I hang out with you~?”
“Okay.”
The assassin’s smile widened just slightly as her body melted into her shadow on the ground. In an instant she appeared behind Shin and wrapped her arms lightly around him.
“What~ You didn’t even try to dodge. Did you want to be caught?” She teased, subtle movements deliberately brushing against him. “I heard about you in the other trial. ‘The Goblin’. You’re a lot cuter than I thought you’d be.”
“Shin.” He looked to the side at her where her face had found itself.
“Ashley~” The suspicious girl seemed encouraged by his honest engagement, her arms slid sensually to a hold around him, the atmosphere around her becoming more irresistible and inviting. “Hey~ Wanna have some fun?”
“No.”
Ashley’s playful expression paused for only a moment before beaming into a chuckle, the sensual hold turning into a tight hug. Shin’s rejection only seemed to make her more fond of him for some reason.
“Enemy?” Karla tilted her head, somewhat confused by the flirtatious assassin.
“No~ Protect me.” Ashley shifted a bit to the opposite side behind Shin though nothing in her tone nor demeanor suggested she was the slightest bit concerned.
“I dare you to say that again!” The attention of all three was stolen by the loud yell of the sohei named Cheon Mujin, facing off against the Kamo, more specifically the Kamo Warder who had not yet entered the challenges.
“Shut your mouth!” Katsushi spat back with unrestrained venom. “Worthless commoners like you should keep your heads down like the vermin you are!”
“Don’t let him get away with that~” Ashley egged on from a distance, though by the atmosphere around Mujin it hardly seemed necessary.
“I am-”
“A fraud!” Katsushi yelled with bloodshot eyes behind his bandaged face. “Worthless common scum testing my patience!” The warder’s temper seemed to simmer to a resting rage as he directed his intent to his kin standing behind. “Kill him.”
Two cloth masked members lunged as Mujin shot back into a stance, and a demonic clawed hand pierced through the Kamo Kekkaishi’s chest. Behind him stood Chogo bearing a wicked smile, blue bandana fallen from his head revealing blank eyes and a third vertical eye on his forehead, red with yellow circled patterns.
Before anyone could react, the eye shot in Zerah’s direction and her body jolted in pain as if struck by lightning. The blind Saba swordsman slashed through nothing but air to his shock as the three eyed player flickered to the center. A wide sneer spread across Chogo’s face, hands held towards the two ends of the group, and the greater wards shattered. Maniacal laughter filled the hall as Katsushi dropped flat on his face, his attributes laid bare for all to inspect, and Chogo vanished.
Chaos erupted in an instant as the mindless players swarmed with a hail of skills through falling shards. Rows of the players nearest were shredded apart as their defenses collapsed under the assault of many. Some fled back through luck and skill, others were less fortunate.
Zerah focused her mana and a jolt of pain struck her again. In her place, Shin erected a ward covering the whole of the group, just in front of the main vanguard of the horde, the few unlucky players left outside massacred and the few mindless that made it inside put down by the desperate players targeted.
Shin blinked out of Ashley’s hands and tapped his three party members inside the challenges who all came to and quickly took inventory of the situation. A silence fell on the remaining group in the wake of the sudden storm that just blew through. Shin looked to Zerah.
“Can you use ward?”
She kept quiet for a few moments through pained and frustrated expression but eventually answered. “...no.”
Murmurs spread across the group as most within the challenges were called out and informed about what just happened. But more than any other topic, they discussed what would become of the previous system of warding.
“I’ll keep the ward up.” Shin spoke up nonchalantly, all eyes turning on him. “Everyone has to give me ten thousand tokens.”
The murmurs grew louder, now joined by direct complaints and insults and Shin faced them completely unfazed.
“You think you can extort from all of us, boy?” The old Wumei asked with threatening tone, mirroring the hostile intent aimed towards him by all parties.
“Yeah.” Shin answered, casually and shamelessly. “No one else has Greater Ward. And none of you can beat me.”
“Arrogant fool.” Wumei sneered, relishing in his actions turning him into a common enemy by all.
Shin’s body flickered at a speed shocking all those witnessing, as he grabbed an invisible player lunging towards Kamala with a gray furred hand and blinked away. The ninja dropped from midair before he properly realized what just happened, and a medley of weapons skewered his body from below. The barren eyes of the mindless unchanged as they pulled the assailant down, the grotesque sound of blood and flesh being hacked away filling the silenced hallway.
Shin blinked back inside the ward, the form of a shug fading into the air behind him. A weight of intent fell upon the group; impassionate, ruthless, suffocating, inhuman. A warning. Shin looked at them once again with hollow eyes and a slight smile.
“Ten thousand.”