Clearing up the remaining skeletons didn't take long once the mummies were no longer there to interfere. Sure, he took quite a bit of damage from the sheer amount of fire thrown his way but he had never been in any true danger after the first of the large undead had fallen. During the cleanup he had felt another surge of recovery flow through his body, indicating another Level Up, but he had waited until now to open his notifications.
[Level Up!
You have reached Level 11.
You have gained: +2 Vitality, +2 Endurance, +2 Willpower
You have 0 Free Attributes to assign.]
[Undead Lore II has improved to Undead Lore III
You are now provided information on most greater Undead, and almost every variant of Undead below Greater]
[Level Up!
You have reached Level 12.
You have gained: +2 Vitality, +2 Endurance, +2 Willpower
You have 7 Free Attributes to assign.]
He was a little disappointed that only his [Undead Lore] had improved but he understood that Skills were slow to Tier Up whilst his Spirits seemed to have a limit on how fast they could Level Up. Still, when totalled together his gains for the day were downright transformative and he felt a lot more confident about the impending confrontation with Ander Phyris.
Before deciding what to spend his Free Attributes on, he opened his Status to view it in full and give him an update to date report on what he was capable of.
[
Name: Liam Karr
Race: Human (Earth)
Path: Path of the Spirits
Class: None -> Spiritual Conduit
Titles: Spirit Progenitor, Natural Shaman, Titan Slayer, One Against Many, Power Beyond Limits, Control Beyond Limits, Spiritual Conduit, Undead Slayer, Epic Progenitor, Inward Focus
Level: 10 -> 12
HP: 359/375 -> 231/415
Stamina: 122/155 -> 34/195 (184.5)
Lifeforce: 16/16 -> 13/18
Strength: 26 -> 33
Dexterity: 22
Vitality: 35 -> 39
Endurance: 13 -> 17
Intelligence: 15
Willpower: 17 -> 21
Free Attributes: 0 -> 7
Traits:
Merged Spirits (Legendary)
-Spirit of Death
-Empty
Skills:
Analyse II
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Spirit Lore I (II)
Undead Lore II -> III
Ambidexterity I
Hafted III
Spirit Shaping I -> II
Powers:
Spirit of Death I, Level 6/10 -> 7/10
-NEW- Spirit of Protection I (Partially Corrupted), Level 4/10
Lesser Spirit of Calm I (Corrupted), Level 1/10
]
He had come insanely far in the short time he'd had. He'd faced what had seemed like insurmountable odds and prevailed, and had pushed past every obstacle through grit and determination. It felt nice to see that progress, the improvements he had paid for in blood, represented in such a concrete way.
He turned his attention to his Attributes as he went around feeding his axe. The picky weapon was ignoring any of the [Unknown Skeleton]'s bones in favour of the mages' and mummies' but he still had to pick through the piles of slain undead to find where he had blasted them.
His Willpower had increased for the first time since the System Integration but he didn't feel any different. He had picked his class out of desperation and greed at its high rarity, a choice he didn't regret, but he had failed to consider how it had invited the System to mess with his brain. Luckily, he didn't feel any different but he wasn't about to go and invest great sums into the Stat when its benefits were unproven and their still might be hidden risks with the tampering of his thoughts. There was nothing he could do about it now, so he put the matter out of his mind and focused on what he could do.
Three points went into Dexterity right away to bring it to a nice 25. He had noticed his Strength running away with him during his last battle and wanted more control. More fine motor control meant that he would be more accurate and more efficient, which would lead to more powerful and deadlier strikes.
Then, with his last 4 points, he rounded his Vitality and Endurance up to the next ten for each if them. Vitality he boosted because it was his second most efficient stat, he didn't need any more Strength, and it was absolutely vital to keeping him alive. Endurance then got some much needed love since his Stamina kept running low with every fight and although he had yet to actually bottom out he definitely didn't want to risk doing so against the lich and who knows how many of its undead minions. Happy, he brought up just the changes to his Attributes and admired them for a moment.
[
Strength: 33
Dexterity: 22 -> 25
Vitality: 39 -> 40
Endurance: 17 -> 20
Intelligence: 15
Willpower: 21
Free Attributes: 7 -> 0
]
With that sorted, it was now time to rest and recover before he found out what was behind those gigantic stone doors. Both he and his Spirits had been under quite a bit of strain during that fight with all the [Spirit Shaping] he had been doing and, whilst it had been extremely effective, it was tiring. He withdrew back to his hideout in the wall and relaxed, taking the time to inspect any changes to his axe after its latest meal.
[Skeletal Armament - Axe of Bone and Flames
Tier II Hafted Weapon
A Bone Axe made from the [Lesser Skeletal Armament] Trait and upgraded through absorbing the bones of its fallen foes. It was won in battle and has served it's owner faithfully since, an instrument of fire and death that reaps the lives of its wielder's enemies.
Damage: +31-39 slashing -> +34-42 slashing
Additional Properties:
- +13-16 -> +25-31 fire damage
- Passive: The Armament passively draws in energy to boost itself, the higher the ambient energies the more powerful the axe becomes. The axe stores the energies absorbed, up to a limit, and uses them to enhance itself when needed
- Passive: The Armament generates a small amount of Fire Mana that is absorbed by its other passive
Progress towards being Named: 2/3
Tier I: Can repair and upgrade itself through absorbing inanimate bone it is in contact with
Tier II: Improve the effect of any Spirits used on this weapon by 1 Level]
His first post-integration companion's growth had slowed down. Sure, its raw damage was still increasing quite nicely but he had been hoping for another Passive or an improvement on one of the current ones with the new type of undead. He did notice, however, that it had gained one new thing from the mummies. Now, instead of his hand gripping the warm bone of the handle to wield his weapon, a cloth wrap had appeared from within the armament and wrapped itself around it, providing him with a better and more comfortable grip.
He would've preferred more power but he would take what he could get, especially since he had no idea of the rules regarding what a growth item like his axe should be becoming like. It, like him, was evolving at a rapid rate and he couldn't wait to see how it would end up.