“You’re a hunter killer, indeed,” Stella beamed at me, looking at the title under my nameplate. “It suits you.”
“One more down. Many more to come if they're anything like the last two we’ve faced,” I replied before continuing with the slew of System messages still awaiting our attention.
As a Hunter who has successfully defeated another, you will receive significant rewards commensurate to the challenge faced.
Calculating…
Difficulties Noted: Defeated a Hunter five levels higher than your own (high difficulty). Survived combat against a force more than three times your own (high difficulty).
Calculating…
Congratulations! Your Hunter Rewards have been upgraded to tier 3 (Rare)!
Reward #1 Experience extracted from Accelerator – Upgraded to Rare Tier!
Note – Experience extracted from defeated hunter & accelerator is dependent on rarity, as follows: Common Accelerator – 25% total experience acquired, Uncommon Accelerator – 35% total experience acquired, Rare Accelerator – 40% total experience acquired, Epic Accelerator – 45% total experience acquired, Legendary Accelerator – 50% total experience acquired, & Unique – 70% total experience acquired.
Congratulations! You have extracted 58,334 experience points from Tsurra the Corrupted’s accelerator.
Level Up! You have earned enough experience to advance to levels 13, 14, 15, and 16. Tier 2 class characteristic attributes have been applied. You have 28 attribute points to distribute.
Luck Threshold Reached (50). Benefits: Plus 20% increased chance to find hidden treasures and extra rewards (up from 15).
Reward #2 - Attribute points extracted from Accelerator. Note – upgraded to rare tier.
Tsurra the Corrupted’s Highest Attribute was Intelligence. Congratulations, you have extracted 33 Intelligence!
Intelligence Threshold Reached (100). Benefits: Each new point into intelligence now grants 35 mana (up from 30).
Reward #3 Attribute/Skill/Spell extracted from Accelerator. Note – upgraded to rare tier.
Based on Tsurra the Corrupted’s status, you have a 60% chance to acquire a new skill, a 30% chance to acquire a new spell, and a 10% chance to acquire a new ability.
Congratulations! You will receive one of Tsurra the Corrupted’s abilities!
“Your luck stat sure is paying dividends. Perhaps we should consider putting more points into it, if this is what can happen,” Stella said as she hovered nearby. “A ten percent chance and you get to choose one of his abilities. Just… wow”
In our battle, Stella had relayed vital information about Tsurra’s abilities. Though, the chaotic fight meant it had been placed in the background of my mind. Now though, being able to choose one of the deadly Hunter’s abilities could be game-changing. “Let’s look at each closely,” I said. “You’re the expert so I may rely on your opinion to pick the best one for us, here and now.”
Stella complied the information of each ability, appearing one after another. As I read each one in turn, I was soon to appreciate how much ‘wow’ had been an understatement.
Abilities available:
Borrowed Essence – Your life force and magical essence have become intertwined. Your maximum health is added to your mana pool, allowing you a deeper mana reserve to call upon. WARNING – If your mana falls below your total health pool, you will suffer 1 point of damage to health and mana for each mana point used or lost.
Empowered Aegis – Your magical prowess is no longer contained inside only your Core. Now, a permanent barrier of magical energy protects you from hostile spells and attacks at all times as long as you have mana to spare. This magical protection draws against your mana reserves when struck, stopping most magical and non-magical attacks at a one-to-one damage ratio, health to mana. Note – Physical and magical attacks will still cause you to stagger, become dazed or even stunned. The physical component of such attacks will bypass this protection, though the damage will not.
Beguiled Thrall – Your soul has been touched by necrotic energies and it has forever changed you. This ability allows you to call back to life a recently departed soul who will fight for you once more. The act of summoning a soul across the veil will twist and warp the body, turning it into a more vicious version of itself. Note – This ability has an extreme health and mana cost, as well as a significant cool down period. The summoned Beguiled Thrall will last a maximum of 24 hours, though this time can be extended with another use of this ability.
Infernal Blessing – You made a bargain with a demon of the lower planes. In exchange for a century of servitude upon your death, all of your fire-based spell’s damage is significantly increased.
Undead Lungs – The necrotic energy that passes through your body has altered your very nature. As a result, you no longer need to draw breath, though you are still capable of doing so. You are immune to effects that require a gaseous medium to affect a target and are no longer capable of drowning or suffocating.
Demonic Subjection – Once per day, you are able to impose your will on any demon (rare rarity or lower), forcing it to obey all of your commands. This lasts until the demon is banished, by your will, or until 2 hours have passed. If no demon is available, you can instead use this ability to summon a lesser Imp to do your bidding for up to 6 hours or until banished.
Soul Link – When damaged by physical or magical attacks, 20% of the damage is transferred to your minions or thralls, divided equally between those you command.
The surviving individuals around the end of the room were stirring, though, they were still extremely disoriented. Going from a comatose state to fully conscious, whatever Tsurra had done to them, appeared to need quite some time to wear off. We would need to get moving soon, but I wanted to hopefully get through these massive notifications so when we helped these people back to their homes, they could get our undivided attention.
Before making my selection, I moved over to Tsurra’s body and removed all of his gear and items, placing them effortlessly into my inventory. Magical gear went into my bag of holding, whereas everything non-magical went into my necklace. Tsurra had a wealth of gear upon him and, by the looks of it, it was a matched set. I’d have to go through it all soon. For now, I pulled out a blanket and covered his mostly naked body. It wouldn’t go over well for the survivors to see the Hunter when they came fully back to the present.
Knowing time was of the essence, Stella and I talked and went through our options, weighing the pros and cons of each. I was amazed at the overarching defensive theme of Tsurra’s abilities and how they interacted with him. Thinking back on the fight, we were fortunate all of his thralls were down, otherwise my final axe throw may not have finished him off. A flat twenty percent damage reduction, though it would translate to any minion Tsurra would have had, was powerful. Hell, looking at my own armor class, my own defenses lowered physical damage by twenty-five percent which included my ever-present minor shielding spell. Tsurra, even though he was a caster much like me, was far more capable of tanking damage than I can currently.
We came down to three choices. It was either Borrowed Essence, Empowered Aegis, or Soul Link.
“Borrowed essence will essentially increase your total mana points by dipping into your health pool if you get low enough,” Stella said. “Right now, though, your mana is not too much of a concern considering the massive bump in intelligence, not to mention the five hundred mana from the earlier achievement. You have over thirty-five hundred mana points now! So, while this ability would add another fifteen hundred on top, I think we have better choices.”
“Now, empowered aegis,” Stella said, clearly impressed by the ability, “That will give you a constant damage shield. Even better, it synergizes well with your essence ability from your necromancer ring, as well as the fact we’re essentially an intelligence build.”
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“I see where you’re going with this,” I said excitedly. “Choosing the aegis means we can focus even more on intelligence. We’re already doing that, in a way. It would effectively increase our damage mitigation potential. One point of intelligence, in a way, would be like also adding one constitution as well. Though, if I end up taking a lot of damage quickly, it could leave me magically defenseless.”
“Yes, exactly,” Stella added. “Your mana would double as health as any damage to the shield would chip away at mana first.”
“So, that leaves us at the last contender, soul link,” I said as I eyed up the description. “A straight twenty percent damage mitigation is impressive, though Ripley would take all of that damage for me. Wait, would that damage actually split between her and Lowki?”
Stella glanced over her interface, “…No, it wouldn’t. Lowki isn’t a thrall or minion. He’s a pet companion.”
“Another thing to consider is that I am not a front-line fighter,” I said. “My role for the most part is to be in the background flinging off spells while Ripley and Lowki engage whatever we’re fighting. I’d like to have soul link, but I feel like it’s wasted in a way. It’s more of like, I don’t know… an ‘oh shit’ ability. Like, if I was caught off guard or ambushed, it could save the day, but the aegis would already do that since it’s always up and running.”
“I think we have it then,” Stella said as she nodded in agreement. “Let’s do it.”
Congratulations! You have earned the Empowered Aegis ability!
Empowered Aegis – Your magical prowess is no longer contained inside only your Core. Now, a permanent barrier of magical energy protects you from hostile spells and attacks at all times as long as you have mana to spare. This magical protection draws against your mana reserves when struck, stopping most magical and non-magical attacks at a one-to-one damage ratio; health to mana. Note – Physical and magical attacks will still cause you to stagger, become dazed, or even stunned. The physical component of such attacks will bypass this protection, though the damage will not.
After selecting the new ability, the only thing I felt was something akin to a slow-moving pulse of tightly wound energy expanding from my Core, flowing outwards to encompass my entire body. Then it was gone with no outward sign appearing. If I didn’t know any better, I would have said nothing magical protected me. Certainly, nothing could stop the thrust of a sword. Or, so it felt. Double-checking my character sheet, the ability was there.
“Well, that was anticlimactic,” Stella said as she attempted to get my aegis to present itself. She moved a paw, gingerly at first but quickly picking up speed, over my arm. No matter what she did, nothing happened. She only caught air. We both knew it was there, but couldn’t interact with it.
“Hostile spells and attacks only, per the description?” I asked as we both stood there questioningly.
Stella nodded and before I could respond she turned to Lowki, then indicated to me with a motion of her head, “Hit him.”
Gasping in surprise, I moved my palms before me, but I was far, far too slow. By the look of it, my defensive motion wouldn’t have stopped Lowki anyway. He was all too happy to play his part in a new game, considering the smug grin that appeared for the briefest of moments on his dark face.
Lowki, quick as an adder, lashed a giant paw out towards my hip. He didn’t extend his claws, thankfully, but the strength behind the blow still sent me spinning to the floor. The hit didn’t hurt, no damage reached my health, though it felt as if all the momentum behind the attack still landed. As I was picking myself up off the floor, my eyes caught a small dip in my mana pool.
“Interesting,” Stella said mechanically. “The shield appeared right as Lowki made contact. “It flashed blue, then disappeared. No damage was taken, though your mana dropped by forty points. Interesting…”
Before losing sight of everything but the floor, I also witnessed the flash of magic. It had been an inch or so from my skin, though I would have to take her word about it disappearing shortly thereafter. It is a bit hard to notice subtle details like while slamming into the ground.
“Hmm… You did indeed feel the full force of the blow, though I wonder if that will decrease if the blow isn’t as hard. Lowki, this time…”
“Nope! Don’t you do it,” I said, barely reaching my feet once more.
Stella, ignoring my plight continued as if I had never spoken, “hit a little gentler.” The results were similar to before, though mainly because I was off balance and still a little dizzy.
This time, I remained on the ground, my eyes reaching upwards to the chandeliers dancing over us. “Do that again, Stell, and the next one Lowki bats around will be you.”
“Bah, you’re no fun, Xaz. Really, just take one for the team… you know, for research purposes.” Something in Stella’s eyes had Lowki twitch lower to the ground.
I looked her square in the eye and shook my head vigorously.
“Fine,” Stella pouted. As I reached my feet, moving to dust myself off, Stella turned to Ripley this time, “One swing at the knees, if you don’t mind.”
Once more finding myself staring up at the wide ceiling, a giggling Stella zoomed away.
“Goddammit, Stella.”
Level Up! You have earned enough experience to advance to levels 13, 14, 15, and 16. Tier 2 class characteristic attributes have been applied. You have 28 attribute points to distribute.
Congratulations on reaching levels 14 and 16. As a Warlock, you are able to choose two of the following class-appropriate skills or spells. Please know that it is possible that any skill or spell not selected may be found elsewhere in the World. Additionally, another set of skills or spells will be selectable at 18. When level 20 is reached, a tier 3 class will be available. Choose wisely.
Stella had not commanded any of our friends to use me as batting practice, thankfully. I did get a small apology, but it was ruined when she had to hold back yet another giggle. It was all in good fun, so we continued with our System notifications.
Option 1: Spell [Lesser Irradiated Venom] – A toxic blight is imparted to an enemy which begins to course through the target’s veins. The target’s blood becomes irradiated causing the breakdown of major blood vessels causing an extreme amount of damage over time, though this spell expires quickly as a result.
Option 2: Spell [Lesser Shackle Undead] – Necrotic energy surrounds and hinders a nearby undead target. The spell causes the undead target’s movement and attack speed to slow. Note – This spell will not affect living targets.
Option 3: Spell [Lesser Arrested Affliction] – Contaminates a nearby target with a lethal disease that causes the heart to beat irregularly, potentially seizing it momentarily. The spell causes significant damage over time, as well as lowering the target’s strength and armor class.
Option 4: Spell: [Lesser Ignite Bones] – A flare of intense magical energy strikes a nearby enemy causing the target’s bones to become immolated and muscle tendons to be burned away. The spell causes significant damage over time, as well as lowering the target’s accuracy.
Option 5: Spell [Lesser Necrotic Aura (Pet)] – The necromancer’s undead minion begins to radiate deathly energy causing nearby hostile target’s flesh to wither and decay. This area of effect spell causes moderate damage over time.
Option 6: Spell [Lesser Wyvern Sting] – At your command, a magically created wyvern stinger shoots forth to impact a nearby enemy. The target is afflicted by a deadly poison that causes serious damage over time, at the cost of neutralizing quickly.
It would appear rapidly gaining multiple levels meant I was able to pick two spells from a list of six, instead of the normal option of only one per group. “Nice,” I said as I considered the options. It was minor, but it could be seen as a small boon if I wanted to pick two spells I normally wouldn’t have been able to.
Of the list, I immediately dismissed the spell to slow and snare undead enemies. The target range would be limited and only shine if I regularly fought the undead creatures. It was too limiting, in my opinion. Having it would be nice, perhaps I would get it eventually, but not at the cost of the other options. I’d buy it if I could.
I was happy to see so many new damage over time spells, though I was particularly intrigued by the aura spell which would be applied to the towering Ripley. One of the benefits of my tier two class was any pet-only buff would become permanent. It would remain on her until canceled. Sure, the spell would cost me in the form of a small amount of mana being reserved while it was active, but I felt it was worth it. The option synergized well with my class and Ripley’s constant presence. It would be like instantly having a DoT against all hostile enemies near her. The consideration sparked a question in my mind.
“Stell, would lesser necrotic aura cause damage to stealthed or invisible enemies?” I asked hopefully.
“Yes,” Stella said as her eyes went distant. She was reading from her Accelerator screen. “If the creature or mob is considered hostile, then anything close would automatically begin taking damage. Also, unless they have an incredibly high-level invisible spell or a specialized stealth ability, it would immediately break their stealth.”
“Well, that settles at least one of our picks. We’re totally getting it,” I said eagerly. “Being able to interrupt a rogue from backstabbing you will be a lifesaver one day.”
“Ok, down to four choices,” Stella said as we eyed the possibilities. The choice came down to what extra effect from four DOTs would help us the most. Irradiated Venom was pretty standard, though it appeared to cause the most damage. Arrested Affliction dealt decent damage while also making the monster physically weaker by lowering its armor class. Similarly, Ignite Bones caused respectable damage, while also making it harder to hit us with the accuracy debuff. Finally, Wyvern Sting, per Stella, had the highest damage per tick but ended quicker than the rest.
“I’m going with the arrested affliction,” I said after finally deciding. The benefit of severely lowering a mob’s strength and armor class was excellent for fighting melee-based enemies. Essentially, they wouldn’t hit as hard, and our melee attacks would deal more damage. A win-win, in my mind.
After choosing the two spells, knowledge flooded into my mind. Turning to Ripley, I tilted my head in her direction. “Ready to become a death knight?” I knew she wouldn’t really be changed into a death knight, but having a constant source of damage following her around was exactly what I would expect from a death knight.
Casting the spell for the first time, a portion of my mana pool took on a gray tone on the normally vibrant blue mana bar. It represented the reserved amount to maintain the spell’s aura. A pulse of energy, like the shadow cast from a passing cloud, permeated outwards from her body. Barely visible, it faded away like smoke. An occasional mote of arcane energy flickered into existence here and there before vanishing as if never there. There were no hostile mobs around so the spell’s effects wouldn’t make their true presence known until then.
Still, I was comforted to know we had a new line of defense against invisible enemies. “You’re ready to kick some ass, Ripley?”
Ripley for her part, smiled back, her dark teeth bare. Kick ass, indeed.