Penny watched as Luke tried to persuade Chad not to attack the lair and failed. As her skill finished charging, Des stepped out of the ether. The skinny demon let out a hiss as a heat shimmer formed around its body.
"Master," Des hissed as he gave a bow.
"Come on, we're clearing a lair. Don't kill the other humans, and don't kill me," Penny ordered.
Skippy and then Travis had given her a crash course on demons. First, demons only had to follow direct orders given to them. Second, all demons were bored out of their skulls and were looking for entertainment. Des was a pit fiend. So that meant he liked combat, blood, fire, carnage, maybe rape; Des was a demon of war.
It was unlikely that he would have little to no interest in sneaking, gossiping, or anything that didn't involve fighting. As such, they warned her that getting Des to do anything else was a great way for the demon to start looking for loopholes in its orders or a way to kill her and free itself of all orders. Of course, there were exceptions. Some demons broke their molds in odd ways. When she asked Des what he liked, he had responded that he wanted to fight powerful opponents, which was the most the demon had ever said to her in one sentence.
Des seemed to perk up at the word "lair" and followed the group as they started walking towards the lair. Penny moved up closer to Chad, hearing their argument under the crunching snow under their feet.
"Do you know what's in the lair? According to Travis, they all have themes, so if we know that beforehand, we can prepare," Luke said loudly enough for everyone else to hear.
"They are just a bunch of gem-encrusted lizards like this thing," Chad said.
He punctuated the point by swinging the gem tortoise around by its snapped neck. The jewels on its back immediately caught her attention as they twinkled in the bright winter morning light.
"I already killed a couple. They're easy," Chad boasted.
"Any idea what the boss is? According to Travis, there is always level 20," Luke asked.
"No, but it won't matter. There are fifteen of us, and most of us are at level 10. We can take it." Chad said.
That was when they came upon the settlement. The once familiar building of a Montreal bank had been transformed into something that resembled a giant treasure chest. The entire building just seemed to scream treasure inside. Chad broke into a sprint, running into the building, Penny following quickly after him.
"What the ..." Luke muttered as he walked into the building.
The gem tortoises were everywhere, just wandering around like regular tortoises in a petting zoo. It would have been almost comical if their shells weren't worth a fortune. Penny felt like his eyes were about to bug out as he observed Diamond Shells, Ruby Shells, Sapphire, Emeralds, Topaz, and Opals. The tortoises looked like they belonged in a pride parade with their multi-colored shells.
Chad's creepy friend Kevin raced forwards into the petting zoo of gem turtles. Without so much as a second thought, he chopped off a turtle's head and then stuffed the thing into his [Storage] as he giggled. Penny felt goosebumps breakout across her skin. The guy was creepy.
"Wait!" Travis called out. "Don't go out there. If the mobs are harmless, then the boss monster has to be even more dangerous!!"
"Oh, come on, your parano--" Chad was cut off as the top of Kevin's torso disappeared with a CHOMP.
They all stared, stunned, as a snake as big as a Titanoboa appeared as whatever camouflage it had disengaged as it swallowed Kevin whole. The snake was beautiful; its scales almost looked like pearls glistening with the light of a rainbow.
"That's a Prismatic Serpent," Travis warned. "That's the boss!!"
"KILL IT!!" Gareth roared as he [Charged] forwards.
Des leaped forwards right behind Gareth. The serpent spat at them—aerosolized poison shot from their mouths, splashing Gareth in the face.
"GAHHH, it's in my eyes!!!" Gareth screamed as he rubbed at his eyes.
Penny grabbed Gareth and started casting the healing spells she remembered from Eve as Des leapt up and stabbed the prismatic serpent. Arrows peppered the serpent's body as Luke and Travis arrived there, swords sweeping down and cutting into the scales.
The serpent hissed, and spikes of earth shot out of the ground, knocking Luke back and forcing Travis to dodge.
The giant prismatic serpent, scales gleaming like a hundred fractured rainbows, reared back and hissed, its hood flaring as it faded into invisibility. Chad and the others took a cautious step back, eyes darting around the lair as silence settled, tense and expectant.
"Stay sharp!" Luke called, his voice edged with urgency. "It’s still here—Travis, do you have any way to detect it?"
Travis shook his head, gripping his sword tighter. "Not unless it attacks again."
Just as the last word left his lips, the serpent reappeared, fangs bared as it lunged toward the nearest group, spitting a haze of shimmering light. The poison spray shot out in a brilliant, blinding mist, catching Chad and a few others off guard. They coughed and staggered back, clutching at their burning eyes and throats.
Des leaped at the serpent again, his bone blades leaving shallow cuts across the scales. The serpent swung around and bit off Des's arm with a Snap. Then Gareth [Charged], slamming into the snake, burying his ax into its side, and Chad leapt at the thing, hacking at it with his machete. Penny, Sam, and Travis peppered it with long-ranged attacks as the serpent lashed out, spraying poison at anyone in range. Luke slammed his sword into the snake's rainbow scales, leaving a deep gash across the snake's body.
That seemed to set off the snake as water blasted out from it, sending all of the melee fighters tumbling across the floor. The serpent lunged, jaws wide, snapping up one of the smaller sapphire-shelled tortoises. As it swallowed, the wounds on its scaled hide began to close, the creature’s vitality surging.
"Oh hell, it can eat the turtles to regenerate!!" Sam warned as she shot an arrow into its hide.
Des tried to attack the snake again, but this time, the serpent was ready for it and snapped the demon up out of the air. The demon's body evaporated into particle effects as it died.
Luke leapt out of nowhere as he plunged his spear into the serpent's side. It let out a shriek of pain, thrashing wildly and sending sprays of water and spikes of earth in all directions. Luke dove to the side, barely avoiding a jagged rock that shot up where he’d been standing.
The Serpent sent them scattering as it disappeared under invisibility. Then, it reappeared on top of Travis, forcing the lizard wizard back. The Serpent kept firing rocks in every direction, causing them all to run for cover.
Penny ducked under a rock as she dodged the snake's wild attack. She checked her mana, finding she was once again operating on empty again. What to do? She could get in close and fight it with [Viper Style: Touch of the Jellyfish]. That might work if she were faster, but as it is, it just sounded like a great way to get eaten. She could try and [Charm speak] the snake. That would last as long as it wasn't attacked. She considered her other skills until she came to [Demonology].
The skill had stuffed a number of rituals into her head. She considered them. A ritual to summon an unbound demon, no. a ritual to sacrifice a person to the abyss as an offering in exchange for knowledge, hell no. a ritual to create a sweet roll? Why was this a demonic ritual?
A ritual that allowed her to summon Des using a sacrifice … that might work. Normally, she would need a skill for this ritual. But her dagger allowed her to circumvent that recruitment.
"Cover me!!" Penny called out as she grabbed a turtle, dragged it over, and slashed open its neck.
The moment she did, she could feel pure... HP? It was the same energy she felt when she used [Blood Conversion]. She was using the turtle's very life force to paint out the ritual circle. Of course, she was still finger painting in turtle blood. The moment she used up the turtle's vitality, she grabbed a second one, a third one, and kept going until she got to 23 turtles.
Travis clearly figured out what she was doing as he, Luke, and Gareth coordinated, launching a barrage of attacks meant to harry and herd the serpent. Luke struck low, his sword glancing off the serpent’s rainbow scales, while Sam kept peppering it with arrows. The snake hissed, its body rippling with agitation as it twisted away from their strikes, swallowing a turtle any time it got too injured.
It tried to spray them with poison again, but this time, Gareth was ready, and he ducked under the spray of poison, chopping at its scaly hide with his ax. The weapon buried itself deep enough that most of the handle was in the snake. But it just ripped itself off the ax and ate another turtle. They had done enough damage to kill the snake three times over, but every time, the serpent would just eat a turtle and regenerate.
"God dammit, how many times do we have to kill this thing?!" Luke roared as he tried to decapitate the serpent.
Only for the snake to disappear, Luke took a blast of water to the face, sending him into the wall.
"I got it!!!" Penny roared as her ritual activated with the final sacrifice of turtle 23.
Demonic runes appeared floating in mid-air, spinning around to summon her demon, and a surge of power roared from the ritual. Causing the serpent to pause and look towards her.
Then, unexpectedly, a notification popped up.
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DING!!!
Would you like to combine the following skills: [Blood Conversion] and [Channel Magic] for one skill point?
Y/N
Penny pressed yes on reflex.
DING!!!
Congratulations!!!
For the use of an item in creating a ritual that used anima as a base, you have upgraded the following skills.
You have Upgraded the skill: [Blood Conversion] - Inferior + [Channel Magic] - Common → [Ritual Sacrifice] - Ancient
[Ritual Sacrifice]: When the target is incapacitated or loaded up with afflictions, you can instantly kill your victim, draining 1% of their resources per skill level to either power a spell, skill ritual, or just use their resources to restore your own. You may increase your casting time by 5% per skill level. You may use HP instead of MP for casting. +10% CON
Des emerged from the circle. His body seemed to ripple with power as he grew two blades of bone out of it. The heat coming off of his form made the blood on the ground boil.
"Kill the Snake, don't hurt any humans," Penny ordered
The serpent hissed in rage as it disappeared again. Then Des slammed his sword into the ground. As soon as he did, bone blades shot out of the ground screwing a dozen turtles. None of the blades hit the other humans. But three of the blades shot up through the invisible form of the serpent that hissed in outrage as an earthen spike impacted Des's body.
What would have once killed the demon now just shrugged off as it charged the impaled serpent. The snake sent out dozens of water blades, bombarding Des as the demon closed the distance.
The snake sprayed Des down with poison as the demon stabbed it repeatedly. Des was thrown back by a wall of earth as the snake freed itself from the bone blades and snapped up another turtle. It healed some of its wounds, but it seemed less effective than last time.
Before it had time to eat another turtle, Des lept on the snake, tackling it to the ground as he stabbed it with his bone spikes. The prismatic serpent wrapped around Des, constricting his movements as the snake began to douse the demon in poison. Des responded by growing bone spikes out of every inch of his body. The bones glowed red hot as they started to cook the snake's body as Des's own body was loaded up with poison.
Penny didn't know which of the two monsters would have won over the other. But it didn't matter as she leaped forward, slamming her sacrificial dagger into the serpent's scales. At the same time, Luke, Chad, Issac, Gareth, and Travis all followed suit, smashing into the snake with every skill they had available.
Wrapped around Des like it was, the monster didn't stand a chance as they nearly cut the snake in half, its blood painting the floor red as buckets of blood were dumped from its body. It threw them off with another water spell. But it couldn't disengage with Des as the Demon latched on to the serpent's body and started to saw through its spine.
The serpent struggled desperately trying to get the demon off, but it had already lost too much blood and could do little more than struggle as it was ripped in two.
<[Viper Style: Touch of the Jellyfish] has Reached Level 7>
<[Viper Style: Touch of the Jellyfish] has Reached Level 8>
<...>
<[Viper Style: Touch of the Jellyfish] has Reached Level 10>
<[Walk of Shame] has Reached Level 15>
<[Walk of Shame] has Reached Level 16>
<[Summon Demonic Familiar] has Reached Level 11>
<[Summon Demonic Familiar] has Reached Level 12>
<[Ritual Sacrifice] has Reached Level 5>
<[Demonology] has Reached Level 5>
<[Demonology] has Reached Level 6>
<...>
<[Demonology] has Reached Level 9>
Penny felt like her heart was going to give out. They had done it. They had won.
Penny put all of her new levels into [Bard]. She had agonized about this decision for a while. But she had also come to an important realization. Her current build kind of sucked once she ran out of mana. So, if she could still be useful even when she ran out of mana, that would be great.
[Bardic Music] - Uncommon
[Bardic Music]: Transform your music into a force of magic. Your songs can buff allies, debuff enemies, heal wounds, and manipulate emotions. Allows your music to propagate magical effects. Gain +1.25% Mastery of all musical instruments and singing per skill level.
Mana Cost: 5 per min
[Extended Song] - Common
[Extended Song]: Your music lingers in the hearts of your audience, extending the duration of its effects. All effects granted through your music last an additional 5% longer per skill level.
Recuirments: [Bardic Music]
Mana Cost: 5 per min
[Air Guitar] - Common
[Air Guitar]: Mime any musical instrument and create its sound for a small mana cost. Play an epic guitar solo, a soothing violin melody, or a booming drum beat, all without the actual instrument. Increase your volume and sound control by 2% per skill level.
Recuirments: [Bardic Music]
Mana Cost: 5 per min
[Whisper Wind] - Lesser
[Whisper Wind]: Throw your voice to a distant point. Increase the range of this Skill by 10 Meters per Level of this Skill. Reduces the MP cost of this Skill by 0.5% per skill level.
Mana Cost: 5 per min
The moment was broken when Chad flipped a ruby tortoise on its back and then jammed one of its blades into its stomach.
"Everyone grab a turtle and start killing!!" Chad said.
"Wait!!!" Travis cut in greedily. "These creatures are harmless. We can take them back to Hopkins and just farm the gems off their backs. They would be a massive gain for the crafters. We might even be able to breed them."
Penny had already stashed the gem turtles she had killed for the ritual and then went ahead and stashed the giant snake corpse while they were arguing. She figured it would be okay. Her demon had done most of the damage, and no one seemed bothered about it.
"And let those Awoken Freaks get all the cash?!" Chad asked angrily as he stomped on the head of one of the gem tortoises.
"What the fuck?!" Luke asked.
"This money is ours!!" Chad all but shouted, brandishing his machete at Travis.
"You literally just stomped on a gem mine. You fucking moron," Travis said, his tone dripping with contempt.
Chad smiled cruelly as he raised his weapon threateningly. "I would rather kill every Turtle here than let you Awoken Freaks have them. These are mine!!!"
"Actually," a thick, gravelly voice cut through their discussion, causing them all to turn and face the door.
A giant man of some Asian descent stood in the doorway. His coal-black hair and beard whipped around him in the cold air as his companions moved up behind him. Penny felt her heart go cold as she recognized them as slaves.
"These Gem Tourtisans are mine," he said.
You may skip to the next chapter.
Name: Penny Noel
Race: Human
Type: Humanoid
LVL: 13
SubRace: Caucasian
Age 18
Health: 765
Stamina: 1025
Mana: 1040
Health Regen: 9.6 per hour
Stamina Regen: 13.5 per min
Mana Regen: 5.2 per min
Titles: Free*, Breaker of Chains
Immune
N/A
Resistances
N/A
Weakness
N/A
Bane
Manslayer
Classes: Courtesan 5 / Warlock 5 / Bard 3
Total
STR: 13
AGIL: 52
DEX: 42
CON: 57
END: 39
PER: 39
INT: 52
WILL: 13
SPIRIT: 39
EGO: 26
CHA: 71
LCK: 13
Base
STR: 13
AGIL: 52
DEX: 39 +10%
CON: 52 +10%
END: 39
PER: 39
INT: 52
WILL: 13
SPIRIT: 39
EGO: 26
CHA: 65 +10%
LCK: 13
Personal: +4 CHA +3 AGIL +3 INT +2 DEX +2 PER
Racial: +3 CON +2 END +2 SPIRIT +1 EGO
Level Bonus: +1 to all Stats
Skill Slots: 18/60: Skill Points: 0
Personal Skills
* [Pursuit Hunter] - Level 15
* [StoryTeller] - N/A
* [Storage] - Level 1
* [Meditation] - Level 1
Courtesan 5/11
* [Viper Style: Touch of the Jellyfish] - Level 6 >> Level 10
* [Charm Speak] - Level 8
* [Walk of Shame] - Level 14 >> Level 16
* [Pheromone Control] - Level 2
* [Get Naked] - Level 2
Warlock 5/11
* [Summon Demonic Familiar] - Level 10 >> Level 12
* [Empty]
* [Air Magic] - Level 19
* [Ritual Sacrifice] - Level 4 >> Level 5
* [Demonology] - Level 4 >> Level 9
Bard 4/6
* [Bardic Music] - Level 1
* [Extended Song] - Level 1
* [Air Guitar] - Level 1
* [Whisper Wind] - Level 1