Dexter placed his crossbow in his back and pulled a dagger. Then, he used the dagger to slice both of his wrists.
The Entomancer, sensing that his opponents were up to something, did not simply remain idle inside his dome. After a few seconds, they felt movement inside the Earth Dome.
Kurkurkurk! Kurkurkurk! Kurkurkurk!
Kurkurkurk! Kurkurkurk! Kurkurkurk!
From the sound of it, dozens of insects started digging underground to exit the dome without destroying it. Not long after that, several cicadas emerged several feet away from the dome's base.
The cicadas announced their emergence by their loud noises.
Screech! Screech! Screech!
"Argh!" screamed Jessica as she covered her ears. "They're noisy!"
"Either they're disgusting, or they're annoying! I hate insects!"
Divine Protection!
Divine Shield!
Jessica cast the AoE Divine Protection to ensure they were not swarmed and used Divine Shield on herself to ensure her safety if Divine Protection broke.
"Dex, these are all yours!" yelled the combat cleric.
Each was the size of an adult bat, and there were over a hundred. They all began to attack the orb that was protecting the duo.
Upon reaching the adept rank, a Toxin Herbalist evolved from a class focused on creating poison to a mage-like class that can create and control poison at will. However, this comes at the cost of consistent HP loss.
Fortunately, he has a teammate capable of healing him. Upon slicing his wrists and activating his skills, he immediately started losing HP. The subsequent maintenance and control of the effect causes him to lose even more, but Jessica's Healing Hands consistently restores HP as long as she keeps the spell activated.
"Go on, Dex," said Jessica repeated. "I will keep healing you for as long as I have mana."
"I got 'em, Jess," responded Dexter. "Don't worry."
Toxikinesis!
Blood Catalyst!
Name: Dexter Rousseau
Level: 111
Essence: 52,119 (77,415 Essence to reach Level 112)
HP 50/60
MP 238/264
-10 HP
- 6 HP, -20 MP
-1 HP, -3 MP
-1 HP, -3 MP
Toxikinesis (Adept Skill and Trait)
Description: Allows the user to control poison at will. Stat conversion of 1 VITALITY: 3 HP, 1 WILLPOWER: 5 MP.
Cost: Varies (depending on the compound)
Cooldown: None
Blood Catalyst (Adept Skill and Trait)
Description: A toxin herbalist can use their blood as a catalyst to create a more potent poison. As long as one's blood is used, one's HP will continuously decline. Increases Toxic Resistance by 10%.
Cost: Initial activation costs 10% of the user's HP. HP steadily declines for as long as the ability is in use.
The HP cost may not seem much to most classes. But to a crafter with a measly 60 HP, especially in a high-level dungeon, it is not. Furthermore, Dexter's initial activation cost is in the percentage, so no matter how much HP he has, it will always take 10% of his HP as the initial casting cost of the skill.
Healing Hands!
"Thanks, Jess," responded Dexter. "First, I'll make sure they don't bother us."
Dexter poured a few drops of solution from a flask into one of his bleeding wrists. Then, he poured a few drops of a different concoction into his other open wrist wound.
Fortunately, the Divine Protection is strong enough to keep the giant insects at bay for a few seconds. It would take a moment before the poison bonds with Dexter's blood.
Then, when it was ready, Dexter used the first solution he had placed in his bloodstream.
Blood Catalyst: Scent of Fire!
Toxikinesis: Scent of Fire!
Scent of Fire
Description: A unique concoction from a combination of herbs native to the Undead Regions. When sprayed, it simulates the aura of fire, although no actual heat or damage is incurred. The effect would last for a few minutes. Useful as an insect and beast repellant when exploring the forests of the Undead Regions.
A yellow mist started to emit from Dexter's open wound. Then, he had the mist cover the entire Divine Protection dome.
In doing so, their entire space resembled a giant bonfire from the insect's perspective. The effect would typically only last for a minute. But due to his Blood Catalyst trait, that duration has been extended further. For several minutes, their immediate area looks like a bonfire that insects would not want to approach- giant or not.
In response, the giant cicadas that were eagerly attacking the Divine Protection barrier just a few seconds ago began to scatter away; from their point of view, the thing they were attacking suddenly became engulfed in flames.
From the looks of it, Koromei's control over them was temporarily lifted as the insect's primal fear of fire triggered their sense of preservation: his command to attack the duo had been disregarded.
But to achieve this, Dexter's HP and MP plummeted considerably. It is only thanks to Jessica's Healing Hands that his HP is consistently recovering. As for his MP, he chugged a mana potion.
"Good," concluded Dexter. "That scared them away."
But shooing them away is not the endgame.
Blood Catalyst: Grave Mushroom Poison Extract!
Toxikinesis: Grave Mushroom Poison Extract!
Grave Mushroom Poison Extract
Description: An extract from the commonly found mushrooms in Undead Regions. It is highly poisonous and can be used to either coat one's weapons or be thrown as a flask grenade in aerosol form.
Green poisonous mist erupted from his other bleeding wrist. He directed the green mist to chase the retreating giant cicadas. The cicadas engulfed by the green mist almost immediately dropped to the ground and eventually died.
Their status windows confirmed they died a few seconds after being exposed to the poison.
FFFFFFFSSSSSSH! FFFFFFFSSSSSSH! FFFFFFFSSSSSSH!
[You have dealt 300 damage to Giant Cicada Level 80.]
[You have dealt 300 damage to Giant Cicada Level 80.]
[You have dealt 300 damage to Giant Cicada Level 80.]
[You have slain Giant Cicada Lvl. 80. You have absorbed 3600 Essence.]
[You have slain Giant Cicada Lvl. 80. You have absorbed 3600 Essence.]
[You have slain Giant Cicada Lvl. 80. You have absorbed 3600 Essence.]
This confirms that their vitality has mostly remained the same despite becoming giants. Either that or the cicada is inherently weak to poison.
And then, after about a quarter had fallen to Dexter's poison, Koromei took back control of the retreating cicadas, who became terrified of the scent. He once again directed the remaining cicadas to swarm the duo.
Dexter, in response, welcomed the returning cicadas with his green blanket of death.
[You have dealt 300 damage...]
[You have dealt 300 damage...]
[You have dealt 300 damage...]
[You have slain Giant Cicada Lvl...]
[You have slain Giant Cicada Lvl...]
[You have slain Giant Cicada Lvl...]
Of course, Dexter could spray the Scent of Fire and throw the poison flask like a regular grenade.
But doing so would only cover a small area, and the effect would dissipate after a few seconds. In comparison, using his unique skills, the effects of the perfume and poison have been greatly magnified and can be controlled for as long as he wants- provided he has enough HP and MP to fuel the skills.
Such is the trade-off for playing with poison. One's life and energy are used as fuel in exchange for inflicting death and devastation on one's enemies.
Divine Protection!
Divine Shield!
Jessica redeployed protection spells to secure their defenses further. This is so that Dexter can focus on what he is doing: covering the entire place with hazardous fumes.
As the Entomancer turtles up inside his Earth Dome, summoning as many insects and gigantifying as many as he can, he will eventually open up his dome only to be exposed to highly toxic fumes. Dexter plans to flood the entire place with his poisonous mist to kill everything in one go.
Meanwhile, Jessica still continuously casts Healing Hands on him so he does not lose HP.
"Dex, here they come!" warned Jessica. "I hope your poison is strong enough!"
"Oh, don't worry, Jess," Dexter assured his teammate. "It is. More than enough."
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
FFFFFFFSSSSSSH! FIZZLE! FIZZLE! FIZZLE!
[You have dealt 300 damage to Giant Cicada Level 80.]
[You have dealt 300 damage to Giant Cicada Level 80.]
[You have slain Giant Cicada Lvl. 80. You have absorbed 3600 Essence.]
[You have dealt 300 damage...]
[You have dealt 300 damage...]
[You have slain Giant Cicada Lvl...]
[You have dealt 300 damage...]
[You have dealt 300 damage...]
[You have slain Giant Cicada Lvl...]
One by one, the giant cicadas emerged from the hole they dug. And one by one, they succumbed to the poison mist's effects.
The Entomancer had time to summon and gigantify many of them. Giant cicadas continued digging holes around the dome and even more were marching out.
However, Dexter only needed a few seconds to engulf the dome-shaped area with his poison mist. Everywhere the giant cicadas could crawl out of, they would instantly be exposed to deadly poison. Gigantified or not, insect-type enemies like the cicadas typically have low HPs; they will not last long under the intense toxicity he has released.
Even if the insects were to crawl out right where they stand, Dexter is confident they would not last long under his poison. Fortunately, Jessica's protective spells ensure that the ground beneath them is protected as much as their surrounding area.
FFFFFFFSSSSSSH! FFFFFFFSSSSSSH! FFFFFFFSSSSSSH!
[You have slain Giant Cicada Lvl. 80...]
[You have slain Giant Cicada Lvl. 85...]
[You have slain Giant Cicada Lvl. 90...]
"Okay, they have dug enough holes," observed Dexter. "I'm gonna guide the fumes straight inside the dome!"
He then chugged a health and mana potion- Jessica did the same. The more precise he controls the fume, the more HP and MP it will cost him.
FFFFFFFSSSSSSH! FFFFFFFSSSSSSH! FFFFFFFSSSSSSH!
But then-
"On second thought," said Dex. "Let's make this simple."
Instead of controlling the fume to enter the holes the cicadas dug, he pulled a dynamite and threw it at the dome.
Lorik Dynamite!
BOOM!
A medium-sized hole was made in the Earth Dome, and the toxic fumes immediately entered.
FFFFFFFSSSSSSH! FFFFFFFSSSSSSH! FFFFFFFSSSSSSH!
In the current game's meta and Adam's previous life, Toxin Herbalist is seen as a complimentary class to warriors and hunters who want to add poison to their arsenal. Ironically, Toxin Herbalism is seen as an unnecessary sub-class within its Paradigm since Alchemists can perfectly craft poisons without getting a class dedicated to it. And finally, it is most unpopular among magicians.
As a result, very few crafters chose the Toxin Herbalism class- much less turn it into their main class. More Combat and Hunter Paradigm players currently have Toxin Herbalism as a sub-class than Crafting players.
Dexter is an extreme case as not only did he have it as his primary class being a crafter, but it was also his only class.
Adam, remembering what he knew of the Toxin Herbalist class, provided Dexter with sufficient guidance on developing his class efficiently.
The full power of a Toxic Herbalist wasn't revealed to the world until someone from the Murim server demonstrated what an adept-level crafter could do with it. This player successfully eliminated several international top rankers in a single go during a survival game that will become available for all servers to join about a year from now.
The key to this power are the traits of Toxikinesis and Blood Catalyst.
But these two are only exclusively available if the Toxic Herbalist is a crafter. To a lesser extent, a magician can unlock Toxikinesis but not the Blood Catalyst, while the other two paradigms cannot unlock either of the crucial traits.
In other words, the two paradigms least likely to select Toxin Herbalist are the two types of players that benefit the most by developing it.
***
As the poison started fully covering the inside of the dome, the duo waited for some notification that the insects had died. But aside from eliminating the last of the giant cicadas, no additional insects have succumbed to Dexter's poison mist.
"I think he unsummoned the rest," hypothesized Dexter.
They don't see any damage notification to the Entomancer himself either- though it's not surprising as he's an undead.
"Look, Dex, what is that?" asked Jessica.
The dome started to crumble. Either the Earth Dome's spell duration ended, or Koromei deactivated the spell- most likely the former, going by what they're currently seeing.
"I think it's a spider's web," said Dexter. "He used the time inside the dome to summon spiders and weave a dome made of spider's web."
"And from the looks of it, that web dome is even stronger than his Earth Dome."
"Plus, it probably doesn't have a duration like a spell," added Jessica.
The dome spider web appears airtight, so Dexter's poison mist cannot go through. Indeed, his poison mist is currently enveloping the entire spider's web dome but no status notification shows that he has damaged or slain anything else.
Dexter threw another dynamite at it. Unfortunately, it wasn't as effective and did not cause any noticeable damage.
"Dex, the webs... they're mana-enhanced," observed Jessica.
Jessica frantically reviewed their status window for any clue that might help. And after a few seconds, she found it.
She found the spells Koromei had cast while Dexter was busy annihilating the giant cicadas. It was buried in the message of all the damage and slain confirmation they received.
Un-Summon: Nest of Wasps!
Un-Summon: Swarm of Locusts!
Un-Summon: Swarm of Centipedes!
Un-Summon: Army of Giant Ants!
Un-Summon: Bike of Hornets!
Special Summoning: Metal-Skinned Arcane Spiders!
Special Summoning: Venomous Cockroaches!
"I'm glad we've discovered this beforehand," said Jess as she cringed in disgust. "Spiders and cockroaches."
"If I saw them without warning, I might've fainted."
Dexter remained calm and made his deductions
"Thanks, Jess," he said. "I know what to do."
Based on his actions, Koromei judged that his poison would annihilate every summon, so he changed the type of creatures he summoned. Judging by the names of the two special summons, the spiders seem to have bodies made of something metallic, while the cockroaches are venomous.
If Dexter is to hazard a guess, most likely, both special summons have some level of resistance to poison.
He prepared another mist attack while maintaining the poison fumes around the web.
First, he poured two new drops of substances into both of his wrists.
As he does this, the spiders and cockroaches begin to exit the web-shaped dome. Notably, they were not gigantified by Koromei- it appears he realized that expanding his summons while his opponent could control poisonous mist would only work against him.
So now, focusing his summons only on spiders and cockroaches, thousands began to pour out of the web seemingly endlessly. And all of them are headed towards the duo.
Dexter's guess is correct: they have some resistance to poison.
The spiders appear to be taking poison damage, but it is noticeably lower than the cicadas from earlier. The cockroaches, on the other hand, did not take any.
"Kiyaaah!" Jessica yelled in disgust, "Dexter, hurry!"
The Combat Cleric is not confident her Divine Protection will last for long under the attack of thousands of insects.
But Dexter is still calm. He began to activate his skill.
Poison Synthesis!
Deep Purple Acid
Description: A highly corrosive mixture of the toxins extracted from old and rusty metals. It will severely damage equipment exposed to this mixture. Does not work on organic targets.
[Synthesizing Grave Mushroom Poison Extract and Deep Purple Acid]
[Poison Synthesis is successful!]
Grave Mushroom/Deep Purple Combined Solution
Description: A mixture of Grave Mushroom Poison Extract and Deep Purple Acid. The effect has changed to only damage organic materials instead of non-organic ones.
As the name implies, it is a skill that combines poison. Or rather, he combined poison and an acidic compound. Typically, combining a poison and acid usually fails. But Adam told Dexter of this combination and its usefulness as a finisher.
Combining the two would usually require a lot of both mixtures to achieve the intended effect, but Dexter's Blood Catalyst removes that requirement. Instead, the HP cost is tremendously high. He only dared to do this due to Jessica's consistent healing.
Now that the synthesis of poison is ready, it is time to unleash the new wave of death on his enemy.
Acidic Mist!
He decided to deactivate the now-useless green poison mist and replace it with the new mist-type attack.
The purple-colored mist started emanating from his open wrists, which he then controlled to cover and attack the incoming swarm of spiders and cockroaches.
Their status window again shows damage and slain confirmation of the insects that went through the acidic mist.
Fizzle! Fizzle! Fizzle!
[You have slain...]
[You have slain...]
[You have slain...]
Knowing that the acidic mist was working as intended, Dexter instructed Jessica to focus on healing him again. It is now time to end the fight.
"I got this one, Jess," said Dexter. "When the Divine Protection and Shield ends, don't recast them. I will need every bit of your mana to heal me."
"You- you're sure about that, Dex?" asked Jessica hesitatingly.
"Very," said Dexter simply. "But what I'm about to do will use even more of my HP; I need your most powerful heals."
As he said this, he headed a perfume bottle to Jessica- it was the Scent of Fire.
"But just in case I fail, spray this on you," he advised. "It will make you unapproachable by the insects even without the shield. Think of it as an insurance."
Jessica did so immediately. Dexter took this action to acknowledge that she would focus on healing him.
"Okay, Jess, here goes nothing."
Dexter controlled the acidic mist to engulf the entire area where there were insects. The acid is so powerful that it's causing an instant kill on all insects it touches.
Fizzle! Fizzle! Fizzle!
[You have slain...]
[You have slain...]
[You have slain...]
This is because Dexter once more used Blood Catalyst to fuel the acidic mist even more, and this came at a considerable cost to his meager HP and MP. If not for Jessica focusing on nothing but healing him, his HP would drop to zero immediately.
"Hurry up, Dex!" urged Jessica. "I can only do this for 30 seconds, max!"
"Got it, Jess," acknowledged Dexter. "That's more than enough."
Confirming that all the insects outside the dome-shaped web were eliminated, he directed his acidic mist on the dome, protecting Koromei. It did not take long for the acid to tear through the web.
Fizzle! Fizzle! Fizzle!
Earth Dome!
Sensing that something very destructive was approaching him, Koromei used Earth Dome again to take over the melting web.
But Dexter countered by throwing another Lorik Dynamite to tear a hole through it.
Fizzle! Fizzle! Fizzle!
Earth Wall!
Next, Koromei conjured the less protective Earth Wall to cover up the hole the dynamite made- all to buy him some time to think of something.
Fizzle! Fizzle! Fizzle!
Lorik Dynamite!
Fizzle! Fizzle! Fizzle!
"Dex, hurry!"
"I know!"
The web has all but evaporated, and the Earth Dome has been penetrated. Though the Earth Wall temporarily covered it, another dynamite tore a hole at it once more, and the acidic mist successfully penetrated the once safe space of Koromei, the Entomancer.
And finally, the mist has touched the insect summoner.
Fizzle! Fizzle! Fizzle!
[You have dealt 234 damage to Koromei, the Undead Entomancer Lvl ???.]
Fizzle! Fizzle! Fizzle!
[You have dealt 234 damage to Koromei, the Undead Entomancer Lvl ???.]
Fizzle! Fizzle! Fizzle!
[You have dealt 334 damage to Koromei, the Undead Entomancer Lvl ???.]
Fizzle! Fizzle! Fizzle!
[You have dealt 434 damage to Koromei, the Undead Entomancer Lvl ???.]
And undead would typically be immune to poison. But acid works slightly differently by directly melting the undead's body. In other words, it counts as a physical attack- and an effective one at that.
Fizzle! Fizzle! Fizzle!
Dark Recovery!
Fizzle! Fizzle! Fizzle!
[You have dealt 634 damage to Koromei, the Undead Entomancer Lvl ???.]
Insect Summoning: Nest of Wasps!
Fizzle! Fizzle! Fizzle!
[You have slain...]
Insect Summoning: Swarm of Locusts!
Fizzle! Fizzle! Fizzle!
[You have slain...]
Insect Summoning: Swarm of Centipedes!
Fizzle! Fizzle! Fizzle!
[You have slain...]
Insect Summoning: Army of Giant Ants!
Fizzle! Fizzle! Fizzle!
[You have slain...]
Insect Summoning: Bike of Hornets!
Fizzle! Fizzle! Fizzle!
[You have slain...]
Insect Summoning: Cloud of Cicada!
Fizzle! Fizzle! Fizzle!
[You have slain...]
The Entomancer is trying to summon as many insects as possible to cover his body with it- hoping it protects him from the acid that would otherwise tear it apart.
But all it did was delay his doom for less than a second for each batch of summons and give the duo a flood of extra Essence. The acidic mist is an unstoppable entity- even its caster, Dexter, is fighting for his life for every second he controls it.
Fizzle! Fizzle! Fizzle!
[You have dealt 1834 damage to Koromei, the Undead Entomancer Lvl ???.]
[You have dealt 1934 damage to Koromei, the Undead Entomancer Lvl ???.]
[You have dealt...]
[You have dealt...]
[You have dealt...]
Until finally, the acidic mist has done its job.
Ding!
[You have slain Koromei the Entomancer Lvl. 202. You have absorbed 101,000 Essence.]
Ding!
[You have slain Koromei the Entomancer Lvl. 202. You have absorbed 101,000 Essence.]
Both Jessica and Dexter received confirmation that their opponent had been slain. Since they fought him together, the Essence awarded was split between them.
Upon confirming they won, Dexter deactivated the skill and chugged a health, mana, and stamina potion. Jessica, too, drank a mana potion.
As they did, a series of messages started flooding their status window. Aside from that, the partially melted Entomancer left behind a few items.
Ding!
[You have slain Koromei, the Entomancer. The title and achievement "Koromei's Slayer" has been added.]
[You have slain over 9,999 insect-type monsters. The title 'Bane of the Insects' has been added.]
[Quest: Present the body of Koromei the Entomancer to Imperatrix Demetra.]
Details: Deliver the body of the slain Entomancer to Imperatrix Demetra for a reward.
"I guess we've won," said Jessica. "Nice work, Dex!"
"Yeah, I guess we've won," repeated Dexter. "Nice work, too, Jess!"
"I wonder how my sister is doing," wondered Jessica. "Let's visit her first before checking the Entomancer's loot."
"Okay," agreed Dexter. "Yeah, let's go to her now."