Breathing in the fresh, cold air, Michael shook his head to eliminate the dizzying feeling after teleportation.
'Even after this many times, I still can't get rid of this 'ultra motion sickness.' I wonder if there's an explanation behind it...'
Walking through Nevesk and observing the people, the Necromancer once more felt amazed at how adaptive people are.
'It hasn't been that long ago that over 50% of the population here was made crazy through Lilith's descent, and they started killing each other for sacrificing purposes. Now, they're going on about their lives as if nothing ever happened. I don't know if to call them adaptive or brain-washed because of fear...'
The guards at the South Western gate stopped him for the routine inspection, and Michael explained his plans for the day.
[In that case, be careful. There has been increased activity on the road to Lost Archives.](City Guard)
"And the monsters appearing on the way?"
[Same Skeleton and Phantom types. Their numbers are just slightly higher than usual.](City Guard)
"Understood. That would be even better for me. I plan to check my damage output before I get to the Dungeon anyway."
[New skill build?](City Guard)
"Yes."
[Hmm... here. Use this Emergency Flare in case something goes wrong. If it does, just keep running toward the city, and we'll come to your rescue as fast as possible.](City Guard)
"Thank you! I'll be on my way."
Watching the newbie Wanderer leave, one of the City Guards looked at the other inquisitively.
[What's with you this morning? Why did you hand over an Emergency Flare? We don't have many of those...](City Guard 2)
[You might not know him, but this newbie has been pretty active recently. I heard from Manny that he's been clearing Dungeons solo in a very proactive manner.](City Guard 1)
[Is that so...](City Guard 2)
[Hmm, is that so? Well, it's true that we need more people like that. Plus, it would be a shame for the kid to die early. If he's the one people have been talking about recently, I heard that he almost died more than three times already in the Wilderness, but he always goes back for more.](City Guard 1)
[*Sigh* We truly need more people like that. May the Sanctuary look over him!](City Guard 2)
[May the Sanctuary look over him!](City Guard 1)
Unaware of the conversation and the 'good guy card' he received in the eyes of the guards, Michael continued carefully on the road to the Lost Archives Dungeon.
He wasn't stupid. With a new build focused on melee action and no Skeletons to scout the way ahead of him, the pace at which he advanced reduced considerably.
All the knowledge he gained while playing the role of a hunter in the settlement and the knowledge gained from Martel was finally put back into use.
'I didn't realize how lazy I turned because of the Skeletons. Since I could share my senses with them and they were semi-intelligent, there was no need to look for tracks on the ground and stay wary of my surroundings. Now, just on the road I trekked on yesterday, I can see enough footprints and line marks on the ground to account for at least 30 to 40 Skeletons. Added on top of that, the Phantoms that don't leave traces on the ground and the surrounding snow...'
Summarizing it in a single word would be 'careless.'
With numbers that high, there would be danger even with his 'escort' of seven minions.
Taking another deep breath, Michael steadied his mind and followed in the footsteps in the snow. He didn't lie to the City Guards. The plan was to find some mobs in the Wilderness to try his new skill build before attempting the Lost Archives again.
'There we go! Holy crap! That's over 50 Skeletons. Not to mention the fucking Phantoms that are waiting invisibly to ambush unsuspecting people. They also seem to have gathered here for some reason.'
Even if he could smell a conspiracy, Michael focused on his surroundings. Based on previous experience, there were always lamenting voices wherever Phantoms were hidden.
Their bodies were always invisible, but their voices weren't. Listening carefully, he realized there weren't any around him, but soft murmurs came from around the Skeletons in front.
'This is beyond strange. However, the high numbers should be enough for me to train with. After all, in the Dungeon, I might face even more enemies than this at the same time. Furthermore, there are no Elites or Bosses here.'
Calming his breathing, his eyes surveyed the visible enemies. Ten Skeleton Captains surrounded by their strange barriers, around ten Skeleton Archers, and over thirty Wild Skeletons wielding different weapons ranging from swords to axes and even clubs.
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Getting into a sprinting position, the Necromancer positioned his shield to cover his heart and neck while scouting for the best target to attack.
Without a warcry, he first advanced slowly toward the unsuspecting enemies. When about half of the distance was covered, the familiar wails of the Phantoms could be heard, alerting the dumb Skeletons.
Realizing their purpose as sentries, Michael rushed forward at the highest speed he could muster, not losing his form.
Then, when he was about two meters away from the first Skeleton charging at him, he swept his scythe at it.
The weapon fell short of touching anything, but the active skill Reap, did! An ethereal green scythe cut through three Skeletons at high speeds, creating two Corpses on the ground.
[ Reap
Basic | Darkness
---------------------
Generates Essence: 4 per enemy hit
Lucky Hit: 17%
Description: Sweep an ethereal scythe in front of you, dealing [13%] damage. Hitting an enemy with Reap increases your Damage Reduction by 15% for 2 seconds. ]
Unfortunately, Skeletons don't feel pain, so the hit didn't deter or impede them in any way.
Just as Michael's shield was pushed forward, an axe fell on it, while the twangs of bows could be heard immediately after. The worst part was that not only did arrows come from the front, but Phantom Archers flanked him as well.
Slightly annoyed, Michael activated his Blood Mist and retreated further behind while baiting the enemies forward.
Three seconds after its activation, the Blood Mist congealed back into the Necromancer's form.
"Now, let's see how strong this build is. Corpse Tendrils!"
Luckily, due to his positioning, over half of the Skeletons were caught by the tendrils and pulled closer in a pile of bones.
Without hesitation, Michael cast his Decrepify skill on the pile and was surprised to see that it covered a range of over five square meters.
Now that the enemies were both Slowed and cursed with Damage Reduction, it was explosion time!
The two previously created Corpses through Reap and the Hewed Flesh, and the other three Corpses made through Blood Mist were detonated, creating a large area covered by dark 'smoke.'
With one eye on the enemies and the other on his skills, Michael was amazed to see the cooldown for his Blood Mist and Corpse Tendrils decrease considerably.
'The Lucky Hit chance for Abhorent Decrepify is only 15%, but there are over 50 enemies afflicted by both Decrepify and Corpse Explosion. Furthermore, there are three different Corpse Explosion areas, stacking the damage, meaning three instances in which over 50 enemies are afflicted. Shit! Corpse Tendrils is already available to use again!?'
Shocked, Michael advanced to pull the enemies closer to the area affected by the Darkness cloud of Corpse Explosion and expertly used Corpse Tendrils when the enemies closed in on him.
Then, using Blood Mist that became available once more, retreated at a safe distance and detonated the plentitude of Corpses piling on the ground.
Looking at the Skeletons and Phantoms stunned in the middle of the 'atomic mushroom cloud,' the Necromancer observed the damage numbers popping on above the monsters while activating Corpse Explosion here and there to cover the entire field.
'The starting damage is at 28, but it keeps stacking based on how many corpses explode in the same area. With a stack of two, it's 56, and with a stack of three, it actually jumps to 112! Holy shit! That's a 224 damage dealt to the Phantom Wraith!'
With the damage increasing with each tick, all the monsters died one after the other. Judging from their rapidly decreasing Life bars, Michael assumed their Life points to be around 500 for the Wild Skeletons and Captains, while the Archers and Wraiths had about 400.
'The build is amazing against hordes of enemies, while it might prove tricky to use against a single Elite or Boss. But that's only if I don't manage to create enough Corpses to explode and stack the damage with.'
Sighing while slightly satisfied with the increased amount of damage he dealt, the Necromancer picked the gold coins on the ground, complaining in his heart at the lack of item boxes.
Fortunately, the monsters killed were generous enough, and he picked up 821 gold coins, making up for more than half of the gold spent on resetting his Skill Tree.
Furthermore, upon picking up the coins, he finally found out the reason for this many monsters gathered up in one place.
"Another Altar of Lilith, huh?"
Looking at the lifelike stone replica of the beautiful horned woman, Michael rubbed his arms to reduce the goosebumps. The feeling of being watched as he approached the Altar didn't decrease at all.
Also, he wasn't sure if it was his imagination or not, but the statue had a smile he surely hadn't seen before.
Still, aware of the perks gained through each activation, he didn't hesitate to infuse his Essence in the Altar, creating a beautiful red flame in Lilith's hands.
Looking at his experience bar that received an extra 603 points, Michael realized that the gain this time was just this. Coupled with the extra 740 points gained after slaughtering the monsters, he earned 1343 points before entering the Dungeon.
The missing two attribute points stumped him, but he shrugged it off.
"Now, I'm at 3,908/4290. Less than 400 experience points before I can get my first Ultimate Skill. The only thing left to do is to clear the Lost Archives and confirm that the build is as good as I think it is. If not, I can ask Helen for more advice based on the situation."
Without hesitation, he once more entered the Lost Archives and started hitting the dog-like creatures.
It then dawned upon him that after the nervousness of being cut into pieces by the frenzied melee demons or frozen solid by the Carver Lunatics, that he enjoyed fighting in close range more than he did from a distance.
He wasn't sure if it was the high he got each time his scythe cut into the enemy or the adrenaline pumping through his veins as he deflected attacks aimed at his vitals. All he knew was that he was feeling more alive than ever!
Minutes later, he stood above the corpse of Skew and clicked his tongue in amazement. Except for deflecting some blows with his shield in the beginning, he didn't even have to use Blood Mist to kill this poor demon.
The Elite fell in less than a minute, thanks to the many smaller demons around it trying to swarm the Necromancer. Unfortunately for them, they had to cross a patch of 'radiation' created through Corpse Explosion and became corpses themselves in the process.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk! There was even a 448 tick of damage dealt to this 'Demonic Vanguard.' He lived up to his name, being able to tank that much added damage! Mhm! A worthy death!"
The rest of the Dungeon went about as expected. Only the Boss was slightly more difficult, making Michael suffer when Blood Mist was on cooldown.
Fortunately, after stacking Reap every 4 seconds, coupled with Hewed Flesh and the three Corpses created through Blood Mist, the Boss died surprisingly fast, not even forcing Michael to use his Life Potions.
He, of course, leveled up halfway through the Dungeon as well, but chose to ignore it temporarily, as he couldn't afford to be distracted while besieged by countless crazed demons.
Now, after reaching Level 23 and his experience bar was 829/4420 full, he decisively returned to Kyovashad for lunch with Helen.
Selecting his ultimate was imperative before attempting the Tormented Ruins or the Defiled Catacomb. So, he straight up used his teleportation scroll to Kyovashad out of the Dungeon to save some time.
"The pocket watch says that it's 11:30 PM. Overall, I managed to clear the Dungeon super fast. There were no complications either, making things easier for once. Let's see..."
Opening up his interface, he looked at his updated stats.
[ Attack Power: 373
Armor: 888
Life: 380
--------------
Strength: 84
Intelligence: 89
Willpower: 86
Dexterity: 103 ]
Smiling happily at the small increment, he opened up his Skill Tree, where the extra point stood available.
The next Tier was also finally available, but only three active Skills drew his attention. All others were passives.
'It looks like there's research to be done before I can reach a decision. Thankfully, I can ask for a better-informed opinion during lunch.'