Back at the Pink Palace, Michael and Helen lazed around in the bed.
When he got back here, after asking the servant girls, they pointed him at the dormitory area. Furthermore, when he realized Helen was taking a bath, he immediately decided to join.
Now, after they fought for a good couple of rounds and ended up back in the bed, Michael still couldn't take his eyes off Helen's plump backside, his hands defying physics as they kept gravitating towards it.
*SMACK*
As a fairer but much stronger hand slapped his away, Michael hesitantly retreated temporarily.
[Focus! You said you already reached Level 25?](Helen)
"Yup. All I need to do is agree to the Class Awakening, and I'll become a High Necromancer."
[High Necromancer? Interesting. The only other Class I heard about with that prefix was the High Priest. So? Why didn't you accept it?](Helen)
"Thought it would be safer to be here in case something went wrong. After all, it's my first time going through this. Furthermore, I wanted to get your opinion on these two items."
Showing Helen the Rare Scythe and the unopened Legendary item box, Michael was met with a surprisingly energetic reaction.
[Your second Legendary item already? That's amazingly lucky! How did you get another one so fast? The chance of high-rarity items dropping under Level 25 is very low. As for the weapon... hmm... you should gain attributes after your Class Awakening, right?](Helen)
"25 for each attribute, yes."
[25!? That's relatively high for a magic-based Class. Share the message with me.](Helen)
Taking the beauty's hand while his eyes roamed her still-naked body, Michael swallowed hard and shared 'the screen.'
Helen seemed to have paused upon reading it, picking Michael's interest.
"Anything wrong?"
[No... sorry. I was just surprised. Yours is quite the overall upgrade. I guess you were worried about the attribute loss when switching to the new weapon?](Helen)
"Right. I was curious, honestly. What's better to invest in? Attributes or these 'statuses' like the increased damage?"
[It honestly depends on your fighting style and what attributes your Class lacks. Most Wanderers use items to overcome their Class weaknesses. Take mine, for example. I have high Strength and Willpower but low Intelligence and Dexterity.](Helen)
"So, you use items to compensate for Intelligence and Dexterity?"
[Not really. The items I have provide me with even more Strength and Willpower, and maybe some Dexterity. Intelligence is useless for my Class, as I don't need the increased spell damage.](Helen)
"So you play to your strengths and increase them further through the items. Makes sense. What about me, though? What route do you think I should take?"
[Hmm... I'd say Intelligence is the main attribute, and the rest should also be at decent levels. You'll need that for when you open your Paragon board. But that's around Level 50, so it's a fair distance from your current self. Especially with the increase in experience needed for every new level from now on.](Helen)
"That bad? You keep threatening me with it, but how bad will it be? For example, compared with my current experience needed for each level up."
[How about you just accept the Class Awakening and get it over with instead?](Helen)
Seeing her roll her eyes so charmingly, Michael agreed to get it over with, but for different reasons altogether.
Accepting mentally the Class Awakening, Michael was prepared for an exciting light show or some sort of exaggerated reaction. However, that didn't happen.
Except for a warm current passing through his body, which made his muscles and tendons ache briefly, after which everything returned to normal.
"Quite disappointing, really. I was expecting something more... spectacular."
[First with the Waypoint, and now with this. You have strange expectations.](Helen)
Michael brought up the updated status page, swapped weapons, and inspected the overall changes.
[ Class: High Necromancer
Attack Power: 373
Armor: 1032
Life: 620
--------------
Strength: 96
Intelligence: 110
Willpower: 108
Dexterity: 134 ]
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
The happiness of getting almost all four attributes into triple digits was suddenly dwarfed by the numbers shown in the experience bar.
"What the hell!? 218/82,940!? Almost 83,000 experience points needed for going to the next level?"
[Wow... that's quite a lot. I think I only needed 48,000 to go from 25 to 26.](Helen)
Seeing the girl take pleasure in his misfortune, Michael sneered while looking down on her.
"It seems like you're having fun."
[Hmpf! What can you do about it?](Helen)
"Hehe! I'm glad you asked."
Not even seconds later, squeals and moans could be heard coming out of the room, making the servant girls roll their eyes.
In their minds, this 'young master' was too horny. They were actually worried that he might extend his hands to them - though most girls wouldn't necessarily mind.
Just as the couple was messing around in the bedroom and the servant girls were preparing dinner, the remaining young mistresses returned.
As they climbed the stairs and went to the bathroom for a very long and relaxing bath, they passed Helen's room and heard the loud moans that couldn't be fully hidden even with the air spell bought from the shop.
A very red-faced Mina seemed to have remembered something and quickly rushed the remaining curious girls toward the bathroom, even if most of them wanted to keep listening.
[Tsk, tsk, tsk! Some people are dead tired from clearing Dungeons and risking their lives, while others enjoy themselves in such a lewd way all day.](Tia)
[So shameful! Let's stop talking about it, please!](Mina)
[Hmm... is sex that fun?](Evelyn)
[Ugh... this is bad. Even little Eve was corrupted!](Hella)
[We seriously need to have a conversation with Helen about this. It's not fun that only she is having fun.](Mei)
[Agreed! As sisters, we should share both pain and pleasure!](Tia)
[You little brat! What is your head filled with!? Get into the shower!](Mina)
When the couple finally decided to exit the room, they were surprised to find the other five sisters already seated at the table, waiting for dinner to be served.
Seeing how Mina was red-faced and looking at the tableware, Evelyn was looking curiously at him and Helen, while the others had strange smiles on their faces; Michael realized that they must've heard his 'interaction' with his girlfriend.
Helen was obviously embarrassed once she realized why they were staring at her and pinched Michael's waist in retaliation. The latter kept a poker face, though, as he greeted the girls and asked what they'd been doing lately.
[We've cleared four Dungeons while you two have been messing around daily, it seems. I was even able to level up once.](Tia)
"Congratulations! That's impressive. I was able to clear only two Dungeons in that timeframe."
[Multiple times...](Helen)
"I guess. I also reached Level 25 and went through my first Class Awakening today."
[Wait. Did you clear the Dungeons alone?](Hella)
"Yes. I fortunately was able to do so before reaching 25. Now, I have the Codex of Power opened and the sweet perks that come with opening it early."
[Does that mean you plan to continue with your Main Quest?](Mina)
The table suddenly quieted down, and even Helen looked at Michael worriedly. A Main Quest was known for its high difficulty.
Adding the 'preferential treatment' the Sanctuary was giving him, it could be said that it was a very dangerous endeavor.
Smiling, Michael nodded his head in approval.
"I plan to wrap up the Call of the Underworld tomorrow to get my Golem. After that, I'll probably focus on the Main Quest."
[A Golem? Like the ones made out of stone or metal?](Hella)
"Mine should be made out of a more... organic matter. I'm not planning to use it, though. One of my skills allows me to sacrifice the minions in exchange for an increase in certain stats or statuses."
[Wouldn't it be better to have the minions you can summon with you? More targets mean less damage aimed at you. Furthermore, they should be able to deal damage as well, right?](Mei)
"Indeed, but the damage they deal is insignificant. Also, the sacrifice bonuses I get are quite good. And I also have a skill that further increases those bonuses."
[In that case, it makes more sense. You should be careful, though. There's a big difference between monsters before and after your first Class Awakening.](Mina)
"In what sense, exactly?"
[It's not only your bloodline shackles that get removed with each Awakening. The restrictions placed on monsters are removed by the Sanctuary as well.](Mina)
"Why, though?"
[We don't know for sure, but it has to do with the resources the Sanctuary has to spend to restrict and weaken the invaders. With the restrictions slightly removed for the monsters you have to face, the same resources can be placed on nurturing new Wanderers. That's why veterans try hard to convince as many Wanderers as possible to go through the Class Awakening.](Helen)
[It's not something we can force on people. It's a decision they must make on their own. After all, it's their life they must risk.](Mina)
[And most Wanderers that remain in what we call 'Newbie Status' already have a family; therefore, they don't want to die in an unknown Dungeon somewhere and leave their loved ones to fend for themselves.](Hella)
"It's human nature... Seeing you girls doing what so many others are afraid to do makes it even more impressive. Especially since you're all so young."
The girls seemed quite pleased with the compliment, and the dinner continued cheerfully.
Michael asked for many tips and tricks, given that the girls are considered veterans themselves.
[The most significant difference between before and after Awakening is the intelligence the monsters have.](Mei)
[Indeed. Before, they felt similar to animals that act out of instinct. After the Awakening, though, they are much smarter, and their attack patterns are more diverse. Their attributes are slightly higher as well, but not very noticeable.](Hella)
[It reflects how much soul the Elites and Bosses can be stuffed with by the devils. The common Minions receive buffs from their realm once the restrictions are weakened in the Sanctuary. That pretty much sums it up.](Mina)
"So, in the end, it's a tug of war between the Sanctuary and the Burning Hells? Something like, which one uses more resources in the war, loses?"
[More or less. According to popular belief among the Horadrim, realms deal with souls as currency. Wars are a means to gain more souls. The souls of those killed by the monsters and demons belong to the Burning Hells, while the souls of the monsters and demons killed by Wanderers belong to the Sanctuary.](Helen)
"And then, the Sanctuary uses these souls to empower its 'soldiers'... I guess it makes sense, especially since we don't have a choice in the matter as the invaded party."
The conversation continued until very late, with the girls sparing no details, hoping it would make Michael's journey less dangerous.
When everyone returned to their rooms, Michael proceeded to punish Helen once again. He couldn't help but think that, even after many years of indulging, he wouldn't get bored of this woman and her devilishly sexy body.
The one thing that brought a smile and a frown to his face was the Legendary item gained after toiling today in the Dungeon.
[ Splintering Enigma Cube
Legendary Focus
308 Item Power
-----------------
192 Damage per Second (+192 Damage per Second when compared with the currently equipped item)
* [128 - 192] Damage per Hit
* 1.20 Attacks per Second
* +2.50% Cooldown Reduction
------------------
* +11 Intelligence
* +8.0% Basic Skill Damage
* +1.9% Essence Cost Reduction
* +1.9% Cooldown Reduction
Legendary Aspect: Bone Spear's primary attack makes enemies hit beyond the first Vulnerable for 2.1 seconds. Bone Shards from Bone Spear deals 48% bonus damage to Vulnerable enemies and pierce them (Necromancer Only). ]
Given his high Dexterity, if he were to swap the shield for this Legendary Focus, he would lose 9 points of Dexterity but gain 11 in Intelligence.
The only problem was the change that would bring to his fighting style. A melee weapon and a shield works fine, but a melee weapon and an offhand Focus item... not that much.
Especially since he couldn't use the Focus item to block incoming hits. There would most likely be a difference in the damage dealt, though.
Looking at the pretty lady who had already fallen asleep in his arms, Michael reached a conclusion.
'In the end, all I can do is test the damage tomorrow during the Call of the Underworld Quest.'