Player : Zane Black

Race : [G - HUMAN]

Level : 19

Health : 386/510

Stamina : 136/510

Mana : 124/200

———————————————————————————————————————————————————

ATTRIBUTES

Physical [26] :

[Strength] - 52 [base : 26] [sub + achv :20] [equipment :5] [bonus 1% : 1]

[Dexterity] - 64 [base : 26] [sub + achv :32] [equipment : 2] [bonus 6% : 4]

[Constitution] - 46 [base : 26] [sub + achv : 19] [equipment :0] [bonus 1% : 1]

Mind [3] :

[Intelligence] - 15 [base : 3] [sub + achv : 11] [equipment :0] [bonus 1% : 1]

[Willpower] - 7 [base : 3] [sub + achv : 3] [equipment :0] [bonus 1% : 1]

[Capacity] - 15 [base : 3] [sub + achv : 11] [equipment :0] [bonus 1% : 1]

[Free Main Attribute points : 2 ]

[Free Sub Attribute points : 2 ]

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

Classes:

[The coveted Shadow - epic (11) - skill selection available.]

Skills :

[Daggers mastery - novice(2)] [Spear mastery - intermediate(2)] [Sword mastery - Novice(5)] [Dark arsenal - novice (8) - Skill modifier selections available] [Shadow step - epic] [Death siphon] [Death resistance - novice (1)] [Empowered throw]

Achievements :

[Death’s door(2)] [Big game hunter] [The first of many] [the trial seeker] [Mark of the elite] [The Dungeon Runner]

Affinities :

[]

Talents [1] - Talent selection available :

[Innate sensory]

What a load of stuff…

The previously empty status screen was now littered with random achievements and a multitude of skills.

Okay, let’s break this down. I’ll just start from the top.

The attributes come first. I allocated all of my stats from level up to the physical and split each sub-attribute points to strength and dexterity. Shivering from the newly gained strength, I directed my focus on my class.

[New skill options are available, pick one of the following.]

[Dark Clones : Conjure a dark clone on a spot within 5 meters. The dark clone looks exactly like the caster, and will be able to execute a single command after casting. The clone deals no damage, and cannot be touched. Once attacked or 10 seconds had passed, it will dissipate, generating a fog of darkness where it dissipated. If you have shadow affinity, the duration and radius of the fog will be increased. Uses 10% mana per cast.]

[Ally of Darkness : When covered by the comfort of the night or while you’re within darkness, gain 20% bonus dexterity and strength. Significantly improves vision in darkness. If you have the shadow affinity, the bonus is increased by 5% per affinity rank.]

[Shroud of Shadows : Emits a dark fog in a 10 meters radius. You will gain complete and total vision on everything inside, even when you are not in the shroud of shadows. Gain 10% bonus to your dexterity and provide all darkness bonuses while you’re inside.]

What? How am I supposed to choose any of these three? They’re all downright amazing!

Shroud of shadows and Dark clones served a similar purpose : To confuse and distract the enemy. Both work extremely well under different circumstances. I’ll give the [Dark Clones] ability an edge in terms of confusing enemies, but [Shroud of Shadows] edged Dark clones when considering its offensive potential.

10% dexterity is massive, and the all darkness bonus meant that shadow step will cost a lot less when I am inside a shroud.

What about Ally of Darkness? Well, having that skill will make any battles during the night significantly easier. 20% boost is bonkers, even at low level. What if I have 200 strength? That’s 40 points of strength gained just by being in darkness. There is a synergy between this skill and Shroud of shadows too, being inside the shroud with this skill meant that my dexterity will increase by 30%.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Such a difficult decision. I’d assume that you get another chance to get the skills listed here again later.

If I had to pick one…

[You selected Ally of Darkness]

A new chilling sensation spread throughout my nervous system. For just a few seconds, my whole body felt like it was under an ice bath. Then, as quickly as it came, it was gone. Like all the skills I’ve gained in the past, I understood the exact details about where and how to activate this skill.

Where I stood at this moment wasn’t considered ‘dark’ by the system. Darkness in this case didn’t mean that I have to be somewhere without the presence of light, no, it was more about being somewhere where the darkness overpowered the light.

I stepped away from the throne, testing the limits of this new skill. The spot where the sunlight was shining at obviously wasn’t considered dark by the skill. But once I stepped a few more meters off from the throne, where the light could barely reach my skin, I felt an overwhelming sensation of strength and power. Suddenly, the darker parts of the hall, which were barely visible even with my innate senses, turned a few notches up in clarity.

My cape emitted its dark haze the moment my skill activated.

Then, as I stepped back into the light, the surge of power dissipated.

My lips curled into a grin. This skill, under the right condition, could turn a close fight into an easy one. Once I earned the Shroud of Shadows, I would be nearly invincible inside.

Next, I checked out the skill modifiers.

[Skill modifiers for Dark arsenal.]

[Shadow detonation - When thrown, all weapons conjured by dark arsenal will explode upon impact, forming a 3 meter radius of a dark fog where the weapon landed. Enemies impacted by this fog will lose their vision for 0.5 second, unless their willpower is above your intelligence.]

[First strike - Every cast of this skill grants the weapon a 2x strength bonus damage upon their first attack.]

[Mana Reduction - Reduces manacost by 50%. Regain 10% mana for every kill using Dark arsenal.]

“What?” Again, like the selection of skills before, all the modifiers were insane in theory. 2 of those skills synergizes with Ally of Darkness, with their fog creation ability, and Mana reduction allows me to use Dark arsenal with a lot less restrictions.

There was a trend with the level 10 upgrades and skills that I noticed after looking at their descriptions. Skills on this level were more complex than the first few skills I acquired. Not only that, they were also synergistic with each other in nature, making each selection so much more important.

Although, First strike synergized with the [Empowered throw] skill I received during the fight with Tzatch. In theory, the damage from First strike and Empowered throw should multiply, which meant that I'd get a 6x strength bonus damage from a throw with a conjured spear instead of 3x.

That sounded… almost too good, doesn’t it?

[You selected First - strike]

Okay… Then, the next one is the talent selection…

[Natural recovery - epic : Passively regenerate 3% of your health every minute. Increases your constitution by 7%, rounded up.]

[Ezekiel’s embrace - epic : Improves your affinity to shadow and death, if you have acquired those affinity. Increases the effectiveness of your shadow or death - attuned skills. Increases your total Mind attribute by 5%, rounded up. Allows communication to the Deity of Shadows and death, Ezekiel, if the Deity is interested in you.]

[Deathborne - Innate : Allows you to sense those who were corrupted with death. Improves all death related skills and abilities. Grants immunity to the death haze. If you choose this talent, Ezekiel’s embrace will no longer be available. Once chosen, you will not be able to attune to Divinity-based affinities. Upgradable.]

Wait… The description of Natural recovery had changed. It was at the rare - tier before, or am I going nuts? I also gained a new talent option, the Deathborne.

Frankly, without the associated affinities, Either Deathborne or Ezekiel’s embrace were of any use to me. But… there was something about the last talent that intrigued me. It said that I wouldn’t be able to acquire Ezekiel’s embrace if I selected it, and also, I would lose access to Divininty-based affinities?

Well, it’s not like I ever liked Ezekiel in the first place…

Not only that, the line where it mentioned the rarity tier was replaced with [innate]. As far as I know, innate wasn’t a part of how the system categorized the rarity tiers.

Did innate in this sentence meant that I had this talent somewhere inside me already? If so, the words Ezekiel and Yael said made a lot more sense. But then, why did I have to unlock it in a talent selection screen if it was already in me?

That being said, Natural recovery would be useful in most scenarios. While I could regenerate health with a good rest and time, speeding up the recovery process was always a boon. The constitution buff was amazing too.

At the end of the day, What I desperately needed was an instant heal. Fast regeneration sounded cool and all, but at 3% per minute, I’d still die from a close fight with or without it. It would help in the long run, but when shit hits the fan, this talent would be close to useless. Besides, I could heal quite easily with Death Siphon if there were corpses around me.

[You selected Deathborne - Innate]

I froze, waiting for any extraordinary events to happen.

“Huh…” Well, that was… underwhelming. I expected a crazy surge of power or some other weird stuff to happen, but all I felt was a slight tingle in my eyes. No, not a tingle, but it just kinda itched.

I sighed, perhaps choosing this talent was a waste, after all.

Turning back from the throne, I walked over to where the corpse of Tzatch was. I assumed the next natural thing to do was enter the portal, but I wouldn’t be leaving before grabbing his spear.

[Unawakened Spear of Tzatch - unique : Grants the ability, Blinding illumination. Once bounded an the owner, the spear won’t be able to be used by others. Especially effective against undeads and Shadow attuned beings. Grants 5 Strength and Dexterity when equipped.]

[Blinding illumination : Gathering the power of the light, the spear unleashes a blinding burst of light that will stun nearby enemies for 5 seconds, if their willpower is lower than the user’s intelligence. Entities that are allied to the owner will not be affected by this glow. Only usable once per day.]

It’s the flashbang…

The spear is obviously an insane weapon. I’d assume that a player with light affinity would cheer if they had their hands on this weapon, but for me, someone who loved the dark and the shadows, this weapon is a direct counter to myself.

[You bounded to the weapon : Unawakened Spear of Tzatch - unique]

It’s still a strong weapon. So why am I complaining?

Unfortunately, I still couldn’t find the Death affinity, so using Death Siphon on Tzatch wouldn’t net me any attributes. And speaking of affinities… How do I get one?

Shaking my head, I opened the tasks menu.

[Task #2 - updated : Defend the gate. The wolf mother is planning to destroy the gate. A wave of enemies will strike the gate in : 03 : 24 :31. Waves cleared (1/3).]

3 more hours. Not a lot of time.

Time is ticking. Hurrying towards the portal, Excitement filled my chest as I was eager to see what kind of other rewards that awaited me.