I couldn’t go out of the city to get more kills from the insect swarm. People were concerned I’d get injured or, more likely, would go too far out and not get back on time. Not to mention there were still preparations that I needed to be around for. Nobody was going to let me got to the party without getting my makeup and hair done properly.
I couldn’t explore the city itself because Deacon and Cal were worried I’d go looking into the XGC. The fact that they were right annoyed me, but I couldn’t fault them for it. Sitting still now that I had a place close by to focus on was… frustrating.
I did manage to get to the blacksmith though. They’d finished the tonfas, and they were much better than the previous ones I’d been using. The smith brought them out in a wooden box, and told me the final price, which made Deacon wince but I had been ready for. The actual price was close enough that I rounded it up to an even number, bringing out a gold colored crystal from my pocket to set on the counter for them. It was worth 100,000 PEC and I hadn’t thought anything of it, but the clerk snatched it and hid it away before another customer could see.
My full attention as on the box, though. I opened it to reveal two beautiful looking tonfas set on a cloth cushion. They were such a rich, dark brown that I almost mistook them for black inside the case. There were carved vines that seemed to twine around the long section of the weapon, seeming to sprout from the handle. Running a finger along them, they didn’t seem sharp or even protrude, so the effect was just from the wood.
I lifted them both and they felt significantly heavier than I thought they would. I’d been expected something like my old tonfas, which had barely pushed a kilogram or two. These weighed closer to ten each. And I noticed that the weight seemed to be all in the shorter ends when I held the tonfa by the long end. The shorter ends were also where the metal core of the tonfas was exposed, with the short parts having two distinct points to them. The one for the handle was thinner, with it narrowing to a point similar to a pick or blade. The one at the short end was completely rounded.
When I asked about it, the clerk went to go ask the smith about it. I then noticed a note in the box and grinned. With it in hand, I used Scan on the tonfas as well.
Tonfas of the Flaming Thorns
Specially crafted tonfas made to defend a young noble. Using enhanced metal, wood, and lacquers, these tonfas work in tandem to provide an endless maze of thorned defenses to keep a young lady safe, and punish her enemies.
- Enhanced Fire Manipulation
- Enhanced Capacity for Mana
- Enhanced Durability (core)
- Blocked Attackers are struck by flaming thorns
- Weapon Regenerates based on damage. Metallic parts regenerate at a slower rate. Rate increased when given mana.
- Ensnaring Thorns spell granted
The smith who had taken my order wasn’t the one to come out. Apparently, he’d been working on it nonstop and when his fugue state had ended, he just kind of passed out. When I pointed out the rounded end to the smith, he winced and said it reminded him of a ball peen hammer end. Something used to hammer metal into place. On a weapon… it’d probably break things quite well.
I was more than satisfied with it, and told the man as such. He was going to pass that along to the actual smith and asked if I needed anything else. I didn’t, said as much, and thanked him for his time before leaving. I set them up in Personal Armory and grinned at Deacon.
“No.” He said firmly.
I didn’t quite stop myself from pouting on the way back to the manor.
Speaking of upgrades, I also had a LOT of stuff to go over from the swarm event. I had two more title tokens to claim for the Insecticide title, which I did first in the privacy of my home, in my favorite lounge.
Insecticide IV
You are the destroyer of insects. Title for reaching 2500 kills in the Summer Screaming Swarm.
- Increased damage to Insect Creatures.
- 10% Poison Resistance
- 25% Disease Resistance
- +1 Agility per 2 levels since title earned (26)
The fourth version was what I expected, a flat bonus that gave me five more agility. The increased poison resistance was nice too, as well as the disease resistance. The fifth one though…
Insecticide V (Max)
Insects tremble at your presence. You are an oncoming storm of death to all things insectoid.
- Massively Increased damage to Insect Creatures.
- Gain Aura of Fear (Insects)
- 25% Poison Resistance
- 50% Disease Resistance
- +25% EXP gain from kills involving insects
- +1 Agility per level since title earned (26)
Aura of Fear (Insects)
Your very presence instills a primal fear into those around you. In a 30 meter area around you, all creatures around you of the chosen type are struck with an overwhelming sense of dread. Weaker willed creatures will flee as fast and far as they can from you.
That was a massive jump in power for what felt like little effort. Anyone with the ability to kill a lot of them quickly could get this with a bit of effort. Honestly, thinking about it, the number seemed a little low now with how many bugs were out in the region. Is the system taking into account how hard it is for the average person it is?
It was a thought for later. I had a second title to acquire, after all.
Boss Slayer I
You have defeated your first boss on Veldern. This is what sets the average adventurer apart from the normal people of the world. Only those of exceptional skill can claim this title for killing rare, and powerful creatures.
- Boss Sense trait acquired
- Boss Timer tracker acquired
- Boss Requirements tracker acquired
- +5% EXP gain from all sources
- +1 All Stats per title rank
I checked the new trackers and had the Swarm Loot Bug on the list. It had listed as the requirements that it only appeared on the destruction of a nest as a result of external action. The timer showed another was available to spawn. Huh, I guess Tingle’s crew is more competant than I gave them credit for. Or lucky.
I checked the trait next.
Boss Sense
You have the vague sense of where a boss will spawn when within the vicinity. If a boss is spawned, you know the general direction it is.
It was… rather straightforward. I’d also gotten a trait token for Loot Radar.
Loot Radar
You are able to detect whether a slain creature has valuable loot on them. It is up to the user to find it. Good luck!
That was the most useless useful trait I had gotten yet. It was useless because most creatures had something valuable. It was useful because I could probably use it to figure out if I’d GOTTEN the valuable item from it. Something I’d otherwise need years of experience to properly determine by myself. It bypassed the knowledge gap.
I also had gotten rewards for every hundred kills. Ignoring the title tokens, I had a bunch of boxes. Oddly enough, at 3,000 and every 500 after until 5,000 I got tokens. They were Skill rank tokens that would increase a skill by one rank, including pushing a skill into the next tier. I had 4 of them, and 33 boxes of various armaments and spell and skill tomes.
I asked Deacon and he hissed, “Don’t fucking mention those out loud!” He abruptly threw up a sound barrier, not even whistling which took a visible strain on him, I noticed. “Those things are more valuable than those trait or level tokens you have. Do you know how many people are stuck at the end of a tier and can’t progress? Most of the population.”
I was surprised to hear that, “That… doesn’t make sense. Even with a little learning, you should be able to push to at least Tier 3, right?”
“But what about Tier 3 to Tier 4?” Deacon asked, “Or, Tier 4 into Tier 5? Those are not common drops, and most people who get one, keep their mouths shut and ‘pretend’ they had a breakthrough.” He sighed and produced one himself, “I’ve got five that I’m saving for Decay Manipulation, Dark Manipulation, Guitar, and a fwe other skills. They’re all deep into Tier 4, except Guitar which is Tier 5.”
I whistled and checked the Encylopedia I didn’t use often. “Tier 6 is supposed to be a big deal.”
“And people know it. I’ve seen two or three people use Tier 6 skills, and they… are impressive. The really old masters of magics will usually get there, but it takes all their focus. But, the one Tier 7 I’d seen was a musician.” Deacon actually started tearing up. “I… can’t even begin to describe the experience, and I’d only caught the end of the performance.”
“Was it something magical?” I said, teasing him.
“No.” He said, “It was… pure. It was a piece about a person who martyred themselves to save someone he loved. Not romantic love, but passionate and true love for a friend. The kind of things legends talk about. I… still can’t think about it without my heart aching.”
I walked over and did something I generally didn’t like. I gave him a hug. Deacon tensed up, but returned it. I felt him rub at his eyes and sniffle. “Thanks… Dani. Sorry.”
“No need to apologize.” When we seperated, “Tell you what, if we ever get to visit your home country, let’s try and catch a performance. And if we can’t, let’s find enough tokens for you to give your own.”
That got a laugh out of Deacon, “That’ll take years.” His smile was genuine when he stopped, “But thanks.”
He dropped the barrier and we put those tokens away. Fuck, if one would do that, I wonder what he’d say if I told him I could buy skill ranks?
It was a feature I’d found early on, and prohibitively expensive, but it was there in the Shop. Trait upgrades too, but those were just as expensive. I could maybe see a billion being possible, but fifteen zero’s was ridiculous behind any number. I wonder if there’s a way to reduce that?
It did put the tokens in perspective. “So, what traits do you think I should upgrade?”
Deacon tapped his chin, “I’d say the Manipulation traits, if you can. What else do you have?” he asked. I read the list off and he considered it, “Does it tell you what the upgrade will do if you try to use it?”
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I shook my head. “No, I’m going blind. I think I might upgrade Intrinsic, just to hope I can control it better.”
He nodded, “Then maybe Regeneration or Mana Conduit. For obvious reasons. I’m not familiar with Treasury, but Mana Bank is mostly useless until you get a lot more Magic. Or… is it a specific stats?”
“The Mana stats.” I replied.
“You’ll be boosting it a lot anyway. No reason to increase that yet.” He considered it more, getting silent.
“I haven’t even used Second Chance once, so that’s out.” I said, continuing to cut things. “Second Wind either. I haven’t really used most of these.”
“That happens as you level. You get a lot of traits that are niche uses or limited use so they don’t get a lot of play. I think Overcharge or Monsterous Force are probably the only other ones I’d consider right now. Traits can also be upgraded from classes, keep that in mind.” He added.
I looked through the classes I had left to cap out in Tier 1, “I don’t think I’ll be getting those for a while. At least a couple of months of hunting creatures.”
“You’ve got my recommendations. You can ask Grimmoire or Torren, but I think they’ll vote for Regeneration as a safety measure for you. It’ll suck, but at high levels of physical stats you can heal from frankly ridiculous things.” He said, grimacing. “Like watching an arm regrow in hours instead of weeks of treatment.”
That argument alone compelled me to use a token on Regeneration.
Regeneration II
You heal faster than average, and more completely. You can now perfectly heal from any injury naturally, up to and including severed limbs. Rate is based upon total Constitution plus Endurance amount.
“Void… it adds Endurance to the regeneration rate.” I said in surprise.
“You already did it?” He raised an eyebrow.
“I don’t want to have a missing arm for a month.” I said, looking at him.
Deacon looked grumpy, but I could tell it wasn’t because of me. Then I considered it and used my second one on. Intrinsic Mana Manipulation would be useful long term… but I considered the fight coming up, because there would be a fight. Monsterous Force would be oh so satisfying, because I had a suspicion it would do the same thing as Regeneration had and just add another stats into the equation. Or maybe increase the value of Strength for it.
Something in the back of my mind was tugging at my attention, though. Mana Conduit seemed to glow faintly, and I tilted my head as I looked at it, my eyes squinting in suspicion. Is this from some remnant of Alexei? Some form of advice? It was the first time I’d noticed it happening, and I considered it.
“Mana Conduit is based on Charisma. I’ve only got maybe 20 points coming from Acolyte… It’s at 39 now…” I considered outloud.
“It’s weird hearing you talk about it specifically like that, you know? Scholars have theorized for a long time why people with the same ability scores can be so vastly different. The common knowledge was just… what the person did with their life.” Deacon commented.
I returned my attention to him. “To be fair, that’s not far off reality. I just have more precise numbers.”
I made my decision to trust the nudge towards Mana Conduit.
Mana Conduit II
Your aura and body act as a conductor for magic. Increases the speed of spell casting, both inner and exterior, based on Charisma, Constitution, and Perception.
I was a little underwhelmed at first, until I realized how high my Perception actually was. It was my second highest stats, even if it didn’t seem to do a lot. I knew it DID things, but I had to focus to make the most of it. I suspected that was a mental defense against information overload.
The next thing I did was upgrade my class using a token I had for that. With Sneak maxed out, I level I swapped classes to Trainee and started leveling that up as well. I picked it because it was a combat class, and I could bring it up to a decent level fast. Because of the Insecticide title I also got even more Agility than the class gave.
Class: Trainee
A Trainee has begun the path of physical combat. They spend their days training with weapons, exercise, and practicing forms. This class can branch out easily into various types of Warriors, Archers, or Soldiers. Increases Skill Acquisition and Leveling of most Combat, Tactical, or Movement skills.
+1 to Strength per level
+1 to Agility per level
+1 to Endurance per level
Max Level: 20
Increased Skill Acquisition for: Combat, Tactical, and Movement skills.
Second Wind trait
I am going to need to train with Sprint some more… I thought as my Agility got closer and closer to 100. I only brought Trainee up to 6, because I was getting lower on my Experience bank than I was comfortable with. The moderator salary would give me enough for 7 in a few days anyway. Not enough for the party, but I wasn’t worried about that.
Now I had the issue of what to spend my free points on, and a trait to select from Sneak maxing out. Part of me wanted to raise Agility to 100 and even out the rest of my stats so they had zeros at the ends. I ignored that last part and boostd Agility to 100.
I got the option for another trait. I held off on that and did the Sneak one first.
Sneak Level 20 Trait Selection
Hidden in Plain Sight
Who needs cover? Any attempts made to hide are valid for the purpose of defeating someone’s perception. Fade from vision, even when someone is staring straight at you. Does not work on extrasensory perceptions like Echolocation, Tremorsense, Heat Sense, etc.
Emergency Escape
You can’t hold me! You gain a magical ability to escape bindings. Once per day you can slip attempts to restrain you physically. Cannot be used to escape a locked room.
False Trail
Where’d they go? Actively hides you from all senses for a second as a second, magical construct continues in different direction. This trait benefits from deception based skills and Misdirection is automatically used when activated. Can be used once per day.
They all seemed a little underwhelming, but that was mostly because I wasn’t invested in sneaking around. The only reason I’d taken the class was the agility stats and the movement skill growth, which I hadn’t really taken advantage of. Emergency Escape seemed the most immediately useful, so I grabbed it.
Then I checked out the Agility traits.
Agility Trait Options
Flash Step
You move so fast, you blur the lines between teleportation and physical movement. Distance is relative and you can temporarily ignore it. For a mana cost equivalent to the distance traveled, you can move in a straight line faster than even the peak of humanity could see. You must be physically capable of crossing the distance, obstacles and all. Maximum distance is based on Agility.
Rhythm of the World
Your body is sync’d with the world around you. Every beat of your heart. Every breath you take. Your body can weave through the world to the music of life and to great effect. The Dance skill can be used in combat to improve your evasive maneuvers and even attack. Beware, in case your opponent changes the tempo.
Whirlwind
You do not like to stand still, and especially in a fight. Enemies swing where you were, arrows miss by millimeters, and spells just can’t keep track. But you won’t dodge forever. As you move around the battlefield, you gain a stacking increase to any damage you would do. Damage will ramp up to a maximum of Agility times 10% over the course of a minute. Stopping for more than Agility divided by 10 seconds will negate the entire buff.
The old options were there, and they were still just as strong, and just as tempting. Flash Step was an interesting addition, and I checked the shop immediately. It was an expensive trait, well over a billion to purchase.
It was still a hard choice though. The cons for Rhythm of the World were my low Dancing skill and if someone knew what I was doing they could mess me up. At 30 Agility, Whirlwind had been a little underwhelming, but at 100… 1000% was a lot. And even if I didn’t spend the full minute, the damage bonus would be crazy.
Flash Step just sounded fun, though. It didn’t give an exact number for distance, but depending on how often I could use it there was a chance I’d get the jump an opponent I otherwise wouldn’t be able to. It also sounded rare enough that most people wouldn’t have it, so they wouldn’t expect it.
I asked Deacon’s opinion and he frowned. “Whirlwind. I suspect you can already move faster than anyone can keep up with, and that trait screams catastrophic consequences if it fails.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“It’s a straight line, right? You also can’t stop once it starts, probably. It’s not likely to happen often, but the really dangerous people and monsters are smart enough to take advantage if you use it often enough.” He explained. “Useful, but if I can predict where you’ll be, I’d throw enough magic at that spot to leave a crater.”
I opened my mouth to object… then closed it. “Point taken.” Even without that, it was still tempting, but I had Sprinting, Freerunning, and Seven League Gait already providing movement. Plus Flight or Fight.
I picked Whirlwind.
With no real idea what else to do with the free points, I sat on them and opened my sheet to take a better look at it.
Name: Danielle Rosecrest
Age: 18
Race: Human
Class: Royal Trainee 6
Total Level: 76
Class EXP: 0/2100
Experience Bank: 34,308/256,000
Unspent Attribute Points: 54
Statistics
Physical
Strength: 36 (Set: 25)
Dexterity: 51 (Set: 25)
Agility: 100 (Set: 25)
Endurance: 49 (Set: 25)
Constitution: 42
Mental
Intelligence: 47
Insight: 45
Charisma: 40
Perception: 63
Magic
Mana: 41
Mana Control: 36
Mana Power: 31
Skills
Assessment: Tier 2, Rank 4
Cheap Shot Tier 1, Rank 4
Dancing: Tier 1, Rank 8
Deception: Tier 0, Rank 3
Gardening: Tier 0, Rank 1
Harvest: Tier 0, Rank 2
Fire Manipulation: Tier 0, Rank 4
Freerunning: Tier 1, Rank 1
Hammers: Tier 0, Rank 3
Light Armor: Tier 0, Rank 4
Mana Sense: Tier 3, Rank 14
Mathematics: Tier 2, Rank 13
Riding: Tier 0, Rank 2
Small Blades: Tier 0, Rank 3
Speed Reading: Tier 1, Rank 6
Sprinting: Tier 1, Rank 4
Staff Combat: Tier 1, Rank 2
Swords: Tier 1, Rank 7
Throwing: Tier 1, Rank 6
Tonfas: Tier 2, Rank 7
Traction: Tier 1, Rank 9
Two-Weapon Fighting: Tier 2, Rank 2
Wind Manipulation: Tier 0, Rank 5
Unarmed Combat Tier 2, Rank 8
Traits
Attentive Student
Aura of Authority (Disabled)
Aura of Fear (Insects)
Backpacking
Boss Sense
Bullet Hell
Emergency Escape
Experience Absorption
Experience Conversion
Extrinsic Mana Manipulation
Flight or Fight
Honor thy House
Intrinsic Mana Manipulation
Juggernaut Charge
Loot Radar
Mana Bank (.67 EXP per hour)
Mana Conduit II
Mana Control Range Increase
Misdirection
Moderator’s Veil
Monstrous Force
Night Vision
Noble Birth
Noble Pursuits
Overcharge
Personal Armory
Personal Library
Regeneration II
Second Chance
Second Wind
Seven League Gait (Disabled)
Spatial Closet (Tier 1)
Treasury (76 EXP/Day)
Whirlwind
Spells
Gravity Field: Tier 1, Rank 4
Healing: Tier 1, Rank 7
Piercing Flame: Tier 0, Rank 1
Scan: Tier 1, Rank 2
Shadowbolt: Tier 0, Rank 1
Functions
Calculator
Encyclopedia
Hunter’s Log
Inventory
Local Map
Map
Notes
Quests
Classes (Total: 76)
Noble - 30 (Max)
Outdoorsman - 20 (Max)
Sneak - 20 (Max)
Trainee - 6
Titles
Boss Slayer I
Insecticide V (Levels Acquired: 32)
Royal
[Moderator 3312883-E6 Control Panel]
[Name: Thorn]
[Role: Moderator Class NM-02]
[Processing Access: Green]
[Combat Rating: Low]
[Judgements in Good Standing: 13]
[Complaints: 0]
[Salary: 150,000 PEC per Year]
[Active Exemptions: EXP Taxation, Simplified System Interface]
[Inactive Exemptions: Stats Limitations, Spell Target Locks]
[Active Abilities: Moderator’s Veil]
[Inactive Abilities: Trajectory Vision, Spectator View]