Gordeau looked at the screen showing the door to the secure sector with his hand covering his mouth in contemplation. Secure sectors were inviolable even to him, and he was forced to watch the doors outside of them, instead of watching whatever beings that were inside themselves. This meant that he didn’t know how much time he had before they would leave it again, which, in the current situation, was problematic. Gordeau considered his options as he eyed a tablet off to his left, on the desk beneath the screen currently showing the boss room. Its deep blue shine was reminiscent of the System screens, and it laid face up. The tablet was made with technomagic, just like the System itself was. If Gordeau wasn’t in such deep contemplation, he might’ve assumed that was the reason they looked so similar. Gordeau reached over, slightly standing from his chair before crashing back into it with the tablet in his hands. It was like a System screen captured in a solid black frame, made from obsidian crystal. After a few swiping and presses, he was at the screen he desired.
Gordeau had a choice to make.
He’d called the Dungeon General Admin to ask permission to let the T.H.O.D. and the human with him out of the dungeon for free. He hadn’t even been trying to haggle for the other human’s freedom as well, but he’d still failed. The appearance of a T.H.O.D. at this juncture in time was simply too important to let go of, however.
Gordeau was by no means a great person. He’d done many things to get where he was, and wasn’t afraid of doing it again. This didn’t mean that he was an unfeeling monster, however, and if a T.H.O.D. could be present during The Quine, even he couldn’t ignore that. Too many lives might be saved, and The Quine was simply too great of a threat. By any means necessary, he had to get the T.H.O.D. out and into the world, at which point the rest should take care of itself. T.H.O.D.’s were heroes by both nature and definition, and all they needed was the merest chance to help for them to act. Every one of them were also powerful, albeit in their own unique ways.
However, this T.H.O.D., likely the only one on the entire planet, was stuck in this dungeon, his dungeon. He wouldn’t be able to get out without defeating the final boss, and even that would take quite a long time. But even if he did all of that, there was a chance that he would still be too weak to do anything big to ameliorate The Quine. Gordeau had prioritized getting him out over getting him stronger previously, but now that it was no longer an option, his choices were clear.
Either make the dungeon more difficult and making him strong enough to handle The Quine, or make it easier in favor of alacrity.
Even if Gordeau helped him like he planned to, making the dungeon more difficult would cause it to take longer. He would also need to send regular dungeon messages to him, which would sap his credits. The result would be a much more powerful T.H.O.D., assuming he survived. That being said, however, he was a True Heart of Devotion. They were famously strong and difficult to kill, so unless this human’s particular True Heart of Devotion was rubbish, he should survive. On the other hand, he could make the dungeon easier and let them rip through it with ease. A T.H.O.D. should be able to tear the entire dungeon to shreds, including the boss. This would be the fastest and safest route, but it would result in a pathetically weak True Heart of Devotion in contrast to the things he would face in The Quine. There would also be no need for Gordeau to spend his credits helping them through the dungeon.
Gordeau sighed. In reality, he knew that he’d made the choice already. His greed made it difficult for him to accept the inevitable loss in credits, but even he understood that loss of life on such a scale that The Quine would bring made credits practically immaterial. Gordeau gave one last look at the screen showing the door to the secure sector, before pressing the button on his tablet with conviction. He was not a great person, but he was a decent one. He’d deliver the True Heart of Devotion to the humans who would sorely need him, and he’d make sure he was ready.
Arthur stared at the screen incredulously.
[Heart of Devotion](Exceptional): Gain a boost to all stats when allies’ lives depend on you (x1.5). More effects may be unlocked with greater synergy with [Heart of Devotion].
Synchronization Level 1- [The Last Stand]: Cooldowns of certain skills are lowered when allies’ lives depend on you (x1.5).
Synchronization Level 2- [One Last Chance]: Allows the user to revive from a deathly blow after rest. One time only.
Synchronization Level 3- [True Heart of Devotion]: You’re a truly bleeding heart. If certain conditions are met after dying, permanently gain the [True Heart of Devotion] passive.
When Arthur tried to bring up the description of [True Heart of Devotion], it had brought up several screens instead. This first one had at least answered one of his questions; how he’d come back from the dead. He wasn’t sure what it meant by having greater synergy, but he seemed to have only unlocked three levels. He was unsurprised that he fell short of accomplishing much with it and only getting 3 levels, but at least the question about his revival was answered. The screen next to it, however, was even more surprising.
[True Heart of Devotion]: You have died for someone you do not know. This has happened countless times over the history of the Macrocosm, but only a relative handful did so selflessly, without knowledge that they would return. You have a true heart of devotion.
[True Heart of Devotion] is a passive effect and a rare condition that will evolve as you grow. Added conditions will acclimate to your class and preferences.
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1–It’s the nature of your [True Heart of Devotion] to safeguard others. +80% DEF. +80% VIT. Cooldown reduction for abilities tailored for support.
2-Your [True Heart of Devotion] galvanizes the souls of those around you. All party members gain a 50% boost to STR, DEX and INT. All party members gain enhanced base mana and stamina.
3-Neither you nor your [True Heart of Devotion] will falter when between an enemy and an ally. +40% natural HP regeneration when in a party. +45% natural HP regeneration to allies within your party. Enhanced damage reduction when in a party. Enhanced base damage granted to allies within your party.
Arthur was taken aback by the sheer magnitude of effects in this “True Heart of Devotion” passive. He felt like it was a bit overtuned, but aside from his new companion, he had no reference to what was extraordinary in this new world. He felt more comfortable in assuming something like this was normal, but Mira soon interrupted his thoughts.
“What is it?” The inquisitiveness in her eyes was clear, despite her cool remaining. Arthur explained his title, its effects and the offshoot of the [True Heart of Devotion]. Mira’s eyes widened as he explained the effects of the latter. Afterwards, she nodded.
“That passive is… quite frankly, insane. I don’t have anything with even remotely that many buffs and effects.” Mira hummed and looked Arthur over anew. He didn’t like the way she did, however, which landed somewhere between a meal ticket and a prized possession. “You’re quite interesting. Not only do you have a unique class, but you have this ridiculous passive too.” Arthur was shocked to hear a hint of jealousy in her words. “What are you, some kind of anime MC?” Arthur knitted his eyebrows together in surprise. “You watch anime?”
At that moment, something happened that Arthur would never have expected. Mira’s eyes narrowed and her cheeks reddened, her beauty marks in contrast to her porcelain skin tinged with a rosy flush. Her ice-cold gaze locked onto his eyes anew. “I don’t watch anime.” This time it was Arthur’s turn to narrow his eyes… in suspicion. “Then how do you know about the overpowered anime MC trope?”
“Are you finished looking at all your skills? Then it’s about time I tell you about mine. Have you forgotten that we need to look for the others, or are you determined to waste more time?” Mira changed the subject forcefully, and with the last bit, challenged Arthur to reject it. As much as he wanted to explore this further, she was right.
Mira explained her class and what she could do with it. She was a [Lifedealer], a class focused on healing and damage. It didn’t escape Arthur that this combination of roles was practically a perfect match for him and his own tank focused class. When he mentioned it to Mira, she’d nodded in affirmation, and said that there was even more to it than he knew. Her stats were focused on STR and INT, with a fair amount of DEX. VIT and DEF were her lowest stats, which were the exact opposite for Arthur. Her class was classified as a high difficulty variant, which Arthur assumed was because of how easy it would be to die. Being both a damage dealer and a healer in a game with class systems usually meant that you weren’t the best at either, but in some situations, having both was better than only having one. Arthur understood that this was such a situation.
Arthur’s class was focused on tanking, with him being able to do some damage on his own. As of now, he had no way of healing himself aside from the natural regeneration provided by [True Heart of Devotion]. Also, most of his current skills were for tanking, meaning Mira’s class and skills were an even more perfect fit for him than he’d even thought.
[Life Boon/Life Bane]: Grant yourself or your allies the [Life Boon] status. When used on an enemy, inflict on them the [Life Bane] debuff. Maximum of 3 charges of each buff or debuff are allowed at once, with allowed charges increasing every 10 levels.
When Mira told Arthur about this skill, she immediately followed up with an explaination of what each buff and debuff would do.
[Life Boon]: Grants healing over time. Grants debuff resistance. Can be detonated for a burst of healing, removing the buff and removing 1 debuff from the recipient. Lasts for 6 seconds, granting a charge back to the caster when removed.
[Life Bane]: Inflicts damage over time. Inflicts debuff vulnerability. Can be detonated for a burst of damage, removing the debuff and doubles the effect of 1 other debuff on the recipient. Lasts for 6 seconds, granting a charge back to the caster when removed.
This was a skill that both dealt damage and healing, making itself a core of her skill-set. Life boon would not only heal the recipient, but would also boost their debuff resistance. If she “detonated” it, it would get rid of any debuff that happened to get through the resistance, while giving more healing on top of it. She was only allowed to give out 3 instances of this skill, but right now, there were only 2 people to worry about. Life bane was like a damage focused version of life boon, sapping the HP of an enemy and making them vulnerable to debuffs. Arthur surmised that this skill would work best with someone who had poison or other D.O.T., or “damage over time” capabilities. Detonating it would make said poison even worse, while dealing more damage at the same time. Mira explained her other skills.
[Spectral Blade]: Grants the [Spectrum] buff to yourself or an ally. Maximum of 1 instance allowed at a time, with allowed instances increasing every 20 levels.
[Spectrum]: Grants magical damage to weapon strikes to stack with physical damage. Scales off of recipients magical damage. Stacks with skills that use melee damage.
This was currently her only attack-oriented skill. It was simple but effective, allowing her to stack magical damage on top of her physical. This would bring both of her biggest stats to bear with every strike, capitalizing its quiet effectiveness with allowing physical based skills to use her magical damage aspect as well. Her last skill, however, was likely to be her best yet.
[Cornucopia]: Release a pulse to heal all allies within area of influence for a very small amount. Healing scales off of magical damage. Allies with the [Life Boon] buff have their [Life Boon] refreshed and slightly empowered to a maximum of 5 stacks. Enemies with the [Life Bane] debuff have their [Life Bane] refreshed and slightly empowered to a maximum of 5 stacks, which drop off when [Life Boon] or [Life Bane] expires. 5 second cooldown.
This was the center of her skill-set, and easily the skill she would use the most. It released a pulse from her that would pass through enemies and allies, healing those allies and empowering both the life boon and life bane effects up to a maximum of 5 stacks. Not only that, but it would also refresh them back to their full buff timer of 6 seconds. Cornucopia was usable every 5 seconds, essentially meaning if she spammed the skill, all life bane and life boon effects on the field would last indefinitely. Not just that, but they would be empowered indefinitely as well, until she stopped using the skill. Arthur was impressed. He liked skills and effects that synergized with each other, and this one did so beautifully with her other skills. After Mira was finished explaining her skills, he nodded in appreciation.
“Your abilities are amazing. They’ll mix well with my own.” Arthur said, and Mira let out a hum of agreement. With her skills and important information out of the way, she stood. “Now that we understand each other’s capabilities, we should get going. We’ve wasted enough time as it is.” Arthur stood with her and walked to his “shield” on the floor. When he reached it, a screen popped up in his face, startling him.
[Trash-can lid]: A trash can lid. It’s wide and easy to carry, with its good qualities ending there.
- [Gross]: Causes you to smell slightly worse.
“Oh, sod off.” He muttered as he gripped its handle.