“No,” Garath told her. “There are still a lot of tryouts, but you did do really well. Seriously, I was impressed. I’ll announce the final team tomorrow, so you're going to have to wait and see.”
Garath knew he was just postponing the inevitable, and that eventually he'd have to tell Daisy that she wouldn't be allowed to be on the Dungeon team, but he decided it would be best to wait until after the girl taught him how she had unlocked her non-Class Skills. Archmage Garath has a nice ring to it.
There was another surprise in the final results of Garath's dungeon run. Handsome had outperformed both Bill and the Golem by a landslide in terms of damage output. Where the Dreadreaver had done 4,156 damage throughout the entire instance, and Bill had pumped out 2,877, Handsome boasted an impressive 7,402. All of them together paled in comparison to Daisy's 21,995, but when added to Garath's personal number of 16,320, Garath and pals still came in first place. What twisted world wouldn't count the Summoned Creatures under the summoner?
In less than an hour, Auto led the second group out of the portal. He looked tired, which made sense to Garath considering Auto’s just-kill-them-all-at-once method. Garath decided he’d give Raust a second tryout and let the Chimerist rest up for the third group.
During the one-hour wait before another group would be allowed in, Auto and Garath went over the second group's performance. The damage numbers were generally unimpressive, Auto reported. With a hushed voice, he informed Garath that he had topped the ‘damage dealt’ list by a ridiculous margin. The single highlight Auto had to share with the Necrologist was Sharon. The Chimerist went on and on about Sharon’s multitasking ability with casting Roots on the goatmen that broke off from the group to attack the casters while also keeping everyone at or near full Health the entire dungeon run. When prodded for the actual numbers, Auto informed Garath that he had personally finished with 20,130. NickCarter generated 14,355 damage, Lorena did 12,205 damage, while Duran pushed out a meager 6,003.
Garath frowned. How did Daisy out-damage Lorena despite the large disadvantage of gear and Level?
He personally attended the third set of tryouts, joining Raust, the twins, and Maimon. Garath had been excited to finally see the twins in action and was hilariously surprised when Jebawon summoned his Tamed Creature. Garath knew their family was in the milk business, but he never would have guessed that Jebawon would have actually Tamed a dairy cow. Bug Eyes by name, the heifer was an absolute beast. Apparently, at Level 25, Jebawon unlocked a Skill that allowed him to summon and dismiss his tamed cow in a manner similar to the way Garath was able to summon and dismiss his bound demons. Had he not unlocked that Skill, their trip north to meet with Garath would presumably have taken much longer.
This run of MGP took significantly longer with Raust at the lead. Maimon struggled to keep the tank at or near full Health almost as much as Raust struggled to hold the monsters’ attention, even when pulling one group at a time. On more than one occasion, Jebawon and Garath were forced to have Bug Eyes and the Dreadreaver pick up a goat-demon that broke off from the tank. Obawon, too, switched to his sword and shield to keep the patrol unit that was unintentionally added to a group pull near the end of the long tunnel. After finally clearing the side rooms, they made it to the boss.
Illunitus was a tough son of a bitch this time around. Without Daisy there to counterspell, they didn’t have any means of interrupting him. Jebawon and Garath alternated using their pets to stun the demon as often as possible, but more often than not, Illunitus resisted the attempts. In the end, they all made it out alive, a testament to Maimon’s skill as a healer. As much as Garath didn’t like the Rabbi personally, he had to admit that Maimon was a strong option for a healer role on Garath’s Dungeon team.
Garath’s second experience with Molten Glacier Peak wasn’t all bad though. The Necrologist picked up a second Illunitus’ Dreadrobe of Reaping and placed it in his Items panel. He didn’t have any use for a second one, but in the case that someone else at the Guild Hall may benefit from it, Garath didn’t want the epic robe to go to waste. After they’d downed Illunitus, an unexpected notification appeared and Garath smiled as he read it over.
Congratulations, Guild Leader. The Band of the Hawk has reached Level 2.
At Level 2, members of The Band of the Hawk receive +11% to all Attributes while inside of a dungeon or Dungeon.
It was only one percent higher than the bonus the Guild received at Level 1, but Garath wasn’t complaining. He’d take any bonus he could get to make his Dungeon team stronger. He dismissed the prompt, walked over to his chest, and placed his hand on top of it. Garath didn’t get any item upgrades, but he did pick up a few interesting items.
Devil Fruit
Type: Food
Item Score: 93
Rarity: Epic
If fed to a demon, the Devil Fruit will permanently increase the demon’s highest Attribute by +30.
***Highly sought after in Hell, Demonic armies will go to war over a Devil Fruit tree. Also known to decrease one’s ability to swim.
Fel Iron Ingot
Type: Reagent
Item Score: 19
Rarity: Uncommon
***Note: weapons forged from this metal will gain the effect Fel Rot Poison, that will add a damage-over-time effect to enemies harmed by the weapon. The amount of damage from Fel Rot Poison varies based on the quality of the weapon forged.
Garath excitedly called Handsome over and handed the Cambionic Flayer the Devil Fruit. The demon accepted the gift reverently, bowing his head in respect before unceremoniously stuffing the entire softball-sized fruit into his mouth and down his throat. The Flayer hiccupped, and then his already too-big eyes bulged as the fruit took effect.
Handsome didn’t receive any physical changes from the Devil Fruit, but a quick look at his Summoned Creatures panel showed Garath that his Cambionic Flayer had indeed just gained +30 Wisdom. Another idea occurred to the Necrologist.
He kicked himself for not thinking of it the first time around, but better late than never. With a dagger he’d picked up from one of the dead goat-demons, Garath helped Handsome perform an impromptu autopsy to get at the heart of the massive Illunitus. The organ was enormous, black as death, and difficult to get at due to the demon’s layered ribcage, but Garath managed.
He looked down at himself, heart held in both hands, covered from fingers to shoulders in hot black blood. At least he wouldn’t need to have Sharon dye his gloves black anymore, he thought with that small part of him that looked for silver linings. He offered the heart to his Flayer. Handsome looked at it, then back at Garath, disbelief on his hideous features. Handsome reached out, then folded Garath’s fingers over Illunitus’ heart and pushed it gently back toward the Necrologist.
*Eat,* Handsome scratched the word into Garath’s mind.
Garath looked down at the heart in his hands again, then handed it back to Handsome. *Thanks, Handsome. But no thanks.* Even if he would gain power by eating it himself, there was no way in Hell he was going to. *Eat up, buddy.*
Handsome’s overly large eyes expanded as the Necrologist handed him the huge black heart again, but the lower demon was not going to refuse an offer like this twice.
*Gratitude,* Handsome replied before accepting the heart with both hands. What came next was another disgusting display from the little demon that even the Discovery Channel would pixelate.
The Cambionic Flayer’s jaw came unhinged and he opened it wider than Garath thought possible. Then Handsome shoved the heart into his mouth and pushed it with both hands down his throat and into his stomach. Garath didn’t think that even an insatiable creature like Handsome would try to get it all down in one sitting, let alone in one bite, but that’s exactly what the little demon did. The changes that followed were the most drastic yet.
The horns coming out of his head lengthened, sharpened, and hardened into shiny obsidian. He grew nearly an entire foot in height and his arms and legs lengthened again. Sharp black nails grew fr
om his gnarled and twisted fingers. Even his wings extended to accommodate his larger frame. The lethargic look on Handsome’s face and the skin stretched tight over his bulbous belly let Garath know it was time to put the Flayer back into his mind to relax. If he didn’t, he’d probably have to roll him out of the dungeon. Garath took a second to open his Summoned Creatures panel and see what tangible changes had taken place from eating the heart of Illunitus.
Handsome
Race: Demon
Class: Cambionic Flayer
Health: 710/710
Mana: 1,410/1,410
Attributes
Vitality: 71 - Each point of Vitality provides +10 to maximum Health.
Wisdom: 141 - Each point of Wisdom provides +10 to maximum Mana.
Regeneration: 29 - As a Cambionic Flayer, each point of Regeneration increases Mana recovery rate by +.81 per second; Health recovery rate by +.125 per second; and recovery from injury by +1%.
Strength: 4 - In addition to making one stronger, each point of Strength increases physical attack damage by 1% and reduces damage received from physical attacks by .25%.
Dexterity: 6 - In addition to making one more agile, each point of Dexterity improves the critical strike chance of physical attacks by +.3%; the critical strike damage of physical attacks by +3%; and improves chance to dodge by +.5%.
Skill Tree
Holy crap. Handsome had gained +30 Wisdom from the Devil Fruit, which was great, but eating Illunitus’ heart gave the Cambionic Flayer an additional +48 Wisdom, +20 Vitality, +5 Regeneration, +2 Strength, and +3 Dexterity, if his math was right. Garath wondered if maybe he should have eaten it himself. Either way, because Handsome had gained power, Garath had gained power.
Garath then placed the Fel Iron Ingot into his Items panel and made a mental note to see if anyone at the Guild Hall had unlocked some sort of Blacksmithing Profession. It wouldn’t make any weapon that he could take advantage of personally, but if someone else could benefit from the ingot, he wanted to make sure it got to them. He also picked up another 9 Mana Crystals and the Experience he gained took him past Level 27 and a good chunk toward Level 28.
Congratulations, Garath! For reaching Level 27, you are awarded 5 Attribute Points (3 per Level and + 2 per Level due to your status as a Leader of Man) and 2 Skill Points (1 per Level and +1 per Level due to your status as a Leader of Man) to distribute at your discretion. As a Necrologist, you receive +3 Wisdom, +3 Vitality, and +1 Regeneration per Level.
You have one week to distribute the Points before they are assigned for you based on your chosen Class.
Unused Attribute Points: 5
Unused Skill Points: 15
New Skills are now available.
Once they had exited Molten Glacier Peak again, the Party met the rest of the waiting group on the second plateau and Garath distributed all five Attribute Points into Wisdom, then excitedly opened his Skill tree to see what new Skill had become available at Level 27. A quick once-over of the tangle of interconnected Skills revealed a new option on the Demonology tree.
Felfire Bolt
Active
Cost: 261 Mana (.3x Base Mana)
25 Meter Range
1.5 second cast
No cooldown
Effect: Send a bolt of demonic fire at your target, dealing 121(Demonic) damage (.45x Wisdom Attribute) and inflicting Felfire Burn, a damage-over-time effect that deals an additional 27 (Demonic) damage (.1x Wisdom Attribute) over the next three seconds.
Cost to Unlock: 1
Unused Skill Points: 15
Garath purchased Felfire Bolt without a second thought. It was a direct upgrade to Death Bolt, and also benefited from his Mastery: Pestilent passive Skill that increased the damage-over-time effects of his Skills by 20%. The Mana cost and cast time were both higher than Death Bolt’s, but Garath rarely ran low on Mana and he didn’t think the half-second increase to casting time would make much of a difference. Navigating then to his Summoned Creatures partition, Garath was reminded that, because it was a part of the Demonology Skill tree, he wouldn’t be able to purchase the new Skill for Handsome as well. It was a bummer to be sure, but Handsome’s growing list of available Skills would have to be good enough for the time being.
As they waited for the instance to reset, Garath once again got to counting. Obawon and Jebawon would have been unbelievably close to a tie in terms of damage output had it not been for Bug Eyes, who alone managed to deal 6,450 damage - bringing Jebawon’s total number up to 17,770. Garath and his demons, once again, dealt more damage than anyone else in the group with 24,412. It was a good deal less than he’d done in the first run, but Athios’ contributions were harder to account for as she technically did not deal any damage, leaving more for the other members of the Party. In addition to taking significantly more damage than Auto had, and doing a barely passable job of holding aggro, Raust also came in last place in terms of damage output. With a tank, damage was not the highest priority, but in comparison to the impressive damage Auto was putting up, it became a factor.
It was getting late in the day when the fourth and final group initiated the instance and began their run. Garath, Auto, Atlas, Fergus, and Andrea made up the final group and, overall, it was a relatively easy process. It did take quite a bit longer than the first run had because, at Garath’s suggestion, Auto pulled one group at a time. Garath knew Auto was capable of doing it his way, but without an experienced healer to back him up, it seemed like the safer option.
For her part, Andrea did an admirable job healing. The Spirit Master used her Attribute-boosting buff as frequently as the cooldown allowed. Fergus pulled his weight, especially after Garath gave him the named weapon he’d picked up in Aquawood Depths a few days before. S’thys Tear was a two-handed pike, which took Fergus a little getting used to, as he’d only used a mace to that point, but once he got the hang of it the Brawler pumped out some solid numbers. But it wasn’t Fergus or Andrea that really shined in the fourth run of MGP.
It was Atlas.
The Mage Smith’s impressive damage output was apparent long before Garath ran the numbers from his combat log. The flame-bathed sword wielded in Atlas’ main-hand sliced through the goat-demons like butter. There were clearly Skills being used, but for the most part, Atlas just slashed through enemies with astounding proficiency.
Garath wondered if he’d had formal training with a blade before the apocalypse, and made a mental note to ask him about it. During the fight with Illunitus, Atlas impressed Garath again, this time with his off-hand weapon. Like Link against Ganon, Atlas returned Illunitus’ tri-colored magical attack with a swing. Garath made a note to dock him points for stepping between the tank and the boss without first calling it on the Party communication channel but still, it was an attack Auto didn’t have to absorb.
Another jewel-encrusted rare chest appeared beside the four typical chests. Garath tried to reward Atlas for his performance by giving him the rare chest, but the Mage Smith declined on the basis that the gear he created through his Class Skills were synergistic, and that synergy would be disrupted by adding a dropped item to the mix. Garath didn’t want to grant himself the rare chest but, with a combined effort, the Party convinced him to take it. When he put his hand on the chest and his loot was revealed, Garath was glad he’d accepted the honor.
Death’s Touch Crest
Raiment Slot: Head
Armor: +19
Magic Resistance: +10%
Durability: 95/95
Item Score: 81
Defense Rating: 190
Type: Cloth Armor
Quality: Craftwork
Rarity: Epic
+35 Wisdom
+30 Vitality
+10 Regeneration
+10% damage to all Death Magic spells
Item Requirements:
Level: 19
Garath made a very un-manly squee sound as he equipped his new helmet. The smooth black alloy of Death’s Touch Crest felt similar to the Hypnotic Diad
em of the Wise that it replaced, once sitting atop Garath’s mop of black curls. He was used to having a tiara at that point, and didn’t bat an eye at it. He felt pretty as a rose either way. Another 9.25 Mana Crystals were added to his growing stash and the Experience Points gained from his second run of MGP brought a welcome prompt that Garath read and then dismissed.
Congratulations, Garath! For reaching Level 28, you are awarded 5 Attribute Points (3 per Level and + 2 per Level due to your status as a Leader of Man) and 2 Skill Points (1 per Level and +1 per Level due to your status as a Leader of Man) to distribute at your discretion. As a Necrologist, you receive +3 Wisdom, +3 Vitality, and +1 Regeneration per Level.
You have one week to distribute the Points before they are assigned for you based on your chosen Class.
The Tree of Ascension: A LitRPG Apocalypse (Peril's Prodigy Book 2) Page 21