by Sarah Lin
"I don't know how much progress you can make, but... getting the Outsiders' system involved could very well help. I'll show you the basics and I'm sure you'll pick them up right away."
Gharavi used one of the pelts, since they had an excess of them, and showed him how to work with the mana naturally built into the material. It was fascinating on a magical level, but his current body couldn't fully follow her instructions. But by this point, he was growing used to working with the boxes instead of against them, so in time he managed to relax his mind and a new box appeared...
[New Skill Acquired: Crafting!
Starting Level: 1
Gharavi Affection +10
EXP +1000]
Immediately Gharavi winced and held her forehead, which distracted him from what should have been a satisfying moment. The EXP value caught his attention for a moment, but he pushed that aside and focused on her instead.
"Sorry about that."
"I'm getting used to it." She rubbed her forehead a little more and then glanced at him. "What do the boxes say about my 'Affection'? Surely we're getting close?"
"Currently... you're listed as 9/9 affection. I would have expected the effect to have grown weaker."
"Oh, it definitely has. The early ones did damage to my Outsider magic defenses, but now it's just a bit of a headache. Only nine more repetitions and I can be rid of it for good."
"Sorry for the trouble."
"Count it a marker of my respect for you that I put up with it." Though Gharavi's words were cold, she smiled over at him as she spoke. "Even after having met Raigar, I don't understand how the Outsiders can live like this. Having the system undermine your relationships with everyone around you... it would erode my ability to believe in any relationship."
Once, Bloodwraith would have had difficulty understanding her sentiment, but now he only nodded. "I do not think the Outsiders who choose to come here are concerned with such things."
"Implying that other Outsiders might feel differently?"
"Yes. I know you may disagree, but I am not so universally opposed to all of them, not any more."
"I'm not that inflexible, Bloodwraith." Gharavi gave him a strange glance. "It stands to reason that most of those we call Outsiders are simply living peacefully in their own worlds. I only hate those who travel to other worlds to control them."
"Reasonable enough, but..."
"And I'm capable of seeing the difference between someone like Raigar and the Outsider you spoke to at length. But you don't think he's really friendly to us, do you?"
Bloodwraith snorted. "Of course not. He may be sincere, but friendship like that we can do without."
"Then we don't truly disagree." Gharavi smiled at him, then went back to examining one of the carapaces. Bloodwraith nodded in satisfaction, since an intellectual agreement was the best way he could imagine the conversation resolving, unless-
[Affection +5!
Gharavi Affection: 8/8]
Both of them just sighed. Bloodwraith stood up to leave her to her work and focused on what else could be done to prepare.
~ ~ ~
The following day went surprisingly smoothly. Though Bloodwraith had been expecting additional complications and even welcomed the chance to encounter new threats in a controlled environment, everything proceeded according to plan. The very first monster was just another Fellwolf, which died as easily as the others and finally took him over the edge.
[Congratulations! You gained a level!
Current Level: 16
Current EXP: 2526/656,100
Unassigned Stat Points: 5]
At long last, another level. Yet even as he enjoyed the new power, Bloodwraith found himself wondering how long it would take to gather over half a million EXP. In this place not so much, but once outside they couldn't simply massacre the wolves of the forest to get there.
In any case, this time he chose to place all of his new points into Might. His Quickness had been mostly enough to keep up with the monsters and a little more Vitality wasn't likely to make a difference, but being able to deal crippling damage when he struck could turn the tide of battle. The glow of five Stat Points being absorbed into his body left him humming with new strength.
Meara lured back over a dozen more monsters to the tavern and they never needed to stop due to injuries. The crabs could be a bit of a problem, since they tried to leap into the tavern, but now he was prepared for that. Not only was his party better at dealing with the threats, there were longer and longer gaps between the fights. When the final group took what felt like over an hour and it contained only a single Fellwolf, Bloodwraith knew that their easy strategy was near its end. It had earned him over 90,000 EXP, but the free ride was over.
Once the wolf lay dead, Meara lingered by the stairs instead of returning. "That one would barely follow me and I had to go back to bait it again several times. I didn't see any other creatures within easy walking distance, either. There are more monsters, but I don't think they'll come back here."
"This was inevitable." Bloodwraith looked up from his work skinning the wolf to glance at everyone. "Rest up and prepare for some real encounters."
None of them began by resting, however. Meara and Gharavi worked on something with the crafting components, Izzy happily ate the corpses, and Danniah spent some time practicing with her new Flame Blow skill.
For his part, Bloodwraith experimented with his neglected Undead Companion skill. Recently he had poured all his attention into Izzy, but his work with her had still increased the Level of the skill. Normally he needed a graveyard or another similar area to summon undead, but either this dungeon broke the rules or their rampant slaughter of monsters around the entrance had turned it into a burial ground. Whatever the case, skeletons popped up easily enough.
Now it seemed that he could control three of them in addition to Izzy. They were pathetic things, of course, completely lacking Necromancy Points to make them viable at this level of combat. But he didn't intend to use his "Undead Companions" as actual companions, not these.
"Am I getting brothers and sisters?" Izzy popped up over his shoulder to stare at the new skeletons. He chuckled and reached back to pat her head.
"Do you want some?"
Izzy chewed on a finger thoughtfully. "I'm not sure. I don't like to be lonely, but I have Da and Danniah and Meara and Gharavi. And I don't want to share food."
"That's good, because I'd rather give you all our available Necromancy Points." Bloodwraith gave a mental order to the skeletons and they shuffled to stand at attention near the entrance. Though his instincts told him to destroy and recreate them to get better base stats, he knew that it didn't really matter. "I'm just going to use these as distractions while we fight."
"Oh, okay!" Izzy crawled over his shoulder to sit in his lap. "I think I have a lot of those points now. Is it enough for you to get your happy box?"
He wasn't actually sure, so he checked Izzy's box. Though he'd known she must have gained over 100 NP just based on the number of monsters, he was surprised to find that she had 157 available points. That was certainly quite a lot, so if those didn't qualify for the sub-quest...
[Quest Advanced!
Sub-Quest III: Earn Necromancy Points for Undead Companion Izilthor.
EXP +5000]
There it was, then. He hoped that the language of "Quest Advanced" meant that he could repeat that Sub-Quest, but that didn't matter for now. With Izzy cheerfully giving her opinion on various traits available to her, they picked through their options from those available. Taking the Consume Veil trait they'd discovered earlier was a given:
[Consume Veil
Cost: 43 NP
The Undead Companion will gain the ability to consume magic invested in corporeal form. This trait will significantly increase penetration of magical defenses and may override certain rules regarding immunity.
NOTE: This trait was produced through an unexpected combination of local factors and is poorly suited to Undead
Companions. Taking this trait is not recommended. Please contact AdventureCorp about this bug on the next available opportunity.]
"Can I get a knife skill?" Izzy asked. "I want something like Danniah! But right now I can just stab things normally."
That was reasonable, but Bloodwraith thought back over their battles and had a different idea. "Actually, Izzy, I think your most dangerous attack is your bite. We can improve your stabbing by finding you better knives, so perhaps it would be best to spend your NP on your teeth?"
"Teeth!" Izzy was enthusiastic about that idea and that led them to discovering an advanced version of a trait Bloodwraith had chosen for her long ago.
[Advanced Razor Teeth
Cost: 36 NP
The Undead Companion's teeth will become dangerous weapons, gaining +5/+10 to damage and scaling with Tier development. Their bite will pierce through additional levels of armor and defenses, and deal lasting Bleed damage. Taking this trait requires Might of at least 25 and will also grant Might +2 if Might is below 50.]
It was expensive, but he thought the investment was worth it. For a second he thought the Might requirement would be a problem, yet to his surprise Izzy was already far above the necessary 25. Given the extremely high quality corpses she had been eating, her growth had been explosive compared to the others.
While Izzy snapped her new teeth together happily, Bloodwraith looked over other available traits. He soon found another teeth-related skill, but it was far beyond what they could manage at the moment.
[Master Razor Teeth
Cost: 117 NP
The Undead Companion's teeth will become dangerous weapons, gaining +10/+25 to damage and scaling with Tier development. Their bite will become usable against any opponent and ignore regeneration abilities. Taking this trait requires Might of at least 50 and will also grant Might +3 if Might is below 100.]
Useful, but absurdly expensive. Bloodwraith thought that Izzy was already lethal enough, so instead he focused on making her more durable in combat. He saw some potentially useful defensive skills, but then spotted something very different and focused on it:
[Equipment Slot
Cost: 10 NP
The Undead Companion will gain the ability to equip any type of tool or equipment that can be used by a normal party member, in addition to equipment that comes with their core build.]
After considering for only a moment, Bloodwraith took the trait three times in a row. Usually undead did an extremely poor job of using enchanted equipment, since it didn't blend with their dead bodies. He recalled that Danniah had once tried to gift Izzy a piece of equipment, but it hadn't worked well. This explained why and could change that - now Izzy could use equipment they found or crafted.
Aside from that, he opted for two less dramatic abilities:
[Ghoul Armor
Cost: 21 NP
This trait can only be taken by Ghoul Companions. The Undead Companion's flesh will gain minor defensive properties that scale with Tier. This bonus will stack with armor and equipment bonuses.]
[Undead Regeneration
Cost: 23 NP
The Undead Companion will gain increased regeneration even without consuming flesh.]
Between those two, he hoped Izzy would be torn apart in fewer of their upcoming battles. That left only 5 NP unused, which was so little that there wouldn't be any worthwhile skills or traits available. He had no problem waiting to invest those later, because Izzy was sure to earn many more NP as they explored the dungeon.
"Da..." She looked up at him with large eyes. "Am I scary?"
Bloodwraith blinked down at her, jerked from his thoughts of numbers and optimization. "What? Why do you ask that?"
"I always have to wear the cloak so people don't see me. And when they do they act like I look scary or ugly or something."
"You look fine the way you are, Izzy. Danniah and the others aren't scared of you."
"Mmm." Izzy didn't leave his lap and didn't seem truly satisfied, however. Sighing, Bloodwraith returned to the boxes and began searching for less useful options. After reading out several to Izzy, she settled on one that he didn't particularly like:
[Improved Appearance
Cost: 5 NP
The Undead Companion will gain increased customization options and potentially gain the ability to pass as human in some contexts.]
It was completely useless, a meaningless frivolity, but... Izzy was looking up at him with such an expression on her face that he had to give in.
With the trait taken, Izzy's body began to shift. Her hair and eyes became a bit shinier, looking less dead. To his surprise, her skin shifted to an odd blue color - it looked healthier than before, but no one would ever mistake it as human. The cracks in her fingernails disappeared, but the nails also lengthened to points.
Aside from superficial appearances, Bloodwraith looked at her new statistics.
[Name: Izilthor (Izzy)
Class: Ghoul
Unassigned Necromancy Points: 0
Health: 191/191
Mana: 21/21
Stamina: 0/0
Statistics:
Might: 41
Vitality: 27
Quickness: 54
Intellect: 18
Charisma: 14
Willpower: 19
Wisdom: 9
Luck: 12
Piety: 0
Traits: Ghoul Body, Growth Factor (Aggression), Growth Factor (Support), Ally Coordination, Language Development, Consume Undead, Advanced Razor Teeth, Consume Injuries, Healing Saliva, Consume Magical Damage, Darklight Vision, Consume Veil, Equipment Slot x3, Ghoul Armor, Undead Regeneration, Improved Appearance
Skills: None
Inventory: Crypt Knife x2]
If his memory served him well, he had invested nearly 350 NP into Izzy. Was spending 5 of them on something meaningless such a waste? He tried to examine her nails, wondering if they could be used to attack, but he doubted it. Given the appearance she was creating, she was actually less able to pass as a human, so it wasn't even a good utility trait. From a rational perspective, spending 5 NP on a functionless trait was unwise.
Yet... as Bloodwraith watched Izzy looking at herself and dancing around happily, for once he let thoughts of optimization fade away. Izzy was not her box, she was his daughter. Bloodwraith put aside further thoughts of wasting her points.
Izzy ran off to show Danniah her new body, leaving Bloodwraith to sit back and consider other matters. Yet before he could think very far, Meara and Gharavi approached him. They didn't look as satisfied as he would have hoped.
"We're getting closer to being able to craft equipment," Meara said, "but so far we haven't succeeded. We wasted one pelt and one carapace, so I think we'd better prepare more."
Gharavi shook her head. "I think our methods are fundamentally wrong. We need to combine our abilities in a different way."
"That may be so, but I don't think we're going to figure it out now. I'm not sure if we should stay until we do, or..."
"No." Bloodwraith stood up and stared toward the dungeon entrance for a moment, then summoned the box and disabled it. "We rest, then we enter. We'll have to figure out equipment later."
"I did make progress on one thing, though." Meara smiled triumphantly and pulled her hand from her cloak, revealing a potion that actually flickered as he watched it. The color itself seemed to be changing with each flicker. "How does this look to you?"
[Quest Complete!
An improperly brewed potion.
Class: 17/Pumpkin
Level: Kill 10 wolves for Meara.
Inventory: Yes]
Bloodwraith's eyebrows rose. "It seems you've failed far more spectacularly than before."
"Excellent." Meara tucked the potion back into her cloak and smiled. "I'll be creating some more of those while you sleep."
"Create some normal ones for me, will you?" Gharavi asked. Meara nodded and started to speak, but Bloodwraith cut her off.
"I think we're all tire
d from today. We can discuss final details in the morning."
They nodded in agreement and headed to the makeshift fur beds. Bloodwraith took off his armor for once and cleaned himself a bit, just so he would be refreshed the next day. Bodies needed to care about such trivialities, after all.
When he lay back on his fur bed, it took him some time to get comfortable. The fur itself was soft, but his mind was racing. Bloodwraith brought up his personal box to check on his progress:
[Name: Raigar
Race: Human
Class: Barbarian
Alignment: Good
Health: 266/266
Mana: 41/41
Weapon Mana: 9/9
Stamina: 168/168
Level: 16
EXP: 98,008/656,100
Statistics:
Might: 63 (69)
Vitality: 42 (45)
Quickness: 49 (54)
Intellect: 26
Charisma: 14
Willpower: 23 (25)
Wisdom: 17
Luck: 21
Piety: 1
Combat Skills: Cleave (12), Fist of Rage (15), Sword of Rage (13), Shout of Rage (9), Skill Enraging (8)
Skills: Two-handed Weapons (18), Evasion (16), Survivalism (8), Herbalism (8), Manual Labor (2), Swimming (2)
Special Skill: Undead Companion (19)
Proficiencies: Greatsword, Heavy Armor]
It wasn't bad, but was it enough? There was nothing he could do to improve now, so he would have to hope so, yet he couldn't help but keep staring at the numbers.
Raigar had spoken as if choices could be fundamentally bad, leading to an ineffective result no matter how much power was invested. Bloodwraith could see how that would work, such as if he had tried to increase both Might and Intellect evenly. But had his choices been good? Should he have focused more on Quickness and relied on his speed to deal damage?
Abruptly Danniah slid up beside him, curling against his side. When he looked surprised she only smiled at him. "I just want to be comfortable for tonight." She leaned up to kiss him briefly, then settled in with her head against his chest.