“Do you think we would have defeated that Arch Lich if he was at full power and didn’t underestimate us?”
“I don’t think so—he was incredibly powerful. You only have to look at Jake’s new juggernaut minion. He probably had a number of spells that could have defeated the fortress. He simply didn’t think that we were capable of defeating him and even if we got close, his runes and traps were powerful. He should have had time to stop us if we attacked him. At least theoretically. With your abilities to destroy the magical formations and runes that protected the phylactery, we exceeded what he thought we were capable of. I think he got used to the low-level creatures and undead around him, just new fodder to be used in his creations. They had some differences between one another but the undead were largely the same. He kept back his strongest forces, using his weakest ones to swarm us and test their abilities.”
“That’s what I was thinking.” Dave shook his head. “Let’s take a break. I forgot to check my new notifications.”
They wandered through the mining facility, watching as metal and stone was cut away to free the machinery underneath and the massive crushers that ate through the area. A teleport pad had been built into the rear of their moving drills. Materials were taken straight from the crusher and teleported to the forges, where it was refined out. Any waste materials were then teleported into the Densaou Ring of Fire.
There was no need for massive lines of carts to take the material from one facility to another: just connect the drills to whatever forge had space in its refinery and keep going.
Dave was pleased with their progress. Now that everyone was recovering, they had the guild members needed to free the crusher units and crafters were working on fixing any issues with them.
He opened up his notifications as they walked.
Active Skill: Spell Formation
Level: Expert Level 10
Effect: You use 20% less Mana and your spells are 83% stronger.
Passive Skill: Dodge
Level: Master Level 3
Effect: 89% chance to evade objects. 15% faster when fighting more than two opponents.
Passive Skill: Perception
Level: Master Level 5
Effect: 95% chance to find hidden details. 25% chance at better loot.
Active Skill: Two Handed
Level: Master Level 1
Effect: 41% armor penetration on target. Stamina costs reduced 20% while fighting. Can use two-handed weapons in one hand at 50% increased Stamina cost.
Cost: 35 Stamina
Active Skill: Dual Wield
Level: Master Level 1
Effect: Attacks are 41 % faster. 5% chance of slowing target.
Cost: 15 Stamina
Active Skill: Inference
Level: Expert Level 5
Effect: 73% increased chance of using moves you’ve read in books.
Active Skill: One Handed and Shield
Level: Master Level 1
Effect: Weapons damage increased by 41%. Defense increased by 20%. Shield bash is 5% more likely to stun opponent.
Cost: 20 Stamina
Active Skill: Soul Smith
Level: Expert Level 6
Effect:. 75% less soul energy necessary for crafting with soul smith.
Cost: Dependent on creation.
Active Skill: Builder
Level: Master Level 6
Effect: 95% speed and efficiency. Creations material cost is reduced by 30%.
Required: Tools
You have earned a new class: Weapons Master
You’ve trained with every combination of weapons, earning mastery in all of them. For your perseverance, you are awarded the Weapons Master Class.
Status:
Level 1
Effects:
+20 Vitality
+10 Endurance
+15 Strength
+15 Agility
Level 119
You have reached level 119; you have 541 stat points to use.
Stat Increase
+1 Strength
+2 Intelligence
+2 Agility
+2 Vitality
+1 Endurance
+1 Willpower
You Have Died
For dying you lose:
x3 levels and their associated points.
You lose your classes (you can gain them back by gaining level 10 again).
You have lost your equipment not already soul bound.
You have lost 130 gold, 7 silver, and 8 coppers.
You Have Claimed Your Tombstone
For recovering your tombstone you gain:
x1 level back
All items you were carrying, not including monetary losses.
Level 117
You have reached level 117; you have 531 stat points to use.
Dying at level ten isn’t that bad except that the classes keep on resetting, not letting you get anything else. You don’t lose too many levels but it still means every time I die, I have to put points back into my stats to bring me back up to ten.
Dave went to his status screen, putting his stat points back in, raising him back up to level ten once again.
Character Sheet
Name:
David Grahslagg
Gender:
Male
Level:
10
Class:
Dwarven Master Smith, Friend of the Grey God, Bleeder, Librarian, Aleph Engineer, Weapons Master
Race:
Human/Dwarf
Alignment:
Chaotic Neutral
Unspent points: 531
Health:
14,300
Regen:
5.04 /s
Mana:
2,930
Regen:
13.00 /s
Stamina:
2,080
Regen:
10.20 /s
Vitality:
143
Endurance:
252
Intelligence:
293
Willpower:
260
Strength:
208
Agility:
204
“I think it might be time that I started putting my stat points into my character,” Dave mused aloud.
“Oh? Are you not gaining your stat points as fast naturally anymore?”
“Nope. It’s coming down to the point where it’s faster for me to level up than it is for me to get stat points through my actions.”
Malsour nodded sagely. “Then, it does seem like it might be time for you to put those points to use. Remember to not overdo it like you did when making it to level ten. Don’t need you running into ceilings and the like.” Malsour laughed.
“Ugh, don’t remind me.”
Dave considered his character sheet. With his diminishing returns on stats by just straight training, he would have to look at leveling as well as gaining new classes in order to increase his power.
What are my quests for the different classes?
Dave went through his active quest logs to find the class quests.
A pop-up jumped into his face.
Quest: Dwarven Master Smith Level 2
You have completed the level 2 quest for this class.
Rewards: Unlock Level 3 quest
+10 to all stats (stacks with previous class level)
200,000 EXP
Dave swiped it away, only to have another leap up.
Class: Dwarven Master Smith
Status:
Level 2
Effects:
Allowed access to all Dwarven Mountains and Smithies.
Allowed to take on smithing apprentices.
+20 to all stats
Access to special quests.
“Okay, so the class tells me the overall gains I’ve made from the class. Kind of like a reminder of what I would lose if I was to die and drop below whatever level I gained the class at,” Dave said to himself. He gained a +10 from the increase in cl
ass level, but his class window showed not only the rewards from the class level, but all the rewards that the class gave—from his access and privileges to the +20 from having both level 1 and 2 of the Dwarven Smith Class.
He checked the new quest that became available with the completion of the level 2 quest.
Quest: Dwarven Master Smith Level 3
You must craft 10 weapons of S quality with your Smithing Art (Currently 3/10)
Rewards: Unlock Level 4 quest
Increase to stat gain
Dave went to his settings, wondering why he hadn’t seen the quests before.
“Dammit, turned off the class quests alert when I was trying to get all of the notifications out of my face when I first came here,” Dave grumbled. He could have used those extra stats when he was fighting the undead.
“Something the matter?” Malsour asked.
“Just pulled an idiot move.”
Malsour made an understanding noise as Dave returned to the class quests.
Quest: Friend of the Grey God Level 3
Complete the Quest: Aleph Homecoming
Rewards: Unlock Level 4 Quest
Increase to stats
Quest: Bleeder Level 2
Complete the Quest: Aleph Homecoming
Rewards: Unlock Level 3 Quest
Increase to stats
(???)
“Damn, two class increase, I will take that!” Dave scrolled down to his other quests.
Quest: Librarian Level 2
Conduct research that allows you to understand how to create your own teleport pad.
Rewards: Unlock Level 3 Quest
Increase to stats
Quest: Aleph Engineer Level 2
Finish repairing all Aleph facilities mentioned in the quest: Aleph Homecoming
Rewards: Unlock Level 3 Quest
Increase to stats
(???)
Quest: Weapons Master Level 2
Kill one hundred enemies with every weapon type.
One handed and shield 13/100
Two handed 41/100
Dual wielding 46/100
Archery 0/100
Rewards: Unlock Level 3 Quest
Increase to stats
Dave read the quests over again a few times.
“What now?” Malsour sighed.
“Dude, I’ve got like four of my classes offering a reward for me to complete the Aleph Homecoming Quest,” Dave said, his shock clear.
“It’s not really that hard to understand. This quest is one of the hardest I have ever heard of. It needs a lot of people with different skill sets working together for a long period of time to try to complete it. We only won against the Arch Lich through mainly luck. The other facilities we’ve come to—had to have knowledge that was beyond us at one time or another. Right now, even you are stumped with what we have to do for the Aleph portal factory. You know several different runic languages and have refined Magical Circuits into magical coding. I don’t know of any other group that would have been able to get this far. That said, I don’t know if it will be possible to finish this quest. That portal factory is so complex that many people could spend years and not understand how to get it working.”
Malsour’s words sank in. Even if they cleared out all of the different facilities, the factory by itself would stop them from completing their goal.
A smile started on Dave’s face, not one of nostalgia or defeat, but one of a man sensing a challenge, one that he was determined to meet.
“Malsour, get your reading glasses on. We’re going to the Aleph College. It’s time I put some of these stat points to use and we figured out how we can fix that Aleph portal factory!” Dave declared, walking for the teleport pad.
Malsour’s lips lifted up as he saw Dave’s inner curiosity and pursuit of knowledge rise to the occasion once again.
***
“What is it?” A light blinked on Ela-Dorn’s interface, waking her up.
Her husband made an annoyed sound and rolled away as her interface bloomed into existence.
She rubbed his Elvish back, eliciting a pleased noise. She smiled at her husband as she accepted the chat invite with Shard.
“I thought that you would like to know that Dave Grahslagg and Malsour Dracul are within the grand library and are searching through the library for books that might help them on the portal factory,” Shard said, his voice light.
“Huh? But it would take them years to learn that all,” she muttered, still half asleep as she rubbed her husband’s back, hearing the light snores as he drifted off to sleep.
“Maybe not. With their high Intelligence, and their skills and insights, it might be possible. Malsour has extensive knowledge on all things magical and has shown a complex mind capable of proving and disproving theories that have been stagnant for many years. Dave is largely focused on the materialistic items that he interacts with. He did not become a Dwarven Master Smith so quickly on just his good looks.” Shard’s voice was dry.
“Are you telling me that they could figure out how teleport pads and portals work?” Ela-Dorn’s voice became serious as she ground her underbite and upper teeth together.
“I think that given enough time, it is possible. They do not need to sleep for extended periods of time. With their librarian classes, they are able to understand more. It comes down to Malsour, really. Dave can create most things he comes to understand. There are a bunch of theories and ideas that go beyond the normal thoughts, sciences, and magical practices that create the portals and teleport pads. Items that would take Dave a long time to figure out. But Malsour? He could very well put the pieces together.”
“Can we stop them?”
Shard paused before responding, showing the debate he had in relating his words. “As you know, I overhear a great number of conversations. I trust Dave and Malsour completely, but my core programming made me pay attention to their conversation. Dave and Malsour have class-related quests that will be activated once they complete the quest Aleph Homecoming. I have been checking other keywords to other ongoing conversations. It seems that the majority of the Stone Raiders, if not all of them, have class-related quests that will be completed by finishing Aleph Homecoming due to its complex and difficult nature.”
“Is there any way we can make the quest complete?” Ela-Dorn asked.
“No.”
“So, we either disrupt their quest to try to make sure that they don’t get the knowledge of the portals and teleport pads, or we allow them to learn the secrets of the different devices.” Ela-Dorn sat upright in her bed, grinding her teeth.
Her husband smacked her side. “You’ll hurt your teeth doing that, love,” he said sleepily.
“Sorry for waking you. Go back to sleep.” She rubbed his back once again.
This is where we truly decide how much we trust them. To let them know our biggest secrets and the center of our power and society.
Ela-Dorn rose from her bed and closed the chat.
“You going somewhere, love?” Ela-Gal rolled over and looked at his orcish wife.
“I’m off to the college. It seems a decision must be made and warnings given.” She had a grim look on her face.
Ela-Gal laughed at her expression. “I remember when we were in the college and we were the ones getting told to not look into matters beyond our abilities. I’m glad we did anyways. Wouldn’t have figured out the new power plants otherwise.” Ela-Gal’s chuckle turned into a yawn.
He opened his golden eyes, finding her muddy brown ones. “Well, I have been looking forward to seeing the old place.” He stood and stretched. His lithe body showed scars on his back, as well as a burn mark on his neck, the Elven symbol for heretic.
She smiled as he pulled his clothes on.
With her powerful magic, she had extended her life by possible decades, giving her more time with her love. He was a little less wild than when she had first met him, but his body seemed to have only aged years instead of the decades they had been together
.
“I don’t need you following me around like some wounded pup.” She crossed her arms and put out her underbiting jaw.
“Aw, I forgot how cute you looked when you’re trying to be all Arch Mage,” he said, pulling on his shirt. He activated his hotkey set; thick silver clothes appeared over his undergarments, a sword at his side and a bow on his back. He looked every part of the warrior he was. His long, silver, almost-white hair was pulled back into a braid.
She frowned as he walked closer. “We don’t both need to go,” she tried to argue as he put his hands on her elbows.
New Horizons (Emerilia Book 4) Page 20