Disregarding Asher’s slip of the tongue, I focused in on what he said, it was interesting to say the least.
Asher continued, “You have yet to encounter much of any value inside Purgatory, mostly because you have been forced to destroy everything you come across. Eventually . . . hopefully, you’ll soon have a way to resist the demonic compulsion. Better yet, you’ll be able to resist their illusions. Once that’s done, you might actually start getting some valuable rewards.”
I wanted to ask more about the proficiency scrolls, but my guide kept talking. “Most proficiencies that would be considered special attacks come from inside Purgatory, though they rarely appear and when they do . . . well, their price can be rather exorbitant . . . even for the weaker ones.”
I finally had a chance to ask a question. “Is that only Body? And what about Soul?”
Asher bobbed through the air as he continued forward. “Same thing really. Like I said, there are a few proficiencies that can be purchased outside of a dealer and those are generally starter proficiencies. Proficiencies like heal or burn are available to just about everyone. But they are weaker proficiencies that tend to grow slowly. You were surprisingly blessed when you got me, so be thankful. Guides are usually information repositories. In other words, you ask a question, they give an answer. They can’t give you advice like I can. And they can’t grow stronger.”
“So, when we get my next Soul proficiency slot, are we going to get one of those basic proficiencies? Or try our hand at a dealer?” I asked.
“Don’t know yet,” Asher answered. “We’ll need to see what the inventory looks like on that day.”
“Should we take a look today?” I asked. We still had plenty of crystals. Asher made sure I remained fairly miserly with my spending. I now assumed it was for this reason.
Asher answered simply, “We can, but I doubt you’ll have enough crystals to purchase more than a special attack.” It seemed, even in the afterlife, money mattered.
The proficiency dealers were all inside a single building, the largest I had seen in Sinner’s City. The four-story building looked as shabby as anything else in Sinner’s City and the inside wasn’t much better. It was another bazaar of vendor tables, each one filled with scrolls. I couldn’t see the stairs going up to the next floor, but I was sure they were around.
“These don’t seem that rare,” I mumbled to Asher.
I was surprised when the flame agreed, “No, they don’t.”
I walked up to the first table and spoke to the Cherub manning the counter, “Hello, what have you got?”
“Power strike,” the girl answered, sounding bored. She then yawned and added, “One hundred tiny crystals.”
I glanced at Asher for help, which he thankfully obliged. “A force multiplier attack.”
That didn’t sound too bad to me.
“Why so many?” Asher asked the Cherub.
The girl yawned again. “Everyone wants the flashy special attacks sold on the higher floors,” she said, pausing to snort before motioning to the scrolls in front of her, “Proficiencies like these. Proficiencies like power strike, quick strike, riposte, shield slam . . . you get the idea. The basics are generally ignored for the more advanced. Someone sold a divine blaze slash for two hundred million tiny crystals about ten years ago. It set a new record. Anyway, since then, that’s all the convicts ever want. The basics, they come in, we pay for them and sell them for a pittance.”
Asher bobbed. “Bad news for you, good news for us.”
I should have known Asher would be thrilled. He was all about the basics. I just knew he would want me to get a basic proficiency. “I think quick strike would be a good start.”
I sighed then looked to the Cherub for help. “Where can I get a quick strike proficiency?”
The girl sighed, then pointing to her left, she said, “Two stalls that way.”
I bought the scroll for one hundred tiny crystals. I planned to add it directly to my Scroll of Body and Soul when Asher stopped me. “Not here. You can add it to your scroll in your room . . . where it’s safe.”
I accepted his judgment and stuffed the scroll into my inventory.
“Good, now let’s go,” Asher ordered. “You can add your new special attack and be inside Purgatory in under an hour.”
“Asher, can I just . . . look around a bit?” I asked. There was so much to see. So many proficiencies. I wanted to learn about them if I could.
Asher sighed. “Fine, but let’s be quick about it.”
I wasn’t quick. Not at all. I took my time. I stopped at every stall and started making a mental list. Shield Slam was a must if I was going to continue using shields. Yes, it was another basic, but the stun was just too good to not have. I considered power strike for the additional damage but hitting something hard enough wasn’t my problem. It made sense why Asher wanted me to get a simple quick strike. Against the faster opponents, like the sloth leeches, that skill would be invaluable. Riposte was a counter strike that dealt additional damage but didn’t seem like a good fit for me. Hack and slash required two bladed weapons. Hamstring required a bladed weapon. Pierce armor required a pointy bladed weapon. Parry required a fast weapon. There were others on the basic level, but none of them impressed me overly much.
The second floor was considerably more interesting. There were less than a dozen stalls and each one had not only a Cherub working behind the counter but a pair of heavily armed and armored Cherubim working as guards. My initial reaction to the warrior children was to underestimate them, a notion Asher quickly disabused me of. After hearing the description of the first proficiency we came across, I understood even better the need for the guard.
“Sword and board,” the boy said, motioning to the two proficiency scrolls on the table. “Increases your efficiency when wielding a shield and any weapon, not just a sword despite what the name states. It reduces EP expenditure for all related proficiencies. Only two thousand crystals.” Oh, did I want that one. I swear I even saw a little flaming drool come from Asher’s mouth as well.
“We’re saving up to buy that one,” Asher said bluntly.
At the next stall, a perky little girl gave her pitch, “Hammer of light, capable of stunning and burning demons with divine power. Five thousand crystals.” That one impressed me less as I was unlikely to ever become a spellcaster . . . soulcaster? Either way, it was unlikely with my current stats and proficiencies . . . although, who knew what the future would bring.
I was mightily impressed with what they had on offer, even if most of it wasn’t necessarily a good fit for me. There was a shield of light soul proficiency, a whirling dervish body proficiency, a blessing of strength soul proficiency, and then I came across something unexpected. Most of the proficiencies were weapon attacks or spells . . . soul . . . I had no idea what to call it, spell was probably the closest analogue. It made this one even more interesting.
A single scroll sat on the stall’s table. I picked it up and looked to the Cherub girl that ran it, she quickly gave her sales pitch, “Essence Engineering, make use of all that stuff the demons leave behind to make your weapons and armor stronger. Only one thousand tiny crystals.”
And it wasn’t out of my price range.
“Not worth it,” Asher said.
I frowned at him. “Now hold on a second, what do you mean, not worth it?”
Asher huffed. “It requires a lot of materials to extract enough essence to make use of any of it. You are better off, selling what you find.”
“Yeah, but I don’t make much off what I sell anyway. Wouldn’t this be a better use of those materials?” I asked, then before Asher could say anything against it, I looked to the Cherub manning the counter. “How does it make weapons and armor stronger?”
“Depending on the demon and the parts extracted, you might be able to add increased damage, or a damage over time effect. You could even add burning, freezing, shocking, earth, or wind bonuses. It all depends on the essence,” the girl answere
d.
It was like enchanting from the games I played when I was still alive. Enchanting was always a go to profession in games for me. Heck, professions weren’t even something I considered when I came to purgatory, and now, I had one that spoke to me sitting on the table in front of me. “How much bonus damage?”
The girl shrugged. “It depends on how much essence you use, how much essence the item you are imbuing is able to hold, and how much you are able to purify the essence. All of which is determined by the level of the proficiency.”
I was getting excited. This could be a path to a lot of extra power. “Asher, this is the one.”
“No, it’s not,” Asher said quickly. “You would be better served learning a healing proficiency.”
I shook my head. “I can learn a healing proficiency next time. This is something I can use immediately to boost . . . everything. Asher, I’m telling you, this is the one,” I insisted.
Asher scoffed and hummed and hawed. “It’s too expensive. We can get something more affordable elsewhere.”
“Asher, I know you want me to focus on the basics, but I’m telling you, this is worth it,” I said.
Asher groaned, “Fine. But the next soul proficiency is my decision. Not yours.”
“Deal,” I said, before turning back to the Cherub to pay her for the scroll. I didn’t even negotiate, much to Asher’s annoyance.
I put the proficiency scroll into my inventory, feeling satisfied that I had made a good choice. Now I just needed to get enough points to be able to use it. I looked around the other stalls on the second floor before I made my way up to the third.
My tour ended on the third floor. I barely approached the first stall when the Cherub behind the counter held up a hand to stop me. “Ten thousand tiny crystals starting prices. If you can’t afford that, please, don’t waste my time.”
I assumed the fourth floor would be even more expensive, so I left it there for the day. I needed to get back to my room and add the quick strike proficiency to my scroll anyway.
Chapter 13 – Essence Engineering
It was finally time to put all my points to work. At least, that was what Asher promised me.
“Now remember, when you’re done with this, you’re going to feel stronger than you ever have. Don’t let it inflate your ego,” Asher warned again.
I laughed as I excitedly rushed back to my room. “That’s what I have you for.”
Asher snorted.
My guide had finally decided that I had developed enough that it was time to wipe out the library, possibly the entire sloth floor. As my proficiencies grew stronger, the crystal and demon part drops had slowed considerably. Ever since I purchased the Essence Engineering proficiency, I had been saving my drops. It slowed down my crystal harvesting more than I thought it would, still, I kept telling myself it would all be worth it when I could finally use the proficiency.
As soon as I got into my room, I excitedly extracted my Scroll of Body and Soul and the Essence Engineering proficiency from my inventory. I applied my experience first. Bringing my Soul to exactly 20 unused points, which made me grin.
“Dump the rest of the experience into your quick strike,” Asher advised.
I wasn’t going to argue that. Quick strike had proved useful, but it had a base damage reduction of 50%. That meant my damage was halved each time I used it. And worse, I had no way to train the proficiency to level it up other than spending hard earned experience. After putting in the experience points, I felt much better about the proficiency.
Quick Strike
Level: 5
Experience to Next Level: 417
EP Cost: 5
Damage Reduction: -47.50%
Deliver a weak quick attack to a single target in combat.
Knowing the damage would increase each time I leveled it up, made it a much more valuable skill in my eyes. However, I notice immediately that it took considerably more experience points to level it up than my other proficiencies, or my Body and Soul for that matter.
And speaking of Body and Soul, it was time to spend some points. I had been grinding as Asher encouraged, accumulating ten unused points to be applied to my Body. It was strange to think I could get stronger this way but according to the little fireball, it would really work, and I would really get stronger, though he also said I wouldn’t look any different. So much for turning into a walking wall of muscle.
“Now, you finally have a decent stockpile of unused point,” Asher began. “It’s time we try to get the math down on what does what.”
I nodded at that. I had wanted to do that from the very beginning. I was also something of a min-maxer when I gamed. I went back to the first page of my scroll to review.
Name: Victor Goodspeed
Highest Floor Cleared: 0
Experience Earned: 0
Hierarchy: 4th
Rank: 12th
Title: Sinner
HP: 100/100
EP: 100/100
SE: 10/10
Body
Experience to Next Point: 9,992
Unused Points: 10
Strength:
10
Reflex:
8
Constitution:
10
Recovery:
8
Soul
Experience to Next Point: 8,327
Unused Points: 20
Faith:
1
Spirituality:
2
Righteousness:
2
Fortune:
8
Applied Statistics
Health Regeneration:
10
Energy Regeneration:
8
Spirit Regeneration:
2
Attack Power:
20
Divine Power:
2
Speed:
4
Accuracy:
50.80%
Perception:
4
Block:
30.80%
Block Absorption:
10
Critical Strike Chance:
0.40%
Demonic Resistance:
1
Luck:
0.01%
Asher continued, “Let’s start with Body. Put a single point into strength.”
I did then I looked for changes. “Attack power grew by two points.”
“Good, a point in reflex,” Asher instructed.
“Accuracy by 0.10% and block by 0.10%,” I said, already knowing what would come next. I put a point into constitution, which made my total EP increase by 10 and my block absorption increased by 1. I reported the changes then put a point in recovery which made nothing change.
Asher helpfully informed me that recovery was probably tied to constitution, then instructed me to, “Put another point in recovery.”
“Energy regeneration increased by two,” I said.
Asher bobbed, looking pleased. “Okay, I think we can safely say that energy regeneration requires two points of recovery to grow. Now we need to know how much constitution it requires, put in a point.”
That point made my HP increase by 20 and my health regeneration by 2 points, but there was no change to my energy regeneration.
After I reported the changes, Asher said, “Okay, I’m just guessing here, but I would say health regeneration is to two constitution points to one recovery, and energy regeneration is two recovery points to one constitution point. As for the HP, I think that is two constitution points to one strength point. EP is one constitution point to one strength point.”
That made sense to me. Some of it was an educated guesses on Asher’s part, but we would have time to test it as we continued to grow. Another point of reflex brought up my accuracy and block again, but also my speed. We figured speed was probably two points of reflex to one or two points of strength. That one would be harder to test. Another point of strength proved block absorption was equal to one point
of strength and one point of constitution.
When it was done, I had two unused points left. I asked, “Uh, where should I put my last two unused points?”
“You’re not yet at the point where you should focus on your Body points, but that time will come soon. Before then, we’ll need to decide on a path forward. For now, I would say constitution. It will increase your HP and health regeneration. Without a healing proficiency, you will need all the recovery you can get,” Asher answered.
I agreed and applied the points, happy for the additional health regeneration and total HP.
Asher let out a long slow breath. “Now comes the hard part. We need to figure out where your SE comes from and increase it substantially. Ten SE will not cut it if you ever intend to be able to use any soul proficiency beyond your ability to call me.”
I nodded in understanding. I may have had twenty unused points, but those would vanish very quickly into the massive deficits my soul seemed to possess.
“One point into faith if you please,” Asher instructed.
I nodded again and applied the point. My spirit energy jumped immediately to a maximum of 20, my divine power increased from 2 to 4 and surprisingly, my luck increased by 0.01%. I reported as much to Asher.
“Okay, one point into spirituality,” Asher continued.
It was the first time I’d witnessed no change to my stats. Nothing. No additional regeneration or anything. “Nothing,” I said. “Nothing improved at all.”
“That’s okay. Put another point into faith,” Asher said.
Purgatory: The Devil's Game Page 15