Accidental Reaver

Enough Beast Crystals in hand, Luke entered the illusion training realm.

The split remained as usual, monster hell on Iona's side and slime protests on Sooty's. Lulu appeared to be helping Iona this time, the Beastmaster pushing against the magma giant boss and making tremendous progress at first glance.

He wasn't here to ogle the elf, so he stepped onto the grasslands. Sooty sensed him through Reaver's Link and stopped relentlessly attacking the Immortal Slimes slinging about the rolling plains. She soared through the clouds, diving onto Luke's shoulder and rubbing her body against his neck.

Scratching her talons, Luke said, "Missed you too, Sooty. You're hard at work, huh?" Although the Immortal Slimes looked normal, across the grasslands were hundreds if not thousands of gashes, pits, and cut apart hills.

Sooty started to go on a long string of crow noises. Luke got the rough gist of things. The damn 'featherless blobs' were resilient, her beak and talons unable to defeat a single one—she enjoyed spending time with Lulu, though. All in all, other than missing Luke, the crow liked her skills growing constantly.

Reminded of that particular aspect, Luke scanned the Interface, pulling up log lines only relevant to Sooty's training.

[Through repeated use against a higher tier foe, your companion, Sooty, has grown Reaver's Beak twice. Going from Tier 1, Rank II, to Tier 1, Rank IV]

[Through repeated use against a higher tier foe, your companion, Sooty, has grown Essence Screech once from Tier 1 to Tier 1, Rank II]

[Through repeated use against a higher tier foe, your companion, Sooty, has grown Talon Strike from Tier 1, rank II, to Tier 1, Rank III]

[Through repeated use against a higher tier foe, your companion, Sooty, has grown Shadow Wing from Tier 1 to Tier 1, Rank II]

Results from mind-numbing repetition bore fruit. Although, Luke thought it would be mind numbing for himself. For all he knew, Sooty could be having the time of her life picking on defenseless slimes alongside Lulu, her owl friend. His crow companion held onto her skill points. From the nascent pattern, the Reaver figured she'd have to spend them on Iron Feather or Reaver's Link.

While this method Iona foisted onto him and Sooty proved effective, it did have a glaring hole. These slimes absolutely couldn't help anyone train up defensive type skills. As for growing a passive skill like Reaver's Link, this appeared to be a common problem. That skill type—in most cases—was extra challenging to grow compared to active skills.

Feeding a piece of fruit he swiped from the kitchens to Sooty, Luke began to broach the reason for his coming, "I've got a gift for you, Sooty. Should get you another skill, no idea exactly what it'll be. Are you interested?"

Sooty cawed in his ear, then landed on the floating Whispering Tome. She poked her beak up as if saying, 'Of course I'd be interested.' Reaver's Link reflected a similar notion.

The challenges from earlier held multiple purposes for the Reaver. To quickly accumulate resources, such as the Beast Crystals he started to bring out from the Inventory, siphon away more attributes for himself, and finally, get used to fighting those with a tier advantage while honing combat skills. The last one ended up being blunted to technique superiority—learning occurred regardless.

Circling back to the first reason, Luke allowed one thousand Beast Crystals to pile up. A beast skull border notice announced itself to his vision.

[Fuse one thousand Beast Crystals to grant your companion one passive skill? Y/N?]

"Here it is, Sooty. You're about to get a skill somehow, don't be surprised if something strange happens."

The crow folded her wings neatly while puffing out her chest. She began to use a series of clicks, caws, and coos. A bird amping up ritual. Or Sooty's flavor of weird.

Selecting yes, the various colored Beast Crystals swirled into a twister. They merged, condensed, and formed into a seal. Beast skulls decorated the item as gray light rushed from it. Its existence was transient, attaching to Sooty, then sinking into the crow. Sooty flapped back in surprise. The seal already served its function. A new white bordered notice demanded Luke's attention.

[Your companion, Sooty, has been granted the new rare passive skill: Vorpal Touch]

Vorpal Touch? That doesn't tell me much.

Unable to keep the curiosity back, Luke held out an elbow for Sooty to land on. The subconscious intent over Reaver's Link did the rest. Sooty swiftly settled onto the Reaver's arm, tilting her head at him. Reaching out to the bird, when he examined her status and focused on the new Vorpal passive ability, an Interface driven information text presented itself.

[Vorpal Touch: A unique skill granted to companions that have witnessed death, ruin, and sin. The companion's records have been found most suitable with the stringent requirements for its bestowal. Revealing skill information]

[Vorpal Touch]

Companion to either a cataclysmic death dealer or an inheritor of sin. Ruin follows your strikes and movement. All your attacks heal yourself for a minor portion of damage dealt while furthering a natural rot effect that can be effective against both the immaterial and material. The rotting effect will continue to fester, ceasing only upon the companion's defeat or end of combat.

The ability started at the baseline. Rank I, without a tier, its state already sounded tremendously valuable. If the rot effect ended up minor, the healing Sooty now incorporated into her tool kit would always be a great bonus. It's not like it cost her anything, with it being passive and all.

Eager as could be, Sooty rushed off, attacking a nearby Immortal Slime. Bits of brown rot bloomed onto the slime after the corvid chained talon and beak attacks enhanced by shadow. At first, the slime regenerated away the rotting attack while wisps of red sucked away from it, siphoning back into Sooty. Vorpal Touch rotted away at the slime, but its regenerative capacity ended up winning out, cutting off the infected portion for self-preservation.

Vorpal's capabilities already came front and center. The Immortal Slime possessed both tier and level advantage over Sooty, and the ability started at the bottom. While it could be the type of skill to grow less from skill point investment in return for greater starting power, it would power up either way. It seemed to synergize with Sooty's shadow element quite harmoniously, the two effects intermixing. Strips of black left from Sooty's attacks melded into brown rot, sucking away at vitality, stamina, and defenses.

Fitting that the companion to greed ended up taking away power from its victims as well—although in a different manner. Luke tried to pulse frost into the browned injuries the Immortal Slime sustained. He found the elemental product burrowed further within, with less impediment compared to his first tests on the creatures.

"Interesting," he mused.

Sooty cawed at him, hopping around the slime, gesturing with a wing every so often. He knew that act. Crouching down, he rubbed the top of her head, "Those slimes are in real trouble around you now—counting on you in the near future, Sooty."

After releasing a proud rattle, the corvid up and flew away, going off to pick on more slimes. Forming Xera into a wand, Luke reviewed his options for growth. Even with drawbacks, he anticipated Sooty would adapt the fastest in this environment. Vorpal Touch seemed like the sort of skill that would level up through any attack she landed, and what better target than the Immortal Slimes in the illusion realm? For himself, other than a quick check to see if the Ruined Realm bosses were alive, he'd lay off on dungeons for today.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Based on his last visit in the Spectral Realm, he'd hit a glass ceiling—outside of the boss rooms. Since the Reaver acquired what items he needed from other dungeon sections, the benefit of delving reduced dramatically. Attribute theft also nosedived. By now, the sub-bosses and dungeon bosses at the end, namely, Arjanax and Aren, provided the only hope of further progress in that department. Another round of top end tier 1 loot certainly would be worth the time. However, if those rooms were cleared, the leftover benefit from other dungeon arenas dipped below the opportunity cost.

That said, he decided to do a hurried check on the Spectral and Vampiric Wing when the dungeon lock lifted later today. Two other avenues came to his mind's forefront—crafting and skill practice.

And he stood in the best place he knew to practice offensive skills.

That made the deliberation quite clear, why hesitate any longer?

"Xera, we'll be spamming Essence Lance and Essence Fissure until the cows-" Luke saw Sooty soaring around, "crows come home."

"Wand time? A great time. What about the other skills you use? Could we blast out pure essence like you do sometimes?"

"Those two are maxed out currently. Although, getting a better feel for how Essence Bond interacts with Elementalization sounds solid. Blasting essence…" Luke shrugged his shoulders, "If it'll make you happy."

"It will, the sweet release followed by destruction. Why don't you use it to apply my echo to things at the start?" Xera rolled into an inquisitive mood.

"Too much too fast, not even sure if that would work, says it requires offensive spells."

Applying frost Infusion required a concentration that ran against trying to pump out skills as often as possible for repetition level ups, so he set it aside. Runes enlivened around Xera as they crawled up from her shaft to his forearms.

Before going knee deep into slime slaughter, Luke spoke to Wayfinder, "You think Polar South would accelerate leveling up my abilities?"

Wayfinder tugged his chain around Luke's neck, "Insight is useful in all but scant few endeavors, lad. Pluck those ice picks at the layabout grass munchers. Me directions can make the repetition go a wee bit faster than the typical route."

Taking that as a yes, Luke used Polar South, then summoned a frost attribute Essence Fissure, causing two Immortal Slimes to float up into the sky. Frost caked around the creatures, and their gelatinous bodies shivered. A split Essence Lance skewered into the two, dealing grievous damage. Their renowned regeneration kicked in, trying to undo the destruction, slowed down tremendously by Luke's leeching frost.

The blue-green target dummies needed to stay alive for further practice. He intentionally thawed the frost, although they likely could do without his help. Essence Fissure ended, and the two slimes plopped down back onto the grass, beginning to munch on it. They'd forgotten about Luke's existence already. That suited Luke just fine. The Reaver rotated his abilities onto the cooperative illusion slimes for the next half a day. Iona stopped by shortly to talk with him when she took her short breaks every hour. He didn't need any such thing, casting Essence Lance and Fissure required little stamina, even when he applied Elementalization to them. Sooty reined terror upon her own sub-set of slimes. The rolling grasslands became further distorted, ice covering most of them, with flicks of shadow and rot peppering the white-blue substance.

Using Polar South for the last time before heading out to the Ruined Realm, two Interface prompts caught his attention in the log.

[Through repeated use, Essence Lance has grown to Tier 1, Rank III]

[Through repeated use, Essence Fissure has grown to Tier 1, Rank II]

All in a half day's work. Luke nodded to himself. He sorted through any useful log lines from the dozen or so arena victories.

[You have stolen 1991 HP, 43 Agility, 0 Strength, and 0 Intellect from twelve challengers, affecting each with sin. The twelve are now slightly influenced by you]

[Your agility attribute has grown to its threshold limit. Must reach the second Agility Threshold to grow further from training]

Luke's body became akin to a pipe under excess pressure. The desire for attribute expansion remained, with little room to maneuver. Besides those two notices, he acquired piles of runic crafting materials and roughly one thousand gold. The rapid wealth gain appealed to his greed, but he reined it in. Those were vetted requests. Accepting others would result in vastly diminished returns. Various hunters wanted a shot at him without any adequate wagers in return—true opportunists wanting gain without risk.

Thus, the faucet of wealth found itself shut just as it showered him for a short two days. He decided to pursue other ways, and ultimately, the gold and materials served to strengthen him, not for pure vanity. The Reaver couldn't forget his higher priorities—like remaining alive. He stopped in his tracks.

"Sooty, come here, I've got an idea."

Called to, the corvid stopped her aerial assault against slimes and landed on the Reaver's head. She leaned over to stare at Luke's eyes, well, his forehead—close enough.

"Come with me to Crystal Demon Point anyway. I don't want you missing out on any more quest rewards. We'll make the most of it. You can stay here. Once there's an hour or so left before it's time, I'll call to you over Reaver's Link. This should make the best of both worlds for you."

Doing things in this manner would allow Sooty more time to practice Vorpal Touch and other skills while minimizing the time the corvid had to dungeon delve with Luke. The Reaver came up with dozens of rationalizations, but foremost—he missed his bird friend. She filled a hole neither Wayfinder, Xera or Whispering Tome ever could.

Not that he'd admit it out loud.

Sooty appeared to be thinking it over again, grooming herself. She cawed in agreement not so long later. She flew up, circling the Reaver's head. Relieved, Luke bid Sooty and Iona goodbye and left the illusion training realm.

He sifted through the city quickly afterward, keeping to himself as he entered the Ruined Realm. Luck failed to be with him this time. Both Aren and Arjanax were preoccupied. He didn't know if a party was busy with an attempt or managed to kill either dungeon boss, the time to stand around for hours finding out a luxury he couldn't afford. On the way there and back, Luke casually slaughtered the monsters that mistakenly put themselves in his line of sight, taking Xera to level 45. Their movements slowed further than before, almost crawling toward him whenever they tried to attack. It couldn't be considered a challenge. The agility's property to alter time perception still threw Luke for a loop, no matter how long he stayed in this world. The constant 70% speed boost from Infusion once again made Luke a speed type specialist, except his other attributes were nothing to dismiss.

Once past the gate to go back into Sylen, Luke made a stop at Dejen's shop, swapping out his combat gear for more comfortable wear, artifacts excluded. Kelic notably became a suddenly amicable tora. At least in the sense he no longer snapped at Luke over any acknowledgment or communication. Coming into the leatherworking store, Luke brushed past a confused elf customer.

On the way in, he overheard an annoyed bestial voice, "No visitors allowed, a priority order is in the works, please leave."

Setting himself to the entryway's side, Luke saw five craftsmen in a somber mood around a crafting table. One, Dejen, lightened up when he happened to see Luke. The others were still too preoccupied to notice him.

Putting on a toothy smile, the tora greeted him, "The man we've been waiting on, Master Defier Luke, are you ready?" the tora's mouth dragged down for a moment, "Let me introduce you to the two you haven't met before."

He oriented toward an elderly, grey-haired, tall man. "This is Lexor, the owner of the chain mail store in this cul-de-sac. He's especially keen to get his hands on the Bone Core you entrusted me." Lexor gave Luke a slight bow, returning to an argument with Kethula, the store owner, and Lester, the last Leatherworker, over how best to use the materials at hand for Luke's crafting request.

Suppressing a wry smile, Dejen introduced the last person around the grandiose crafting table, a young monic woman with black hair, "Here you have Sylece, owner of the plate armor store."

Appearing annoyed for interrupting their debate, the woman flashed Luke a look before diving back into plans over the request. Sensing that staying around complicated the environment, Luke planted both the Ice Blessed Trousers and Boots onto the crafting table. Preventing the five craftsmen from going into a frenzy, Luke casually swirled mist into the center.

"Each of you see this as an opportunity, rightfully so. These items play a crucial part in my combat style. Consider that before you do anything crazy." He picked up Arjanax's core bone, "I entrusted this to Dejen. Trade what you will for it, but remember it's me your trading with, not him. If I find out he's been swindled or pressured, resulting in a piss-poor upgrade job here, it will not end peacefully for all involved."

Usually, Luke acted above intimidation. The two store owners had already written him off here, acting like he stood in the way of their advancement. True, in one sense, but misguided overall. The opportunity he presented to these crafters came from a heated fight against a dungeon boss. Any similar material before the Tide couldn't be counted on. Meaning if these five botched the job, he'd face things ill-prepared.

Dejen got the message loud and clear. Methula and Lester, the other two Leatherworkers, also needed little convincing. The remaining two store owners reluctantly acknowledged his demand with grunts.

Craftsmen. Hopefully, they put that barely concealed feat obsession into making the Ice Blessed set the best it can be.

"You have until mid-morning tomorrow to do what you can. I'll need those items again by then."

Lexor tried to protest, "A rushed job is asking to ruin the unique materials you've brought us. Can I ask you to reconsider?"

"Dejen made the baseline product in less time than that. Don't tell me you 'masters' can't at least equal an up and comer like him?"

Fire blazed within the four more experienced craftsmen after that provocation. They didn't directly acknowledge Luke's point—the solemn aura settling around the leatherworking store did that for them. Each of the five got to work, laying out heaps of materials, portioning them, and positioning the Ice Blessed set onto the crafting table.

Assured he'd get a satisfying result, Luke left without saying goodbye to prevent a snap in their newfound concentration.