NOVEL NEXT Chapter 52
“Did you two get anything interesting?” I asked as I accessed my own skills.
* * *
Name: Maelstrom of Steel
Level: 20
Type: Active
HP Consumed: 0
MP Consumed: 57
Power: 1502
Range: Melee
Precondition: Only usable with spears, lances, and polearms.
Description: A swinging attack that can strike multiple enemies at once. Mana envelops the spear in the wielder’s hands, making it spin extremely fast around its axis. The combination of magical spinning and the 360-degree rotation by the wielder delivers a devastating attack on up to five enemies, ignoring shield defense bonuses.
* * *
I was happy to see that this particular skill was now getting consistent upgrades since it was one, and arguably the most powerful one, of the few offensive skills I had. When I was swarmed by a lot of enemies, which seemed to be happening a lot more often than I would have liked, this was a real lifesaver. Not that I didn’t appreciate the second offensive skill that got an upgrade too.
* * *
Name: Spear of the Thunder God
Level: 20
Type: Active
HP Consumed: 0
MP Consumed: 82
Power: 1142
Range: Melee
Precondition: Only usable with spears, lances, and polearms.
Description: The magnificence of the thunder god materializes as a shining orb of electricity around the weapon’s blade. Upon contact with an enemy the electric field envelops them before crushing their bodies with terrible force and frying their insides. Affected creatures may become stunned for 7 seconds and the attack ignores shield defense bonuses.
* * *
Yet again, the stun duration of the skill hadn’t increased but its power had gone up almost another fifty points and, from what I had gathered all these years, the power played a big role in whether the stun debuff would land successfully on each enemy it hit. I was kind of disappointed I did not get any new attacking skills but at this point, I doubted I would ever get one, unless there was another class upgrade somewhere in the future.
Out of curiosity and in order to activate them, I brought forth the weapon and armor mastery skills I’d also upgraded.
* * *
Name: Lance, Spear, and Polearm Mastery
Level: 28
Type: Passive
HP Consumed: 0
MP Consumed: 0
Power: 0
Range: Self
Precondition: Only active when wielding a lance, spear, or any type of polearm weapon.
Description: Fighting with weapons that have a larger reach than the typical longsword comes easily to you, enabling attacks with a bigger range as well as sweeping strikes. Physical Attack is increased by 69.5 when using a polearm weapon.
* * *
As small as this bonus looked, I knew that with the self-buffs and especially the ones Aphrodite cast on me, that small number would make a lot of difference. The same was true for the last two skills I had ready for upgrading.
* * *
Name: Light Armor Mastery
Level: 33
Type: Passive
HP Consumed: 0
MP Consumed: 0
Power: 0
Range: Self
Precondition: Only active when wearing light armor.
Description: Continuous use of light armor has increased its efficiency both in terms of defensive abilities as well as flexibility and agility. Physical Defense is increased by 49.5 and Physical Evasion is increased by 6 while wearing light armor.
* * *
The Physical Evasion bonus was still unchanged but I wasn’t too concerned about that at the moment. The armor I’d been gifted was working just fine, even if I desperately wanted to upgrade it, but I liked fighting with heavy armor. And, considering that I was allied with a buffer and an archer, it made sense for me to act as the tank of the three of us. Which was exactly why I enjoyed seeing the last skill upgraded.
* * *
Name: Heavy Armor Mastery
Level: 33
Type: Passive
HP Consumed: 0
MP Consumed: 0
Power: 0
Range: Self
Precondition: Only active when wearing heavy armor.
Description: Continuous use of heavy armor has increased its efficiency in terms of defensive abilities. Physical Defense is increased by 48 while wearing heavy armor.
* * *
“Nothing new for me,” I said finally and looked at both of them still going through their skills. “How many did you get?”
“I also got five upgrades,” Aphrodite said, looking like she was done with hers as well. “Pretty standard things. Masteries and passive anti-magic boosts.”
“What about you Artemis?” I asked.
“Five upgrades too,” she replied but her eyes were still out of focus, “but it’s been so long since my last level up. I want to savor them.”
“What are we going to do about all this blood?” Aphrodite asked, looking at the massive red pools stagnating on the southern part of the settlement where the monster was killed.
“I’ll check if I can somehow send the mana workers to clean that up and also repair the walls,” I replied, “right after I finish with the swathe of other notifications that are still waiting for me.”
“You’ve got more?” Artemis asked, surprised. “In any case, I’m going to bring back the people from the mines.”
“And I’ll use to portal down to Dion to let anyone still there know we are okay and that we need hands up here,” Aphrodite agreed.
“In that case, good luck,” I said and stood up as well. “I’ll take care of things here.”
Once both of them had left to get on with their tasks, I pulled up the notifications that were waiting for me.
* * *
Your name is now known to every living being in all the Greek lands. The title of supreme monster slayer will stay with you until someone takes it, along with your life.
This title grants you eternal fame as the first and true slayer of the king of monsters.
* * *
I was getting the feeling that this thing meant more than I realized. There was no numerical bonus tied to it, but the fact that it required a notification of its own indicated that this was going to be a big deal. However, since there wasn’t anything else I could do about it right now, I simply dismissed the notification and pulled up the next one.
* * *
The blood of a world raid boss has painted the Guildhall - Divine Realm: Mount Olympus
Letting the guild core absorb the blood of a raid boss will forever enchant it. The quality and attributes of the enchantment depend on the strength and status of the raid boss slain.
Do you want your guild core to absorb the blood of the world raid boss: Typhon, king of monsters?
Yes No
* * *
I’d never heard of anything like this before. I’d always thought that guild cores, or rather places of power, were pure concentrations of Dark Energy and that they couldn’t be manipulated or altered in any way. But then again, as many places of power as there existed in the Apocosmos, they were not infinite and were always the point of contention between powerful beings. It was no real surprise that I hadn’t known about this as I suspected it would be a very well-kept secret.
If absorbing the blood or essence of raid bosses could make a guild core stronger then the blood of the strongest of all Greek monsters would no doubt provide mine with a very powerful boost. Without thinking about it too much, I mentally selected “Yes” and saw the changes take place immediately.
The pillar that held the guild core protruded from the earth and shot up into the sky. The blood that had been stagnating all over the valley slowly started moving toward the pillar before lifting into the sky and surrounding the orb in the middle of the tall marble pillar. Where there had been blood before now stood only soft grass, but it wasn’t lush green anymore. It was a faded red, almost pink, as a reminder of the terrible battle that had taken place.