40 Chapter Forty
Brandon managed to rejoin the group a few hours after he left to get a mask and a new outfit. His weapons hadn't changed, unfortunately, but he chose to relocate his flintlock pistols to his shoulders. Edward's armor was now styled the same as everybody else's- no more sleeveless pirate action- though he had dyed it black. He bought a mask similar to Edward's, though colored it brown, and purchased a brown cloak to go along with it. The cloak was large- almost larger than his own body- so it covered much of his body.
"Good work," Edward said when he noticed him. By now, Markus and Edward had finished reading up on everything they needed, so it was now time to go back to the forest, "But what took you so long?"
"The line," Brandon answered. After a moment, he looked back at Edward, "Wait, are you saying I stood in line for hours, just for us to leave as soon as I got into the library?"
"Luck of the draw, I guess," Edward laughed, "I found a few interesting dungeons we can check out sometime soon, but we need to reach level ten before we should even consider it. Want to go?"
"Ugh, fine," Brandon sighed, "What are the dungeons?"
"A cold one, a wave defense, and one where we fight an army of giant bunnies," Edward answered, "The bunny one will take us the longest, but it sounds like the easiest."
"What about the cold one?" Brandon asked.
"It's filled with skeletons weak to fire, but the environment itself is freezing," Edward and the group began to leave the library as he explained the different dungeons, "Leila and I would steamroll through it, but I'm not sure how difficult it would be for either of you."
Markus and Brandon turned to each other, then shrugged in unison.
"Let's worry about that later. For now, let's go hunt some boars,"
Not long after Edward and the others arrived in the forest, he finally reached level five. The process took longer than the last time they were in the forest hunting boars, but that was only because the XP distribution wasn't being used on one person. Now all of them gained the same amount of XP.
They were leveling up slowly, but all of them were doing so at the same time.
Finally, Edward sat down and began to update his stats. It didn't take long, as he already had an idea of what he wanted.
"I've already spent half an hour in the forest," He muttered softly, "So far, I've killed eight boars on my own- each time with only one shot, but it's taking me too long to find them. I'll dump all my points into Agility so I can run faster."
Afterward, Edward turned his attention to his new skills. He was tempted to upgrade Pyrokinetics for a moment, but that was before his eyes gazed upon the third skill option.
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[Dragon Breath]
Allows the user to summon dragon fire by exhaling it through their mouth. This skill will do damage every single second it's enabled, but the MP cost will be staggering. Dragon fire does more damage than ordinary flames.
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"This will be useful," Edward smiled as he selected the skill. He watched as it appeared in his skill list- now joining the other skills he was beginning to collect. Soon enough, Edward imagined, he would have dozens of skills at his disposal.
Four hours later, just as it was time to head off for the night, Edward sat down on a log in the forest. His body was covered in sweat and dirt- much to his dismay- though a massive smile was present on his face. After all, he and the others had finally achieved their goal.
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You have reached level ten!
In doing so, your skills have been honed to a finer degree, allowing you to use your skills and equipment more efficiently
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Most of the time between when he left the library and the current moment was spent bullying level-one boars. Once the group reached level six, their progress slowed down considerably due to receiving half XP, but none of them complained. In the end, the group had killed nearly a thousand boars. Their conquest had already spread to the entire beginner's area. Soon enough, they wouldn't be able to use this strategy. Once they turned level eleven the boars would cease to give them XP.
Luckily, though, monsters respawned pretty quickly. Edward wasn't sure if this was something the game caused or whether the monsters themselves respawned naturally. Either way, he was glad to avoid exploring the entire forest as he searched for prey.
From there, they would have to fight more powerful monsters. As the levels grew, the disparity of strength between them became smaller and smaller. Edward believed that the monsters at level one hundred were of similar strength to the ones at level ninety.
Once it was nearly midnight, though, Edward finally received the notification he had been hoping for. Thus, he sat down and got to work updating his stats.
After reaching level five, he spent three of his levels perfecting his Pyrokinesis. This was the new appraisal screen for it.
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[Perfect Pyrokinesis]
Allows the user to manipulate the raw power of fire by moving their body to imitate its effects. You have perfected this skill and have fulfilled its potential, thus reaching a stage that very few can boast about. Dragon fire obeys you and the denizens of flame worship you.
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When he reached level nine, he gained a skill called [Dragon Call].
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[Dragon Call] - Unique to Dragonkin
Allows the user to call upon any dragons in your vicinity. Those that are not tamed will view this as a challenge to authority and attempt to duel the user. Those that are tamed will be able to hear this call from anywhere in the world, even if the user only uses a single MP.
The distance the call travels is directly proportional to the MP used on the Dragon Call.
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Edward hoped this would help him find dragons in the future, even if they were hiding from him. Now that he'd learned of the rarity surrounding such a race, he recognized how futile it would've been to search for them himself.
As Edward sat down, he looked at his available skills.
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Available Skills: [Draconic Strength], [Draconic Presence], [Draconic Sight]
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"I've been ignoring [Draconic Presence] this whole time," Edward sighed, "It's time I learned it."
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[Draconic Presence] - Learned
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Afterward, Edward took a moment to allocate his stats. Once it was all over, he opened his status screen and gazed upon his new strength.
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Lvl: 10
XP: 5%
Title: The Winged Legion
Origin: Dragonkin
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HP: 315
MP: 335
SP: 160
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DMG: (Pyrokinesis - 15) 82
DEF: (Leather Armor - 8) 71
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POW: 13
AGI: 32
END: 63
WIS: 67
LUC: 12
—
Active Skills: [Dragon Tame], [Perfect Pyrokinesis], [Dragon Breath], [Dragon Call]
Passive Skills: [Draconic Presence]
Knowledge Skills: [Draconic Language]
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