Chapter 9. The first reward
Michael was expecting not to sleep a wink again while waiting for the system to hand out the cookies. The reality proved different, as he passed out not even minutes later.
When he finally woke up with a start the next day, it was already around noon, and he was alone in the cave. Sounds of bustling activity and children's laughter would reach his ears every once in a while.
It took him a good couple of minutes to get out of his discombobulated state, realizing with stupefaction that he fell asleep last night - beyond his power to resist - but didn't dream at all, which was super strange.
Leaving aside how tired he was yesterday - both physically and mentally - there wasn't a single instance back on Earth where he went to sleep and didn't wake up remembering a stupid amount of details from his dream. In most cases, that was not very helpful toward energy recovery, but one learns to live with it.
But suddenly, sleeping transformed into shutting off the brain for a certain amount of time to recharge, then powering on again!?
"*yawn* It's just the first time it's happening, so more information is needed before reaching a conclusion. I am hungry as hell, though... Hope the old man helped me save something from the claws of those little brats."
Smiling, he opened his Character interface and saw with surprise that the Ability page was unlocked. Taking a deep breath, he stopped himself from opening immediately, as he didn't feel particularly clear-minded.
Brain Usage was needed, and he was too dizzy to make a decision that would impact his entire future.
Instead, he checked the 'game interface' in a vain attempt to calm down sufficiently.
That's what he called the module that could be visually applied to show his Life, Resources, skills, and current level.
"Look at that big ol' 1! So damned beautiful! Let's see... Life is still at 40 points, and Resources at 100. Didn't change much stuff, and even the other four skill slots are blocked... Strange. Is there something like level requirements for those? Need to perform more experiments later on... maybe ask the old man as well, since natives should also have levels."
Happily playing with the interface, Michael noticed that upon focusing on the number '1' showing his assumed current level, an experience bar popped up next to it.
It indicated 0/600, meaning he needs 600 experience points to reach the next level.
"I wonder why I didn't get XP from the wolves killed yesterday. Was it because of the quest? Or were experience and levels truly unlocked because of the quest completion? Also, these skill slots..."
Focusing on them next, he found a strange piece of information. The first four, which started with his Raise Skeletons, seemed to be slots for core skills, and he needed to gain an additional seven skill points to open the remaining three. He didn't know if it was per slot, but it was a good find nevertheless.
The remaining two slots were for basic skills, and his goddam Attack was there. He only needed to gain three more skill points to open the second slot.
Pondering the difference between core and basic skills for a while, he was stopped short when a strange blinking rhombus popped up next to his Resources.
He focused on it, hoping to get whatever information he could.
[You have unspent skill points.]
A system prompt appeared, making him almost jump in excitement, but he caught himself in time, remembering the cave's low ceiling from his first encounter with it.
Rubbing his forehead grudgingly, he decided that he couldn't postpone any longer and willed his mind to activate this strange blinking button.
"Sure enough, it's the skill interface."
The page itself was everything he hoped for, and he couldn't stop his eyes from running around.
A couple of deep breaths later, he forced himself back to adulthood and inspected it more earnestly.
"At the top, the name of the page. Makes sense. Under that, there seem to be two sub-pages: 'Skill Tree' and 'Paragon(Lvl. 50)', with the first being highlighted. Judging by the many branching icons underneath, I'd say it is the Skill Tree I'm currently looking at.
The Paragon sub-page is still locked, which makes sense due to that 'Lvl.50' in brackets."
A level restriction of 50 meant that whatever was locked in, there were power-ups needed in the 'late-game.' The game changers.
Still, he couldn't be too greedy, as the Skill Tree itself gave him more than enough to worry about as it was.
"At the starting point, there is a big box saying 'Basic Skills' that I can't select, meaning it's just a description of what's available. It does seem to branch into four selectable boxes, though, so those might be the actual Basic Skills.
Then, each of those four boxes branches out once, then twice more. I'd say improvements to the skills for sure."
He reached this conclusion after seeing that the branches of the four skills don't interact, meaning that whatever was selectable up there only had to do with the selected skill itself and not the other three.
So, he started with the first one, no longer prolonging the suffering.
[ Reap
Type: Basic | Darkness
-------------------------
Generate Essence: 4 per enemy hit.
Sweep an ethereal scythe in front of you, dealing 13% damage. Hitting an enemy with Reap increases your Damage Reduction by 15% for the next 2 seconds. ]
Pausing to imagine a ghostly scythe cut through the enemies seemed pretty cool, and all, but the damage seemed underwhelming.
However, it did appear to be an area of effect attack, albeit a direction-focused one... and relatively limited.
"Hmm... It says 0/5, so I guess I can upgrade it five times over, meaning the level can go up. The 'Generate Essence' part is a bit confusing, though. Does that mean I'm using 4 Essence per hit, or will I gain the same amount per use?"
Remembering how the Raise Skeletons was basically free if one ignored the need for fresh corpses, Reap appeared to be a consumption-type skill. The Law of Ballance is everpresent in both reality and games alike.
To gain something out of nowhere wouldn't make sense. For example, the described ghostly attack has to be formed and released.
What does it use to be formed? Essence, most likely, but further experimentation was needed.
"*Sigh* There's too much stuff I am unaware of. Let's see the branching options for Reap."
[ Enhanced Reap
------------------
If an enemy hit by Reap dies within 2 seconds, you gain 30% Attack Speed for 3 seconds. ]
"Pretty simple passive upgrade. The next two are weirder, though. The system indicates that I can only pick one of the last two branches."
[ Initiate's Reap
-----------------
Reap instantly kills enemies below 5% Life.
This does not work on Bosses or Players. ]
[ Acolythe's Reap
--------------------
Reap forms a Corpse under the first enemy hit.
It can only occur every 4 seconds. ]
There was much insight to be had here. The first option was a mob clearer, though not particularly significant in the early levels. Given that you still use that skill, it would provide a considerable efficiency bonus at higher levels where the mobs have higher HP.
The Acolythe's Reap, on the other hand, seems to be an enabler. A skill that allows you to use different skills with it as the foundation. For example, using Reap when he had no corpses around would instantly generate one upon hitting the enemy, allowing him to use Raise Skeletons and bring out a minion immediately.
"Not to mention the Necromancer's Corpse Explosion skill later on. I don't see it here, but I will eventually find it. It's a core skill for most players in the previous games. And speaking of Players... the description 'This does not work on Bosses or Players' pretty much confirms that I'll meet others down the line. My only question is, would they be in a similar situation as I am, or would they see me as an NPC?"
The future was uncertain, but he at least had options. If he was worried about the players treating him like a farmable NPC, he only needed to get strong enough to wreck them if they dared step up.
[ Decompose
Type: Basic | Darkness | Channeled
--------------------------------------
Generate Essence: 9 per second.
Tear the flesh from an enemy, dealing 10 damage per second and forming a usable Corpse with the flesh every 2.0 seconds. ]
"Brutal! Still... this one looks like a single-target skill, and I'm not sure how often I can find myself in one-on-one situations. Let's see the upgrades."
[ Enhanced Decompose
--------------------------
If an enemy dies while being Decomposed, you gain 10 Essence. ]
"Eh... yeah. Cut and dry. What about the two branches?"
[ Initiate's Decompose
------------------------
Decompose Slows enemies by 30%. ]
[ Acolyte's Decompose
-------------------------
You and your minions deal 10% increased damage to enemies who are being Decomposed. ]
"An enemy debuff or a buff for me and my minions. Still, I'm not sure I like this skill very much since it can't help much against a pack of enemies. Maybe it would've been a good card against the Alpha, though..."
Pondering for a bit, he decided to finish reading the last two skills before deciding.
[ Hemorrhage
Type: Basic | Blood
---------------------
Generate Essence: 9
Burst an enemy's blood, dealing 8 damage.
Hemorrhage has a 20% chance of forming a Blood Orb. ]
"Blood Orb? What's that??? Also, only 8 damage and no bleeding status? Maybe it's one of the upgrades."
[ Enhanced Hemorrhage
--------------------------
After picking up a Blood Orb, your next Hemorrhage also damages enemies around your target, granting an additional 2 Essence per enemy hit. ]
"So... it turns it into an almost AOE skill that generates Essence when fighting groups. Not bad, though it has spatial limitations of how the enemies must be placed. This might work with a different crowd-control skill or in certain locations where you have a geographical advantage."
[ Initiate's Hemorrhage
-----------------------
Hemorrhage grants 1.6% Base Life (1) as Fortify each time it hits an enemy and has a 1.5% chance per enemy hit to Fortify you for 100% Base Life (40).
*Fortified characters take 10% reduced damage.
You become Fortified when you have more Fortify than your current Life. ]
[ Acolyte's Hemorrhage
-------------------------
Hemorrhage gains an additional 20% Attack Speed while Healthy.
*Healthy characters have more than 80% of their Life. ]
"I mean... Huh!? Let's see. For the Initiate's Hemorrhage, each enemy you hit with this skill gives you an additional 1.6% of your Life as Fortify, which stacks up to form a barrier of sorts that mitigates damage as long as it's higher than your current Life points.
Also, there's a 1.5% chance to gain a Fortify based on 100% of your total Life. I mean... 10% damage reduction is not a lot, but it would make the difference between life and death in specific scenarios..."
As for the second upgrade option, it was not particularly significant, but it allowed Michael to learn about the 'Healthy' status when the target is over 80% HP. That also means that under a certain HP percentage, the target can become 'Wounded' or 'Weakened' or something like that.
"And finally, the last skill."
[Bone Splinters
Type: Basic | Bone
---------------------
Generate Essence: 7
Fires 3 bone splinters, dealing 2 damage each.
Each subsequent time the same cast of Bone Splinters hits an enemy, you gain 1 Essence. ]
"A proper ranged attack. Also, stacked hits on target recover resources, which is pretty important."
[ Enhanced Bone Splinters
----------------------------
Bone Splinters has a 25% chance to fire two additional projectiles if cast while having 50 Essence or more. ]
"An increase in the number of attacks based on total Essence available. Not bad at all."
[ Initiate's Bone Splinters
--------------------------
Bone Splinters have a 20% chance per hit to make enemies Vulnerable for 2 seconds.
*Vulnerable enemies take 20% increased damage. ]
[ Acolyte's Bone Splinters
----------------------------
Hitting the same enemy at least three times with the same cast of Bone Splinters grants an 8% Critical Strike Chance for 4 seconds. ]
"Very interesting. The Vulnerable debuff can be quite useful. It has a pretty high chance of triggering since each cast provides three splinters, and you can also gain an extra two from the enhanced option. Overall, it feels pretty good..."
Thinking back to his situation with the wolf pack, having either of these skills would've meant a much easier culling.
Each one provided specific benefits, but they also appeared to follow particular roads further down the skill tree.
Michael couldn't see that yet, but he was confident that each one had its path the Necromancer could follow. There was also the option of combining them, though he wasn't 100% sure that was the case.
"Reap is good if I plan to fight more in mele range instead of staying behind my Skeletons, and with its upgrades, I can bring about Corpses that would further allow me to activate other skills.
Decompose is a powerful skill versus Bosses or strong enemies, but it's channeled. All channeled skills can be interrupted, and I'm unsure if there's a cooldown between usage. So, it's a no for now.
Hemorrhage seems reasonable, but it's underwhelming without the upgrades, so it's on hold.
Finally, Bone Splinters. I can literally hide behind my Skeletons and rain down ranged attacks while also triggering debuffs like Vulnerable if lucky enough. It does seem like the best option among the four."
Looking further down on the next portion of the Skill Tree, he needed to spend at least two skill points to unlock it.
After pondering further for a few minutes, he willed his only available point to activate Bone Splinters.
Upon activation, a blood path reached the next set of locked skills but stopped halfway.
"So that's what the system meant by using two skill points being needed. Well then... I finally have my second skill."
Grinning excitedly and utterly ignoring the basic 'Attack' skill, Michael made his way towards the eatery area, waiting for the system to finish the other updates.