After taking back Tiffania's personal effects from the burning wreckage of her former home, the duo left to go back to the cave they slept in the previous night, intending to use it as a base while they plan out their attack on Cendri.
Unfortunately, Michael had underestimated just how quickly Reconquista would react to hearing of his existence. The duo was slowly making their way through the forest when a faint sound occurred far off in the distance. Neither was sure what it was, but it reminded Michael of an old documentary he watched on dinosaurs, T-Rex's in particular.
"God, please don't let there be T-Rex's wandering around this fucking place." mentally intones, not wanting the true 3D Jurassic Park experience.
"What was that?" Michael asks, wondering if Tiffania had heard something like that during her time living here. However, when he glances at Tiffania to hear her answer, he notices just how pale she'd gone. "Tiffania? Is something wrong?"
She nods, retrieving her wand from whenever she hides between her breasts. "I-It sounded like the Dragons my father's soldiers used to ride." she mutters.
"Dragons...? Fuck." he mutters, grabbing her hand and pulling her low to the ground, trying to make sure they weren't visible from above. The canopy above them provided relatively good cover, but the people riding the dragons were mages, and would likely have ways to enhance their vision or even detect people.
The two sit there next to the tree, waiting to see if the dragon knights had spotted them or not. Michael even made sure to store his sword and daggers, preventing the light from catching them and alerting the enemy above.
The flutter of many wings audibly fly past them, but don't seem to be stopping. A few minutes pass and Michael was somewhat sure the knights had left. They might return to the area however, so they needed to reach the cave before another patrol comes by.
"Quick, let's go." he whispers, holding Tiffania's hand as he leads the way.
Another few minutes go by without the dragons returning, allowing the duo to relax slightly, "How strong are those dragon knights? Do you remember at all?"
Tiffania shakes her head, "N-no. Sorry. My parents tried to keep me hidden and wouldn't let me watch them train..."
"Don't apologize, Tiffania. We're friends, I won't hate you for not knowing something." he says and she nods with a small smile.
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Thankfully, the duo eventually gets back to the cave and hunker down for the day. With the dragon knights out and about, it'd be safer for them to wait for things to calm down before going ahead with their plan.
Tiffania sits over next to the wall with the Magical Theory Book, and Michael opens the Book of Commoners to see if those few peasants he'd killed would level him up.
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Name : Michael Hunt
Rank : Common
Stats :
Strength : 14
Agility : 19.1 > 21.6
Intelligence : 15
Abilities :
[Gandalfr] : Enables user to utilise any weapon at two ranks above their current proficiency while granting them the knowledge necessary to use them. While wielding a weapon, temporarily gain +100% in all stats.
[Language Comprehension] : Enables user to understand all spoken tongues, and increase the rate of which they learn reading and writing.
[Basic Mana Manipulation] : Allows user more control over his magic, spells, and some abilities. Mana efficiency and control of power is increased.
[Pain Tolerence] : Allows user to endure great amounts of pain with little to no negative effects as a result.
Affinities :
[Lesser Water Affinity], [Lesser Fire Affinity], [Lesser Lightning Afffinity]
Spirits :
Shadow Shaman : Lvl MAX
Slark : Lvl 18 > MAX
Spirit Slot +
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Michael can't help but grin as he spots the 'MAX' next to his Slark Spirit and the new Spirit Slot. A new Hero and new items would drastically increase his power, which'd help with their plan concerning Cendri.
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Spirit : Slark
Level : 18 > MAX
Abilities :
Slithereen Strokes (Rank 4) : Allows user to swim with the same proficiency of the Slithereen race.
Dark Pact (Rank 4) : After a short delay, user purges most negative debuffs and deals damage to enemies around him, while also dealing damage to user. (User takes half damage)
Pounce (Rank 4) : User leaps a large distance while leashing any enemies he lands on. Leashed enemies will be unable to escape user for the duration of the ability.
Essence Shift (Rank 4) : User steals the life essence of enemies with each melee attack, draining each of their attributes and converting them to temporary bonus agility for the user. If user kills a target under this skill's effect, user will gain 0.1 Permanent Agility(Scales based on opponent strength).
Shadow Dance (Rank 3) : Active effect : User is able to shroud themself in a cloud of shadows that render enemies unable to target or detect them for the duration. Passive effect : User gains bonus movement speed and health regen while unseen.
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Now that Slark was maxed out, he'd be able to interact with the actual hero, but before the picture can animate, he activates the roulette wheel. He knew a bit about Slark's character, and wasn't too keen on getting into an argument right now. He'd talk with them later and see if they'd be useful or not...
For now, he just spins the wheel using small actions to stop Tiffania from immediately noticing.
The wheel spins, but the first prize is the Tumbler's Toy, much to Michael's chagrin. It's an artifact from the game that allows you to jump your character forward a short distance, kinda useless for him, and even if it was, he wasn't too keen on carrying around a 'Horse on a Stick' toy.
He quickly stores it in his inventory before spinning the wheel again, slightly harder this time. The soundless clicking causing Michael's back to straighten.
The next prize... Another IRON BRANCH!?!...
Michael quickly composes his breathing to stop himself from throwing a tantrum, spinning the wheel for the last time and hoping to god whatever it is would be good. "Come on, come on, come on!" he whispers, eyes tracing the wheel as it spins and eventually lands on... A Fairy Fire.
A small green, glowing item that resembles the wings of a butterfly or a fairy. In the game you could use these to heal you in a pinch, and they passively increased the damage you did slightly. Michael lets out a sigh, it wasn't what he wanted, but it was still useful nonetheless.
He puts the Fairy Fire in his pocket, intending to give it to Tiffania to use should she find herself in danger. He wasn't sure how powerful the heal would be, but it should be enough to save her life.
With all his prizes expended, he flips to the main page where his free Spirit Slot was, pressing it and immediately selecting Riki.
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Spirit : Riki
Level : 1
Abilities :
Dagger Specialization (Rank 0) : Massively increases speed of user's growth when using daggers of any kind.
Smoke Screen (Rank 0) : Throws down a smoke bomb, silencing enemies and causing them to miss attacks.
Blink Strike (Rank 1) : Allows user to teleport behind an ally or enemy.
Tricks of the Trade (Rank 0) : User disappears for a short duration, attacking the backs of nearby enemies throughout the duration. Once over, user reappears where he had previously been standing.
Cloak and Dagger (Rank 0) : User fades into the shadows, becoming invisible. Attacking the backs of enemies grants bonus damage based on the user's Agility. Becomes visible when attacking or attacked, cannot go invisible while enemies are observing user.
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