Chapter 51: Completionist

Chapter 51: Completionist

Training Overview

General Experience Earned

Mana Use: 10000

Skill Experience Earned

Refrigerate: 1800 [Rank Up]

Winter: 2304 [Rank Up]

Immolate: 1260 [Rank Up]

Aura Synergy: 3225 [Rank Up]

Aura IFF: 16699 [Rank Up]

After helping Ameliah finish hanging strips of aoaka meat on racks near the fire to dry, Rain had found himself with nothing to do. He brought up his notifications from the day before. He’d made good progress on IFF, but as it was a tier 2 skill, the quantity of experience it needed was not insignificant.

I want to finish it. I want to finish ALL of the things. What do I have remaining?

Skills

Aura Synergy (8/10) Exp: 2686/5800

Increase all aura output by 0.8% for each rank in any aura

Effective boost: 50.4%

Aura IFF (9/10) Exp: 6569/14800

User may exempt entities from direct aura effects at will

Selected entities receive 10.0% aura output

Force Ward (3/10) Exp: 150/1600

Increase physical resistance by 13.536% for all entities

Range: 4.51 meters

Cost: 1 mp/dmg mitigated

Refrigerate (7/10) Exp: 1668/2200

77-88 cold (fcs) damage per second to entities and environment

Sufficient damage causes slow

Range: 10.5 meters

Cost: 35 mp/s

Immolate (6/10) Exp: 726/1600

66-76 heat (fcs) damage per second to entities and environment

Sufficient damage causes ignition

Range: 9.02 meters

Cost: 30 mp/s

Winter (9/10) Exp: 1766/3700

Boost M.Regen by 135% for all entities

Range: 13.5 meters

Cost: 9 mp/hr

Velocity (8/10) Exp: 998/5800

120.32% boost to speed for all entities

Range: 12 meters

Cost: 8 mp/s

Free Skill Points: 2

Ok. I’m out of paper, so this should be interesting. The experience progression for tier 0 skills is [100, 200, 400, 700, 1100, 1600, 2200, 2900, 3700], that much I can remember.

Overmana is great. I’m getting faster, though it’s less that I’m getting better at math, and more that I’m remembering the result of all the multiplications that I’ve worked out before. Anyway. Refrigerate needs 2,200 + 2,900 + 3,700 - 1,668, so...7,132.

Immolate, 1,600 + 2,200 + 2,900 + 3,700 - 726...so 9,674.

Humm. How much mana do I get a day now? Statistics. Yes, and change the unit please, System. Thank you.

Statistics

Total

Base

Modifier

Health

200

200

0

100%

H.Regen

100/day

100/day

0/day

100%

Stamina

200

200

0

100%

S.Regen

100/day

100/day

0/day

100%

Mana

5100

5100

0

100%

M.Regen

112533/day

18150/day

-3888/day

641.4%

Movement Speed

10

Perception

10

Resistances

Heat

Cold

Light

Dark

1

0%

1

0%

1

0%

1

0%

Force

Arcane

Mental

Chemical

1

“Three hundred should be sufficient,” Tallheart said. He started to separate the Tel into two piles, but Rain stopped him.

“Just hang on to all of it. I trust you,” Rain said.

“Very well,” Tallheart said. He took the bag as Rain offered it to him, then swept up the Tel and fastened the bag to one of the belts he wore over his armor. “I will begin later tonight. The Dark Steel will need to crystallize in the darkness. I will rest now.”

Tallheart turned and started to walk away.

“Wait,” Rain said. Tallheart paused. “Thanks for this Tallheart. You have no idea how grateful I am.”

Tallheart gave a low chuckle. “You do not need to tell me you are grateful. I can tell. Humans are overly expressive.”

Rain felt like he was walking on air as he returned from Tallheart’s forge. By his count, he’d maxed out four skills, perhaps five, and now he was getting badass armor made by a legendary blacksmith.

Well, Tallheart’s not exactly legendary. He’s more of a secret blacksmith.

“What was that about?” Carten asked as Rain rejoined the others around the fire. Ameliah was visible in the distance, her brief hunting trip clearly successful as she was towing some sort of gigantic snake creature toward them.

Rain grinned. “Tallheart wanted to know what kind of armor I wanted. What’s that thing Ameliah’s got?”

“Oh ho!” Carten said, not even looking where Rain was pointing. “Armor, huh?” He grinned. “Pay up, Jamus.”

“Damn it,” Jamus swore, reaching for his pouch.

Rain laughed. “Don’t ever change, guys. You weren’t in on this, Val?”

Val shrugged. “My money was on you getting him to make you a sword. You seem like the type.”

“What about me makes you think I’d use a sword?” Rain asked, curious. He had no intention of picking up a weapon again, not with how strong his attack auras were getting. With IFF, there was no need. He might keep training with the staff just for the exercise, but swords... Swords were just for killing people. They weren’t even designed for monsters; a spear or something would be better for that.

“Why not?” Val said. “Swords are awesome. And you can use one, too. I wish I could, but it would mess with my magic. All of the best duelists use swords.”

“You...are a strange person, Val,” Rain said. “You say you love dueling, but you shoot beams of instant death. That doesn’t strike me as very sporting.”

Val laughed. “You’re damn right it’s not. I like dueling, sure, but I’m an adventurer first and foremost. It doesn’t have to be fancy, it just needs to be effective. You’ve met Lavarro, so you know that true power isn’t flashy. Nobody would come to watch her in a duel. She’d just snap her opponent’s neck like that!” Val snapped his fingers.

Rain shuddered. “Thank you for that wonderful image. Hi, Ameliah.” He turned to face her as she dragged the massive brown snake up to the fire. “Where did you find that? Please tell me there aren’t more. Also, I thought snakes didn’t like the cold.” Carten finally looked over at her, then swore as he saw what she was pulling, scrambling back a few steps.

“They don’t. This is a crawler vine, and it’s actually a plant, not a snake. Tallheart should like it, though I wouldn’t recommend any of us try it. They are toxic to humans, but cervidians think of them as a delicacy.”

“Wait, that’s a plant? But it has scales...” Rain bent down to inspect the snake thing. The scales were actually tiny hard thorns, covering the surface. The eyes were made of the same material, only black. The entire thing was as thick as his leg and easily ten meters long. “Oh, that’s so freaky. It looks just like a real snake from a distance. Well, apart from the fact that it’s way too damn big. It’s a vine, you said? Is the name just for show, or does it really...”

“Yes, it moves,” Jamus said, inspecting the snake. “They aren’t monsters, but they are ranked as a level 5 threat. Luckily, this one appears to be thoroughly dead.”

“Well, I’m not sleepin’ tonight. I fuckin’ hate snakes,” Carten said.

“Mmm,” Jamus said. “It must have been nearby, too. She wasn’t gone long. I hear that they can burrow through the ground and burst out underneath you with no warning.”

“Shut the fuck up, Jamus. I don’t wanna know things like that,” Carten said.

“It’s true,” Val said. “You’ll be fine, though. It’s only dangerous if you are weak.”

“That’s not the point,” Carten growled. “I’m not afraid of em. I just hate em. Something about the way they move. It ain’t right.”

Despite himself, Rain smiled. Ameliah had taken out her knife, the same wickedly sharp one that she’d lent him so long ago. She started cutting up the snake, the blade having no trouble slicing through the thorny scales of the vine.

That knife must be enchanted. Anyway, as alarming as giant tunneling plant snakes are, I still have more to do today. “Hey, Carten, I’ve got something that might take your mind off it.”

“Oh?” Carten asked. “Done training at last? Time for something fun?”

“Yes and no,” Rain said. “It’s still training, but I think you’ll like it. I want to spend a little time figuring out Force Ward.”

“Humm,” Carten considered. “Sure, I can punch you in the face a few times.”

Rain laughed. “Believe it or not, I was actually going to suggest that. Just...take your gauntlets off first, okay?”

Ameliah sheathed her knife and set the remaining portion of the crawler vine aside. “I’ll finish this later. I need to make sure you don’t kill yourselves.”

“Thanks, Ameliah. I promise we’ll be careful.” Rain stood and walked a little ways away from the fire. He activated Force Ward with Amplify Aura and Channel Mastery, then checked the effect.

Force Ward (3/10) Exp: 150/1600

Increase physical resistance by 54.144% for all entities

Range: 4.51 meters

Cost: 6 mp/dmg mitigated

Just over 50% at 6 mp/damage. Ok.

“Tell me when you’re ready,” Carten said, cracking his knuckles.

Rain nodded. This is going to hurt. “Ok, I want you to punch me in the shoulder or something first. I don’t really trust the skill yet. Please don’t break me. I only have 200 health, remember, chainmail or not.”

“Shit, really?” Carten said. “I’m not hitting you, then. It would be like kickin’ a puppy.” For some reason, Ameliah laughed at this.

Rain looked at her. “What?”

“Nothing,” she said, fighting to control a smile. “I’ll do it. I can control my strength. I can also heal injuries if anything happens.”

“I’m surprised you’re letting me do this at all, honestly,” Rain said. He was starting to think this was a bad idea. I trust her, but she’s REALLY strong...

Ameliah smiled. “Knowing how your skills work is important. It could save your life, and you’ve recovered enough so I could heal you again if anything goes wrong. Also, I never said I was punching you. It’s an aura, right? Come on, Carten.”

“Ha!” Val laughed. “This is going to be good. Kick his ass, Ameliah.”

She seems to be in a good mood all of a sudden.

“Fine,” Carten said, then started removing his chestplate. “I don’t want you breaking my armor,” he paused to glare at Ameliah. “Again.” Ameliah ignored him.

Wait, when did she break his armor?

“What are we testing about Force Ward, exactly?” Jamus asked. “How strong of a punch Rain can block?”

“Yup,” Rain said. “The skill is on right now, so everyone should take half damage from Force.”

Jamus summoned his interface and consulted it. “Yes, indeed. I see it. Interesting. I expected there to be some visual effect.”

“Now,” Rain said. “Ameliah, can you control how much damage you do? Can you hit him for, say, 10?”

“That wouldn’t even get through my natural resistance,” Carten said.

Rain tilted his head. “Oh, hang on. How does that work? Which one would apply first, Force Ward, or Carten’s resistance?”

“Generally, effects are applied in the order that is the most advantageous,” Jamus said.

“Wait, what?” Rain said. “Advantageous for whom?”

“It’s complicated,” Jamus said. “How do your aura buffs work?”

Rain thought about it. “Oh, I think I see what you mean. Extend Aura applies first, then gets multiplied by other stuff. Even Aura Synergy works, which I would have thought would apply only to the base range.”

“We doin’ this or not?” Carten pounded his bare chest. He’d removed his gambeson as well as his breastplate, revealing a physique that was less ‘Mr. Universe’ and more ‘World’s Strongest Man’.

I should do some pushups or something. “Yeah, fine. Ameliah, punch him.”

Carten planted his feet and faced Ameliah, grinning. Rain checked his mana, memorizing the current total. “Ready?” Ameliah asked.

Carten nodded. Ameliah hit him right in the sternum with a quick jab. As her fist made contact, Rain felt an immediate drain on his mana. When she struck, there was a pinging sound like a crack racing through ice on a frozen lake. There was also a distortion in the air as if a rock had been thrown into a standing pool of water. Ripples radiated out from the point of impact perpendicular to the strike, then faded away.

Carten grunted, but his grin didn’t fade. Rain checked his mana. He’d lost over a thousand from that single strike.

“Well?” Ameliah asked him. “Was that hard enough to test your skill?”

“Yeah, that took about 1000 mana. At 6 mana per damage mitigated that means it blocked around...150 damage. It only blocks 50% right now, so that punch did around 300 damage. That...would have killed me.”

Carten laughed. “Ha, Little Mouse, you need to tell Tallheart to hurry up with that armor!”

“Was that all you needed, Rain?” Ameliah asked. “I can hit him again.”

“Well, I’d like to train the skill, so yeah. Either you can hit him like that four more times, or once, four times as hard.”

“I’ve got another idea,” Val said. “I’ll hit him.”

“It only works on Force, Val,” Rain said.

“I know. I’m going to punch him. Then you punch him, then Jamus does.”

“Hah!” Carten said. “You noodle-arm mages don’t have a hope of hurtin’ me!”

Val ignored him. “We make it a game. Highest mana draw off Rain’s shield wins.”

Carten laughed. “Sounds like fun! I’m in, until I get bored.”

Rain paused. “Do you want to put a shirt on or something, Carten? Aren’t you cold?”

Carten shook his head. “Cold resistance. I’m fine. Who’s first?”

Without warning, Val wound up and sucker-punched Carten right in the face. There was a tiny ripple as his fist struck Carten’s jaw, and if there was a sound, it was too quiet to hear.

“Well, who’s first?” Carten asked, as if nothing had happened.

“56 mana,” Rain said.

“And no damage,” Carten said, grinning. “Looks like yer aura applies before my resistance, otherwise you’d a got nothin’”

“How do you know?” Val said. “Maybe I got through your resistance first, then Rain’s shield took the rest.”

“You didn’t. Not with a wimpy hit like that. Next! Little Mouse, you’re up.”

Rain stepped up. He’d never actually punched anyone as hard as he could. He had some idea of what he was doing, but he didn’t have any martial arts training. He knew enough to keep his thumb outside of his fist, but that was about it. His wild swing hit Carten’s shoulder without so much as a ripple. Carten laughed.

“What the depths was that? Pathetic!”

“Hey, come on. I was a construction worker, not a boxer. Before that, I was studying computer science. What do you expect?”

“Studying...what?” Val said. “Never mind. What was your score?”

Rain checked, then winced. “Maybe five or six? I might have regenerated a point by now.”

“Ha!” Carten laughed.

“My turn,” said Jamus. He planted his feet and drove his fist into Carten’s chest, pivoting his shoulders as he struck. It didn’t look that much stronger than Val’s hit, but the mana showed differently.

“106,” Rain said. “Wow, Jamus, what did you do?”

“Wait, HE beat me?” Val exclaimed, gesturing to the orange-robed mage.

“He knows how to punch,” Ameliah said. “That was decent form, Jamus.”

Jamus doffed his hat and took a bow. “Thank you, thank you.”

Val scoffed. “I’m going again. I’ll be serious this time.” He planted his feet and took on a stance similar to the one Jamus had used. His fist connected with Carten’s stomach, the entire weight of his body behind it.

“112,” Rain said. Val stepped back, grinning at Jamus. Carten yawned theatrically.

“Come on, Rain,” Ameliah said. “Try again. Plant your feet. Make a fist, good, like that. Now, when you punch, follow through and use the strength of your whole body. Don’t try to punch him, try to punch through him.”

Rain followed her instructions as best as he could, earning a much-improved score. He stepped back to make way for Jamus to try again. “I got 27 that time.” He shook out his hand. Carten wasn’t exactly a soft target.

“Better, Little Mouse,” Carten said. He grinned. “I still haven’t felt a thing from any of you yet, though. Ameliah doesn’t count. We might be here a while.”