Chapter 20: Level Up

Chapter 20: Level Up

Jay and Dys sat side by side on the dais inside D’s temple, between them was a clay jar half filled with water that they shared between them. They had no lunch, having eaten the last of the food that morning, but at least they had water. The noxious stench of dead demons had been mitigated by dumping the purple remains in a pile on the road out front of the temple. If bone thieves could smell, it would no doubt attract them to the location, which was something Jadis welcomed. The actual bones left behind by her victims she left in one corner of the church. She planned on moving them to the cellar where she had dumped the other bones before the end of the day.

Also on the dais was the holy book of D worship Jadis had found on her first, less successful, trip to the temple. The pages were still completely undamaged despite the book being tossed on the ground. She still couldn’t read any of the words, but the pictures were interesting to look at.

Setting the curious tome aside, Jadis stopped distracting herself and focused on her level ups. She had, as expected, one free attribute point to spend where she wanted, as well as two empty skill slots to fill. Jadis couldn’t help the eager grin that crossed both her faces at the prospect of what new skills she might have available to her. Upon pulling open the selection menu, she had to admit the list had certainly expanded a bit.

2 Skill Selections Available.

New Skills:

Minor Attribute Improvement I

Crushing Blow

Improvised Weapon Mastery I

Light Illusion

Minor Damage Reflection

Mirrored Strikes

Looking Glass

Refracted Mind

The number of skills had gone up by four entries. Skipping the ones she already knew, Jadis checked the new skills, starting with Minor damage Reflection. Jay read the menu out loud, just for the sake of talking since there was no real need.

Minor Damage Reflection

Active Spell. Coat your bodies in an ethereal shroud that will reflect a small portion of damage done back onto your attacker. Does not mitigate damage done to the caster. Cost – 30 magic. Duration – 5 minutes.

“That’s a cool spell,” Jay commented after reading the description. “I wonder how the damage is reflected? Like, would a cut magically appear on our attacker’s arm if they sliced one of ours?”

Dys shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe. It might cause direct damage to the health pool, though. It’d be kinda funny to take a hit and yell back, ‘stop hitting yourself’ when they act all confused about why they’re hurting, heh.”

“Yeah, but bone thieves don’t react in a satisfying way...” Jay trailed off, crossing her arms and tilting her head in thought. “Plus, if it is a one-to-one reflection on where the damage is done, it won’t be much help against bone thieves. I mean, not the same way it’d be helpful against an enemy with an actual human number of limbs.”

“Let’s see what the other skills do before we pass on it. I can see a lot of use coming from the skill in the future.”

Moving to the next skill, Dys read it’s description.

Mirrored Strikes

Passive Skill. Physical attacks made against a target in tandem with your mirrored body will deal increased damage. Attacks must be made within one second of each other. Damage increase does not apply to spells.

“Oh fuck yeah,” Dys said as she finished reading the skill out loud. “That is a no brainer, we are taking that skill.”

“Abso-fucking-lutely,” Jay echoed the sentiment. “It doesn’t say how much the damage is increased, but with how we attack in unison all the time anyway there’s no reason not to take this skill. Only...”

“Yeah,” Dys said, “Yeah, I know. We’re really empowering ourselves on the physical melee side of things right now, but we’re neglecting the magic side. We haven’t taken a single spell so far, and this skill won’t apply to any spell we might want to take in the future. No synergy with spell damage at all.”T/his chapter is updated by nov(ê(l)biin.co/m

“I mean, looking at our attributes, it’s just confusing. All our stats there are super low—”

“Shit, our arcane and divine attributes are zeros,” Dys chimed in.

“Yeah, but our eldritch, whatever that is, is our highest stat! It’s double what our strength is and we don’t even know what it does.” Jay finished with an exasperated sigh, tossing her arms up in the air with frustration.

“If we saw something that looked like it’d actually make use of the stat, I’d say we take it. But so far, the non-spell options are just taking better advantage of our stats.” Dys shook her head, running a hand through her white hair. “Look, let’s not worry about it right now. We’re doing great with melee. I like melee!”

“Me too,” Jay agreed. “Let’s just finish reading the skills. Maybe one of them will use eldritch and we just complained for no reason like a couple of assholes.”

Dys and Jay shared a short laugh before Jay continued onto the next skill.

Looking Glass

Active Spell. See through the reflective surface of any object you are aware of within 500 yards. Does not work on living entities. Cost – 100 magic. Duration – 10 minutes.

Tertiary Class: None

Combined Level Rating: 9

Health: 208/240

Magic: 10/10

Attributes

Strength: 36

Dexterity: 10

Agility: 10

Vitality: 24

Fortitude: 15

Endurance: 15

Arcane: 0

Divine: 0

Eldritch: 70

Focus: 1

Resilience: 10

Will: 5

Skills

Primary:

Mirrored Body

Knight’s Rest

Minor Strength Improvement II

Mirrored Strikes

Secondary:

None

Tertiary:

None

Jadis was eager to try her newest combat boost on a bone thief. She wasn’t sure if it was just in her head, but she felt stronger. With her improved strength and the Mirrored Strikes skill enhancing the damage of her attacks, she was certain the results of her next fight would be even more marked.

Jadis walked her two selves over to the entrance of the temple. There was still plenty of good light left in the afternoon and she was going to take advantage by looting the western half of the village. On a whim, Dys walked over to where she had stacked the wooden pews and picked one up. She’d been able to pick them up before, but doing so now she felt a definite change. The weight of the heavy wood was much easier to handle.

Dys tossed the piece of furniture at Jay, who caught it easily. For a few moments, the two tossed the pew back and forth, marveling at the fact that they could toss something around that had to weigh a hundred pounds at least. Maybe more? She couldn’t tell for sure, lacking context. She’d never tried to pick up a pew before.

“Never been a tall, athletic, beautiful, sexy woman with a dick before, either,” Dys laughed, putting the pew down.

“I don’t think the last three parts have much to do with the whole judging weight thing,” Jay said dryly.

“Nope. Just enjoying saying it.”

Playful banter done for the time being, Jay and Dys shouldered their clubs and stepped out of the temple, turning to investigate the closest building on their right. As much fun as she was having fighting and leveling, she was going to be having a lot less fun if she didn’t find some food soon.