Chapter 858: Nevermore: Level 260 Class Skill Selection

Chapter 858: Nevermore: Level 260 Class Skill Selection

It didnt take long before they used the access code to finish off the seventy-first floor, having done so quite a lot faster than floor seventy. Also, while it was true these floors were quite a lot bigger than those before, everyone in the party had also gotten quite a bit faster, and when fighting didnt slow them down as much, it added up.

Activating the Revitalization Protocol took place within one of the towers as all five of them stood together as Jake pressed the big red button. When he did, all of the towers hummed to life, sending beams of light into the sky as they released waves of mana that washed over the landscape. All of the satellites in orbit also began to shoot down beams that infused the world with mana and different affinities, doing just as the protocol said it would. Soon, the satellites would run out of energy and shut down, and the towers were also quickly emptying themselves, putting an end to the experiment once and for all.

With time, the planet would recover, and the towers would just become empty relics that would eventually break down due to environmental factors. Jake and company naturally had no intent to stick around for that long as they saw that behind them, where the teleporter taking them to different towers was, a door had appeared right beside it.

Well, this floor could have gone worse, Jake muttered as they all entered the door to the in-between room. Sadly, this one was as boring as the prior ones, with only Minaga having had interesting ones. It still had the same features, such as a door to the latest city floor, one to the next floor, and, naturally, the one they had just entered through.

The Nevermore Points are adequate, if fewer than I expected, the Fallen King said.

I just think our sense of what we should get was warped by the Challenge Dungeons rewarding so many, the Sword Saint responded as Jake also checked over all the Nevermore Points they had gained from the floor minus the two bonus objectives Jake completed early on.

Seventy-first floor completed. 14200 Nevermore Points earned.

Achievement earned: Activate five tower teleporters within a month (30 days) of each other. 3000 Nevermore Points earned.

Achievement Earned: Never once allow any of the Researchers to enter the top floor of a tower. 3000 Nevermore Points earned.

Achievement earned: Defeat the entire command structure of the Researchers. 5000 Nevermore Points earned.

Achievement earned: Defeat the Chief Overseer without ever allowing it to trigger any of the satellites. 5000 Nevermore Points earned.

Achievement Earned: Do not cause needless destruction or kill unnecessary wildlife. 1000 Nevermore Points gained.Diiscover new stories at nove/lbin(.)c/om

Achievement earned: Activate the Revitalization Protocol. 10000 Nevermore Points earned.

Achievement earned: Complete the seventy-first floor within 500 days while triggering the Revitalization Protocol. 7000 Nevermore Points earned.

Current Nevermore Points: 1,296,125

Overall, the floor had given just a bit over 50,000 Nevermore Points, making it quite good. Less efficient than the Challenge Dungeons, yes, but those had honestly been overpowered when it came to getting points, just as the Sword Saint said. Speaking of points from the Challenge Dungeons, Jake wondered:

So, I need to ask do I have the most Nevermore Points with-

Yes you do, Jake, the Sword Saint cut him off before Jake had a chance to unsubtly humble-brag. Now, do we need a recovery period, or should we proceed immediately?

Jake was a bit bummed, but with the other wanting to get a move on, he agreed as they went to floor seventy-two.

Right as they entered the door, they found themselves in the middle of what looked like a hastily constructed city square, as the floor description popped up.

Welcome to the Seventy-second floor of Nevermore: Settlers of Kantaan

Jake quickly skimmed the rest of the description, and to sum it up this was a city-defense floor, at least for the most part. The story was that a faction of different enlightened species had sent people to this planet far away using some special teleportation measure to set up a city in preparation for the rest of the citizens to arrive in a big ark at a later date. The problem was that they had kind of fucked up when measuring what kind of beings lived on the planet already and how receptive they would be to these new settlers.

Because the natives were not happy with these unwelcome guests.

Their job was to defend this city from rampaging beasts from different monster factions present on the planet while even expanding and placing two new settlements for when help arrived. This help in the form of the arc would arrive after five years based on the description, but through different means, they could speed up and have them come faster.

There was probably more to it, but Jake and company didnt have much time to think as soon after arriving, an attack arrived from a horde of rampaging monsters. They were a mix of dinosaur-looking beasts and based on what Jake and the others later learned, the beasts generally came in four flavors: lizards, mammals, elementals, and even undead.

There is probably some moral question here regarding settlers just coming to a new planet and trying to take it over unceremoniously, Jake said, the Sword Saint nodding.

Definitely the first real skill to consider. It was very similar to the barrier skill that had been offered back in D-grade, even having the same concept-suppressing effects. This one was quite a bit better, though. He especially liked the part that made it better, the more powerful and far away the attacker was.

Admitedly, Jake did kind of lack a good defensive skill. Right now, he relied on freeform stable barriers and Scales of the Malefic Viper whenever he had to block an attack he couldnt simply avoid. Then again, that was also the biggest reason why he maybe didnt need the skill: Jake would rather just dodge. So this skill would only be useful when there was no other choice.

That led to the question of how much better it even was than just a few layers of freeform stable barriers coupled with Scales. Jake naturally had no way to determine that, but it was a valid concern in his mind.

Ultimately, Jake wasnt that keen on the skill, even if it could be useful in some cases. He was more interested in just improving his freeform arcane magic instead, perhaps taking some inspiration from this skill. He had taken inspiration from the last barrier skill offered, too, partly in his Unseen Hunter skill, where the barrier he could create when not moving was capable of suppressing concepts.

Moving on, Jake honestly felt a bit disappointed so far. However, when he saw the final skill yeah, Jake still wasnt sure how to feel. The rarity at least looked great.

[Brave Presence of the Emerging War God (Mythical)] As you step foot upon the battlefield, let none hold doubt that a god of war has appeared. Having proven yourself and received the personal recognition of Valdemar, you have shown yourself to truly have the bravery and presence required to one day be recognized as a true War God. Allows you to emanate a Presence of Bravery by infusing it with inner energy, increasing the physical stats of all allies nearby while putting mental pressure on your opponents. Any allies fighting in the presence of the Emerging War God will be near-impervious to all forms of mental attacks. As bravery fills their spirits, retreat is no option, as even when resources are lacking, bravery remains. All effects of Brave Presence of the Emerging War God scales with Willpower and Endurance, as well as your overall level of power.

There was no need to try and theorize how Jake had unlocked this skill choice. It said why right there in the description. This was born of the Records from Jake clashing directly with Valdemar, probably coupled with the Primordials genuine intentions of having Jake join Valhal. Records recognizing Jake could be an Emerging War God.

Jake wasnt sure how to feel about that.

Ignoring everything else and just looking at the skill, Jake had to recognize it was a damn powerful one. It would allow him to make everyone around him more powerful simply by being near him, put pressure on enemies, and even make all allies borderline immune to certain forms of magic. Based on that thing about bravery and lacking resources, Jake also read it as allowing those influenced by him to keep fighting despite not having stamina and mana left. All in all, it was a mythical skill through and through but not one fitting Jakes Path at all.

The skill never once mentioned making Jake himself stronger. Even if it did, the skill still had a stamina cost Jake didnt doubt would be high. He didnt need all the mental resistance stuff, either. This skill was, without a shadow of a doubt, absolutely incredible for someone leading an army or even a party leader, but Jake was neither of those. He was a hunter who was solo most of the time. He was no god of war, and quite frankly, he didnt want to become one.

In the short term, this skill would probably still be useful as he was fighting in Nevermore with his party, but what about when they were out? Jake was going to be alone for the most part again, out hunting more and more powerful foes. This skill would be nearly useless in that case.

Not to mention how Jake felt it would pollute his Path as a hunter to have a skill like this. He feared it could end up unlocking a bunch of other commander-like skills in the future, something Jake definitely didnt want.

No no, while the skill was interesting and even a bit flattering, it wasnt one Jake wanted. It didnt fit him, no matter how powerful it was.

This left Jake with a bit of a problem when the usual strategy of just picking the highest-rarity skill at the end of the list didnt work. It didnt help that he didnt like any of the other skills on offer either

However, where one sees challenges, there can also be opportunities. Because, while none of these five options were any good, they werent the only ones he had to choose between. Jake still vividly remembered the skill he had skipped for Arcane Supremacy when he reached 230, and when he checked the list, it was still there, just as he had hoped.

He was naturally talking about Penetrating Arcane Arrow of Horizons Edge.

[Penetrating Arcane Arrow of Horizons Edge (Ancient)] No defenses shall stop your arrows as they pierce the foes that dare impede your Path toward the horizon. Allows the Hunter to create a Penetrating Arcane Arrow that will pierce through nearly any natural barriers and have a far higher penetrative effect on any defenses made by the target. Will temporarily lower the defenses of the foe if they are struck successfully. These effects are more powerful the higher the enemys defenses and the higher the level disparity between you and your opponent. On an internal cooldown, the Horizon-Chasing Hunter can push himself beyond his usual abilities and infuse the concepts of the Penetrating Arrow of Horizons Edge into another self-created arcane arrow. Doing this will temporarily make the skill unavailable, with this period dependent on the power of the arrow you infused. Due to their conceptual synergy, Penetrating Arcane Arrow of Horizons Edge receives significantly increased bonuses from Unblemished Arrows of the Horizon. Adds a bonus to the effectiveness of Agility, Strength, Wisdom, Intelligence, and Perception when using Penetrating Arcane Arrow of Horizons Edge.

Reading this skill once more, Jake felt certain. He had wanted it back then already and had only skipped it because Arcane Supremacy was just too good in comparison. Now, there was no clearly superior other choice, and Jake was more than pleased with selecting this one, as it would finally give him proper armor-penetrating attacks. Especially the ability to infuse the skill into another self-created arrow interested him, as he looked forward to seeing it mesh with Protean Arrow.

After barely any more thinking, Jake selected the skill as the instinctual knowledge entered his mind as he closed his eyes and took everything in. Once he had fully internalized all the knowledge, he opened his eyes again, as the Sword Saint had come over to check in with Jake as they waited for the next attack to arrive.

Got a good new skill? the old man asked with a smile. He still had a couple more levels to go before it was his turn, but it wouldnt be long.

Yeah, Jake nodded as he stood up.

The Sword Saint smiled even more as he raised an eyebrow. You know, while you were selecting a skill, the others and I discussed this floor, and we agreed that perhaps it would be wise to send one of us out to scout the area and perhaps see if we could slay any leaders or commanders in charge of-

Yes, Jake cut him off as he grinned. He wasnt going to say no to a chance like that.

How lucky you agreed; I was just thinking you would be suitable for the job, the old man chuckled. Now, get going as we hold down the fort. Stay in touch and keep us informed of what you find.

Jake didnt need to be told twice that he could go play and took to the air. He briefly exchanged a glance with his party members as he passed, who waved him off as he heard the Sword Saints voice through the Golden Mark.

Happy hunting.