Chapter 25: At the Edge

After Derek said his goodbyes to Thomas, he left. After passing through the gates, he surveyed his surroundings. Well, I guess I should just go into the forest. Maybe I can find some high-level creatures close to whatever is causing the disease in the forest. With that, Derek began walking.

He traveled towards the tree line until he finally was at the edge of the forest. Before he began his ‘mission’ he decided to do a quick check on his stat points.

Hmm… 40 stat points, two skill points, and three skill upgrade points. Derek remembered the extra boost of regeneration he felt after his Vitality broke 500 points. I really like having spare stat points for worse case scenarios, but maybe spending a few won’t hurt. Derek started at his stats and decided how to spend his points.

First, he spent five points in Wisdom, just to get it up to 200. With that, he received a notification, which he promptly ignored. Next, he decided to round out his stats, as they had been bugging him. He spent two points on Intelligence, four points on Dexterity, and two points on Strength. He knew that he probably should not do this, but the numbers were driving him crazy.

Finally, he spent nine stat points on Endurance. After spending that, he received another notification on his screen, which again, he ignored. Yeah, yeah, I’ll get to it in a minute. Okay, so… I have 18 stat points left. Derek frowned. Well, whatever. He had never been too compulsive about his stats with the old system, how could he with the percent increases that his Titles had given him. With the new system, however, he did not have any percent increase Titles, so he was in full control.

After finishing up with his stat points, he decided to check the two notifications he had received. He thought it was odd to receive a notification for spending skill points.

You have succeeded in increasing all of your basic stats to 200 points.

New Award Earned

Oh? Now that’s unexpected. Derek looked at his new Award.

Jack of All

By spreading your stat points through all basic stats, you have shown that you understand their worth. You will be awarded with the following:

2 Skill Points

+15 Stat Points to each basic stat.

Note: This is a one-time Award and cannot be upgraded.

Derek clicked his tongue. Not bad. Sucks that I can’t upgrade it, but that was almost five free levels, plus some skill points. After seeing this Award, Derek could not wait so see what the other notification was for. He focused on it.

You have succeeded in increasing both your Endurance and Vitality to 500 points.

New Award Earned

That got Derek’s attention. This is going to be great. He checked the new Award.

Meat Shield

You thrive on the physicality of the fight. You are a glutton for punishment. In order to survive your masochistic ways, you have focused on defense and recovery. You will be awarded with the following:

One Defensive Skill (Please Choose)

One Restorative Skill (Please Choose)

Note: This is a one-time Award and cannot be upgraded.

Derek looked towards the sky. There is a god! Actual combat skills. Derek was beside himself with joy. After the flop that was Void Call, he had been stuck with only one usable non-general skill. Sure, he wasn’t getting a new attack skill, but a defensive skill would be nice, and he knew that the only reason he had been able to use Greater Meditation during his fight with the Void Beast was because of the unusual circumstances. He excitedly viewed his possible defensive skills.

Current Available Skill Points: 5

Note: One skill point is required to unlock any of the skills below. If you do not have any skill points, you may choose to unlock a skill at a later date.

Available Defensive Skills

Counterattack

Guard

Harden

Magic Resistance

Physical Resistance

Reflect

Stoneskin

Taunt

Thorns

Transfer Damage

Oh, ten skills to choose from. Derek was a little irritated that the skills were not free, but he had come to expect it from the stingy system. He read through the list of skills one by one, hoping to find the perfect skill. Counterattack… Nope, not something I would use. Guard… Requires a shield, pass. Harden… Maybe. Magic Resistance… 1.5% per level, passive… Maybe. Physical Resistance… Same… Maybe.

Derek went on reading the list in his mind until he settled on four skills, Magic Resistance, Reflect, Thorns, and Transfer Damage. He took a closer look at them.

Magic Resistance

Increase your natural resistance to all magic related skills. Each level will increase the resistance by 1.5%.

Passive

Cost: 1 Skill Point

Damn. That’s 30% full magical resistance at level 20. If it can be upgraded after level 20, then I could become practically immune. He looked at the next skill.

Reflect

Reflect a certain amount of damage back at the attacker. The higher the level, the greater the damage is reflected back.

Cost: 1 Skill Point

Not bad.

Thorns

A small amount of damage is dealt to your attacker for every attack received. The higher the level, the greater the damage dealt.

Passive

Cost: 1 Skill Point

Derek looked at Thorns, then he did a double take. That says passive. That Void Beast probably would have killed itself if I would have had that ability. After confirming the ability, Derek was very interested in it.

Transfer Damage

Cast this upon an ally to transfer the damage they receive onto yourself. The higher the level, the more damage you can transfer.

Cost: 1 Skill Point

Ooh, I could save so many people… Nope. Not my kind of skill. After thinking, Derek was considering either Thorns or Magic Resistance. Ah man, both are perfect for me. Thorns would add a ton to my offense, but Magic Resistance would increase my survivability by so much. Finally, Derek came to a conclusion. I sure do hope I’m able to choose more of these later.

Would you like to learn Magic Resistance?

Yes.

Magic Resistance Learned Successfully.

Skill Points Remaining: 4

Derek felt the familiar feeling of learning a skill, but not much after. What would I expect? It’s a defensive passive. I wonder if Harden or Stoneskin would have combined with my old Impenetrable Skin skill. Oh well, I need magic defense. With his new defensive skill learned, he looked at the restorative skills.

Current Available Skill Points: 4

Note: One skill point is required to unlock any of the skills below. If you do not have any skill points, you may choose to unlock a skill at a later date.

Available Restorative Skills

Cure

Heal

Life Leech

Rejuvenation

Remove Curse

Wait, why are there only five skills on this list. Derek sighed. Stingy system. Derek looked through the list. How is Life Leech a restorative skill? Damn, all of these skills seem too basic. Derek frowned, he wanted a skill that combined well with his fighting style, but he didn’t like how basic the skills were. I guess the defensive skills were kind of basic too, but they fit well with me.

Derek first ruled out Cure. Only cures poison, waste of a skill. Don’t need Remove Curse either. Finally, after a bit of thinking, he crossed Heal off of his list. Too much mana for not enough healing. After that, he was left with Life Leech and Rejuvenation.

Life Leech

After casting on a user, a percent of any damage dealt will be returned to the user as health. The higher the level, the more health will be returned, the longer the spell will last, and the less mana it will cost.

2% Damage Returned as Health

Skill Lasts 30 Seconds

Costs 250 Mana

Cooldown: 5 Minutes

Cost: 1 Skill Point

Maybe. Derek looked at Rejuvenation.

Rejuvenation

After casting on a user, user will receive a percentage of health restored over a set period of time. The higher the level, the higher the recovery and less cost.

5% HP Recovered Over 30 Second

Costs 250 Mana

Cooldown: 5 Minutes

Cost: 1 Skill Point

Derek really wanted to get Life Leech, but he could see how Rejuvenation could become extremely powerful after leveling up. This decision was harder than his previous one. Well, either skill is better than none. What really made his decision for him was the percent heal from Rejuvenation.

Would you like to learn Rejuvenation?

Yes.

Rejuvenation Learned Successfully.

Skill Points Remaining: 3

I hope I don’t regret this. Derek started thinking about how he would level his new skills up. Rejuvenation should be easy, but I need to find a monster that uses magic to help me level up my resistance. Hmm… Maybe the kid will get a Sorcerer class or something.

With all of that settled, Derek viewed his new status sheet.

Status

Name

Derek Hunt

Age

29

Level

11

Experience

0/600

Class

Champion of the Void (Epic)

Race

Human (Modified)

Health

5250

Mana

2150

Stamina

5150

Defense

51 (Armor + 135)

Attack

49 (Weapon + 0)

Stats

Strength

360

Dexterity

260

Endurance

515

Vitality

525

Intelligence

220

Wisdom

215

Stat Points Remaining

18

Skills

Channel Void

Level 3

Channel the Void through your body, into attacks or defenses.

Dismantle

Level 4

Increase ability to dismantle deceased organic life forms.

Greater Meditation

Level 1

Enter meditative state to increase recovery.

Heavy Weapons Mastery

Level 18

Increase damage with heavy weapons.

Identify

Level 8

Appraise objects or entities.

Magic Resistance

Level 1

Increase natural magic resistance by 1.5% per level.

Rejuvenation

Level 1

Restores 5% HP over 30 seconds.

Void Call

Level 2

Call out to the Void.

Skill Points Remaining

3

Skill Upgrade Points Remaining

3

Awards

Giant Slayer, Jack of All, Lesser Slayer of the Unknown, Meat Shield

Well, only three skill points left. I think that’s enough spending for one day. Let’s go look for some giants. Derek walked into the forest.