Mental Defense, 89% (Self-Control + Spirit + the gear bonus = the Charm of the Sovereign bonus)
Elemental Defense, 20% (Spirit and the Scaly Breastplate)
Mental Attack, 97.9 (spells studied, 50 + Unity of Schools, 2 + character level, 37 + the Charm of the Sovereign bonus, 8.9)
Mental Energy Regeneration, 18.34 pt./sec (Spirit divided by 2 + 0,84 bonus from Synergy, Power of Reason and Self-Control + the Charm of the Sovereign bonus, 10)
Strength, 13.5 (Secret Knowledge, 12+1 + the gear bonus, 0.5)
Intellect, 24.8 (Secret Knowledge, 18+1 + the gear bonus, 0.8 + the ring, 3 + the Exorcist bonus, 2)
Agility, 13 (the gear bonus, 12+1)
Stamina, 22.5 (19 + the underwear kit bonus, 1.5 + the Charm of the Sovereign bonus, 2)
Spirit, 15 (13 + the Exorcist bonus, 2)
Main Professions, Require activation
Achievements:
Celebrated Pioneer
A map-making app available
Clan Founder
+ 1,000 to Popularity, +1 to all Reputations
Exorcist
+2 to Intellect, +2 to Spirit
Centurion
Allows you to instantly summon any of the Cohort's legionnaires
The Light of Passion
+1 to all stats whenever the person you love is with you
The Neuro Development Branch:
Secret Knowledge, 1:
Observational Skills,1
Spell Interception, 1
Unity of Schools, 1
Acquisition of Blows and Combos, 1
Reflex Optimization, 1
Unity of Origin, 1
Legacy, 1. Not activated. Requires level 45
Evolution, 1:
Intense Training, 3
Pain Threshold, 5
Synergy, 2
Crit, 3. Not activated. Requires level 45
Power of Reason, 1:
Insight, 1
Self-Control, 4
Enhanced Perception, 1
Energy Transfer, 1. Not activated. Requires level 45.
Legacy:
From now on, you can control the ancient blood magic which exists in synergy with nature. The Founders' artifacts will reveal their secret properties to you alone.
Any acquired spells will be available 3 levels earlier than required.
-5% to Mental Energy required to cast a spell.
Crit:
+10% to your chances of dealing a critical hit. +5% to your chances of dealing damage with the Element of Chaos in a successful (i.e., not blocked by the enemy) attack. Every new level of the ability adds +3% to your chances of dealing elemental damage.
Energy Transfer:
You've learned to accumulate the surrounding Elements' energy in order to transfer it to stones or charge up magic scrolls. Every new level of the ability adds +5% to both energy accumulation and energy transfer rates.
Once I did eight more levels, I would have access to three more abilities. Which was why I was very cautious in distributing the available points. Three of them I invested into Crit; the rest I set aside, reluctant to part with them quite yet.
"Alexatis, you okay?" Zander asked, eyeing the Guards of Gloom. The two warriors had ignored the abundance of loot and chosen to guard my peace instead. They hovered nearby, shooing off everyone who attempted to approach me with a question or a request.
"I'm fine, thanks," I replied.
"Your life has dropped a lot," he commented.
"It's okay. It'll be back in a few minutes. I told you these ancient spells come with price tags attached. You'd better tell me how many more prisoners you've liberated."
"Over a hundred. Seventy-six farmers, the rest are Elves, dwarves and three more orcs. I'm sure they're gonna ask you if they can join the clan."
I grinned. "Is that Arwan doing his sales pitch?"
"Not at all. After everything they've just seen, I'd be surprised if they didn't. I would."
"No one's stopping you."
"Unfortunately, I can't. I have my own route," he forwarded me the list of loot. "This is indeed a virgin dungeon. A player's dream."
The list was indeed impressive. A hundred grand gold — yesterday I couldn't have even dreamt of ever having so much money! Thirty-five cargonite items. Armor, weapons and rune tablets.
Scrap cargonite (mainly fragments of unidentified items) was listed separately — all two hundred pounds of it!
"And this is what the spirits dropped," Zander reached into his inventory, producing a handful of jewelry and five charged teleport crystals. That was a nice surprise. Now I could activate the dungeon portal.
All the jewelry — about a dozen rings, chains and bracelets — were relic items of unknown origin. There were two ways of identifying them: I could either convoke several Masters in Jewelry, Archeology and Enchantment to see what they had to say — or I could find out their purpose by just trying them on.
The latter option was less time-consuming but definitely not as safe. The artifacts might possess some concealed stat preventing me from removing them. They could even be cursed for all that I knew — after all, they used to belong to malignant spirits.
"I'm going to add them to the clan's treasury," I finally said.
"That's fine with me," Zander agreed. Then he added, noticing that my life had already restored, "So? Should we go and check on your new recruits?"
* * *
ZANDER HAD BEEN right. All of the ex-prisoners asked my permission to join the clan.
I remembered my morning conversation with Mr. Borisov and his contemptuous disregard for NPCs. I didn't subscribe to it at all.
Firstly, unlike guards, vendors, workers and other hired toons, the liberated prisoners were self-sufficient characters in their own right with well-developed identities and even personalities. Secondly, they could move freely between locations, accumulate XP, level up, receive new abilities and actively participate in the clan's life.
Thirdly, they weren't likely to log out just because they were tired, or had a family emergency, or had to get up early to go to work. Like myself, these were local denizens — which might prove a crucial factor in a number of situations.
Having said that, they couldn't really replace Enea, Togien or Platinus.
With my silent permission, Zander did a quick evaluation of the new clan members' levels and specializations, meticulously checked their weapons and gear and divided them into squads.
"Alexatis! We need to get going!" he reminded me.
In total, we now had four orcs, twenty-seven Elves, fifteen dwarves, a kobold and two Guards of Gloom.
We sent all the farmers to the old mines deep in the rear. The demons were highly unlikely to venture anywhere near them out of old habit, too scared to bump into legionnaires.
Soon our clan's combat section was lined up, ready to be buffed.
Raoul, Iskandar and Rodrigo strode along their ranks casting long-term buffs on the greenhorns.
Zander gave them one last check. "Platinus, hand them out some of your healing potions. One each."
We had to be economical with our supplies. I had indeed hoped to procure some reinforcements down here — but I'd had no idea they'd be so many!
"Alexatis?" Zander turned to me. "Mind saying something to them?"
Rhetoric had never been my forte. Neither was clan leadership. I might have some catching up to do before I could become a half-decent clan leader.
"I don't think they need a pep talk," I said, seeing the burning desire for vengeance in their eyes.
"Off we go, then," Zander concluded. "Pointless dragging it out. We've lost too much time as it is. You have any idea how many imps we've smoked? The moment they start arriving at their respawn point, the Darks will start to panic. I don't think their respawn point is around here."
"Where, then?"
"In one of the otherworldly planes."
"How do you know?"
"Gut feeling," he joked.
The raid got under way. Our every step brought us closer to the mysterious crevice.
The four orcs were pushing wheelbarrows piled high with ore. The creaking of the ungreased wheels drowned out the rustle of footsteps and the clanging of weapons while the cave echoes distorted sounds even more, camouflaging our approach.
Soon the outline of the bridge loomed out of the dark. Unnoticed, the orcs turned off toward the hoisting cages.
In the uneven light of the torches, the crevice oozed subterranean gases.
About twenty demons guarded the bridge, all of them level-30 Warriors. Five liches hovered over the rocks, holding magic staffs.
"Archers ready!"
Zander, Virgil and Tylor broke into a run. The bridge was narrow enough for them to block the guards, taking the first blows upon themselves.
The demons tensed up, sensing danger. Finally seeing the three warriors lunging at them, they reached for their weapons.
Bowstrings began twanging. A barrage of arrows showered the demons' rear ranks. A natural bank of heaped-up dead bodies arose, preventing the front ones' retreat.
Rodrigo and Iskandar challenged the liches. The flashing of their spells dispersed the gloom. Defense auras flared up; ashes rose up into the air.
Our orcs whipped out the swords secreted within their wheelbarrows and assaulted the hoisting cages, slicing through the cables, then pushed them into the crevice.
Our attack proved so sudden, powerful and well-coordinated that it was over before we knew it. In less than a minute, the bridge was ours.
Zander crossed to the other side first, took a look around and waved to us to follow.
* * *
I PAUSED on the bridge and looked down. Darkness swirled about a hundred feet below, concealing the bottom of the crevice. Its cracked walls threatened to collapse.
I really didn't like the prospect of having demons as neighbors. A lot of Infernal creatures had wings so nothing really prevented them from invading these caves again. The imps were unlikely to leave us alone, either. What could I do to block this breach between worlds? No idea.
"The Element of Earth might do it," Rodrigo suggested. He paused, about to add something, but apparently reconsidered and walked away, shaking his head.
Easy for him to say! Elemental control required the kind of power and specialization I at my current level couldn't even hope to attain.
"Alexatis!" Zander called me, peering at something.
The entire raid had already lined up on the other side of the precipice. The orcs took their places, grinning. The Elven archers who'd been instrumental in our lightning victory remained on their guard, wary and alert.
Once I crossed the bridge, the prickling sensation in my fingertips grew stronger. Now I could clearly make out a weak shining light filtering through the gloom.
"This is the final part of the dungeon," Zander said, seemingly uncomfortable. "This light... and no mobs around... This doesn't look good."
"Check your mana regeneration rate," I told him.
"You're right. It's grown," he said, surprised. "How did you know?"
"What you see up ahead is an Altar of Chaos. Do you remember when Enea brought you to rescue me from a dungeon? There was an altar there, right? That's one of those."
"Yes, I remember, sort of. I never got close enough to see it."
"Good for you. These ancient places of power have only one thing going for them: they speed up mana regeneration provided you're within their range. But don't even think about touching one! That would be pushing your luck."
"Why? Is it so bad?"
"It's Chaos, you see. You just can't tell. You might lose several levels. Or it might strip you of an ability."
"Random effects?"
"Exactly. Luck of the draw."
"I'd love to know what the demons farm here," Zander said, peering into the gloom. "Can you feel a cold draft blowing?"
"Can I ever!"
"You know, don't you, that it's the game's way of warning you?"
"Warning me against what?"
"All sorts of things. Say, you're walking through a forest where a high-level mob is lurking. That's when the temperature drops like this," he explained.
"Are you sure?"
"You can bet your life on it. I've been through it plenty of times."
"Does that mean that's where the dungeon boss is?"
"Well, what do you think? Or did you expect us to enter the cave, collect all the loot and happily go home?"
"So what do you suggest?"
"At the very least, we need to have a look at it. We can leave most of the raid here. We'll only need the wizards and the cleric: this fast mana regeneration thing might save our bacon, you never know. How's your sword?"
"Still... er... still hungry."
"In this case we should get closer to the altar and buff you to your ears. How many runes should light up for the sword to work?"
"A whole sequence. Its length doesn't matter."
"Got it," Zander swung round. "Raoul, I want you to come with us. Arwan, your group will cover us. You can open fire at your discretion but not before we engage. Understood?"
The Elf nodded.
"Platinus, have you got any powerful elixirs left?"
"Only a couple of Disintegration Potions," he replied.
"I need them," Zander took the vials, then cast a frowned look over the kobold and the two Guards of Gloom. "Where d'you think you're going?"
"We're not leaving Alexatis," Kray said firmly.
Zander gave them a studying look. "Very well. As long as you keep to the rear. No one should try to get in front of me. Is that clear?"
They nodded curtly.
"Let's go see that source of power, then," Zander ordered. "Then we'll decide what to do."
* * *
WE LEFT THE BULK of the raid by the bridge. The Elves and the warriors followed us in pairs: one archer, one warrior.
Zander walked first, followed by Virgil and Tylor.
A faint trail snaked around the cliffs. The cave's walls began to close in on us. Strangely enough, here the cold draft was considerably weaker.
Finally, the rocky walls closed overhead, forming the entrance to a small cave.
We entered.
There it was. Another Altar of Chaos.
A dull aura enveloped the ancient place of power which emitted the already-familiar weak humming noise.
Zander looked around the cave, sizing up the potential combat site. The place wasn't too big. Some collapsed stone structure lay in a heap by the opposite wall. The Altar of Chaos rose in the center. The surrounding walls were lined with gaping doorways into small rooms scantily lit with tiny little flames.
The cave seemed deserted. The silence began to get on my nerves.
"Arwan, I want you to post your archers by the entrance. Alexatis, are you ready?"
"One moment," I replied, studying a standalone cliff which must have been crudely fashioned into the semblance of a four-sided column. "Take a look at this. There's a locked door here."
Zander walked over to me and frowned at the sight.
Several thick heavy chains which oozed heat were wrapped around the column, securing a slab of stone which concealed what appeared to be a doorway. The makeshift door was covered in a complex pattern of runes.
I focused on it. No prompts popped up.
"Never mind," I said. "We can sort it out later."
I walked back to the altar. My head was swimming from its emissions. My muscles began to twitch.
I clenched the sword handle, feeling the little spikes dig into my skin, triggering the sword's ancient magic. My mental, physical and vital energy bars promptly shrank.
Following Zander's instructions, Raoul began healing me. Rodrigo cast Stamina on me; Iskandar added a buff increasing physical energy capacity. But even with this powerful backup I could barely stand on my feet. An agonizing pain surged through me, then subsided. I could taste blood in my mouth.
I
'd have loved to know what was behind the closed door. Was it even worth the risk?
None of the group had any idea of what I was experiencing.
The Mortal Allegiance runic sequence running down my sword's blade began to glow. It was almost two-thirds full when I heard the familiar squeaky little voice,
"Don't you dare feed here! This is all mine!"
I struggled to turn my head to the sound.
A translucent figure appeared out of the altar's glow.
This wasn't a demon. An old man, rather. His blurred name tag slowly came into view. I peered at the words distorted by surges of interference,
Dietrich. A Reaper.
No level, no race, no specialization, nothing.
He was dressed in some tattered old rags. Why would a ghost need clothes, anyway? Where would he even get them from? This worn gray jacket definitely looked familiar.
I peered at the frayed sleeve patch,
Infosystems Corporation
Defective Mobs Squad
A cold shiver ran down my spine.
Zander didn't seem to notice him. The others, too, just stood there matter-of-factly. Was I the only one who could see him?
"I can't use them," the old man eyed me greedily. "They're dummies. Empty shells. Not like you."
"What do you want?"
He smacked his lips. "I want your neurograms."
"Are you nuts? You really think I'll give them to you?"
The frail ghost was no threat to me. If anything, I was curious.
"That's what he thought," Dietrich stroked his sleeve patch. "He was real. Like you. He was strong. I couldn't take all of his memories. I need more. I need knowledge, experiences... I need feelings."
His insane glare was burning a hole in me. I immediately remembered the two Corporation workers I'd seen next to the other Altar of Chaos. Hadn't they mentioned some convict they'd used to test the neuroimplant prototype? His name was Dietrich-something too.
The Curse of Rion Castle (The Neuro Book #2) LitRPG Series Page 11
