Stamina Cost: -60-SP per minute
“Hey, I learned ‘Scavenging’,” Bell said excitedly, then as she realized what that entailed, she became much less enthusiastic.
“So did I,” Penelope said, then asked, “I thought I was going to learn ‘Skinning’?”
“You have not actually skinned anything yet, now have you?” Loral asked. “Teaching ‘Scavenging’ is easy by comparison.”
Penelope’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.
“Don’t worry too much,” Loral said, trying to cheer her up. “You will learn it in no time at all. For now, you should pay more attention to the lumberjacks you are supposed to be protecting. They are about to start on another tree. You two might want to make sure nothing lives in that tree before they do.”
It turned out to be a good suggestion. Bell shot a spider out of the tree, setting it up for Penelope to finally use her spell combination.
“Okay, I like that,” Penelope said, smiling at the damage notifications.
“I am happy you enjoyed that,” Loral said, inspecting the spider. “Unfortunately, you cracked the carapace again.”
Penelope cursed.
Loral chuckled. “It will be alright. It makes for good practice anyway.”
“You go ahead,” Bell said, flying up into the air.
Penelope grimaced, not for the work but because she would be doing it alone. And she didn’t have a knife. Looking to Loral for a little help, she asked, “Can I borrow your knife?”
“I suppose,” Loral said, handing over her skinning knife.
Penelope took the blade. It was much smaller than she thought, holding it in her large hand. The blade was curved with a small hook and blade coming back from the tip. Small as it was, it would be enough.
Kneeling down next to the giant dead spider, Penelope tried to imitate Loral. First, stabbing into the seam between the carapace and underbelly. She started sawing along until she reached the abdomen. And just like Loral, she tried to turn the cut to go up and over. Instead, there was a cracking sound as the carapace cracked at the corner. She eventually made the turn and made the cut over the top. Making the turn on the other side went without a problem. Everything seemed to go smoothly until she reached the head. Sawing through the chitin was easy enough, sawing in a straight line, much less so. She ended up cutting through a few of the eyes as a result. Finally, she cut all the way around and when she tried to pry the broken carapace off, it cracked and broke even further.
Getting frustrated as the carapace cracked even further, Penelope looked to Loral for advice.
Based on the look Penelope was giving, Loral was kind enough to answer the unasked question, “You forgot to use your knife to pry loose the carapace as you made your cut around. Go around again, prying every few inches with the knife blade. Use a twisting motion.”
Penelope nodded. She remembered seeing Loral pry with the knife, but she didn’t understand why. So, back around she went, prying with the knife every few inches. Once she got back around, she was able to get her fingers in with much less struggle. And just like when Loral did it before, the carapace pulled away with a liquid sucking sound.
From there, it was just a matter of trying to imitate what Loral showed her. Unfortunately, the only thing she was able to obtain from using ‘Scavenging’ for the first time was five levels to the skill. The eyes popped or got cut, the venom sack was pierced, the fangs cracked, and the spinnerets . . . well, the less said about them the better. Still, it was only her first try.
“Not bad for your first try,” Loral said. “Do not get disheartened. There are a lot more spiders out here for you to practice on. Just look,” she paused to point behind Penelope, “Here come two now.”
And that was the way the morning and then late afternoon went. They killed the spiders in the trees before the lumberjacks cut them down. They killed the spiders that would randomly wander into the area they were working in. And once in a while, they would kill a zombie wolf.
“Okay,” Loral said after they killed yet another zombie wolf. “Now, I know the skin is unusable. But it is still skin and still good practice.”
“Are you sure I’ll be able to learn ‘Skinning’ this way?” Penelope asked, bringing out the borrowed knife and kneeling down next to the dead again wolf.
“Of course,” Loral said. “As soon as you can extract a pelt without butchering it, you will have learned the skill.”
Penelope sighed. She had yet to even pull one carapace without damaging it. How was she supposed to skin an undead wolf without further damaging the already damaged skin?
“Once again, be gentle with this skin. It is already weakened and will tear easily if you use too much strength,” Loral instructed. “And again, be gentle.”
Penelope nodded and started to work. She scored the wolf as she had been taught. Cutting from the middle of the stomach up to the throat, then down from where she started toward the back and then down the inside of each leg to the paws. From there, she slowly and methodically peeled the skin away, using the knife to cut between the skin and the carcass and cutting away any fibrous tissue that stuck to the skin as she went. Finally, she did it. She pulled away the intact pelt . . . mostly intact pelt. At least none of the damage was caused by her. She knew this because of the system message.
You’ve learned a new profession ‘Skinning’
Skill: Skinning
Rank: I
Level: 1
Experience: 0.00%
Description: Skinning is the ability to extract usable pelts and skins from defeated monsters and beasts
Chance to Skin Hide or Pelt, Your Level or Below: 10%
Chance to Tan Hide or Pelt, Your Level or Below: 10%
Stamina Cost: -5-SP per second while cutting
Finally! Finally, she had learned the ruddy profession. And then she finally looked at the description. She had just a 10% chance to obtain what she needed to be able to do her chosen profession. And what was this about ‘Your Level or Below’? Naturally, she asked.
“It is just what it sounds like. You are just starting out in the profession. It takes time to develop your skill. Once you get to Rank II you will start to have a chance at being able to successfully skin a beast or monster of a higher level,” Loral explained. “Do not worry, you will still obtain plenty of usable materials and be able to turn them into useful armor. I promise.”
Penelope sighed. “Alright, I guess I’ll trust you. Just one more question. Does ‘Skinning’ stack with ‘Scavenging’?”
“I cannot say I am sure,” Loral said. “I do not get out in the field very often. Sooty provides most of my furs and skins. You will just need to wait and see what happens.”
“I suppose I shall,” Penelope said.
“Good, now you and Bell best get those spiders before they get the lumberjacks,” Loral said, pointing to Penelope’s left.
“Back to the grind I go,” Penelope said.
A few minutes later, Penelope pulled away her first intact carapace. Most of the rest of the spider was destroyed, but the carapace survived. It was a start.
Chapter 15
I was about to die a horrible, and likely quick death, and I knew it. Or at least, I thought I knew it until a golden dome of light covered me and the Pit Master bounced off it, his HP dropping a little further and his skin catching fire in spots.
“Rose, go!” I heard Olaf bellow. “Arch, keep Bye-bye alive if you can. Bye-bye, you’d better give Arch a big thanks for saving your bacon!”
“Thank you!” I shouted, already starting to drink from my canteens while I tried to recover enough MP and SP to rejoin the fight.
I watched as Valentras slowly climbed back to his feet, a ‘Dazed’ status symbol appeared by his nameplate. He was barely halfway up when Rose rammed her shields into him, knocking him down and upgrading the ‘Dazed’ status to ‘Stunned’.
“Alright you ugly undead zombie vid reject, let’s fight,” Rose said, taunting the stunne
d monster.
“Vid reject, huh?” Olaf asked with a laugh.
“You do better,” Rose dared him, then grunted as she blocked a swing from one of the two mining picks the pit master was now wielding. Her eyes widening at the small pick-shaped hole that her shield now sported, where the attack pierced through unabated. “Oh hell, he’s got some kind of armor piercing attack. My shields damage reduction was halved.”
“Okay, lots of damage and as fast as you can,” Olaf ordered before firing two shots from his hand-cannons.
“Just don’t lose aggro, Red,” Pwn said with a laugh, two black fireballs formed in front of him, one over each hand. As he hurled them one after the other at Valentras, he shouted, “Die in a fire!” Pwn cackled madly when the first orb hit and lit the boss up. The cackle died in his throat a moment later as the Pit Master struck one of the orbs with one of his picks and seemed to absorb the spell. He could only watch in disbelief as the pick turned black and lit with familiar black flames followed by a raspy laugh from the monster.
Still laughing in delight, the Pit Master swung the blazing pick at Rose, driving it through her shield once again. Except this time, after the pick pierced the shield, it unleashed a black fireball at point blank range, right into Rose’s body, blasting her off her feet and setting her ablaze with a ‘Void Burns’ debuff. If that wasn’t enough, half of her HP was gone in an instant and more was draining with every second that passed.
I shot to my feet and equipped my Phalanx Shield at the same time, intent to run ahead and take aggro until Rose could recover, but the shield wouldn’t let me pass. “Let me out!” I shouted.
“I can’t,” Arch replied, casting heal after heal on Rose. “My ‘Holy Enrapture’ lasts for a full minute and cannot be dispelled. It protects you from all damage and reduces your threat to zero. You’ll need to wait. But don’t worry, I’ve got Rose.”
A full minute. She had a barrier or bubble or whatever you want to call it that would last a full minute. Combat didn’t often last more than a minute. Granted, this boss fight would probably take another five or six minutes based on how slowly his HP was dropping. Still, that was a long time to be out of combat. But I was trapped, I had no choice but to make the best of it. I tried casting my own spells only for them to hit the barrier. I tried adding my own healing to Rose only for that to be blocked as well. Whatever Arch’s ‘Holy Enrapture’ spell did, it had completely removed me from the fight . . . for another 46-seconds at least.
“Choose your shots carefully,” Olaf barked after another double cast by Pwn resulted in Rose nearly getting killed.
“Easy for you to say,” Pwn snapped back. “It’s not your spells he’s absorbing.”
“So attack him from behind!” I shouted. I might not be able to fight, but I could at least try to help. “If he can’t see your attacks, then he can’t absorb them.”
“You want me to attack him like some . . . underhanded, dishonorable . . . Thief?” Pwn asked incredulously.
“Yes!” I shouted. I was struggling to reconcile Pwn the player killer with Pwn the group member. Attacking an enemy from behind should not have been a foreign concept to him.
“I resemble that remark,” Heath complained, strumming his axe to spread another increased damage buff to the group.
Pwn smirked then said, “I was just checking. Eat black death you rotting dumpster fire of a boss!” Pwn ran until he was directly behind the Pit Master and cast his spells again. This time, Valentras couldn’t turn away from Rose to block one of the two fireballs and both impacted with a splash of black flames, adding stacks of ‘Void Burns’ and causing the first significant damage to the boss since my accidental pull.
If you have ever watched for water to boil, you know just how long it really takes. That was me with this ‘Holy Enrapture’ spell that saved my life but also took me out of the fight. I kept an eye on the timer, watching as it slowly ticked down. My MP and SP were both full, my shield was put away again and all I could do was watch and wait for my chance to strike.
7 . . .
6 . . .
And just as it was getting close to setting me free, the boss transitioned past the 50% mark.
“More,” Valentras groaned with his raspy voice. “Need more!” He struck the ground with both picks, sending fissures through the stone ground about twenty yards out, knocking Rose to the ground. Then he turned and did it again, another turn and again. When he finished, I was the only one not knocked to the ground thanks to Arch’s spell. Then things got worse as undead hands came up out of the disturbed ground, grasping at my party members, holding them down as more of the undead crawled out of the upturned ground. Meanwhile Valentras just stood laughing a sinister, rasping chuckle.
“Bye-bye, free Rose and Arch first,” Olaf shouted, before his voice was muffled by one of the undead wrapping an arm around his face and covering his mouth.
I didn’t need to be told twice. I leaped for Rose, stabbing at the hands, piercing them repeatedly but not getting them to release Rose. From the corner of my eye, I saw several undead clear the earth and start moving toward Rose, I turned and fired a ‘Holy Blast’ destroying them with one hit . . . no, not destroying, dispelling them. “They’re illusions!” I shouted. I had no idea how to dispel an illusion without using my holy magic and that risked injuring Rose and the others. It also explained why my spear wasn’t breaking the grip on Rose, there was nothing to break.
I was at a loss until someone shouted, “Holy Radiance!” This caused a burst of golden light to wash away the illusions, including the laughing Pit Master. The undead . . . thing appeared from thin air and was now standing next to me. I couldn’t react fast enough as he brought both picks down on me with one smooth attack. Then the world went to a greyscale.
That just wasn’t fair. Illusions. The undead boss used an illusion. Wasn’t that supposed to be Heath’s specialty? For that matter, didn’t I have a skill that was supposed to help me resist illusions?
Skill: Mental Armor
Rank: I
Level: 94
Experience: 8.41%
Description: Protecting the mind from external influences requires you to create Mental Armor to protect your thoughts, building layers over time to increase your defenses.
Skill Effect (Passive): Your mental toughness grants you a 9.40% chance to resist mental effects.
A skill that had gained several levels since I had last looked at it. Unfortunately, just 9.40% was not going to cut it if that was my only defense against illusions. I made a mental note to either work on improving that skill or finding another.
“How long before you can use that again, Arch?” Olaf asked, focusing on dealing damage to the boss.
“Too long, it’s a 10-minute cooldown,” Arch answered, sending a volley of golden arrows into the air, and covering a large area, healing Rose, and damaging the Pit Master at the same time.
Rose grunted as the two picks slammed against her shield again, dropping her HP, but not nearly as badly as when the picks had absorbed a spell effect. She added, “Then we better hope he doesn’t have another transition.”
I hated just watching the fight like this. I hated being sidelined. Granted, I should probably have died when the fight began. I felt as though I hadn’t been able to contribute to the fight very much. I gave a little advice and warned them about the illusion. But that was the end of my involvement. On the other hand, if I hadn’t noticed the illusion, it probably would have meant a group wipe.
I listened and watched as my friends fought. I watched as Olaf fired one hand-cannon then the other as he charged in, quickly swapping over to his maul as he reached the boss to hammer down hard on the bosses shoulder, causing the pitted and rusted armor to crumple and also making the Pit Master’s arm stop moving with a ‘Crushed Armor’ debuff. Olaf th
en leaped away from the boss, putting his maul away and reloading his hand-cannons as he landed, only to repeat the process.
Heath kept his distance, constantly changing the speed he played, buffing my group and debuffing the boss in rapid succession, throwing in an attack spell that seemed to vibrate the air as it moved until hitting the boss. It didn’t seem to do much damage, but Heath looked satisfied. I guessed he was trying to level up the spell during the fight, which I couldn’t say I approved of.
I looked toward our newest members next, Pwn and Arch. They both kept their distance from the boss, but that was where the similarities ended. The diminutive healer focused mostly on healing Rose, only occasionally slipping in a shot on the boss with her bow. Meanwhile, Pwn seemed to do everything he could to burn through as much MP as he could as fast as he could. He cast somewhere between six and eight spells with no order to them that I could discern before quaffing a Mana Potion or stepping back and sitting down to drink from a canteen. I would need to remember to ask him about his rotation and how his spells worked later . . . if they succeeded in killing the boss.
“We’re coming up on 20%,” Rose warned, blocking with her heavily damaged shield-wall. The shields were starting to look more and more like swiss cheese as the Pit Master’s picks continued punching holes through it. And yet, Rose continued to hold her ground, blocking the majority of attacks despite the damage she was suffering, both in HP and the durability of her armor. “Get ready for some kind of enrage,” she warned.
“Hold off using any cool downs until 10% if you can,” Olaf ordered as he reloaded yet again, and prepared to fire another round.
“Rose, use a defensive skill if you can, I need to get mana back before he enrages,” Arch called out, dropping another heal on Rose and topping her off.
World Tree Online: The Order of Epic Grinders: 4th Dive Page 25
