I did and saw the same increase as last time.
Asher’s next order surprised me slightly. “Good, put another point into faith.”
I did as he asked but only my divine power increased by 2 points and luck increased by 0.01%.
“And again, into spirituality,” Asher instructed.
And there was the increase to my SE I was looking for. “One and one,” I said.
Asher frowned. “I was hoping the increases would be greater. Alas, it is what it is. Put six points into each. We need to raise your SE to at least 100 points.”
And just like that, I was down to four unused points.
“Put the rest into righteousness, but one at a time so we can track any changes,” Asher instructed.
One point didn’t change anything. The second point finally had an effect, increasing spirit regeneration and demonic resistance. Two more points increased both again. And just like that, I was out of points.
Name: Victor Goodspeed
Highest Floor Cleared: 0
Experience Earned: 0
Hierarchy: 4th
Rank: 12th
Title: Sinner
HP: 140/140
EP: 120/120
SE: 100/100
Body
Experience to Next Point: 9,992
Unused Points: 0
Strength:
12
Reflex:
10
Constitution:
14
Recovery:
10
Soul
Experience to Next Point: 8,327
Unused Points: 0
Faith:
10
Spirituality:
10
Righteousness:
6
Fortune:
8
Applied Statistics
Health Regeneration:
14
Energy Regeneration:
10
Spirit Regeneration:
6
Attack Power:
24
Divine Power:
20
Speed:
5
Accuracy:
51.00%
Perception:
4
Block:
31.00%
Block Absorption:
12
Critical Strike Chance:
0.40%
Demonic Resistance:
3
Luck:
0.08%
I was suddenly much stronger. The improvements were small increments, but all together they added up.
Asher sighed as he looked over my shoulder at my Scroll of Body and Soul. “I suppose it could be worse. For now, let’s see if you can even use the soul proficiency you picked up.”
I had something of a silly grin on my face as I spread the soul proficiency scroll out and laid my Scroll of Body and Soul over the top of it. There was a flash of light, and my scroll had a new page with an exciting new proficiency.
Essence Engineering
Level: 1
Experience to Next Level: 1,000
SE Cost: 100
The ability to Extract and Purify Demonic Essence from demon parts then Imbue Purified Essence into Weapons and Armor.
That sounded amazing to me. I quickly pulled out a demon’s tooth then froze. “Uh, how do I do this?”
Asher sighed and looked skyward as if he were praying for the strength to survive me. “Just think ‘extract’.”
I grinned excitedly and looked back down at the demon’s tooth. I thought ‘extract’ and felt suddenly tired only to be shot wide awake when the smell of sulfur hit my nose and made me cough painfully. There was a small dusting of glowing green dust in my hand that reeked of the foul chemical.
I quickly dusted my hands off, scattering the glowing green into the air where it quickly floated away. “Did I fail?”
Asher was giving me a look that said something along the lines of ‘you’re an idiot’. “No, you didn’t fail, but you did just dust the demonic essence off your hands. Well done, good job.”
I should have known. No, I should have asked what the results would look like. And now it would be almost an hour and a half before I could try again. Sighing, I walked toward the door, “I’m going to get a drink.”
Inside the bar, I ordered my preferred drink of scotch on the rocks then found Theo, Gunther, and Becs chatting at a table and joined them.
“Well, if it isn’t mister ‘grind-the-days-away’ in the flesh,” Theo joked. “We were beginning to think you’d made it through Purgatory.”
“Not yet,” I replied, enjoying the good humor, even if it was at my expense.
“So, what have you been up to?” Becs asked, sipping from a drink that had a tiny umbrella in it of all things.
“Getting my second Soul proficiency,” I answered.
Becs set her drink down, suddenly interested in what I was going to say. She cooed, “Ooh, anything interesting?”
“Don’t answer that,” Gunther and Asher answered at the same time.
Gunther continued. “Do everything you can to not tell others about your Body and Soul proficiencies. You may know that I have a proficiency capable of increasing regeneration for a day. But you have no idea what other proficiencies I possess. If I were to tell you, then you will be able to figure out how to fight me . . . maybe even how to kill me. You have already come close to dying at Billy’s hands have you not? Always remember, none of us were sent here because we were good people.”
That was sobering.
“I say let them come,” Theo said, grinning wildly. “I got no problem with everyone knowing I’m a jack of all weapons. You name the weapon, and I promise you, I can use it better than you or the next ten men.”
“And women,” Becs quickly added.
“Aye, and the Valkyries,” Theo said, slurring slightly before moving his mug to his mouth and starting to suck down the liquid gold inside.
Becs wasn’t done, “Besides, you also brag that you do not have any Soul proficiencies, not even the starter proficiency. Not like anyone cares.”
Gunther scoffed. “That you truly believe that astounds me, child. How do you know Theo has not been lying to you, to us? Maybe he is not a weapon master at all. Maybe he is a master soulcaster. We’ll never know, will we?”
“You take that back,” Theo said, “I ain’t no bloody soulcaster like you. Don’t you go accusing me of doddering in the realm of the gods. I’m not so foolish. I know my place, and it’s right here, smashing demons and reveling in the glory of battle.”
Gunther smiled. “How do you know I have not lied to you about being a soulcaster? I have an inventory, just as you do. Could I not be housing my weapons and armor in there? You have only ever seen me use one Soul proficiency, no? How do you know I have more?”
“What?” Theo asked, sounding confused, then narrowing his eyes at his longtime friend. Honestly, it didn’t surprise me that Theo was confused. In the short time I’d known the Viking, he hadn’t struck me as a deep thinker. “Does that mean you’ve been lying to us?”
Gunther shrugged. “Mayhap I have, mayhap I haven’t. My point . . . is that you will never know. No one in Purgatory will ever know.”
“And here I was hoping to show off,” I said with a chuckle. Still, Gunther’s point was well made. No one in Purgatory was completely and totally trustworthy. Billy, a demon, or almost demon, was running around unchecked, tricking people, into killing other people, all to build up the armies of hell. Man, the afterlife sucked so far.
“You can still show off,” Becs tried to encourage me.
I shook my head. “No, Gunther’s right. Everyone is here for a reason. Obviously, none of us are saints.”
Gunther nodded to me, showing me just a little respect. Honestly, it was the first sign the man had shown he was starting to warm up to me.
We talked of other things until my SE was full once more. I excused myself and said my goodnights
.
The thing about Sinner’s City, is that it never seemed to sleep. People came and went from Purgatory at all hours. It’s what allowed me to purchase a few empty glass jars, and two very overpriced SE potions, as well as some jerky to take back to my room. Asher wasn’t happy about the expense, but he was helpful enough to inform me that the process could be done inside of a container if getting a little dust on my hands was such a problem. That, and the two SE potions would be enough for me to complete the process at least once.
I put a single small tooth into the jar and held the jar in my hands. I thought ‘extract’ and nearly fell over when I felt the energy rush out of me again. I made a mental note not to do this unless I was sitting down next time. I shook my head as the strong sulfur smell hit me again and jerked me back to wakefulness.
In the bottom of the jar was a light dusting of glowing green demonic essence.
“Congratulations, you didn’t waste it this time,” Asher snarked.
I glared at him.
Asher glared right back. “It’s late. I want to finish this process so you will go to sleep. The sooner you get some rest, the sooner you get back into Purgatory where the library awaits.”
I slowly broke my glare and focused on the glowing white SE potion inside the tiny crystal vial in front of me. I broke the crystal top and poured the mouthful of liquid into my mouth. It tasted like . . . nothing. It was like a cool drink of water. I swallowed but before the liquid got all the way down my throat. The potion kind of evaporated and my SE shot back up to ‘87/100’. In two minutes, I would be fully recovered enough to purify the essence.
When my SE was full, I moved on to the next step. I held the jar in my hand and following the same process, I thought ‘purify’.
My energy drained again, though this time I was sitting on my cot and didn’t need to worry about falling. The dust had turned into a fine, almost white, powder. I held it up to Asher and asked, “Is it supposed to look like that?”
“At your level, sure,” Asher answered.
I furrowed my brow, “Does that mean it’s not completely purified?”
Asher grunted.
“Do I need to purify it again?” I asked.
“No,” Asher answered. “If you try again, the purified essence is likely to explode and kill you.”
That was good to know. Still, I had one more question. “Can I still use this?”
“Yes, though it won’t be very potent,” Asher said.
That was okay. I was okay that it wouldn’t be very potent. For my first attempt at essence engineering, I would take whatever I could get. “So, what does this essence do?”
“Use it to find out,” Asher said then quickly added, “Just . . . don’t use it on your mace. In fact, use it on your shield. Maybe you’ll gain a defense of some kind against the sloth demons.”
“And how do I do that?” I asked.
Asher groaned. “Why? Why God? What did I do? Pour the powder onto your shield then think ‘imbue’.”
I wasn’t an idiot. But all this magic-type stuff was new to me. I could make some intuitive leaps, but why risk my life when I could ask my guide? A being that was literally there specifically to help me. I held my tongue. I was more interested in seeing what would happen to my shield.
I drank my last SE potion then poured the little bit of purified powder there was from the jar onto my shield. I held my hands over the shield and thought ‘imbue’, which was followed by another flash of light. After which, my shield looked . . . the same.
As much as I didn’t want to bother Asher, I needed to know. I held up the shield and asked, “Did it work?”
Asher looked over the shield. “Well . . . I’m never going to hear the end of this. You were successful.”
“And?” I asked, hoping he would elaborate.
Asher looked pained as he said his next sentence. “Your shield . . . now has an aura that-” he paused to clear his nonexistent throat. “Repels sloth aura.”
A grin spread across my face. “Seriously?”
Asher slowly bobbed up and down.
“So, I need more of the essence from those teeth?” I asked.
Asher answered through clenched jaws, “Yes.”
I smirked. “Should I go buy some more of those SE potions?”
Asher looked skyward again. “Why me?”
Chapter 14 – Secret Passage
Entering Purgatory this time I felt a sense of excitement I hadn’t previously felt. After spending an entire night and most of the next day imbuing my shield, then imbuing a new shield when the old one disintegrated, a result of trying to imbue too much essence into it, I was broke. Now, I needed more crystals, both for training and for my new craft. Still, the cost was worth it. My new shield could now repel quite a bit of sloth aura.
That left me with one task, testing my shield, which again, meant going back into Purgatory, something I was very eager to do.
Thankfully, Asher was there to stop me from rushing in. He floated directly in front of my face, blocking most of my view. “Stop, calm yourself. You won’t do yourself any good if you rush in and die. Start with one target. I’ll try to snap you out of it if you get ensnared.”
I backed away from the door and closed my eyes. I took a few long, deep, slow breaths in and out. “Okay, I’m ready.”
I opened the door and peeked in at the furniture arrayed around the room but felt no compulsion to sit on any of it. I released a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
“Nothing,” I whispered to Asher, who then breathed out his own sigh of relief.
Asher didn’t let the relief last long. “Okay, next I want you to stare at one piece of furniture. See if you can see through the illusion.”
I swallowed nervously and stared at an armchair. I felt a little tingle at the back of my head, but I was capable of ignoring it. I assumed that was the demon trying to ensnare me. As I stared at the hiding demon, trying to pierce its illusion. When the chair ruffled slightly, I grinned. I could see them now. I crushed the chair effortlessly. It yielded no rewards, not that I expected any.
Feeling confident, I looked to the next piece of furniture, an end table. And there was nothing. No tingle at the back of my head. No shudder of life that would signal a demon’s presence. Nothing. “Asher, I think this table is just a table.”
“Open the drawer and find out,” Asher said.
Cautiously, carefully, I pulled open the drawer. It was empty but there was no demon either.
Asher startled me with his whoop of triumph, “Yes! You can finally loot.”
“As opposed to what I was doing before,” I grumbled. Still, it was exciting. I had gotten used to ignoring the smashed glass and torn paper that would sometimes appear after I destroyed a piece of furniture that wasn’t a demon in disguise. I wondered what I might find now that I didn’t need to destroy everything.
Clearing the room after that was relatively easy. I didn’t waste EP destroying furniture and instead, I was able to search it for loot. I even got a few tiny crystals from between the cushions of an armchair that made me grin. Loose change was apparently a thing here as well.
The first bookshelf was . . . interesting. Previously, I would smash an entire row of books which would wake all the demons on the shelf. Now, I could see that the books were illusions. That meant that the paper I saw go flying when I hit before was also an illusion . . . a distraction. Five rapid quick strikes and the first bookshelf was cleared, and I was grinning from ear to ear. It was so much easier when I could just kill the demons where they sat.
“This just got so much easier,” I said.
Asher brought me back down to earth . . . Purgatory, “Don’t go getting a big head. You’re still at risk.”
I nodded, took another calming breath and went back to methodically slaughtering demons. Demons that no longer dropped loot for me . . . well, I found a few crystals on the bookshelves after I wiped out the demons but that was far and few between. I was also cer
tain that I wasn’t gaining many experience points either.
Following my usual pattern, I cleared the shelves from the center of the balcony then started on the walls when I found an unusual bookshelf. There were six books that weren’t illusions, but only five of the books appeared to be sloth leeches in disguise. I grinned, wondering what I might have just found. Five quick strikes wiped out the sloth leeches and left me free to check out the other book. I cautiously put a hand on the book and tried to pull it down. The book tilted, then clicked and the bookshelf and stone wall swung open.
“A secret passage?” I questioned aloud.
Asher once again stymied me from getting overzealous, “I advise caution. This might be a shortcut or a hidden treasure.”
“Treasure?” I asked, getting excited all over again.
“Caution!” Asher hissed, stopping me again.
Another deep calming breath and I entered the hallway. I followed the path. It went forward then turned left into another hall, though much shorter. And unfortunately, it led to an abrupt dead-end.
“This doesn’t make sense,” I complained. Secret doors always led somewhere.
Asher bobbed up and down in agreement. “Look for another hidden switch but beware of traps.”
I hadn’t encountered any traps yet, but that didn’t mean they didn’t exist. I started with the dead-end wall. I ran a hand over every brick I could reach, searching for anything out of place. I found nothing. I started moving back up the hall, searching the longer of the two walls. About halfway down, I found a loose stone. I pushed on it, but nothing happened. I tried to get my fingers around the stone and pulled at it. With a slight sucking sound, the brick came free, and I dropped it to the ground where it gave off a crunching thud before rolling over to stop on a flat side. I peered into the hole and found another switch. I flipped it.
Purgatory: The Devil's Game Page 16
