"Don't "what's up" me! What are you doing!?" - Jack
"Juggling skulls with [Poltergeist], why?" - Garami
Waiting for this guy to restart himself took so long, that I finished with using the rewards from the Location Quest. My current status is like this now:
The new stuff is the Tamer class, plus the skills I got with it, [Taming] and [Tamer's Command]. These two skills are a Tamer's bread and butter:
[Taming] makes you able to tame creatures, while [Tamer's Command] allows you to make the creature follow your command. It's not a skill that brainwashes the creature, but it allows the tamed creature to understand what you want it to do, as well as letting the tamer pick out skills the tamed creature shall learn from the skill shop, but only if the creature itself allows it.
Then there's [Summoning], the first main reason for picking Tamer. It's a tamer-class exclusive Magic Skill, that lets one call upon a creature from a distant place. The creature will follow your commands, so it's kinda like a pseudo-taming since the contract only lasts for as long as the spell holds.
You can only call on creatures to the number you tamer-class allows to, meaning a maximum of 6 creatures for a regular Tamer, if they haven't tamed anything. A Tamer with 6 monsters under their control can't summon any new ones.
The [Summoning] skill doesn't come with spells of their own. You need to learn the spells on your own, or do like me, and use a Spell Scroll. The Summon Skeleton spell can summon any Skeleton monster, as long as it ain't too strong.
I tested the spell out and only got Lesser Skeletons, plus one Scout, and a Skeleton Dog. I think I'll be able to summon stronger Skeletons if I train the [Summoning] skill some more, I may get a Swordsman, or maybe something like a Skeleton Lord, or even a Skeletal Dragon.
The [Summoning] skill cost 2 skill points. And one last thing, summons don't die. Instead, they are forcefully sent back to where they came from when they lose too much HP. The summoning spell must be protecting them at 1 HP, and send them back after that.
Moving away from summoning, new skill number four is [Poltergeist]. You know about poltergeists, who make noises, destroy objects and other physical disturbances? That's, to be blunt, what this skill is about. It's like Ghost-type telekinesis that uses MP. Not sure if there's a real [Telekinesis] skill, but I'm fine with this one.
Then, as people may have understood already, I've used 5 of Orimaru's skill points to upgrade Skill Sharing into giving me the Arts-skills that he has. I could use some points to add more skills to the Skill Sharing, but most of Orimaru's strong skills originate from me, so there's no point in doing that. I'll save the rest of the points to a later date.
"What the heck is a poltergeist?! And why are you juggling?! It's freaking me out, so stop it!" - Jack
And back to the old-fashioned computer-Remnant, Mr. Jack. I'll stop, so you stop with the shouting.
"Was waiting for you to come to your senses. Even Raoul woke up before you. And, the reward was a [Poltergeist] Skill Scroll. And, I was bored. Therefore the juggling." - Garami
"And I keep asking, what the heck is a poltergeist? That telekinesis-like thing that ghosts use? And did you say reward?! Where's mine!?" - Jack
Your rewards come first, huh. People's too greedy nowadays.
"Whoa! Finally, Lady Luck is smiling at me!!" - Jack
Poor Jack must be the worst lottery-ticket-drawer ever. What did he get-!
"Stop!" - Garami
"Eh, what up-oi!" - Jack
I quickly snagged the 'reward' from Jack, before he could do anything stupid with it.
Description: A bangle that is fashioned after a set of handcuffs. The one that equips this cursed item will rage around, until they have used all their energies, and dies.
The so-called handcuffs looked like two thin bangles, connected with several chains to form one big bangle, and was decorated with nasty spikes, that looked straight out cursed.
"Yup, this is vile. Both the effects and the item itself." - Garami
If there's something positive with this item, it's the fact that I now know the difference between really cursed items, like this, or those who are just called cursed, like Orimaru.
"Hey, that's my reward! You got a Skill Scroll, so you have no right in being jealous of me." - Jack
"Who in their right mind would be jealous of an idiot that's overjoyed over a cursed item?" - Garami
"Cursed? That golden bangle? There's no way something that would fit a Priest would be cursed." - Jack
Huh? Golden?
"Wait, how does this item look to you?" - Garami
"Two golden rings, connected with white chains. You can see that yourself." - Jack
"Ah, I see. So [Appraisal] had a function like that as well." - Garami
"Just what are you talking about." - Jack
"This thing is cursed in the worst ways you could imagine. It looks like it's a cross between handcuffs and poison thorns." - Garami
"Say what!?" - Jack
"I'll show you the appraisal result-" - Garami
"I don't believe it! There's no way that's true! I've been losing lotteries, and games all my life, so I refuse to believe that my luck's still that bad, even after death, and crawling back from Kur!" - Jack
Ugh, for the love of... no, I don't have much love for those guys. Except for Skvalv. A little.
This guy's not gonna believe what I write with Hologram, so what now? Wasn't there something in [Appraisal]'s options window that could help me here? I didn't care about stuff like that back in the Water-Knot, but maybe... bingo!
"Well then, look at this." - Garami
An option of being able to show the appraisal result to others. Visually, it looks like the Quest message board, the Location Quest used. The kind that one sees in animes with virtual realities. That kind.
"This is..." - Jack
"This is the appraisal result. The concept is the same as the window used for the Location Quest." - Garami
"Wha-!" - Jack
...
......
.........
"N-NOOOOOO!!!" - Jack
If the scenery before me was some piece of art, I would name it "Crushed Dreams". But I'm tired of waiting for this guy, so I'll shut him up.
*Smack*
"O-ouch!" - Jack
And, he's back. Looks like the title-related damage increase only applies whenever I want it too, instead of being a passive-type boost. Even so, that does not explain how the dragon was blown away from my attack.
"What was that for?!" - Jack
"Just checking if you would be sent flying like the dragon." - Garami
"D-don't use me for life-threatening experiments! When we're on the subject, did always have that amount of strength? And how did you make it disappear like that?" - Jack
Good, he didn't see the Kigal-Note. Not gonna answer him on that question anyway. I want to keep my trump card a secret.
And I don't know myself why the dragon took that much damage. There wasn't anything strange that I did, and it doesn't feel like it was the overlapping titles that did it either. In that case, the possible culprits, are:
Hmm, must be Mana Burst. It's the only newcomer that's suspicious, and I doubt that some boots could produce that blow. Bihamut, the leader sahuagin, had a Mana Burst skill himself, but his skill was of the water-attribute and not darkness like mine.
Even counting the attribute difference, Bihamut didn't turn that stronger after using it. Is there something with the darkness attribute that I've overseen...? Darkness? That's it!
It's [Darkness Divinity]! One of the skills I got for being Alvatria's Champion. Element skills increase the effect of skills with the same attribute while cutting down the costs.
If I add the Divinity-skill in the mix, with the other skills and titles, then it would explain that explosive power I demonstrated. The dragon was unlucky with its opponent, that's all I can say.
"Hey, you gonna answer me, or what?!" - Jack
Whoops, I forgot that I was in a conversation.
"Too noisy. If you want to know about the dragon, ask it yourself." - Garami
I said that and pointed towards what was behind Jack.
"?! D-d-d-d-d-dragon!!" - Jack
Yup. The Undead Dragon, who had slept behind Jack all this time.
Now then, not only Jack but you guys as well, must wonder, why did the Undead Dragon lay here, counting sheep? Simple. I gave it an offer it couldn't say no too.
Let me start by explaining how I trapped the dragon. Don't tell anyone else, 'kay?
Description: The book of the Champion of Alvatria.
The Kigal-Note has access to all information about Terra Sol and is used by the Champion of Alvatria to obtain the upper hand against her enemies.
The Kigal-Note is made of darkness, solidified into a physical form. This makes the book impossible to damage, and it is inaccessible for anyone, except the Champion of Alvatria, and those that have been permitted by her.
The Kigal-Note can absorb, and seal, almost anything, and utilize the abilities of the trapped target as its own.
Pretty sick, when I look over it again. The smart guys already get it, but it was the [Absorb, Seal, and Re-Use] effect that finished off the Undead Dragon. The only ability I could use was the corrosion breath, and it needed to use MP and had a cooldown period.
While I waiting for Jack to reboot, I made a deal with the captured dragon: either be stuck in the book for the rest of its life, or become my tamed monster, and get all the delicacies it could ever dream of. Dragons are weak to good food, alcohol, and treasures. That's something any self-proclaimed otaku knows. Since I didn't have any alcohol and didn't want to share any of my treasures, I tried with food first.
It fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. Way to easy. Shouldn't dragons be more prideful? This was too anticlimactic.
I started by giving the dragon a turtle, and it munched it down in just a few seconds, forcing me to take out more corpses. It devoured 3 whole frogs, several rats, and a spider for dessert. What a glutton.
I was a little worried when I got to know that I needed to name the creature that would be tamed, but I managed to do so, without making it a kin or some other strange thing. It got the title [Garami's Follower], but that's something that all tamed creatures get.
Eh? Why I didn't make it my kin? Why would I make something that was trying to kill me half-an-hour ago? Geez...
Since the dragon was eating so much, I was going to name the Undead Dragon something like "Beelzebub", but when I remembered when I named Orimaru, and he got the skills I unconsciously thought would be cool. After that, it's safer to refrain from giving names that sounded too boss-monster-ish.
Still, it's a dragon, dead or not, so the name needs some grandness while being safe to call out in public. After thinking about it for a little while, I decided to name the dragon. Levi.
I moved away from Beelzebub, as naming it after a fly would be too cruel, even if it was the most dreadful fly in existence, but kept the whole 'demon lord' concept alive.
The Leviathan is a sea serpent, so it fits me who defeated the lake serpent amongst the Ultimate Disasters. It also fits my [Hydra] move, so why not. Levi didn't show any displeasure, but that's probably because it was eating.
And why did I go through the length of taming Levi? Because anyone that has played that famous MMORPG wants an undead dragon mount! That, and I can use Summon Skeleton now. If this keeps up though, I'll class-change from Tamer to Necromancer.
Taming the dragon turned out to be a good idea, as I got a new title for it: Dragon Tamer. Don't they place too much weight on dragons in this world? I was able to obtain a Unique skill when I got "Dragon Slayer".
The Dragon Tamer-title powers up dragon-related skills, like [Hydra, Dragon of Poison]. I think it works with dragon-breath-like skills as well. The title's effect also extends to my tamed dragons, meaning Levi. That Corrosion Breath has turned even deadlier now. Yikes...
Also, the Dragon Tamer-title was my 20th title, which clarified me to another title: Achievement Collector.
The title is for those who have collected 20 or more titles and rewards you with 5 skill points. A happy surprise.
---
"And that's all." - Garami
"I get it, I get it, so let me down! How are you able to stay unfazed like that?!" - Jack
"Skills. Literally." - Garami
"Damn it, you skill winner!" - Jack
He's not wrong there. I had some extra points, thanks to Achievement Collector, and decided to get the [Riding] skill, and it works wonders. I had it with waiting for Jack to wake up, so I wrapped him up in some threads, and dumped him on Levi's back, and rode towards Velantas city.
Let me tell you, Levi is fast! Like, not only during the fight on the bridge, but it's so fast in running, that she covers five times as much ground as I did, when I ran through the wasteland on my own. We met some squadrons of Skeletons, but Levi trampled them without losing any speed.
Jack woke up when we had arrived into a part of the Deadlands that still contained some sort of vegetation, even if it was only dried trees and bushes. To say it simply, he wasn't happy with the luggage treatment. I shut him up by telling him to stop fainting all the time.
Even after getting told that he was in the wrong for keeping people, and dragons, waiting, Jack still demanded that I explained the reason for how I was able to tame Levi.
I kept quiet about stuff related to the Kigal-Note but told him the part about how I tamed Levi with food. Jack looked like he would break down again, but he must have gained some resistance, as he managed to stay conscious. Are dragons that difficult to tame?
I made Levi stop and untied Jack. I had wrapped him up so that he wouldn't fall of Levi's back. Jack fumbled around, a little dizzy after the ride, and sat down to rest.
I checked the map, and damn Levi is fast! I already said it, but I need to say it again, now that I have taken a good look at the map. If we keep on riding Levi like this, we'll reach the city tomorrow, two and a half days ahead of schedule.
Ain't Levi way too fast for its stats? Since we're already taken a break, let's ask professor Jack. He was talking about dragons before on the bridge, so he must know something.
"Dragon trivia." - Garami
"One thing after another... What now?" - Jack
"Why is Levi so much faster than me? My speed stat is supposed to be higher than it? Him? Her?" - Garami
"The name sounds feminine, so call it 'her', if that's so important. And all dragons can use all of their stats, unlike other living beings." - Jack
"How's an Undead Dragon a living being? And 'all of their stats'?" - Garami
"Haaahhh. Think about it: if a Lesser Skeleton for some strange way got an STR stat of 1000, do you think it could use all that strength?" - Jack
"Huh? It can't?" - Garami
"No way it can't! All creatures of Terra Sol have stats, but only a handful of them can use more than the average of their species stats. The few individuals who manage to overcome their species limit, and gain a status higher than the average, will be limited from using it so that they won't destroy their own bodies." - Jack
"W-w-wh-wh-wh-" - Garami
"The sole exception of that rule is the dragon species. And I'm not talking about wyverns or dinosaurs, but real dragons. Personifications of attribute aether that converged, and became a living being. Their bodies are so strong, they can burst through the limits of the other species, and use 100% of their stats all the time. That's common sense." - Jack
Sorry for not having common sense then!
"It only works on real, living dragons, so Skeletal Dragons, or Dragon Zombies, who are just reanimated dragon corpses, don't have this trait. That's the reason why I wanted the Quest Boss to be one of those, but to think that you had the power to beat an Undead Dragon in its own game..." - Jack
While saying so, Jack turned over and looked at Levi, who was happily munching on a new frog that I gave her. But that means-!
"AAAAHHH!!" - Garami
"What now?" - Jack
"Act a little more startled than that!" - Garami
"I've started to get used to all that craziness of yours." - Jack
"Craziness?! Aargh, that's not the point. You said that each species can't be stronger than of a certain threshold? Then what was the point in getting all those Ability Skills?!" - Garami
"You farmed Ability Skills? I think there was some skill like that, that increased the amount of stats the body could handle." - Jack
"You serious?!" - Garami
"Think so. I overheard some high-ranking Adventurer talking about that, but I was only an E-rank before dying. Some skills that break the limit of the human body was stuff out of my reach back then. Even more so now." - Jack
*poke*
"Then, there's a hope of getting such a skill?" - Garami
"Hope yeah, but you should talk to some higher-ups of the Adventurer Guild, even if you're not gonna register as an Adventurer. I recommend that you should. They accept anyone without a Criminal title." - Jack
*poke, poke*
Who cares about that?! The penniless me does, but that's not what I'm concerned about now. Those limit-breaking skills, I need to get them. At least those for DEX and SPD, which are my best stats. STR and VIT ain't that important, and MAG is mostly for the poison attacks of Hydra, which has a better secondary effect than raw power. RES, should I also look for it. Magic attacks could come from who knows where.
*poke, poke, poke, poke, poke*
"Aargh! What is it!?" - Garami
I turned around and saw Levi poking me.
"You're still hungry?" - Garami
No way, she has a [Black Hole Stomach] skill or something? Oh, it wasn't. Levi pointed towards something in the wasteland. A blue bundle of something? It was surrounded by small hills, making the place it perfect for an ambush. And from the pings [Sense Foe] gave me, several Skeletons are waiting to do just that.
"Hey, someone has collapsed over there!" - Jack
That's a person? There are blue people in this world? No, it's some distance, but I think that the blue stuff is their hair. Jack ran towards the bundle of blue(?), without noticing what was happening in his surroundings.
"*sigh* Levi, take out the Skeleton ambush. Don't leave anyone alive, and retrieve the weapons you think looks nice. I'll give you another turtle if there's something of real value amongst them." - Garami
Levi made some kind of salutation with her front leg and ran towards the closest group of Skeletons. Where did she learn that gesture? The sound of crushed bones and ambushes rang out in the distance, while I walked towards Jack and the bundle of blue.
Sure enough, it was a person who had collapsed. Jack's eyesight is something that should be classified as a skill. It's a girl, dressed in white clothes, a black skirt, alongside brown boots and marine stockings. The girl herself had blue hair, and nice facial features, stunning in fact. She would do better in the cities, than out in the wilderness like here.
"Good, she's still alive. She only collapsed due to exhaustion." - Jack
That so. She must have escaped the Skeleton groups, only to fall over here. Her good luck is that the Skeletons had the brains to leave her alone, as bait for other creatures that would come, either to save her or something less pleasant. The Skeletons, on the other hand, weren't that lucky. Nor good in hiding their blood lust.
"Give me a hand here. We need to get her to someplace with shade." - Jack
"Why me?" - Garami
"First off, my appearance is that of a Skeleton. Second, she's a girl, so it's better if you do it." - Jack
Good points. I would freak out if I woke up to see a Skeleton carrying me.
"And third, I don't have the muscles to carry her." - Jack
...... I can't comment back.
I picked up the girl, and walked out of the hill-area, only to be met by Levi, with a mouth full of weapons, and for some reason, tons of bones. I didn't need the bones, and the weapons were too weak to be called any good. Many of them were bent or even broken, probably due to the skirmish they had against Levi.
I accepted the weapons and decided to give Levi the turtle I promised her later. She had good enough intentions, and I still have two-three turtles left. Am I turning into a doting owner? Jack, who had walked ahead, signalized to me that he had found something in the distance, so I sent Levi to him, with the orders that she should take out any enemy Skeleton in the area.
I took a good look at the girl's face, and wondered, is she even human? Her good looks wouldn't lose to the elves I read about on Earth, but her face is that of a human. Not that any human I know has blue hair, but this is a fantasy world. Just having blue hair wouldn't mean she's a non-human. Only one way to find out.
Ability Skills are skills that affect the skill user's stats.
There exist three different types of Ability Skills:
Ability Skills can increase once stats, almost all living beings are incapable of using stats that is higher than the average of that species, and their levels. Someone that is LV10 will have a higher limit than someone that is LV1
In cases where the stats are higher than the average, a penalty will be placed on the stat-amount that's above the limit, depending on the race. A race that is strong in magic. who's 100% over the average limit, will only be able to use 50% of their MAG stats that are above the limit. Even with this, they are still 150% stronger in MAG, than the average of their species.
There are some Ability Skills, that not only enhances the stats the skill holder has, but also allows them to utilize abilities that go beyond the capability of their race.
Alvatria's comment: Kur Kigal will be able to use 60% of their DEX stats when it's above the normal, 20% of their VIT, 45% for the rest, but they can use 80% of their MAG stats when they use Black Magic. Oh, and Lesser Skeletons gets 0% of their above-normal stats.