Healer Arc 2 -- Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The extraction process was done quickly upon the numerous corpses around the final cave, despite there being hundreds of them, and soon enough they were heading into the only place that hadn’t been explored as of yet: The place where the Boss had broken through the wall.  The darkness inside it had retreated somewhat, allowing them to see that it led to a much smaller cave, which had the familiar wavy distortion along the backwall that signaled that it was an exit – meaning that they wouldn’t have to travel all the way back up in order to leave.

There was a small box made of splintery wood and rusty iron placed up against the side wall, which appeared to be the only dungeon clearance reward that they would get from the actual dungeon itself.  Inside the box were a number of silver coins, enough for each of them to receive 5 coins each, which wasn’t a bad haul, but there was something even better that Warven picked out of the container.

Explosive Healing Ring

Rarity: Uncommon

Class Restrictions: Support

Level Restriction: 1

+2 Mentality

+9% increase in Support spell casting speed

Whether it was his Fortuity taking affect once again, despite it being so low, or just simple luck, but the only piece of gear that had dropped through the entire dungeon was something that only he – out of the Party – could use.  Everything else, even the items extracted from the Boss, had only been crafting materials; while the ones from the Gremklin Detonator had been “Rare” and likely worth more, they didn’t actually help him.

“Do any of you mind if I take it?” he asked, eyeing the Ring in Warven’s hands.

The Netherine glanced at him before seeming to come to a decision.  “If you forfeit the materials from the Boss, as well as these extra silver coins, you can have it—”

“Done!”  Thaden didn’t even let Warven finish, as he wasn’t going to argue.  He would finally have something that worked for him, and while it wasn’t much, it was at least something that he thought he might be able to actually attach his Condensed Adaptable Mimicry Plate.  And if he was really lucky, then his old friend Sadia might just make an appearance.

Quickly handing over the automatically apportioned materials he’d received after it was extracted, the Party leader handed over the Explosive Healing Ring, which Thaden slipped on automatically.  The doubling of his Mentality was like a cooling salve spreading through his mind; he hadn’t realized how strained it had become after all of the enthralling and dominating that he’d been doing.  While it didn’t eliminate every trace of the stress that still lingered, he could tell that it had made a significant difference.

Thaden debated placing the Mimicry Plate on it now, but eventually decided to wait until he was alone.  If Sadia did end up showing herself, he didn’t want to freak out the other members of his Party and risk them killing her as soon a she showed up – in whatever form she ended up being.  The last time he had seen her, she had been in her giant squirrel form, which he had mentally changed after their initial meeting where she was some sort of seductive succubus; but after arriving on Plangea and with the changes that were done to the multitude of Plates that he used to have into its new condensed form, he had no idea what to expect if—when—she came back.

Instead, he followed the others out of the dungeon exit, passing through the wavy transitionary plane until they were outside.  As he looked around, he noticed that only a short time had passed while they had been inside, perhaps only 2 hours in total, so they had plenty of sunlight left to return to Felith.  He also couldn’t help but notice that they emerged from the dungeon only about 20 feet around the side of the hill where they had entered – and that the entrance had faded away completely.

“So, when we clear a dungeon, it disappears forever?” he asked, looking at the spot where the entrance had been not that long ago.

Unarven nodded.  “Essentially, yes.  They pop up frequently, however, and it is rare when a day goes by without another showing up somewhere near.  From what we’ve heard, the same dungeon might be established again a few decades down the line, as if they are being cycled through, but we haven’t actually witnessed this yet.”

That was interesting to hear about, as Thaden thought that meant there was a limited number of dungeon varieties that could be created by the Persistent Adversary – though that number was likely in the millions, or even greater than that. 

After learning that, he didn’t really have any other questions; instead, he was eager to return to town after their time in the dungeon.  He felt exhausted, despite not actually doing any fighting himself, and he figured it was a combination of physical and mental exhaustion; his stats were still pathetically low, so it wasn’t that much of a surprise. 

As they began to travel back toward Felith and he thought about the bed that awaited him that he was renting from the Coalition, Thaden finally began to peruse his notifications.

You have slain a Gremklin Swarmer – Minimal – Level 2!

You have received 0.1 PICK!

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

You have received 0.1 PICK!

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

You have slain a Gremklin Detonator (Boss) – Minimal – Level 6!

You have received 1.8 PICK!

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

You have received 2.34 PICK!

Spiritual Spellcasting Competency has increased to Level 1,418!

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

Spiritual Spellcasting Competency has increased to Level 1,425!

Extractions complete!

Loot obtained:

6 Silver, 88 Copper coins

298x Gremklin Sinew (Common)

23x Gremklin Gas Vial (Uncommon)

You have completed the minimum requirements for your assigned DUNGEON MAINTENANCE  Quest!

You may return to the Adventurer Coalition to choose another Quest, or attempt to complete the Bonus Completion Requirements for this DUNGEON MAINTENANCE Quest for even more rewards!

You have received 2 silver, 5.0 PICK, and 2 Rank Progress up to Copper Coalition Rank!

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

You have received 2 silver, 54 copper, 6.5 PICK, and 3 Rank Progress up to Copper Coalition Rank!

You have completed the full bonus requirements for your assigned DUNGEON MAINTENANCE  Quest!

You may now return to the Adventurer Coalition to choose another Quest!

You have received 5 silver, 20.0 PICK, and 5 Rank Progress up to Copper Coalition Rank!

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

You have received 6 silver, 45 copper, 26.0 PICK, and 7 Rank Progress up to Copper Coalition Rank!

Congratulations for simultaneously controlling 30 or more targets while as a Support Class!

Achievement received: Why Aren’t You A Control Class? I

Bonus reward: 30.0 PICK

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: 39.0 PICK

Congratulations for simultaneously controlling 60 or more targets while as a Support Class!

Achievement received: Why Aren’t You A Control Class? II

Bonus reward: 60.0 PICK

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: 78.0 PICK

Congratulations for simultaneously controlling 90 or more targets while as a Support Class!

Achievement received: Why Aren’t You A Control Class? III

Bonus reward: 180.0 PICK

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: 234.0 PICK

World First Achievement: +15 Mentality, +50 Personality

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

World First Achievement: +20 Mentality, +65 Personality

Congratulations for clearing your first Minimal difficulty dungeon!

Achievement received: Dungeon Clearance I

Bonus reward: 10.0 PICK

Fortunate Catastrophe bonus trait activated!

Bonus reward: 13.0 PICK

PICK requirements met!  100/100

Increase Class Level? Y / N

Note: This can only be completed while not currently in combat and while not in a dungeon.

The deluge of information wasn’t a surprise, and was something that he had become used to while in Tarth, so he managed to take it all in without stumbling or running into something – for which he took great pride in being able to handle it.  Once he looked through it all, he discovered that he had earned a total of 674 PICK from the moment he left Felith, which included killing nearly 3,000 monsters inside the dungeon as well as the Achievements and Quest completion.  Only the Why Aren’t You A Control Class? Achievements were a surprise, and they also provided a massive amount of PICK to him, totaling more than everything else he’d done combined.

But what made it even better was the bonuses from the World First Achievement for reaching the third tier of the Why Aren’t You A Control Class?  An additional +20 Mentality and +65 Personality was huge at that point, and as he felt the stat changes flow through him, his mind soothed even further than before – to the point where he couldn’t detect any more strain.  Thankfully, the changes weren’t so dramatic, like they would be if they were physical in nature, to knock him out, though he did become slightly weak in the knees for a few seconds while the changes took place.

When it was all done, he couldn’t help but be surprised that he had actually received a World First Achievement.  When he had been on Tarth, he had received so many “Contender World First Achievements” because the developmental world was technically new, so he was the first to do many different things; given that Plangea was huge, contained hundreds if not thousands of worlds all smashed together into one massive planet, and likely had hundreds of billions of people, if not trillions, to have actually gained a World First Achievement was hard to believe.  The fact that he didn’t receive the World First for controlling 30 or 60 targets while a Support Class meant that at least one person in the world had been able to accomplish that many targets, but they had apparently been unable to reach 90 targets – which made him wonder why?  Is it really that difficult?  I mean, I’m only Level 1, after all.  Or am I just that much of a cheat because of my powerful Class?

The thought of only being Level 1 made him realize that he’d earned more than enough PICK to Level up.  He checked the pertinent section of his Character Report to check for sure.

Thaden

Primary Class – Fortunate Catastrophe

Primary Class Level – 1

Secondary Class – Novice Enthraller

Secondary Class Level – 1

Progressive Internal Combat Knowledge (PICK) – 674/100

Adventurer Coalition Rank: Platinum+ 705/810 RP

Health – 10/10

Mana – 240/240

Physicality – 1

Celerity – 1

Mentality – 24

Personality – 66

Fortuity – 1

He was absolutely correct, as he quickly found out; when he looked at his stats, he was also happy to see that his new Mentality also provided him 240 Mana.  With his new Mana pool, he was fairly certain he could now use Celestial Dominate Spirit and use Weak Health Siphon to heal at the same time, meaning that he was no longer stuck using one or the other.  Even as he considered his Dominate Spirit spell, something told him to check it again; once he did, he quickly noticed that something about it had changed.

Whereas it had previously required a total of 80% of his Mana pool to keep it running as a Reserved spell, it had now reduced to only 60%; a quick check of his other synergized spells showed the same 20% reduction, making them even easier to use in conjunction with other spells.  He wasn’t exactly sure why they had changed, but he suspected it was the increase in his Mana pool; it was possible that with every 100 Mana he had access to, it would make the spells less expensive to use.  They weren’t any more effective than they were before, only cheaper, but he thought it was possible it could change as he continued to increase his Mentality. 

Now that he knew he had enough PICK, he began the Level-up process; there was no reason to wait, now that he was out of the dungeon, as any increase in his stats was vital at that point.

PICK requirements met!

Increase Class Level? Y / N

Note: This can only be completed while not currently in combat and while not in a dungeon.

Thaden mentally selected “Y”, but instead of immediately sending his PICK toward increasing his Level, something else popped up.

Please select Class:

Fortunate Catastrophe – Level 1 – 100/100

Novice Enthraller – Level 1 – 100/100

When he only had a single Class on Tarth, he hadn’t had to choose anything – the PICK simply went toward increasing his Personal Level.  Now that he had 2 Classes, however, it seemed as if he had to pick which one he wanted the PICK to go toward; he figured he might be unique in this respect, as from what he knew, he was the only one with only two different combat Classes (as everyone else had profession-type Classes as their second), so he hadn’t been warned about this.

He went ahead and selected Fortunate Catastrophe, as he was fairly certain that it would provide the most stat improvement.

Level up!  You are now a Level 2 Fortunate Catastrophe!

As part of the Leveling process, you have received the following:

Physicality +10

Celerity +10

Mentality +10

Personality -30

Fortuity +50

This sudden influx of stat changes did make him stumble and fall as his body was suddenly flooded with Physicality and Celerity, both of which had been only at 1 before his Level-up.  He was only partially aware that Warven had stopped the Party and helped him to his feet, asking him a question.  He shook his head a few times to clear it and tested his body once he was upright, before answering what he thought was the question he was asked.

“Sorry about that; I’m fine now.  I was just increasing my Level.  The changes were… extensive,” he said, which was an understatement now that he’d been able to evaluate the changes.

“Alright.  Let’s get moving, then; at the same time, let me know if you need anything.”

Thaden winced when he saw that he had received -30 in Personality; he’d forgotten that the Class was primarily a solo-focused class, which impacted his relationships with other people.  Still, it was worth it to him to have a stronger body, as he no longer felt like a weak punch would kill him instantly. 

He had only used 100 PICK to get to Level 2 in his Fortunate Catastrophe Class, so he decided to use more to become even stronger.

PICK requirements met!

Increase Class Level? Y / N

Note: This can only be completed while not currently in combat and while not in a dungeon.

Please select Class:

Fortunate Catastrophe – Level 2 – 400/400

Novice Enthraller – Level 1 – 100/100

As he suspected, he could allocate his PICK to whatever Class in which he had enough PICK to increase.  He hesitated for a moment over raising Fortunate Catastrophe again, but he had a hunch that it followed the same stat-increase format that it was before; as such, he was fairly certain that the next Level wouldn’t decrease his Personality again.  With that decision in place, he selected Fortunate Catastrophe once again.

Level up!  You are now a Level 3 Fortunate Catastrophe!

As part of the Leveling process, you have received the following:

Physicality +10

Celerity +10

Mentality +10

(1) Spell selection choice

400 of his hard-earned PICK flowed out to increase his original Class to Level 3, and as he thought, he only received stat increases in Physicality, Celerity, and Mentality – while also gaining an additional spell selection choice.  Not that he necessarily needed it, as he had 125 spell selection choices that had carried over from Tarth, but he was interested in seeing if there were any new spells he might be able to select.

Unfortunately, when he opened up his spell options, there weren’t any new spells.  He was hoping that he might be able to upgrade his Novice Enthraller spells to Minor or Lesser strength, but it appeared as if he was only able to do that if he increased that particular Class.  He was also unable to downgrade his Celestial-strength spells, as it seemed as if they were locked into what he arrived on Plangea with. 

Disappointed, he moved on and used another 100 PICK to increase his newest Class.

PICK requirements met!

Increase Class Level? Y / N

Note: This can only be completed while not currently in combat and while not in a dungeon.

Please select Class:

Fortunate Catastrophe – Level 3 – 174/700

Novice Enthraller – Level 1 – 100/100

It wouldn’t even let him choose Fortunate Catastrophe, as he didn’t have 700 PICK, so he chose what he was originally going to choose when he activated the Level-up process.

Level up!  You are now a Level 2 Fortunate Catastrophe!

As part of the Leveling process, you have received the following:

Physicality +1

Celerity +1

Mentality +2

Personality +3

The stats he received was surprisingly more than he expected, given that he had only received 1 or 2 stat points when he was an Assistant Healer back on Tarth.  He assumed that it had something to do with the rarity of his Class, though it could simply be the nature of the Class itself.  Regardless, every little bit was welcome to help make him stronger, so he wasn’t going to complain.

With his Level increases finished, he reviewed his Character Report briefly to see the differences, and he couldn’t help but be pleased at what he saw.

Thaden

Primary Class – Fortunate Catastrophe

Primary Class Level – 3

Secondary Class – Novice Enthraller

Secondary Class Level – 2

Progressive Internal Combat Knowledge (PICK) – 74/400

Adventurer Coalition Rank: Platinum+ 705/810 RP

Health – 220/220

Mana – 420/420

Physicality – 22

Celerity – 22

Mentality – 42

Personality – 39

Fortuity – 51

In the course of an afternoon, he had gained more than he had since he arrived a half-year ago.  Things were already looking up, as he felt himself slowly getting back to where he was when he left Tarth; he didn’t expect to get to that point anytime soon, as it was going to be an uphill battle all the way, but he could finally see the finish line in the far, far distance.

Thaden still had some selections to choose from as he walked, which included picking Advancements for the rest of his Competencies, but before he could start looking through them, he and his Party abruptly stopped on their trek back to Felith.  A faint feeling passed through him that he immediately identified, as he’d felt it more than enough times in Tarth, but it was so unexpected that his mind froze and his body locked up.

Why is the System turning its attention to me?  I didn’t think it was able to do that on Plangea like it did on Tarth…. 

The feeling was gone in less than a second, and Thaden instinctively knew that the presence of the System’s attention wasn’t directed toward him.  Instead, it was focused on something ahead of them.

Oh, no…. Felith is that way.

It appeared as if Thaden wasn’t the only one that had felt it, as his Party looked at each other and took off toward town, abandoning him without a word.

“Wait, hold on—!” he shouted, but even with his new Celerity stat having increased by over 20 points, the Netherines were apparently still so much faster.  Within seconds, they were beyond even his sight, and he was all alone… once again.