Chapter 45: Like Clockwork_System Change

Chapter 45: Like Clockwork

 After watching the two close the cabin door, Derek and Rayna got to business. Soon they fell into a pattern. Derek would aggro a pack of wolves, Rayna would take one out alone, they would share XP on two, and the remaining two wolves would be left to Malorie and Thomas.

 It was not long before the area waspletely bereft of wolves. They had decimated seven packs already. The wolves ranged from level 44 to 49. Luckily, Derek only shared half the experience for 14 wolves, earning him just over 3,200 XP and a level.

 Rayna, on the other hand, was making leaps and bounds. As she only had a rare ss, the experience points that she needed to level was a quarter less than what Derek needed. She had killed 7 beasts by herself, along with sharing 14 kills with Derek. She had leveled up twice and was on the verge of leveling again. She was currently at level 33.

 As for Thomas and Malorie, Thomas was at level 22 and Malorie was level 23. They were both closing in on their next ss decision.

 Derek surveyed the area, he could see a pile of wolvesying at the outside of the cabin. As they were moving fast, Malorie was unable to Dismantle fast enough to keep up with the supply.

 What now? Rayna asked.

 There are only a few bears and some critters left. Do you think you can take the bears by yourself? He asked her. The bears had a much higher defense than the wolves did. He was not sure that her Wind de would be able to severely injure them as it did the wolves.

 I can give it a try. If not, we can just go in and share the experience on them. The others wont be able to get anything from the bears, but you can always capture the smaller monsters for them to kill. Rayna gave her idea.

 Sounds good to me. Lets go. Derek said, and the two headed out towards the closest bear. When the duo made it close enough to the bear to be able to hit it with Raynas skill, they stopped.

 Im going to start from a distance and see if I can cut it down before it gets to me. If it gets too close, Im in your hands. She shed Derek a bright smile. He just shook his head andughed.

 Rayna took a stance and a blue-green glow appeared on her sword. She shed. The blue-green crescent flew towards her foe, hitting it on the back of the neck. It drew blood. Rayna scoffed. Not deep enough. She brought her sword back to its original position with a motion, sending another de of wind at the now angry bear.

 Derek watched, entranced, as the beautiful woman used her arm like a whip, sending a crescent of wind at the bear with every motion. de after de flew at the bear. There was almost no downtime between Wind des. The creature never stood a chance. Before it was even halfway to them, it copsed on the ground.

 Rayna was breathing heavily. 14. It took 14 Wind des to take it down. She said.

 Derek almost felt sorry for the bear. Not only was it hit with de after de, the uracy Rayna exhibited was astounding. The majority of the des had hit the bear in previously injured ces. One de may not have dealt severe injuries to the monster, but three des all ced at the exact same spot sure as hell did.

 Hows your mana? He asked.

 I still have more than half. I can kill one more before I need to meditate. She responded.

 They went after the next bear. It only took 12 Wind des to kill it. After the battle, or ughter, Rayna meditated while Derek kept watch.

 Soon, all eight remaining bears were dead, and Rayna was a level 35. She was actually able to kill one of the bears in seven strikes.

 With the bears dead, Derek hunted down and caught the few remaining smaller beasts. He brought them back for Thomas and Malorie to kill. It turned out to be more than enough XP for the both of them to level to 25, leaving one monster left in the zone. Derek hoped that the mass killing of enemies over double their levels would lead to some good ss options.

 He held the squirrel-like creature and went into the cabin with the rest of the group. Derek watched Thomas as the boy closed his eyes. He saw a frantic look appear on the boys face. What is it? He asked.

 T-the growth spear ss is gone. Thomas said, defeated.

 Derek let out a sigh. Thats okay. Sort your possible sses by rarity and see what you get.

 The other three watched Thomas with bated breaths. Malorie was adamant about waiting for the boys selection before she began with hers.

 Soon, a sigh of relief came out of the boys mouth.

 What is it? Derek asked.

 I have another spear ss. I dont have any growth type sses this time, but the new spear ss is a rare ss. Its called Soul Spear, and focuses on piercing damage.

 Derek nodded his head. Thats good. Not a bad ss.

 Thomas nodded and closed his eyes. Soon, a light shed over the boy and he opened his eyes again. He sighed. Im going to miss Stealth. Soon, he smiled. I get three Strength, two Vitality, and ten free stat points per level. I also got ten skill points and ess to three skills. Thomas then frowned. But the skills are really expensive. For all three, it costs eight skill points. Oh well, that still leaves me two free skill points for general skills.

 Are your skills good? Better than your other ss? Brandi spoke up and asked the question on everyones minds.

 Thomas smiled. Yes. They are. I have Soul Spear, its the same as my ss name, it lets me send a projection of my spear forward in a thrust that deals extra piercing damage. I think its like an extension of my spear. I also got Flurry and Spear Specialist. The first lets me release a flurry of attacks for a mana price, and the other is a passive skill that increases my spear mastery.

 Derek nodded. Definitely not a bad ss. He remembered his first ss, which only had an umon rating. In fact, his ss from the other system was not that great at all. All of his power came from the Titles he had received and their rewards.

 Derek turned to Malorie. Your turn.

 Okay. She closed her eyes. Her face went through a variety of emotions as she was looking through her possible sses. Soon, her facial expression stayed on what looked like confusion.

 Seeing her confusion, Derek spoke. What is it?

 I dont have any rare or better sses, but I have an umon growth type ss. Only, Im not sure about it. She answered. Its called Ohms Fury. Its a staff type ss, but it doesnt have many descriptions. 12 free stat points to use, but only one ss skill. I mean, its a growth type ss, so I should pick it, right? She looked at Derek.

 I mean, I would. If you like using the staff and arent afraid of losing your current skills. Who knows what it could upgrade into. He replied.

 Mal let out a breath. Youre right. I actually dont have any ss skills, only general skills. I wasnt hunting or anything, so I never saw the point. She closed her eyes again.

 Soon, a blinding green light fell over the woman. When Derek was able to see again, he saw a fire-like green glow fading into Malories body. Woah, that was cool for an umon ss. he chuckled.

 T-this skill Malorie muttered.

 What? Derek asked.

 Its called Ohms Might. It Its amazing I think. It doubles my Strength and Endurance stats for two minutes, but leaves me exhausted and out of mana after use.

 Almost like a berserker skill. Derek said. Still, its a great trump card. And, you can use it inbination with Meditation during training and level both of them at the same time.

 Soon, Malorie frowned again. It costs eight skill points. The ss only gave me seven. If it werent for the extra skill point from the Minor Giant yer award I got earlier, I wouldnt even be able to buy it. She sighed. Here goes nothing. She closed her eyes and learned the skill.

 So. How does it level? Does it say? Increase duration? Derek asked, he was very intrigued at the womans ss.

 Actually, it says it increases duration and buff as it levels. She said, surprised.

 Damn. Who knows, you may be able to get a tenfold increase by the time you level it all the way. Congrattions. He said. I dont need to tell you how to distribute your stat points, right? He asked.

 No. Seems pretty obvious. Strength, Endurance, Vitality, and a little Dexterity, in that order. Luckily, I havent been spending the points for these levels.

 Derek nodded. Sounds good. He looked back at Rayna. You ready for round two?

 I was waiting on you. She said.

 The two walked out. Before closing the door, Derek held the squirrel-like creature up. Thomas, you mind giving this guy a farewell?

 A spear was thrust from inside. It went through the little creatures heart. It was an instant kill. Thanks. Derek tossed the monster inside the cabin and closed the door.

 Soon, pirs of light started popping up everywhere. One after another, beasts began to spawn. This time, there were no little creatures, and after using Identify on some of the monsters, Derek realized that everyone of them were level 50. No more, no less.

 The mostmon creature was still the wolf, but they were nearly twice as big as the ones before, and were in packs of seven instead of five. They looked like Direwolves. There were also huge boar with rhino-like horns growing from their heads.

 Unicorn pigs? Derek asked, bbergasted. I wonder if the bacon tastes like skittles. 

 A few hawks were also flying around. There were only three that he could count, and he did not see any in the few trees around. Derek walked over to a small boulder and bashed it. It broke into smaller pieces. He threw the stones at the flying creatures. He did not want Rayna to get hurt because of a flying monster swooping down.

 He hit two, but missed the third. Im going to have to pump a few points into Dexterity. Kill notification popped up for the two that he hit. The third hawk changed its flight trajectory and flew towards him. Perfect. Seeing thest hawking his way, he picked up another stone and threw. The final kill notification popped, along with a level up alert. He checked his new status.

 Status

 Name

 Derek Hunt

 Age

 29

 Level

 32

 Experience

 620/4450

 ss

 Champion of the Void (Epic)

 Race

 Human (Modified)

 Health

 5250

 Mana

 2150

 Stamina

 5150

 Defense

 51 (Armor + 0)

 Attack

 49 (Weapon + 0)

 Stats

 Strength

 360

 Dexterity

 260

 Endurance

 515

 Vitality

 525

 Intelligence

 220

 Wisdom

 215

 Stat Points Remaining

 438

 Skills

 Channel Void

 Level 5

 Channel the Void through your body, into attacks or defenses.

 Cure Toxin

 Level 1

 Removes poisons and toxins.

 Dismantle

 Level 11

 Increase ability to dismantle deceased organic life forms.

 Greater Meditation

 Level 2

 Enter meditative state to increase recovery.

 Heavy Weapons Mastery

 Level 18

 Increase damage with heavy weapons.

 Identify

 Level 12

 Appraise objects or entities.

 Magic Resistance

 Level 6

 Increase natural magic resistance by 1.5% per level.

 Rejuvenation

 Level 8

 Restores 40% HP over 30 seconds.

 Void Call

 Level 1

 Call out to the Void.

 Void Sense

 Level 1

 Sense the void.

 Void Shift

 Level 1

 Be one with and move within the void.

 Skill Points Remaining

 7

 Skill Upgrade Points Remaining

 4

 Awards

 Greater Giant yer, Jack of All, Lesser Dungeon Explorer, Lesser yer of the Unknown, Meat Shield, Lesser Explorer

 Not bad. He looked at Rayna. Wolves first. Get ready.

MillionNovel

Chapter 45: Like Clockwork