Chapter 48: Stat Time


    After looking over his stats for a few minutes, Derek had a general idea of what he wanted to do. Vitality and Endurance would always be his go to stats, but with the mana costs of his void skills, Wisdom was going to be a must if he ever wanted to be able to use them consistently. He was not sure how much Intelligence modified the strength of the skills, but everything he used void on seemed to die almost instantly, so Intelligence was the least of his worries.


    After getting the Award for raising his Endurance and Vitality to 500, he did want to have all of his stats at 500, eventually. He actually almost had enough stat points to do it now, but he was still missing a few.


    The first thing he did was use 140 points to increase his Strength to 500. The feeling, just like when he initially reached it with Vitality, was a rush. It felt like his Strength was on a whole new level. In fact, when he looked down, the armor he was wearing was tight on him, and his muscles felt much more taut than before. He sensed that if needed, he could use an explosive amount of strength.


    Next, he used 240 points to raise his Dexterity. The explosive power remained from his Strength, but with the Dexterity, his body size shrunk back to his old size, albeit much more toned. He would still be able to erupt with great strength, but now, he felt that he could control it much better. Derek shuffled from one foot to the other, like a boxer would. He could not imagine the speed at which he would now be able to run.


    He noticed the notification he had expected to pop up was there. He ignored it for now and spent more of his stat points. He used 235 points to bring his Wisdom to 450. His mind felt clearer overall, but he definitely did not feel the whole new level that bringing a stat up to 500 brought with it.


    Finally, with his stat points settled, he brought up the notification.


    You have seeded in increasing both your Strength and Dexterity to 500 points.


    New Award Earned


    Derek moved to the next message.


    Offensive Powerhouse


    You look to finish the fight in the shortest time possible. One hit kills are your normal. In order to maintain your explosive ways, you have focused your stat points on strictly offensive stats. You will be awarded with the following:


    Two Offensive Skills (Please Choose)


    Note: This is a one-time Award and cannot be upgraded.


    Derek had been waiting for this ever since the previous Award. Because of hisck of offensive ss skills, offensive skills were what he felt he needed most. Unable to wait any longer, he focused on the offensive skills.


    Current Avable Skill Points: 11


    Note: One skill point is required to unlock any of the skills below. If you do not have any skill points, you may choose to unlock a skill at ater date.


    Avable Offensive Skills


    Augment Projectile


    Enhanced Strike


    ss Cannon


    Lightning Pierce


    Mastery (Choose your weapon)


    Multi-Strike


    Phantom de


    Rapid Movement


    Sweeping sh


    Whirlwind


    Derek looked over the list of skills avable.


    <strong>Augment Projectile </strong>was an ability that let him increase the strength of a projectile weapon. Using it would allow a dagger or arrow to fly faster, farther, and would also increase its prating power. Derek had been using projectiles oftentely, but they would never be a part of his main focus, so he dismissed the skill.


    <strong>Enhanced Strike </strong>seemed like his previous <strong>Heavy Blow </strong>skill. It focused his attack into a single strike, increasing his damage. He had not been missing <strong>Heavy Blow </strong>very much, so the only reason he would get this skill would be the possibility of the two skillsbining.


    <strong>ss Cannon </strong>was very interesting. The skill would bring his Endurance down to 10, effectively eliminating his Stamina and non-gear defense. Afterward, the skill would distribute half of his Endurance to Strength and half to Dexterity.


    <strong>Lightning Pierce </strong>was an instantaneous skill. It was more based on Dexterity than Strength. The skill would project him and his weapon forward at an insane speed. The skill moved in a straight line and it would take some time getting used to attacking at the same time. Derek could see how someone without a high Dexterity would never be able to adapt to the skill.


    <strong>Mastery </strong>was a passive skill, just like a <strong>Weapons Mastery </strong>skill. What Derek liked was the fact that the bonus would stack on top of his <strong>Heavy Weapons Mastery </strong>skill. He also wondered if the skill wouldbine with his old <strong>ive Mastery </strong>skill. His previous mastery skill hadbined with <strong>ive Mastery </strong>earlier, so he did not expect to get lucky and being able tobine it twice.


    <strong>Multi-Strike </strong>was one of the skills that Derek was interested in. It was a pretty basic skill. When activated, a strike would hit twice. It would be like stabbing someone in the exact same spot two times. Even though it was basic, with his attack and Strength, the strike would be devastating. And, as the skill leveled, the cost would decrease, and the possibility of more strikes would be added. He favored this skill greatly over <strong>Enhanced Strike</strong>, even with the possible skillbination.


    <strong>Phantom de </strong>was a feint type of attack. He could see its uses for speed type fighters, but for him, it was not very useful. It projected an attack towards an opponent when you attacked, which left it up to the enemy to try to figure out which attack was real.


    <strong>Rapid Movement </strong>was nice. It increased all movement while inbat. It was very much like <strong>Haste</strong>, but it was a passive skill. When it recognized that the user was inbat, the buffs would automatically activate. How it recognized when one was inbat, Derek did not know. He guessed that it was based on the users mindset. The overall increases in movement were not near as much as <strong>Haste</strong>, but, being a passive skill, there was no cooldown and the ability was always active.


    <strong>Sweeping sh </strong>seemed to be just like his <strong>Wide Sweep </strong>skill. It was actually the skill that Derek was missing the most. When he used the skill, it would project a crescent like de one meter out from his weapon. Of course, that would increase as the skill leveled, as would the damage inflicted. It was a perfect area of effect skill for someone like him.


    Finally, <strong>Whirlwind </strong>was a skill sort of like <strong>Sweeping sh</strong>. But instead of the half circle in front of him, it would attack the full 360 degrees. After the attack, a residual attack would circle around him for five more seconds. It was a nice skill, it would be great if he were surrounded by enemies.


    After breaking down the pros and cons of each skill, Derek narrowed it down to <strong>Mastery</strong>, <strong>Multi-Strike</strong>, <strong>Rapid Movement</strong>, and <strong>Sweeping sh</strong>. Luckily, he would be able to choose two of the skills. After a bit more consideration, <strong>Sweeping sh </strong>was a must for him. It may not be the best skill of the bunch, but it was a skill he was used to and it should start out at a higher level.


    Soon, Derek eliminated <strong>Rapid Movement </strong>from the list. He just had not needed to move any faster than he already did, and with his new stats, he did not even know how much his movement had increased. He figured that it was already more than enough for his fighting style.


    This left his choices down to <strong>Mastery </strong>and <strong>Multi-Strike</strong>. The extra mastery for using his weapon would be great, but at the same time, his Strength and Dexterity was already super high. Not to mention that his <strong>Heavy Weapons Mastery </strong>was already very close to reaching level 20. <strong>Multi-Strike </strong>would be a outrageously powerful single target skill. If he couldbine the skill with <strong>Channel Void </strong>or <strong>Sweeping sh</strong>, he could not imagine the devastation that could be wrought by it.


    After minutes of debating himself, Derek let out a sigh and selected <strong>Sweeping sh </strong>and <strong>Multi-Strike</strong>. He confirmed his choices.


    <strong>Sweeping sh </strong>Learned Sessfully.


    Skill Points Remaining: 10


    Derek nodded.


    <strong>Multi-Strike </strong>Learned Sessfully.


    Skill Points Remaining: 9


    Soon, a tinge of pain shed in his head, and a notification popped up in his vision.


    Dormant skill simr to <strong>Sweeping sh </strong>found


    Merging skills


    Skills sessfully merged...


    The pain was not even a distraction anymore. He opened up his notification to see how his new skill had leveled.


    Congrattions


    <strong>Sweeping sh </strong>has reached level 18


    He nodded. Happy with the skillbination. He viewed the skill in its entirety.


    Sweeping sh


    Your sh creates an arc in front of you, damaging enemies up to 9 meters in front of you, causing damage up to 90% of your normal attack. Level the skill to increase damage and range and reduce cost and cooldown.


    Cost: 160 Mana


    Cooldown: 30 Seconds


    Derek smiled. He wondered if he would be able to augment his ive with void before activating <strong>Multi-Strike </strong>then using <strong>Sweeping sh</strong>. He could not help but let out a little chuckle. He looked at his other skill.


    Multi-Strike


    Upon activation, your next attack will be dealt twice. Level the skill to increase the amount of attacks and reduce cooldown.


    Cost: 500 Mana


    Cooldown: 10 Minutes


    Derek was content with his new status. He was prepared to go run the new undying dungeon. For the final time before heading to the dungeon, he checked his new status.


    Status


    Name


    Derek Hunt


    Age


    29


    Level


    41


    Experience


    4458/10,500


    ss


    Champion of the Void (Epic)


    Race


    Human (Modified)


    Health


    5250


    Mana


    4500


    Stamina


    5150


    Defense


    51 (Armor + 0)


    Attack


    100 (Weapon + 0)


    Stats


    Strength


    500


    Dexterity


    500


    Endurance


    515


    Vitality


    525


    Intelligence


    220


    Wisdom


    450


    Stat Points Remaining


    3


    Skills


    Channel Void


    Level 6


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


    Cure Toxin


    Level 4


    Removes poisons and toxins.


    Dismantle


    Level 12


    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 14


    Appraise objects or entities.


    Magic Resistance


    Level 8


    Increase natural magic resistance by 1.5% per level.


    Multi-Strike


    Level 1


    Your next attack hits twice.


    Rejuvenation


    Level 9


    Restores 45% HP over 30 seconds.


    Sweeping sh


    Level 18


    Project a sh in front of you.


    Void Call


    Level 2


    Call out to the Void.


    Void Sense


    Level 2


    Sense the void.


    Void Shift


    Level 3


    Be one with and move within the void.


    Skill Points Remaining


    9


    Skill Upgrade Points Remaining


    4


    Awards


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


    Derek closed the window and nodded. Lets go.