Lyra face seized her violet eyes burning even brighter and she had to spit out the final words It’s due to Aether
Her body began to shake and Sam noticed all the Classer blinked and their eyes unfocused in the way they did when they got a notification but Lyra began speaking rapidly drawing their attention back
That should buy me some time Aether is what the system is based on Stats and skills are only possible due to increasing exposure to Aether A class gives you a direct line to the Aether Spring of the Village The higher tiered the Village the more people it can support due to a larger Aether spring But the return from increasing your village tier has diminishing returns If a person continues to grow stronger without it they are soon afflicted with weakness and eventually die
You will notice too when a village is overstrained The crops will die the land will be barren And then the weak will fall ill You must not let that happen to Donnyton To avoid that their are three methods The first is clearing Bosses which will provide a rather substantial pool to draw from It’s only a temporary fix but an effective one Bosses either from Dungeons or the Tier III Raid Bosses which will spawn in Danger Zones
The 2nd method is as I said upgrading the village tier That will increase the size of the Aether spring giving the village a higher population cap This is a more permanent solution The final way Is to invade other villages and raze for their Aether Spring This is another permanent solution You effectively steal their source of Aether
Lyra coughed mouthfuls of black blood tumbling out She tsk’d almost in annoyance A tribulations life is only worth that much time huh well anyway it’s not an immediate concern for most Just be careful especially you Sam Crafting provides its own complications that make Aether consumption more serious And know that when you meet the village from other worlds they might not have the best intentions Earth was a low seed in terms of its expected outcomes with the system But others
Violet eyes bulging Lyra continued to speak her chest heaving others were warned of the systems coming long before They have been preparing for decades They hit the ground running Be very careful
And with that Lyra collapsed dissolving into a puddle of grey goop
They had gathered goo Lyra up into a pitcher and returned to the village everyone quiet Randidly carried the human body delicately although Lyra was very clearly dead Then Donny spoke Well I suppose there is nothing else to do but keep doing the same thing Ghosthound have you felt this weakness
Randidly’s face was clouded but then he glanced meaningfully at Sam I believe it varies from individual to individual Also you received a notification
Donny nodded slowly Yes but basically just that the tribulation for Donnyton was vanquished We all gained 2 levels And that there would be more buildings available for purchase from the Village Spirit but
Everyone looked at the pitcher and the grey goop that may or may not be Lyra
The rest of the walk was silent When they reached the village Randidly pulled Sam to the side
I might have a solution To your weakness He said his words halting But you must promise there will be no hard feelings and that you will do me a favor
Sam frowned deeply Well let’s hear it out first What are you acting so serious for
To Sam’s surprise Randidly simply put his hand on Sam and a notification appeared in front of him
Warning Randidly Ghosthound has initiated the skill Blessing of the East on you This will create a permanent bond between you two Should Randidly Ghosthound perish all benefits gained from this bond will be retained but the growth of the bond will cease Do you still wish to accept his blessing Y/N
Shrugging Sam selected Yes Then his frown once more appearing he selected Yes two more times clicking through the warnings
Congratulations You have received the Blessing of the East Calculating Blessing
From Randidly Ghosthound you have received the Soul Skill Blessing of the Auspicious Dawn You have gained access to the class Dawn Smith As you do not possess a class speak with a Town Spirit to obtain this class
Congratulations You have gained the skill Lumomancy Lvl 1 You have gained the skill Mana Engraving Lvl 1 You have gained the skill Blessing of the Dawn Lvl 1
Lumomancy Create and shape light Mediums may affect the brightness and longevity of the crafted light Brightness Longevity and possibilities increase with skill level
Mana Engraving Carve powerful runes onto weapons and armor increasing their effectiveness Requires mana and knowledge of the Runic language Success Rate and effect increase with skill level
Blessing of the Dawn Passive skill Finishing a crafting product under the light of dawn will have a chance of increasing the stats of an item Chance and effect increases with skill level
Sam blinked slowly This
A Soulskill which you can only have one of Randidly remarked his face haggard That should also provide some relief for you for the weakness I hope it’s satisfactory
Sam only frowned in response Well let’s not rush to judgment Oh what was that favor
Randidly paled and then dumped something on the ground Ah please repair this whenever you have the chance
In a flash he disappeared Sam chuckled almost awestruck by his speed But why was he in such a rush
Curious Sam crouched down relishing the return of his strength He clenched his hand into a fist then examined what Randidly had dropped He froze His eyes began to bulge rage filling up every inch of him
The spear which he considered his greatest work the pinnacle of craftsmanship and dedications
lay in the dirt covered in scratches and cracks snapped completely in half Most insultingly there was dried blood splashed all over it as if Randidly hadn’t even had the time to stop and clean it Eyes burning Sam glared after Randidly swearing that he would have his revenge
But then he remember the deal and forcefully suppressed that feeling But when Sam picked up the heavy spear he did not place it into a spatial ring but physically carried it cradling it the entire while
Chapter 99
Daniel sat very still as he examined the report in front of him
Casualties for the night sat at 78 Classers and 112 NCCs The Raid Boss assault simply came too quickly The 78 Classers hurt far worse than the NCCs although Daniel would never say so especially to Mrs Hamilton or Regina That amounted to 10% to their fighting force
Most of the casualties were from the mid tiered squads 15 25 and Decklan’s unit which lost several people The Numerals even I and II who apparently had single handedly defended the Northern approach hadn’t lost a single person
Likewise the Magic Corps suffered no casualties and apparently made great gains in destructive power over the course of the night Blasting into ranks of higher leveled monsters apparently had its benefits Mrs Hamilton was busy gathering information in regards to new paths and skills but the initial reports were very promising this world was a cruel place but in its way it was fair
Surviving the tribulation had brought gains to the village even aside from the levels that all of the Classers had gained The steep price they paid was not worth it but perhaps if they took the long view it was a close thing
There was a knock at the door and without waiting for an answer the door slid silently open Daniel started to frown but then froze as he recognized the figure at the door The Ghosthound
Randidly stepped forward his powerful emerald gaze seeming to pin Daniel to the spot he was sitting Walking forward very slowly The Ghosthound gazed at each of the tables and reports in front of Daniel in turn Although Daniel couldn’t know for sure he would swear that The Ghosthound was reading them and storing them away with his brief gaze