Chapters 19 - 24
Chapter 19 : The Tale Of Takuma, The Swift
“
Vitality - 85 [93] (75%)
Mana- 4,332 (200% MAX)
Stamina- 70 [95] (65%)
Force- 4 [5] (165%)
Accel- 3 [5] (12%)
Knowledge- 4 (125%)
Food Bonus: {Roasted Ram Stew : +25 Stamina, +1 Force. Duration : 0 : 4: 22.}
*Additional Effects*
Phantom Cloak : +50% movement speed.
“
Force and Vitality would be easy to max out. Takuma simply had to exercise and keep taking damage -- severe miasma poisoning was good enough for that. For Knowledge, he’d turn to reading and puzzles , there were bound to be books somewhere about various subjects. He would probably need to teach himself to read, but that wouldn’t be a huge problem. This only left Accel and so Takuma gathered up all of his relics and stored them away. He then got dressed and made one more trip to Pots and Oints. There he purchased some stamina potions, then headed to the west gate of town.
“Excuse me, guard.” Takuma asked as he neared the gate.
“Oh, it’s you. Hello.” Takuma realized it was the older man from yesterday.
“Hello. I was curious if you could tell me about the forest to the west. Is the area relatively safe? There aren’t any predatory creatures out there? Or perhaps monsters I should be worried about?”
“Hmm. I’ve never really heard of anything too scary out there. You will want to stick to the path though. All manner of wildlife live in this area but they tend to avoid the scent of human trails. As long as you stick to the path, you should be fine. Why? Are you leaving already?” The guard asked, partially out of habit.
“Just going to check something out. I’ll most likely be back before dark.” Takuma replied.
“Well, be careful. Don’t mess up your new clothes. Wouldn’t want to mistake you for a zombie again.” The guard replied as he opened the wooden gate. The gate relied on a rather large crank which needed to be turned with both hands in order to raise it.
Soon Takuma was standing outside of Arnia once more, the long trail before him.
“Alright. Let’s get down to business.” He said as he stretched a bit then took off running. He had his status menu open which somewhat obstructed his view but that didn’t matter. He was more concerned at the rate of increase on his modifiers. As he expected the modifier rose more quickly based on the amount of effort exerted.
It was probably around midday or an hour after, and normally it would take six hours to reach the Goddess statue but thanks to his stamina potions and Phantom Cloak he would manage to cut the time in half. At least that was the plan. Unlike the vitality potions, stamina potions simply prevented your stamina from depleting for a certain period of time. No matter the action or exertion used, stamina would not drop. Coupled with the fact that stamina quickly regenerated on its own, it was possible in theory to continue running constantly.
The effects of each potion lasted about one minute and he’d purchased twenty of them. This wasn’t a huge amount, but it was enough for Takuma to really push himself. The goal was to return to the Goddess Statue and back by nightfall.
The wind against his face was a sheer joy as Takuma dashed along the forest trail. It seemed like forever since he’d taken the time to enjoy the simple things in life and the weather was quite nice. There was a feeling of peace as he picked up the pace. He had to admit, it was a strange sensation to be able to run top speed perpetually. Everything resembled a blur as he dashed on, spurred on by the climbing Stamina modifier score.
Strangely enough the potions gave him time to consider his stance and gait, he stretched his legs to the utmost limit and kicked off as hard as he could to allow him to travel further. Soon he found this to be automatic. He’d already downed half of the stamina potions by this point. He refused to look at his map though, as it would require using all of his available HUD view thus he considered his progress a “reward” for when he was finally forced to stop.
An added benefit of stamina potions were that they completely healed muscle fatigue and soreness so by the time the effects of Takuma’s tenth bottle wore off he felt absolutely no strain whatsoever.
Stamina- 70 (135%)
Accel- 3 [5] (75%)
He finally slowed to a jog and then a stop as his stamina emptied. The sensation of cool wind against his face still lingered, one of the many reasons he loved running. After taking a few breaths he then opened up his world map.
“Holy hell. Ha!” Takuma said with a grin as he took note of the distance he’d already run. It couldn’t have been more than thirty minutes since he left the city but he was already a little more than thirty percent of the way to the statue by his estimate.
If only he could run everywhere. He waited for his breath to steady and his stamina to refill before taking off again. Though his stamina emptied quickly he noticed that he was growing faster by the moment. By the time his Accel modifier reached 100% it was as if he’d hit a plateau. He couldn’t move any faster no matter how hard he pushed his body, but the modifier definitely made a difference when it came to affecting his top speed.
“This is great!” He shouted as he ran along, the wind at his back. It wasn’t long before he could see the ruins of the chapel. It was a safe bet to assume that all stat modifiers might have a more active role to play aside from stat gains.
“About an hour and a half. Compared to the first journey, much better.” He took some time to catch his breath before wandering up to the statue so that he could inspect it.
“Goddess Statue - [Quality: 3.14] [Curse Rank ??] [Deity] A ‘statue’ of the Goddess. Seeped in the blight of miasma, this ‘statue’ must be purified if hope is to return to the world.
Curse Effect: Dark Prayers - All prayers to this statue are answered with malice equivalent to the level of the faithful’s devotion.
Curse Duration: N/A.
Mana Rewarded: 0
Experience Rewarded: 1
Secondary Effect : Divine Body - ???
”
As Takuma stared at the description he noticed an ominous black aura seeping from the stone statue.
“It’s a miracle I even survived touching this thing..” He thought to himself. Experience told him that the strength of this particular cursed item was so potent that he couldn’t comprehend the level of harm it could inflict. It was akin to standing before a warrior so powerful that your psyche struggled to process the comparison between yourself and them.
“Story Quest Acquired : ‘Save The Goddess’.”
“Main Quest Acquired : ‘Purify The Goddess Statue’.”
“Ho? That’s interesting…” Takuma said as he rubbed his chin.
“Purify the Goddess Statue?” He said as he clicked on the Quest alert for ‘Purify The Goddess Statue’.
“Bound in a prison of black, the Goddess Statue awaits the one who shall purify her. Infuse your mana into the statue to weaken the curse on it. [0/5].”
Chapter 20 : Finally, The Main Quest
“Infuse mana? I wonder how that even works.” Takuma was obviously hesitant to touch a statue with a curse level SO toxic that it couldn’t be measured but as he drew closer a prompt appeared.
“Infuse Mana Into The Statue? Y/N.”
Takuma debated for a moment as he mulled over the situation. The name of the quest was ‘Purify The Goddess Statue’. Why would he need to infuse Mana into it? Couldn’t he just use purification? This did make more sense, but as he also considered the description listed in the quest perhaps he was about to learn something new.
He decided to give the prompt a try. Immediately after clicking yes an input appeared.
“How much mana will you sacrifice? ______ “
Uh… one?” He said aloud, and the input accepted the answer. Moments later the statue took on a faint glow which quickly disappeared.
“1 / 1,000.”
“So it’s asking for 1,000? Well...I guess that shouldn’t be too difficult to get back.”
Takuma initiated the infusion again, this time inputting 999 as the amount. As expected, the statue glowed again, but this time the light appeared to come from within the statue as tiny streams pierced through from the center. Then, just as quickly as the phenomenon began it stopped.
“Quest Updated: Purify The Goddess Statue [ 1 / 5 ].”
“Goddess Statue Curse Rank decreased to ???. Continue weakening the curse to obtain a blessing.”
“Holy hell, how cursed is this thing?” Takuma nearly shouted as he noted that the curse rank still couldn’t be fathomed. However the promise of a blessing did seem appealing, especially since he needed to grow as quickly as possible.
He infused the statue again, this time with another 1,000 mana.
“1,000 / 2,500”
“Oh, really?!” Takuma protested. He currently had 2,332 mana remaining and he wanted to keep at least 1,000. This statue was threatening to throw a monkey wrench into his plans, still the lure of a reward spurred him on.
“Fine…” Takuma relented as he added another 1,500 mana into the infusion.
Once more the statue glowed with white energy, this time the bluish tint of the stone began to turn grey as large patches of dirt and grime began to fall away.
“Quest Updated: Purify The Goddess Statue [ 2 / 5 ].”
“Goddess Statue Curse Rank decreased to 7. Continue weakening the curse to obtain an additional blessing.”
“+1 Skill Point Acquired.”
Of all the things Takuma expected to receive, a skill point didn’t even cross his mind. He clenched his fist and thrust it into the air.
“Fuck yes!” He shouted at the top of his lungs.
He even did a little dance, as now he’d realized the endeavor wouldn’t be a complete waste of mana.
Takuma could practically feel himself salivating as he contemplated what to do with his shiny new SP. With just over 800 mana remaining he decided on two things. First would be to see the amount required for the next mana infusion --he learned the amount increased to 5,000. The second would be to see if Partial Purification would work.
“Goddess Statue - [Quality: 3.14] [Curse Rank ??] [Deity] A ‘statue’ of the Goddess. Seeped in the blight of miasma, this ‘statue’ must be purified if hope is to return to the world.
Curse Effect: Dark Prayers - All prayers to this statue are answered with malice equivalent to the level of the faithful’s devotion.
Curse Duration: N/A.
Mana Rewarded: 0
Experience Rewarded: 1
Secondary Effect : Divine Body - ???
”
As the Statue’s info suggested, 0 mana cost would be rewarded. This technically meant it would also not cost any mana to attempt to purify the curse. It was a gamble to be sure, but Takuma was feeling lucky. Everything had gone his way today (so far) and he was only taking advantage of rules placed upon him. It wasn’t his fault if he managed to discover an advantage in the system….
He took a deep breath as he approached the statue and held out his right hand. Much as he expected, the surface of the statue was ice cold to the touch -- completely devoid of warmth. The black aura immediately began to coil around his fingertips as if it possessed a will of its own.
“Partial Purification!” He shouted. He didn’t know *why* he shouted, he just did. His hand flared up with white energy but instead of the normal conflicting dance of energies, his skill was snuffed out completely. What happened next was an experience Takuma would never forget.
“Blight Resistance - 10%”
“*???* - 1%”
“Blight? What’s tha--” Takuma’s words were interrupted by a sensation of overwhelming apathy. It was as if his whole being had been sucked dry of every ounce of feeling-- in every sense of the word. His body began to shake as a pitch black darkness flowed forth from the statue and consumed him. He was certain his eyes were open, but he couldn’t even see his own hand before him. He couldn’t “feel” his own body, or hear sound. All was darkness, all was absence and within a second he even began to doubt whether he was alive. Soon this gnawing thought turned extreme.
“Do I even exist? What am I?” The thought evolved, rapidly gnawing away at his consciousness until even his sense of self became lost. He could feel the very fabric of who he was distorting under the weight of something sinister and cold. As the concept of time melted away so did the passage of it. Every moment felt like an infinitely long, immeasurable stillness. In a split instant Takuma had become the epitome of a paradox, an entity that should not exist in mind, body and spirit.
As far as Takuma knew this sensation only lasted a short while, but when he came to he was on his knees -- his eyes cast downward to the ground. There was the feeling of great pressure on his shoulders, so intense that he couldn’t move even if he wanted to. Only his eyes and fingers could even react and even then, no more than a twitch. He desperately struggled to gain control of his body but it was no use. He couldn’t breathe, he could barely think as the sensation of all his nerves firing at once overwhelmed him. This too only lasted for a few seconds, but it was enough to leave Takuma face first on the dirty floor of the broken chapel.
Chapter 21 : I’m Never Doing That Again
The sound of wooden spokes as they bumped along the uneven ground of a forest trail. It was the first thing Takuma noticed. He groaned as his eyes opened, revealing the evening sky above him. He could hear all manner of creatures in the distance, mostly bugs serenading the environment with their own particular brand of song.
“Where..the hell am I?” He whispered, as best he could anyway but his throat felt shredded. In fact every part of his body ached-- as if he’d exercised way too long and hard.
“Oh-- you’re awake.” The voice was familiar to Takuma yet he could not place it. After a few moments he would realize it was because he’d never gotten the man’s name.
“You’re the town guard?” Takuma asked, his voice low and raspy.
“Mhmm. That I am.” It was the same older gent who’d greeted him the night of his arrival in Arnia and his departure earlier in the day.
“How..what’s going on?” Takuma struggled to find the least amount of words to convey his curiosity. He was clearly in the bed of a moving wagon. Hardwood judging by the feeling of discomfort at each bump.
“I’m not sure. I was hoping you could tell me. You left hours ago, and then some lass, a lady adventurer passed into town. She mentioned seeing someone on the outs -- a traveler on the road. So, of course I came to look for you.”
“What’s your name?” Takuma then asked.
“Glenvi.”
“Thank you, Glenvi.” Takuma said as he breathed in deeply, taking in the totality of the moment. He remembered what happened -- for the most part.
“It’s nothing, don’t mind. Can’t have the town’s only Curse Meister succumbing in the middle of nowhere, after all. So...you gonna tell me what you were doing out there?”
Takuma could hear the words but his body hurt too much to focus clearly, so instead he offered a groan. Glenvi just chuckled to himself, with the response of “I’ve had a day or two like that in my time.”
Thankfully his pained groans conveyed the message properly and Glenvi left him in peace. There was no telling how long Takuma lay there, focusing his mind to take the edge off the harsh ache that racked his body.
“Void Soul - Your sense of self has been shattered. Those who survive this ailment are never truly the same. Duration: 9.42.3”
When he could focus, that was the element of his hud which stood out most to him. A strange icon he’d never seen before and the description that accompanied it reminded him of the sudden darkness that gripped his body. Just thinking about it made his head pound, his eyes water.
“What was that?” He thought to himself.
“Glenvi.” Takuma said.
“Yes?”
“I have a..potion. Can you..use it on me?”
“Of course. But that will have to wait. Lately these woods have been dangerous .Wolves I hear. I can’t stop the wagon until we’re near to town, it’s just not safe for anyone involved.”
“How long?” Takuma mouthed.
“I’m not as fit as I used to be, kid. Maybe another thirty minutes? You were pretty far from town.”
Takuma didn’t really understand Glenvi’s response at first, but after some thought he realized Glenvi was the one pulling the cart.
“Thank you.” Takuma said, this time his voice filled with graciousness and gratitude.
“You already said as much. Don’t sweat it.” Glenvi replied as the two continued traveling through the night. Takuma closed his eyes, because honestly that was all he could do. It hurt just to move or flex his fingers let alone his arm. He wanted to use a Vitality potion to try and heal some of the pain but moving his arm would be excruciating.
He took several deep breaths and then forced his arm upwards as he opened his inventory and called forth the potion as quickly as he could manage. He then allowed his hand to fall onto his face so that he could bite the cork of the potion bottle and drizzle the syrupy liquid into his mouth.
He could feel the regenerative properties of the potion going to work as a cool sensation washed over his battered body but that wasn’t enough. He felt better, good enough to move but his body still felt heavily damaged, his muscles ripped asunder--even his mind felt frazzled and heavy. He chased the first potion with another, this time a stamina potion. The idea was to soothe his aching muscles. This too had a similar effect, but ultimately it only eased the pain to minor degrees. It was now bearable, no more or less.
“I’m never doing that again.” Takuma whispered to himself as the wagon hit a particularly nasty bump.
“Not doing what again?” Glenvi added, keen to know exactly what Takuma was doing in the woods alone. Takuma completely ignored the question once more, this time closing his eyes as the two continued on their way. Ultimately, as Glenvi guessed, the two arrived at the gates in little less than a half an hour. Once there, Chloe and Glenvi helped Takuma to the inn and up the stairs to his room. Glenvi parted ways after wishing Takuma well while Chloe decided to stay behind and tend to Takuma for a bit more.
She had a million questions herself, so Takuma took the time to finally recount his purpose in returning to the chapel as well as the mysterious black statue.
“That sounds creepy. And you actually touched it? After it nearly killed you the first time?” Chloe’s voice showed that she felt Takuma’s actions defied all reason.
“...Yes?” He responded. Now that she voiced the absurdity of the situation out loud Takuma indeed felt pretty stupid.
“At the moment it seemed right…” This was the reasoning he gave himself as Chloe tended to his body. The healing that she did on his body felt good, but ultimately it was futile.
“The problem isn’t with your body Takuma. I think..this might be some kind of side effect. You said there was a timer on this ‘Void Soul’ status, right? Perhaps you just need to let the effects wear off.” Such was Chloe’s diagnosis for Takuma.
“You’re probably right. But there’s well over eight hours left. Do you at least have something that will help me sleep?”
“Of course.” Chloe said as she reached into a waist pack and pulled out several small blue flower petals. She closed them in her palm and they instantly turned into misty vapor as she moved her clasped hand towards Takuma’s nose.
“How do you do that? It’s so...cool..” He said as he quickly succumbed to slumber by the power of Chloe’s Herbalist skills. Chloe lingered a few more moments to study his breathing before leaving him to sleep in peace. Or so she thought--
But Takuma’s dreams were neither pleasant nor refreshing. His notion was to escape the physical pain but instead he found himself in a world of darkness. It was as if the air surrounding him was alive, a living swirling mass of black. In the center of this place was a body, a young woman wrapped in the bleak darkness. Her eyes were hollow and black, her ears leaked thick black fluid and her mouth was sewn shut by thick black threads.
She writhed in endless agony and Takuma finally understood, for he could see himself within her -- for just a few seconds back at the chapel, that was him. Trapped in endless darkness, questioning his own sanity--his own existence. He drew closer to the woman and placed his hand on her shoulder but she couldn’t feel or sense his presence. He grabbed onto her and whispered repeatedly “I’m here. I’m here.”, but the words fell on deaf ears, she couldn’t register them as her mind was blocked off from her body, all of her being scattered into thousands of fractured pieces amidst a landscape of endless black.
And in this way the two stayed for hours to come.
Chapter 22 : Save The Girl(s), Save The World
Waking up was one of the hardest things Takuma had ever had to do, particularly since he was violently ripped from the dark dimension. The second the timer for Void Soul expired he awoke with a start, falling out of his bed to the floor below.
“I’m here! I’m here!” He continued to shout, though he was alone in the room. The morning sun pierced through his window and he realized he was no longer trapped in the dark prison.
“So that’s what it means. Save the Goddess.” Takuma remarked as he wiped the tears away with the back of his hands. The thought of being trapped in a place like that for minutes, let alone months was enough to send his mind into overdrive with pity. He couldn’t help it, at the thought of such torture tears simply welled up from within his eyes. Apparently there was a reason many men feared the darkness.
He sat on the floor for some time until he could focus his thoughts. The effects of Void Soul aliment were gone but he still felt quite groggy and sluggish. What’s more the only word he could truly use to describe how he felt was empty, physically and mentally.
After regaining his composure he got dressed and reaffirmed his goal.
“Save the Goddess, Save The Girl.” He whispered. With that in mind he figured he should start with the simpler of the two tasks. He went to his status menu and placed his spare SP into Instant Purification -- at least that was the goal, but he noticed that all of his modifiers had reached 200%, even the ones he hadn’t actively attempted to train.
“I wonder if this is from….that horrid experience.” It was certainly true he’d been pushed well beyond his limits after all, it would make as much sense as any reason.
“Now I just need experience.” Takuma whispered as he took a glance at his current stats.
Relic Meister - Rank 2 / 10 [3,540 / 4,000]
Vitality - 85 [93] (MAX%)
Mana- 251 (200% MAX)
Stamina- 70 [95] (MAX%)
Force- 4 [5] (MAX%)
Accel- 3 [5] (MAX%)
Knowledge- 4 (MAX%)
*Additional Effects*
Phantom Cloak : +50% movement speed.
All things considered he was much better off than yesterday. Was it due to the fact that he’d infused his mana within the statue? He only needed five hundred exp, a paltry sum with the many relics in his possession -- however his mana was looking extremely poor.
He placed all of the relics onto his floor once more and took a few moments to decide what to do. If he were to purify only Rank three items he would easily reach rank up to the next level with just ten or so. Unfortunately that was also half of the more powerful relics he possessed. IT made sense to believe that the more potent a relic’s curse the more mana gain he would get from being exposed to it. With that in mind he decided to use as many of the lowest rank relics first. He thumbed through them all, looking for anything that might be of use to him. Most of the items were related to stat debuffs or ailment afflictions.
“Wait-- ailment afflictions?” He thought to himself.
“These could be very useful. I better acquire some potions first, just in case.” Takuma said as he got up and exited his room. A few minutes later he was at Chloe’s shop, struggling to ask for any “dangerous” or “poisonous “ potions that might afflict him in some way. As he predicted, her habits as a healer went into overdrive and she lectured him on “doing anything dangerous after he’d just woken up”.
After fifteen minutes of an ear full he managed to purchase a few Vitality points, two “very weak” poison tinctures (according to Chloe anyway) and antidotes to go along with them. In addition he was only allowed to leave if he promised he wouldn’t do anything extreme.
Of course he said he wouldn’t, and of course that was a lie.
Back at his room Takuma began his mad experiment. He purified the Iron Ring in order to make space for the new items he was about to equip.
“
Iron Ring(Quality : 75) [Bless Rank 1] [Armament] - A sturdy iron ring that can be enchanted with one or more magic effects.
Curse Effect: Mana Regen (Minor) - Mana will increase by minute amounts while this ring is worn.Secondary Effect : N/A
“
“I figured something like this might happen.” Takuma said to himself as he examined the description of the Iron Ring. A pattern, cursed items seemed to provide the opposite benefit of their curse. If that was right, he had two items he wanted to try first.
“
Vampiric Pendant (Quality : 155) [Curse Rank 1] [Armament] - A necklace made of silver. Said to grant protection from creatures of the night--for a price.
Curse Effect: Vitality Drain - Periodically lose small amounts of Vitality while wearing this item.
Curse Duration: Constant
Mana Rewarded: 250
Experience Rewarded: 15
Secondary Effect : N/A
“
Takuma equipped it and then spent his solitary SP on ‘Instant Purification’. With a mana of :
Mana- 851 (200% MAX)
This cost him 30 according to the skill’s description:
Instant Purification (Class Skill) - Use mana to instantly purify a relic. Costs 2x the XP gained for purifying the curse. Cost lowers with skill level.
Upon looking a second time, Takuma was pleasantly surprised.
“This can’t be right. I only have to spend 30 mana to instantly purify this? This seems like an infinitely better deal than Partial Purification. I wonder..”
Now that he thought back on it, he did remember receiving much more experience for rank four or higher cursed items. Which meant at higher ranks Partial Purification would be cheaper, but also problematic.
“Interesting.” He said as he activated the skill. Much like it’s counterpart, white energy enveloped the relic and purified it wholly as wisps of black smoke rose from the item.
“
Priest’s Pendant (Quality : 155) [Bless Rank 1] [Armament] - A necklace made of silver. Said to grant protection from creatures of the night--for a price.
Curse Effect: Vitality Regen - Periodically gain small amounts of Vitality while wearing this item.
Secondary Effect : N/A
“
“Yes. As I figured, this one will be useful. Now if only I had more slots to equip items…”
Takuma’s gear slots were currently restricted to just three spaces. With his Goddess Amulet, the Priest Pendant and other cursed items he now felt more comfortable to take on a bit more risk. Ultimately his desire to quickly gain power got the best of him and he chose to leave the Goddess Amulet and equip two other items, one a bracelet that inflicted “slowness” and another a paralytic belt.
He waited for the relics to take effect, first watching as his movements slowed to that of a sloth, then curiosity took hold of Takuma as he felt his joints lock periodically.
After a few moments the results he desired appeared on his Goddess Amulet.
[Decel Resistance - 1%]
[Paralysis Resistance - 1%]
“Bingo, he said to himself with a smile.”
Chapter 23 : The Lazy Business Of Leveling Up
Takuma absolutely hated idle time, it gave his mind freedom to wander. For someone who’d lived enough for seven lifetimes (some shorter than he’d hoped) it often inspired thinking of regrets or missed chances.
The woman he should have approached, the party member he could have saved -- claiming the key item instead of allowing it to slip away under the guise of “a greater challenge”. Takuma would never consider himself a “good” person, because he didn’t necessarily believe in morality in terms of black and white. He felt all people had evil qualities just as some all had good qualities. The right combination of events, people or circumstances could bring out either on any given day -- at least that’s what he experienced.
There were, often times in his life where he felt there was some unseen hand working its way through the days he lived. He wondered now if this person was the same Goddess trapped in the abyss of blackness. He also wondered how she even ended up there to begin with. His thoughts next drifted to his last life, where he’d managed to conquer the unbeaten dungeon of Grimgamar -- but that would have to wait for another day.
[Decel Resistance - 100%]
[Paralysis Resistance - 57%]
For some reason the Paralysis, the more severe of the ailments progressed much more slowly. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, after all -- paralyzed lungs could be deadly. Still, he’d prefer some kind of way to speed up the process. That’s when he remembered Chloe’s potions.
He put away the purified bracer and equipped one of the random item’s he’d set aside.
[Mute Resistance - 1%]
[Paralysis Resistance - 57%]
He took out a potential vial filled with purplish liquid, thick and clumpy to the swish of the bottle. He held it to his nostrils and shrugged -- no scent, which wasn’t surprising since many poisons were difficult to detect. He slowly sipped the potion and regretted instantly the bitter, soapy taste of organic poison.
[Poison Resistance - 2%]
[Mute Resistance - 5%]
[Paralysis Resistance - 57%]
He made to grimace and shout the word “Yuck!” , he also noticed the Mute resistance shoot up to 5% instantly.
“Heh.” At least that’s what he wanted to say.
[Mute Resistance - 6%]
“Interesting.” He lip-synced, the sound completely absent from his words.
[Mute Resistance - 9%]
Needless to say within a matter of moments, Mute Resistance had been completely maxed. Bored once more, he was forced to focus on the dull, cold sensation running through his body. His stomach turned and he felt absolutely nauseous. This wasn’t the first time he’d ever been poisoned, but with this particular body *everything* seemed worse.
Takuma was still im amazement by the sheer # of times he’d fainted to date as well.
“I’m going to have to do something about this body…” He remarked after taking off the mute ring and placing it into his inventory. He equipped another item, this time a debuff bracelet and continued to soldier through his self inflicted poison. After a few minutes the effects wore off and his vitality had fallen to 75% of full--give or take.
“I’d probably die if I drank the whole thing. Chloe wasn’t joking.” He whispered as he held the vial of purple gunk up to eye level.
Truth be told, Takuma was aching for some adventure. He had only been in this world two days but he really hadn’t done anything fun. Just… well, nearly die at the whims of cursed items.
“Dragons. I wonder if this world has dragons. Not that I could defeat one at all with my current strength.”
He then remembered the Tavern and the Task Board within.
“Once I cure Chloe maybe I’ll take some time to get acquainted with a proper adventure.” The idea was very appealing and yet it also made him frown. He couldn’t help thinking about her.
“Save The Goddess.” He said to himself as he looked out of the window and sipped on more of the poison. He then chased it with a Vitality potion and tossed the empty vial to the far corner of his room behind his shoulder. The people in Arnia seemed to be going about their daily lives as usual. He half hoped to see Lilah walking down the street. He definitely needed to talk to her..
[Poison Resistance - 17%]
[Paralysis Resistance - 63%]
“This one looks interesting.” Takuma said as he bent over and picked up a normal looking dagger.
“
Brass Dagger (Quality : 155) [Bless Rank 1] [Armament] - A useless dagger, as the metal is so soft it bends against the slightest of pressure.
Curse Effect: Lesser Petrification - The wielder of this item has a chance of being petrified. (Small)
Curse Duration: Occasional 5% chance.
Mana Rewarded: 350
Experience Rewarded: 25
Secondary Effect : N/A
“
Immediately a big grin spread across Takuma’s lips as Chloe’s words of caution echoed through his head.
“It won’t be that bad…” He thought to himself, before adding. “I’Ll fUckInG Do It.”. He had somewhat of a crazed smile on his face as he equipped the dagger and waited.
[Poison Resistance - 36%]
[Paralysis Resistance - 67%]
[Petrify Resistance - 5%]
“Ah, another quick leveler. Good.” He said to himself as he inspected the dagger. It really was one of the cheapest items he’d ever seen, but it looked nice. He opened his hand and flicked his wrist a few times and sure enough the dagger would not be moved from his grip.
[Petrify Resistance - 10%]
He then mimicked some cutting moves as he gracefully moved around the room.
[Petrify Resistance - 15%]
“Eat my brass blade of uselessness scum dragon!” He said as he lunged forth.
[Petrify Resistance - 30%]
“Damn, this poison is taking forever to run out..” Takuma remarked, his body had become somewhat used to it by now, no doubt due to the effects of the Goddess Amulet. Not only was resistance being built but the effects were diminished proportionately as well.
[Petrify Resistance - 45%]
“Almost done. Pfft. What was I even worried about?” He said as he walked towards the window once more. He gazed out once more at the main street of Arnia before spinning on his heel and thrusting the dagger forth.
“My name is Aldo Montoya, you killed my father prepare to di--”
[Petrify Resistance - 55%]
And then he noticed the flesh of his right hand growing dry, cracked and white.
“What the f-” But before he could finish his words the petrification process took hold of his body, instantly coating his body in a block of stone from head to toe.
[Petrify Resistance - 65%]
[Petrify Resistance - 72%]
[Petrify Resistance - 88%]
[Petrify Resistance - 100%]
The stone encasing Takuma shattered with a loud pop as he fell forward onto his hands and knees.
“Holy fuck, that was trippy!”
Chapter 24 : Class Rank 3
Takuma struggled to catch his breath after being trapped in stone for nearly half a minute, the large chunks of plaster-like stone had begun to fade away.
“This really is a game-like world.” He sputtered as he got to his feet. He immediately purified the dagger and glanced at the description.
“
Brass Dagger (Quality : 155) [Bless Rank 2] [Armament] - A useless dagger, as the metal is so soft it bends against the slightest of pressure.
Bless Effect: Stone Strike - Being pierced with this blade will inflict slow acting petrification on the target. In exchange the blade will be consumed.
“
“This is actually useful. I’ll have to keep this one.” Takuma said as he moved the item to his storage. It would be another two to three hours before he was satisfied with his progress. Ultimately he purified thirty or so rank one relics and managed to gain several resistances in the process.
[Confusion Resistance - 100%]
[Poison Resistance - 100%]
[Mute Resistance - 100%]
[Paralysis Resistance - 100%]
[Petrify Resistance - 100%]
[Decel Resistance - 100%]
[Lesser Miasma Resistance : 99%(MAX) ]
[Severe Miasma Resistance : 99%(MAX) ]
[Blight Resistance - 10%]
[Void Resistance - 1.25%]
One important thing Takuma noticed was the fact that some status ailments could be negated altogether. Unlike Miasma, Poison for example was something he’d become immune to. Takuma wasn’t sure if this held true for all poisons, or simply the one Chloe had given him -- he’d have to test it later. The same held true for Paralysis, Petrify, Mute and Decel as well. The final thing Takuma noticed was that the previously mysterious resistance turned out to be ‘Void’ Resistance. No doubt this was revealed after his misguided attempt to partially purify the Cursed Statue.
So far the Goddess Amulet had gained a wide array of resistances, for now Takuma was content and thus he went ahead and improved his Class Rank.
“Relic Meister has reached Rank 3 /10. Visit the Status Menu to level up.
You’ve obtained a new Class Ability :
Relic Activation (Class Ability) - Allows the user to activate any two purified relics in their possession (non equipped relics only). The duration of the effect is based on the level of the skill and secondary effect of the relic. Furthermore, for each additional level of the skill another 2 relics can be activated (6 total). Duration scales evenly among active effects.
Class Ranks [3] : General Skills And Abilities have been unlocked. Visit the Status Menu to learn more.
Vitality- 85>> 100
Mana- 5,921>> 5,921
Stamina- 70>> 90
Force- 4>> 6
Accel- 3>> 5
Knowledge 4>> 6
“
Upon clicking the sub section for General Skills, aka G.S.A. tab, Takuma was introduced to a whole new world.
“My my.. This looks interesting.” He remarked as he glanced over the interface before him. Essentially the G.S.A. tab was a collection of general purpose active and passive skills or abilities which was sorted into four categories; Offense, Defense, Support and Special. Each had well over two dozen different listings in each category.
“I’ll have to look into this after I get some real world experience.” Takuma finally decided. He’d made up his mind during his idle hours and he was definitely going to put himself in a few combat situations. He would then be able to better make decisions as to what areas he should improve upon.
He was more concerned with trying out his new ability, Relic Activation.
“Hmm. Let’s see.” He just happened to have two items he could use for a test run.
“Hmm….”
A few minutes later Takuma made his way to the ground floor of the inn and peeked around the corner of the stairway. There, in the usual place behind the front desk, was the innkeeper. He removed his Phantom Cloak and placed it into his storage, along with the Dream Gourd.
“Relic Activation.” Takuma whispered, expecting the Dream Gourd to activate.
[You have multiple items that can be activated, in this case -- repeat the name of the item you want to activate.] The system kindly alerted him to this fact.
Thus he tried again.
“Relic Activation : Dream Gourd!”
The small ornate gourd appeared before him as an apparition then glimmered with faint blue light as waves of magic radiated in all directions from the relic. The apparition then flickered out of existence, fading away. This happened in only a matter of seconds, but the effects were not immediate. Thus Takuma began to doubt the ability was even worth having until--
The elderly man who was entertaining himself with a card game wobbled back and forth before falling face first on the table with a thud.
“Ha. It worked!”
[Dream Gourd Uses 4/ 5.]
“Agh! I forgot about that. I probably should have used the cloak instead.” Takuma said as he lamented the loss of an item charge.
“Relic Activation : Phantom Step.” As before the unequipped item appeared as an apparition, this time draped over Takuma’s shoulders as if it were being worn.
Takuma could feel himself being propelled forward by several steps the moment he spoke the words. He stumbled forward as the effect of the skill ended, behind him was an identical after image of himself. For a moment it felt like his feet glided across the floor, minus any friction. It was a strange feeling to say the least. The after image lasted for several seconds before slowly fading away, along with the cloak’s representation.
He tried Phantom Step several more times, mostly to get a feel for using it. It seemed to work based on which direction Takuma “felt” like moving. He didn’t need to reposition his body, only to think and the shift would happen upon skill activation.
“This will take some getting used to, but it’s definitely a useful skill. I’ll see what other relics I can scrounge up to make full use of this ability.” Takuma said as he walked towards the front desk and shook the innkeeper several times. Despite how hard Takuma nudged him, the elderly man simply slept.
“Wow. That’s one deep sleep.” Takuma remarked as he shrugged and went back up the stairs.
“Eh, He’ll wake up eventually.”
-----------------------------------------------------
The newly acquired ability relied on mana to activate the skills and luckily the amounts needed were miniscule in comparison to the thousands of mana points Takuma had. In fact, mana was the only thing he felt confident in when it came to his stats.
Being a weapon bearer was much easier in past lives, it only required training one’s body. From what he could tell Relic Meister was more of a caster type. No armor or weapons could be equipped -- unless they were previously cursed relics. He could currently equip two attack type relics and utilize any secondary effects for any of his equipped items. That at least gave him a way to defend himself -- for now. He re-equipped the Phantom Cloak then pulled out the Dream Gourd to inspect it.
“Come to think of it… how do I use this thing normally?” Takuma said as he sat down on his bed and held up the Dream Gourd.
“Doze is the normal use while Slumber is the secondary. I’ll have to play with this a bit more as well. Grah! So much to do.”
Takuma wasn’t normally one to get flustered or frustrated, but ever since his experience with the Goddess Statue he felt as if time was of the essence. Then there was Dot to consider, with that in mind he decided to distribute his skill points. He acquired Manipulate Curse skill and improved his Relic Hunter skill as previously planned.
With one SP remaining Takuma decided to go ahead and max out Relic Hunter. Thus far, Class Abilities had proven extremely useful. He was pleasantly surprised when his hunch proved right.
Manipulate Curse [1]
Relic Hunter [3]
[Map Features Upgraded, you can now locate and track cursed relics via the world map and local map.]
“Great. This should make my life much easier.” Takuma said as he opened his mouth, unfortunately for him those words were short lived and quickly drained of all gladness.
The map features had indeed been upgraded, the regional map of Arnia now showed all of the cursed relics in the city. It also sorted these relics according to color coded curse rank as well as the total number in the given area. The problem was that there were over two hundred in the city of Arnia alone.
