Arthur and Mira had, by this point, killed more abominations than they cared to count. The horde seemed endless, though it only felt that way because of their slow pace of facing one at a time. The abominations would shove their slain brethren off of the platform and into the glass covered floors below. The drop looked to be many floors below, a drop that would kill any human or otherwise before the System. Arthur and Mira hoped it would prove the same for the monsters they faced. They’d adopted a sort of phalanx formation, with Arthur holding his trash-can lid up with both hands and Mira attacking from behind him at any angle she could. The monsters had no intelligence left after turning, neither of the sentience type or the stat type. They made this clear as they continued to run headfirst into the meat thresher, showing no self preservation concerns in the slightest.
Mira’s arms felt heavy as she ended the life of another monster, only for it to be replaced almost immediately. She’d lasted much longer than she’d thought, but her stamina was nearing its end. Her breathing became more and more labored as time went on, her heavy breaths grazing past Arthur’s neck and down his spine as she stabbed past him again. “Are you okay back there?” Arthur asked over the screeching monsters.
“I’m running out of steam,” she said, between huffs. “I don’t know… how much longer I can keep this up.”
“Here, I think I might be able to help!” Arthur said, his wide eyes staying on the Stingray abomination in front of him. He put his hand out behind him, practically jabbing Mira with his outstretched fingers, and spending his first stack of Audacity ever.
[Not Today]: Expend a stack of [Audacity] to conjure a shield around an ally. Allies under the effects of [Not Today] have increased stamina regeneration and mana regeneration. Upon taking damage, the damage is absorbed, and the buff expires.
[True Heart of Devotion] Applicable.
Arthur knew that normally with this skill, he’d only need to be able to see someone to give them the effects of Not Today. He was thankful that it also worked with physical contact. The shield that appeared around Mira was a mellow gold, so light that it was practically clear. It shrunk in until encasing her with it, before becoming completely invisible. Instantly, Mira began feeling the effects of the increased mana and stamina regeneration. The True Heart of Devotion had already enhanced both of her resources to an extreme degree, yet the effects of Not Today were still extremely potent. Her mana and stamina refilled whole chunks at a time, as Mira felt the strength return to her body.
The True Heart of Devotion had many effects, and for Arthur, most of them were to enhance his allies. One of the copious amounts of abilities he enjoyed from it, however, was a boost to his support focused skills. It allowed him to use nearly every support focused skill he had almost immediately after its effects would expire, which allowed him to place another shield on Mira as the last one withered away. After placing the shield on Mira, he also spent another stack of Audacity to activate the mana, stamina, and cooldown regeneration from his Intricacies of Exaltation skill.
[Intricacies of Exaltation]: Changes bonuses gained from [Audacity] stacks to a small bonus to VIT, DEF, and damage reduction. Allies within party deal greater damage to enemies with the [Enraged] debuff. Gain a stack of [Audacity] whenever a party member defeats an enemy. Gain enhanced experience whenever a party member defeats an enemy. Expend a stack of [Audacity] to grant allies increased stamina and mana regeneration, as well as offensive skill cooldown. No cooldown.
Mira made full use of the stamina and mana regeneration, letting her skills fly like never before from the safety of Arthur’s back. The Life Boon buff she’d placed on him had long since expired due to the length of the battle, and the need to save mana. Her judiciousness was promptly thrown to the side and used as a doormat, however, as she fired off skills and abilities like an M134 Minigun. She no longer waited until the enemies were Enraged, as Lightblade after Lightblade pierced the abominations as they approached. A Life Boon was placed on both Arthur and Mira, with Life Banes placed on any abomination she’d see as soon as she regained a charge of it. It didn’t matter if they were near the duo or on the other side of the room. She released wave after wave of Cornucopia, enhancing and prolonging the effects of her buffs and debuffs with each heartbeat-like sounding pulse. Even with all of this, her mana stayed middling at the lowest.
Soon after Mira’s second wind, the flying blood and bone became problematic for Arthur. There was so much that it began getting into his eyes, along with the abominations already aiming for his head constantly to begin with. By now, he’d had to move his shield up to his head so many times that he began expecting the next monster to attack that area first, which they always did. He knew that with the Intricacies of Exaltation activated, and the shields he’d already put on her, Mira’s stamina and mana should be fine for the rest of the battle. He also knew instinctively that he could still activate You and Me even while frozen, and with that knowledge, he held his trash-can lid up and in front of his face. As he activated Insurmountable Wall, he could still feel the force of Mira’s attacks and the huffs of her breath from either side of him, as well as the explosions of viscous ichor in front.
It was finally over. All the abominations were slain, and the surrounding area absolutely stank. The hanging walkway was in terrible shape, barely hanging onto the wires that held it up. The floor below was covered in abominations, and there was so much blood on the platform that Arthur doubted it would ever recover the color it had before the slaughter. Arthur once again felt repulsed, but just as last time, pushed it down. He hoped he would get used to this, but had a feeling he never truly would. If anything, he would only get better at pushing it down.
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Both Arthur and Mira had gained many notifications during the awkward battle, but neither had given them any thought or attention as it dragged on. Now was no different, as Arthur’s arms hung limply, and Mira breathed hard while leaning on a wall. He’d dropped his trash-can lid as soon as the last monster fell, and now it rested in the sludge left by them as he caught his breath. Arthur used his own skill on himself only a few times as compared to Mira, who’d practically consumed them like water. As a result, his arms felt like wet noodles as he waited for his stamina to recover. Mira was fully refreshed before Arthur was, and was in her Identity Screen as he looked about the carnage again. The walls and floors were now also covered in scars of the battle, and the puss-like blood of the abominations filled the furrows on the ground like rivers of sick.
As Arthur finally felt his strength return, he brought his many notifications to his center vision.
Level Up x14
You’ve reached level [21]
Your stats will be allocated appropriately for your class
You have [9] levels until you are allowed to allocate your free points
You have [48] free points
New Skill gained x3
Arthur nearly recoiled in surprise. During one fight, he’d tripled his current level and gained 3 new skills. He excitedly opened his Identity Screen to check his new stats.
Identity Screen
Name: Arthur Lindow
Title: [Heart of Devotion]
Class: [Audacity Knight]
Level: 21
Stats
STR: 118 {Trade off available}
VIT: 200 {Trade off available}
DEF: 164 {Trade off available}
DEX: 40
INT: 22 {Trade off available}
Accord: N/A
Link Mates: N/A
Feats: 6
There were many changes to his Identity Screen. Beginning with the most obvious, his stats were through the roof. His vitality broke past the 100 threshold so fast that he’d missed it entirely, and had even broken the next milestone of 200 in one swoop. He didn’t miss the milestone of over 100 for defense and strength, though. He liked watching his numbers go up, but as with everything else, he had no reference of if his growth was any good or not.
Something he hadn’t tapped yet was his Feats. He decided to look at those next, as they’d gone up as well.
Feats:
You’ve unlocked an [Exceptional] Rarity Title before gaining a class. [+1 to all stats]
You’ve at least nearly died for someone when they would have died without your help. [Unlock 1 skill]–[Not Today]
You’ve fought at least 10 foes higher leveled than you at once and won. [+5 STR]
You’ve fought at least 25 foes higher leveled than you at once and won. [+10 STR]
You’ve fought at least 50 foes higher leveled than you at once and won. [+15 STR]
You’ve fought at least 75 foes higher leveled than you at once and won. [+20 STR]
The first thing he noted was his second Feat. It must’ve been how he’d gotten more skills than Mira when they’d first met, and he was relieved that it wasn’t because of some “chosen hero” crap. The first was because of the Heart of Devotion, and the last 4 he’d only just gained. He’d thought that his strength stat was higher than it should’ve been, and it was nice to have his question answered so promptly. Defeating enemies higher leveled than himself was lucrative, and rewarded him far more than his previous Feats.
Ever since he and Mira had the conversation about his unique class, the thought that he might be handed everything on a silver platter had bothered him. He simply didn’t like the thought of being special or treated differently than anyone else. The last 4 titles he’d gained, however, were something he’d gotten through his own effort. Knowing that the System rewarded hard work just as much as being the “half-blooded prince” was a cold comfort he took in this new, unkind world. Arthur looked at his new skills next.
New Skill!
[Challenging Moxie]: Expend a stack of [Audacity] to inflict [Enraged] on all enemies within 10 meters of you. Gain a stack of [Audacity] for every enemy inflicted with [Enraged].
Arthur rejoiced halfway through the description. He’d sorely wished for an AOE or “area of effect” aggro skill, and this was it. In every battle he’d been in so far, this would have been a better option than how he currently spread the [Enraged] debuff. You and Me was meant for a one-on-one confrontation, and he’d been forced to use it on one monster after another, one at a time. With this new skill, he would no longer have to do that. He was already much happier with this skill than the last two he’d gotten, but he moved on to the next one.
New Skill!
[Coordination]: Expend 3 stacks of [Audacity] to grant all allies within your party increased damage against enemies with the [Enraged] debuff. Expend 5 stacks of [Audacity] to grant you and your allies within your party [Coordinated Assault] if at least one enemy on the battlefield is inflicted with [Enraged].
*** [Coordinated Assault]: Immunity from magical friendly fire from other allies with [Coordinated Assault]. Grants telepathic communication with other allies with [Coordinated Assault]. Grants limited sharing of Vaults between all allies with [Coordinated Assault]. Vault sharing must be consensual. Buff lasts as long as there is at least one enemy on the battlefield inflicted with [Enraged].
This one was a mouthful, but was interesting besides. The first effect was to stack even more damage onto his already potent Enraged combo, which would’ve made him happy by itself. However, the skill went above and beyond. The secondary effect of the skill was fascinating in how it allowed for tactics in battles. Being able to turn off the concept of friendly fire felt like a bit of a cheat, but it was a cheat he would abuse. Being able to communicate from the opposite sides of a battlefield sounded like it would be helpful too, but Vault sharing felt like it’d be a bit too complicated for him to dive into right now. He moved onto the next and final new skill.
New Skill!
[Sentinel Aura]: Passive-All allies within your party gain damage reduction scaled to your current [Audacity]. If stacks of [Audacity] equal 10 or more, allies within area of influence also gain [Sentinel Bond].
***[Sentinel Bond]: Allies with this buff gain reduced cooldown and enhanced Mana and Mana recovery by 5% per ally with [Sentinel Bond] up to a maximum of 5 as long as their areas of influence are intertwined.
This one was simpler than the last, but still complex in what it did. Arthur offhandedly considered if everything in the System would be complicated like this, but he moved on as quickly as the stray thought came up. Sentinel Aura was a baseline boost to his and his allies’ overall power, rather than something he’d need to use specifically or in a specific situation. Everything it did was passive, and all he would need to do to ensure he got the most from it was not go below 10 stacks of Audacity. It was complex, but simple at the same time.
Arthur rubbed his face with his thankfully bloodless hands. He’d just gone over a lot, and he felt slightly overwhelmed by how quickly things were moving. He hoped things would get easier later on, but as he thought about this, Mira pulled him out of his introspection.
“Are you finished? If so, we should move. It might be safe right now, but I’m not willing to risk that changing.” Mira was standing up completely straight, all traces of the desperate clash they’d just been in gone but for the blood on her harpoon. Arthur closed his screens and smiled. It was good natured, but in the surrounding viscera, almost seemed sinister. “You’re right. Let’s move on to the next floor.” As they prepared to move, however, a flash of light from behind stopped them in their tracks.