Announcement

Extra chapter today in celebration for book 5's launch on Amazon!

Chapter 392: Singed

Derek couldn’t respect Malorie any more than he already did, but if he could, it would be because she was able to keep anyone from interrupting his beauty sleep. In the days that he spent doing absolutely nothing except for sleeping, eating prepared food he still had left from Silvi in his room, and occasionally having to get up to go to the restroom, nobody bothered him.

Once, on his way back to his bedroom, he saw Jacks going to his own, but the man did nothing but nod in his direction and carry on. It was obvious to him that Malorie had given everyone some type of command, or at least a stern talking to. He’d actually gone to bed expecting to be bothered about something, or at least expecting Brandi to visit, but not even she had.

Needless to say, Derek’s mental fatigue was lessened greatly after all the sleep he’d received. That was one of the most amazing things about being part of a system and having high stats—he never had to worry about feeling crappy after waking up from too long of a sleep. That just didn’t happen anymore. With his stats and everything, he reckoned he could sleep for days or even weeks and just wake up feeling refreshed.

He was no longer jealous of Alanah getting her hours of sleep after she used her odd transformation. Though, he’d never actually exhausted himself so much mentally that he passed out—at least not since the system came. If he was talking about pre-system in college, that would be a different story. What young man didn’t spend days without sleep because a new game came out at the same time as finals?

Derek let out a deep breath and stretched as best as he could while laying in his comfortable bed. Then, he sat up and threw his legs over the side and his feet hit the floor. Okay… now that the mental fatigue is mostly gone and my head’s clear, I can actually go over what I’ve gained recently. It probably won’t be too much, but I did have to take care of multiple level 250 soldiers the other day, and the battle with the rest of the army should have given me a decent skill boost.

He’d not been in a hurry to go over his new status while everything was happening. All he had done was dismiss the notifications as they appeared—and couldn’t be bothered to check them out. So, now that he was well rested and not in a big time crunch, he pulled up his stats sheet.

Since the last time Derek checked his status, he’d made some gains. He found that fighting—or at least holding back—an army was great for his skill levels. Since all the lower level soldiers had passed out from his aura early on, all that remained to stand against him were the higher level ones. Since those remaining had mostly been at a higher level than he was, it was easier to level his skills.

On top of that, the soldiers who had tried to get past him so they could join the nobles’ fight were all at a high level, too. So, when he kept to his promise and voided them of life, they had given him enough experience points—or essence, if he believed what Dave had told him—to level twice and then some. This gave him an extra 70 stat points to work with.

As for his skills, Absolute Nullify had gained a level while exploring the treasury. It had been able to suck up all the lethal poison caused by the traps. He’d even gained a level in Chain Lightning when he was fighting against the army and trying to figure out ways to restrain them without killing. Of course, he used his Cleaning ability all the time, so it wasn’t a surprise that it had grown a level, too. I wonder if I’ll feel fresh after using the skill once it hits level 20.

Cure Toxin had gotten the same treatment as his Absolute Nullify skill did. He had used it every time it was off of cooldown while he was in the treasury, so the two levels he gained in it were quite nice. If nothing else, it would allow him to stand against poisons and toxins even better in the future. The same could be said for Rejuvenation, too, as it had gained a level in the treasury as well.

He’d smiled a big smile when he saw that Greater Meditation had finally gone up another level to 12. Derek still deemed that skill the hardest one to level. It seemed that the easiest way to level it was to throw himself in the middle of an army and use it while they attacked him. I may have to do that again, but with one of those potions active.

It was only natural that his Mental Resistance had gained another two levels. Just speaking with Alanah was more than enough to level that skill. He figured he would eventually be able to get it all the way to level 20 while never having to experience a real hostile mental attack as long as he hung around the half-elf for a while.

Derek let out a sigh when he saw that Multi-Strike hadn’t made any progress. Well, I’m sure it’s made progress, just not enough to level. It was one of his biggest trump cards and had a pretty long cooldown still. He also had to be very careful when using it if he didn’t want to kill something or someone—especially if he combined it with his void skills.

Surprisingly, Void Shift had gained another hard fought level, too. He knew the exact moment it went up—it was when he used it to appear in front of Terrin, the Duke of Astrus, as he tried to escape. It was at that same time that his Void Steps skill also gained another level.

All in all, Derek considered his dust up with Astrus’s army a success. He was at the point in his growth where it felt like every skill level was a grind—especially the ones that seemed to level at a much slower pace than the others. Finally finished reviewing his stats, Derek became curious and maneuvered his way to Silvi’s status and opened it.

Whew… Derek let out a breath. It had been a while since he looked over his companion’s stats. She definitely hadn’t been slouching—especially in her cooking. He couldn’t remember where everything was last time he checked, but he was proud that her Meditation was drawing closer and closer to Greater Meditation, and he knew for sure that her Active Void Shift, Charge, and Chop skills had advanced greatly. I only wish we could share skills with each other beyond the level 10 cap.

It also looked like she had already learned all the resistance skills she had gotten from the treasury—not only that, but he could tell that she’d spoken to Alanah, as her Metal Resistance skill was already leveled to 3. Also, her Fire Resistance skill leveled, too. I bet that comes with the territory of cooking. Of course, her stats were still identical to his own. Derek sighed and dismissed all the status windows.

Finally, with a flick of his wrist, the three skill scrolls that he’d chosen for himself appeared in his hands. With a thought, he learned all three: Whirlwind Slash, Powerstride, and Fire Resistance. After learning the skills, he viewed them in their entirety.

Whirlwind Slash had a long way to go to catch up to his Sweeping Slash skill. The mana cost was trivial for both skills—at least to Derek. While his new skill cost 3500 mana, and Sweeping Slash cost 130 mana at level 20, it didn’t matter to him at all. What he wanted was the increased damage and range, and the decreased cooldown.

Sweeping Slash had a cooldown of only 30 seconds at level 20, so he hoped Whirlwind Slash would eventually get there as well. The same was true of its damage and range. Sweeping Slash went as far as 30 feet with 100% power, and when he channeled the void with it, the void energy went even further than that. He hoped that the same would remain true for his new skill.

Next, he checked out Powerstride.

Just like with Void Steps, the skill didn’t have a cooldown. However, even with his giant pool of mana, he would only be able to use the skill ten times in a row before it ran out—and that depended on how much mana he channeled into his legs. Of course, that was at level one. He was sure the cost would greatly decrease as he leveled it. He was anxious to see how far he could travel. It was the first skill that he’d obtained that required a cost and channeled mana. That’s why it doesn’t say the exact distance. I bet purity of mana from intelligence also plays a role in it, too.

After dismissing those two skills, he checked the Fire Resistance skill, too. It was nothing special—working the exact same as Magic Resistance, except with just a single element. He dismissed the skill.

Finally standing up, Derek stretched one last time before heading out of his room and into his bathroom for one last shower before he had to go. It was a nice few days, and he hated that he had to leave so soon, but he did—they wanted the wedding to happen quick, and it would.

After his shower, Derek dressed in his best black t-shirt and his pair of jeans with the least amount of holes in them. He wanted to look proper if he was going to a wedding. His boots still stuck out like a sore thumb with the flowing star pattern on them, but he wasn’t about to not wear them after seeing what the skill infused into them could do. It was an army destroyer, after all—the perfect big weapon.

Finally, he headed downstairs and into the basement to check on Brandi. When he got there, it was the first time in a long time that he’d arrived when she wasn’t in the middle of creating something. Instead, she was leaning against the wall while dressed in a pair of coveralls, and with her goggles resting on her forehead while she downed a container of water.

“Uhem,” Derek cleared his throat to get her attention.

Brandi looked over, then, after seeing who it was, quickly made her way to him. “You’re finally out of your room!” she said excitedly. “Mom wouldn’t let me see you. She said you needed rest and that I would be a bother. I told her you wouldn’t care… but she still said no.”

“Haha,” Derek laughed and ruffled the girl’s hair. “She was just looking out for me.”

“So you have to go to a wedding?” Brandi asked. “Mom told me all about it.”

“Yup,” Derek replied. “But I wanted to give you something before I left.” With a flick of his wrist, the Fire Resistance skill scroll appeared in his hand and he handed it to the young smith, who took it.

“This…” Brandi smiled wearily and handed it back to Derek. “I already have this skill. You should give it to someone else. It’s a good skill.”

“Oh… I didn’t know. Did Mal buy it for you?” Derek asked.

“No…” Brandi looked down at her feet and her face turned a shade of red. “Remember how I kept burning off my eyebrows?” she asked, and Derek nodded. “After the tenth time you accidentally explode yourself and the project you’re working on… you get an Achievement that comes with that skill. It’s called Singed.”

Derek couldn’t help it. He fell into a laughing fit, and Brandi looked at him with a scrunched-up face. “I… I’m sorry. It’s not funny… it’s not funny.” He tried to stop laughing, but failed. “Okay… it’s a little funny.”

“Hmph…” Brandi snorted. “That’s why I didn’t want to tell anyone.”

“Well, I want to know more,” Derek said when he finally calmed down. “And when I get back from this wedding, you’re going to tell me all about it.” With that, Derek gave her another quick pat on the head and left. He was sure everyone was waiting for him at the palace.