I had managed to accumulate just over nineteen hundred unused attribute points in my recent rapid leveling. The speed I was acquiring them, compared to before without my core, made it even more obvious why virtually no one waited. The first thing I did was imdiately max out my new mana backlash attribute. I was able to get that to one hundred ranks. The sa held true for cheat death. I was reasonably sure that it was likely the only thing that had kept alive a few tis now, that and mana backlash were a key part of my plans for the next many nights.
Following that, I maxed out my soul and core attributes, and each was able to hit fifty ranks. As I moved onto my actions and reactions, I unlocked several sub-attributes. Below generalized physical use, I now had access to six different attributes: strength, speed, and accuracy, three for my arms and three for my legs. A similar thing happened with generalized body toughness, where I gained resistance to bite, energy projectiles, electricity, and impact. While I was very happy to have them, I no longer thought I had enough unused attribute points to go around, especially as fifty was not the cap for any of them.
Before I tried to find a cap, I spent so points on a few of my senses, specifically visual and olfactory. Since I planned to continue the simulations without my hearing, I needed to boost those up in hopes of compensating. Learning from the last ti, I did each one at a ti. While nothing was unlocked below either of them, I suspected I had to encounter a use for the sub-attribute before it actually beca available, as all of my resistances were things I’d experienced over and over in the simulations.
I had to move arm strength all the way to five hundred points before I hit another cap on the stat, which ant I didn’t have enough to max any other sub-attributes at the mont. I instead divided the remaining points between arm speed, leg speed, and leg strength. I figured this would at least give a good boost in how fast I could take things out.
As for skills, I was still stuck at the twenty-five maximum ranks cap I had been before. I knew how to break through this for mana skills, but the rest were a mystery at the mont. Speaking of mana skills, another goal of the next bit of power leveling was to unlock more of those. I needed to look deeper into the elental and body-enhancing mana orbs. First up, though, was getting my three combat skills maxed out: Close Combat, Malleting, and Stomp. Following that, I maxed out Dungeon Simulation and Body Temperature Regulation.
That left considering just what mana skills I still needed. After my massive al, my core felt full enough to unlock a couple more, and the obvious choice at this point was Pain Managent. Would that count as magic use? That multiplier, while useful initially, wasn’t worth worrying about long term. I had yet to unlock a simulation modifier that would double it, so it was probably best that I start down the path of magic use.
That was the second factor that drove to my next decision. The first was that, apparently, I couldn’t unlock any tier-three mana skills yet. I likely needed to rank up the orbs. I chose strength training instead. Now, the big question would be how well my core handled passive mana use for three different orbs. I already knew I wouldn’t have been able to manage three active uses, and flipping between the orbs fast enough to make it viable otherwise wasn’t going to happen yet, either.
I toggled the three orbs on, making sure to keep elental and imbuing off for now, and tested the flow. So far so good, and my mana wasn’t dropping at an alarming rate either. That probably had a lot to do with my extra investnts in core and soul regeneration. Was there a way to get more nurical readouts than just going by how full sothing feels? I was sure that actual numbers would make this much easier for planning purposes if I could unlock that. Annoyance with the lack of data aside, it was ti for another dungeon run.
The two new modifiers were poisoned and starving, both tempting, but for now, I wanted to experint. So, with everything as far as I could push it, I tried nearly the sa thing that had earlier almost killed . I figured with my changes, I should be able to survive this, plus it wouldn’t be as bad this ti, as there was a good chance I was now using magic.
I wasn’t sure if it was the third eye that had appeared in the back of my head at the start or the fact that the fall felt painless despite being a couple of feet in the air, but the dungeon started off much easier than the previous ti. While so of my skill additions were lost thanks to the level decreases again, which seed to be sowhat random, as I was pretty sure I was missing so of the earliest skills I had put points into rather than delivering the most recent changes, the difficulty had radically dropped from those I kept. I was out and back to the rewards screen within a minute.
I had gained slightly less experience this ti, due to the active magical effects. That was too bad, but I had expected it, so no real setback. The good news, though, my head was fine. The bad news was that Elicec was underselling the level one hundred threshold. It had taken a little over ten thousand experience to go from level ninety-nine to one hundred. It will take over one hundred thousand experience to get to level one hundred and one. The difference was staggering. If I wanted to go further, I’d have to push the multipliers even more.
I ate so of the food I’d had delivered just to be sure I wouldn't pass out while I distributed more of my new attribute points. Strength and speed were now both maxed for my legs and my arms. I decided to hold on to the few remaining points for now.
There still wasn’t any pain in my head, and that reassurance gave the push to start looking over the other modifiers I hadn’t used yet. I needed to push my experience gain even further if I wanted to continue power leveling, and considering what the very near future held for , I did. With the level loss modifier in place, I didn’t think I could use any further negative level scaling just yet, but there wasn’t any reason I couldn’t make the enemies more difficult. I figured I could reasonably lose twenty levels again and stand a chance. I just needed to stay above fifty to keep so of my stuff active.
With that all in mind, I added on doubling the enemies' levels, turning them all into bosses; the walls are lava, and I figured I’d risk being poisoned. Mostly because I figured I’d win quickly enough that it wouldn’t beco a real issue and that I might gain a new resistance for it to make it easier to use in the future. The walls being lava worried more than any other change, but I figured that was just as dangerous for all the enemies as it was for , hopefully, more so with my ranks in temperature regulation.
When I spawned into the dungeon this ti, it was the first ti that the mutation had been a very clear detrint. One of my feet had been replaced by what felt and looked like a block of wood. I spotted all twelve of the rock snails, so as they crashed to the ground but most as they started to move away from the walls. The lava had started to flow into the room slowly. Within seconds, half the snails were already gone, which was a good thing as I could feel the poison working through . I was able to handle the heat mostly at the mont, but I was growing weak fast. With no more ti to waste, I moved quickly back and forth across the room as my new wooden block foot would allow. Snail after snail fell to my wrath; their double levels did nothing against my mallet.
This book's true ho is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Despite how quickly I was going through them, by the ti I reached the final one, the lava had already encircled us. I was having trouble breathing, and my body felt ready to collapse. I didn’t know if it was the overwhelming heat or the poison coursing through . With few options left, I leaped onto the snail’s back instead of swinging the mallet. I felt it crack below as the lava flowed over it. The jump had likely won the run for . The experience box popped into view, and I felt my head begin to hurt again.
Monsters Defeated
Rock Snail x12
30 Experience
Experience Gained
360 Points
Multipliers Applied
No Armor
x1.1
No Weapon
x1.1
I Stand Alone
x1.5
All At Once
x1.5
5 or More Modifiers
x5
10 or More Modifiers
x10
Total Experience Gained
49,005 Points
Modifiers In Effect
Remove Weapon
x1.1
Remove Armor
x1.1
Randomize Starting Locations
x1.5
x2 Opponents
x1.5
x2 Opponent’s Level
x1.5
All Opponents are Bosses
x1.5
The Walls are Lava
x2
Remove Sense: Auditory
x1.5
Random Mutation
x2
Poisoned
x2
Lose 5 Levels Per Modifier
x11
Modified Total Experience Gained
39,624,585 points
Interestingly, the System never seems to increase soone’s physical abilities directly, other than their senses, despite there being many examples of attributes that would, in na at least, seemingly do that. What it does instead is reinforce the body using a combination of soul and core energies, allowing the person to grow up to the new limits. It is unknown if this is a limit to the System's abilities or if this was sothing put in place to force people to push themselves to these new heights.
An excerpt from A Generalized Guide to Attributes by Thomjal.
User Comments
0 comments from readers