Apocalypse Redux

Chapter 120: Pyric Spoils

Least Demon Lord (Lv. 45 Raid Boss) has been slain. 19,000 XP gained (50,000 XP distributed across 1,349 people as per their distribution)

Heroic Deed has been noted and will increase future Class Quality

… they’d finally managed to finish that thing off.

“They got the bastard.” Isaac croaked, forced to overenunciate every single syllable due to the damage his face and only being able to properly move half his mouth, the end result still being barely understandable.

This statement had the twofold effect of reassuring the [Combat Medic] currently patching him up, but also making her jump. After all, by every pre-[System] and most current metrics, Isaac should have been in too much pain to do much of anything, and he probably was, but [Undying Focus’] pain mitigation power was letting him endure. Hell, he’d ramped it up to one hundred percent, which was a bad idea because you could get injured and not notice and the [Skill] itself even warned against it. But right now, it was necessary.

And man was that [Skill] doing some work, it had gained a full three Levels and evolved.

Undying Focus (epic, Level XX)

No matter what kinds of damage an Undying Wraith suffers, no matter how badly they are injured, one thing will always remain. Their undying willpower.

This Skill grants the user the ability to directly alter their perception of pain, including completely shutting it off.

WARNING! Completely removing one’s sense of pain may lead to injuries going unnoticed!

In addition, it prevents tunnel vision, therefore allowing the user to keep track of their goal without overlooking anything in the process and even block out mental attacks.

Lastly, Undying Focus allows healing and regeneration Skills to heal brain damage and even restore damaged memories without requiring specialized Skills on the part of the healing individual.

Furthermore, this Skill boosts the user’s resistance to hostile aura effects.

After countless battles where this Skill has been used to ignore even horrific injuries and terrible pain, it has evolved to allow the user to remove health seeping and other negative status effects through sheer force of will.

If he’d had this improvement mere minutes earlier, he would have gotten burned a hell of a lot less. Then again, if he hadn’t gone through such a harrowing experience to evolve it, it likely wouldn’t have turned out like that.

However, [Undying Will] was hardly the only [Skill] that had levelled from that fight. Hell, all of them had grown massively, with [Bestial Regeneration] gaining a whopping five Levels, though it hadn’t passed a threshold.

[Piercing Strike], on the other hand, had not only passed a threshold, it had also hit the maximum Level of 30 and grown massively more powerful.

Piercing Strike (common, Level max)

Users weapon is covered with energy, increasing its ability to penetrate armor. This effect lasts for a single strike. Should the weapon in question be stuck within an opponent, the effect will last for 2 sec, allowing for removal of weapon or further cutting.

In addition, it may now be used in ways beyond the original description, lingering on weapons after use, refining them, and being able to be combined with other Skills.

After countless battles where this Skill was used to pierce the very core of an enemy and slay them in a single, swift, strike it has evolved into an even deadlier form. It may now stab through space itself, any thrusting attack empowered with it launching a beam of all-piercing energy at triple the mana cost. In addition, using this Skill will give the user insight into the location of his opponents’ vital organs.

And now, it has reached the pinnacle of its power. It will now linger on any blade it is used upon, constantly providing it a degree of unnatural sharpness that can also cut immaterial things, which will only be further boosted if this Skill is used actively. Using this in conjunction with True Cut will reduce the cost of the other Skill. Lastly, Piercing Strike’s base cost has been reduced while it has also gained the ability to be overcharged. tier

Cost: 5-50 mana per strike, 40 mana per ranged attack

And then, there were also the others that had gained new tricks. [Grave of Swords] had, of course, grown the most and using such an extreme method to level it had let it gain new tricks practically comparable to an Evolution at just Level 10.

Grave of Swords (legendary, Level X)

A vast field, countless blades thrust into the dirt, each one representing a warrior who fell in battle within this space

This is the Grave of Swords, each one containing the power and knowledge of a specific foe, so the user may fight them over and over again, or be used as fuel to enhance this space.

Upon activation of this ability, both the user and one target will be transported to another plane (current size: circle with a 50 meter diameter) for a one minute per Level in this Skill. The target must be either in contact with user or the user’s soulbound weapon when this Skill is activated for it to take effect, though.

The Skill ends if one combatant dies, it hits its time limit, or is deactivated by the user, any leftover mana will be refunded and placed in the

When an enemy dies within this Skill, a new blade is thrust into these hallowed grounds, containing a record of the fight, the fallen, and a measure of its power. With it, the user may choose to fight against the old foe once more for training purposes, experimenting with new tactics and moves without danger.

However, the weapons store the remnant life force of the monster, which can be used as additional fuel for this Skill as its cost increases with the strength of the other participant (+5 mana per opponent Level over the user’s, +50 for each Tier barrier between the user’s Level and the monster’s, overall cost doubled for Bosses, tripled for Raid Bosses and quintupled for World Bosses)

This Skill can only be activated every 5 hours, cost requires 1,500 mana to use, which it either siphons off from the user’s mana regeneration so long as the user’s mana pool is full or draws from the swords themselves. Cooldown can be bypassed by paying double the normal activation cost from the stored blades.

Cost: 1,500 banked mana base cost for combat purposed, cost increases with target’s power, increase must be paid from stored blades or the user’s mana pool

All the costs for absorbing stronger monsters had been massively reduced, which was only the cherry on top of the massive boon that the ability to deactivate this [Skill] at will was.

Crippling Blow (epic, Level X)

Striking down a target with a single attack is the sign of a truly excellent Assassin or other stealth based combat Class.

But sometimes, that simply isn’t possible. A foe is too large, too good at regenerating, or simply has more than one point that needs to be targeted in order to kill it. And that’s where this Skill comes in.

Activating this Skill will cripple any mechanism, biological, mechanical or magical, that the user touches and can be projected through armor or hide at a length of up to 5 cm, increasing by 1 cm per Skill Level. This requires the user to focus on the specific thing they want to disrupt (i.e. sensory organs to impede perception, limbs to slow down movement, natural weapons to reduce offensive power, etc.). By default, this Skill is very painful, but that can be increased to near-crippling levels for a slight increase in cost.

Cost: 20 mana per use minimum, can be increased up to 150 to affect powerful enemies or tough body parts

Compounded Impact (legendary, Level X)

When striking at the same place, over and over again, each blow will cut deeper than the last.

With this Skill, a bond will be created between the user’s blade and an opponent, every additional strike hitting harder and harder, drawing an ever increasing amount of mana until even a casual tap contains the force to shred mountains. (Combo resets after 5 seconds of no successful hits)

For an additional cost of 10 mana upfront, the first strike can be enhanced to count as the fifth hit in the series.

Cost: 1 mana, doubles every use, resets after 3 seconds

Absolute Blade Mastery (legendary, Level X)

All throughout history, countless people have staked their lives onto these pieces of metal, living and dying by the blade. Some may have wielded it in anger without any training at all, other spent their entire lives honing their craft without ever having to raise their weapons in a real fight even once.

Yet none of them have ever reached this stage, because they couldn’t. Normally, there is always more to learn. At some point, you will solidly run into the issue of diminishing returns, but your path will never truly end.

And then, there’s this Skill. Might not grant absolute skill with the blade, but it allows the user to truly master it in all of its forms, in two different ways.

Firstly, now any and all skill and experience with any blade carry over to any and all other blades. Never, ever, under any circumstances, will a tiny difference in balance, length or weight screw you up, never again. You can pick up an entirely new type of sword that you’ve never even conceived of, as long as you are a master of some manner of sword, you will also be a master of this one.

Secondly, never again will you cut something you did not mean to cut. You have absolute control over your weapons, you could shave a furious cat actively trying to murder you with a gauntlet sword without ever even so much as inflicting a single scratch, this is the level of fine control you hold now that you have this Skill. Hell, you could wave a chainsaw around in a crowded disco and unless you want to hurt people or destroy objects, the only issue would be the noise.

Lastly, this truly legendary level of skill with the blade can now be shared with others. The secondary effects of this Skill will not be imparted, but proper use of the blade can turn even a blunt pair of scissors into a lethal weapon, and this is what your students will learn.

Form of Horror (legendary, Level XX)

There are many sides to the Undying Wraith. The impression they broadcast out into the world and show others, the hole in the world no one will ever perceive before it devours them, and lastly, the face someone only sees in the moment of their death.

The form granted by this Skill. A monstrous alternate body based on the user’s Aspects.

Current Aspects: Aspect of the Poltergeist, Aspect of the Greater Hydra, Aspect of the Megalodon, Aspect of the Fata Morgana, Aspect of the Blade Tempest, Aspect of the Acid Drake

If the user also has the Skill The Chosen Weapon, this weapon will be incorporated into the user’s new form.

Furthermore, while in this form the user’s Strength and Fortitude are increased by 45 % while Agility and Perception are increased by 70 %. Magic Power and Magic Regeneration will remain unchanged.

This Skill can only be activated once every hour and lasts for 300 seconds. It also requires 1,000 mana to use, which it siphons off from the user’s mana regeneration so long as the mana pool is full.

In addition, the user can now create a second form while drawing only on the Aspects they wish to use, customizing it for specific purposes. Once set, this form can only be changed after removing the previous form, which takes 24 hours. Additional Slots are unlocked at Skill Levels fifteen and twenty.

After countless battles where the user has used this Skill to annihilate foes that should have been well beyond his capabilities, it has been increased to a level of power worthy of its own legend. The user may now transform into any non-Boss creature whose Aspect he holds and has a Level that does not exceed his by more than 10 (more powerful creatures may suffer from a shortened duration). In addition, the user may manifest body parts of the monsters for a cost dependent on the specific body part copied on their normal body.

All of those [Skills] had improved massively, but [Form of Horror] was the clear winner, with the boosts further increasing, coupled with the insane ability to transform into the monsters whose Aspects he held. Sure, the ‘may suffer a shortened duration’ was almost certainly a euphemism for ‘barely lasts for any amount of time’, but it was still awesome.

Also, he’d actually created those alternate transformation forms, one specialized in aquatic and the other in aerial combat, but his standard form was still the best for the kind of battle he’d just fought.

“Do you need anything?” the [Combat Medic’s] voice broke into his deep thoughts a moment later.

“Nah, I’m fine.” Isaac tried to shrug, but the sound of tearing flesh and charred skin breaking told him exactly how bad of an idea that was.

The look she gave him in response was in no way professional, yet there was very little one could do in response but goggle at the utterly nonchalant, critically injured patient.

“Time.” Isaac added “You can get me time. This will all heal eventually, just don’t let me die until then.”

She still stared at him oddly but proceeded to use analytical and first aid [Skills] as the army truck sped into the city, heading straight towards ‘the best hospital in the country’, which was probably an accurate claim, given that they were in the nation’s capital.

“Look, I’m damn tough, as well as in possession of several Aspect [Skills] that vastly improve recovery. If I don’t die here and now, I’ll be fine. I’ve also got a [Skill] that ensures that I’m not in incredible pain right now.” He added, and a look of realization came over the [Combat Medic’s] face.

“Do you need a mana potion?” she asked, suddenly knowing what he needed.

“I’m afraid I already took too many of those.”

“… then that’s actually glass in your stomach? Do you know if it can still cut you in there?” she asked and Isaac shook his head with incredible slowness, bits of burned skin flaking off.

As she continued to work to patch up his many injuries as best she could, Isaac just blended out the goings-on around him as he threw most of the XP gained into gaining another Level, and evolving.