Less than an hour ago, the kid had been terrified of heights. Now, here he was, voluntarily flinging himself off the floating rock’s ledge over and over, straight into that pitch darkness, gaining a single kill each time.
The party got into a rhythm once more. It was far slower going than it had been when it had just been Xavier alone killing the Dark Wyvern clutches, but he was glad to see Justin finally lighting up. This was filling him with an energy and confidence he didn’t have before.
And the fact the kid gained a new skill from what he was doing was something rather interesting. Aerial Combat. Xavier wasn’t sure how it would help him, but he had an inkling that if Justin ranked the skill up high enough it would definitely give him a better choice of class.
I don’t know how to guarantee them all gaining a rare class, and I certainly don’t see how they’d be able to gain an epic class, but I can at least try to get them there.
As Xavier had watched Justin fling himself off the floating rock with wild abandon, he’d come up with a plan for them all.
I’ll get them all to level 10 before I fully clear this floor. Once they’ve gained their titles and rewards for this floor, that could be the best time for them to choose their level 10 class.
They decided not to bother throwing Howard off the rock like they were Justin. The man already had a path in mind—the path of the tank. And doing what Justin was doing wouldn’t help him get any closer to that. So, as not to waste an opportunity, Xavier had Howard attacking him as before, with Siobhan healing him whenever necessary, building up Xavier’s Physical Resistance skill and Howard’s Physical Damage skill once more.
So the Dark Wyvern clutches wouldn’t overwhelm Justin when he leapt off the ledge and was pushed by Xavier’s Heavy Telekinesis spell, Xavier took out seven of the ten beasts in each clutch, casting Soul Harden whenever he had spare souls.
It wasn’t long before the spell ranked up.
Soul Harden has taken a step forward on the path!
Soul Harden is now a Rank 2 spell.
One cannot walk backward on the path.
When the notification had appeared, Xavier had paused, taken a moment to examine himself and see how he felt.
He couldn’t decipher any change. As far as he could tell, there was nothing different about himself at all. Though when he checked his soulkeeping threshold, it had once again gone up by ten.
Will this happen whenever I rank up a soul-type spell? It had so far.
Though he didn’t yet know what other benefits ranking up the spell would gain him, he figured he might as well continue bringing its rank up. Besides, increasing his soulkeeping threshold was another goal of his in this place. He needed to keep that up if he was going to get it to 100 before clearing this floor like he planned.
By the time there was only one clutch remaining out there in the darkness, Xavier had ranked up several of his skills and spells.
Magical Potency, which was taking longer and longer to rank up each time, had increased to 13.
Physical Resistance had gained two ranks while he resisted Howard’s attacks, bringing it to Rank 10.
Soul Strike had ranked up as well, reaching Rank 5, upping his soulkeeping threshold to 70. His one-infused Soul Strikes killed eight Dark Wyverns now, but he’d fixed that by dispelling the Spirit Energy from his staff-scythe, bringing his kills balanced back to seven. He’d worried it would bring it to six, but was fortunate to find it hadn’t.
When he struck the second last clutch, he ranked up Spiritual Trifecta.
The next time we enter this floor, I might be able to take them all out in one go.
Especially since there was still something he’d neglected to test when it came to Spiritual Trifecta—and Spirit Break, for that matter.
He could now infuse harvested souls when casting the spell to improve its effectiveness. Maybe I should bring my soulkeeping threshold to 110…
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He was also well on his way to reaching level 12.
Xavier checked his progress.
Mastery Points until next level: 1,625,100/2,000,000
I have less points left than I gained during this clear of the floor.
He wasn’t the only one who had increased the rank of their skills and spells. Justin had apparently increased his Haste and Power Strike spells several times, and his Aerial Combat skill was improving incredibly quickly, already having gotten to rank 7.
Only three more ranks until 10.
The rate at which the skill improved seemed pretty crazy to Xavier, but he supposed in normal circumstances it would be a difficult skill to rank up. But on this floor, they’d found the perfect storm in which to do it.
Justin was also level 9 now, which meant he’d definitely reach level 10 soon.
I wonder what gaining rank 10 in Aerial Combat would do for his class choice. Maybe he’ll be able to fly…
Though that sounded utterly ridiculous, the kid had gone from killing a single Dark Wyvern when he went out there, to being able to kill all three of the ones Xavier left over for him in one go, manoeuvring through the air with extreme ease even as he fell. It was a sight to see.
And, considering the class that Xavier had gotten to choose, which gave him the ability to reap souls… flying didn’t seem out of the realm of possibility.
Siobhan had gained quite a few ranks in her Summon spell. It was at Rank 9 now, and would soon reach Rank 10. Though they would need it to be at least Rank 12, as Heal Other had gotten to Rank 11 while she’d been healing Xavier’s wounds from Howard’s attacks, and they wanted the Summon spell to be a higher rank than the Heal Other spell.
We’ll have to stop increasing my Physical Resistance, so she no longer needs to heal me.
And Howard himself had gained a few more ranks in Physical Damage, though he said it was taking far longer each time. He had also begun using Power Strike, ranking that spell up several times.
Xavier couldn’t help but think about the other skills he’d yet to figure out, like Core Strength and Cultivate Energy.
I’ll get to them. Soon. But this doesn’t feel like the right floor to figure them out.
When they refreshed the floor, Xavier, feeling a little impatient, stepped to the edge of the floating rock and took out twenty-seven clutches in less than a minute.
His apparitions had grown larger as his spells grew in strength. Bolts of pure white lightning shot forth from him, crackling through Soultaker then pulsing forth into the darkness one after the other, consuming the clutches with ease, destroying everything in their path.
When the last clutch fell, a notification popped up in his vision, and he grinned at it.
Congratulations, you have reached level 12!
Your health has been regenerated by 60%!
Your Spirit Energy limit has increased by 200!
You have received +2 Strength, +2 Toughness, +2 speed, +3 Intelligence, +3 Willpower and +8 Spirit!
You have received +20 free stat points!
All your spells have refreshed and are no longer on cooldown!
The others stared at him.
“Why’d you go and do that?” Justin asked.
Xavier shrugged. “I was growing impatient.” He turned his head from side to side, cracking his neck, feeling the strength of all the stats he’d gained.
Once more—and without any hesitation—Xavier threw all 20 free stat points straight into Spirit, bringing it up to an effective 335. I wonder how many Lesser Spirit Coins I’d be able to create now. Perhaps he should have been doing that whenever he had the chance, but right now, his focus was elsewhere.
When Spiritual Trifecta deactivated, he dispelled the Spirit Infusion in his staff, then sent out a one-infused Soul Strike at one of the clutches.
He was surprised to find, with his added points in Spirit, even without those two spells enhancing his magical power, he was able to take out eight of the ten Dark Wyverns in a clutch.
Meaning I could definitely take out a whole clutch with a one-infused Soul Strike now, when Spiritual Trifecta and Spirit Infusion are active. That fact made him smile, as he’d been looking forward to when he got that strong.
“All right, Justin.” Xavier nodded out at the darkness. “You’re up.”
Their rhythm continued. As Siobhan’s Summon spell gained ever more ranks, she was able to teleport Justin out to the enemies herself, and summon him back with ease, as the cooldown had significantly reduced, and Justin was able to handle being out there for a few seconds.
Now, she could drop him straight onto a Dark Wyvern, then teleport him to fall upon the next.
Once she’d been able to do that, the kills came even faster, until finally, Justin gained level 10. And, not too long after that, he ranked up Aerial Combat all the way to 10 as well. Siobhan hadn’t just reached her required rank in her Summon spell, she’d gone beyond it, reaching Rank 13, which apparently enabled her to use it on more than one person now.
Xavier couldn’t help but smile at that.
I’ve helped them both get to level 10, and rank up their skills to 10 and beyond. Now, I just need to figure out how to get Howard to do the same.
The way he saw it, Howard had three important things he needed to rank up—his Bulwark spell, his Physical Defence skill, and the Shield Defence skill he’d recently picked up.
Xavier had faced a wyvern or two once the clutches had reached the rock before, and he knew how chaotic it might end up being if he let a whole clutch reach the floating platform with the party there to get knocked off.
As long as I don’t let Siobhan fall, she’ll be able to summon any one of us back. Besides, I can deal with a clutch in a single second if I need to.
But it was time to find out if they were up to the task, as it was the only way he could see Howard gaining levels on this floor, unless they wanted him to gain Aerial Combat as well—and that just didn’t seem like a good path for him.
If it isn’t feasible here, then we’ll do it on the next floor, but I’m hoping it won’t come to that.
Xavier stepped to the edge of the floating rock and dealt with the final few clutches before they refreshed the floor—no point wasting the Mastery Points that were there, free for the taking.
Not to mention the souls he could harvest.
When the remaining clutches were dead, he stepped over to Howard, clapping the man on the shoulder.
“All right, Howard,” Xavier said. “Time to see what you can do.”