BXBX NOVEL Chapter 488 487: Field Test (2)
My daggers sunk deep into the black scaled Lizardmen that prowled along the magma\'s edge, their hodgepodge gear of various metals, bones, and hides doing little to protect them from a pinpoint precise stab, the ice coated blade of Shatter cutting cleanly through their scales and tearing into the flesh beneath.
Thick blood oozed from the monsters wounds, pooling around them as they collapsed to the ground below me and slowly faded away into dust, leaving nothing behind besides some of their gear and the occasional fang, claw, or bone.
They had little value to us - not when our packs were already laden with Firefang and Coal Serpent parts, anyways - to warrant searching, though when we killed the entire tribe we took a moment to harvest their Cores if we could, since those were always worth a few pretty Silvers.
As the last Lizardman dropped to the ground dead, we all looked around the area before casting our gazes out onto the magma lake, hoping to catch sight of the Magma Wyrm occupying its depths.
Sadly, the monster was just as rare as it was rumored to be, and we sighed as we turned to find another cluster of Lizardmen to butcher, continuing our mindless slaughter of the monsters.
While it was annoying, the raw numbers popping into my mind as I danced through the various clusters of monsters was worth it, each one around 6,000 XP a kill and slowly adding to my total, inching me ever closer to Level 31, which now cost me 1,250,000 XP instead of just the normal 1,000,000; every 5 levels added 250,000 to that total, making things a bit longer than before but keeping the challenge of leveling.
So I had no problems chopping down each low level enemy as we waited for the large one to take the bait, using this time to practice striking with efficiency to save energy, whilst also curiously observing what [Frost of Despoina] did, seeing if I could understand what would make that skill level up.
Each time I inflicted damage with an ice attuned attack, the frost would began to spread across their flesh and begin to damage them, preventing healing and numbing the area around the wound, slowing them down.
It was a nifty little skill to have, but what could it turn into?
That was the question on my mind, and I wanted to figure it out, but in order to do so I needed to understand what made the skill tick; that\'s how you improve the skills naturally, instead of with Skill Points, which come per level or achievement.
Currently, I had no Skill Points nor any achievements I could think of, so the natural route was all that was available to me.
With [Growth], I had to obtain a certain amount of experience all at the same time; 100,000 XP to grow it from (Novice) to (Expert), if I remember correctly, and I had used Skill Points to increase it past that point, so it was likely either multiple instances of obtaining x amount of experience, or a very large number at once like... 500,000 XP?
Those were the two feasible options that came to mind, so what could [Frost of Despoina] require to \'evolve\'?
Kills, a deeper understanding of Ice Magic, or a better understanding of the skills application.
If it was kills, the only thing I could do was continue to add more and more to the tally as I reaped the lives of the Lizardmen and other monsters, keeping Shatter coated in a sharp case of ice that constantly applied the skill upon any injury inflicted.
That was something I could do unconsciously, so now I could begin understanding the skill itself better.
It activates on any type of ice attuned attack and debuffs the inflicted enemy, before giving me more damage against an enemy that is considered \'frozen\' or \'freezing\'; likely a scaling buff to my damage based on the number of \'freezing\' stacks on their person, before they eventually become \'frozen\'...
Huh, thinking about it like a game makes this a tad easier...
So if this begins to get them on the path to begin \'frozen\', it is both a damage increaser and a debuffer - making it an incredible valuable skill - then perhaps it\'d be best to \'attune\' it to one of the two?
Lace the spells or blades I use with a spell that is meant to spread the frost quicker - effectively increasing the amount of \'freezing\' stacks I put onto the target - so that I could activate the damage quicker, or I could go the other route and instead focus on increasing the amount of damage I get by shattering a \'frozen\' target, like with Shatter Fang?
Though, I could just do both couldn\'t I?
I have the know how to do both, considering how simple the spells are...
With that, I slowed my murdering of the Lizardmen and traced out the runes I needed for a deep chill, cloaking the Shatter Fang in a gale of cold wind and slashing at the chest of one of the Lizardmen.
A thin gash appeared on its scaled chest, and the monster hissed as I dodged its spear thrust, my eyes focused on the frost that crept across its torso, encasing its scales in a thin sheen of ice.
It hissed again as it slapped its chest, only to widen its eyes in terror as a few of its scales dropped to the ground from the blow, revealing the darkening, frostbitten flesh beneath.
Feeling the cold beginning to take its body, the monster looked at me before gritting its fangs, lunging forwards in hopes that killing the caster would stop the creeping frost from consuming it.
Sadly for it, I was far more nimble than it was, and I dodged its spear continuously as I observed the effects of my experiment, formulating another spell to improve upon my findings and grow my strength through magical means.
The Lizardman gasped as its arm began to get coated in the frost, its hand shaking visibly as it tried to pull the spear back, only to notice that its muscles were locking and spasming randomly, unable to control itself.
Tilting my head, I sliced the spearhead off and approached the panicking monster, tapping the hardened scales and nodding to myself as I plucked one off, crushing it between my fingers.
"It can effectively remove armor from my opponents... the mana imbued itself into the scale and changed it from keratin to an interesting mixture of keratin and solid water... weird, but it\'s magic, so..?"
Allowing the dust of the black scale to drift to the sand below, I used Shatter Fang to scrape away more of the Lizardman\'s chest scales, all while it watched in horror as its body refused to obey its commands, leaving it to my mercy - something that I had a short supply of.
Next was the flesh, and I pricked the tip of Shatter against its flesh, cutting into it and revealing that the flesh had begun to die, resulting in necrosis of its flesh, and likely - if I gave it enough time - of its organs as well, giving my target a painful death...
Out of curiosity, I sheathed Protective Fang and traced out the runes for a healing spell before pressing my palm against the Lizardman\'s flesh, trying to revert the necrosis and bring it back to normal.
My mana seeped into the monsters torso, and I frowned as I saw the flesh heal only to die off moments later, the [Frost of Despoina] skill showing its potency despite being only at (Novice) level.
Though, when I tried to deactivate the skill on this Lizardman, it did stop spreading and allowed me to heal it, making me nod to myself.
"Thanks for your cooperation, Lizardman... here."
Balling my fist, I punched into its chest and grabbed ahold of its Core, yanking it free and showing the Lizardman, only to sigh as it slumped to the ground, dead.
"Fine... I\'ll take it."
Shaking off its blood, I stored the Core into a pouch before looking up, where I saw the other three staring at me quietly, their eyes conflicted.
"What?"
Anput just shook her head, turning to observe the magma lake, while Leone gave me a strained smile, saying "I understand the desire for real practice of your skills, Kat, but... that\'s a tad... much."
"Murderpuppy suits you a little too much sometimes, Kat..."
I gave the two a shrug as I cleaned myself off, before smirking as I noticed a prompt appear in my mind.
[Frost of Despoina (Novice) -> (Apprentice)]
"Well, sometimes you just need to... experiment, y\'know~?"
Leone rolled her eyes before turning around as well, staring at the magma lake with a frown.
"Speaking of... hey, can I have that Core Kat?"
Walking towards her side, I handed the Vampire the Core and watched as she clasped her hands around it, funneling her mana into the small orb.
Jahi and Anput took a position in front of us just in case, all three of us quiet as Leone worked on... whatever.
Tossing the joy of the skill\'s level up out for the moment, I saw Leone lift a shimmering orange sphere - the Lizardman Core - and observe it for a moment before chucking it into the magma, where it promptly burst into a bundle of flames.
Silence reined around the lake, before Anput chuckled as we saw four thin spines poke out of the magma\'s surface.
"Leone~! Sometimes you can be so~ smart, you know that~?"
The Vampire muttered "Sometimes?" before looking towards the intrigued Magma Wyrm, accepting the next Core I handed her and doing the same thing to it again.
When this one splashed against the surface, the giant red scaled monster breached from the viscous magma, looking around as it loosed a roar, agitated by the bursts of concentrated Fire Mana.
"Good job Leone! Anput, give us some defenses, Kat, focus on getting its attention. Leone, protect us from the magma! Come on, let\'s hunt us a Magma Wyrm and earn some coin!"