BXBX NOVEL Chapter 54 The Real Protagonist
Lux and Helen were seated in a carriage pulled by two horses. They were procured by the middle-aged man who had asked Helen about Robin’s whereabouts.
They all traveled non-stop and, according to Lux’s estimate, with this speed, they would arrive at their destination within two days.
Although he was very worried about Colette and the others, there’s nothing he could do but pray to the Gods that they were safe.
For the time being, Lux shifted all his attention to his Soul Book.
He had eighteen Beast Cores in hand, and half of them were Rank 2 Beast Cores. The Ants had been very generous in giving him these Beast Cores because his scouting massively helped them to forage safely in the areas where the mosquitoes had just finished feeding.
Now that he was dealing with an emergency situation, he immediately used the Rank 2 Beast Cores to upgrade Diablo’s progression to the next stage.
After using nine Rank 2 Beast Cores, Lux managed to upgrade Diablo’s Progression Bar, but it still fell short of his target.
—-
Progress: 270/300
—-
Left with no other alternative, Lux used two Rank 1 Beast Cores which gave him exactly thirty additional Skill Points, bringing his stockpile of Beast Cores to seven.
—–
< Ding! >
< Your Named Creature, Diablo has reached a milestone! >-.
< Please, choose two options from the bonus upgrades available for him! >
– Option 1: Increase Health Points by 3,000
– Option 2: Learn Active Skill: Whirlwind Slash
– Option 3: Learn Active Skill: Duel [EX]
– Option 4: Learn Passive Skill: Guts
– Option 5: Upgrade Skeleton Warrior to Skeleton Knight
– Option 6: Upgrade Skeleton Warrior to Skeleton Rider
—–
Lux ignored option one because a mere three thousand Health Points since it wouldn’t change anything at this point.
After checking the Elysium Compendium, he found the information he was looking for about the skills that appeared in the list of Diablo’s Bonus Upgrade options.
‘Whirlwind Slash is an AOE skill that hits multiple targets. This is good if Diablo is surrounded by enemies,’ Lux thought as he rubbed his chin. ‘Duel [EX] is similar to taunt skill, but this skill would force your opponent to exchange one blow with you no matter what. It has a one minute cooldown, which is a good option, since I don’t have any taunting skill at the moment.
‘Guts will allow Diablo to survive One-Hit Attacks that could instantly kill him. This skill is useful, but only at the higher levels.’
The Half-Elf then eyed the two Job Upgrades that became available for Diablo. His Named Creature had only become a Skeleton Fighter recently, but due to the milestone, Diablo could once again upgrade his profession to a higher class free of charge.
Skeleton Knight is a balanced Job Class similar to Skeleton Fighter, but stronger,’ Lux mused. ‘As for Skeleton Rider, it is a mounted unit that specializes in mobility, and has many other advantages.
‘The only problem is that it’s not very useful when raiding dungeons because of the cramped space. However, it is good for open world exploration because it allows Diablo to tame Monsters as his mount.’
Lux scratched his head when he realized that his Named Creature was more of a Protagonist than him. Diablo kept on getting more powerful with each upgrade he got, even faster than the Master.
After a long internal struggle, the Half-Elf chose the third and fifth option.
—–
< You have chosen the skill, Duel [EX], and Upgrade Skeleton Warrior to Skeleton Rider >
< Is this your final answer? >
< Yes / No >
—–
Lux chose yes, and immediately several more notifications appeared on Diablo’s Soul Page.
—–
< Job Change Bonus >
– All stats +20
– Skill Union of Skeleton and Beast has been acquired.
– Skill Tame Mount has been acquired
– Title Relentless Charger has been acquired.
—–
Union of Skeleton and Beast allowed Diablo to effectively fight while riding on a mount. This passive skill allowed him to remain seated even if he received attacks that should’ve been able to dismount him.
Tame Mount, as the name suggested, allowed Diablo to tame a Mount that he could ride in battle. The chances of taming a Mount would depend on how strong it was. If the creature was weaker than Diablo, the latter would be able to tame it without a problem.
However, if the creature was stronger, the chances of taming it would be lower, which made it extremely difficult. Also, Diablo couldn’t tame creatures that were two ranks higher than it. These limitations were to prevent the Named Creature from obtaining strong mounts that exceeded its current strength.
Relentless Charger, on the other hand, gave Diablo an additional 30% damage and increased chances of dealing critical strikes, while mounted.
—–
< Diablo >
– Named Skeleton
– Skeleton Rider
– Rating: C
– Mana: 10
– Progress ( 0 / 500)
Health: 2,500 / 2,500
Mana: 1,240 / 1,240
Attack: 125 – 170 (+20 Damage from Tranquility)
Attack Type: Ethereal Damage.
Strength: 63 (+1)
Intelligence: 62
Vitality: 61 (+2)
Agility: 62 (+2)
Dexterity: 62 (+2)
Defense: 75 (+100 Defense)
Title: Firstborn, Squad Captain, Relentless Charger.
Active Skills: Slash, Heavy Slash, Bone Spear, Duel [EX]
Passive Skills: Parry, Tactician, Improved Dodge, Union of Man and Beast.
Note: Sh*t just got real!
—–
‘Diablo has 317 Combined Stat Points. He is now in the middle stages of Grade D Apostles.’ Lux thought as he started to feel slightly envious of his Partner in Crime, but he couldn’t do anything about it.
Diablo didn’t have to follow the laws of the Beginner Village because he was a Summoned Creature, but Lux couldn’t.
After sighing internally, he equipped Blood Moon in Diablo’s Equipment Page. The blood-red sword, which was Randolph’s greatest creation, shone with an eerie glow.
With the Mythical Sword in hand, Diablo was a menace and had more than enough leeway to fight against Rank 2 Monsters without problem. It was also possible to fight Rank 3 Monsters because of the Mythical Weapon’s attributes.
As long as Diablo could hit the target, his Health Points would be replenished without problem.
Now that his preparations were complete, Lux checked Colette’s Condition in the Elysium Compendium.
According to the information he could access, Colette had received minor injuries, but there was no danger to her life.
Matty, Robin, Andy, and Axel, had more serious injuries, but their current status told Lux that they were far from kicking the bucket. With the safety of the children confirmed, Lux was able to gain some peace of mind, as he coordinated with Boreas to lead the group in the general direction of where his friends were.
“If all goes well, we will arrive at our destination faster than we expected,” Boreas said as he looked at the place Lux had pointed out on his map. “Now I understand why the patrollers can never seem to find the bandits, they are hiding inside the mountain. This will be a bit tricky…”
At the moment, their current forces were composed of Thirty Goat Riders, twelve Warriors (including the middle-aged Dwarf), Lux, and Helen.
Their combined forces were only forty-five in headcount and they didn’t know how many enemies they would be facing. Even so, they had no choice but to deal with the current situation as quickly as possible. Boreas had also sent a messenger bird to the Stronghold of Noria asking for backup.
The Dwarf Captain had shared the information that Lux had given to him to his superior, and he hoped that reinforcements would arrive by the time they reached their destination.
Lux could only see the location of his friends. He didn’t know how many enemies there were, but he was confident that if they all worked together, they would be able to save everyone without any casualties on their side.