Mason awoke two hours later, feeling much better than when he had fallen asleep. A little nap had helped to get his head back on straight after his fight. He had never been taken control of like that, and he hoped it never happened again.
But now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. He had six levels worth of stats to distribute, and he needed to see what kinds of bonuses he would be working with for his fight with Mirstra. He was going to need everything he could get his hands on. First up was his body reinforcement.
[You have achieved apprentice rank in Stone Body style
This style is based around increasing your physical defense and weight. Then using that weight to increase your strength.
At apprentice rank, Stone Body style increases your weight by 2 pounds for every point of Resistance you have, not only is your skin more durable, but your organs and bones have started to become reinforced as well. It also provides +20 Resistance.
Finally, your strength stat is increased by 10% of your total weight rounded down.
However, no armor can be worn while using this style. If any is equipped, all bonuses will be lost.
These are your current rank up quests:
Get hit 5000 times in fights from enemies your level or higher: 0/5000
Fight 5 bosses at least 5 levels higher than you alone and survive: 0/5
Weigh at least 800 pounds: 414/800
]
This was probably the last big boost he was going to get from this style for a while. He was a bit disappointed that his Strength bonus didn't increase again but that would probably be too strong. But hey, stronger insides and +10 Resistance wasn't too bad. Now onto the status sheet.
[Status:
Name: Mason Decker
Weight: 414lbs
Race: Human
Grade: Unranked
Class: Warrior
Level: 23
Spells: Minor Illusion
Health: 2025/2025(Regen 255/10 mins)
Stamina: 670/670 (Regen 115/5 mins)
Mana: 250/250 (Regen 20/30 mins)
Passive Skills (4/5):
Novice Swordsmanship, Poison Resistance, Dark Vision, Mental Resistance
Active Skills (4/5):
Power Strike, Inner Grit, Focused Sight, Retribution
Body Reinforcement: Stone Body (apprentice)
Titles(3/3): Lucky, Big Game Hunter, Specimen of Health
Achievements: Cheater of death
Stats:
Strength: 108
Dexterity: 42
Endurance: 21
Vitality: 91 (+10)
Resistance: 92
Perception: 18
Wisdom: 16
Intelligence: 15
Mind: 18
Free points: 10
]
Mason stared at his stat sheet in awe. It had only been a few weeks since he started the system, but his strength had increased by so much, quite literally too. His Strength stat was over 10 times what it was when he originally started, and his Resistance and Vitality aren't far behind. Also, he had finally realized he could clean up his stat sheet a little, it looked a lot better now.
He decided to spend his free points on either Vitality or Resistance to get them to 100. He eventually decided on Resistance since it was slightly higher. He put 8 of his free points into Resistance and brought it up to exactly 100 then saved the rest for now. For the final hurrah, Mason pulled up his notifications.
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[Missed achievement notifications:
Specimen of Health -> Boundless Lifeforce (Rare -> Very Rare): Reached 2000 HP before E-Grade. Your life energy is boundless. Your enemies try to strike you down but you are endless, and they will break their weapons upon your flesh before they break you. Effect: +20 VIT
Pinnacle of Strength (Very Rare): Reached 100 Strength before E-Grade. You see walls in your path and simply smile, for you know that all will crumble beneath the weight of your raw power. Effect: May choose from 1 of 3 minor blessings of Strength.
Pinnacle of Resistance (Very Rare): Reached 100 Resistance before E-Grade. The waves of life crash against the shore of your body and yet you never falter, for you are unbreakable. Effect: May choose from 1 of 3 minor blessings of Resistance.
Pinnacle of Vitality (Very Rare): Reached 100 Vitality before E-Grade. You are struck by blades, shot by arrows, struck by magic, yet you never stop, for you are an army of one, and you are inevitable. Effect: May choose from 1 of 3 minor blessings of Vitality.
Trifecta of Power (Epic): Had three stats reach 100 before E-Grade. You are beyond normal, others see the pinnacle and settle, you barely stop to look before trying for something even greater. Effect: May choose from 1 of 3 combination blessings.
]
Well, its a good thing he put the points into Resistance and not Vitality, guess the sheet doesn't update till you check your notifications, something to keep in mind for later. For now though, it was time to check out what these boons were all about.
[Minor Blessings of Strength:
Professional Lifter: Strength is twice as effective at increasing your carrying capacity. Does not increase the strength of your attacks.
Gift of Strength: Doubles Strength based bonuses from any permanent source. This blessing can only be applied once to a bonus regardless of how many times it is chosen.
Sprinter: Increases the effect the Strength stat has on speed by 10%. Does not increase your maneuverability like Dexterity.
]
Well, this one was kind of underwhelming. The sprinter one is definitely the best, but Mason kind of expected more from something called a blessing, even a minor one. He went ahead and selected Sprinter before moving onto the next.
[Minor Blessings of Resistance:
Health Boost: Increases the health you gain from Resistance to 10 per level.
Mental Toughness: Resistance gives a slight buff to mental fortitude, 1/10th of what the Mind stat does. This does not give any other increases that the Mind stat gives such as better control of spells.
Stamina Boost: Increases the Stamina you gain from Resistance to 10 per level.
]
Mason stared at the options but there was really only one choice in his mind. Mental Toughness was just too enticing after what he went through, even if it was only 1/10th of the effectiveness, this meant he didn't need to invest points into Mind to protect himself. He selected Mental Toughness and went onto the next blessing.
[Minor Blessings of Vitality:
Strong Foundation: Increase your base health to 400. Comes before any other bonuses or multipliers.
Independent: You can survive more fatal injuries than most. Your body can function without some of your major organs.
Gift of Vitality: Doubles current Vitality based bonuses from any permanent source. This blessing can only be applied once to a bonus regardless of how many times it is chosen.
]
Now this is what Mason was talking about. All of these bonuses were incredible. Independent, could let him survive much longer in a fight if he got seriously injured which seemed to happen a lot. Strong foundation would combo well with Cheater of Death, bringing his base health to 800. However, Gift of Vitality had to take the cake. It was underwhelming when offered on Strength, but on Vitality? He had two permanent bonuses to to it already, so it was really the only option.
Unlike with the other two which only had minor effects upon selection, Mason felt this one. He felt like he was filled with infinite life, he felt like he could cut his own head off and it would grow back. He probably shouldn't try that though. after coming down from his temporary high, he moved onto the final selection, though he doubted it could surpass this last one.
[Combination Blessings:
Stat Boost: Gain +20 to all three stats.
Linked Stats: Your stats begin to copy each others effects slightly.
Stat Sacrifice: You may sacrifice 10 points from each of your combination stats to give +90 free points to distribute to any stats except your 3 combination stats. If any of your combination stats drop below 100 you will not lose any of your blessings, but you will not get to pick new ones at 100 again either.
]
Hmm, these ones were definitely interesting. Stat Boost is just a nice solid bonus of 60 points. That would be a few levels worth. Stat sacrifice was less interesting in Mason's opinion. If he spent all this time getting these stats to 100, why would he sacrifice points in them for something else? I guess if you wanted a more well rounded build but Mason wasn't into that.
Then finally there was Linked Stats. It was the most vague out of all of them, but if it did anything like what it sounded like, Mason was sure it was going to be the best one for him. taking a bit of a risk, Mason selected Linked stats.
[Linked Stats:
Your three combination stats will now gain each others effects very rarely. The order will go from top to bottom of your stat sheet. Strength will feed into Vitality, Vitality will feed into Resistance, and Resistance will feed into Strength. They will only gain these effects every 5 levels.
]
Well, Mason was right, this definitely paid off. Strength didn't really add anything to this group which was unfortunate, but the others were great. Time to see all the changes these choices made on his stat sheet.
[Status:
Weight: 474lbs
Health: 2025/2025(Regen 255/10 mins) -> 3930/3930(Regen 445/10 mins)
Stamina: 670/670 (Regen 115/5 mins) -> 820/820 (Regen 135/5 mins)
Titles(2/3): Lucky, Big Game Hunter, Specimen of Health
Achievements: Cheater of death, Boundless Lifeforce, Pinnacle of Strength, Pinnacle of Resistance, Pinnacle of Vitality, Trifecta of Power
Blessings: Sprinter, Mental Toughness, Gift of Vitality, Linked Stats
Stats:
Strength: 108 -> 110
Vitality: 91 -> 131
Resistance: 92 -> 100
]
Mason's jaw dropped when he saw how his already massive health pool had nearly doubled. He was starting to wonder what would honestly be able to kill him at this point at his own level. Although he hadn't actually met anyone else his own level yet, so he shouldn't get too cocky.
Standing up, he cracked his neck and walked to the throne room where Grammach was waiting. "I'm ready to go. Let's go kick that spider lady's ass so I can get the fuck out of here." With that eloquent greeting, Mason and Grammach left the monkey's cave and started heading towards Mirstra's domain.
Like Mason thought, they followed the tunnel back to the entrance and then went down the left tunnel. No wonder Mason got a bad feeling form down there. If he couldn't fight Grammach there is no way he could've beaten Mirstra. On the way, they did not encounter a single rock spider which was very odd. They were completely uninterrupted all the way to the end of the tunnel.
They arrived to a doorway that looked almost exactly like the stone door leading to Grammach's domain but with the etching of a spider on it. Figuring they were running into a trap, but not having much choice, Mason and Grammach each pushed against one of the stone doors and shoved them open before rushing inside.
However, there was no one there. There were abandoned spider webs and signs of previous habitation but the place was empty. Needing to come up with a plan, they both went back to the entrance and started talking about what to do when they were interrupted by a voice as smooth as honey.
"Hello Grammach, its been a long time."
