The monster moved away without spotting anything, taking the remains of the mechanical monster with it. The great glow of the cliffs disappeared and everything seemed to return to normal.
Breathing with relief, the Zcarbbs began to study the loot removed by the soldiers from the enemy carcass.
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Rainbow armor [C]: The piece Engineer Gizmo was working on before his defeat. Would its completion have changed the outcome of the fight? [+10 Armor (immune to armor-destroying effects), +2 Strength] [Repulsion Special Ability: Throws a targeted nearby enemy back, causing minor damage with no armor reduction. 30-minute cooldown.] [Minimum Level Required: 25]
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Actarus'' Ring (D): Just a <u>Tinker''s Ring</u>: Its owner tampered with the System to change its name. [Grants the ability to use the skills "Repair (E)" and "Summon Tinker''s Tools (E)"]
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Skill Book (Rare):
Gadget (D) (Natural Power) Allows you to quickly design small, useful but weakly durable equipment using a minimum of materials. The characteristics of the equipment will be more interesting with a high Intelligence.
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Characteristic Book (Very Rare):
Tome of Intelligence +1
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The information given by the combination of the two nobles'' skills was very interesting. Well, at this distance it was mainly "Analysis" that did all the work. Reading the details of the ring, Xicackna thought that the enemies of this dungeon must have made interesting progress in their understanding of the System. As for the armor...
“Where does this armor come from? It seems to be our size but made of the automaton''s torso...”
“Well... The System sometimes transforms part of the bodies of defeated bosses into useful equipment. Unfortunately, neither of us can use this piece: I''ll have to bring it back to the armory.”
He made the item disappear in his inventory then grabbed the ring.
“I''ll take this...”
“And why you?”
Xicackna bit her mouth after saying these words. She had gotten into the bad habit of always antagonizing Kol-Gaar, because of his frequent annoyance with her, but now she was giving him plenty of opportunities to get in a few good retorts. After all, what use had she been during this fight? Yes, she had faced a Gnome and spat her acid, half as often as the others because her skill was of a lower rank… But deep down, she didn’t feel like she had been very useful.
“I have a trap building skill that will be greatly enhanced by those given as a bonus by this item. Ah, look at my adventurer sheet…”
Surprisingly, he hadn’t taken the opportunity to criticize her and even revealed his entire sheet to her, allowing the princess to see all of his data for the first time:
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<u>Status</u>:
Name: Kol-Gaar
Race: [Zcarbb]
Class: Strategist [rank E] Level 18
Profession: Prince
Hit points (HP): 570(+0)/570 (+36)
Energy Points (EP): 4212 (+442)/4212 (+468)
Vigor: 270 (+0)/270 (+36)
Armor: 31 (+7)/31 (+7)
Current experience: 8555
Experience needed for next level: 895
<u>Abilities:</u>
Strength: 13 (+3!)
Agility: 13 (+3!)
Stamina: 15 (+2!)
Intelligence: 26
Armor (natural): 31 (+7!)
Mana: 9 (+1!)
Luck: 3
Points available: 0
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
<u>Attributes </u><u>(1)</u>:
Hive Mind (Natural Power) [Ability to transmit limited information to the hive over a variable distance]
<u>Skills</u><u> (7):</u>
Chitin Armor (D) [passive natural power, +30 Armor, +100 HP]
Acid throw (E) [Natural power, level 1/3]
Metamorphosis (E) [Natural power, level1] [Allows you to partially change your appearance]
Total immunity to acid [D] [Natural power]
Flight (wings) [D] [Natural power] [1 Vigor per minute, 3 Vigor per minute if heavily loaded]
Regenerating acid [E] (Supernatural power) [Cannot be used on oneself but allows passive self-cicatrization, overcomes acid resistances] [Can be combined with acid throw for more distance; regenerates 1d20+5 hit points of the target and heals wounds, costs 10 Vigor to use but cannot be used again for 1 hour on the same target]
Time freeze [D] (Magical power) Allows you to stop your enemies. Any damage inflicted stops the power. [Energy costs: 10x(target''s rank)/minute; multiple targets possible; If the power is interrupted, the target is immune for 10 minutes; targets can resist each minute by using up to 10 points of their Energy (or Vigor) per level, to increase the cost to the caster by double the Energy; targets of a higher rank than the skill cost 10 times more Energy to immobilize.]
<u>Class Skills</u><u> (9):</u>
Stratagem (D) (Supernatural Power) [The System provides you with tools to develop your plans] [Hidden Trait [Unlocked] "Hidden Hand" half of your skills are undetectable (based on detection level), 1/3 of your characteristics will appear higher and 1/3 will appear lower]
Intimidate (E) (Supernatural Power) Worries enemies [Costs 10 Vigor per use]
Provoke (E) (Supernatural Power) Irritates enemies [Costs 5 Vigor per use]
Analyze (D) (Supernatural Power) Allows you to obtain very detailed information on a nearby target. [This power allows you to understand in depth the nature of the targets analyzed; allows you to protect your information from an “Analysis” skill of equal or lower level]
Detection (E) (Supernatural Power) Increases the probability of detecting traps, invisible objects, and points of interest.
Smoke Cloud [E] (Magical Power) Generates a cloud of smoke that obscures most perception abilities. [Costs 20 Energy; +Additional Energy to extend the area; costs 5 Energy if the area is less than 1 meter; costs 10 Energy per minute to maintain]
Trap Construction [F] (Natural Power) Allows you to build simple traps from a small amount of materials.
Heat Detection [F] (Magical Power) Allows you to detect heat sources even through walls. [1 Energy point per 10 seconds]
?
<u>ACTIVE EQUIPMENT:</u>
Hive Defense Spear (E) [+2 Armor; +2 Stamina] [2-handed weapon]
Minor Bracers of Strength (E) [+3 Strength] [Arm Ornament, Pair]
2x Armor Necklace (E) [+1 Armor] [Neck Ornament]
Energy Regeneration Ring (D) [+10 Energy Regeneration per Minute]
Focus Headband (E) [+1 Mana] [Head Armor]
Leather Gloves (F) [+1 Agility] [Hand Armor]
Adventurer''s Tunic (E) [+2 Armor, +1 Agility] [Chest Armor]
Leather Leg Guards (F) [+1 Armor] [Leg Armor]
Pedestrian Protection Bandages [F] [+1 Agility] [Foot Armor]
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“Oh,” the princess wondered, “you have an Energy regeneration ring now? And what''s that symbol at the end of your class skills? Does it replace one of the skills?”
“Yes, the ring came from one of my previous dungeons. The queen decided that I would have custody of it again, given my recent Energy outages. As for the skill, it''s just that I haven''t chosen it yet...”
“Could you take the skill book instead? It seems to complement what you already have.”
“I''m not sure that this new skill falls within the scope of my class skills... Look at what''s being offered to me.”
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<u>Class Skill Gain</u>
As you progress in your mastery of your class, you can choose <u>one</u> additional class skill from the three skills below:
Magic Trap (E) (Magic Power) Allows you to remotely generate magic traps using attributes that match your other abilities. The traps will become invisible for one second after they are placed. Depending on your mastery level, it is possible to configure the traps [see extended description.]. [The attribute "Raw Energy" is added to the available power attributes.]
Falsification (D) (Supernatural Power) Allows you to falsify the information that other users of the System can obtain about you.
Observation (E) (Supernatural Power) [allows you to obtain information on targets using the System [allows you to see the target of the focus from afar; allows you to protect your information from an "Observation" skill of equal or lower level]] [Observation can make it easier to detect camouflaged enemies or points of interest.]
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“It seems like you influenced me a bit given the choices offered... I could take the ‘Observation’ skill to benefit from my ‘Analysis’ skill from afar, but it would be stupid to have two skills that are so similar... I could take ‘Falsification’, but I don''t think I need it, even against an enemy capable of studying me: my stratagem skill has its uses to hide my assets, especially when I master it better... So that leaves only ‘Magic Trap’... but is it the right choice when I can build other traps manually?”
Xicackna felt flattered that he finally acknowledged her opinion. For her part, the possibility of building magic traps from a distance seemed tempting, especially given the way Kol-Gaar had used his own traps against the first Gnome: his sense of strategy would surely allow him to use this skill well. However, "Observation" was also very interesting for spotting the characteristics of enemies well before facing them...
“I think you should take ‘Magic Trap’. This will give you an effective weapon to disrupt enemy lines without putting yourself in danger.”
“I think so too.”
He confirmed his choice then turned his gaze towards the two books that were floating slightly in the air when not touched. You had to open them to see a window appear proposing their actions. It was a curious appearance for books: a sort of square covered on two sides and on one edge by a sort of leather protection, while the pages inside seemed to be made of a sort of leaves rather than solid amber pages...
“Wait a moment!” the princess suddenly cried. “Your class skills do not match the documents I studied!”
“How so?” Kol-Gaar asked her, taken aback.
“I mean, if you were already mature at the time of the Disaster, then you should have only developed five or six class skills…”
“I received my class before… When I was metamorphosing…”
The prince''s gaze became severe and Xicackna looked away, sorry for bringing back bad memories. Putting one of the books in his inventory, he abruptly handed her the other one. Surprised to receive this gift despite the prince''s bad mood, she wanted to refuse at first, considering the fact that he needed more points in Energy than she did, but he did not waver:
“It''s for you that we are here. Open this book and validate the window that will appear: you will then absorb the object and receive an intelligence point. The funny thing is that you will be able to read this book by diving into your memory. I have never found one before, but I was told about it. Given the point given, it will probably be a book on mathematics or other fascinating subjects.”
Full of curiosity for what she was going to discover, Xicackna followed the instructions.