Notifications chimed, informing Verdant that he had succeeded in killed twelve more classed undead… and one more. This one he opened.
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Skill Unlocked! Electro-kinesis (Rare)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
This skill grants direct control over electrical currents, allowing manipulation and discharge of lightning at will.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Tier 0 – Beginner Proficiency Bonus (0-10)
· (Active) Generates controlled arcs of electricity, capable of stunning, shocking, or disrupting enemies.
· Mana Cost: 25 Mana for initial cast, 5 Mana per additional simultaneous bolt.
· Chain Lightning: 10% chance per level to arc to another target. (At Level 10, each bolt
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Verdant flinched as the new skill notification was violently pushed out of the way. The war horns called through his mind as the golden notifications of the Aesir system appeared before him, one after the other.
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
? System Notification ?
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Synergy Detected! Skill Rarity Upgraded!
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Electro-kinesis (Rare) > Stormbound Spark (Bloodline-Unique)
Due to inherent synergy in your Bloodline and your Wyrd Heart, this skill has been upgraded. Further awakening of either may lead to greater synergy.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
? System Notification ?
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Synergy Detected! Skill Proficiency Increased!
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Stormbound Spark (Bloodline-Unique) 1 > 11
Lightning is an inherent component of your ascension. It feels like an old friend to you and more readily comes to your aid.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
? System Notification ?
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Skill Updated! Stormbound Spark (Bloodline-Unique) 11
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
A power awakened through bloodline resonance, this skill grants an innate affinity for lightning, allowing basic control over electrical currents and the ability to discharge and direct lightning at will. While still in its early stages, this ability shows the potential for far greater mastery, hinting at a future where storms might answer your call. For now, each bolt is guided by instinct and training, its power limited only by your understanding and refinement.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Mana Cost: 50 Mana for initial cast, 9.5 Mana and 10 Health per additional simultaneous bolt.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Tier 0 – Beginner Proficiency Bonus (0-10)
· (Active) Generates controlled arcs of electricity, capable of stunning, shocking, or disrupting enemies.
· Chain Lightning: 10% chance per Beginner level to arc to two additional targets. 25% damage reduction per additional target chained.
· Tier Completion Bonus: +15 Intelligence +15 Wisdom +15 Dexterity
Tier 1 – Apprentice Proficiency Bonus (11-20)
· Chain Lightning: 10% chance per Apprentice level to arc to an additional target.
· Additional Bolt Cost Reduction: Every odd Apprentice level reduce cost by .5
· Damage Reduction: Every even Apprentice level, damage reduction -1%.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
? System Notification ?
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Bloodline Stimulated! Trait Unlocked!
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Stormborn Instincts (Bloodline-Unique)
Your inherent bloodline has been further stimulated by your attunement to and active use of lightning, awakening a passive trait.
[Stormborn Instincts] (Passive)
<ul>
<li>Natural Resistance: Reduces all electric-based damage by 25%.</li>
<li>Reflexive Conductivity: When struck by hostile lightning, you may redirect or absorb a portion of the energy to restore Mana or Wyrd</li>
<li>Combat Awareness: Your body automatically reacts to electrical threats, increasing reaction speed against lightning-based attacks.</li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
‘Fuck! Why does it always need to be so fucking violent. What the hell man.’ He scrutinised the new notifications before smiling, a smug grin that would put Bolva to shame.
‘A new Bloodline skill and a Trait. That’s so fucking awesome.’ Closing the screens, Verdant walked over, looting the still glowing remains. Noting for the first time that all these new soldiers were now level twenty-five. ‘Wait, was the last patrol like that too? How did I miss that…’
Verdant looked back through his log and found that the previous patrol was also comprised of level twenty-five soldiers. ‘So, it didn’t just upgrade the number of them, it upped their levels too. I don’t think it’s helped them much though…’
He turned and started to walk back to his vantage point by the low wall at the end of the street. When, an idea struck him; much like the lightning he had wielded so recently.
‘That cost me eighty mana and no health because the basic skill hadn’t evolved yet, even with the increased mana cost and the health cost I could output over a hundred lightning bolts simultaneously and wear the cost in resources without too much trouble. I’ve already seen that the damage in the attack is enough to kill these guys in one hit, at least with the primary strike…’ The center of the training fields was far enough away that he could escape notice of the elites he was sure were posted by the wall, doing fuck knows what.
‘I’ve been here for too long. I know it’s risky, But I’m sure I can do it. I need to use this power if I’m ever going to master it. Into the fire, I guess?’ Verdant felt a nervous energy filling his body. A need to prove himself and find the new limits of his power.
He jumped the low wall that had served as his cover until now and set off down the slope, picking up speed. In moment he’d hit the fields at full speed. In a moment of inspiration, he circulated energy to his throat and shouted with all his might.
“COME AND GET IT YOU FUCKS!”
His voice echoed over the fields like a megaphone set to full volume, throat raw from the effort. A feeling of dread came over him, intensifying, as no less than fourteen full patrols turned glowing sockets his way.
Verdant ran, aiming for a spot at the center of the fields where all the soldiers would converge.
Too late did he remember that among the one hundred and sixty-eight skeletal warriors, fifty-six of them were likely to be archers.
He called forth his shield, holding its circular form above his head as the first wave of arrows rained down from every direction.
While some of the arrows landed on the shield, others came in at just the right angle, striking him in the hands, legs and feet. Thankfully being crouched over protected the majority of his abdomen from the falling projectiles, while others tinked harmlessly off his back and arm plates.
All things considered, he’d got off lightly, his major organs were protected and nothing important was struck in his limbs.
He quickly removed several arrows from his body, twisting at the base of the shaft and tugging. The damage healed quickly with a burst of life force. Glancing to his health bar he saw that he’d lost over five percent in that one defence.
He waited for the next volley to take flight before swiftly moving several meters and readying his shield over his head once more. This time, two arrows struck the ground near him, while none had marked him at all.
Verdant continued this style of defence until the soldiers surrounded him on all sides.
He stood from his crouch, eyeing the boney forms around him.
“You stupid mother fuckers. Suck my fat coin-pouch.”
Verdant raised Frost Breaker in a two-handed grip above his head and flooded more than a thousand mana through his channels, burning the whole way. Reaching the weapon, it began to screech with an electrical hum. He reigned in the wild mana, forcing it all to the very tip of his war pick.
With a deafening boom the whole world was turned bright as though under the midday sun; as a colossal bolt of lightning erupted from the head of his weapon, branching and streaking through the air before blowing apart the clouds of the vortex above and disappearing.
Verdant was extremely sore after his efforts in channelling so much mana. Now he was surrounded on all sides and diminished in strength.
The warriors approached and he stood to meet them, shield in one hand, Frost Breaker in the other. ‘At least I had fun…’
A deep rumbling was heard from above as the patrols stopped, looking to the sky.
Verdant realised, he could feel the mana. ‘It’s still up there, it’s building up to something.’
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Electricity shot through the sky-spanning vortex above, the souls howled with rage and joy.
Their brothers would join them soon.
A blue spot appeared directly above verdant, an anomaly against the black and green sky.
It expanded until it had become a blue ring dozens of meters across. It slowly built in power, runes appeared around the circle, forming a complex sigil, humming loudly with charging electricity. The colour intensified as runes continued to appear before making a complete circle and in the space left in the centre a single gigantic rune appeared, the very same as the one engraved on his wyrd heart. Sowelo glowed with all the power of a thousand lightning strikes gathered in one place.
It was at that moment Verdant realised; it was time for him to be somewhere else.
Lowering his head and placing his shoulder behind his shield, he activated Bloods Wrath and charged with all his might. He connected with a gap between the ranks of warriors and punched through, knocking them to the ground.
Verdant had underestimated the difference between a (Rare) skill and a (Bloodline Unique) given to him through synergy with his Aesir heritage. The time had come for him to pay for that gross miscalculation.
The sky came alive, the ring of runes began to turn at an unimaginable speed, he could feel the charge in the air and the smell of ozone permeated everything. Hairs rose on the back of his neck, impending doom hung over his head as Bloods Wrath burned hot in his veins, pushing his body to the limits.
Lightning fell from the sky in blinding and deafening streaks. Even looking away, the light shocked his sensitive retinas.
With a world-shaking explosion of force, he felt himself thrown from the ground, blasted more than fifty meters through the air before coming to a stop a scant few meters from the wall he had hidden behind earlier.
Verdant was blinded and the howls of the souls above were blessedly silent as his ears filled with a high-pitched ringing.
He rolled over and came to a seated position, blinking hard to clear the light branded into his retinas he stuck a finger into his ear, wriggling it and vocalising a repetitive mah-mah. ‘Ah tinnitus, you’re a cruel mistress.’
He was displeased to note that his health had dropped a further two hundred points, though it was short-lived as a burst of life force, restored his hearing and sight.
He was not ready for what he saw in the fields beyond.
A glowing crater filled a large portion of the fields, it was catastrophic, like hell had come to this world and it was all contained in the circumference. Smoke poured from the earth and the air reeked of char.
‘Surely, they’re all dead. There’s no fucking way any of them survived that.’ Sure enough, seconds later a flood of souls tore from the ground, howling their rage and joining the vortex above.
He glanced at the vortex and noticed that it had more than doubled in intensity. The movement of the twisting clouds and the souls made him nauseous, and he had to look away.
Glancing at his notifications Verdant was pleased to note that each skeleton was accounted for, xp messages and loot for every, last, one.
‘Summary!’ He willed all the notifications he’d been ignoring until now to appear in a summary before him.
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Summary of Notifications
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Combat Summary
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
32 x Rattling Dead [Ash-Sworn Defender] level 25{Corrupted} Slain 9,600
96 x Rattling Dead [Horned Assaulter] level 25{Corrupted} Slain 28,800
64 x Rattling Dead [Ashen Marksman] level 25{Corrupted} Slain 19,200
57,600XPs +20% Hubris’ Folly bonus.
Total XPs = 69,120XPs
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Loot Summary
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
192 x Small Aether Crystal {Corrupted}(Common)
192 x Raeskir Soul Fragment {Corrupted}(Uncommon)
As this is an active quest scenario, currency rewards will be assigned upon its successful completion.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Skill Summary
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Assess(C) 6 > 7
Bloods Wrath(B-U) 6 > 7
Stormbound Spark (B-U) 11 > 15
Pathfinding(C) 8 > 9
Combat Tactics(UC) 6 > 7
Piercing Resistance(C) 0 > 1
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Attention: Bonded Weapon Level-Up Available.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Summary Complete
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Access System log at any time to view old notifications at your leisure.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Verdant read over the summary before continuing to the other notifications, still waiting for his attention. ‘Got to be achievements, right?’
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Achievement Earned: Against All Odds II (Epic)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
You have defeated 15+ enemies in a single combat instance whose level exceeded your own by 10+
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
+7 to all stats
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
+15% damage against enemies higher level than you
+5% resistance to damage from higher-level enemies
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
It’s not just luck anymore.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
‘Nice, almost every enemy I fight is a higher level than me, so that great.’ He smiled as he opened the next waiting panel.
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Achievement Earned: Against All Odds III (Legendary)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
You have defeated 25+ enemies in a single combat instance whose level exceeded your own by 15+
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
+10 to all stats
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
+20% damage against enemies higher level than you
+10% resistance to damage from higher-level enemies
Momentum Stacking - For every enemy defeated in combat, you gain +2% movement speed and attack speed for 5 seconds, stacking up to 25 times.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
If it bleeds, you can kill it.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
‘Wait… how many enemies did I kill? Over a hundred… How many of these things are coming?’ Apprehension sat in his gut as he thought about the possible implications for himself, gaining this many stats at once. Already he could feel his muscles twisting and contracting and a headache built behind his eyes.
The feeling only grew with the next panel.
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Achievement Earned: Against All Odds IV (Mythic)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
You have defeated 50+ enemies in a single combat instance whose level exceeded your own by 20+
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
+15 to all stats
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
+25% damage against enemies higher level than you
+15% resistance to damage from higher-level enemies
Lesser Fear Immunity - Enemies higher level than you can no longer inflict fear-based debuffs. (Exclude [Boss] tiered enemies)
Battlefield Executioner - Killing blows restore 2% of fatigue and 2% of max health
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Surrounded on all sides, you laugh in the face of death.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
His muscles cramped with the addition, almost doubling his gains so far. A thread of anxiety weaved through his mind as he realised there was one more notification, and it glowed the telltale gold of the Aesir system.
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Achievement Earned: Against All Odds V (Ascendant)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
You have defeated 100+ enemies in a single combat instance whose level exceeded your own by 25+ while at level 0.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
+25 to all stats
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
+30% damage against enemies higher level than you
+20% resistance to damage from higher-level enemies
Greater Fear Immunity – Only [Boss] class enemies may inflict Fear upon you and at 50% effectiveness.
Apex Defiance - While fighting enemies higher level than you, status effects and debuffs from them have their duration halved. Not effective against status effects or debuffs without a duration.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
They call you impossible. You Enough! By the nine, are you trying to get yourself killed? Do you have any idea how absurd it is that I—of all beings—have to step in and hijack the blasted tagline to this degree? Unbelievable. You couldn’t take things slowly, no, that would be too sensible. You just had to go and shatter multiple thresholds at once, stacking powerful achievements like a reckless fool. And for what, exactly? A fleeting sense of accomplishment?
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Verdant collapsed to the ground as new strength flowed through him. Every single stat had just risen by fifty-five points in less than a minute and his mind and body were having trouble coping with the changes.
Sweat poured from his body as he endured the changes. Slowly, the contractions of his muscles and shoots of pain through his mind subsided and stopped. ‘Fuck… it’s done. Finally… I guess whoever is commenting on my notifications didn’t like that. Gotta be honest, I’m not a fan of it either. Shit.’
Verdant glanced at Frost Breaker, still held firmly in his hand. ‘What have you got for me buddy? Be gentle.’
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Item – Hrímrjóer - Frost Breaker (Bloodline-Unique)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="600">
Level 4 - Kills 195/50
+40 Free Stat Points (9 Unused)
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
He willed the weapon to apply its kill experience making it level seven and gaining an additional thirty free points.
Verdant was in pain and feeling extremely depleted. ‘Thank fuck. Free points don’t hurt.’
Lifting his head, he looked to the north once more, where he suspected the [Elite] enemies would be waiting. ‘It’s time to fall back, what’s the worse they could do in a couple of hours.’
He stood, setting off back down the North Road, looking for an inn, it was his hope to barricade himself in a larder or pantry and recover.
He had gone no more than a half kilometre along the road before he found what he was looking for. Entering through the glowing entryway, he continued past the bar and back into the kitchen where he found a door, behind which was a staircase leading down, into the earth.
Verdant reached the bottom of the stairs and turned to walked around them, positioning himself in the corner underneath the entry. ‘This way I’ll have time to hear and react if something comes down the stairs after me… I hope.’
He quickly ate a couple of fruits from his storage and settled in to meditate. He needed to recover his resources if he had any hope of facing the [Elite] warriors that were still out there.
In that moment, Verdant remembered the free points he had gained from increasing the level of Frost Breaker. Willing his stats to appear, he thought about for a moment, before electing to place all thirty-nine free points in Vitality. ‘I gotta know if something happens at one thousand points while I’m still level zero.’
Visualising his wyrd heart, he found himself within the core once more. ‘Fuck, how much of that shit did I use?’ He was shocked to find that the pool of liquid beneath him was extremely depleted. ‘How did I use that, it’s not mana or health and I had very few permanent upgrades since the last time I was here.’
‘Wait! The new trait and the bloodline skill? Could they have used up all of this… stuff? The stats too… shit’ Mentally shaking himself, he tried to refocus. ‘This isn’t something that affects me now. I could sit here all day and stress but right now I need to recover.’
Focussing his will, Verdant started to turn the energy in the basin below, actively using his Aesir Circulation. As before, it was slow to start but quickly built-up speed.
Raw wyrd flowed into his core and split into its constituent parts, filling the basin beneath and exiting the heart to reinvigorate his body.
‘Whatever else is going on, I need to focus right now. I can face the rest of this crap when I recover and ask Bolva as many questions as I like.’ He calmed himself and focussed once more, bringing up his status panel to see the changes that had occurred after the last fight.
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" colspan="7" width="522">
Stats
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" colspan="7" width="522">
Health - 3,242 / 5,724
Regen – 433.6/hr (108.4/hr+100%WR+200%AC)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" colspan="7" width="522">
Mana - 245 / 2,883
Regen – 271.8/hr (66.3/hr+10%AW+100%WR+200% AC)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" width="128">
Free Stats
</td>
<td style="text-align: center" colspan="2" width="128">
0
</td>
<td style="text-align: center" colspan="2" width="138">
Free Efficiency
</td>
<td style="text-align: center" colspan="2" width="129">
N/A
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" colspan="2" width="165">
Strength
</td>
<td style="text-align: center" colspan="2" width="111">
217 [694]
</td>
<td style="text-align: center" colspan="2" width="140">
Intelligence
</td>
<td style="text-align: center" width="106">
222 [355]
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" colspan="2" width="165">
Vitality
</td>
<td style="text-align: center" colspan="2" width="111">
271 [1084]
</td>
<td style="text-align: center" colspan="2" width="140">
Wisdom
</td>
<td style="text-align: center" width="106">
237 [663]
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center" colspan="2" width="165">
Dexterity
</td>
<td style="text-align: center" colspan="2" width="111">
222 [266]
</td>
<td style="text-align: center" colspan="2" width="140">
Charisma
</td>
<td style="text-align: center" width="106">
197 [230]
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>