Garath felt as bad as Warrion looked. He fumbled through his pockets and found his last Adderall, popped it into his mouth, and dry swallowed it. Though the intense stimulant kept him from feeling tired, per se, his mind and body were on the brink of exhaustion. Luckily, the prompts that awaited his return to consciousness lifted his spirits, if only a little.
Congratulations, Garath! For reaching level(s) 19, 20, and 21, you are awarded +9 Attribute Points (3 per level) and +3 Skill Points (1 per level) to distribute at your discretion. As a Necrologist, you receive +3 Wisdom, +3 Vitality, and +1 Regeneration per level. You have one week to distribute the points before they are assigned for you based on your chosen class.
Unused Attribute Points: 9
Unused Skill Points: 10
New Skills are now available.
He noted the time on his MENU panels, 19:14, before accessing his Profile panel. It had been a while since Garath had taken the time to look over his stats in detail, what with the impending doom of humanity and all that. Next to the holographic representation of himself, his Attributes were listed numerically in a convenient table format.
Garath
Race: Human
Class: Necrologist
Level: 21
Age: 29
Health: 785/800
(base: 690; APs: +110)
Stamina: 100/100
Mana: 810/810
(base: 690; APs: +90 items: +30)
Experience to next Level: 185/68,000
Attributes
Vitality: 80 - Each point of Vitality provides +10 to maximum Health.
Wisdom: 78 - Each point of Wisdom provides +10 to maximum Mana.
Regeneration: 39 - As a Necrologist, each point of Regeneration increases Mana recovery rate by +1.11 per second; Health recovery rate by +.25 per second; and recovery from injury by +2%.
Strength: 5 - In addition to making one stronger, each point of Strength increases physical attack damage by 1% and reduces damage received from physical attacks by .25%.
Dexterity: 10 - In addition to making one more agile, each point of Dexterity improves the critical strike chance of physical attacks by +.3%; the critical strike damage of physical attacks by +3%; and improves chance to dodge by +.5%.
Unused Attribute Points: 0
With one eye on the fight outside - or rather, the growing lack thereof; just as Warrion had said, less and less Wyverns seemed brave enough to attack The Band after seeing dozens or perhaps even hundreds of their fellow flying reptiles downed by the group - Garath considered his options. After seeing exactly how much damage an unattended Bleed debuff could do to first hand, Garath decided that a bigger Health pool and higher rate of Regeneration would be his best bet at living through any more attacks while taking 150% increased damage in the tiny form. With that in mind, he allocated six Attribute Points into Vitality, two APs into Regeneration, and the last one into Wisdom. He then confirmed his decision and let the improved Attributes wash over him in a rejuvenating tide.
Unused Attribute Points: 0
Next, Garath closed the Profile panel impeding the right third of his vision and replaced it with the expanding list of spells and abilities displayed on his Skill Tree. The Necrologist nearly choked when he saw that three new Skills, all glowing a bright gold to stand out in their individual trees. He started with the left-most tree, Death.
(Available from Level: 20)
Creeping Death
Active
Cost: 55 Mana (.08x base Mana)
30 Meter Range
1 Second Cast
Effect: Bestows your target with the debuff Quickening Entropy, dealing 79 (Death) damage (1x Wisdom) over 30 seconds. Quickening Entropy is a stackable debuff (maximum ten) and the time remaining is refreshed with each application.
*Note: Each subsequent application of Quickening Entropy increases the Mana cost of Creeping Death by 30% if used on the same target.
Cost to Unlock: 5
Unused Skill Points: 10
Garath almost cried at the pure beauty of the Skill and purchased it without a second thought, caution be damned. He knew he may regret spending the points before reading the other options… but it was a stackable DoT that shared a name with one of his favorite Metallica songs. On top of that, it was one of very few Necrologist Skills that didn't have the additional cost of tainting one's soul. How could he possibly not buy it?
Unused Skill Points: 5
Garath smiled to himself as the chorus of Metallica's 1984 hit song rocked on in his head and he moved on to the first new option glowing on the Blood Skill tree. It was another Level 20 Skill that branched off from Sanguine Ward.
(Available from Level: 20)
Black Blood
Active
Cost: 138 Mana (.2x base Mana) + 138 Health (.2x base Health)
Range: Self
Instant Cast
10 Minute Cooldown
Effect: Manipulate your own blood to act as a deadly weapon (1 use) OR as a powerful shield for up to 30 seconds.
Cost to Unlock: 5
Unused Skill Points: 5
Garath frowned. The Blood Skill tree had already given him a spell shield with Sanguine Ward, did he really need a second? The previous Skill descriptions had all listed at least some kind of numerical value correlating to the effect. What exactly did it signify that the description for Black Blood was left so open? To Garath it meant he would have to try it to find out, not something he would be strongly opposed to in a game but, with his real life on the line (in the middle of a very violent apocalypse no less), that uncertainty gave him pause. For all he knew Black Blood could be the single most powerful Skill available to Necrologists (or the most useless) but, without more information, he felt too uncomfortable to spend precious Skill points on it.
Still, something about the vague description on the glowing Skill circle whispered to him. He chewed on his lip pensively. If the shield effect saved his life though, even once, it would be worth everyone one of the five SPs he’d have to spend to get it. Another thought came to mind too, with Sanguine Ward he was only shielded from physical damage
