The Legend of Randidly Ghosthound

As Randidly sent Devan’s squad away, he had gained 3 more Lvls in Cooking, and 2 in Grace.

He saw the strange glances from Raina, but ignored them. Without the added danger of her looks, there was definitely some appeal in trying to recruit her to come back to Donnyton. Although that sorta depended on what she could accomplish with her voice…

Shaking his head, Randidly focused on his PP. Even though he didn’t want to stay and help the town too much, it couldn’t be denied that nights like this were certainly well springs of PP. He supposed that was half the reason monsters hordes were sent against Newbie Villages, to encourage skill growth.

He had 42 PP, 29 of which were used to finish of the Potion Making II Path. He earned 12 Focus getting there, as a notification.

Congratulations! You have completed the The Potion Making II Path! Battle is not the only path to strength. Understanding the world’s mysteries and using them to your own advantage will greatly increase your chance of surviving. For ahead of you, the path stretches ever onward. Effectiveness of bonuses from Potion Making skill lvl have increased. You have learned the skill Extract Lvl 1.

Extract: Separate the composite parts of a substance or mixture. Speed and thoroughness of extraction depend on skill level. Purity will increase as skill level rises.

As Randidly had expected, he had received a skill for the completion. He couldn’t currently think of any uses for it, but he supposed as he encountered more materials, he would find something.

The remaining 13 PP sat there, as Randidly frowned down at his Path options.

Watcher: 0/??, ?????, Heretic IV 0/???, Oathbreaker 0/25, Initiate of Ash I 0/75, Spear Mastery II 0/75, Path of Carnage I 0/???

The obvious choice was to now go for Spear Mastery II. It was still the bread and butter of his close combat techniques, and this would probably provide a new skill he could use. But at the same time, he was oddly drawn to the Path of Carnage path.

Both the surety of Spear Mastery II’s usefulness and the question marks in the amount of Path of Carnage made Randidly hesitate, and ultimately decide the safe option was best. At least Spear Mastery would likely result in a positive outcome, even if it took a while.

So Randidly poured his PP into that path, earning himself a point in Perception at 5, and Reaction at 10. That, combined with the bonuses that Randidly received from his soul skill, added up to a significant amount.

After allocating everything Randidly looked at his status screen.

Randidly Ghosthound

Class: ---

Level: N/A

Health(/R per hour): 390/432 [+8] (209 [+12])

Mana(/R per hour): 132/769 (90.75)

Stam(/R per min): 401/544 (76 [+4])

Vit: 62 [+4]

End: 39

Str: 49 [+2]

Agi: 70 [+10]

Perception: 36

Reaction: 53

Resistance: 19

Willpower: 70

Inteligence: 96

Wisdom: 46

Control: 79

Focus: 50

Equipment: Average Leather Tunic Lvl 5: (+2 Vit), Gloves of Quickness (Vit +1. Agi +3), Necklace of the Shadow Cat Lvl 20 ®: (Vitality +1, Strength +2, Agility +7)

Skills (Soul Skill):  Spear of Rot Mastery Lvl 437

Combat: Spear Mastery Lvl 52, Phantom Thrust Lvl 49, Spear Phantom’s Footwork Lvl 38, Eyes of the Spear Phantom Lvl 24, Phantom Half-Step Lvl 15, Heavy Blow Lvl 26, Dagger Mastery Lvl 10, Iron Skin Lvl 27, Dodge Lvl 31, Fighting Proficiency Lvl 38, Block Lvl 32, Haste Lvl 24, Phantom Onslaught Lvl 14, Sweep Lvl 26, Spear Deflect Lvl 10, Empower Lvl 28, Calculated Blow Lvl 19, Roundhouse Kick Lvl 18, Edge of Decay Lvl 16

Spells: Spearing Roots Lvl 13, Mana Bolt Lvl 28, Mana Shield Lvl 24, Root Manipulation Lvl 28, Arcane Orb Lvl 22, Fireball Lvl 30, Magic Missile Lvl 4, Healing Palm Lvl 9, Pollen of the Rafflesia Lvl 15, Summon Pestilence Lvl 17, Mana Strengthening Lvl 14, Wall of Thorns Lvl 5, Soul Seed Lvl ®, Agony Lvl 12, Inspiration ®, Incinerating Bolt Lvl 5, Circle of Flame Lvl 7

Crafting: Potion Making Lvl 30, Farming Lvl 20, Plant Breeding Lvl 9, Mapmaker Lvl 7, Analyze Lvl 24, Refine Lvl 12

Auxiliary: Physical Fitness Lvl 33, Meditation Lvl 35, Running: Lvl 23,  Sprinting Lvl 19, Sneak Lvl 23, Acid Resistance Lvl 22, Poison Resistance Lvl 16, Pain Resistance Lvl 14, First Aid Lvl 13, Equip Lvl 25, Pathfinding Lvl 18, Mental Strength Lvl 15, Curse Resistance Lvl 3, Fire Resistance Lvl 14,  Blessing of the North (U), Blessing of the East (U), Blessing of the West (U), Sewing Lvl 11, Cutting Vegetables Lvl 2, Manual Labor Lvl 3, Digging Lvl 5, Cooking Lvl 16, Grace Lvl 5, Extract Lvl 1

Looking at his stats, Randidly had some decisions to make. For now, both survivability and spell damage weren’t an issue. In addition, his mana and stamina were increasing to the point that he could use his high cost skills and spells multiple times in a row. Not many without potions, but enough for an extended fight.

So now Randidly was torn whether to drive his Agility up even higher, increase his Strength for more power, work on the supporting stats of Perception and Reaction, or to finally address the glaring weakness that was his Resistance.

Randidly supposed it wasn’t so glaring. For this time period, where everyone was putting points into the physical defense skills, he probably had a relatively higher amount in that stat compared to most non-knight people. But still.

If there was a way to beat him in a fight, it was to hit him hard with spells. He was getting by in his spars with Clarissa due to his high agility, but that wouldn’t always be useful.

After rubbing his forehead, Randidly climbed up to the top of a building. Although he certainly was gaining a lot of PP, they did not translate into distributable stats as much as they used to. It was usually to a stat that was relevant to the path. And Randidly hadn’t yet encountered a path that was specifically related to Resistance…

The annoying part of it all was that he couldn’t know what kind of threats would be coming. There were obviously enemies that Resistance were necessary against, but if those enemies didn’t come, it would essentially be useless stats.

But something occurred to Randidly, and his face fell. He did know of one enemy they hadn’t yet accounted for, and who would likely know magic. Donnyton’s Tribulation. If anyone were to prepare and use his weakness to magic to defeat him, it would be that creature.

Shivering, Randidly resolved himself to raise his resistance and looked North, toward Donnyton.

Yea, he had played around down here for long enough. It was time to head back.

*****

“What are they… doing?” Annie asked distastefully.

Dozer shrugged. “The trees come from the Ghosthound, so people think they are special. And that aura they give off is pretty good. So every day, when the trees dance…”

The tree wiggled its branches back and forth. A few dozen people, standing nearby, mirrored it.

Decklan yawned exaggeratedly. “At least the tree is at the guard station anyway. Might as well be useful while you make yourself look like an idiot-”

Then Decklan froze, and smiled. “Finally, Glendel found that Tier II Raid Boss. Are you two ready?”

Dozer and Annie nodded, their individual squads standing and stretching, preparing for what was to come. It was likely overkill, but in the wake of Dozer clearing the dungeon, the pressure on Donnyton was largely decreased. There was still a large constant flow of monsters from the other dungeon, but from what Dozer said, he should have bought a solid week of no monsters from the other direction.

Annie looked around, frowning. “Where’s the little kitty, Dozey?”

Dozer just shrugged. One of his subordinates spoke up in his stead. “She’s still with Daniel. For whatever reason, she chose him as her personal pin cushion.”

One woman from Decklan’s squad chuckled. “I heard that he earned Scratch Resistance, and it’s already at Lvl 7.”

Decklan clapped. “That crafty bastard, keeping all of that fun for himself. While the rest of us are out here risking our lives. Brings a tear to my eye, the unfairness of the world.”

Dozer rolled his eyes. “Let’s just go already, I want to try some of that liquor the NCCs have started brewing. Apparently it’s fermented from the Ghosthound’s weird strain of corn.”

Almost instantly, most of the group’s eyes began to sparkle and they fell into a practiced formation. Sighing, Annie shook her head.

“Men,” She muttered.