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CH 89: Loot and Accolades
🕑 Added 2025-02-07 15:00:04 +0000 UTCReid panted. The King's head, even offered to him, had taken two fully-empowered blows to sever. It racked Reid's body and left him feeling more winded and spent than he had the entire time in the den. He The System's chimes felt out of place next to the solemn scene. Between the three others in the final Den and the king itself, Reid's experience gains were massive.
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You have defeated Ancient Deep Mole King - lvl 26. (+200,000,000 xp)
Experience: 157,029,200 / 209,715,200 -> 357,429,200 / 419,430,400
Level: 23 -> 24
Control: 125 -> 130
Quest Complete! Calculating final performance.
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As soon as he received the level gain, a new priority message jumped to the front of his view.
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NOTICE: Note Unlocked - Priority Note to Self:
Reid, if you're reading this, you've managed to get to level 24. Good work, really. Now, I need to ask you to slow or stop your progress - at least if I'm not yet awake. If you jump into F grade without thinking things through and preparing, you'll be setting yourself up for future failure. As in, can't-reunite-with-Sara-because-I-have-issues kind of failure. It all stems from your distribution of Stats.
Go into F with your perception, intelligence, and dexterity as low as they are, and you'll essentially cripple yourself. I... don't have a great analogy for it. I'll try to think of one. I know you like those. All-god, writing these is getting weird. Do you know I've already written 40 of these things? Except this might be the second note you see.
Sorry. Having one side of a conversation for this long is making me weird. Plus we're on unequal footing in this relationship. I've had hundreds of years to watch your memories, and you don't know much of anything about me. We'll fix that when you wake up, if you want. I'd like for us to get along - but I understand if you have reservations.
Aaand now I'm rambling. Right. Balance yourself out before you kill anything else. Get your Dex, Int, and Per to at least half of your Control and Power stats, and you should be okay. Bringing them all to your current maximum would be better. But don't allow yourself to enter F with anything less. If it's unavoidable and I'm awake, I might be able to help re-route things and save you from making the mistake. Just don't hate me for messing with your energy and levels. Okay. Good luck, and again - good work.
OH! Don't be part of a group that kills anything in F-grade. Now that you're this close it'll put you over into F yourself.
-Nyx
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Reid read and re-read Nyx's note. There was so much surety, but also longing and uncertainty contained in the words. Reid definitely still had issues with what the Shackle had caused - or may have caused to happen to him. But if Nyx was different, he would try to forge a friendship... or whatever kind of relationship was possible. It could just be that they would forever end up as two entities that interacted only through notes and memories.
In the continued spirit of getting Nyx's messages too late, Reid had already killed the mole king - an F grade creature. It took him up and through the majority of level 24, and he was now 'only' 60 million points from reaching level 25. If there were additional XP rewards after the calculations finished, Reid might be screwed. He crossed his fingers and hoped it wouldn't send him over the edge. Seconds ticked by. Win was making her way to the shelf, with Lycra riding on her shoulders.
Then an overlapping series of chimes blasted.
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Quest Performance Calculations Complete!
Final Performance:
Kill the Mole King 1 / 1
Kill the Mole Princes 5 / 5
Kill Moles 23 / 23
Time Remaining: 1d 10h 49m 02s
Secret Challenge Completed: Time Limited
You finished the quest within the proposed time limit!
Bonus Experience awarded for completing secret challenge
Bonus Experience awarded for taking no quest losses
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Secret Challenge Reward Bestowed - Skill: Identify [basic]
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Secret Challenge Reward Bestowed - Equipment: Storage Ring
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Secret Challenge Reward Bestowed - Equipment: King's Fang
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New Achievements Earned!
- Pesticide (Earned for eradicating a pest-class species from a local area)
- Regicide (Earned for killing a King)
- Mercy Kill (Earned for killing a creature that wanted you to end its life!)
- Challenger (Earned for completing a quest on the highest possible difficulty)
- Lone Agent (Earned for completing a secret challenge with more than 90% contribution)
- Magnanimous Leader (Earned for completing all quest objectives by yourself and carrying other party members to victory)
- Grade Jumper (Earned for defeating an F grade entity while still in G grade)
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WARNING! Bonus Experience Manually Reprovisioned. Calculating adjustment.
Final Bonus Experience Awarded: 50,000,000 xp
Accelerated Growth Experience Awarded: +4,000,000 xp
Accelerated Growth Skill Awarded: Darkvision [Common]
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"Jesus, that's a lot." Reid had so many new things to read about, he didn't know where to start. Or maybe he did. The 'reprovisioned' bit of notification text made him think that Nyx was awake - and doing exactly what they said they would.
"Hello?" Reid questioned aloud. There was no answer. "Did you do that? Can you hear me?"
He didn't get a response. Maybe it had been something Nyx put in place before, like a safety. Reid instead focused to bring up his stats. There was much to review.
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STATUS
Name: Ser Reid Oliver Calderwall
Affiliation: "Earth"
Race: Human
Grade: G
Level: 24
Health: 573 / 625
Experience: 357,429,200 -> 411,429,200 / 419,430,400
STATS:
Constitution: 62.5
Dexterity: 2
Intelligence: 6
Perception: 11
Power: 62.5
Control: 130
Stat Upgrade Points: ERROR
SKILLS:
Strengthening [Basic]
Identify [Basic]
Hardening [Common]
Darkvision [Common]
Calcification [Uncommon]
Accelerated Growth [Undefined] (.08)
Skill Upgrade Points: ERROR
ENHANCEMENTS:
Osteal Smithing Journeyman (Calcification)
RESISTANCES:
Substances - Sedatives
Active Skill Effects - All
ACCOLADES:
Titles:
[Honorary Knight]
Achievements:
[Pesticide, Regicide, Mercy Kill, Challenger, Lone Agent, Magnanimous Leader, Grade Jumper]
RESTRICTED:
???: UNAVAILABLE
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411 million. Reid was now just eight million xp away from reaching F grade. Even after part of the bonus was redirected, the Accelerated Growth skill alone had been responsible for giving him 4 million points - which meant it worked like a percentage multiplier for experience. For every 100 points he earned himself, it would just... give him another 8. Not quite as neat as Sara's doubling - but it could be, in time. He just needed to keep getting more achievements. He focused in on those next.
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Pesticide
Deal 15% more damage against pest class species.
Regicide
Any negative active or passive effects of other being's Titles have a lessened effect on you. Take reduced damage from Titled beings.
Mercy Kill
Doubles damage and skill effectiveness against creatures that wish for you to kill them.
Challenger
When you complete future challenge areas or event quests, rewards are increased.
Lone Agent
Improves bodily efficiency.
Magnanimous Leader
Companions in your party, empire, or any other formal group are granted performance bonuses based on your actions.
Grade Jumper
Deal 10% more damage against entities at least one grade above your own.
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While he wasn't entirely certain what everything meant, all of the Achievements he'd gotten seemed to come with their own great effects, completely separate from the multiplier they gave his experience. Pesticide and Grade Jumper were straightforward. Regicide seemed simple enough - it was similar to a resistance. Mercy Kill was... well, a bit useless. Challenging would be a self-propelling boon stacked on top of the other increases Reid was getting. Lone Agent... Reid wasn't sure. Maybe he wouldn't need to eat and defecate as much. Then Magnanimous Leader, as the final one, probably meant something similar to the shared xp Lycra and Win were getting with him during the challenge dungeon. And these were just from the first gate he'd gone through. How many more were just... out there, waiting to be completed?
Reid took a breath, and continued into his new skills.
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Identify [basic]
Allows the user to discern basic information about objects and non-sapient lifeforms. Raise the skill's rarity to properly identify sapient lifeforms. Advanced practitioners may glean more information on objects and individuals higher leveled than themselves. Highly advanced practitioners may discover more.
Darkvision [common]
Allows the user to see their immediate surroundings in dark or dimly lit areas with more acuity. Advanced practitioners may see further in dim light or darkness as if it were brightly light. Highly Advanced practitioners may see through skill-crafted or magical darkness.
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Well, Reid now had access to Marlene's skill. He knew a bit of what to expect based on the tests Sara had done with all of them, but he figured he'd get plenty of use out of it himself. His favorite old shows always had that one as a staple, after all. Darkvision, though, was even more intriguing. Seeing in the dark was a damn important skill to have - and not at all because the idea of the unknown or unseeable gave Reid the creeps. Not at all.
The last line was what really caught his attention. It meant there were darkness or dark magic style powers that could normally restrict one's sight. If Reid was able to get enough understanding of his new skill, it would be another kind of enemy magic he wouldn't need to worry about.
Both would be things he'd be able to try in the cavern and tunnels - and Identify was something he could use right now. Reid took another breath. The last two things for him to review were the pieces of equipment that had seemed to pop into existence in front of him. He started with the weapon.
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King's Fang [F] Identified.
A short sword made from the fang of the Ancient Mole King. While the weapon is sturdy, it suffers the effects of the mole's long life.
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The king’s fang was a bit of a letdown. It was a tiny curved sword with a handle so small Reid could barely grip it. The blade itself looked worn, chipped, and just downright bad. When Reid compared it to Requiem, his crafted item was superior to the system's created one. Though - it did seem like something he could give to Lycra. He would have to see how it compared to the current short sword his friend held.
Reid had saved the best for last.
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Storage Ring [F] Identified.
A personal subspace device, capable of storing 25 separate stacks of limited materials. Automatically locked to user. Visibility automatically set to private. Capacity used: [0/25]
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He turned the simple looking silver band in his bare palm. The weight of it alone felt... good. Reid slid the thing onto his left ring finger, and took a moment to himself. Growth and fighting and challenge would bring him back to his family, he knew. And while this ring wasn't his wedding band, having something there on his hand made Reid feel a sense of comfort he didn't realize he was missing. As he looked at it, Reid noticed his skin had changed significantly. The color was a deep pink, nearly turning purple, and seemed to have a light sheen to it. Win's pills were working very well - and quickly. Lycra's initial wish to get Reid to paint himself colors and change his name was slowly becoming a reality.
He focused on the ring, and felt the pull of possibility from it. It was like looking at - and feeling - a 5x5 cube organizer stuffed into space that didn't actually exist. Reid knelt down, and touched his gauntlets with his left hand, then willed them into one of the empty spaces. He felt a minor amount of energy flow from himself into the ring - and a message appeared.
Storing [Bone Greaves] (30s... 29... 28)
The timer ticked down for half a minute, then the greaves disappeared from the ground. They reappeared inside of the 5x5 organizer, and Reid could both see and feel them in that subspace. He put his hands out, palms up, focused on their box, and pulled.
Retrieving [Bone Greaves] (30s... 29... 28)
His armor reappeared in his waiting hands. This was incredible. There was magic in the universe, sure - but the ability to carry things in storage like this was just cool. It didn't even matter that it took 30 seconds and a little bit of energy to move things into and out of the subspace. Reid could keep his armor and Requiem and food and so many other things with him, without needing to strap everything to his back, or wear it on himself directly.
"Reid!" Lycra's shout was loud, excited, and undulated as his feet hit the ground. He ran up to the shelf, and climbed onto the thing. His armor and weapons were nowhere to be seen, but he was still wearing the backpack. "Win and I both got the Identify skill, and storage rings!"
He was happy to hear the two of them had received similar awards from the quest and the secret challenge. While Reid had been deep in contemplation about all his new skills and achievements and the note from Nyx, Lycra had been fully focused on his storage ring. He'd already confirmed with Win that "private visibility" meant only the owner could see the device, even though Win could feel the weight of the thing when Lycra had taken his off and dropped it in her hand. They definitely couldn't use each other's rings, and Identify didn't offer any information on a ring that wasn't your own - as if the rings weren't there at all.
Lycra was all-too-eager to show that he'd figured out armor could be stored as a set to only take up a single storage slot, and that he'd gained some understanding of how to move the summoning location around his own body. With it, Lycra was able to summon his armor onto his body directly. The bone boots ended up on the wrong feet, but it was impressive and quick work. His next trick was to put his hand in a gripping pose and then he summoned his short sword into it. Then he shared he'd already confirmed you could take only one part of a set or stack out by itself - and that you had to physically (or indirectly) touch what you were trying to store for the full 30 seconds or it wouldn't work. Reid tried to summon a gauntlet onto his hand like he was already wearing it, and failed. The armor fell to the cavern floor with a clatter. He attempted the same thing with the other hand - only for the armor to bounce off the top of his fingers and fall a few feet away.
He'd work at it.
