My first problem is that my detection abilities are too weak. I can notice any sneaking bastards easily with [Magic Sight] and [Danger Sense], but the moment they use a hiding-type skill, I'm doomed. To think my worst enemy would be the same type as myself.
I can fix this by getting some skills that specialize in countering hiding skills, but I won't be aiming for those right now. The reason lies in the Rogue class.
Like skills, classes award the owner with something when it reaches a level that's a multiple of 10. The difference is that classes awards skills instead of Skill Points. And one of the skills the Rogue class gives is called [Discovery].
The effects of that skill can be considered the nemesis of my build. It reacts to anything that tries to stay hidden, skill, or no skill. Just how much you can discover is determined by the level of the skill, but even so, it's just what I needed to solve this problem.
So, solution nr.1: train the Rogue class like there's no tomorrow!
The second problem is my lack of power. When faced against the dinos without any threads or plans, I was a sitting duck... or a sitting spider. Looking at it logically, the dino monsters have a racial rank of E while I'm an F+.
I've beaten cookies tougher than me before, but that was when I had a plan, several traps, the element of surprise, and a damn big portion of luck on my side. Another thing to point on is that all my fights were either defensive battles or battles which I started with a trap or some other advantage.
This time, however, I was the one initiating the attack. And I failed miserably. I may be strong against individuals, but place me against a group that works to defend an area, and I'm not worth even a penny.
Therefore, I need firepower. I've only focused on my strong points of traps, webs, and debilitating, but I lack something that literally packs a punch. Therefore, I need to find a way to produce the said punch.
It could be easily done by farming EXP and evolve again, but since my goal is to evolve into the Kur Kigal race, or something similar to it, picking an evolution just for its battle prowess would be like putting the carriage before the horse. If I have no other choice, then I have to do so, but let's not do anything too hasty.
Ugh, I'm beat... Wonder how my HP is holding? Maybe some of my less popular skills got something outta this? Then the whole first-loss deal will be a little more bearable.
Name:Garami
Race:Reha Zera | Gender: Female
Level:8
Karma Value:-102
Skills:47
Skill Points:1.2
HP: 41/62MP: 39/69SP: 21/63
STR: 77VIT: 57MAG: 62
RES: 82SPD: 93DEX: 101
INT: 120LUC: 150
Skill List:
Ability Skills:
[Health Increase (Small) Lv.5] UP2 [MP Auto-Recovery Lv.6] [Strength Increase (Small) Lv.20]
[Vitality Increase (Small) Lv.11] UP2
Magic Skills:[Darkness Magic Lv.1]
Active Skills:
[Aura of Darkness Lv.11] [Heresy Modification Lv.3] [Stealth Lv.13] [Silence Lv.7]
[Odorless Lv.2] [Camouflage Lv.13] [Intimidation Lv.1] [Lightwalk Lv.4] UP1
[Thread Control Lv.13] [Cutting Thread Lv.7] [Piercing Thread Lv.2] UP1 [Spatial Storage Lv.1]
Passive Skills:
[Whipsmanship Lv.1] [Threadsmanship Lv.22] [Throwing Lv.13] [Aiming Lv.6]
[Evasion Lv.3] UP1 [Parkour Lv.4] [Climbing Lv.10] [Concentration Lv.9] UP2 [Ambush Lv.1]
[Battle Continuation Lv.1] [Darkness Reinforcement Lv.17] [Debuff Reinforcement Lv.8]
[Gathering Lv.5] [Vital Point Knowledge Lv.2] [Parallel Thinking Lv.11] UP2 [Auto-Mapping Lv.6]
[Language Adaption]
Resistance Skills:
[Darkness Resistance Lv.5] [Poison Resistance Lv.9] [Heretic Resistance Lv.7]
[Heretic Immunity Lv.2] [Fear Resistance Lv.2] UP1
Perception Skills:
[Night Vision Lv.18] [Danger Sense Lv.22] [Identification Lv.26] [Discern Lv.16]
[Magic Sight Lv.22]
Elements:[Darkness Element Lv.15]
Monster Skills:[Poison Bite Lv.11] [Spider Thread Lv.26]
Not that big of an increase... but this is in a short time pocket, so it's not bad?
Hmm? Karma Value of a negative 102? How did... ah. My escape plan could be better from the System's point of view as well, huh.
Crazy plans or judging Systems aside, this is perfect! A negative 100 on my Karma Value is just what I needed for 'those' skills!
But first, let's deliver the branches before picking 'that' skill. Along with the branch that the dino was so 'kindly' to cut off for me, I retrieved the other 2 branches that I hadn't delivered yet from my storage and started fiddling with the Quest controls to send them to the Quest giver... or wherever they're sent to.
A magic circle appeared underneath the branches and disappeared into it... except for one!? Wait, why!? Is there something wrong with the quality? The Quest description didn't say anything about... 19/30 branches delivered?
Is the knight group working overtime? No, that's not it. Since the remaining branch is too dry to be the one that I just got, and it's not been that long ago since I obtained the fifth branch either, so I know that tree ain't missing any branches... I think
So, by the process of elimination, the branch that remains would be from practice tree nr.4. This is strange, as it's the tree that's the farthest from the entrance to Floor 2, meaning there's a low probability that it's the knight group who are also playing gardener.
As I've secured the rewards for this Quest already, why not see who this gardener is? But first, I wanna pick the skill I still miss. So...
Initial Skills selection:
Numbers of initial Skill slots remaining: 1
Search for Skills: [EVIL EYE SKILL!!]
Available Skills:
[Darkness Evil Eye Lv.1]
Evil Eye skill that inflicts Darkness attribute damage to anything in the skill holder's line of sight.
While in use, the skill holder's eye turns purple with black sclera.
[Shocking Evil Eye Lv.1]
Evil Eye skill that inflicts Shock ailment to anything in the skill holder's line of sight.
While in use, the skill holder's eye turns yellow with diamond-shaped pupils.
Some races may have yellow marking similar to eyeshade appear around their eyes, even when the skill is not in use.
[Paralyzing Evil Eye Lv.1]
Evil Eye skill that inflicts Paralyze ailment to anything in the skill holder's line of sight.
While in use, the skill holder's eye turns golden with slit pupils.
[Pertrifying Evil Eye Lv.1]Evil Eye skill that inflicts Petrification ailment to anything in the skill holder's line of sight.
While in use, the skill holder's eye turns swamp green and their pupils become rectangle-shaped.
[Grudge Evil Eye Lv.1]
Evil Eye skill that reduces the Life Stats and Strength Stats to anything in the skill holder's line of sight.
Can only be used with one of the skill holder's eyes.While in use, the skill holder's eye turns turquoise with black sclera.
Some races may have turquoise marking similar to eyeshade appear around the eye the skill is concentrated on, even when the skill is not in use.
[Painful Evil Eye Lv.1]
Heretic attribute Evil Eye skill that inflicts Heretic attribute effect "Illusion Pain" to anything in the skill holder's line of sight.
While in use, the skill holder's eye turns grey and their pupils take the shape of a broken pentagon.
[Charming Evil Eye Lv.1]
Evil Eye skill that inflicts Charm ailment to anything in the skill holder's line of sight.
While in use, the skill holder's eye turns pink with a lilac heart-mark in the pupil.
[Fearful Evil Eye Lv.1]Heretic attribute Evil Eye skill that inflicts Heretic attribute effect "Illusion Fear" to anything in the skill holder's line of sight.
While in use, the skill holder's eye turns amber with black sclera.
[Rage Evil Eye Lv.1]
Evil Eye skill that inflicts Rage ailment to anything in the skill holder's line of sight.
Can only be used with one of the skill holder's eyes.While in use, the skill holder's eye turns red with slit pupils.
WOW! More than I hoped for. I think we can skip the last three, they sound more to be used on humans than on monsters. And that fear-eye ain't worth wasting one of my bonus skills on. I've got [Intimination] already. Even if I don't use it that much.
The two attack-type eyes must be the darkness-eye and the... grudge-eye? The latter one is more of a pseudo-attack, but even [Aura of Darkness] can't reduce the Life Stats. It's probably due to the Aura that those two skills popped up though. I mean, there aren't any fire-eyes or heretic-eyes here after all. Or maybe it was that Technique User title?
The remaining four options aren't that bad either, as they can stop any charging monsters dead in their tracks in many different ways. So, the question is, do I want attack-power or an improved method to trap monsters without needing any preparations?
...It gotta be that one. I'll take that, then go and investigate my potential new competitors. Wonder who they are?
---
"Faster, you idiots, FASTER! Get those trees a new haircut already, or I'll give you a new CUT!"
"But sir, we do not have hair to shorten."
"And I look snazzy as a cueball."
"I didn't say anything about hair."
......
"Get those trees pruned right now!"
"Yeah! And cut off those branches while you're at it!"
"Urgh, why do I have to deal with these rustbuckets? And you, are you sure you saw that demon?"
"AFFIRMATIVE."
"So, a Darkness attribute demon, only found in the jungle, is inside an underground Dungeon filled with Water attribute monsters?"
"AFFIRMATIVE. DUE TO LACKING EQUIPMENT, FAILED TO EXTERMINATE THE PEST. REQUESTS FOR HIGHLY EXPLOSIVE INCINERATOR ROUNDS."
"Are you trying to burn the whole Dungeon to ashes with us still inside!? You are on guard duty for the rest of this operation! Warn me if anything tries to approach us."
"AFFIRMATIVE."
"Good. Then-"
"REPORT. A GROUP OF KNIGHTS, PROBABLY DEFECTORS FROM THE AVALAR KINGDOM, HAVE BEEN SEEN ENTERING THIS FLOOR OF THE DUNGEON."
"WHAT?! Why didn't you say anything?!"
"THIS UNIT WAS NOT ON GUARD DUTY UNTIL NOW. EXTERMINATION OF PESTS MORE IMPORTANT."
"Ughnaaaagh!!"