[SD:DD] Another Skill Rank Up - Chapter 9

Gem goes around the corner and pulls up their status.

{

Name: Gem Paroxysm

Species: ChaosKin (Chaos)

Level: 9 > 10

Stats

• Body: B > D-

• Mana: S+ > S-

• Stamina: B- > F

Resistances

• Air: S > B

Skills

• Sense Mana lv6 > 7

• Lesser Mana Control lv7 > 10 [Rank Up]

• ☆ Wind Blade lv0 > 2

• Assay lv3 > 4

• Fishing lv5

Equipment

• AP: 2, GP: 63

• Backpack 1D

• Armored jacket 1D

• Armored cargo shorts 1D

• Ring of the Frog [3/3] 1D+

• Lazy Turtle Buckler [2/2 a day] 5D+

• Scroll of Rest 5E

• Short Spear of the Piercing Winds 11B+

• Silverwhiskers family token

• Ritual Pamphlet for the spell “Sweet Air”

}

Gem pouts, “Dang it, only my Magic stayed at the same rank. Though I guess I did go up two levels for some reason?”

From around the wall, Gem hears Samuel curse and complain, “Why do they not only get an S-rank stat, but manage to keep it when hitting ten? Aren’t they all supposed to drop at least a rank?”

Gem laughs, “I’m just that good at magic!”

And from around the wall they can barely make out Emrys sighing, “Sadly I have to confirm it. They are actually that good at magic. S+ doesn’t simply represent some max amount. It can also mean someone who should have more than their level would permit and it was just capped. Hey Gem, did it go down to ‘S’ or ‘S-’?”

Gem, “S-”

Emrys, “Okay, looks like it was close. That isn’t too bad. I know some monsters are theorized to have S+ stats basically pinned on their status until they reach their adult levels.”

After that he goes on to explain some more to Samuel, but he isn’t speaking too loudly and Gem ignores him to check on their rank up for Lesser Mana Control.

{

☆ Lesser Mana Control

• The basic Lesser Mana Control skill, but better! Can apply one level of known metamagic [Metamagics Known: Charge]

Mana Control

• Allows for casting spells and the manipulation of Mana to a greater degree than the Lesser Mana Control skill.

Transformative Lesser Mana Control

• Allows for the casting and warping of spells and the manipulation of Mana to a greater degree than the Magic Use skill.

}

Gem frowns, not that they’re disappointed by the options. Rather, they’re frustrated at how similar they all sound. “Heyo, got a skill rank up. What’s the diff between a star, dropping the lesser, or adding a modifier?”

June, “Can we see what you’re dealing with?”

Gem thinks for a second, “Sure, guess the skill is important, but meh. Good help is worth a little risk.”

June and Emrys walk around the corner and take a look at Gem’s options.

Emrys rubs his chin, “Huh, you really got the spread, didn’t you?”

June nods, “Not rare, but certainly rarer than not. Though they’re easy enough to compare. The first would let you charge any mana interaction you do or add another level of charge to your blades.”

Emrys, “Yeah, a rare option as it tends to just provide the generic upgrade. Likely got this option because while that thing you did technically used your Wind Blade skill, it was more free-form than not.”

June, “And then the other two are just different upgrade paths. One is more of the same and the other is a specialization.”

Gem frowns, “Can I get other Metamagics?”

June shrugs, “You learn them by ranking up spells. You probably have an idea of the basic ones. Silent, Still, Widen, Extend, and so on. Some wizard schools have found ways to just straight up teach them, but they’re terribly personal and some take more than to apply.”

Gem points at the last option, “But doesn’t this basically let me roll my own metamagic?”

Emrys shakes his head, “No, well, sort of no. You can mimic things to an extent, but it will never be as powerful or as predictable. That blade line? You try to cast it right now and chances are it fails or does something different even if it technically works.”

Gem frowns, “Well, I know why I got that option then.” And they pick the straight upgrade.

{

Mana Control lv0

}

Emrys frowns, “That wasn’t what I expected you to pick.”

Gem shrugs, “I’m chaotic, not stupid. Though the first was tempting, I just have a feeling this path will lead me further.”

June nods, “While there isn’t one true path to power, keeping things basic to start with isn’t bad. You can specialize later.”

The three begin to walk back to Samuel when Gem speaks, “Well, with that taken care of, I say we go deeper!”

Samuel looks over, “I’ve been ready.”

Gem smiles wide, “See, even he is ready!”

June shakes her head and Emrys smirks, but neither have anything to say against the suggestion. So without any other plans, the four leave their temporary shelter against the dust storm and penetrate deeper into the stagnant Mana.

Though it seems that this was an invisible line in the sand, compared to the literal lines in the sand that Gem had revealed with their winds. And this line was what divided an empty ghost town from the literal ghost town. Though thankfully so far it seems limited to physical undead.

A couple of skeleton crawlers are put down easily, though they were just distractions as another pair of undead drop down on the group. These skeletons, however, are where the legs came from and arms went. Mainly in the fact that whoever did this seemed to do a direct switch.

Kind of unimaginative, that. Though it did create some disturbing-looking undead. The arms for legs thing made the skeletons appear quite warped as they were too short and made the torso look long.

Maybe the group would think more on such things later for in the moment, they were more worried about the undead falling on them with spikes that appeared to be made from foot bones. Ah yes, necromancers, never ones to waste a good bone.

Gem swept one away with a snap fired Wind Blade, though this only knocked it into the nearby wall. Samuel is more effective with the second, also knocking it into said wall. Except his method involves also crushing said skeleton into the wall with his shield. Gem, on the other hand, needs two more wind blades to finish things.

Samuel, “Why didn’t we see these abominations earlier?”

Emrys shrugs, “I bet they’re slow seeing as they seem tanky-er and more ambush focused. Though it does mean I never want to go back to where we first entered. There must be those things hanging off of everything building. Eugh.”

Of course, once the undead start, they don’t stop so easily. While discussing this fight more of the monsters find them. Though much more varied.

Faux-centaurs cobbled together from three or four bodies. An anaconda-sized mockery made of rib cages, spines on two sides and fitted together so the ribs are interlaced. And a Thing made of who knows how many skeletons, cobbled together and twice the height of an adult, bones loosely fitted together to bulk it up.

Though the skeletons aren’t the only threats. Withered zombies, meat dehydrated to the extreme are shambling in from the back. With these, there are fewer modifications. Only less though, not none. One seemed to have had another bodies worth of muscle mass stitched onto it, and a few features limb extensions such as an extended neck made from a leg or simply double-length arms.

Emrys frowns, “I think I’m going to be more worried about all the zombies that are missing.”

June raises an eyebrow as she finishes buffing the party. “Missing?”

Emrys nods, “For instance, those zombies with double-length arms? Well, the extra arms for that length came from somewhere.”

All the while, Gem and Samuel are having a tough fight. Now, most of the skeletal abominations died in relative short order. Samuel’s shield doing double duty once again, defending and wrecking face. Even the massive bone thing fell, though it took quite a few bashes.

It was the ribcage python that stuck around. In fact, the monstrous collection from across tens of corpses managed to wrap part of itself around his legs.

Samuel did try to bash the skeletal beast off, but the zombies arrived soon after and these certainly weren’t your average movie zombies. The leathery skin stood strong against his sword slashes, while the desiccated muscles held unnatural strength, not quite forcing him back, but he certainly wasn’t winning on the Body front.

All while Gem was having their own problems with the altered zombies that seemed to focus on them. Gem’s Wind Blade, especially when used through the spear wasn’t all that bad. The bleed kicker once again vented black Mana. Except these withered zombies were clearly a cut above.

The only saving grace was that all of their Body was focused on strength and defense. Gem’s agile style of combat is more than capable of keeping them out of the zombies way. An imperative to survival as shown by the fact that missed attacks that hit the nearby wall gouged out massive chunks.

Gem danced down under a swing, stabbed upwards, releasing a Wind Blade from their spear directly into the underside of that zombie’s jaw. The improved piercing gets the attack inside as double-length arms flail. Their reach is far too long for this situation.

Yet still, the zombie doesn’t fall as a heavy black fog billows out from under the jaw. Gem doesn’t let this stop them, can’t afford to. All as they reserve their spell for the most impactful moments.

Wait, dance around arms, and poke in where they can. Gem almost falls into a rhythm, but they don’t let themselves do so. Complacency kills, and while these undead seem almost like roughly programmed bots, they don’t put it past the undead to have a controller nearby for the right moment.

An opening? Maybe. Gem decides it so worth the risk though and begins to charge their spell. Concentrate the spell on the very tip.

One step brings them under multiple arms lunging. Another step takes them inside an uninjured zombies multi-jointed bear hug. A third step and Gem sets their foot on the ground beneath them.

Up!

The spear pierced upwards with great force, tearing a hole in the zombies neck even before the wind blade is released. That wind blade, no longer having to break through that leather-like skin has free access to the inside of the zombies skull, bouncing around as it tears apart not just matter. The center of the zombies magical structure also gets torn up.

Yet still it stands. Good thing Gem didn’t expect the attack to kill and so they were already on their way to the next monster. Though while the strike itself isn’t enough to finish things right away. The necromancy holding it together soon falls apart, too much energy having leaked.

Behind this struggle, June is firing off sling bullets as fast as they can. The rounded rocks certainly weren’t dealing big damage or anything, but every bit helps. Emrys, on the other hand, is focused on any monsters that might wander too close. One group of undead abominations is more than enough.

Emrys shakes his head, “I really should have gotten illusion spells for sound. A simple sound bubble would go a long way to easing my worry.”

June releases another sling bullet. “It probably wouldn’t be entirely effective. You might have noticed, not their eyes aren’t exactly up to seeing through normal means.”

Emrys shrugs, “Oh, sure, but every bit helps.”

June, “You’d need to prevent the spread of disturbed Mana to be actually effective.”

Emrys, “True, but every little bit counts.”

Back in the thick of the fight, something a bit more than just a “little” bit of help happens. Gem manages to escape their own surround for a moment and they uses that moment to strike the rib cage python. It doesn’t kill the undead pseudo-snake, but bleeding black Mana and opening a weakness for Samuel to take advantage of is enough.

Another wave of attacks is pushed away, opening a chance for him. One he takes full advantage of. A heavy shove throws back the unprepared zombies giving him space. Enough space for him to bring his shield up and then slam it down on the wounded spine.

The force alone is enough to shatter said spine, but Samuel wasn’t going to let this be the end of the attack. Instead, he ignores the probing swipes that once again assail him to twist the shield, fully separating the spine.

This didn’t kill the snake-like undead. However, it did seem that the center of the monster’s power was located in one of the halfs as the other falls semi-limp. Enough so that as the zombies once again pound on his armor, Samuel brings his shield to bear, but not to stand strong.

Instead, he used the board shield to take more force, shoving his entire body back, the deactivated half of the skeletal snake unable to hold him in place.

The Magic Smoke Is Escaping - Chapter 8

Subpar Loot - Chapter 10