[NR] More Addendums Because You Loved Them Last Time! - Chapter 499

Loot collected, Jason frowns, "So uh, what happens when we leave and breakthrough? I know that last bottleneck wasn't anything special, but we probably have a bit to go over."

Courtney nods, "The Guild has a place setup for us to handle stuff like that and our loot."

Question answered, the team crosses the large arena and arrives at what is clearly a portal set slightly back into the wall with a pair of big doors that must have opened at some point. The portal itself looked like a pool of water on its side with a view of the outside barely visible. It basically showed just enough so you wouldn’t end up walking into anything when you use it.

And thankfully the water effect is just visual, so when they go through it the party doesn’t end up soaked. Though once through, a Guild official quickly gestures them to the side. More so anyone else wanting to leave doesn't have to wait, but partly because it was known their group hadn't beaten a dungeon yet and so was likely to have just cleared their bottleneck.

The tinfinkin official settled in behind his desk and smiled. "Would you like to register the clearing of this dungeon on your Guild cards? Also, do you have any loot for us to take care of and would you like to use our breaker rooms?"

A trio of easy enough questions, though the last used some new terminology. It however was easy enough to understand. A breaker room was simply one of the rooms Rosha had mentioned them having available. Somewhere for those who had newly broken through a bottleneck to check over their status. So of course everyone agreed and left the four pieces of boss loot and some other miscellaneous goods they had gotten earlier.

Once alone in what honestly looked exactly like a changing room you would find in any clothes store, Jason turns his attention to all the System messages.

{Third Bottleneck Broken

Congratulations on reaching level 25! Unlike the last bottleneck, not many things will change. So don’t worry, we aren’t nerfing your backpack even more. Though there are other changes to be aware of. Just as with the last bottleneck, this one we are removing another visual reference. Just as you are unable to see your current HP total, you will no longer be able to see the current power resource pool, whether that is Mana or Qi.

Another more positive change is that you will be able to more freely use the System screens. Though this will require the use of your power. While NeoRealm as a whole will never have the classic trope abilities such as Identify and Analyze, you won’t be left completely in the dark anymore. By running your power through something, you will be able to pick up information. Though this will be limited based on personal knowledge and ability to interpret the returning power. This change does not replace the feature that shops and crafters have to view and share the status of their goods. However, if you are a crafter, you might just find out some new and interesting bits of information through the use of this new ability.

Addendum: Because of your personal experiences in the game some special changes have happened to you!

You managed to fulfill both bottleneck requirements before breaking through. As a reward you can qualify for things specific to both those focused on crafting and combat. You may also choose to delay a bottleneck until you have completed both the crafting requirement and the combat requirement.

You completed the reward upgrade conditions for the quest Journey to the Dungeon “Journey to the Deep Sky”! The awarded weapon Conductive Skin of the Troll Tribe will be upgraded to entry level 3rd break. Upgrade in progress.}

{Conductive Skin of the Troll Tribe

Description:

A rare ritual developed by trolls, for trolls and other beings with similar levels of regeneration. Not that others can’t use it as long as they can survive the deep cuts required to insert an unbroken trail of metal aligned salts. Though even among trolls this process usually takes months to lay down each of the nine layers of salt. After that, if the subject survives as not even trolls always do, they will usually take another month to fully activate the ritual as any faster will cause the salts to heat up as they slowly migrate to just below the skins. This last step is generally the one with the most fatalities among the trolls as their weakness to fire is legendary. [This ritual can be upgraded to unlock further effects.]

Effects:

• Conductive Subdermal Layer (Utility) - The user’s power more easily flows through their body, though this can cause the runes to harmlessly light up if enough power is flowing through it

• Conductive Subdermal Layer (Defense) - Powers targeting the user and excessive heat will be spread through the body with some of it converting into force damage.

• Conductive Subdermal Layer (Offense) - The user can dump [90% -> 83%] of their primary power through the ritual causing a mystical EMP

• Charged Skin - As long as the user’s primary power [is flowing -> has flowed] through the ritual [within the last five seconds], any aggressive contact with another will cause the power to arc into them

• [NEW] Charge Reclamation (Utility) - When user’s primary power is used through the ritual, waste power will be reclaimed and cycled back into the users resource

• [NEW] Rune Projection (Defense) - When power is flowing through the runes, the user can choose to feed them, causing the runes to project just above their skin, fending off physical damage

• [NEW] Salt The Earth (Offense) - The user can run their power through the runes with a focus on the mystical side of salt to empower their attacks against creatures weak to purification}

Jason pauses to take a closer look at the upgraded ritual. It hadn’t really come up, but the defense effect had been pretty nice. Though he had yet to find a use for the mystical EMP aspect. However, the fact that the upgrade reduced the cost of it showed that there was some promise. That and the mention in the description of the ritual being upgradable when it hadn’t previously said that. Even the Charged Skin upgrade improved the usability.

Still, it was the three new powers that really got his attention. The utility power didn’t sound too exciting, what with how his Energy worked. However, combined with Rune Project? That might just be a match made in heaven. Then there was the somewhat out of place “Salt the Earth” effect.

Jason was half sure that was the System messing with him because of his whole purity thing. It would certainly be useful against things like devils, demons, and the classic undead types. You know, stuff he had already been fighting and wasn’t planning on seeing again for a while.