FB: Chapter 46 – Rematches And Items

“Hammer Crusher,” I greeted the large man with his hammer and chain.

“Foxy Blight,” he greeted me back. I had beaten him twice and he was understandably cautious. The muted crowd was roaring in the background. Both players and high ranking NPCs. Another reason to have the match in the Capital, to increase my fame.

“Learn any new tricks?” I asked.

“Some, but I suspect they won’t work on you,” he replied and stepped forward. He began swinging his hammer around next to his body while he held the chain connecting to the hilt with both of his hands. I advanced towards him and he frowned. If he sent his hammer flying at me, he would open himself up to a close ranged attack when I used Blink. If he let me keep advancing then I would eventually get in range regardless.

Hammer Crusher was good, but the skills out there needed to counter Blink weren’t discovered yet. Aura skills would be the best, since they would hit regardless. Poison Aura would be my go to as a Blink counter, except I had a poison focused build. There were also consumables like a Thorned Spear one could use as well.

Once I had closed half the distance. He released his hammer right at me. I tossed out a smoke bomb as I dove for the ground. The hammer wooshed over my head and was then pulled to the side. I was already flipping to my feet and rushing out of the smoke. Hammer Crusher swung around and then I used Blink right before the chain would have wrapped around me. I appeared in front of Hammer Crusher as the chain swept to the side. He wasn’t able to adapt fast enough as I unleashed a Murk Barf attack right in his face.

He let go of the chain and leapt at me, but I had already moved back. I unleashed another Murk Barf right into his face, which ended the match in my favor to the roaring cheers of the crowd.

The next match against Eagle Eye was going to be far more difficult. Hammer Crusher didn’t realize how broken Blink as a skill was. While it had its limitations, using it at just the right moment allowed me to bypass any of my opponents’ strategies to deliver a crippling attack.

Eagle Eye didn’t speak, but advanced towards me directly with his shield at the ready. Once he got within 10 meters, I began making the hand signs needed for the skill. “Cloud of Poison,” I said. It would deal 2 times the rank poison damage over 5 seconds time the rank over 2 meters times the rank from my location in all directions. I wouldn’t be poisoned by this skill unlike Murf Barf. Any other creature that breathed in this range would get poisoned. The cost was 5 MP times the rank. Since the skill was epic ranked, that meant rank 5.

Eagle Eye paused, but with a shield and sword in hand he wouldn’t be able to easily use items. That was the problem with melee builds. A person only had two hands. The moment he hesitated I popped an MP potion off my bandolier. I needed to get my MP back quickly.

His equipment slowed him down. And while he had a speed boosting skill, it wasn’t enough since I could escape with Blink leaving a cloud of poison behind. He quickly ran through his antidotes and healing potions that weren’t in his inventory. Then he ran out of his three uses of pulling items from his inventory.

“You are a horrible person to fight,” he complained as the last of his HP ticked away. He was unable to catch me.

“You are as well, which was why I went for the cheapest type of strategy as possible. You should feel honored that I didn’t underestimate you in the slightest,” I replied. He let out a half hearted chuckle at that.

“That Blink skill is completely broken. I almost had you there that one time,” he said with a heavy sigh.

“Yes, you did. Which was why I used the skill,” I answered back.

Winner! Standard 1v1: 160-0 Champion 1v1: 10-0 Tournament: 1-0
Please return to the platform to leave the arena.

Grand Champion
Awarded for winning 10 Champion matches in a row in a coliseum and a tournament between Champions.
+15% Physical Damage
+5% Magical Damage
+5% Stats

Whatever the next level in the title was, it would take a lot of effort to get, and I had no idea about the requirements. I had no doubt about that, but I would keep working towards it regardless. Being able to get a fifth title from this title track would be huge, and it would take time for people to figure out a way to counter my build. By then I would have more tricks up my sleeve to be able to counter them.

To make special legendary skills I needed the corresponding item. A legendary antidote was on the list, but anything that reached the sixth rank, legendary, was never for sale directly without a lot of headache. It was an unspoken rule of Exponential. One needed to complete quests or gather other items to get a legendary item.

A vial of Black Salamander Poison was a legendary poison, which I needed for both my title and a special legendary skill. So really, I needed two vials. One of the few legendary poisons that didn’t decay over time. In fact, it might be the only one that wasn’t artificially crafted that could survive outside of the monster it came from now that I really thought about it.

Then there were the Dice of the High Roller that I needed for a special legendary Luck focused skill. One had to gamble and play a mini-game for them, and it could get expensive very quickly. I was talking about thousands of platinum. I had the credentials to enter the biggest casino in the Capital after all the betting I had done, but trying to win the Dice of the High Roller was a good way to lose a lot of money and go right into the poor house if you messed up. Thankfully, I had an ultimate cheese strategy that could only be used once, which had been used the last time which gave me confidence.

Finally, there was the Tome of the Arch-Mage Blight. The legendary mage, who created the tower in the center of the Murk Swamp as he unleashed his hordes of putrid undead to attack the Human Empire. He was beaten back to his swamp. To get the item, one had to defeat him at the top of the tower in the center of the swamp. The problem with this was that he was a level 120 undead mage, who was incredibly skilled. The special legendary skill one could get was one he would use in combat, Vomitatis.

It was a horrible skill, since it was basically an upgraded version of Murk Barf. Winning that fight would be near impossible. He would Blink around his chamber, vomiting everywhere while hordes of undead rushed into the room to help protect him. Murk Oozes would form out of the walls as well turning his chamber into a death trap. He was also one of the few monsters that was immune to all poison damage due to the combination of being a poison focused mage and an undead. That meant that I couldn’t hurt him with my poison skills, which I specialized in. I really did want that skill Vomitatis, since it was really good and fit my build perfectly.  

As for other items, there were two items I was interested in. A dagger and a set of mage robes. The dagger was the Tooth of Venenum. A powerful undead dragon that had an insanely high level. I could cheese the fight, which had been done before, but getting to the beast was the real challenge. It was the guardian of the Tower of Failure, where a cabal of powerful mages attempted to unlock the secrets behind magic. One had to travel through the Plains of Death and past the Canyon of Souls. Both areas that had monsters above level 200 and area effects.

There were small elite exploration groups that traveled to distant areas and sold information. Since the undead dragon Venenum was alone outside the tower, they managed to cheese the fight and kill it. The dragon dropped its tooth, which could be turned into an incredibly powerful poison dagger that amplified poison damage.

The mage robes could be made by collecting the silk of the Terror Spiders from the Forest of Terror. Another high level zone. The robes would boost all max resistances by 5% and gave 5% to all resistances. The problem was the spiders swarmed and used tactics while attacking. A large scale battle would also damage any of the silk collected, even with automatic collection. That meant someone had to sneak into the Forest of Terror and steal silk to make the robes.

I was a bit too far ahead at the moment for a lot of this stuff and needed other people to catch up.

***

AN: Meme list updated, newer memes are at the top, except the first meme, which just says at the top spot. FB: Memes | Patreon

The schedule of this story will go to 5/wk starting on the 11th/12th and will remain at 5/wk until it has completed at chapter 181. Free release is dropping to 5/wk this weekend and then 3/wk later this month. SL will be starting back up on the 5th, so you are getting double posts this weekend. Thanks for being amazing.