Healer Book 4 -- Chapter 9

Chapter 9

While he was tempted to look at all the loot he’d acquired, that was of less importance to him than his awaiting message feed that he’d been putting off throughout basically the entirety of the Crestline Gorge Intermediate Dungeon.  With a deep breath, he opened it up and was immediately shocked with some changes to his body, before being inundated with messages that he quickly moved to the top of so that he could see if there was anything that might be of note within all of the monster slain messages.

You have slain a Stone Giant – Intermediate Minimal – Level 145 (Perceived Level 189)!

You have received 500 PICK!

Unkillable I Achievement activated!

You have received 1,000 PICK!

Until you complete your Support Class Evolution Assignment and then select your new Class, your accumulated PICK up to your current limit (1,620,000/1,620,000) will be held in reserve; you will not be able to increase your Level until you receive your new Class.

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

You have slain the Monolith of Mud – Intermediate Minimal – Level 155 (Perceived Level 202)!

You have received 25,000 PICK!

Unkillable I Achievement activated!

You have received 50,000 PICK!

Assault Wave 1 Completed!  Congratulations on setting a record time of completion!

Rank #1 Total Time: 0:13

Rank #2 Total Time: 1:47

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

You have slain the Stone Wyvern of the Gorge – Intermediate Minimal – Level 170 (Perceived Level 221)!

You have received 50,000 PICK!

Unkillable I Achievement Activated!

Unkillable II Achievement Activated!

PICK reward altered and tripled based on Party and Monster Level disparity!

You have received 1,200,000 PICK!

Assault Wave 9 Completed!  Congratulations on setting a record time of completion!

Rank #1 Total Time: 0:27

Rank #2 Total Time: 28:52

Aggregate Final Rank For All Assault Waves: #1

Defensive Spellcasting Competency has increased to Level 2,265!

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

Defensive Spellcasting Competency has increased to Level 2,512!

Support Spellcasting Competency has increased to Level 2,202!

>>>>>>> 

>>>>>>> 

Support Spellcasting Competency has increased to Level 2,486!

Psychic Resiliency Competency has increased to Level 110!

Psychic Resiliency Competency has increased to Level 111!

Congratulations for completing an Intermediate Dungeon on Minimal difficulty!

Achievement received: Raid Master I

Bonus reward: 50,000 PICK

Unkillable I Achievement activated!

Bonus reward: 100,000 PICK

Congratulations for completing the Crestline Gorge Intermediate Dungeon on Minimal difficulty!

Achievement received: Grounded

Bonus reward: 25,000 PICK

Unkillable I Achievement activated!

Bonus reward: 50,000 PICK

Congratulations for obtaining Rank #1 completion time on 1 Assault Wave inside an Intermediate Dungeon on Minimal difficulty!

Achievement received: Assault Professional I

Bonus reward: 50,000 PICK

Unkillable I Achievement activated!

Bonus reward: 100,000 PICK

Congratulations for obtaining Rank #1 completion time on 3 Assault Waves inside an Intermediate Dungeon on Minimal difficulty!

Achievement received: Assault Professional II

Bonus reward: 100,000 PICK

Unkillable I Achievement activated!

Bonus reward: 200,000 PICK

Congratulations for obtaining Rank #1 completion time on 6 Assault Waves inside an Intermediate Dungeon on Minimal difficulty!

Achievement received: Assault Professional III

Bonus reward: 200,000 PICK

Unkillable I Achievement activated!

Bonus reward: 400,000 PICK

Congratulations for obtaining Rank #1 completion time on 9 Assault Waves inside an Intermediate Dungeon on Minimal difficulty!

Achievement received: Assault Professional IV

Bonus reward: 400,000 PICK

Unkillable I Achievement activated!

Bonus reward: 800,000 PICK

Congratulations for obtaining Rank #1 completion time on the entire Assault Wave section inside an Intermediate Dungeon on Minimal difficulty!

Achievement received: Assault Professional V

Bonus reward: 150,000 Gold

ERRORinconsistency reconciling improbability index

compiling possible solutionsuccess_issuing adequate reward indicator_

Congratulations for solo completing an Intermediate Dungeon on Minimal difficulty!

Achievement received: Army Of One I

Bonus reward: +100 to all stats, 2 additional Access Slots, (5) Spell/Ability selection choices  

Contender World First Achievement: All future PICK, currency, and other items received while inside of an Intermediate Dungeon are tripled, including Quest and Achievement rewards related to its completion; in addition, cooldowns related to reentering a recently completed Intermediate dungeon are reduced by 75%

The sudden influx of +100 to all of his stats took him a few seconds to become comfortable with, though he’d had plenty of practice with it when he was adding his Plates earlier.  As he accustomed himself to the changes, he focused on the messages – and was presented with a few interesting pieces of information.

The first, which was a relief, was that he hadn’t messed up badly enough to trigger a response by the System when he killed the final boss in one hit.  In other words, even though it had been an odd occurrence when the remains of the Wyvern had transformed into its “Final Stage,” there was no fallout from it.

He also learned that there was apparently a Ranking system for the Assault Wave completions inside of Intermediate dungeons.  He had inadvertently taken first place in every wave because he was able to kill the monsters so quickly, though he did note that none of the Achievements he received were World Firsts; he supposed that made sense, because they probably went to the first Raid Party to complete all of the Assault Waves – which certainly wasn’t Thaden.

Finally, there was the Achievement for completing an Intermediate dungeon solo.  Contrary to what he had been expecting with the Wyvern, there was a System error regarding his feat with completing the dungeon solo.  From what he could understand in the error messages, the probability that anyone could complete an Intermediate dungeon solo had never even been considered, so there was no Achievement that had been premade.  One had been created on the spot that was apparently “adequate”, and he wasn’t sure if it was necessarily the best that it could’ve been.  Sure, +100 in each stat was always nice, as was the Access Slots and future spell selections, but tripling the rewards from Intermediate dungeons?  Maybe it was because he couldn’t accumulate any PICK right now, which was also unfortunately the majority of the rewards from the previous Achievements, and he didn’t really need even more Gold than he had right now, but it seemed a bit lackluster.

That being said, either the System had been hasty in its creation of the Achievement or it was meant to be that way, but the tripling of Intermediate dungeon rewards didn’t mention that these rewards were only reserved for Thaden; there was nothing in the wording that said that any additional PICK or Gold would be just for him or only if he was solo, which – if he was reading it right – meant that it would also apply to whatever party he was in.  If there was any bright side to the bonus trait, then it would help to reduce the penalty to party PICK accumulation that his Class suffered from.

There was one more thing in his message feed that surprised him, but it wasn’t necessarily something that was there; instead, it was the lack of something that he expected.

“What?  Is there no Achievement for solo completing the Intermediate Crestline Gorge dungeon?”  The lack of an Achievement specifically for solo completing the Intermediate Crestline Gorge was shocking, as he was used to receiving one for that whenever he completed a dungeon.  The crazy number of World First Achievements on his list showing those off was proof enough that he thought he should’ve received one for this dungeon, so its absence was concerning.

Perhaps the ERROR message messed it up?  Perhaps there will be more for other Intermediate dungeons?   Or possibly a higher difficulty?

He didn’t have any answers, and it wasn’t like he could ask the System why it felt like he’d been shafted.  Then again, even if he could contact the Assimilation System directly, he was fairly certain that would be a poor idea given his tumultuous history with it.  Moving on from the disappointment, he could only hope that it changed in the future when he went into other Intermediate dungeons by himself.

After all of the messages regarding slain monsters and Achievements had been gone through, it was finally time to look at his loot.  When he finally opened his extraction messages, he was floored by how long the list was.

Extractions complete!

Loot obtained:

50,300 Gold, 57 Silver, 12 Copper coins

24 Hardened Stone Breastplate (Uncommon)

30 Hardened Stone Boots (Uncommon)

14 Hardened Stone Gloves (Uncommon)

21 Hardened Stone Helmet (Uncommon)

…….

…….

1 Crystal-Studded Belt of Stone (Epic)

1 Crystal Shredder (Epic)

1 Millishank Razor (Epic)

1 Rain of Millions (Epic)

1 Wand of the Mud Wall (Epic)

1 Mudwhipper (Epic)

1 Wyvern’s Flight (Legendary)

102 Stone Giant Hearts (Uncommon)

123 Granite Beetle Chitin (Uncommon)

118 Dirty Earth Cores (Uncommon)

1,494 Stonesteel Powder (Common)

3,475 Extracted Steel Mandibles (Common)

1,286 Dirty Earth Dust (Common)

The majority of the items that he’d extracted were Uncommon in Rarity and seemed to largely be similar to each other, such as the Hardened Stone collection he’d seen when he first entered the dungeon.  None of the Uncommon equipment was suitable for a Support Class, though there were a few Rare items he received that he could technically wear; but all of them, despite being a higher Required Level than what he was currently wearing, were worse in the stats and effects they provided.  He would probably end up selling them all, along with the Uncommon pieces he’d picked up and the crafting materials he had no real need of right now – especially since they currently filled a large portion of his Inventory.

As for the Epic items, which appeared to have come from the Mini Bosses and the Wyvern at the end, they were impressive pieces of equipment – and he had no use for most of them.  The Crystal-Studded Belt of Stone was for a Fighter Class, as was the Crystal Shredder, which was a wicked-looking sword made of jagged crystal.  The Millishank Razor was an extremely sharp knife designed for either a Scout or a Control Class, and the Rain of Millions was a bow for a Scout Class that automatically multiplied the arrows it released.  For a Mage Class, the Wand of the Mud Wall would benefit someone who had a proficiency in Earth-based spells, while the Mudwhipper was a whip for a Control class that had the appearance of constantly dripping mud off its length, but it also had an ability that temporarily trapped target monsters in a muddy pit.

But the Wyvern’s Flight, which was the only Legendary Rarity item he picked up, was different – because he could actually use it.

Wyvern’s Flight

Rarity: Legendary

Class Restrictions: All

Level Restriction: 165

Directed Mana Requirement: 90 Mana per second

Grants the ability for flight to the wearer through the use of directed Mana

Wyvern’s Flight was a billowing greyish cloak constructed of a material very similar to the wing that the Stone Wyvern of the Gorge had possessed, which had a bit of an icky, wet leathery feel to it.  Despite the appearance, it also gave him the ability to fly as long as he pushed Mana through it; the 90 Mana a second Directed Mana requirement was a bit steep for any Class other than Mages and perhaps Supports, though with a high enough Mana regeneration they could maintain it well enough.  For Thaden, of course, 90 Mana per second was basically nothing.

Wearing it would mean taking off his Cape that was part of his Healthful Protection set, however; he would lose the 6-piece set bonus if that was the case, as well as the extra stats that it provided.  It wouldn’t necessarily be devastating if he were to get into a fight without the full set, but he wasn’t planning on wearing Wyvern’s Flight except when he needed to travel.

Because it would allow him to fly – something that he was fairly certain everyone would love to be able to do if they had the chance.  He would have to do some testing to see just how fast it was compared to him running along the ground, especially with his incredible stats, but he wouldn’t mind sacrificing a little bit of speed for the ability to fly through the air.

And I don’t even have to move any of my Adaptable Mimicry Plates to it to make it better, as there are no stats or other abilities that need to be improved.

As if thinking about it triggered something, the ongoing counter at the corner of his vision moved to the center.  As he sat on his bed in confusion, he watched it tick over to 100%.

AMP Synchronization in progress: 99.99%

…….

AMP Synchronization in progress: 100.0%

The next thing he knew, he was flat on his back as all the muscles in his body went slack.