'Time Better Spent Training'

In this terrain and territory, the first confrontation we entered turned out to be a loose combination of two wyrm types. One was the same serpentine grub viper we had been seeing recently while the two leaders of this group were slightly larger icy blue versions named 'Frosted Wyrm Viper'. These were both at level fifty while the other five wyrms were in the mid or upper forties.

Both of my familiars were level twenty at the end of the first fight, raising their physical and magical parameters by twenty points and their pools by two hundred points apiece. It was not like they needed it, all seven wyrms died without me ever making a move and neither of them even got surrounded let alone touched.

For a moment I honestly considered handicapping them by taking the accessories that never fused with their bodies. This would only slightly lower the temporary health and mana pool additions in parenthesis which were now determined by their actual stats as well as buffs since their main pools were determined solely by level.

Neither of them even cast a spell, they simply drew their shimmery golden weapons they were reborn with to replace their old Bokuto and goblin scythe. It honestly did not even look like they were swinging weapons but instead casting broad beams of light that hung in the air for several seconds behind the actual strike. Even the falling of body parts through and around the light streams left in the air could not disturb them.

After five seconds, the first light beam fades away and after five seconds they were all gone once again as notifications of loot and experience poured in. I did not even bother attributing their combat prowess to the Imperial Order perk that applies at the start of combat. They were already so strong the results would have been the same.

Kobolds, a new bird type called frostingales, and even a batch of just armored tree dragons were the contents of our next confrontations and the first event location we finally arrived at. Not even the eleven armored tree dragons lasted longer than six seconds and each confrontation only continued to raise their levels all the way to level twenty-six thanks to the critical precision of their attacks. Thanks to all of our buffs, as well, we collected almost all the parts from every beast except for a few missing cores and bezoars overall.

Needles to say, we returned to camp from the event location of armored tree dragons guarding a nest of only four ostrich-sized eggs with not only the eggs but a large pale blue hawk-like bird of prey that could crystallize water around its body for armor and weapons. Each egg became a gift to Go, Papi, Merch, and Skooma who each had a spare familiar slot for mounts. The frostingale that had been ensnared in proteinaceous rope from a gigantula spinneret I Replicated was then given to Agnes because she did not yet have a flying familiar like Lil and I.

Unlike Darkwing and Duck, as well, the frostingale was an actively magical creature as opposed to our larger owls who originally only had some affinity with darkness element.

Leaving the others to continue their relaxed partying, I simply take my demigods out a short distance from camp where I experiment on teaching them my psychic abilities as a medium. Since they were divine creatures, it only took a few minutes before they were summoning dozens of spirits of not only mortals but also dead beasts and monsters. Some of which I doubted if still existed.

After feeding everything to Geist who only grew a single level from the event to raise my stats by one. This, in turn, raised all of their stats by one. Then, I started teaching them to use Spirit Slash. Not only did they learn the technique in only another few minutes, we all ended up learning a Mana Slash version while they ended up creating a combined Divine Slash attack.

All of the skills they acquired were at max level while the Mana Slash skill I learned started at level five with fifty percent of my physical and magical attack values in a pure mana ranged slash that reached ten yards per level and cost five mana points per level as well. Unlike Spirit Slash or other skills I learned myself, though, I could not add mana for more effect.

Still, with overall PATK and MATK values of three-seventy-seven and three-fifty-five respectively, the damage of Mana Slash came out to half of their combined value at three-sixty-six.

Mana Slash was officially one of my strongest attacks behind 360 Edge, Flying Guillotine, and their Geist variations. If not for the Geist variations that could not be coupled with this magical ranged attacks, Mana Slash would be my strongest skill despite its cooldown of five seconds per level. Considering the costs of combined skills, though, Mana Slash was my cheapest most powerful attack.

But, then, I stopped and realized something. If my Mana Slash was at level five with fifty percent effect, twenty-five mana cost, and twenty-five seconds of cooling time, did that not mean that Cweeper and Hermes now possessed a Mana Slash skill at one hundred percent effect, fifty mana cost, and fifty seconds of cooling time?

YES. YES IT DID.

Their Mana Slash had a bare minimum value of one thousand damage. Even with my own magic resistance and MDEF, that's still around half of my health in damage. Then add their actual stats and buffs. I might be one-hit by these guys if not for the bonuses from Third Familiar Evolver that the cordyceps granted me as their host.

Which, coincidentally, ended up raising the stats of my demigods because their stats could not go up independantly.

"You guys…" I say slowly and uncertainly, unsure of how to address my new familiars who now basically overpowered me in every way if not for a select few of my powers and skills.

They both just stared back at me, standing almost leisurely in the chilly weather wearing nothing but the shimmery white-gold silk and leather armor they evolved with. It still looked like the previous suits of armor with distinctive layers and materials, but now every aspect looked like it was metallic from its divine shine with littler differentiation between materials and pieces. As well, both of them had grown.

Cweeper now stood a little over five feet tall while Hermes was much closer to five-and-a-half feet in height. Their forms were also more 'humanoid', but were now something vastly beyond human. Their bodies had symmetric Vitruvian proportions even down to the way their different claws grew and there was not a single bit of fat on them, except for on Cweeper's noticeable chest and rear, while their muscles groups like quadriceps and triceps seems to have an extra muscle or two that added mass to their bodies.

It did not seem like they needed it, because all of their visible muscles were like tight blocks or round boulders of solid stone.

Even though they were my familiars and acolytes, I was worried that anything I said might upset them and in doing so they might suddenly decide to see how strong their Divine Slash was in comparison to their Mana Slash skills. Their Divine Slash was a full-power true damage attack that could only be taken or evaded and I lacked the ability to take even one.

Most bosses with skills would come with one or maybe even two or three skills designed to leave strong players at critical health. Some of the upper level bosses in games came with sure-kill skills to up the ante.

Cweeper and Hermes had skills that would sure-kill anything around my level and would always remain that way thanks to Stat Mirror and their leveling parameters.

As if able to read my thoughts, Hermes seems to actually snort lightly before calmly and fluidly saying, "Shit happens, you worry too much."

"Time better spent training," Cweeper speaks for the first time ever, agreeing with Hermes. Being my acolytes was probably ten times stronger than Blood Binding connection, so I was not exactly surprised that they knew what was going on in my head. However, both of them had natural sounding human-like voices!

Hermes had a slightly clipped accent that belied the fact that this was not has native tongue, but the voice itself was neither raspy nor growling in the slightest. Maybe a little nasally, but that was natural considering he still had a pretty long and pointy goblin nose that was now two thirds of its original proportions to his face.

Cweeper's voice was slightly lilting, almost musical, the way a fairy or otherworldly female voice was usually portrayed. Just hearing her voice telling me to go train made all of my worries just dissolve away. I could only nod my head with a slightly foolish smile before turning to head back to camp.

Back at camp the others were all eating and preparing for another wave of celebrations since today had become a rest day of sorts. I, however, simply left Cweeper and Hermes with them before heading off back into the dead forestry outside of Winter Wood. Up until I reached my first event location.

[Critical hit: Decapitation]

[+105x.5XP]

Coming out of my decapitating swing after easily hopping to the side of a lunging kobold beta's large and lean body, I step forward to meet one more beta kobold coming from the left in a pincer from both sides. Saving the swing of my Hauntings, I simply whip my knee up toward my chest and snap my foot up and out with the full force of my weight and momentum behind it. The heel of my thick and heavy sabaton boot connected solidly with the crossed forearms of the kobold who had came in prepared to defend.

Its arms snapped over each other and then tore apart as the overbearing weight and strength of my full-bodied attack kept going until its sternum was compressed through its chest. The defending kobold lifelessly flew back with red spurts and mists trailing from its arms as I slightly lowered my stance in anticipation.

The other kobold in the pincer freely slammed its shoulder into my lower side while wrapping its arms around me in a perfect tackle. However, instead of wrapping my legs below my center of gravity it could only manage to wrap my hips and waist. So, instead of being lifted from the ground it could only keep powering forward with its legs to keep me moving and off balance.

Until I cheated and lightly flicked Hauntings onto the back of its neck. "Geist."

[Critical hit: Decapitation]

[+105x.5XP]

My feet that had never left the ground, despite a loss of three percent of my health from the blunt impact and bleed-like pushing, immediately started moving forward again. Now though, two kobolds were running head-on to me from either side to protect their alpha.

360 Edge easily tore through them with just Haunting's blade alone despite the glowing charred and smoking flesh left in its wake.

[+105x2XP]

Then the alpha was in front of me as soon as I came out of the spinning attack that had dispatched all four of its original mature kobolds. I was honestly surprised that the kobold alpha who was like fifteen yards away just a second ago was suddenly in front of me.

However, I was not so surprised that I did not see the big meaty paw of giant claws swinging down toward my head from the side. Raising Hauntings and holding the blade sideways to block, I let the alpha chop and cook its own arm onto my sword. Then, playing on the petrified gigantula eye and other primitive parts on my masked helm, I leaned back a little before whipping my head down and forward to crumble the kobold's snout into its face.

[Critical hit: Vital Strike]

[+.5xDMG]

Chopping itself had taken away little less than twenty percent of the kobold's health. However, after it had stumbled back with a bloody mess for a face, its health had dropped down to thirty percent.

Keeping the kobold alpha on its feet by the arm that was still burning for about one percent per second on Haunting's blad]e, I effortlessly chop the opposite edge of the sword down into its already destroyed face and head.

[Critical hit: Bi-capitation]

[+150x.75XP]

Once the fight was over the bodies were gone and the loot loaded in, making me both grateful for the fact that I did not have to dismantle the bodies as well as question why this was not a facet of the 'realism' game. Thanks to my Luck and loot buffs, I figured out how the alpha was apple to appear in front of me.

A little trinket called Quick Step Piercing that it had worn in its nose.

[Quick Step Piercing was successfully Limit Broke]

[+200XP]

[Learned Ability Enchantment: Flash Step]

[+150XP]

[+150 Expert Enchanting XP]

[Learned Skill: Quick Step LV1]

[+100XP]

[Quick Step LV1: Shock your opponents or audience with a high-speed blur of motion, evading their strongest attacks or appearing right before their very eyes. Traverse (15)ft in a single step at twice your movement speed for the cost of 5MP. Can use (2x) before cooldown. Charges 2/(2. Cooldown: 30s]

The flashily named Flash Step enchantment covered the same number of units but was instead measured in yards. The original accessory must have had a pretty high level if its traveled around forty to fifty feet for the alpha kobold. However, Flash step started at the kobold's distance and had a near-instantaneous effect at half the speed of light. However, my enchantment skill only applied a +2 effect with a simple beta kobold ring and a pristine synthetic stone.

I could probably eek out another level or two using both an ancient electrum product and a conduction enchantment, but the +2 scale came out to an effect of thirty yards which probably showed the scale of Quick Step's levels. If it actually alternated five and ten units each level, then it would take til around level five to reach fifty feet.

While this would make for an excellent necklace enchantment to fill the empty accessory slots I had left on myself and most of my team, just one ability seemed like I was rushing it when I could fit two stats on the collars I made for my familiars. The others might not like it, but they did not need to know about it to begin with.

Then, because I had seen the option for it, I decided to try another skill.

[Assimilated: Beta's +2 Quick Step Piercing]

[+125 Quick Step XP]

[Quick Step Leveled x2]

[+50XP]

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