Chapter 352: Abyss Worms

Just had a really busy work week. More chapters incoming!

EXP Formula will be this going forward:

EXP = (Foe Exp / Level difference) * 85%

EXP = (Foe EXP * Level difference) * 125%

Depending on the level difference, either one will be applied!

As always, Giliath demands your power stones!

*****

It sure has been a good minute since I last viewed my Status Window huh? Just from a first glance, it's a lot more condensed now. This is good. I like it better like this. Unlike others, my stats do fluctuate quite a bit, as I have different kinds of equipment for different situations.

Right now, I had placed my teacher's staff back in my Inventory, and I brought out my main weapon, Radiant Starlight. This was my main weapon of choice. It was an inherited weapon, passed down from my mother to me. And likewise, my mother likely received this weapon from her parents, however long ago that was. It was a memento of House Phoenix, which had fallen in battle during the War of the Lions. I haven't found out much about them as of late. All I really know is that they used to serve Emperor Dreichels, being their eyes and ears. It was hard to tell a lie to House Phoenix. And each one of them bore the Vermillion Eyes.

I didn't like to use Vermillion Eyes if I didn't need to. It constantly drained my EP, which was essentially my stamina. It became very taxing at times. This was one aspect that I was hoping to improve on in this next month of training with Sir Vander. Considering that hte Vanders directly served the Emperor, more than likely he had some ties to House Phoenix. I'm sure I can learn more from him on the matter, to see if it was possible to lessen the burden of what these do. Right now, I would use them for intimidation, like how I used them against Cao's subordinates. Otherwise, I would just use them to analyze monsters.

I did have most of Western Zemuria memorized, but the monsters do change with how my Gamer System works. At least for now, I was satisfied with what I was presented with. I do know the effects of my gear and abilities do change as well, depending on the situation at hand, so I wanted to review my Radiant Starlight. It was one of my few Growth weapons, just like Tio's Researcher Staff.

'Display Radiant Starlight details.', I inwardly thought, prompting the menu before me to change. It shifted from my own person to a fancy-looking rapier with a violet-gold crested hilt. A little phoenix insignia could be etched on its handle as well. It looked very powerful. I do wonder if it could be enhanced further down. There is Zemuria Ore, Black Zemuria Ore, and so on. I'll have to see if that is a possibility.

[Radiant Starlight - Growth Lv111/250]

 STR: 1050 DEF: 210 AGI: 102

 -ATS is increased by 50%.

 -EP Recovery Rate doubled.

 -Piercing Light, Moonlight Ensemble, Bloody Hearts Crafts become usable.

 -Converts STR to ATS, and attacks now target ADF. (New)

 -Dance of the Phoenix Combo Craft is now available. (New)

I blinked my eyes, seeing two newly added effects to Radiant Starlight. Normally, the fourth effect only applied to Piercing Light. It would convert my Strength and add that stat to my ATS, dealing significantly higher damage. Now that can be applied to my normal attacks, and other crafts. Neat!

It looks like it rewarded me with a new Combo Craft too. I decided to have a look at it.

[Dance of the Phoenix - Combo Craft]

 Requirement: Lechter

 Range: Extra Large (XL)

 Skill Power: 350% (4S)

 Damage Type: Pierce

 EP Cost: 2000

 -Applies 1 random status ailment on targets, ignoring ailment efficacy.

 -Applies two stacks of Burn.

'Wow. I knew I haven't looked at my weapon details in a while, so I'm surprised I now have a new Combo Craft! It likely triggered when my weapon reached Level 100. Maybe it changed down the line, but seeing five abilities of my weapon now, it likely rewarded me with a new skill every twenty levels. Sheesh mother, just where did you find this weapon?

Granted, with that same line of thinking, its effects are geared toward me. If this weapon was wielded by mother, it may not even give her additional effects like this. I'm sure it was influenced by the Gamer System.

But a second Combo Craft...Those are going to start showing up more and more. They were quite widely used in Zero and Azure, and in the later Sky games. They didn't necessarily have names then until Crossbell began, but it was a shame they didn't carry over to the Cold Steel games. That was one big disappointment I had with that series.

Still, I now have a Combo Craft with Lechter. Its damage was 350% to boot. And his Favorability wasn't even maxed out yet! I wonder if this Combo Craft will improve once it does? That will be one thing to work on, for sure!

I was planning to cast Bloody Needles against this Abyss Worm before us. It hadn't taken notice of us yet. It was slowly sifting around through the hard rock beneath it. Abyss Worms adapted to their surroundings, so the ones seen here are much more durable than those found in Erebonia. These ones were less big, but more compact, and had extremely hard earthen shells covering its lower half. Either way, it was a pretty disgusting creature to look at for long periods of time. Especially those feelers...

I know I wouldn't want to be touched by one of those, haha!

Joking aside, I used my Vermillion Eyes for a brief moment, causing some of my EP to drop. Even without the massive boost from Master's training staff she bestowed to me, I still had 4600 EP naturally with my other gear equipped. I had worked on those auxiliary skills and blessings over time, and I was very pleased with how much I have grown during that.

It didn't take long for the nearby Abyss Worm's details to appear before me, as a blue screen. Sure enough, its Level did average out. It wasn't Level 111 like I originally anticipated it would be. It was Level 79!

[Abyss Worm]

 Level: 79 HP: 45,000

 STR: 1500 DEF: 1000

 ATS: 1200 ADF: 1100

 SPD: 115: EXP: 2200

Earth: 100% Water: 180% Fire: 165% Wind: 100%

Crafts:

-Earth Shaker

-Lightning Fall

-EP Drain

Nodding my head at the information before me, a serious look appeared in my eyes.

"Yeah, these worms are nothing to joke about. They have a lot of Health. Don't get too close alright, Lechter?", I urged Lechter to keep himself out of trouble.

"No need to worry about me, boss man. I know how to keep my distance. Monsters normally won't draw their attention to you unless you get in their range. It's been looking the other way, so we're safe for the time being.", Lechter responded with a confident nod.

Hearing that, I nodded again. Looking down at my hand, I decided against using Blood Needles. The scent of the blood drawn by cutting into my finger would likely cause the Abyss Worm to enter a frenzy. I don't know how much Monsers get riled up by the scent of blood, but a lot of them do. Instead, I let my hand rest on my Radiant Starlight. I

"Here we go!", I exclaimed.

"Good luck, Naoto.", Tio said, giving me a boost of encouragement. If you need me to cast a supporting Art, let me know.", Tio continued to say. She did get a bunch of Arts after we unlock more of her Slots. She had quite a few available now.

"I'm going to test one out first, but I will.", I answered.

"Piercing Light!", I uttered. I started hopping back and forth, and my body began to rapidly speed up. If there was something I took pride in, it was my Speed. You can boost it to unnaturally high levels later on in Reverie and such, but having a 400+ Speed stat is insanely good. My reactions happened in mere seconds.

Woooosh!

Tio blinked her eyes, only to see my body vanish from sight. I entered a heightened dash, almost becoming light itself. Thanks to pulling out my Rapier, it started to glow a bright white light, which began my Craft. Tngggggg!

In just a mere moment or two, I reappeared behind the Abyss Worm, causing the worm to roar in pain. A huge damage dumber appeared over its head.

[46,000!]

Before my eyes, the worm let out a loud raspy noise, signaling its death woe. It began to go poof. It swiftly died, leaving nothing behind except a phantom treasure chest, dropping lots of Sepith!

"Phew.", I replied, sheathing Radiant Starlight back inside its sheath. I still had it, haha!

"That was splendid, Young Master. You killed one of those nasty worms in one hit! I think it takes at least a few swings of my blade to try and kill one down. You really are of another breed.", Lechter said with a raised look.

"Haha! Flattery will get you nowhere. I've had multiple combat instructors since I could walk on my own two feet. Slaying one or two Abyss Worms should pose no problem to me.", I replied, shrugging Lechter's compliment off.

"I don't think I could do that much damage, given my current progress.", Tio said, shaking her head seeing the result of the one battle. It was just one Abyss Worm, and thankfully it didn't call its friends. There were still more lurking around further beyond this path. I could see some shifting around beneath the dirt, causing some dirt to knock up into the air. Those were the spots to be careful while treading.

The last monsters I wound up fighting before this was a bunch of mushrooms deep within western Erebonia, to the south of Legram. From there I partnered up with Toval and Laura a bit for some Monster hunting, but I haven't partaken in these types of battles since I got situated in Heimdallr. I was only watching from the sidelines throughout most of Tio's Instance Dungeon. I thought I was rusty for not moving my body for a hot minute, but my worries were for nothing. I still had it.

If there was a disappointment from that single engagement, it was that Piercing Light didn't land a critical blow. Piercing Light made it easier to land critical hits, but I had no other external factors being added into that. It was just an extra 30%. Despite that, I was still able to dish out enough damage to kill the Abyss Worm in one shot!

I saw my Quest indicator update to 1/6 killed for the Party Quest. It was time to reap the rewards. I was curious to see how this experience would work out. Will I get anything from this, or will Tio be the one to benefit the most here? Thinking that, some notifications drew our attention, causing blue screen after blue screen to show up one after another. The other Abyss Worms were still quite off, so I used this moment to review these messages.

[Ding! You have defeated a Lv79 Abyss Worm. 2200 Experience dropped.]

[Ding! Tactical Bonus of +60% has been applied. Now applying EXP adjustments...]

[Ding! You have obtained 94 Experience.]

[Ding! Sepith counts have been adjusted.]

[Ding! Party Member Lechter has obtained 140 Experience.]

[Ding! Party Member Tio has gained a boosted 237,600 Experience.]

[Ding! Party Member Tio's Level has risen! Lv25 (808/7000) -> Lv34 (4,408/60,000)

[Ding! Party Member Tio's Combat Parameters have been strengthened.]

[Ding! Gamer Naoto's Current Level: 111/250 (39,902/1,146,900)]

[Ding! Party Member Lechter's Current Level: 100/250 (12,147/496,900)

"Yosh. That was a good start. Let's continue the pace and we'll kill the remaining five worms before the hour is up!", I happily said, going over these notifications. "And depending on how the rest of our combat goes, if one lives on a sliver of health, I'll have you cast an Art to try one out, Tio. Just be mindful to only cast single-target Arts.", I continued to say.

"Understood.", Tio said, acknowledging my request.

Just like that, the three of us continued to tread carefully on the rocky path, making sure we didn't fall down while inching our way to our next Abyss Worm!