Chapter 80. Progress
The rest of the day passed swiftly while enjoying the company of the exuberant sisters during daylight and then the company of the pretty tigress in bed at night.
Michael greeted the next morning while checking his inventory, stats, skill points, quests, and items while waiting for Helen to wake up.
He had many doubts but could only hold back until she was up before they could be addressed. Finally, about an hour later, Helen began squirming under the blankets, signifying the end of her slumber.
"Good morning, pretty lady."
[*Yawn* Good morning. Why are you always waking up so early?](Helen)
Thinking back to his 8-5 job on Earth, Michael shook his head and laughed.
"Force of habit, I guess. I was checking my status page and wanted to decide what to do next."
[And?](Helen)
"I'm still trying to reach a decision."
[Pfft! Hahahaha! I guess that makes sense.](Helen)
"Here. These are the only two 'items' I acquired yesterday. Should we open them to take a look?"
[Open, open! It's good to start the day with something fun!](Helen)
Michael selected the Sated Bone Cache first and opened it without hesitation.
To his surprise, the items exploded into existence and spread out on the bed.
"This..."
[Hahaha! What are you doing, dummy? Why did you open it in the bed?](Helen)
"Well... I expected the items to be transferred to my inventory, not thrown randomly around me. What sort of crap is this!?"
While Helen was still laughing at him, Michael scanned the four items he had gained.
There was a golden glowing box, a smaller purple stone, a strange miniature skull, and two plants he recognized as Biteberries.
[A Rare item. Not bad, not bad! Some Obols and a pretty helpful gem. Oh, there's some Biteberries as well. A good haul.](Helen)
"..."
Scratching his head, Michael grabbed the purple stone and realized it was the Murmuring Obols Helen was talking about. The system informed him of acquiring 20 pieces, and the purple stone dissipated into thin air.
Michael straight up stored away the Alchemy materials. The weird-ass skull, though, he was reluctant to touch since it looked creepy and unsanitary.
Seeing him wavering, Helen laughed even louder and grabbed the skull for him.
[What are you thinking? It's a gem. It's not an actual skull.](Helen)
"Huh!? Gem? Like the ones used for socketting?"
[Exactly. Wasn't expecting you to know that, given your lack of common sense...](Helen)
'Should I tell her that it's a common trope in most games I've played back on Earth?'
"*Cough* Who said I lack common sense!? Girl, it looks like I didn't punish you enough last night?"
[Hmpf! Who's afraid of whom!?](Helen)
"Tsk! See how I deal with you in a moment."
Grabbing the 'gem' from Helen's pretty hands, Michael snorted while inspecting his new acquisition.
[ Crude Skull
Item Type: Gem
--------------------
It can be inserted into equipment with sockets.
*Weapon: +2 Life On Kill
*Armor: +3.0% Healing Received
*Jewelry: +75 Armor. ]
"Life on kill, huh!?"
[Yup. It's the lowest-tier gem, but its effect is the best to use for your weapons. Especially for you that mostly adventures out alone.](Helen)
"I see. That's a good find, indeed. There's only one problem, though."
[Huh? What problem!?](Helen)
"It says clearly in the description: 'equipment with sockets.' I have no such items."
[What's the hurry? You're not even Level 20 yet.](Helen)
Seeing the pretty tigress roll her eyes charmingly, Michael gulped and held himself back. There was still an item box to open.
The golden glow made the Necromancer smile as he inspected the new item and shared its details with Helen.
[ Centurion's Lash
Rare Scythe
235 Item Power
--------------------
135 Damage per Second
* [98 - 148] Damage Per Hit
* 1.10 Attacks per Second (Fast Weapon)
* +4 Life On Kill
--------------------
* +5.0% Critical Strike Damage
* Lucky Hit: Up to a +1.8% Chance to Execute Injured Non-Elites
* +7 to All Stats
* 1 Empty Socket ]
"Asketh, and thou shalt receiveth! I finally got an item with a socket."
[What's with that strange speech? Hahaha! Oh! It's a weapon on top of it all. Tsk, tsk, tsk! Talk about luck.](Helen)
"Hehe! But, of course. Since I'm on a roll, let's open the other cache too."
The Unsealed Exorcist's Cache also burst into multiple stuff on the bed, making Michael speechless at the system's laziness.
"Let's see... Obols again, another 20. Damn! Another 2 Biteberries..."
[Pfft!](Helen)
Looking at the giggling woman, Michael swore to deal with her in a bit after throwing the plants into his inventory.
"Another stone..."
[It's a gem, dummy. Amethyst.](Helen)
[ Crude Amethyst
Item Type: Gem
--------------------
It can be inserted into equipment with sockets.
*Weapon: +4.0% Damage Over Time
*Armor: +4.0% Damage Over Time Reduction
*Jewelry: +11.5% Shadow Resistance. ]
"Interesting. Isn't this more useful than the skull? After all, my primary damage is DOT (damage over time)."
[Up to you. It's still too early for you to have decided on a skill and damage build.](Helen)
"That's true. This item box is only magic, but I guess I'll take it. Let's see..."
[ Powerful Outsider's Hood
Magic Helm
207 Item Power
--------------------
259 Armor
* +14 Strength ]
"That's... very straightforward."
[How is it compared to your current helm?](Helen)
"Here's the current one."
[ Harmonious Helm
Magic Helm
132 Item Power
--------------------
165 Armor
* +3 to All Stats ]
[That looks like a simple decision to make.](Helen)
"True enough. Let's swap these two the next time we go out."
Thinking about how annoying it was to put all the items on you every time you went out for a Quest or Dungeon, Michael complained internally about how unhelpful the system was in this regard.
However, it wasn't THAT bad. After all, manually equipping weapons, armor, and jewelry was pretty cool. It made you feel as if you were preparing for war. Which you were... in a sense.
[You're planning to go out today as well?](Helen)
"Mhm. Thanks to the Quests, I've been advancing quickly, but I'm in a bind because of it."
[Oh? You're talking about the Dungeon clears?](Helen)
"Mhm. I might postpone Quests temporarily and focus on clearing Dungeons. I have already completed two with the one in Nevesk and the Hallowed Ossuary. I need three more. Any suggestions?"
[Hmm... there are three in Nevesk that certainly need clearing. I'll check today to see if they managed to wrap things up with the mess there and let you know. In the meantime, you can go check out the Black Asylum.](Helen)
"...sounds delightful."
[Well... it has a pretty bad reputation.](Helen)
"Details?"
[It's probably what you're thinking. The old Cathedral took over, demons got involved and tempted the Monks and Priestesses into madness, and the patients there suffered as a result. By the time the complaints of the common folk reached our ears, the death count was already in the hundreds. Furthermore, even after the entire asylum was purged and burned to the ground, the Burning Hells intervened and transformed it into a Dungeon. Now, all those fallen clergy members and demons alike wander the corridors of the Black Asylum still.](Helen)
Michael was initially creeped out by the story, as it had all the proper makes of a nightmarish encounter. However, halfway through Helen's story, he couldn't help but gawk at her breasts like a horny teenager.
It wasn't his fault! The tigress was too seductive!
Ultimately, they fought for another fifty rounds until Michael was finally satisfied.
"Then, I'll head to the Black Asylum today..."
[Who starts a conversation so randomly after... that!?](Helen)
"Hehe!"
[Tsk! Are you confident? Don't forget your 'preferential treatment.' You won't have it easy at all.](Helen)
"I wasn't before, but I certainly am now."
[Eh? Why the sudden confidence?](Helen)
"Well, I was saving my Skill Points to decide what to do next, but one thing led to another, and I almost died a couple of times..."
[You forgot about them.](Helen)
"I forgot about them..."
Seeing the pretty lady laugh at him so openly, the thought of punishing her further appeared in his mind, only to be quickly dispelled. His lower back might not be able to handle it!
"So now, I have three points, and I can finally get the Skill I was looking forward to."
[...you. *Sigh* Three Skill Points. Nobody is foolish enough to wait until they gathered up so many!](Helen)
"Can you blame me? I leveled up so fast lately that it completely slipped my mind..."
[That's also true. Show me the skill.](Helen)
"Here."
Holding her hands, Michael 'shared the screen' once again.
[ Corpse Tendrils
Type: Corpse | Corruption
Cooldown: [11] seconds
Lucky Hit: 20%
-------------------------
Veins burst out of a Corpse, Pulling in all enemies in a five-meter radius and Stunning them for 3 seconds — deals [20]% damage to the captured enemies. It does not use the Corpse.]
[*Gasp* That's an amazing crowd-control skill!](Helen)
"Mhm. Furthermore, the fact that it doesn't use the Corpse means that after they are pulled in, I can use Corpse Explosion to generate the Darkness miasma."
[That's true! With a three-second stun, that means three seconds in which the miasma will damage them. It also gives your Minions sufficient time to attack freely.](Helen)
"Indeed. Not only that, but I can combine that with my Bone Prison, if needed, to gain even more time. There's only one problem."
[What?](Helen)
"I don't have enough Skill Slots for all of them. One skill must go."
Helen slapped the hand reaching out for her perky buttocks and scolded him for misbehaving in such a serious conversation.
[Who says you can't replace your skills based on the situation? Furthermore, didn't you say you were planning to get rid of your Bone Splinters anyway?](Helen)
"Mhm. With Grim Harvest, I can gain 2 Essence points each time I consume a Corpse. That includes the ones used by Raise Skeletons and Corpse Explosion, both of which don't require Essence to be cast."
[Your Class is bizarre. How many Skills do you have that actually use Resources?](Helen)
"Ehm... one?"
[...what a broken Class!](Helen)
"Agreed. Only Blight uses Essence and a full quarter of my Resource Pool at that."
[Still... your Skills are pretty balanced overall, so it doesn't make sense for them NOT to use Resources.](Helen)
"Well... let's see. I have Bone Splinters that actually generate Resources, and I have Blight, which is my only proper way of attacking in a ranged manner. Then, there's Blood Mist, my evasion skill, which also deals some modest amounts of damage. Bone Prison is what I use as crowd control, and it's reasonably good, even against Bosses."
[I changed my mind; your Skills are not balanced at all...](Helen)
"Then, there's Corpse Explosion and Corpse Tendrils. You already know the use of those two."
[*Sigh* Hurry and level up. Once you get close to my level, we can finally get rid of some nasty Dungeons I've been postponing for a while now. Your Class is the perfect counter for Dungeons with hordes of enemies.](Helen)
"Haha! I'll see what I can do. It shouldn't take too long at the rate I'm leveling up."
[Stop dreaming! After Level 25, the experience you gain will decrease considerably, while the experience needed for each additional level goes through the roof. So make sure you always have Elixirs with you to counterbalance that. Let me know if you lack materials, and I'll help.](Helen)
"Tsk, tsk, tsk! I didn't think there would come a day when I'll earn a living just based on my face."
[Get lost!](Helen)
Laughing and teasing Helen for a while, Michael finally had his fill and continued the serious conversation.
[Anyways, that's only a single skill point used. What about the other two?](Helen)
"I already enhanced Corpse Tendrils. Its upgrades are exquisite."
[Show me.](Helen)
'Sharing the screen' once more, Michael brought up the description of the two upgrades he picked.
[ Enhanced Corpse Tendrils
--------------------
Enemies in the Corpse Tendrils range are Slowed by 50% before being Pulled. ]
[ Plagued Corpse Tendrils
--------------------
Enemies damaged by Corpse Tendrils are made Vulnerable for 3 seconds. ]
Helen clicked her tongue in annoyance when she saw the upgrades.
[Tottaly unreasonable! Not only will the enemies be stunned for three seconds, but they will also be debuffed with a Vulnerable status.](Helen)
"Hey, don't complain to me. It's the Sanctuary that makes the rules."
[Still, that's pretty impressive. Adding your Skeletons on top of that, even if their damage is low, you can easily crush Dungeons. Even if you meet stronger Elites and Bosses.](Helen)
"Yes. So, I can finally at least guarantee I can escape with my life intact if things go downhill."
[That's great!](Helen)
Kissing the excited tigress, Michael hugged and enjoyed her body fragrance for another fifteen minutes or so. Then, he got out of bed, preparing to check out this Black Asylum Dungeon.