Chapter 305. Returning to a more relaxing space
And obviously, after raising a flag that big, he was thoroughly rewarded.
[ Tempering Complete!
An Affix has been added:
* +39.5% Iron Maiden Size - [26.5 - 40.0]% ]
Not only did he roll the most useless one, but he also rolled the almost maximum upper percentage.
Watching the two girls doing their best not to laugh, Michael paid another 5 Rawhides and 2 Veiled Crystals to re-roll the Affix.
Each item could be re-rolled a maximum of three times, but the Sanctuary took pity on his soul and granted him a decent reward.
[ Tempering Complete!
An Affix has been added:
* +32.0% Corpse Tendrils Size - [26.0 - 35.0]% ]
Sighing in relief, he tried picturing the vines entangling his enemies, but a third size bigger than they usually were.
[ Archon Greaves of Metamorphosis
Legendary Boots
583 Item Power
-----------------
254 Armor (+30 compared with the currently equipped item)
* Evade grants +75 Movement Speed for 1 second
-----------------
* +47 Intelligence
* +118 Maximum Life
* +460 Armor
^+32.0% Corpse Tendrils Size
Legendary Aspect: When you Evade, you turn into a cloud of bats, becoming Unstoppable for 2.5 seconds. Enemies along your path take 2,138 Physical damage and are inflicted with a Vampiric Curse. Evade's Cooldown is increased by 9.0 seconds. ]
With three items left to improve, Michael quickly selected the sickle next.
As for the recipe, everyone agreed to use Shadow Finesse since pretty much all its Affixes significantly improved Michael's current and future skills.
Paying another 5 Iron Chunks and 2 Veiled Crystals - and deciding to use a portion of the Rare equipment to salvage in the future - the Necromancer impatiently checked the newly added Affix.
[ Tempering Complete!
An Affix has been added:
* +41.5% Shadow Damage Over Time - [41.5 - 55.0]% ]
Michael could've sworn that all these recipes only offered the lowest percentage if not for seeing the process himself.
Gritting his teeth, he accepted the resolution and checked the details of his newly improved weapon.
[ Blighted Sacrificial Scythe
Legendary Scythe
583 Item Power
-----------------
500 Damage per Second (+81 compared to the currently equipped item)
* [364 - 546] Damage per Hit
* 1.10 Attacks per Second
* +24 Life on Kill
------------------
* +15% Damage
* +50 Intelligence
* +23.0% Vulnerable Damage
^+41.5% Shadow Damage Over Time
Legendary Aspect: You deal 96% increased damage for 6 seconds after the Shadowblight Key Passive damages enemies 10 times. (Necromancer Only).
+8% Damage Over Time (Amethyst Slotted) ]
All these percentages kept stacking up, and Michael was here for it! After he was done with the improvements, he would descend upon the remaining Dungeons in Scosglen like an angry god upon its unfaithful flock.
'Ugh... four, no! Five days from now... Yeah... *Sigh* Why the hell am I so busy!?'
Complaining inwardly, he selected the Focus item to go through Tempering next, selecting the same Shadow Finesse as a recipe.
Paying another 5 Iron Chunks and 2 Veiled Crystals, a result quickly appeared on the interface.
[ Tempering Complete!
An Affix has been added:
* +28.0% Shadow Damage Over Time - [26.0 - 35.0]% ]
Seriously wondering if he should go wash his face to chase away the bad luck, Michael denied Zivek's question about re-rolling and replaced the Focus item with the final ring on the anvil.
[ Molten Lotus of Empowering Reaper
Legendary Focus
600 Item Power
-----------------
523 Damage per Second (+523 compared to the currently equipped item)
* [349 - 523] Damage per Hit
* 1.20 Attacks per Second
* +4.5% Cooldown Reduction
------------------
* +13% Damage
* +45 Intelligence
* +108 Maximum Life
^+28.0% Shadow Damage Over Time
Legendary Aspect: Damaging enemies with Sever has a 14% chance to spawn a pool of Blight under the target that deals 56% bonus damage. This effect can only happen once every 3 seconds. (Necromancer Only).
+8% Damage Over Time (Ametyst Socketed) ]
For the final ring, the trio decided on the same Shadow Finesse recipe. It was irrelevant which option he would get; it would be great if it increased his overall damage.
At least, that's what the Necromancer kept repeating in his mind, afraid he would get unlucky and disappointed again.
5 more Iron Chunks and 2 Veiled Crystals were paid, resulting in another Affix being added.
[ Tempering Complete!
An Affix has been added:
* +72.0% Descrated Ground Damage - [62.5 - 85.0]% ]
Except for that...
"*Sigh* Re-roll..."
[*Chuckle* Got it.](Zivek)
Paying the 'fee' again, the goddess of luck - if one truly existed - finally smiled upon her lowly subject, granting him a glimpse of her fair visage.
[ Tempering Complete!
An Affix has been added:
* +75.0% Corpse Explosion Damage - [57.0 - 75.0]% ]
An absolute upper limit maximum roll!
"Hahaha! Finally!"
While everyone else was suppressing their laughter, Michael ignored them and checked his newly upgraded item.
[ Blood-Soaked Ring
Legendary Ring
572 Item Power
-----------------
* +4.9% Resistance to All Elements
* +4.9% Poison Resistance
------------------
* +45 Intelligence
* +17 Life per Second
* +35.0% Overpower Damage
^ +75.0% Corpse Explosion Damage
Legendary Aspect: Blood Mist leaves a trail of Desecrated Ground that lasts for 4 seconds and deals 567 Shadow damage per second. Gains 20% Movement Speed while Blood Mist is active (Necromancer Only).
+4.0% Resistance to All Elements (Diamond slotted) ]
Not only this, but his stat page also changed considerably.
[ Class: High Necromancer
Attack Power: 2371
Armor: 5,888
Life: 3,466
--------------
Strength: 329
Intelligence: 660
Willpower: 406
Dexterity: 384 ]
After Zivek chased them out of the forge since he had other clients waiting for their turn, Michael almost danced on his way out, provoking bursts of laughter from Mina and Helen.
"*Snort* What do you know? Do you have any idea what this means to me?"
[Yes, yes, you're right! My bad, my bad! *Chuckle*](Helen)
[*Cough* Yes. We're happy for you.](Mina)
Sneering at the pretending beauties, he showed them the real reason he was happy.
"Before, the damage of my Corpse Explosion was around 2,000 points of Shadow Damage dealt over six seconds. Take a look at the change."
[Dear Heavens!](Mina)
[Wow...](Helen)
Smiling even happier, the Necromancer continued re-reading the skill's description for the twentieth time.
[ Corpse Explosion (Rank 7/5 - Item Contribution: 2)
Corpse | Corruption | Darkness-------------------
Release a vile miasma from a Corpse, dealing 10,243 Shadow damage over 6 seconds.
*Modifiers:
- Corpse Explosion's radius is increased by 15%. ]
That's right! His damage increased five times over!
And that was without taking into consideration the debuffs added by his other skills or the synergy added by the combination of items + skills.
When the trio reached the Pink Palace, the other sisters were already waiting for them in the garden with snacks and drinks.
First, before the interrogation could start, Helen explained their idea of using the terrain behind their villa to plant alchemy ingredients, which was approved unanimously.
Then, Mina explained how Tempering worked and how Michael's primary damage-dealing skill improved by five times after going through with it. Still, she also relayed Zivek's advice about gathering higher-rarity Tempering Manuals.
[We're still going tomorrow, right?](Tia)
"Huh? Oh! You're talking about collecting the Altars of Lilith in Scosglen, right? Yes. If we have time, we can even clear some Dungeons if you girls want."
[[[Yes!]]]
Judging from their expressions, they were just as hyped about clearing some Dungeon as he was.
While they were probably bored, Michael truly wanted to check his new damage after today's upgrades.
The conversation temporarily swerved to Legendary Aspects, but the Necromancer pointed out how he was currently waiting for his Second Class Awakening before going through with it, returning the subject to something more interesting.
[Did you really fight the Butcher again?](Tia)
"...unfortunately. Luckily for me, this time around, I was more proficient with the use of my minions, and my overall damage, attributes, and Armor increased considerably. Still, I was unable to avoid all of his blows."
The girls quickly expressed their opinion on the matter, offering insight after Michael vividly detailed the entire fight.
Furthermore, after some hesitation, Helen succumbed to everyone else's curiosity and said she had a 70 - 80% chance of killing the Butcher after she gained the extra skill and Paragon points.
[Once I grind some better items, Temper them, and then max out Masterworking, I'm sure I'll have a 99% chance of winning every time.](Helen)
Considering the tigress's current skill build was based around high Armor and even higher Attack power, he found himself agreeing with her assessment.
Not only that but compared to him, her combat standards were incomparably higher.
In addition, the fact that her Sword Aura had an incredible penetration effect, rendering the stupid barrier the Butcher used ineffective, would undoubtedly cause her to end up bullying the interdimensional demon.
While eating the strange snacks Aylin prepared from a recipe she 'earned' from Kehjistan, the group discussed every person's individual success chance at beating the scary creature.
The results were:
1. Tia - 50%.
She was an Assassin Class Wanderer and had just reached Level 60. This current percentage was purely based on the new skill points she gained but would go up after she grinded some new items and upgraded them.
If not for the lousy match-up between her and the tanky Butcher, the percentage would be even higher.
Nevertheless, due to her many movement skills and the incredibly high Poison Damage she had, it was easy to engage in guerilla tactics and slowly torture him to death.
2. Evelyn - 10%
There was nothing much to be said about the silly Druid. She was Level 58 after being carried by Gonk, Neyrelle, and Tia, but her one-on-one fighting capabilities were awful.
Thankfully, the extra skill points and the new items would ensure she could at least survive an encounter with the Butcher by running away.
3. Neyrelle - 20%
She was in a similar situation as Evelyn. She was also Level 58 but lacking in skills that would ensure her survival as she engaged in a one-on-one fight with the demon.
While her damage was higher and her skill build was created around combos, the Butcher wouldn't allow her to play all her cards while watching and doing nothing.
A simple example of her combos was a stunning skill followed by a slowing skill and then a deluge of high-output curse and damaging skills.
Unfortunately, even Michael's Corpse Tendrils or the Crippling Darkness passive didn't seem to work on the demon, much less hers, which were less specialized.
4. Mina - 0%
As the Priestess of the party, if she ever found herself in a situation where she would have to face the Butcher alone, it would mean that her entire party was already wiped.
Why such a severe scenario? Because Mina would never go Dungeon diving alone since she lacked any skills based on direct damage.
All she had were healing, buffing, and debuffing skills.
5. Aylin - 85%
This genius Sorceress had recently advanced to Tier 4, and her burst damage was absolutely terrifying.
According to Helen, Aylin sacrificed most of her Armor and mobility skills in favor of more damage.
In gaming terms, she was a glass canon.
But recently, she got lucky with two items that offered her true invulnerability for around two minutes combined. She also had another skill where she encased herself in ice, blocking all types of damage for four entire minutes, and the enemy could only watch, appalled, as it was continuously bombarded.
Barrier or no barrier, the Butcher would probably die before those six minutes end.
6. Hella - 65%
Just like in Tia's case, the Illusionist Mage had this percentage based on her current extra skill points, but it would go up after she changed her items.
Not only that, but in her and Mei's case, they were also close to the fourth tier, and once she completed that Third Class Awakening, her damage would undoubtedly go through the roof.
Furthermore, as her Class was based around illusion and Wind magic, not only was she able to buff her movement speed and avoid the enemy's attacks, but she could also confuse the Butcher with her realistic illusions while she pelted him with damaging skills.
7. Mei - 100%
Much to everyone's surprise, the pretty Level 74 Archer came clean and admitted to having faced the Butcher six days ago and successfully killed him.
While she was exploring a Cellar in the Wilderness, the Butcher randomly appeared and started massacring the goatmen she was facing.
Without a choice, she used all her skills and won without any significant injuries, shocking the entire group.
[I kept my distance and shot it from afar. Since I was faster than it, all I had to do was avoid its hook and keep shooting arrows. Since my arrows have a piercing effect, the barrier it used didn't do much, and after almost an hour of dragging things out, I finally killed it. That's where I got the Unique bow I showed you previously.](Mei)
After hearing the recount, everyone agreed that with the Region Progress and the new item upgrades the Sanctuary offered, Mei's chances would remain 100%, and she would undoubtedly win easier now that she had experience.
Unless she made any mistakes, that is.
And finally, it was agreed that Helen should also be able to beat the Butcher relatively easily.
Her high Armor would be an incredible impediment since the demon only had physical attacks, while her penetrative Sword Aura would continuously deal swathes of damage with each swing.
'Poor Butcher... why does it sound that everyone is suddenly hunting for it?'