Do you know what happens when Level 20 Affinity's attempt to fight Level 30 Bayrok's? A slaughter is what happens, the angels drop from the sky as they attempt to swarm my horde, the rest of my undead don't even join in as my 5 archers shoot them out of the skies. They could probably one shot me if they could actually reach me as I stay behind my Living Armours. I'm at a weird level of power at the moment, I have a powerful horde under my control, but I'm still incredibly weak HP wise, most enemies could take me out in a single hit so I have to be very careful, I'd love to be in the battle, Draining foes to increase my stats but I can't risk that. The 50 damage I can do is tiny, practically worthless. Even if I have my undead weaken one of these and hold it in place it would only take a single mistake for me to get speared, putting a stop to my game before it really begins. For now, hiding behind my troops is the smart play. Not to mention the fact that Human's seem to be at a major disadvantage anyway, a Level 30 Devil and a Level 30 Human are not the same, Kiba and Sona's ridiculous HP and MP prove that. I'm at a disadvantage as long as I remain human.
But I really don't want to serve a Devil either... I don't know enough about Sona, and Rias is a spoiled brat.
As the Affinity's fall a golden light leaves their bodies, being dragged into the Soul-Absorbing Bone Tower, as more souls are taken into the tower it gains a black aura. I still don't know what it does, but it's definitely doing something. Maybe? With most of my Undead I know what they are before I even summon them, the knowledge entering my mind when I unlock them, but this one I know very little about.
My musing are interrupted by a roaring, as I turn back to the battle. A new type of foe has arrived, the giant red and white winged snakes fly towards us as my Wraiths and Bayroks fire at them, they return fire, shooting balls of flames from their mouths down at us. I can see a flaw in my army, I don't have enough ranged units. These new foes are untouchable for most of my forces, my Bayroks, Wraiths, Lost Souls and Skeleton Archers can return fire but most of my forces just sit around doing nothing.
Inspired
Level 35
HP – 6000
Another Bayonetta enemy. Still we can handle this with the addition of the Lost Souls Death Magic, we can outlast them. My Living Armours make a wall around my, blocking the fire balls with their bodies. Still, I can help at least a little.
"[Damnation], [Dark Desecration], [Dark Gift]." I might not be able to do much with my own damaging spells but I can at least weaken our enemies and buff my forces. I need more damage dealing spells, but I guess I got what I asked for, I chose Necromancer knowing I would be primarily a summoner. I can hear fighting happening at the front of the horde but I can't see past my Living Armour's. I'd poke my head out if it wasn't for the fact that fireballs keep hitting the area around me, I can feel the heat from them making me sweat, but the damage is blocked by my loyal guards. I'm pretty sure a single fireball could melt me so I'm staying in here until I can the ranged units are gone. I'm linked with my undead so I can feel my Skeletons being destroyed by whatever is attacking them, my Totenhunds aren't doing to great either, 3 of them have already been killed. My Skeletons are expendable anyway, their whole purpose is just to delay enemies for the damage dealers to take them out.
After a few moments the fireballs stop raining down on us, poking my head out from behind my guards I see a clear sky, the last of the Inspired falling to my troops. Is it embarrassing to literally cower behind my undead? Yes, but I'd rather live a coward than die a brave fool. I can already see the problem at the front lines, a pair of giant angels smashing my skeletons apart with their oversized axes.
Despite the horde between us I can clearly see them over my men, their faces covered in creepy childlike masks as a golden halo hovers over them, these ones don't have wings, going for pure power over manoeuvrability. They quite literally tower over my skeletons, almost twice their size in both height and width.
Beloved
Level 40
HP - 10000
They might be big, but they aren't that dangerous as long as they stay on the other side of the horde. With the Inspired shot down my ranged troops turn their attention to the hulking brutes, my Skeletons do their job, holding the beasts off long enough for my ranged troops to do some major damage. I need a better view, I can't believe I'm doing this but I climb up onto the shoulder of one of my Living Armours, sitting there like a child so I can see better, the Living Armour holds my legs to keep me secure. I need a better way of seeing what's going on than this, maybe a mount or something? I don't exactly feel badass like this, I bet Arthas never had to ride his men's shoulders...
Looking over the horde from my new perch I can see my Totenhunds are ripping at the Angels legs, dodging and weaving away from the axe as the angels try and crush the nimble hounds, one day I'll have to fight something that isn't dumb as fuck but for now I will happily watch the dumb brutes get themselves killed focusing on the wrong opponent. There are dozens of arrows sticking out of each angel from my Bayroks. Their HP is dropping at a ridiculous rate, with the full horde focusing on them.
As they fall my giant tower eats their souls as well. I get the notification that I leveled three times from this fight, fighting enemies higher level than you is a great way to power level. 7 more levels before I 40, and I can feel confident dealing with devils.
This was just the opening fight, there's still the three areas. As my forces put themselves back together, I look over my choices. Lake, Temple or Forest? I'm mostly worried about the lake since I'm not sure how to fight in water, so I'll go there last, the Temple will have limited space so I won't be able to take my full horde into it, so I guess it's time to go to the forest.
I have room for 3 more summons now that I've leveled so it's time to increase my horde further. I want to get quality over quantity this time, especially for the temple, a giant horde won't help much in areas with limited space. After some thought I summon 3 Shinobi Necros, they stand out far too much, half skeleton half cyborg, dressed in black and red shinobi gear and wielding kunais. Their top only covers half their chests revealing the metal ribs beneath it. Are these really undead? They look more machine to me.
They are Zombie Type Cards, so they count
Fair enough, I won't complain about having cyborg undead ninjas, they are only level 20 so I quickly boost them up to 30 to match the rest of my forces, they don't have much HP, only 2k, the same as a Skeleton from the Horde, but I'm guessing they are much harder to hit.
Once my horde is restored back to it's full strength we head into the forest, surprisingly we don't actually get attack as we walk through. It's actually more unnerving then if we were swarmed with enemies. As a rule of thumb, if your in a dungeon and there aren't any enemies around you are approaching a boss. Before long we reach a large clearing, that is completely empty. Yeah that's believable, if this was a normal game there would be a save point and a health pack just outside it, it practically screams boss room.
As my troops fill the clearing nothing appears, damn it I was hoping I could stay out of the clearing. Reluctantly I enter the clearing myself, the moment I do a wall of vines rises up blocking us from leaving, oh no who could have seen this coming...
Another angel float down into the clearing and I take a moment to curse the people who designed the enemies for Bayonetta, they're so fucking weird. It's... I don't even know how to describe it. It looks like someone has glued a load of stone faces together, with a dozen faces facing in every direction as it floats above us. Each mouth has a tentacle coming out of it, most are dark green with thorns coming off them, with a horrifying mouth on the end, but the main face has a stone tentacle with another childlike stone face on the end. I don't like it, I don't like it and I want it to not exist any more.
Iustitia (Mini Boss)
Level 50
HP - 25000
Recommended Level 30 my ass. Time to get this started, I can't leave anyway.
"[Damnation], [Dark Desecration], [Dark Gift], [Stiffen Limbs], [Ray of Enfeeblement]!" I shout, I'm not even going to try to use [Ray of Death] or [Drain Life], they only do 50 damage (100 taking in to account the bonus from my amulet), I'd have to do it 250 times and I don't want to gain it's attention as it lashes out at the horde with its vine like tentacles, fortunately it only floats a few feet of the ground so my melee forces can stab it it. My new shinobi's prove their worth quickly, jumping onto the creature and stabbing it in it's stone eyes with their kunais. The tentacles crush my Skeletons but as it does the others grab onto the tentacle and climb it, swarming the abomination ass they dig their blades into it's stone flesh.
I don't like that most of my fights are me hiding behind my shields but I can't risk getting hit by those tentacles. I do have something I can do though, I stole Boosted Gear for a reason after all...
"Boost." I've never actually used it before but it can't be that hard if Issei can figure it out... every ten seconds I boost again, 4x, 8x, 16x, 32x, 64x, 128x, 256x Boost. That will do, the energy burns inside me, it's an unpleasant feeling but I can handle it. The description said I can power spells with the energy I'm storing so this should work, I jump out from where I am hiding behind my guards and aim at the hideous thing, it turns it's attention to me one of it's tentacles shooting towards me, I really hope this works or I've just committed suicide by tentacle...
"[Boosted, Drain Life]!" the bosses HP practically evaporates as it is drained, not fast enough to stop the tentacle though. Just as it is about to strike me it's cut apart by a blade. My living armour jumping in front of me at the last moment. As the boss dies my Living Armour turns to me, it doesn't have eyes but I'm sure it's glaring at me, why do I feel like a scolded child? I try my best to ignore the glaring from all my Living Armours and the creepy laughter coming from the Bayroks as I move through my skeletons towards the already rotting corpse, how does stone even rot? Ehh doesn't matter, I'm just here for loot. Moving to the centre of the clearing I find a chest, I have to push past the skeleton horde to get to it but eventually I reach it.
Let's see, a key, 2 crystals, and 3 cards. I was hoping for some more equipment, or something to make me more durable but this'll do. Crystals first, come on Endurance... I got a single DEX point for finishing the boss with Drain Life but I still need END.
LCK Stat Crystal
Use to increases LCK by 5
LCK Stat Crystal
Use to increases LCK by 5
I don't feel very lucky... what does Luck even do? Does it effect loot or does it deal with critical hits and things like that? It'll help, even if I'm still not sure what it'll help with. The key is for the gate to the next level of the dungeon, but I need three of them, Here's hoping the cards are more interesting.
Summon Unlock Card – Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon
Adds [Adreus, Keeper of Armageddon ] to Summon Demon
Missing Pre-Requisite Skill
Summon Unlock Card – Zoa
Adds [Zoa] to Summon Greater Demon
Missing Pre-Requisite Skill
Summon Unlock Card – Jaguar Man (3* Lancer)
Adds [Jaguar Man (3* Lancer)] to Summon Servant
Missing Pre-Requisite Skill
I can't use any of these... the demons are interesting, I recognise Zoa of course but not Adreus. He's a Yugioh card but not one I actually know, he must be a later card. The most interesting one is Jaguar Man, who is clearly a girl, That's a fate servant. The mere existence of the card implies I can get other stronger cards... but not until I get the skill required, same with the demons.
I'm always going to be a necromancer, but expanding my summons to demons and heroic spirits is just smart.
Wait, am I even a real necromancer? I'm not using corpses to make my undead they just kinda appear...
You are using corpses, I just grab them from somewhere else
You'd be surprised at how many corpses there are just lying around in this world
By the way, you might want to avoid going to some French church, they seem a little pissed about me borrowing they corpses
...It's not like they were using them
So somewhere there is a really angry and confused priest? Good to know. I'm not even going to pretend to be upset over this, after all if I actually had to grab the bodies myself I would absolutely take up grave robbing, this just speeds things up. I really don't care that some French priest is upset.
They're blaming the 'Evil Devils' anyway, so it'll be fine
Nice, nothing's better than blaming other people for your crimes. How could I steal the bodies? I've never even been to France...
Wait, does that mean all my undead are French?
No, focus. Stop getting distracted. I leveled two more times from that fight, I had hoped for more but it looks like a single strong enemy is less valuable than a lot of weaker ones, shame that could have sped things up somewhat, but I only have 5 levels to go before I hit 40, I don't know when the plot starts, I don't think the Anime ever said how long Issei had been at Kuoh after all. But it could have gotten sped up by different factors, like the fact that I have a lot more magic than Issei, the Fallen could see me as a larger threat and move faster, and perhaps in greater numbers. I'll always have the numerical advantage but I should be prepared for Raynare to have the other Fallen with her, and maybe some Exorcists as well. The more important question is will the Devils notice ii summon my undead in the real world? I'm sure they'd notice if I pulled the entire horde out, and my tower would definitely stand out...
Since they seem good I summon another 2 Shinobi Necros to bring my total to five, five is a good number, five living armours, five bayroks, five wraiths. They essentially form little squads within my main army. If I was good at troop management I could make something great from this but I always sucked at the Total War games, and most RTS games to be honest...
Well I can just use my superior number to win so it'll be fine. Leaving the Forest area we head to the Temple for the next boss, I can't bring my full horde into the Temple, there simply isn't enough room. Ordering a single group of Skeleton's, 2 Living Armours and Wraiths, all my Bayroks, 4 Totenhunds and 5 Lost Souls to follow me I head in, leaving the rest guarding the entrance. The Temple only has only room, a large oval shaped room, in the centre is another weird looking boss, though at least this one is more normal than the multi headed freak I just killed. This one is essentially a knight in revealing white armour, barely covering his dark red skin. This all wouldn't be that unusual if he had a head, or to be more specific, if he had a head attached to his body, as his 'Head' is attached to his enormous greatsword, just above the hilt, staring at us as he holds it upright in front of the spot where his head would be if he wasn't a weird as fuck angel.
Valiance (Mini-Boss)
Level 50
HP – 20000
Less HP, but he looks more dangerous. Or maybe I just think that because he looks less stupid, even with his detached head sword. I want to know what the Bayonetta developers were on while they designed these things. Let's get this over with.
"[Damnation], [Dark Desecration], [Dark Gift], [Stiffen Limbs], [Ray of Enfeeblement]." I say starting my opening volley, I might not be a damage dealer but I can at least do this much. Now, to start boosting, it worked so well last time. "[Boost]!"
Boost Failed, power sealed by Ddraig
What?! Really, right now? You're doing this now? Guess I woke him up using him against the other mini-boss, fine be an asshole...
The giant knight swings it's greatsword at the skeleton's rushing it, sending them flying. It's taking damage, but not that fast, I join in spamming [Ray of Death], Damnation doubles Death Damage, and my Amulet does as well, so I'm dealing 200 points of damage with every cast, it helps but it also pisses off the boss who charges at me, My Armours try to block him but he is far stronger then them, deciding that discretion is the better part of valour I flee to the other side of the room while my armours hold him off, my Totenhunds bite and rip at his ankles delaying him from chasing me, thankfully he's easily distracted and goes back to fighting the skeletons and totenhunds. This is why I don't fight myself, if my guards weren't so good at their jobs I'd be in two pieces right now. This is two risky, I shouldn't be doing this until I can at least handle getting hit once, am I cowardly? Yes, but I don't want to die because I got cocky.
Fortunately my forces are still powerful, with the double death damage from damnation the wraiths and lost souls chip away at the bosses health, I lose the Skeletons I brought in and my totenhunds but the boss falls while my Living Armours attack it, killed by the constant damage from the ranged troops. I need a proper tank type undead, my Living Armours are great but they aren't real tanks, maybe the Mammoth Graveyard?
I gain another couple of levels from this boss, at this rate I'll hit 40 in no time. First things first I bring back all undead I lost, laughing as my totenhunds immediately start ripping away at the corpse, I think they are holding a grudge, I can't blame them, Valiance literally crushed them beneath it's oversized feet, I'd hold a grudge as well.
Ignoring the feasting dogs I move to the chest that appeared when the beast fell. 3 crystals this time, 1 more key and a card. One of the crystals is... weird? It's shaped like a heart instead of a regular crystal shape.
STR Stat Crystal
Use to increases STR by 5
WIS Stat Crystal
Use to increases WIS by 5
Uncommon Heart Crystal
Increase a Heart by 10 points
Increase a what? What does that even mean?
First Heart Crystal found, Romance Bingo Book added.
As the message pops up a book appears in front of me, it's red, with a bright pink heart on the front. Opening it up reveals that each page has a profile on it, there are only 5 pages at the moment, Sona Sitri, Aika Kiryuu, Katase, Murayama and Koneko Toujo. I've played enough dating simulators to see where this is going. All their likes and dislikes are question marks at the moment, all I can see is their current affection, unsurprisingly it isn't very high.
Sona Sitri – 0%
Aika Kiryuu – 10%
Katase – -5%
Murayama – -5%
Koneko Toujo – -10%
I'm not surprised the kendo girls are in the negative but what did I do to Koneko? Also why is Aika so high? Oh, wait I can actually see the modifiers if I tap them. Let's see Aika's... +10% for... large penis? That's... what? How would she even... I don't want to know. Koneko has -10% for aura of death? I guess she is sensitive to those things, maybe all Yokai are? Katase and Murayama have -5% for enemy of living, but I expected that, I was expecting all of them to have that but I guess Devil's aren't so easily put off, and Aika is too perverted to listen to her survival instincts.
It's kinda weird that my game is turning into a dating sim, but I can just ignore it if I want to. Might even give it a try, Necromancer's need love as well you know?
Affection can be raised in two ways
One, through the use of Heart Crystals
Or Two, the old fashioned way
That's nice, but I am in the middle of something right now... you know the dungeon? With the dangerous angels? I'll read the tutorial on dating mode later. Quickly moving onto the cards I found before I forget I check them both out hoping for something useful.
Summon Unlock Card – Nightmare Horse
Adds [Nightmare Horse] to Create Undead
Summon Unlock Card – Belial - Marquis of Darkness
Adds [Belial - Marquis of Darkness] to Summon Greater Demon
Missing Pre-Requisite Skill
The Demon sounds great, with a name like that how could he not be? But the real prize is the one I can actually use, my new mount. I immediately summon and enhance it to level 30, I have the space from levelling anyway, it's rather... off putting on account of it being made of blue fire but a quick test shows that the flames don't burn me. It's flaming body is wrapped in bandages, covering one of its eyes as the other locks on to mine, the red glowing eye staring at me as I stroke it's warm body. As I move to mount it it kneels down to help me get on, neighing softly as I do.
This is more like it, no more riding my bodyguards shoulders like a child, now I feel like a general looking over my forces as my new mount trots out of the temple, my amusement at my new ride lasts until I see the chaos outside as my forces are set upon by a wave of angels. The air is filled with winged heads, with two much larger ones floating above us, they are literally just metal heads with wings attached to them, the small ones have child like faces, and golden wings, while the larger ones have older faces with beards and larger multicoloured wings.
Dear
Level 40
HP 8000
Decoration
Level 25
HP 2000
They wouldn't be a threat if it wasn't for the fact that there are countless smaller Decorations, at least there are only two of the stronger Dears. My Bayroks immediately jump into the fray, firing arrows at the Decorations. Oddly enough the decorations don't seem to have any attack that isn't just slowly floating towards the enemy and attempting to headbutt them... this is dumb, this whole dungeon is dumb.
"[Damnation], [Dark Desecration], [Dark Gift]." I say, I don't really think this is necessary with how weak the main force seems to be, even my skeletons can beat them one on one, and they are the weakest in my forces, the Dears are stronger but they are still pretty much trash mobs, the just float around occasionally firing a orb of light at someone, but it moves so slowly it's easily dodged. The battle, if you can call the one sided slaughter takes a while, but only because there is so many of the weaker decorations, after the Dears fall to my wraiths I stop watching the battle, it's just a clean up at this point. Petting my horse I wait for my forces to finish getting rid of the remaining Decorations. What was this fight even about? They were no threat, just a delay.
As time is spent in the dungeon, waves of new enemies will attack the intruders
Each wave will be stronger than the last
A punishment for taking too long? That's fine, it's not an unusual feature. Still I should be careful, with the waves growing in strength I could be overwhelmed if I waste too much time. There was one major bonus to this, even the weaker enemies provide exp, and there were plenty of them. More than enough for me to reach level 40, completing my quest and unlocking my level 40 skills.
Kuro the Killer
Level – 40
Class – Necromancer – LVL 40/100 [52%]
Race – Human
Rank – Mortal
Alignment – Neutral Evil
HP – 90 [18 per minute]
MP – 4100 [420 per 30 seconds]
SP – 90 [18 per 30 seconds]
STR – 17
END – 18
DEX – 13
INT – 205
WIS – 210
CHA – 15
LCK – 28
Not bad, if you ignore the HP and SP, heh 420 MP regen... with the benefit of hindsight I should have spammed [Drain Life] at the decorations to try for more stat points, but even those weak enemies are a major threat if they swarm me, I doubt I could last from a single attack and that would be the dumbest way to die.
[Scourge of Scarabs] (Active)
300 MP to cast
Creates a swarm of Scarabs to burrow into the flesh of the target
Alternatively creates an insectoid undead to fight for you, you can only have one undead per 5 INT
Insectoid Undead can be dismissed and summoned at will
Insectoid Undead Available
[Leiurqin] [Kiandhem] [Dire Ant] [Impandinus] [Chitter Scarabs]
[Astral Projection] (Active)
300 MP to cast
Allows the casters souls to wander the word freely, most beings cannot see the projected soul
Souls cannot interact with their surroundings.
[Trap Soul] (Active)
500 MP to cast
Trap the soul of the target within a object
[Upgrade Skill (Necromancer)] (Active)
0 MP to cast
Upgrade skills to higher levels, increasing the effect.
Cannot upgrade summoning skills. Cannot upgrade certain skills.
Warning, will greatly increase MP cost, and it cannot be undone.
Level 40 Reached
Class Change feature added.
Insectoids... yay? Do I want giant undead insects in my forces? Kinda, the Impandinus is a massive undead scorpion, stronger than anything I currently have in my army. Astral Projection sounds like fun, mostly for scouting and spying, but I don't really want my soul to be vulnerable in case devils can see and possibly bind it. Trapping Souls would be useful if I knew what to do with them, I have 100 souls in my tower at the moment, which seems to be the limit, all the decorations got absorbed when they died after all. But I don't have any skills that actually use souls for anything.
I'll look at the class changing later.
The best one is obviously the skill upgrading one, maybe now I actually can deal some damage...
Quest Complete [Power, at any cost]
Objective : Reach Level 40 before the start of season one
Reward : Lord of Death Perk
Perk Added
[Lord of Death]
A Masterful controller of the undead, all undead summons gain one additional units.
At first I didn't think much of this skill, but that quickly changed as five more Bayroks rose from the ground. It adds one extra to each summon, I was thinking about the Skeleton's when I read it, one extra really isn't much, but it adds one to everything, including my Living Armours and Bayroks, making this perk ridiculous for single unit summons like them.
Hidden Objective Complete : Reach Level 40 in less than three days
Reward : Plot starts faster
Is that really a reward? The faster it starts the less time I have to train, that seems like a punishment more than anything, but I am ready anyway. As long as she doesn't catch me off guard I should be able to handle Raynare.
My first impulse is to spam my Upgrade Skill on all my abilities but I should exercise caution, I think I am done here for now anyway. I'm at the desired level, and I have no real want to grind any more, I'll head home for now.
- Later -
Sitting on my bed I start thinking, why is Ddraig being a colossal asshole? I stole this power fair and square, what right does he has to stop me from using it? How is he even stopping me? I didn't know he even could do that.
"You tore me from my rightful host, and you think I am the one in the wrong?" A deep voice echoes in my head. The asshole himself.
'Yes, you're in the wrong, Issei was a weak fool, he didn't deserve Boosted Gear, I do. I can use it far better than he ever could.'
"What you think you deserve is irrelevant human, Boosted Gear is mine and you can't have it."
After this Ddraig stops responding all together, this is a problem. I don't know how to unseal Boosted Gear and the great asshole won't do it either. I had hoped that Ddraig classed as a spirit so I could use [Command Spirit] but it won't work, for what reason I do not know, all I know is that it fails if I try.
It's annoying but it's not my only method of gaining strength. I will get boosted gear back, somehow. No matter how long it takes me.
But for now I have some skills to upgrade, my first though is just to upgrade everything, but that's stupidly risky since it can't be undone. So I need to think about this carefully, which skill can I afford to risk? Looking over my list I choose Ray of Death, it does practically the same as Drain Life but without the HP Drain so I don't care if I lose it. The upgrade skill is different than normal skills, unlike the others I use it from my menu, there's a small arrow pointing up next to each of the upgradeable skills, tapping Ray of Death's arrow I get a confirmation menu, yes I am sure.
[Ray of Death] (+1) (Active)
200 MP to cast
Deals 250 points of Death Damage to target
I can see why there was a warning, it increased the damage by 5x, but the cost by 10x. I can handle the MP cost since I have 4100 MP overall... fuck it, upgrade again.
[Ray of Death] (+2) (Active)
2000 MP to cast
Deals 1500 points of Death Damage to target
That's better, now I can actually deal some damage. I can only cast this twice before I have to wait for my MP to increase, but that is enough, casting twice is 3k death damage, plus my bonus from my amulet is 6k, if I used Damnation then I will be dealing 12k damage in two spells. That's more than enough since my Undead will be doing plenty of damage at the same time, it's enough to half kill the mini bosses I've fought so far. Of course that would pull their aggro onto me and then I'd probably die immediately but still... moving on I upgrade Drain Life once as well.
[Drain Life EX] (+1) (Active)
500 MP to cast
Drains 250 HP from target and gives it to second target
If this skill kills, a random Stat Point is also stolen
I consider upgrading Raise Dead, but if it follows the 10x MP cost it would cost 250 per target level, that's useless to me since I wouldn't be able to raise anyone above level 8. I can't take that risk, not until I have far more MP. My last upgrade for now will be Dark Desecration, I can afford the 10x MP cost for that.
[Dark Desecration] (+1) (Active)
1000 MP to Cast
Desecrate the battlefield, weakening all devout or holy units, all undead units take 35% less damage
Lasts until the end of the battle
15% extra damage reduction is nice, but I was hoping for more if I'm honest. With this my regular starting spells of [Dark Desecration], [Damnation] and [Dark Gift] will cost me 1900 MP, almost half, it'll take me just under 2 minutes 30 seconds to recover it. I could use a way to increase my MP Regen, but for now it'll have to do.
That's my upgrading done, now I just have to decide what I am going to do with the Heart Crystal, do I even care about the dating sim mini game? Maybe? I am a healthy male teen after all, the closest I've had to female interaction is ordering my Wraiths around and I don't think that counts... I guess I can use it to set Koneko back to 0%, if a member of Rias's peerage has a grudge against me it could be mildly annoying so I'll use it on her I guess? Tapping the option in my book I reset Koneko to 0%, dealing with her dislike of me. Do I care enough to actually try the dating? Not really, but at least I can stop her from actively disliking me.
What if I told you that you'll get perks and bonuses from raising girls up?
Seriously? That... changes things. Perks can be extremely useful, which makes it worth the effort. And really this place has some beautiful girls so it's not like it's a major issue to do some dating.
Last thing for the night is to check out the Class Change feature, I am a Necromancer, and I don't see that ever changing, but getting some other class skills could be helpful. The classes are familiar enough, the same ones I saw when I first started.
[Fighter] [Archer] [Healer] [Rogue]
Mage is gone, can I not choose the other specialisations any more?
Extra Specialisations will become available after the chosen one is maxed
Secret classes are available though secret actions or as quest rewards.
That's fair enough, once Necromancer hits 100 I can choose another Mage Class. From the others Healer is useless to me, Healing Magic doesn't work on undead, at least in most games, besides I have [Drain Life] for that. So Fighter, Archer or Rogue? Isn't Archer just a fighter class anyway, or a Rouge class, that's how it usually works.
[Fighter] [Healer] [Rogue]
…I wish the games I used to play got updated that quickly. Honestly I'm surprised Healer wasn't put in Mage as well.
[Fighter] [Rogue]
There we go, three classes, perfect. From a personal preference I want to pick Rogue, but realistically I need to pick fighter, I need END, desperately to fix my pathetic HP, and Fighter is my best bet.
[Warrior] [Duellist] [Archer] [Martial Artist] [Berserker]
Berserker is out, no thanks. Duellist and Archer aren't what I am looking for, they would probably give me DEX and I want END, so it's either Warrior or Martial Artist, weapons or fists? I think Martial Artist will be a DEX class as well so I'll go Warrior
Class Gained
[Warrior] – LVL 1/100 [0%]
Gain 5 END and STR every level.
Skill Gained
[Sword Proficiency (Novice)] (Passive)
Gained the knowledge on how use a regular sword with some skill
Skill Gained
[Light Armour Proficiency (Novice)] (Passive)
Gained the knowledge on how to wear light armour with some skill
Skill Gained
[Power Strike] (Active)
50 SP to use
Deal [(STRx2)+Weapon Damage] Physical Damage.
Oddly enough just gaining this class rose my level by one and my STR and END by 5, my actual level is 41, while my class is just one, so my actual level is just all my classes added up. I can still feel my summons waiting to be called, and my spells ready to be cast.
Casting non-class skills doubles the MP or SP cost.
Ahh. That's fair. Annoying but fair. My summons have already been created and it takes nothing to re-summon them so that's fine, but my spells will all cost twice as much, and that's an issue, my usual opening spells will take my entire MP bar to cast as long as I am playing the warrior class, but that should be fine, if I have my undead do the fighting I can power level warrior and build my HP up. Each level with give me 25 HP, 50 if I get rid of Weak somehow.
I don't actually care about the skills, I just want to increase my END so I won't drop dead if I get lightly tapped, this HP is going to be the end of me if I don't fix it properly. Magic is better than swords anyway, who needs a sword when I can just destroy my enemies with death magic?
But that's for another time, I might not need sleep but I can still feel tired. And I have school tomorrow.
- Next Day -
These classes were not made for someone with 200+ INT, I was never very good at maths before but now the answers just enter my head, I don't need to even do the calculations I just know the answer, maybe I'm passing a hidden check in the background. While the classes are boring the teachers have given up trying to keep me busy, since I just complete anything they give me in an instant. I mostly just zone out during class, staring out of the window. This time I zoned out so much that I didn't even notice the class finishing until someone came up and spoke to me.
"You're Kuro, right? I'm Katase, and this is Murayama." the pink haired Kendo girl said, why are they talking to me?
"That's right, can I help you with something?" I ask, what could they want with me? The have -5% in affection so I can't think of any positive reason why they would bother me, do they want help with their homework or something like that?
"We were wondering if you had chosen a club yet? We're from the Kendo Club and we wanted to know if you wanted to try it out?" she asked with a kind smile, ok what? Do I look like I do kendo? Do they want an excuse to beat me up? What the hell did I do?
Katase
Kendo Enthusiast
LVL – 8
HP - 100
Race – Human
STR – 12
END – 10
DEX – 14
INT – 10
WIS – 8
CHA – 14
LCK – 12
Thoughts about you - Worry
Worry? About what? Girls are confusing... plus she only has 100 HP? If I had 10 END and didn't have weak that's exactly how much HP I would have, so all humans have ENDx10 HP? How much damage could they do? I have 115 HP now, and I have a basic understanding about swords thanks to my skill from warrior, so I could probably beat either of those two in a spar. Is there any downside to accepting? It wouldn't be a bad idea to act like a student, just a little bit. I doubt they would (or could) actually kill me so there's no real risk, and I wasn't planning on grinding today.
"I hadn't really thought about it yet, but it sounds interesting so sure, I'll try it out." I say getting out of my seat.
"Great! I'm glad you're better now, you looked pretty sick when you first started..." she says as we walk to the gym, Sick? I guess that's what it would have looked like to them, my increased stats have put me in better condition than before so I would look like I'm getting over an illness, and my uniform is fairly baggy so it hides my growing muscles, that's something to consider...
I can hide my rapidly changing body for a while, but as I level I will get in better shape, far too fast for it to be natural...
"Yeah, it was a awkward time to become ill, but I'm getting over it now." I say, these two are actually pretty nice if you don't try and spy on them changing. It doesn't take long for us to arrive at the gym (or would it be dojo?) with them leading the way making small talk about my old school, I bluff my way through since I don't actually know where I used to go to school.
Before long I'm holding a kendo sword in my hand, I've just removed my jacket instead of getting dressed in an actual kendo outfit since they don't have one for guys.
Kendo Shinai
A blunt weapon used for kendo
8 Physical Damage + STR/2
They've gone to get changed, on a hunch I walk outside and check where the wall to the locker room would be. Unsurprisingly I quickly find the perverted duo sneaking towards it.
Choose your Path
[Peek on the girls]
Increased friendship with the Perverted Duo
Decreased reputation with the Kendo Club if caught
Decreased reputation with Kuoh Academy if caught
Decreased affection with Katase and Murayama if caught
Decreased affection with every girl in Kuoh if caught
Trait [Known Voyeur] added if caught
You might get to see some breasts...
[Stop the perverts]
Increased reputation with the Kendo Club
Increased reputation with the Kuoh Academy
Increased affection with Katase and Murayama
Reputation with the Perverted Duo set to Hated
Trait [Enemy of Male Perverts] added
You probably won't get to see any breasts...
That's easy enough, I have no intention of making enemies with every girl in the school.
"What are you two doing?" I ask loudly startling them both as they attempt to climb up to one of the high windows.
"Dude, keep it down? Do you know what is behind this wall?! Paradise! If you are quiet you can join us in viewing the paradise behind that window..." the bald one says quietly trying not to alert the girls, walking towards me he places a hand on my shoulder and leans in whispering.
"Don't you want to see the glorious oppai? In person, no more magazines or internet picture... it's not our faults that they keep hiding them from us, their glorious breasts should be seen not hidden away..." glasses says as they both huddle around me attempting to convince me of the wonders of peeping, jokes on them I can astral project and peep that way, undetectable to humans. Not that I would, I have better things to do.
"Not particularly, peeping is a crime you know." I say, amused at their tunnel vision, they're so busy focusing on me they haven't noticed the new people gathering behind them.
"Don't be ridiculous, you came here with Katase right? Think idiot, if you join us you can see her naked... what I would do to touch those magnificent tits... I managed to get a picture up her skirt, do you want to see it?" baldy says getting is phone out, I think I should probably call an ambulance...
"Oh... I'd love to see this picture, why don't you some it to me as well..." Katase says with a terrifying smile as she taps her Shinai against her palm, the entire club behind her doing the same, for a moment I thought I saw a red aura coming from them but it vanished as I blinked. The girls deliver divine retribution on the perverts, leaving them a whimpering pile of flesh that vaguely resembles a pair of humans if you squint at it, the phone destroyed.
"Thanks Kuro, how did you even know these two were here?" Murayama asks me as the Kendo club starts to head back inside leaving the boys alive, barely.
"I saw them heading this way when we were entering the gym, and I've heard about them already so I though I should check while you were getting changed." I say calmly.
[Stop the perverts] Complete
Increased reputation with the Kendo Club
Increased reputation with the Kuoh Academy
Increased affection with Katase and Murayama
Reputation with the Perverted Duo set to Hated
Trait [Enemy of Male Perverts] added
[Enemy of Male Perverts]
As the enemy of perverts all males with the pervert/perverted trait will start with a negative relationship (-10)
All woman without the pervert trait will gain a slight boost to affection (+2)
I'll live, somehow... I really couldn't care less that the two fools hate me, they're irrelevant. If they get annoying they can just join Issei in my inventory.
"Thanks, really. Those two haven't been here long but they've already pissed off most of the school. And I'm sorry." she says embarrassed.
"Sorry, why?" I ask, I can't think of any thing she has done to me.
"I didn't agree the Katase about inviting you, I didn't like you and I'm sorry for that, you haven't done anything to deserve me disliking you, I was just judging you on appearance..." she says sadly.
"It's fine, no harm done." I reassure her, I really don't care what a school girl thinks about me, so it's fine. No need to be a dick about it. She opens her mouth before closing it and giving me a small smile.
"Kuro, do you want to watch or give it a go yourself? Don't worry I'll go easy on you." Katase says as she holds her Shinai.
Quest Added
[Proving yourself to the Kendo Club]
Objective : Defeat Katase without cheating
Reward : Increased Reputation With the Kendo Club, Increased Reputation With the Kuoh Academy, Increased Affection with Katase and Murayama, ?, ?
"Sure, I'll give it a try." I say unbuttoning the top couple of buttons of my uniform.
As I move into the middle of the gym I hold my Shinai with both hands, I know how this works but I am a novice, the skill even says so. DEX is my weakest stat, so I'm slow. I won't be dodging much either. As she stands opposite me a all to familiar song plays in the background, I hold in my grin as Duel of Fates plays, a bit overdramatic isn't it?
No, it's exactly dramatic enough.
She approaches fairly quickly but it's obvious that she is holding back quite a lot.
Swinging her Shinai she aims for my shoulder, with how slow she swings I easily block it and push her back, I actually have a strength advantage here so I can move her back easily enough, going on the offensive I attempt to strike her on her chest, she blocks as well but I still push forwards, she deflected my hit but not enough, underestimating my strength, all she did was knock my Shinai up causing me to strike her throat weakly. Neither of us have the proper protective equipment on so we aren't putting any real power behind our blows.
"One point to you, not bad. Have you done this before?" she asks smiling at me. I think Kendo is to two points, but I also vaguely remember something about how the players are suppose to let out a shout when attacking for it to count, I think she's just letting me have that thinking I don't know the rules.
"Never done Kendo, but I do know a little bit about swords." I say moving away slightly. She goes on the offensive faster this time, I manage to deflect the first couple of attacks before I am overwhelmed and I am struck on the wrist.
-14 HP
"One All, next hit wins." she says as we move apart. She circles me for a moment before rushing me again, I have to time this perfectly...
As she goes to strike me I side step and bring my Shinai down as fast as I can aiming for her head, unfortunately she blocks quickly deflecting my blade harmlessly to the side, swinging again she aims for my side but I back step just in time, lashing out with precision and striking her wrist, like she did mine.
Two One. I win right?" I ask as she looks surprised for a moment, before she smiles again. I'm not surprised she's taking this well, she was holding back a lot after all.
Quest Complete
[Proving yourself to the Kendo Club]
Objective : Defeat Katase without cheating
Reward : Increased Reputation With the Kendo Club, Increased Reputation With the Kuoh Academy, Increased Affection with Katase and Murayama, Increased Reputation With Yuuto Kiba, Increased Reputation With the Occult Research Club
Nice. She might not have been really trying but I still get to feel smug about this, I won't show it though, keeping my face blank.
"Yes, it's your win. Well done, you did great for a first match." she says congratulating me as she takes me Shinai, as we walk back two members I don't know start their match, moving far faster than we did. Murayama congratulates me as well when we return to the side of the gym. Bet Arthas never did this, or maybe he did when he was just a prince? He must have spent plenty of time sparring. Still for now I'm a student, I can be the Lich King later, when I am a lot stronger.
For now I'm simply a regular student who does necromancy as a hobby, and has a undead army. Yup, just a normal everyday student.
I spend a couple of hours watching the fights, I don't fight again myself, after a while I excuse myself. Agreeing to come back again when I have time, explaining that I don't have enough free time to join a club full time at the moment, as I go to leave Katase hugs me, catching me by surprise, it's only a brief hug but it still came out of nowhere. After she lets go she rushes away to Murayama quietly talking as she blushes slightly.
Maybe I'll get to enjoy the popular students life after all, this was easy. As I leave the gym a voice stops me.
"I saw your fight, you're good, for a beginner. But I don't think swords are really your thing are they?" Kiba asks me from his spot leaning against the wall, my first real interaction with one of Rias's Devils. He is smiling kindly, but I don't trust it, his smile is a impressive fake, but it's a fake all the same. He's a good actor, but I know enough about him to see through him.
"No, they aren't. But I know enough to get by." I say calmly, yeah they definitely know that I am a magic user.
"I know a bit as well, we should spar sometime." he says as he smirks slightly, pushing himself of the wall. He would annihilate me in a sword fight and we both know it.
"Sure, maybe we'll get a chance." I respond, fully intending on avoiding that chance for as long as I can.
"It's a plan, I'm Yuuto Kiba by the way, and you're Kuro Shi." he says smirking wider.
"That's right, and I know who you are. It was nice meeting you, but I have places to be." I say as I walk away.
"It was a pleasure, I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of each other." he says as we part ways, yeah I'm sure you are. Looks like Rias has told the others she's planning on recruiting me, but I don't feel like being recruited. Though I wouldn't mind becoming a Devil, they must get some crazy bonuses to explain the ridiculous HP and MP they all have.
It's time for me to get to my important place I need to be, my bed. As I head home I get interrupted by a woman in cosplay handing out leaflets, really Rias? That's not even subtle, the middle of the city, in midday it might not seem out of place, but this is a empty street in the evening... the familiar stands out ridiculously.
"Here, take a flyer. You're just a single call away from having your wishes granted..." she says practically forcing the leaflet into my hand. I read it quickly skimming over it, and when I look up Rias's Familiar has vanished from the street leaving me alone.
My wish granted? My wish at the moment is to get rid of this weak trait, and I can handle that without any Devil's interference, probably.
Quest Added
[Weak no longer]
Objective : Reach 75 STR and 100 END
Reward : Weak Trait Removed, Strong Constitution Perk
Like that, on time as ever... thanks Game.
That's perfectly doable with my warrior class. I'd even go as far as to say I could do it in a single grind session.
Screwing up the flyer I throw it in a bin as I walk, I don't want to carry around a tiny summoning circle, I think it would let Rias know where I am at all times and I don't like that, not one bit. As I walk I can feel eyes on me, despite the empty streets around me. Is it time for the plot to begin? As a barrier is lifted around me it appears that the answer is a resounding yes.
Turning around I'm slightly surprised to see four fallen, not one. I guess my magic was enough to make them go a different route than the fake date, still there's something that surprises me far more.
Raynare The Fallen
The Cadre's Servant
HP – 10400
SP – 10400
MP – 11000
Race – Fallen Angel
LVL – 20
STR – 58
END – 52
DEX – 64
INT – 55
WIS – 57
CHA – 38
LCK – 22
Thoughts about you – Disdain, Minor Concern
Level 20? I was far too concerned about her.
Dohnaseek The Fallen
The Forgettable Fallen
HP – 8400
SP – 8400
MP – 8400
Race – Fallen Angel
LVL – 16
STR – 45
END – 42
DEX – 52
INT – 42
WIS – 37
CHA – 28
LCK – 20
Thoughts about you – Disdain, Hatred
Kalawarner The Fallen
The Fallen with a lot of... Plot
HP – 10400
SP – 10400
MP – 10000
Race – Fallen Angel
LVL – 15
STR – 38
END – 42
DEX – 36
INT – 50
WIS – 47
CHA – 54
LCK – 38
Thoughts about you – Disdain, Pity
Mittelt The Fallen
The Gothic Loli Fallen
HP – 5600
SP – 5600
MP – 7600
Race – Fallen Angel
LVL – 15
STR – 38
END – 28
DEX – 64
INT – 38
WIS – 34
CHA – 42
LCK – 18
Thoughts about you – Disdain, Amusement
They're so... weak? They might be a threat but they're still weaker than I expected, far weaker. Aren't they ancient? Why are they so weak when they have had so long to train?
It looks like they are getting 200 HP/SP for every point of END, and 200 MP for every point of INT, that's some bullshit. But it's handleable. I get 5 HP per END, this is unfair, I need to get rid of this useless humanity. And as much as I don't want to Rias is probably my best bet, I need to really think about that, as annoying as the idea of serving someone is.
"Can I help you?" I ask deadpan as they approach me.
"Don't act dumb, magician. You can act like a regular human but your magic is practically rolling from you." Dohnaseek sneers as they start preparing light spears, this could be dangerous since any of those could kill me, what a pain...
"That doesn't explain why some fallen grunts have decided to attack me, I've done nothing to the Grigori, and this is Devil territory." I say ready to summon my legion the instant the fight starts. It's funny watching their faces tighten with anger at being called grunts.
"Don't blame us for this, you can blame the God who gave you that Sacred Gear." Raynare says readying her light spear, so I should thank the Game?
Hey, you didn't have to kill Issei, that's on you...
Fair enough, as Raynare throws her spear at me I summon my Living Armours in front of me. The rest of my legion appear behind me, rising from the ground and glaring at our foes.
"Raynare? You fucked up." I say as the Fallen stare at the undead in shock, thrusting my arm forwards I send my legion to attack.