Chapter 78
Means of Blood
[Wildtree Seed]
Rarity: Unique
Level: 1
Note: From a Seed sprouted a Tree, and from a Tree a Fruit; Borne Noble in the visage of light, from a Fruit Seeds sowed the Youth.
The seed was nut-shaped, its size matching half a palm, and was harder than a rock while weighing less than a feather. Ethan inspected it rather closely as they walked over to Delilah, but couldn't discern much. The Seed was one of those items that everyone kept in either their inventories or the general storage as, every once in a while, quests popped up in regards to them.
In his past life, Wildtree Seed would be used for a quest much further down the line as a substitute ingredient, though the quest itself was rather minor so it was unimportant.
Moving past it, Ethan looked at the second guaranteed reward–Branch of Eden. It was a thin, slightly curved and old-looking branch of a tree with a single leaf at the top, though it weighed over forty pounds despite being just shy of thirty inches long. Like Wildtree Seed, it was a special-note item with no stats or bonuses attached to it.
[Branch of Eden]
Rarity: Unique
Level: 1
Note: Roots run deep, and branches fan out wide–this is a dead, discarded branch of a tree unfit for mortal sight. Some magical properties may yet be held within it.
Most items of this nature had cryptic notes that neither said anything nor gave a 'story' behind what they represented. However, there was a link, a context for them all. The first time that context was fully realised was about three years post-Descent, just when Ethan had started lugging about the Tunnels in a more serious way, when a group of researchers connected four 'special items' and revealed that, when put together, they described a way to kill a very specific type of a parasite that made some Tunnels inordinately annoying and long experiences.
Ever since that point, 'special items' were researched both in isolation and together, and were often keys for defeating some of the harder bosses or were the only places that had clues for what was actually happening to the planet Earth. For now, though, Ethan simply put it back into his inventory as Branch of Eden remained as encrypted twenty-five years into the future as it was now.
The total of two actual, equipable items dropped–Winterwoven Gauntlets, and Willow's Embrace. Both heavily leaned into Vitality which made them all but perfect for him, and likely worthless to most others.
[Winterwoven Gauntlets – Arms]
Rarity: Common
Level: 30
+31 Vitality
+2 Strength
Special Effect: For every 30 points in Vitality, gain 1% movement speed.
[Willow's Embrace – Breastplate]
Rarity: Epic
Level: 45
+44 Vitality
+12 Strength
+8 Intellect
Special Effect: Increase Vitality by 10%
Special Effect: Getting hit has a 3% chance of spawning a wildflower nearby. Walking over it restores 85% of the damage taken and increases Health Regeneration by 25% (stacking) for 8 seconds, up to 150%.
Beyond just the two items, Ethan had also unlocked one more title and reached Level 25, gaining access to 1 active and 1 passive ability as well as a new feature. It was a rather bountiful harvest, all things considered.
[Willow Snapper (Common) – increases damage dealt to woodland creatures by 15%]
[Undying (Rare) – increases base Health Regeneration by 100% when below 20% max Health]
The second title, especially, was rather amazing on him as not only the threshold for 20% max Health was much larger on him than the others, but the base Health Regeneration of Blood Inheritor was among the highest of all the Classes.
As far as the abilities went, there was a lot of shifting, especially due to the new function that Ethan had unlocked at Level 25–Style. 'Style', in broad strokes, referred to the preferred way of fighting, which allowed people to augment the Classes in certain ways to better serve the desired outcome. This didn't mean that one could turn a melee tank into a ranged nuke, but it did mean they could turn a melee tank into more of a melee bruiser. Though Ethan had large plans for how he'd augment the Class, as it was too much work, he left it untouched for now–the first idea was to combine Crimson Blade and Sanguine Snap into one ability, but there was likely even a larger variant with bleeding them into Hemomancy itself. For now, though, he left the function alone.
[Bloodsoaked Madness
[Blood Armour – Level 1 –
More and more, Ethan had started to realise just how much impact Vitality had on how the Class functioned. However, it still needed what most Classes would eventually need–'trimming the edges', so to say. Unifying the few factors outside of the core identity of the Class and simplifying it. As it stood right now, after all, Ethan had eight active abilities in addition to ten passive ones. He had nowhere near the Blood Pool to utilise all eight active ones, though in fairness two were conditionally triggered, one didn't have a Blood cost, and because of his precision, Crimson Blade always inflicted 'Bleed' on the target which refunded its cost.
However, due to Hemomancy as a core skill, most 'conjuring' skills would feel obsolete, and if he could somehow roll the effects of the conjuring skills into Hemomancy, he could do away with a lot of the headaches. He didn't bother with it for now, however, simply staring in admiration at his status window that would likely horrify even the kids if he shared with them just how much Health he had with the addition of two new items.
Name: Ethan Flynn
Age: 32
Race: Human
Level: 25
Variant: N/A
Titles: Explorer, Worldhunter, Arbitrator, Trendsetter, Savanna Hunter, Lion Tamer, Enduring Tapestry, Untamed, Child of Sun, Emperor Slayer, Desert Wanderer, Challenger, Near-Death, The Holy Guardian, Chaos Sower, Willow Snapper, Undying
Items: [Tar-Tipped Waeul's Dagger], [Elegance], [Life-infused Medallion], [Winterwoven Gauntlets], [Willow's Embrace]
Relics: N/A
Class: Blood Inheritor [Prime]
_________________________
Vitality: 154
Strength: 38
Intellect: 19
Agility: 23
Wisdom: 5
Health: 1543
Blood Pool: 21
Damage: 179
Cooldown Reduction: 10% (temp)
Physical Defence: 0 [Reduces physical damage intake by the amount]
Magical Defence: 10 [Reduces magical damage intake by the amount]
____________________________
Abilities:
Core:
Hemomancy, Crimson Rain
Active:
Sanguine Snap, Blood Mania, Crimson Blade, Blood World, Blood Shuffle, Blood Armour
Passive:
Bloodbound, Vampiric Touch, Bleeding Agony, Vorpal Veins, Leeching Touch, Heartlock, Vital Hex, Carmine Covenant, Bloodbound Core, Bloodsoaked Madness
Functions Unlocked: Monster Log, Daily Quest, Inventory, Crafting, Interdimensional Market, Telepathic Communication, Tunnel Dome, Mentorship, Style
What stood out, naturally, was the raw health: 1,500 Health at Level 25 was beyond absurd. Ronald, for reference, having just reached Level 10 had just shy of 250 Health, and he was on the higher end of the fighter Class. While raw health was rarely ever the make-or-break point for tanks as resistances were far, far, far more important in the long term, drain tanks were different. However, that didn't mean that Ethan could just neglect resistances–he, too, would need them, and need them just as desperately, but what raw health afforded him was the buffering zone between how much he needed just not to die, which was a much lower threshold than every other tank.
Furthermore, he'd nearly doubled his damage in one go–179 base damage was nothing to scoff at, though it was still not particularly great, especially considering he was Level 25. For reference, Ronald's base damage had just gone up to 140, and he was 15 Levels lower. Though, in the end, those were the ails and pains and aches of a tank. It didn't matter–he never intended to become a solo conqueror as he understood the limitations of that path. There was no Class that was universally good at everything–if anything, the more extremely good the Class was at something, it was equally awful at something else, if not even worse than that.
Drain tanks, for instance, excelled in group scenarios, but were generally worse when tanking bosses than just defence-based tanks. Similarly, Class like Elijah's Aegis Weaver was really good at buffing and general support–but it dealt no damage, it could not survive on its own, and was extremely Level-bound meaning that the person needed a group to Level up and reach its full potential.
"You're back!!" Delilah exclaimed. The girl had waited for them outside the tent, having already received a notification that the Tunnel was cleared.
"Of course," Ethan smiled gently. "You ready to go home?"
"Yup," she nodded. "What about the portal here?"
"Destroy it when we get back," Ethan said. "There's nothing in this place anymore."
"Yup, yup, there's nothing."
"..."
"..."
"Alright, I'll bite the bullet: it wasn't just me who heard that voice, right?" Mingzhu said as everyone grew alarmed. Ethan, as though reminded of something, looked to the side, on his shoulder, where he saw a tiny creature sitting. It was a fairy–the very same one that floated in the bubble and was being guarded by the willow tree.
"... no."
"Yup."
"Go away."
"Why?"
"I already have a fairy."
"I know! That's what got me interested in you!" this fairy, in particular, was even smaller than Tian, if somehow possible, and had a golden sheen coating its skin. "How could a woefully pathetic and overall abysmal race like humans ever entice a fairy? It doesn't make sense! Fairies are noble and divine. What pathetic outcast would domesticate itself to degenerate humanity?"
"... wow," Mingzhu mumbled. "This fairy's really fucking racist."
"Can we kill it?" Ronald asked.
"Human? Wants to kill me?" the fairy floated up and over to Ronald, hovering in front of his face. "You should be kissing my feet and begging me to bless you with my presence, you pathetic vermin."
"We have children here, miss fairy," Ronald said as Ethan and Mingzhu cackled while Elijah looked down, his cheeks growing red, and Delilah simply looked on, confused. "Yo, tell me you have a way to get this thing away from us."
"... nope," Ethan sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He was very much familiar with this behaviour, most notably because the first few months he'd spent with Tian were a lot of the same thing. "Just treat her like you would a racist grandma," he added dismissively. "In through one ear, out through the other. Anyway, let's go home. I'm in desperate need of a nap."