Elmo sighed as Jonas left to check on Elin and Kim, after talking with the others, which only seemed to briefly interrupt their agrgument. While Sonya was brought over to be by Heather, Elmo still felt like he should stay with them. Not that he had any idea of what to do. He knew he could talk to them, but couldn't think of what to say that hadn't already been said. Especially since he had no idea of why there were like that.
Though, as he looked at those arguing over near where the body of the troll was, something tickled the back of his mind that he couldn't place. He tried ignoring it, but when the group finally dispersed, he was able to see everyone. Which left one fewer than what he remembered having entered the room with them.
Where was Michelle, he wondered? She had to be around somewhere. From what he'd seen between her and Bart, it was clear she looked at Bart as a little brother. So, if she had gone exploring somewhere he would have expected her to wait for Bart to have gotten better. It didn't make sense to him.
However, he pushed that thought out of his mind. He was more worried about what to do to help Heather and Sonya out. As he looked at them, he realized they looked much the same as when they'd rescued them from the goblins. What had caused them to revert to this, he couldn't say, only that it certainly a pain.
"Congratulations! The dungeon boss has been defeated. The challenge completion is awarded to Heather Goldblum, Bart McKenzie, Elmo Garcia, Sonya Harris, Elin Davies, Kim O'Hare, Elwin and Leon Bell, Jonas McCain, Patrick Sullivan, Patricia McIntyre, and Owen Andrews. However, during the fight Michelle Baker was killed. I wonder how many had put their money or her being killed that manner? The highlights of that fight will be shown when we break for the night as well as in the morning.
"So, now that the dungeon has been defeated, the exit will reveal itself soon. Also, this will count as our evening announcement, since it's close to that time anyway. Hope all of our remaining contestants survive the night and the goblins that are starting to roam the dungeon!"
Elmo was shocked to hear that Michelle had been killed. He wasn't sure where he would have expected her to have disappeared to, but he certainly hadn't thought that she had died. He glanced towards Bart, not sure how he'd take the news. After all, the two of them had been on a team together from the start.
However, he knew that he needed to consider what to do next. Especially since they had no idea of what the next challenge might be, and he couldn't say what kind of dangers it would come with.
Then glancing at the troll, he realized that he should check his status, as he could imagine having gained a level since then.
"Status," Elmo said quietly.
HP 15/24
MP 5/36
Level 9
XP 780/4500
Stamina 12/12
Str 6
Dex 14
Mag 21
Con 8
Int 20
Wis 19
Cha 14
Agi 12
Physical Resistance 0%
Magical Resistance 25%
Skills:
Magic Identification
Fire Boost
Earth Boost
Magical Surge
Enhance Mastery
MP Charge – 2 Stamina
Black Magic Spells:
Fire Attribute – Scorch 3mp 98/100
Earth Attribute – Rock Spray 4mp 48/100
Water Attribute – Water Shot 3mp 24/100
Wind Attribute – Wind Shield 4mp initial, 1mp each minute 0/100
Unaligned Attribute – Magic Burst II 5mp 5/150
Unaligned Attribute – Absorb II 4 MP 15/150
Green Magic Spells:
Unaligned Attribute – Identify II 2mp 45/150
Unaligned Attribute – View Stats 2mp 60/100
Force Attribute – Remove enhancement 4mp 0/100
You have 10 attribute points left to allocate. Where would you like to place them?
While Elmo would like to do nothing other than improve his MP, he had to admit that improving his stamina could be pretty helpful, since he had that problem with his absorb spell. Aside from also being a cost for his MP Charge skill.
He quickly added 2 to his Int and Wis while adding 3 to his Str and Con. Changing his MP max to 44, his HP max to 50, and his Stamina to 25.
Elmo hadn't expected it to jump like that, but was more than satisfied with the result. Maybe next time he might add some to his Mag to make his spells stronger. Though, he'd have to wait and see how it turned out when he had more points to allocate.
Then as he finished that, the attribute points message was replaced with: You can learn a new skill. Would you like to choose or see the options?
Elmo chose to see the options first, not wanting to miss anything that might have been added, but only saw the same options as eariler. So, he quickly chose Brimstone Fire. He wasn't going to have another battle with a troll like that without something that would allow him to be of help more than just trying to siphon off all of it's MP with absorb.
+++
Kim imagined herself pummeling the announcer's face in. The way he talked about a person dying, let alone Michelle, made her furious. It was as if life was worth nothing more than a cheap thrill to the announcer. After all, even though she had doubts about the entire male gender of her species, she accepted that Bart was still pretty much a child. As such, she was aware of how Michelle had treated him and wouldn't be surprised if she had become important to Bart, but now was gone. So, she could only count it as a small blessing that he was still unconscious, as it would give him some peace for a while longer before he would have to learn the truth about what happened.
"Any idea of when the regeneration will be complete?" Kim asked Elin.
Elin shook her head. "No, I mean, I probably could if I knew how long it's been since it started, but we don't have a water clock around here," Elin replied, keeping her focus on Bart.
"Well, have you checked your status?" Kim asked. "You could see how long it takes you to recover your MP and I think Elmo said that it would recover one MP every hour or something,"
Elin shrugged. "Maybe, but I want to make sure that Bart will be okay and I don't want to move my attention from him before then," Elin replied, surprising Kim with how determined Elin sounded.
"Mind if I touch you while you do that?" Kim asked, already starting to get bored.
"Not now," Elin sighed. "Maybe when I'm done."
"You're no fun," Kim pouted. She hadn't really expected Elin to agree to it, but she wasn't sure what else there was to do at the moment. Although, as she thought about it, checking her status might be useful, seeing as how they did just defeat the dungeon boss.
"So, how're things going?" Jonas asked, startling Kim out of her thoughts.
"Just gonna check my status to see if I got a level or not," Kim replied, watching Jonas approach before leaning against the wall.
"Probably did," Jonas remarked. "Given how much trouble we had with that thing."
"So, you don't think so many of us would affect how much EXP we'd get?" Kim asked.
Jonas shook his head. "If it did, then we probably would have gotten fewer levels overall. I mean, like with the kobolds, he got some, but even Elin got some, and she didn't even participate in the fighting. So, I think if you participate in the fighting, which you were the only one who did then, you get more than those who didn't, but they still get some," Jonas answered, but then paused for a moment before continuing. "Of course, that also might be just from who dealt the final blow, but I have no idea how to verify that."
Kim nodded. "Maybe, but I really have no idea who assigned the EXP value for any of the monsters, so I can't say how much anything will give us in particular. I seriously doubt the tutorial will be of any use in figuring that out."
"True, but remember, we can't say we'll have much opportunity when we leave the dungeon to check our status. Who knows what they'll have out of the dungeon, or what the next challenge will be."
"I understand. But, I really would like to check my status, so will you let me?" Kim asked good naturedly. She still couldn't figure out what it was about Jonas that made her trust him so much. Especially since he was the only male she'd encountered in this place that didn't make her guard go up. Especially since he was the first man who she didn't immediately distrust since her days in high school.
However, she pushed those thoughts from her mind. First deal with her status, then I can speculate on questions that have no answers, she told herself.
"Status," she said quietly, wishing she could summon it like she could the tutorial. With just thinking the words.
HP 63/116
Stamina 10/63
Level 9
EXP 2400/4500
Str 31
Dex 19
Vit 25
Con 15
Int 15
Wis 10
Agi 20
Endurance 25
Physical Resistance 15%
Magical Resistance 5%
Skills:
Weapon Proficiency
Bastard Sword IV 342/550
Shield Proficiency
Armor Proficiency
Plate Armor II 225/300
Leather Armor II 225/300
Metal/stone/wood Expertise
Unarmed Combat III 145/300
Abilities:
Shield Bash – 4 stamina 0/100
Charge – 3 stamina/10 feet 0/100
Reversal Cut II – 7 stamina 47/150
Iai Cut -10 stamina 30/100
Combat Dance – 8 stamina 75/75
Stamina Armor
Dodging Strike – 2 stamina/dodge
You have 10 attribute points left to allocate. Where would you like to place them?
Kim sighed. She couldn't remember getting hit directly, but she guessed that some of the trolls attacks still affected her more than she'd realized. So, while she'd managed to fight pretty well, she could tell she still needed more Stamina and HP. So, she selected to put 4 on her Con and 3 on her Vit and Endurance. Brining her HP max to 147 and her Stamina max to 78.
Not as high as she'd like, but it was still more. Although, she wondered if she should put some elsewhere as well. After all, while Int and Wis weren't that important to her, they still might be good for her to build.
She was about to close her status when she notice that the attribute poin message had been replaced.
You can learn a new skill. Would you like to choose or see the options?
Kim sighed. How often did this come up? She looked at the options and was more annoyed that nothing new had been added. She briefly toyed with the idea of letting it go for the moment, but decided against that.
She couldn't help but think there might be use of some of the skills, even though she hadn't chosen them last time. After all, she'd picked Unarmed Disarm the second time it was an option.
Besides, since she hadn't realized she'd been receiving damage, since she hadn't been getting hit directly, she decided to go with Iron Skin. She hoped it didn't change the way it felt when Elin touched her or how Elin perceives how she feels, but since this was more about surviving, she knew she'd need to just deal with it if that was the case.
No time for vanity or any of that when she couldn't be sure that she'd be able to survive if she didn't.