[Skill gained: Fireball]
[Source: Ember Rift-Sprite defeated]
[Tier: 1, Proficiency: 0%]
[Skill gained: Stone Bullet]
[Source: Stone Rift-Sprite defeated]
[Tier: 1, Proficiency: 0%]
[Skill gained: Aqua Pistol]
[Source: Aqua Rift-Sprite defeated]
[Tier: 1, Proficiency: 0%]
[Skill gained: Wind Blade]
[Source: Wind Rift-Sprite defeated]
[Tier: 1, Proficiency: 0%]
Reidar stared at the notifications in disbelief. Four skills. Four magical abilities that he could now use. The 0.5% chance had triggered four times out of thousands of kills, or maybe it did it more, but he only got the same skill over and over.
Regardless, these would be four skills that would help him get rid of whatever appeared on his path.
But that wasn't all the notifications he got.
[You have enough C.L.A.S.P. Points to level up.]
[C.L.A.S.P. Points used.]
[LEVEL UP! You have reached Level 2.]
[You have gained 0.5 attribute points to distribute.]
…
…
…
[LEVEL UP! You have reached Level 5.]
[You have gained 0.5 attribute points to distribute.]
[3 Perk Points Gained.]
[Level 5 reached. New system functions unlocked: Party Function.]
…
…
…
[LEVEL UP! You have reached Level 9.]
[You have gained 0.5 attribute points to distribute.]
[LEVEL UP! You have reached Level 10.]
[You have gained 0.5 attribute points to distribute.]
[3 Perk Points Gained.]
[Level 10 reached. New system functions unlocked: Map.]
[LEVEL UP! You have reached Level 11.]
[You have gained 0.5 attribute points to distribute.]
The fire continued to burn where the gas station once stood. Secondary explosions echoed across the forest as remaining fuel pockets ignited. The smell of smoke and burned flesh filled the air.
Sprite corpses littered the forest floor. Most had been killed instantly in the explosion. Others had burned alive, but a few survivors limped away from the devastation and were still roaming around, whimpering in pain.
The Ember sprites looked like the ones in the best condition, but even they got killed by the explosion. It was simply too strong.
Reidar's himself felt different. Stronger. The constant flow of C.L.A.S.P. points had pushed him well past his next level threshold. The system would process his advancement once the immediate notifications finished.
The quest completion notification appeared with golden borders.
[QUEST COMPLETE: The Highway Massacre]
[Creatures eliminated: 1,847]
[Performance Rating: Exceptional]
[C.L.A.S.P. Points reward: Unsuitable.]
[Survival Points reward: Unsuitable.]
[Recalculating Reward.]
[Reward Selected]
[Unlocked Title: "The Exterminator"]
[The Exterminator: Increases the damage dealt by area-of-effect skills by 10%.]
Reidar leaned against the oak tree and tried to process what had happened. In a single explosion, he had eliminated nearly two thousand creatures. His achievements had stacked and replaced each other, giving him significant combat bonuses through new titles. Albeit he thought that getting the C.L.A.S.P. points would have been better than getting the title, although it would be usable as long as he wanted, and the increase was even good. Most importantly, he now had four skills.
The Summon Rift-Sprite Squad skill. Apparently, it allowed him to summon 5 Rift-Sprites at his level, and he could choose the type of Rift-Sprites to summon.
Then his thoughts went to his trait: Skill sharing. Reidar quickly went to the help page and checked the trait's details.
—[« Skill Sharing »]—
Origin: [Innate]
Type: Active
Duration: 30 minutes per skill per target.
[Mana Mechanism ]
Upkeep: 10 Mana per target per shared skill.
[ Description ]
Allows the bearer to share learned skills with willing allies and, under specific conditions, with enemies. While active, you can lend an ally a skill he or she can use as if it were their own, with its effectiveness determined by their own Mana. You pay a set amount of mana for each skill shared with each target.
Effects:
Can temporarily grant known skills to allies. Proficiency will start at 0%. If the borrower reaches 100% proficiency, the skill can be learned permanently.
The caster can share skills at his or her same proficiency, but there is no chance of getting the skill permanently in this case.
Shared skills use the borrower's mana pool.
Limitations:
The bearer must have learned the skill before sharing it and have reached at least 50% proficiency in it.
Recipients must be willing to receive shared skills.
Sharing skills consumes mana per target and per skill.
—[« END »]—
Though he could give the temporary skill and proficiency. Of course, that was if the trait worked on these… summoned creatures. There was a chance it didn't, but he could only find out once he got to 50% proficiency.
Regardless, the main point in all of this was that he could now use those things to fight, and they would be at his level.
He ran the numbers through his head. The initial cost to summon his squad of five Rift-Sprites was a flat one hundred mana—twenty per creature. The amount was significant, yet manageable for a thirty-minute summon duration. That alone was a game-changer.
But the Skill Sharing trait was where the real complexity lay. It had a variable mana need depending on how many skills he shared and on how many targets he had.
If he wanted to give all five of his summons the Fireball skill, it would cost him fifty mana. To share all his skills, he would need to spend 1000 mana points.
The thought was staggering. His current mana pool could not sustain that.
He re-read the trait's limitations. He needed at least 50% proficiency in a skill before he could share it. All four of his new spells were at a flat zero. For now, skill sharing was just an alluring hope on the horizon. His summons would have to rely on their own abilities for the time being.
However, he sure was going to bring the proficiencies up, and he had many targets on which to practice. Besides, he had Attribute points to spend.
Reidar looked at the ground. The surrounding forest was silent except for the crackling of distant flames. The sprite swarm was gone from the area, but not completely. Scattered survivors were trying to get back up, but their numbers were small compared to the thousands that died.
He didn't even need to give the skills to the Rift-Sprites. He was going to summon them, that was sure, but he was going to just make them fight as they were.