NOVEL NEXT Chapter 257: EPIC Perk and More!
[Skill Points: 30 Available!]
[Skills:] Spatial Inventory; Class Wheel; Perception; Domination lv25; Focus lv25; Aura Smash lv10; Clone Frenzy lv15; Invincible Dodge lv10; Double Assault lv10; Crimson Spears lv5; Heaven's Wrath lv5; Alchemist lv5; Potion Crafting lv5; Target Manipulation lv1; Dodge Control lv5; Crimson Ball Transmission lv1; EGO lv5; Crimson Purification lv15; Wielding Cross lv1; Crimson Healing lv1; The Void.
…
Removing [Domination], [Focus] and [The Void] since they couldn't be upgraded, Stark had 15 other skills he could potentially upgrade.
But… to be honest… Stark already had an idea of which skills he wanted to upgrade, and there were three of them.
Without hesitation, Stark clicked on the three skills and assigned 10 skill points to each of them.
[You have upgraded 'Crimson Purification' to level 25 (Silver-Tier Max)!]
[You have upgraded 'Clone Frenzy' to level 25 (Silver-Tier Max)!]
[You have upgraded 'Wielding Cross' to level 10!]
His reasoning was simple, and it could be answered by two points: extremely useful and… [Devil's Abyss].
[Crimson Purification], [Wielding Cross] and [Clone Frenzy] were legitimate life savers, and Stark couldn't deny that they quickly became some of his favorite skills, enough to make him forget about some of the others when he was using them.
They were just THIS good.
But of course, it was also because Stark honestly feared the [Devil's Abyss] rift, he always had that bad feeling when thinking about it, and he wouldn't let himself be killed because he underestimated it.
After all he still had no information about it, not even a difficulty rating, the only thing he knew was that it would be really hard, and that there were THREE apostles in there.
In the end though, Stark just moved as he really wanted to know what kind of perks he would be getting from his new upgrades!
And so…
[You now have a choice, Host.]
Before him appeared the same panel that did when he upgraded [Crimson Purification], when he got the legendary perk that helped him.
[Since you used 10 stat points on 'Wielding Cross', you can choose to either: get two normal perks, or get an EPIC one!]
[So, which do you choose?]
And below it appeared two panels.
[Two normal perks] or [One EPIC Perk]
He didn't have the choice for the two others since once you reach level 20 for a skill, then it now takes 10 stats point per new perk, making it much harder to get them since he needed to break through to gold tier to upgrade his skill level limit.
But now that Stark knew just how much better merging perks was, he knew that doing so was the best solution of all, especially after witnessing something as good as [Holy Concentration], which was his first legendary perk ever for merging three of them.
~CLICK~
He clicked on the epic perk option.
[Good Choice!]
And so the panels appeared before him.
…
[Skill: Crimson Purification lv25 (Silver-Tier Max)!]
[New Perk: Protection Burst]
[Description: Upon activating this perk, a powerful aura of holy energy envelops the user, shielding him from the attacks of undead creatures for a brief 10-second window. During this time, any undead assaults against him are reduced by a staggering 95% in damage.]
[Note: this can useful is you are sure to get hit by some attacks, yet don't want to take the risk of dying!]
…
Pretty damn good perk, and Stark already pictured how useful it could be against an undead boss or in the [Devil's Abyss] rift, but he quickly moved to the next skill.
…
[Skill: Clone Frenzy lv25 (Silver-Tier Max)!]
[New Perk: Clone Sacrifice]
[Description: This perk works in two ways when using a Superior Clone. First, if you are about to be hit by an attack that could potentially one-shot you, you can activate this perk and the clone will instantly teleport to take the hit in your place, shielding you from harm.
The second way to use this perk is to sacrifice the clone itself. You can send the clone rushing towards an enemy and overcharge it with aura, causing it to explode and deal massive damage to the target. This allows you to use the clone as a living bomb in dire situations.]
[Note: it ONLY works with the Superior Clone!]
…
This perk was amazing as well.
Stark remembered that his clones could actually do that at some point in time as they tried to use [Aura Smash]'s new merge perk, which was too overwhelming for them, so they ended up exploding, he had used that against the [Corrupted Ghoul].
But now that he and his clones has mastered it, and his aura increased, he hadn't been able to do that anymore.
And yet… here it was, back in business, although it was sad that he could only sacrifice the [Superior Clone], but that would indeed mean that the attack would be devastating, right?
Plus, he could also use his clone as if he was using [Purgatory Shadows]!
But suddenly, right as Stark remembered that…
'Huh…? Purgatory Shadows?' he mumbled to himself as his eyes widened.
And that's when he realized something: purgatory shadow has actually not activated during the entirety of this rift, even though he had been hit many times.
Stark looked down and…
'Oh come on…'
Not only was the [Purgatory Shadow] ring broken, since the pulsating black shard in the middle was cracked, but his other ring, the [Crystalheart Band], which granted him a shield that absorbs 10% of damage was also destroyed.
Which meant that literally ALL of his equipment was destroyed except for the [Sculk Necklace], which was useless against Reaper.
"Sigh…" Stark took the two rings off his fingers and threw them away out of frustration.
Then he quickly returned to the main focus: checking out everything he needed to check.
…
[Skill: Wielding Cross lv10]
[New Perk: Crushing Gravity (EPIC)]
[Description: By grasping the handle of the Crimson Cross, the user can hurl it high into the air, throwing it very high, and when it reaches its apex, the perk can be activated to make it fall back toward the enemy like a meteor.
It is EXTREMELY difficult to aim and hit with it, so it only takes one of the three strikes you have available, plus you lose the cross for the moment it is in the air, so watch out!
Though, if it does hit, then the damage will be phenomenal, and the area around the enemy that is hit will explode with aura as well!]
…
"Heh… worth it," Stark smiled, it was indeed worth the 'EPIC' title if the damage it did when hitting was just as good as the energy ball from [Holy Concentration].
The perks Stark had gotten were pretty damn good this time, and he hadn't been this proud of his choice for a long time now, maybe the calm really did help, huh…
In the end, it didn't matter, though.
"…" Stark looked at his clone, and it actually seemed upset, "Clone Sacrifice…?" he said out of nowhere, and the superior clone immediately began to look everywhere, ready to use the perk to defend the original.
"Pffftt~" Stark couldn't help but let out a small chuckle as it is probably that new perk that made the clone panic, but oh well, "Alright, two more."
He still needed to check out the three pieces of equipment in front of him, and finally… the [ApostleDex], since he had effectively killed 6 apostles now.
He wanted to leave the best for last though, so he began to crouch down to check out what he got from the two giant apostle monsters.