Chapter 83. The Curse of Excellence

He also reached Level 19 in the process, with his experience at 122/3,900.

His Attribute Page changed slightly, with his Life points finally reaching the 300 points mark.

[ Attack Power: 373

 Armor: 841

 Life: 300

--------------

Strength: 76

Intelligence: 81

Willpower: 78

Dexterity: 95 ]

The fight with Corik left a bad taste in his mouth, but it was quickly washed away by the orange item box quietly lying on the floor.

He knew the colors from what the blacksmith explained when he arrived in Kyovashad with Lorath. Grey is for common items, and blue is for magic. Yellow is for rare items, and finally... 

"Orange for Legendary items. Damn! I actually got one!?"

[ Side Quest update - Cries of Innocence

Objective: Speak with Vendral Trost. ]

Seeing the update, Michael threw it to the back of his mind and advanced further into the Dungeon.

The Quest was updated, but the Dungeon one wasn't.

It didn't take long for the Necromancer to notice a chained-down door, impossible to be opened by force. Remembering the Quest details about how he needed to find two gate winches, he started looking around.

It was pretty easy to locate those two objectives, but it was a major pain in the ass to keep clearing the monsters popping up in each new room or corridor. 

Fortunately, half an hour later, he was back in front of the locked gate, watching the huge chains previously blocking his entrance, now lying on the ground at his feet.

Taking a deep breath - but regretting it instantly due to the metallic and putrid taste in the air - Michael pushed the door open and moved forward with his Minions.

[ Dungeon Quest update - Black Asylum

Objective: Slay all enemies in the Haunted Cellblock (0/137). ]

With the corners of his mouth twitching, he cursed silently and ordered his Skeletons to explore the area.

As soon as the new MAP unlocked, showing the Haunted Cellblock of the Black Asylum, he could track the enemies, as they were represented by red dots.

Then, a new period of endless slaughter began, with the poor lad walking from room to room to hunt phantoms and skeletons everywhere in the four directions.

Furthermore, he would be greeted by an Elite from time to time.

Since he changed to his scythe and shield, Michael also decided to train a bit, going as far as fighting a couple of Elites by himself.

In the end, when he was overwhelmed, he would have his minions step in and clear the trouble.

Two hours later, Michael stood in front of the entrance to the Black Asylum with a strange look on his face.

"As it turns out, there are no Bosses in this Dungeon. Only lots of normal monsters and Elites. After cleaning up the Haunted Cellblock, the Dungeon Quest ended... That... was a bit anticlimatic."

Upon clearing the last Elite hidden at the ends of the Dungeon, Michael received his reward in the form of a new Aspect being recorded in his yet-to-be-opened book.

[ Aspect of Torment 

-------------------

Critical Strikes with Bone Skills increase your Essence Regeneration by X [90 - 170%] for 4 seconds. ]

As for using this Aspect... he only had two Bone skills, which were Bone Splinters and Bone Prison.

The prison was a crowd-control skill with no damage to crit, while for the splinters...

"I honestly don't remember ever hitting a crit with that skill. Is it not possible, or was I just unlucky? After all, my crit chance should be low."

Shaking his head and exploring his gains, Michael grinned happily.

"Already at 2132/3900 for experience, and my currency increased by 5263. I finally reached 40,055 gold coins! Not bad, not bad. However, the greatest haul of them all is in the form of item boxes!"

His inventory wasn't full, but it was getting there. And there were only blue item boxes or higher in rarity!

Grinning from ear to ear, Michael counted and saw a total of 16 Magiclue item boxes and a very pretty Legendary one.

He hesitated about opening it by himself, as he wanted to share the joy with Helen, but in the end decided to do so anyway.

"It can't be helped. I can't take any chances since I'm headed for the Sealed Door. Come, come, come! Give daddy a nice present!"

A bright orange glow illuminated the Black Asylum ruins, overpowering the light of the Sun. Michael opened his inventory excitedly and saw his first glorious Legendary item.

"Holly shit! It's a helm?" 

Whatever complaints he might have had instantly vanished upon seeing the appearance of the helm.

It was literally a bronze skull with a crown that could cover his full face and neck. The child within him was already yelling to put it on, which he did without hesitation.

"Hehe! My vision isn't impaired at all. And now, even if I take an attack to the head, I will have sufficient protection! AHAHAHAHA!" 

Leaving his excited emotions aside, Michael was through the moon when he saw the item's description.

[ Boneweave Helm of the Embalmer

Legendary Helm

238 Item Power

--------------------

298 Armor

* +14 Strength

* +4.0% Crowd Control Duration

* +11.5% Fire Resistance

* 1.7% Cooldown Reduction

Special Effect: Consuming a Corpse has a 22% chance to spawn a Blood Orb (Necromancer Only). ]

"Powerful! Too powerful!!!!!" 

Laughing maniacally, Michael strode confidently toward the zone marked on the MAP as the area for the Sealed Door Quest.

His first Legendary item was terrific! By swapping it with his old item, not only did he not lose any attributes, but he also gained 39 Armor and all those other excellent benefits.

"And that Special Effect... Isn't my current build targeted explicitly at using Corpses!? You mean to tell me that not only would I have plenty of Corpses to blow up, but I'll also have a way to replenish my Health Potions!? Is there anyone more awesome than me?" 

Traveling North and killing about 20 or so Phantoms and Skeletons on his way, Michael gained an extra 220 experience points and 393 gold coins.

Just as he got into the Quest area, he noticed a strange see-through ghost of a middle-aged man staying alone in the field.

The system didn't highlight it as hostile, so he approached it cautiously. 

"Excuse me, Sir..."

[ World Event joined - Ravenous Soul

Objective: Speak with the Ravenous Soul. ]

In an instant, Michael's face collapsed.

'This son of a... I try to be polite and help you, but you're trying to entrap me with a bullshit Event!? Where's the trust in the world!?'

[Please! They've been feeding on me! My soul... please, take it back from them. Let it end!](Ravenous Soul)

And, of course, the Necromancer wasn't given any chance to react, as over fifty Wratful Phantoms wielding bows and swords began attacking him.

With arrows coming from all directions, Michael endured about five hits and lost around 100 Life points. Overall, he was plentily satisfied with his total Armor reaching 880.

He managed to block even more arrows with his Storm Resolve and used the Skeletal Mages as meatshields to ensure he got enough time.

Then, through the use of Corpse Tendrils, cleaned up the field by pulling the ghosts in the middle and blowing them up with Corpse Explosion.

As for why the tendrils could grab ghosts, he had long stopped thinking about it. After all, these bastards were carrying weapons and could attack physically.

It would be too unreasonable if they were immune. 

"Finally done. Listen here, Sir! You don't..."

[Such power! Hahahahaha!](Ravenous Soul)

"???"

Just as Michael was about to scold the ghost, it suddenly went crazy and started acting as a villain. 

Moments later, it morphed into a four-meter-tall Wraith.

[ Emelote Rimeclaw (Elite) - Level 24

*Frozen: Creates ice shards on the field that explode and freeze everything around them in a three-meter radius. ]

Luckily, after hearing the typical villainous laughter, Michael ordered his Reapers to encircle the target.

Then, after a minute of peppering it with many attacks, the Elite vanished with a piercing wail, leaving Michael speechless.

In its place, a large chest appeared and a system notification.

[ World Event complete - Ravenous Soul

Reward 1: 450 experience points

Reward 2: 150 gold coins. ]

"Huh!? That's it? The fuck!? I got double this when I dealt with the Ancient Syphon..." 

Questioning his own life, Michael kicked the chest to relieve his anger, opening it in the process.

The strange stone representing Murmuring Obols popped up, and he gained 18 pieces. To his surprise, the other items were two gold item boxes, 2 Biteberries, and 16 different gems spread around on the floor.

In total, he gained 9 Emerald and 7 Saphire Fragments but decided to inspect them when he got home. There was nowhere he could use them anyway.

Looking around, he saw a strangely glowing chest in the distance, further enhancing his already good mood.

However, he wasn't lucky this time around.

[ Silent Chest

----------------

You need a Whispering Key to open this locked chest. ]

A strange look appeared on the Necromancer's face, puzzled mainly by the chest's appearance. It was a typical wood and iron chest with a sun symbol on top of the lid.

Furthermore, two chains coming from underground locked it in place, with the keylock in the middle looking more like the Eye of Sauron than an actual lock.

Hacking at it a couple of times through his Reapers and throwing a couple of Blight balls at it, he obtained no notable results.

"Meh! Can't win them all, I guess. Let's wrap this bullshit door of doom as well and go back to my pretty tigress. *Sigh* I said I'll take things slowly and clear more Dungeons first, but I am already halfway through Level 19. I only have my genius to blame!" 

After inspecting the area for another fifteen minutes, there was no door to be found.

Quite annoyed, Michael headed to the most northern point of the marked Quest area. There, something finally happened.

[ Discovered new area - Hoary Gate

Reward: +5 Fractured Peaks renown. ]

Usually, he ignored these notifications, as they popped up VERY often. Almost every corner of the MAP was unexplored territory, so he would get them every couple of kilometers walked.

However, leaving aside the dreary name of the region showing that he got to the right place, there was one more achievement to be counted.

[Region Progress achieved!]

[Tier 2 Renown - Completion 500/500

Reward: 300 Gold Coins

Reward: 1250 experience

Reward: +1 Skill Potion Capacity

Prompt: Claim Now ]

Michael hit the 'Claim' button without hesitation and instantly leveled up to 20.

The strange feeling related to his Skeleton minions appeared again, and the eight of them instantly vanished, leaving their summoner alone in the cold wilderness.

"Huh!? This..." 

Seconds later, a strange feeling permeated his body. A connection to a different plane appeared to have been created between his soul and eight Skeletons.

Information poured into his brain, explaining in a few words what happened.

"I'll have permanent summons from now on? Eh... so, eight soul shards were enshrined in this strange world they're in, and I can now keep the Skeletons summoned indefinitely as long as they don't die? Also, the eight of them will be the same beings from now on, and not new souls replacing the old ones that died?" 

What was even weirder was the reason for this sudden change. 

"It's because I named them? Fuck you mean? Those are nicknames... Eh... I guess they can be counted as names? Ugh... Still, it's a good thing, nevertheless."

Using Raise Skeletons randomly, the four Reapers and the three Skeletal Mages appeared. Taking this chance, Michael also modified the Mages into Cold Mages.

"Now, I have even more crowd control."

[ Cold Mages - Spirits that chill, then freeze targets.

*Perk 1 - Gain +2 essence when Cold Mages deal damage with their normal attack.

*Perk 2 - Enemies frozen or damaged while frozen by your Cold Mages become vulnerable for three seconds.

*Sacrifice - +15% damage against vulnerable enemies; unable to summon all types of Skeletal Mages. ]

Obviously, he picked the second perk. Now, his beloved three Accountants could attack and freeze their targets, automatically adding an additional 3 seconds of Vulnerable status inflicted upon the enemies.

Coupled with the Vulnerable status Corpse Tendrils adds after the stun, it would become a full six seconds in which the enemies are weakened. 

There were gains all over the board!

[ Side Quest update - Sealed Door

Objective 1: Slay the monsters around the Sealed Door.

Objective 2: Slay the Kharza attempting to breach the Sealed Door. ]

Michael did a double take, seeing the second objective.

"Fuck! Something is already preparing to get out!?"