The Pinnacle Warrior

True to his complaints, Benedict shared all of his Skill options with the rest of the party, though there were only two that were really up for contention. The other three were Bronze tier Skills (one Spearmanship, to his own amusement), and of the two Iron tier Skills offered, one was a pure damage Skill that he wasn’t interested in, though the idea of making his voice a physical object formed from his voice interested him.

Regardless of the strange flexibility offered by Vocal Projection, Benedict didn’t choose it over the final option. Overwhelming Presence was an Iron tier Skill that boosted his Magical Potency and Self-Mastery both by 30% while he was using a Skill that required him to actively perform. Basically, it was a constant boost to both attributes, given that he was constantly humming, whistling, or playing his flute to keep Restful Reverberations active.

With that choice made, he shared his Status with the rest of the party.

Status

Name: Benedict

Class: Acidic Bard (Steel)

Total Level: 51

Attributes

Current

Per level growth

Power

142 (+12)

+6

Alacrity

259 (+25)

+12

Fortitude

259 (+35)

+13

Magical Potency

488 (+52) [+146]

+20

Self-Mastery

349 (+18) [+105]

+13

Acumen

287 (+24)

+10

Skill List

Boon of a Gentle Touch

Overwhelming Speech (Steel)

Song of Victory (Steel)

Voice of Liberation (Steel)

Restful Reverberations (Steel)

Overwhelming Presence (Iron)

None

None

Locked

Then, the party was all Steel, and Astrid’s immediate inclination was to go into the Dungeon proper and test themselves against whatever spawned there. Unfortunately, the Verdant Walkers had other plans. By that, it simply was that the party had burned through a whole lot of goodwill in their frantic attempts to evolve to Steel as quickly as possible. Though it chafed at most of the Wanderers to have to slow themselves at all, none disagreed with the fact that they had circumvented much of the agreement they’d made. So, although none of them liked it, they all went along without any real complaints.

Astrid led the rest of the Wanderers towards the nearest Grove Warden, as they all seemed to know what the party would have to do without going anywhere. How the Walkers all managed to stay in contact so easily was beyond her, but she didn’t need to understand what magic or Skill allowed them all to maintain contact despite the distance between each other to ask what the newest assignment would be.

There is a low Steel tier Dungeon branch that needs clearing. Go find it, and the Warden outside of the entrance will have instructions on how many to kill per floor. If there are any difficulties in the culling there, you need only communicate it to the Groves.

As the Warden said it, they shared a mental image of how to reach the specific branch’s entrance. It was a longer trip than expected, and Astrid realized, as she left the mentally communicated journey, that it took them to a part of the country that they’d never been to. Until now, the party hadn’t been allowed to go up into the mountains in the center of the Sanctuary. Instead, they’d skirted north and south around going straight into the heart of the Walkers’ country. They could still see the mountain slowly growing and towering over everything else as a massive monolith.

“Sure thing,” Astrid nodded as she put aside her thoughts about being allowed to approach the mountains. “Is there any particular reason why you’re having us go clear it out instead of some of the other assignments you give us?”

Similar to the beach branch you have delved extensively in, the monsters found within that branch are difficult for us to reach and to kill ourselves. Unlike the beach branch, however, the monsters in this other environment actively attempt to escape with regularity. You are a Steel tier party in our debt who will find it possible to clear out the pests, as you have demonstrated competency with monsters similar to them in the past.

The party didn’t argue with that, grateful that they were getting another assignment that allowed them to stretch their muscles, so to speak. Before they could wander off to do what they were assigned to do, though, the Grove Warden forced each member of the Wanderers to speak directly to them. 

You will not go beyond the image that was presented to you. You will not attempt to explore the mountain. If you are lost, you will remain in place until a messenger from one of the Verdant Walkers on where to go and you  will do so. If you do not follow these commands, you will face permanent consequences, the least of which are to be expelled from the Verdant Sanctuary. If you are unwilling to follow these commands, say so now and your assignment will be changed with no penalty.

“I’m willing to follow your rules,” Astrid said. “Is there anything I need to know about this Dungeon branch or the journey?”

No. Obey our commands.

“Alright,” Astrid replied. Despite knowing how well she and the rest of her party had been treated by the Verdant Walkers, she couldn’t help but chafe at the constant commands. They were being given shelter and protection, hidden from those in Humanity’s lands who might seek vengeance against them. There was Anders’s “Goddess”, whoever that was, as well as those who’d thrown their support behind Caelum before he’d died at their hands, then the Arcanite tiers that Greely had mentioned that were going to be changing things as well. How much had things changed since they’d left Humanity’s lands?

There wasn’t any reason to continue to think about such things. With how far away they were, there wasn’t any way to get an answer right now, only to continue working on getting levels as fast as they could.

After Astrid, the rest of the Wanderers promised to do as the Warden commanded. Then, the promises made, without any further delay, they all set out towards the Dungeon branch where they would first delve as a complete Steel party. Even with that in mind, Astrid couldn’t hide a hint of her displeasure. After all, she’d hoped to be in the Dungeon proper, plumbing depths she’d never seen before.

“Let’s not forget,” Skandr said as Astrid grumbled under her breath, “that I’m the person who took the most direct upgrade to their Class out of the five of us. My Skills are mostly the same in function as what I had before, and even I need time to get used to what they are now. I can’t imagine how much of a change it is for the rest of you, and recklessly, throwing ourselves into the Dungeon proper when we barely know how to use our new Skills seems like a recipe for disaster.”

“Just because you’re right,” Astrid said, “doesn’t mean I want to hear it. Let me be grumpy and childish for just a few minutes, please? I just don’t want to do the chores when I would really like to go play with my friends.”

Skandr grinned and stepped closer, wrapping his arm around her waist as he patted her back. “I know, you need to eat your vegetables and nobody wants to. But if you want to grow up big and strong like me, you’ll need to eat all your meals, okay?”

Astrid threw her head back and laughed, throwing her arm over Skandr’s shoulder as she happily let the laugh thunder through  her. Benedict jumped in with more teases, as the three of them continued making jokes about being children who needed to do the not fun part before they got to the exciting dessert of entering the Dungeon proper. All the while, Muti narrowed her eyes and asked Felix a couple quiet questions.

While they continued their walking and laughing, the party was trooping farther into the center of the Sanctuary than ever before, following a path that wound up the mountain that was the center of the country. What seemed to be somewhat of a secret was that the central part of the Sanctuary was a singular, massive mountain, stretching up higher than the clouds that constantly wreathed it. 

Fortunately, this assignment from the Verdant Walkers seemed almost to be a training mission more than anything else. With the Wanderers’ track record of success in a Steel tier Dungeon branch with monsters ranging up to nearly level 60, Astrid was hopeful for the experience growth and experience in general to be had here. She now had 300,000 experience to gain for the next level, and each day she would progress towards it.

Now that they were all finished evolving to Steel and the conversation died, Astrid found her mind wandering. With how much harder this evolution was than the one to Iron, she could more and more appreciate why at the highest tiers, people might hesitate to take the highest rarity Class evolution option presented. Looking at the change from Iron to Steel, there was an additional step required and everything was much longer and harder to complete. If there was an additional step for the quest for each tier of evolution, to evolve to Arcanite would be a five step process, and might involve killing tens of thousands of monsters, confronting thousands of Bosses all by herself, and who knew what other kinds of things.

Before she could lose herself in thinking too much, the conversation among the rest of the party picked back up and Astrid started paying attention to them.

“Why do you think they don’t want us to go any further into their territory?” Benedict asked as they continued on their jogging path forward. He was continuing to perfect his ability to somehow speak while also blowing into the flute and channeling Hasty Rebuke, or Voice of Liberation, as it was now. Its effect was different, not only making Astrid‘s steps faster and surer but also making her feel more positive.

“I’d imagine that it’s a secret,” Skandr replied with a shrug. A favorable wind carried his every step forward, and he almost floated along the path ahead of Astrid, who brought up the back.

“I guess,” Benedict grumbled, the notes he played on his flute becoming somehow unhappy.

“Before we get there, I have a question,” Astrid called from the back. “Benedict, how much have Song of Victory and Voice of Liberation changed from Song of Vindication and Hasty Rebuke?”

“At their base,” he said, “not much. The actual verbiage is largely unchanged, except for some additions at the end. However, they both have a broader scope now.”

“You’ll have to give me more information than that,” Astrid replied. “I can’t remember what the actual Skill descriptions for either of them were, only that one healed us and hurt the enemies while the other made us faster and made the enemies slower.”

Benedict shared his current Skill descriptions with a wave of his hand.

Song of Victory (Steel): For a moderate cost of mana for five minutes, create an aura in an area of fifty meters around the Skill’s holder. Within those fifty meters, those designated as allies will be granted an increase to their recovery rate, and those designated as foes will be damaged by psychic magic. The baseline for recovery is an increase of the natural health recovery rate by 500%. The greater the damage inflicted on enemies within range, the lesser the rate of increased recovery. The Song of Victory inspires those who hear it to overcome insurmountable odds.

Voice of Liberation (Steel): For a moderate cost of mana for five minutes, create an aura in an area of fifty meters around the Skill’s holder. Within those fifty meters, those designated as allies will be granted an increase to their Alacrity, and those designated as foes will be cursed with a reduction to their Alacrity. The baseline for the boost and curse to Alacrity is 50%. The greater the focus on one, the lesser the impact on the other. The Voice of Liberation grants a willingness to confront injustice without fear in those that hear it.

“The body of the Skill descriptions are basically the same,” Benedict said once everybody had finished reading. “The percentages are higher, but there’s no real difference otherwise. It’s the parts at the end that are probably the reason why you asked. Do you feel much of a difference when I’m using Voice of Liberation now?”

“Yeah,” Skandr jumped in with a chuckle. “Makes me want to start jumping around and helping people a little bit.”

The rest of the Wanderers made sounds in agreement, and Benedict looked like he’d eaten something sour. There wasn’t any real space for further conversation as they approached the area they’d been told to approach. Muti, as always, was the best navigator among the party, so she slowed and gestured for the party to approach the Dungeon branch entrance. The pearlescent gate was just like every other that they saw, but now that they weren’t all talking and joking back and forth, Astrid took note of the forest. More than that, of the ground, they were walking on.

She had seen mountains before, and though trees frequently grew on them, as the mountains got steeper, the trees grew less densely, but that wasn’t the case here. The trees formed nearly impenetrable sheets apart from the mountain path they followed. Everywhere else, their branches intertwined and made it nearly impossible to tell where one tree ended and the next began. Instead of rocky soil underfoot, it was soft, springy, and covered with omnipresent leafy vines that Astrid could feel a faint mana emanating from.

She tore her attention away from the surroundings and instead looked at the doorway into the Dungeon branch, which had an unusual two Groves stationed there. She wasn’t quite sure how she could tell that there were two, not one electing to sprout in two locations, but she didn’t question it. After as much exposure as she’d had so far to the treelike people, she couldn’t use her usual evaluation. Instead, she stepped forward and bowed as she waited for them to speak to her.

Thank you for coming to assist us in clearing out the wyvern’s nest. The monsters found here will range from level 53 to 60, though the Boss is past the first watershed and is typically level 61 to 63. Per your assignment, you will not be required to clear the Boss. However, on each of the nine floors preceding the Boss fight on the tenth floor, you must clear at least 10 wyverns per floor.

Astrid blinked slowly, thinking of the single encounter that the party had had with a wyvern. That floor, the thirty-fifth of the Trials, Felix had just barely survived getting cornered by the feathered serpents, and they were all angry. The fight had been a tough one, and so far as Astrid knew, the wyvern they fought there had been an utterly ordinary one. After all, it wasn’t one of the Bosses on the round 10 floors, just a floor guardian. 

“Very well, thank you,” Astrid acknowledged to the assignment without talking about what crossed her mind. “And what kind of monster is the Boss?”

As I said, you do not need to fight it. It is a true wind dragon.

Astrid’s mouth hung open at that. Steel was the absolute lowest tier a true dragon could ever be found in, and having a dragon serve as a Boss, even if it was the weakest kind, meant that it would be a difficult, dangerous fight. The boost to its attributes alone would make it a dangerous foe.

“Thank you for the information,” Astrid nodded. Then, without saying anything else, she turned to her party. Going off of the various looks on their faces, they’d obviously heard what she had, with Muti looking so excited that she may very well spontaneously combust.

“There’s no chance we don’t at least give it a try, is there?” Astrid said with a wide grin.

“I don’t know why you asked,” Skandr joined her. “Sounds like a perfect opportunity for me to try out my so-called Storm Companionship against a dragon, whose home is found in the clouds. And a wind dragon? A perfect opportunity to prove myself.”

Muti didn’t even try to speak, instead gesturing for Astrid to come close and sit in front of her. Astrid laughed as she settled in position for what she knew was coming. Muti’s fingers danced through Astrid’s hair as she tied a perfect warbraid in Astrid’s hair as fast as she could manage. Almost before Astrid could react, her hair was fully braided, and Muti’s blood was drying in her hair. Then, the Barbarian pushed her away and gestured for Felix to come sit in front of her as well. His braid was finished just as quickly, and Muti sat before Astrid while barely holding still. Astrid’s fingers were long since used to the process of doing up the complicated braids and, with her Alacrity effectively being nearly 450 while wearing armor and without her hammer weighing her down, the braids were done in a few short seconds. 

In fact, with what her attributes were like now, the hardest part of doing Muti’s warbraids was actually cutting herself enough to get the blood to complete it. After all, her natural recovery rate was so fast that regular cuts would scab over immediately and become nothing in a few short minutes. Her Fortitude of 539 was then strengthened by Physique, which increased her natural recovery rate by another 150%, which was then boosted by Indomitability by another 50%. Initially, she’d thought that it would mean her recovery would be increased by 200%, but with some experimentation back when it was Body increasing her passive recovery rate by 75%, she’d become pretty sure that the increase of 50% applied to her recovery rate, whatever that was. At that point, it was about a 260% recovery rate of someone with her Fortitude. Now, with Physique, her recovery rate was about 375% of what someone with her attributes regularly would have had. 

In short, her Fortitude made it very hard to break her skin, and when it did, it healed itself so fast that there wasn’t ever enough blood to actually finish the braid. Fortunately, she could heal fast and had become disturbingly ready to cut herself for this ritual, as she’d repeated it basically every day for well over two years. 

“Now we go dragon hunting!” Muti shouted as soon as Astrid’s blood covered the end of her braid. Her armor appeared on her, and she happily rushed forward.

“Hold on,” Astrid grunted as she caught her friend, though she felt nearly as excited herself. “First, we need to kill some wyverns.”

“Like dragons. A good warmup,” Muti said, unworried. “Now, we go!”

As the Lethal Shadow nearly disappeared ahead, the rest of the party glanced among themselves and, with excited smiles exchanged, followed after.