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[Skill-Eater] Chapter 80: Gear
🕑 Added 2024-08-14 17:01:00 +0000 UTCEdge nodded in satisfaction, pleased at what he saw. He finally looked like a hunter instead of someone who had survived the aftermath of a disaster. Each of his new items was well-made and was vastly superior to what he’d been wearing before.
The poncho was crafted from buffalo leather. Although no one was crazy enough to fuck with the herd, one of the calves or elderly members died from time to time. A renewable source of mid-grade materials that the town depended on.
The hat was tightly woven and wide-brimmed, perfect for keeping the sun and rain off his face. It had a drawstring that hung below his chin, so that it wouldn’t get carried away in the stiff breeze that blew across the prairie. Edge would be far more comfortable outside than he’d been before, especially once he applied the waterproofing.
The pack was some sort of plastic-rubber composite. The material was waterproof and resistant to scratches and punctures, although not so great against acid or flame. It had a separate compartment that could be removed for easy cleaning, designed to hold messy monster parts without fouling the rest of the gear inside.
His new belt was fashioned from a deep green snakeskin. It featured several loops and smaller pockets in front, and a pair of big pouches on the sides. The waterproofing was an ointment that came in a jar, with a set of instructions taped to the lid. He slid it into his belt pouch for now, planning to apply it soon.
Last on the list, the stink bomb was an oblong silver object the size of a fat Earth grape. It had a little tab on top that twisted off. After that, you just needed to throw it at your target and try not to be anywhere near where it landed. When it burst, the bomb would release a strongly-scented fluid that would reek for a few hours before dissipating.
Satisfied with his haul, Edge bid farewell to Bee and headed back to the Pioneer, although he still had one more goal to cross off his list before he was ready to call it a day.
When he stopped by his room and opened his menus, he saw a message that he’d been waiting for all afternoon. The moment that he acknowledged the prompt, he was drawn inside his core.
A rare skill has finished digesting.
You have digested (shadow step, rank one).
You already have this skill in your collection. Its power will be added to your existing skill.
Information regarding rare skills wasn’t widely available. But one thing that was commonly known was the rarer the skill, the more experience it took to rank-up. Most people were able to accomplish this by training intensively with the skill in question, with even more experience gained when using it in battle.
But since Edge could only [Extract] and absorb, the only way that he could rank-up a rare skill quickly was to eat a duplicate. Absorbing random commons and uncommons to get the same results would have taken far longer. It would be better if he used them to rank-up his other skills instead.
That was the reason why he had been willing to pay the mortium to [Extract] shadow step a second time. Although he wasn’t sure that Skill-Eater would have given him a choice if he’d tried to refuse. The compulsive need to devour came over him when his core caught the scent of choice prey was almost impossible to resist.
While these thoughts passed through Edge’s head, the newly claimed skill flowed over to his existing one. The flocks of shadowy moths met and began to merge, just like what had happened with entangle.
The original skill he’d eaten must have been close to rank-two, since it had come with some experience. Adding the new one was enough to let it advance. Or maybe the exchange rate is better, since I must spend mortium for every rare I steal.
When the melding was complete, a new update appeared in front of his face.
The skill (shadow step) has advanced to rank 2.
Its mana efficiency has been enhanced.
Please choose between one of the following options:
1. You gain resistance to skills that can harm ethereal creatures while in shadow form.
2. You can detect living creatures more easily in shadow form.
3. The additional cost of transforming your gear will be greatly diminished.
Warning: if no option is selected, your skill will remain as it is and gain a slight bonus to mana efficiency.
Edge had been hoping to get an option that would let him attack solid opponents while he was in shadow form. But he had already known that it wasn’t going to happen. At least not at rank-two.
Every even rank offered an opportunity to change the properties of a skill in one manner or another, in addition to boosting its overall efficiency. The odd numbered ranks granted other benefits, such as the ability to fine tune the amount of mana used that came with rank-three.
Rank-two allowed for relatively minor alterations, but they were still vitally important. The first few upgrades chosen could take the same skill in wildly different directions.
When you received your rank-two upgrade, you weren’t just choosing what you wanted the skill to do right now. You were also shaping the trajectory of its future development. Ideally, each choice was made with the rest of your skills in mind, creating powerful, synergistic skillsets over time. For example, Edge had chosen a path of maximum restraint when he had taken entangle to rank-two, as opposed to agile movement or dealing damage.
Although all three options sounded useful, he eventually decided on the third. The first two were rather situational, but the third would always come in handy.
He would be obtaining more gear over the coming weeks, including a set of armor and his new weapon. He suspected that using shadow step with everything equipped would become prohibitively expense without the upgrade he’d chosen. Edge wanted his transformation to be as useful as possible in battle, starting by cutting down the cost. He wouldn’t have time to strip in the middle of a fight, let alone an ambush.
After confirming his intentions, the skill began to change. The shadowy moths came together to become a shadow man. It had a heavy backpack and knife in its hand. Like several of his other skills, shadow step had changed to look more like himself. It was a curious occurrence, but nothing that he needed to worry about now.
Edge nodded in satisfaction as he snapped back into his body. Combined with the boost to its efficiency, he should be able to use shadow step a lot more often, increasing the combat utility of his most powerful skill.
While he waited for the shops to close and everyone to head home for the day, he went ahead and applied the waterproofing ointment to his gear. It had a sharp, piney scent that made him sneeze until he opened the window.
He stopped downstairs to pick up his dinner while the coating dried, deciding to eat in the common area instead of taking his meal up to his room. He spent the better part of an hour chatting with Sam at the bar, trading the story of his adventure for that free drink he’d been offered.
After checking the clock on the wall, Edge saw that it was time to head out. He left the Pioneer with a rising excitement, ready to turn in his mortium and purchase his first implant.
Comments
Bryan Dickerson
He paid for it but its not ready yet. That being said, it probably should be a weapon that he has on him, so I'll change it to a knife. Thanks for pointing it out.
Zed
the spear comment seems odd did he already pay and wait the time for it to be crafted and collected?
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