RinoZ
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Chapter 1495 - More Chomp is More Fun
🕑 Added 2024-11-25 01:00:04 +0000 UTCAfter spending an hour burning mental energy trying to figure out just how this new spell form works, I give up for the time being. Well, sort of. The nice thing about having multiple brains is that I can have the others continue the work while the main mind gets on with other business.
Gweheheheh. Yes, sub-brains, work hard for me!
I know I’m technically laughing at myself, but it still feels like I’m passing off the work to someone else, which is always a lovely feeling.
Reading through my extensive list of Skills, I have to wonder, how long have these things been maxed out? I’m going to say… not long. I’m not basing that on anything, but if Granin were to ask, I’ll make sure to tell him I’ve been diligently monitoring my status sheet as a good Ancient prospect should.
The next big Skill I take a look at is, of course, Void Chomp.
It finally reached level ONE-HUNDRED AND SIXTY! Which is a heck of a lot of levels. Turns out smushing all these fifth stratum monsters between my mandibles has paid off after all! Void Chomp is one of my most potent Skills right now, a rank six physical attack that, when empowered, absolutely detonates anything but the strongest monsters. I’m super excited to see what it turns into at rank seven!
In fact, I’m so excited that I upgrade it immediately, spending the Skill Point and confirming the purchase with Gandalf.
Void Chomp (VI) -> Starcrusher (VII)
Uh, what? Starcrusher? Excuse me? That sounds super deadly! I mean, Starcrusher? It crushes stars? What will happen if I empower it?
As the knowledge of the new Skill trickles into my brain, I wait eagerly, my mandibles quivering in anticipation. I need this Skill to be amazing since I’ll be using it for a long time, a full three-hundred and twenty levels until it reaches rank eight, but I certainly don’t want to be improving this any further until I evolve. Granin warned me that my Skills shouldn’t outpace my evolutions, lest they become stronger than my body can handle.
The moment I’m finished learning the rank seven ability, my mandibles fly open, but right on the verge of activating it, I look around at the newly completed cavern that I’m occupying. Right now… it’s probably not a good idea to let it rip here in the fortress, which hasn’t even been finished yet. If I use it and blow up a few rooms, the carvers are going to be… a little upset. I can wait. I can hold it.
Probably.
For now, let’s distract myself and look for more Skills that I can upgrade, and there’s a ton of them:
Tunnel Compass (IV) -> Tunnel Compendium (V)
Master Stamina (IV) -> Grandmaster Stamina (V)
Layered Mind Magic Affinity (V) -> Multi-Layered Mind Magic Affinity (VI)
Guided Acid Shot (V) -> Pinpoint Acid Shot (VI)
Expert Chomp Combo (III) -> Master Chomp Combo (IV)
Grandmaster Dodge (V) -> Flicker Dodge (VI)
Flash Dash (V) -> Unseen Dash (VI)
There’s a lot going on there, and much of it is to my fundamental capabilities. More stamina is always nice, better mind magic is certainly welcome, hopefully it improves the quality of my mind constructs, more accurate acid, faster dashing. All good stuff.
Sadly, neither of the two new fusions are ready to rank up yet. Manifold High-Focus is rank five and still has a ways to go, but Precognitive Agile Defense is only rank four and is very close, just a few more levels and it’ll be ready to advance.
I confirm the purchases and settle in as a wave of warm trickling sensations flows over my mind. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to learning this way, but I’ll never say it isn’t convenient as heck. All I have to do is sit on my backside for a while and new knowledge just flows into my brain. With so many higher rank upgrades, it takes a bit of time for the process to finish, time I spend continuing to pick over my new gravity spell. It’s absurdly complicated and I’m sure it’ll take days or even weeks for me to fully iron it out, then practise the spellform to the point I can put it together in battle conditions.
However, other things, like my new starcrusher bite, or better dashes, are relatively straightforward. I should be able to use them pretty much straight away. Filled with anticipation at the havoc I’ll soon be causing, I pick myself up and start heading out to my usual frontline tunnels. Sarah has been holding down the fort for a while, giving me more rest and freeing up my time to participate in Solant’s trap, but she’ll need a break herself by this time. Hopefully she and Odin haven’t had too bad of an experience. Fighting in the fifth is deeply unpleasant at the best of times, but both of them specialise in up-close fighting, which means they’ve had to deal with all of the slime and ooze without any chance of getting away from it.
Making my way through the tunnels, I come to the area I usually defend, and it doesn’t take long for me to find Sarah lying down and being tended by a team of healers who are crawling over her, prodding and poking with their antennae as they treat her extensive injuries.
[Holy heck, Sarah! What is going on with you?]
The massive bear lifts her head, much to the irritation of the ant sitting on top of it.
[Hey, Anthony,] she greets me wearily. [I just got back from the tunnels. You weren’t kidding when you said how rough it is out there. It’s absolutely disgusting.]
[Did you get much trouble from the Krath?] I ask her.
[No, not really,] she says. [I think they were still trying to get used to me, but I’m happy for a break, if I’m honest.]
[Absolutely. I just unlocked a bunch of new Skills and I’m keen to test them out! You can rest and recuperate for a couple of days. I’ve got this.]
[A bunch of Skills?] she asks me quizzically. [Don’t you rank them up as soon as you max them? How are a group of them all reaching max level at the same time?]
[Of course I do!] I laugh, unconvincingly. [I’m always on top of things!]
Then I run.
Comments
DrDankness
So Sarah is more like a normie than Anthony. She actually levels hers stuff on time. *glares at Rinoz*
Elmithian
Majority of online writers are like that. :P
Gonvas
In a way, this makes it harder to predict Anthony's prowess and how to deal with him. By leaving several skills and mutations on standby and then doing a bunch of upgrades together, means he gets a relevant boost out of nowhere and people who thought they had him figured out... RIP 😆
CentaureHeart
"[Of course I do!] I laugh, unconvincingly. [I’m always on top of things!] Then I run.". Pretty sure Rinoz wrote that as the author not as Anthony.
evyatar
He should still have loads and loads of saved up skill points. In preparation for other tier sevens in the future of course! It's not as if he sits on a hundred skill points for months of course
alt31415
Yes… YES! FINALLY! MWAHAHAHA! A Tier 7 skill, worthy of a Tier 7 Mythic! And effectively Tier 8 when Altar’d! , I’ll make sure to tell him I’ve been diligently monitoring my status sheet as a good Ancient prospect should. – SHOW US READERS THE SHEET TOO! PLEASE ITS BEEN SO LONG Man, just imagine Zluth’s reaction when he sees Anthony’s new moves and realizes he got even stronger. Slug’s gonna go full on Moby Dick to Anthony.
Roombot
Classic Anthony. Love it 🤣
Peter Jørgensen
Always on top of things hi is a demigod...dess
Ignacio Fuentes Álvarez
JAJAJAJ That ending, smooth as always Anthony jajaja, also, starcrusher sounds dope as heck, can't wait to see it in action, I was confused at first for the mind magic level up, then I remembered that Anthony is constantly using mind constructs to multiply his magic output, he's now a much more serious threat to anything with those upgrades
John goode
I can’t believe he didn’t upgrade them as they hit max I just kinda assumed we should hear about it after the fact but not that he left them all sitting at max wasting exp. Sigh same old Anthony……
Rahsheem Reid
Lmaooooo they have been maxed for at least a few weeks. It’s kind of funny if you think about it. We as readers ask for Anthony’s status sheet a lot but it’s Anthony lol just makes me laugh bc I get it now .. Tftc
ChillyPepper
From the hobbits to Anthony, Gandalf sure knows how to pick the most focused and appropriate heroes to save the world
Buck
Ah, Anthony. Quite possibly the dungeon’s worst liar. 😂
KooZnack
Love how baffled Sarah is at our Anthony’s optimal use of time. Spend less time in the system menus at only a slightly major loss in skill experience! What a deal!
Grey Knight Lord
At last Anthony has reached a Tier 7 Skill. I am still expecting for The Omni Elemental Construct to level up.
kev mil
Tyftc
