Blood Squire Lv. 4
- Dexterity: +6
- Perception: +6
- Arcane: +6
- Passive Skill – [Weapon Attunement]
Weapon Attunement
- Passive
Weapons that are carried by the Blood Squire will have their effectiveness increased in relation to the care provided to that weapon. Weapons that are well maintained will have their edges sharpened, enchantments enhanced, and be resistant to enemy magic.
He hadn’t given much thought to maintaining Sparkblade. Enchanted items in this world were resistant to the wear and tear of normal equipment. His early levels in Blood Squire had given him a basic knowledge of how to maintain weapons and armor, but he hadn’t made much use of it yet. I guess I might as well start now.
But before he got to that, he had more class points to spend.
Blood Squire Lv. 5
- Dexterity: +6
- Perception: +6
- Arcane: +6
- Passive Skill – [Armor Attunement]
- Skill Evolution – [Minor Rally] has become [Major Rally]
Armor Attunement
- Passive
Armor that is carried by the Blood Squire will have its effectiveness increased in relation to the care provided to the armor. Armor that is well maintained will have increased defense, enhanced enchantments, and provide the wearer with (minor) magic resistance.
Major Rally
- Uses 10 (Daily)
- Range: 50 Feet
This skill sends out a wave of invigorating energy from the user. Allies within the skill radius receive: [Major Fatigue Resistance], [Major Fear Resistance], [Major Pain Resistance], and [Bulwark]. They also receive +10 to their Constitution and Fortitude attributes, strengthening them against physical and mental attacks. This skill does not stack.
[Major Rally] would be good to use now that the team was back together, and [Armor Attunement] could be a nice passive defense boost. But now for the advanced class.
So far his only advanced class was his one level in Spellblade, and that had given him the useful skill [Arcane Blade]. With a bit of excitement pumping through his veins, he selected Blood Knight for advancement.
Blood Knight Lv. 5
- Strength: +8
- Constitution: +6
- Fortitude: +6
- Proficiency: Heavy Armor
- Proficiency: Horse Riding
- Proficiency: Greatswords
- Proficiency: Lances
- Proficiency: Shields
- Skill – [Blood Armor]
- Skill – [Knight’s Honor]
- Passive Skill – [Serrated Strikes]
- Knightly Vows
It seemed that while Blood Squire focused more on speed with a bit of magic, Blood Knight was all about power and defense. But after having my brain scrambled, I won’t complain about increasing my fortitude. It’s still by far my lowest attribute.
Blood Armor
Range: Self
- You may use blood to form a barrier over your flesh or other equipment. The blood will harden over your existing defense, providing you with extra physical and magical protection with no cost to your mobility. The origin of the blood will determine the Blood Armor’s strength. Blood from special creatures (such as some elementals) can provide additional benefits.
Knight’s Honor
- Range: 50 feet
When engaged in a 1v1 battle, you may request your opponent faces you in an honorable duel. If they accept, the duel will only end when one of you submits or dies. If someone attempts to flee the duel or seeks/receives outside help, they will be struck by the curse [Shame of Dishonor] which will lock them out of using skills for 24 hours. Skills that summon creatures are not allowed while the duel is taking place. The Winner of the duel will receive the blessing [Honorable Victory] which will reset all skill uses for the winner, heal their wounds, and provide a (Major) buff to their physical offense and defense for 24 hours.
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Serrated Strikes
- Passive
All attacks landed by you (regardless of weapon type) will cause extra bleeding and inflict your opponent with a passive bleed effect for (10) minutes. The more attacks you land on an opponent, the stronger the passive bleed will become.
Knightly Vows
The path of a knight is full of death and hardship. It is not something to be undertaken lightly.
In order to continue leveling the Blood Knight class, you must commit to a knightly vow. Once taken, these vows cannot be undone. All future Blood Knight levels will be themed according to the vow you take, so choose wisely.
The available vows are:
- The Vow of Slaying
- The Vow of Chivalry
- The Vow of Loyalty
- The Vow of Mercy
- The Vow of Vengeance
He was about to inspect the vows when Lucia came running from a passageway on the other side of the room.
“What’s going on?” Darian called, dismissing his screen.
Lucia was panting, blood trickling down her arm from a clean cut. “Demons,” she rasped, stumbling into the carnage filled chamber. “They are coming.”
Without a word between them, the group fell into formation. Jorg took the center while Yaz fell in on the left flank, Lucia moving to a position behind him. Almeda and Alistair formed up behind Jorg, and Darian did his best to cover the party’s right side. But despite his new levels and Alistair’s magic healing him, his body was still a shadow of its usual self. His steps were slow, sluggish, each footfall harder than the last.
“Can you fight?” Yaz asked over his shoulder as Darian hobbled into position.
“Not sure,” he replied, blade held up by screaming arms. “Guess we’ll find out.”
The orc laughed.
“Imps!” Jorg raised his shield and inched forward, bitter hatred filling his eyes.
Darian’s frost creatures would be disappearing soon, but he directed them to fall in beside Jorg. And once they were all gathered outside the passageway’s entrance, he activated [Major Rally]. Even if he couldn’t fight like he normally could, he’d do his best to support his party.
The flap of what sounded like hundreds of wings reached Darian’s ears. He was surprised that Jorg somehow heard it before him, or perhaps the old Justicar had simply sensed the presence of his old foe. Either way, the fluttering shapes appeared in the tunnel before long, the march and lockstep of skeletal warriors beneath them.
“They have no golems or knights,” Lucia said from behind. “They seek to overwhelm us with nothing but numbers.”
“Let them try,” Yaz stepped forward, his massive blade a pillar of dark metal in his hands.
Darian scanned the approaching horde. “Steady,” he said, waiting until they were in range. “Steady.” He raised his left arm, the fingers already starting to grow back. Just one more moment. Fire erupted to life in his gnarled hand, and he threw his spear of flame into the wide hall before them, hundreds of shapes flickering to life in the dancing shadows. “Now!”
Lucia let a glowing arrow fly as Darian’s storm crows unleashed a burst of lightning from their beaks. The arcane assault crashed into the imps and they screeched, dozens of crumpled bodies falling to the stone below. Then a ball of fire sped from behind, exploding in a dazzling splash of orange and red.
“Keep it up!” Darian yelled, another of his flaming spears finding its mark.
The first row of skeletons were brutalized by his ice elementals and frost wolves. He wasn’t sure [Major Rally] would have much of an effect on them, but at least the wolves’ attacks were hitting much harder than earlier. Their claws and fangs were making short work of the shamblers, but more and more continued to clog the tunnel.
Then the imps descended, their tiny red bodies coating Darian’s summons, blood pooling beneath them as they ripped and slashed. Jorg and Yaz came in with powerful swings, each taking a demon’s life. And not to let them outdo him, Darian marched into the fray, his swings slower than normal but more than enough to split the wing or head of an imp.
Two of the snarling beasts came at him from above, their mouths open, their needle teeth aimed at his throat. One Lucia found with an arrow, the other he swatted down with a backhand. It landed with a thud, its head crushed by Darian’s boot a second later. More poured down from the darkness above. If he’d been at full strength, even with their numbers, he could have handled them easily.
He sucked in the surrounding blood, thankful the red devils were full of the stuff. As it formed around him, he activated [Blood Armor] hopeful his new skill could cover for his lack of speed. Then he hacked and slashed forward, his cheek split open by a speeding talon. An imp landed on his arm and tried sinking its teeth into him, but the creature couldn’t penetrate his defense. He shot a blood dagger from a pool on the floor into its chest, nearly splitting the creature in half.
Alistair’s bone golem was still up and about, but it was busy covering the necromancer. He was still launching fireballs into the air, but the monsters were more spread out now. Almeda had summoned some kind of thorn shooting roots around her. They were doing a good job keeping the imps off her, but that was about it. Jorg was lost somewhere in the skeletons, and Yaz was grinning like a madman as he hacked at anything within reach. Darian was beginning to think everyone had the battle under control when Lucia screamed.
The satyr archer was nearly covered head to toe by the imps. Lallet was hovering beside her, small sparks of magic shooting from her hands in a desperate attempt to help. Darian activated [Dash Strike] and cut one of them down before dropping his blade to rip the creatures free with his hands.
A roar split the chamber, something big barreling down the passageway.
Whatever it was, it would have to wait. Darian worked as hard and fast as he could, sending a command to his storm crows to cover him as he crushed imp after imp. Their bones were brittle in his hands, but there were so many of them. Lucia fell backwards, her bow bouncing across the floor. Her cries cut short, her flesh ripped and split like someone had taken a cleaver to it. The imps didn’t seem to care Darian was there, they just kept slicing.
He managed to pull the last few off and then he grimaced. Her body was a torn ruin, her armor nothing but tatters. They’d manage to flay her so quickly. Was there anything he could have done?
She coughed, then wheezed, somehow still clinging to life.
He had to get Almeda or Jorg to heal her, and he had to do it fast. He spun on his heels, ordered his summons to guard her, then stumbled into chaos.