CWD: OE ~ Twenty-Five

“This is awesome.” Jennifer focused on her screen, then spent credits like a lake being evaporated with a single flash of light. She went from level eleven to level eighteen for the princely sum of two million, one hundred thirteen thousand, eight hundred credits. Since she wasn’t crossing Tiers, it was a much faster process. She was clearly happy with the results, as she was smiling even while wiping sweat off her face. “Yes! Much more Mana. Much more Health. My Fitness is up to twenty-four. I could get used to this. No hours in the gym. No early morning runs. Just kill monsters, get credits, level up!”

“Wanna share your new Skill?” Nacho prodded once it seemed she was done bragging.

“I’ll show you mine once you level.” She shoved him playfully, but with her augmented strength, it wasn’t gentle. Even so, she was barely able to move him. “Sheesh, I’m three levels above you now, and you still have higher Fitness? What kind of a monster are you?”

“Our kind of monster.” Reuben grunted as his bicep muscles literally boiled and burst before reforming into a unified whole. “Ugh. Yeah… the kind of monster you want to be with, not against. This hurts so bad; why do I always want to jump as many levels as possible at a time?”

“It’s not just you.” Jennifer shrugged and sipped from a red and yellow bottle of something she’d brewed up. “I don’t know. It kind of makes sense. Leveling up hurts, but it does feel… special?”

Reuben, by that point, was completely oblivious to the outside world. Nacho took the moment of silence to go through some numbers on his own. He was going to be a little short for all the things he wanted to upgrade, since he’d spent twenty thousand credits on his new Skill Slot and Skill. Because of the unplanned expense, he took what amount he was able to siphon from the party pool and went shopping.

Not allowing himself to think about what he was doing, the cook spent three million, twenty-five thousand, four hundred credits to purchase one million, five hundred twelve thousand, four hundred Experience Points. His character class leapt from level fifteen to level nineteen. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the pain… only to recall that he only got stat point effects every five levels. Opening his eyes, he shrugged at the others. “Money spent, no change in attributes. Slightly anti-climactic, but that's okay.”

The leveling was over, so the Stat Sheet fun could begin. Nacho realized that he hadn’t leveled his new Baby Birding Skill, and it was still at zero percent. To upgrade their new Skills to level nineteen was a paltry three thousand eight hundred credits, which seemed so… cheap. By contrast, getting his Character Class to level twenty would cost two million more credits. “Times like these make me wonder how in the world Crave managed to reach Tier two back in our UnderFun.”

“Killing, murdering, credit-siphoning, and extorting his hundreds of guild members,” Reuben gently reminded his friend. “Remember how they were forced to do whatever he told them? The fifty percent tax rate? That’s how.”

“Ah. Right. That. Anyway… wanna see my new Skill?” Nacho spent his money, then shared the information on the new ability.

• Baby Bird(ing) (Active) Level 19: You eat food, and one person of your choice within 15 feet gets 38% of the Hunger Points from the consumed food. Note: Player performing the Baby Birding reclaims zero Hunger Points from the food eaten.
  • Tier 1 Enhancement: up to four people of your choice within 30 feet get 38% of the Hunger Points you consume.
    • Mana Cost = 25%
    • Hydration Cost = 25%
    • Metabolic Cost = 0%

It was Brie’s turn to laugh. “Oh, this is great. Nacho eats a full portion of his disaster donuts, and I get thirty-eight Hunger Points. Do you know what this means?”

“It means you don’t necessarily have to eat during combat,” Nacho replied with a cheerful grin. “It doesn’t say anything about the buffs that the food offers, so you’ll still want to eat whenever we know there’s a fight coming. Once we figure out our Skills, I definitely need to do some cooking.”

The Berserker hurled herself over to Nacho and gave him a huge hug, then remembered herself and stepped back. “Yes. This is good news.”

Nacho wiped pollen off his pants. “I get to stand back and eat while you guys do all the fighting. I can help Brie, Abby, and Taye all at the same time, as long as they are within thirty feet. When we get to Tier two, we don’t know what else we’ll get. Tier two Skills come with an additional ability.”

Reuben's eyes flashed and he leveled his own mysterious Skill before sharing. “The good news doesn’t stop there. Just watch what I can do now.”

Reuben Colby

Class: Merchant of Soothing

Level: 19

Experience Points: 2,189,200 to Level 20!

Current Credits: 0 (883,626 total Dinner Party pool)

Build Type: Balanced, Instant

Body:

• Fitness: 25
• Metabolic efficiency: 24

Mind:

• Mental energy: 24
• Circuit: 24

Satiation:

• Hunger: 100
• Thirst: 100

Total Health Points: 60

Bonus Physical Damage:12.50%

Health Regen: 24% Health Regen/minute

Total Mana Pool: 46

Bonus Spell Damage: 12.00%

Mana Pool Regen: 24% Mana Regen/minute

Skill Slots (4/4)

• Healing Hugs (Active) Level 19: 95 Health Points Restored Upon Hugging.
  • Tier 1 Enhancement: Hurl your hug 30 feet!
• Positive Vibes (Active) Level 19: Weapon blessing: (applies to whole party, lasts 10 minutes) Adds 38% physical damage.
  • Tier 1 Enhancement: Longer duration! Double the love!
• Marketing (Active) Level 19: Able to lure creatures to a location. Impacts up to Level: 20.
  • Tier 1 Enhancement: Maximizes the four principles of marketing (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion).
• NEW! Every Slash Has a Silver Lining (Passive Ability) Level 19: Being a Healer means rushing into the fray and putting your own body on the line to help the damage sponges in your party. However, with this skill, every time you take a beating, your party gets healed!
  • Tier 1 Enhancement: For every point of damage you take, four people of your choosing get 38% of the damage added to their Health Points!
    • No Mana, Hydration, or Metabolic Cost

“Nothing says I can’t target myself, right? I’ll heal a third of the damage I take! Lawyered.” The big guy made a fist, showing off his Ring of Cheese. “I can absorb damage with this magic item, up to three times my Health Points. I finally have a Skill that is also going to make my pain count for something. It’s automatic, baby. I get hit, and I get to choose who gets a portion of those points."

“I don’t know about this.” Brie shook her head, thinking through the Skill applications. “You already take a lot of risks, Reuben. I hate the idea that you’ll run into a fight just so we get Health Points.”

Reuben gathered his wife’s hand gently in his. “Don’t worry, I love you too much to die.”

“Love you too.” The Berserker finally nodded, unable to come up with anything else to say. “It is pretty powerful. Two-thirds of the damage you take, we get back in Health Points. Between this and Nacho’s ability, I’ll be constantly fed and healed in Active Combat. This is good, especially paired with my new Skill.”

Brie McCurdy

Class: Battle Babe

Level: 19

Experience Points: 2,189,200 to Level 20!

Skill Slots (4/4)

• Athletic Endurance (Passive) Level 19: 38% reduction to hunger loss penalties when using physical skills.
  • Tier 1 Enhancement: Eating food considered ‘Healthy’ will offer an extra portion per three portions.
• Combat Dash (Active) Level 19: 38% Damage on Dash Attacks, 10-meter dash.
  • Tier 1 Enhancement: Throw your attack up to 15 feet!
• Defensive Whirl (Active) Level 19: Spin toward your enemy, auto-blocking up to 10 strikes.
  • Tier 1 Enhancement: Throw your Whirl up to 15 feet!
• Melee Munchies (Passive Ability) Level 19: Oh, brave Body Player, going out there and murdering monsters works up quite an appetite. With this ability, the more damage you take, the less hungry you’ll be. It’s the combat diet! Get stabbed? Get food! Avoid getting stabbed? stay hungry! For every Health Point you lose in combat, you get 38% back in Hunger Points.
  • Tier 1 Enhancement: All Hunger Points from Melee Munchies will taste like cherry pie.

Brie winced. “I probably would’ve chosen a Berserker Scream if I had known that Nacho had his… Baby Birding. There’s a lovely image to have in my head. But that thirty second timer. Gah! I had to choose–I’m sorry, but I’m really tired of trying to eat while I fight.”

“It’s all a net positive.” Nacho offered her a smile, though he was curious about the Berserker Scream. “Whatever we can do to keep your Hunger Points up is excellent. You're already doing a tremendous amount of damage, and that’s only going to improve now that you can get fed twice.”

“All I need to do is get whaled on.” Brie looked like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. “Also, I have no idea how to say this politely, but… I’m relieved to finally be as strong as you, Nacho. I'm the front liner, and we both have a Fitness of twenty-five. I know, I know, you’ll zoom ahead again at level twenty, but I hate it that our cook can outrun and outfight me.”

“Aw, you don’t need to worry about that, Brie. You are definitely the number one fighter in our hearts,” Nacho informed her with a crooked smile, not bothering to point out the fact that he had never been a better fighter; he was just a better killer than she was.

He excelled at dodging and dealing massive damage, but as soon as he started to take hits, he became disoriented and lost a lot of his combat effectiveness. Still, explaining that in a way that kept her ego satiated was going to be too difficult. He understood her concerns: Nacho generally found himself in combat, whether he wanted to be there or not. Having knives that could cut through monsters a Tier higher than his level came with a certain amount of responsibility for keeping other people alive.

They collectively turned to Jennifer, who suddenly turned shy and began stammering. “W-well, with what you guys have, I’m a little, um, nervous to show you my new ability. It’s kind of a work in progress.”

“Wait a sec on that.” Nacho pulled up a few numbers, comparing them side-by-side with their total credit pool. “Let’s get you to level nineteen no matter what. We’ve done dungeon runs before like this, and the more power we all have, the better.”

Jennifer waved her hands in a stopping motion. “No, I couldn’t ask that of you. We would need five hundred thousand credits to get me to level nineteen. I’m practically a stranger-”

“Hey!” From out of seemingly nowhere, she was interrupted by a familiar voice as Taye came pounding across the pavement toward them. “Guys! You’re here! I can’t believe you’re here! I knew you’d come for us!”

The teen archer sprinted  into the park and swept Nacho into a hug, before doing the same with Brie and Reuben. The Healer patted the jubilant teen on the back and whispered, “That’s what she said.”

Taye was stunned for a moment, though he quickly burst into laughter as Brie smacked Reuben on the and glared. “You are ridiculous! I'm so glad to see you guys.”

“This is Jennifer, a Brewer,” Nacho explained as the archer turned to take in the new member of the team. “She’s cool. Can you tell us what's going on down here?”

Mood turning serious, Taye nodded a few times, as though he were trying to find the words he needed. “Nothing good, that's for sure.”