P-System Log

Huh. Looks like Jerome actually got more hesitant after realizing he was against ex-adventurers. I wonder why that is. It's not like he hasn't tried to kill humanoids before. To be fair, those were R Beasts and therefore less deserving of life, but these are also pretty not-human. They're already undead.

Fucking hell. If he won't get moving, I'll make him. I'll just bring up an old [Objective]

[Objective]: Survival of the Fittest

Description: Eliminate threats to your survival.

Rewards: Passive XP multiplier for killing hostile Integrated. Increases over time.

Hero's Personal Log 084

Fuck, I don't want to kill people. I know the R Beasts were technically people, but this just gives me the icks.

But this is another world. Morality works differently here. And the System just reminded me of that. I have to go through with this, even if it's something I'd prefer not to do.

It's ok. They're not people anymore. I can deal with this.

Party Chat

[Arcs S'tar]: I have the rest. Step back.

[Jerome Smith]: No, I can handle it.

[Misty Strike] activating! [Misty Strike] dealt 105 damage! [Explosive Teleport] activating! [Explosive Teleport] dealt 48 damage! [Explosive Teleport] dealt 57 damage! Enemies defeated! Experience split and distributed! P-System Log I got... maybe 150 W Inertia from that? If it was split three ways, that means that each mummy had about 90 W Inertia in it. That seems like less than there should be for a [Rare] enemy, but maybe it's because they're necromantic constructs or something. I dunno. Party Chat

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: I must apologize, Jerome. I have misjudged your competence, if not your character.

[Jerome Smith]: It's fine. I'll just do what I do best.

[Arcs S'tar]: We should continue. Same marching order.

[Arcs S'tar]: Actually, wait hold on.

[Aster K'lon]: I believe it would be wise if we examined the contents of the final sarcophagus. [Mana Sense] tells me that there is something hidden within.

[Jerome Smith]: I can poke it.

[Magic Missile] activating! Passive [Necromancer's Shield] triggered! [Last Rites] cast! P-System Log

Huh. That's not ominous at all.

The amount of mana coming from that last sarcophagus just spiked. The skill definitely came from there. It has the same tinges of power--necromancy, I think?--that the previous skills from the undead had. Interesting. I can definitely use that later.

I'm not actually sure what this skill does. I need to gain more experience in the field before I can conclusively say anything about the details of these skills, that much is pretty evident. I think it might be a buff skill? It doesn't seem to be directly offensive, and. thename doesn't suggest something offensive either.

Well, it's opening. Whatever's in there is practically glowing with mana. It might actually be glowing physically.

[Assess] activating! Passive [Necromancer's Shield] triggered! [Assess] blocked! P-System Log

Ah, fuck that. I want to see what this shit is. I think that at this point, it might be better to burn W Inertia on leveling up Jerome's [Assess] rather than using the mockery of it that I have. It's more directly useful to the current situation, after all.

I just got 150 W Inertia, so I guess I can burn some of that. Screw it, I'll burn a lot of it. It's not what I'm supposed to do, and it might be kind of dumb, but you only live once, right? Powering up Jerome is a lot more fun than I thought it would be. Besides, those were just the first few enemies. He'll definitely be able to earn that W Inertia back later.

Guess I'm dumping it all in. I'm going to focus on overriding skills for this one. I was able to modify a skill before, I should be able to do it now as well. I just want this [Assess] to work without some dumbass skill triggering and stopping Jerome--and by extension, me--from seeing the deets on our enemies.

Skill leveled up! [Assess] lv. 2 -> lv. 6 Skill evolution! [Assess] -> [ASSESS] Raises access tier. Increased details. P-System Log

Huh. There's that error message again. I have no idea why it triggered. Is the error pertaining to how much XP increases by when I dump in W Inertia? If so, I'm glad the error exists. I don't think that's it, though. I had maybe 100 XP left before [Assess] made it to level 3. Since its XP cost increased by 100 XP/level every level, it would've cost 300 to hit level 4, 400 to hit level 5, and 500 to hit level 6. With 150 W Inertia, that's enough to hit level 6.

Maybe the actual error occurred with the evolution, because that's a weird fucking evolution. I'm also pretty sure that skills aren't supposed to evolve at level 6, and...

[ASSESS lv. 6] (abbreviated) Stat Value XP 0/600 P-System Log

Yeah, I'm pretty sure a skill evolution is also supposed to reset the level to 0. That along with the fact that the skill didn't increase in rarity is kinda sus. I think that this might be more of a sidegrade than a direct upgrade. If it's a direct upgrade, then I have no idea what to say. Evolving it did give more abilities, but--

Oh. I think I get it. I focused the W Inertia in a way that didn't quite align with what the skill was before. Maybe the skill changed because of that?

[ASSESS] activating! Passive [Necromancer's Shield] triggered! Skill overriden! Johannes Ar'lyn Class Race Level Necromancer Undead Elf 8 Stat Current Maximum Health 150 Titles [Dungeon Mob], [Slaughterer III], [Resurrector], [Heathen] P-System Log

Huh. It's missing some details that I get access to. Detailed stats, skills, mana values, and a bunch of other important things. Still, it's more detail than Jerome has gotten so far.

Also, this dungeon's mobs actually have proper names. That's a neat lil detail. Maybe the higher dungeons even have lore to them.

Hero's Personal Log 085 Thanks, System! This skill is nicer to use now. Party Chat

[Aster K'lon]: It's a dungeon beast. Spawned or controlled?

[Arcs S'tar]: Everything around these parts is spawned. This bastard must've been the reason for the other adventuring parties disappearing.

[Jerome Smith]: This isn't a real person?

[Arcs S'tar]: Nor is it a real boss. It is a miniboss whose difficulty is far greater than it should be.

[Jerome Smith]: I can handle this.

[Misty Strike] activating! Passive [Necromancer's Shield] + [Last Rites] = [Necromancer's Armor] triggered! [Misty Strike] dealt 24 damage! Party Chat

[Jerome Smith]: 24. What the fuck?

[Aster K'lon]: [Last Rites] is a powerful buff skill. Combined with its other innate defensive abilities, it must have significantly decreased the amount of damage that can be dealt to it.

[Arcs S'tar]: We will need coordination to take this one down.

P-System Log

Huh, combining passive skills to make a stronger one isn't something I'd considered before. I didn't even know that was possible.

I wonder if Jerome can do it? I can encourage a quickcast by beginning half a spell. If it works out, Jerome might be able to handle this guy on his own. That's sure to be some juicy W Inertia.

[Contagion] cast! [Lesser De-spell] cast! Magic contest won by [Necromancer] Johannes Ar'lyn! [Mana Amplifier] consumed 3 charges! Magic contest won by [Mage] Aster K'lon! [Contagion] suppressed! P-System Log Holy fuck, how many items does Aster have? I mean, yay her, but holy shit she's like fantasy Batman. Party Chat

[Arcs S'tar]: Thank you, Aster.

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: It is much appreciated.

[Aster K'lon]: No worries. [Contagion] was too severe a spell for me to risk allowing.

[Jerome Smith]: What does it do?

[Aster K'lon]: It causes passive damage until the caster is dead. It has a decent chance of not setting in, but if it connects, it will remain until either the caster or the victim is dead.

[Contagion] cast! Party Chat

[Jerome Smith]: Fuck.

[Arcs S'tar]: It recharged so fast!

[Purifying Shield] cast! Party Chat

[Aster K'lon]: I got it.

[Jerome Smith]: Nice.

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: Thank you.

[Contagion] dealt 20 damage to you! You were inflicted with a [Contagion]! Party Chat

[Jerome Smith]: Aster, I don't think you got all of it.

[Aster K'lon]: Shit. Was anyone else hit?

[Arcs S'tar]: I was not.

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: No.

P-System Log Well, shit. Now we're on a timer. Party Chat [Jerome Smith]: That's fine. Let's just kill this shit faster. [Contagion] dealt 53 damage to you! [Misty Strike] activating! P-System Log

Alright, here's my chance. Sped up perception means I can keep up with the skill. I might need to act off Jerome's instincts here.

There's really only one skill that makes sense to combine with this one. The only one that also involves CQB.

Yes, this is taking a risk. Yes, it's kind of stupid to try replicating a phenomenon that I've only seen once. But hey, Jerome still has 700+ HP left. It's not my body that I'm risking.

Feed just a little W Inertia in, mix it with mana, and trigger the skill...

[Misty Strike] + [Explosive Teleport] = [Incendiary Cloud Zenith] activating!