Passive [Necromancer's Shield] + [Last Rites] = [Necromancer's Armor] triggered! [Incendiary Cloud Zenith] dealt 74 damage! P-System Log

Holy shit that's powerful. [Necromancer's Armor] turned a [Misty Strike] into 24 damage. That skill averages around 90-100 damage, which means that this defensive skill almost quarters the amount of damage that this guy is taking. Even with that in mind, it dealt 74 damage? That's nearly 300 damage as a base.

And it doesn't even look like it's done. The combination of skills made something entirely different from the sum of its parts. I'm not sure how to describe it. Usually, Jerome blurs and dashes in a straight line for a [Misty Strike], gaining a semi-ethereal property while he does so. For [Explosive Teleport], he just disappears in an explosion. This time... he kind of became a cloud? Except that cloud is still moving super fucking fast and it won't stop exploding. That first hit came from one pass through the [Necromancer], and the explody cloud is reversing direction now. Another hit?

Passive [Necromancer's Shield] + [Last Rites] = [Necromancer's Armor] triggered! [Incendiary Cloud Zenith] dealt 71 damage! Enemy defeated! Experience awarded! P-System Log

God(s) fucking damn. That's one hell of a skill. Looks like it takes a toll, though. Jerome has remanifested into a human, and he looks tired.

But enough about Jerome. I got lots of W Inertia from that! Nobody except Jerome actually hit the enemy, so I guess all of the W Inertia went straight to me. I got nearly 400 whole points from that fight! That's more than the final boss of the [Common] dungeon gave, and this guy is supposed to be a miniboss. That's the difference between dungeon rarities for ya.

I wonder how much mana that spent.

Jerome Smith (abbreviated) Stat Current Maximum Mana 518 1067 P-System Log

Ah shit. I'm not completely sure what level of mana he had before the fight started, but he definitely had a lot more than that. That's, what, 300 mana for a single skill? Yeah, it did absolutely massive amounts of damage, but Jerome didn't even get to keep the skill. I don't know enough about mixing skills to know if I can do this consistently, too. Who's to say that it'll even be the same skill next time? It might be, but it might also have been a timing thing or a W Inertia thing or any number of potential causes that I just didn't analyze the situation well enough to figure out.

That said, it's a super powerful finisher. If Jerome--and by Jerome, of course, I mean me--can keep consistently achieving the skill combination to execute this, I think it's pretty worth the cost. That's a hell of a strong finisher, if I do say so myself.

Party Chat

[Arcs S'tar]: Gods above. K'lon, you never told me he was this powerful. He can already do skill combos?

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: He's above even our level. How?

[Aster K'lon]: I did say he might surprise you.

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: I apologize for misjudging your power level, Jerome.

[Jerome Smith]: No sweat. Adventuring is fun.

[Arcs S'tar]: What does 'no sweat' mean?

[Jerome Smith]: Oh, just means "don't worry about it". It means that it's not a problem.

[Arcs S'tar]: I see.

P-System Log

Huh, so that's not a saying around these parts. Earth culture seems to not have made that much of an impact onto this place. Weird, given that Aster mentioned that reincarnators were super common around these parts. Maybe it's because they all get sent off to fight rather than having their culture mesh with the Continent's? Or maybe it's because we're so far from the frontline Edge Cities where the reincarnators are supposedly much more common.

Welp. That doesn't matter that much. It's time for the next part of the dungeon!

...that rumbling noise coming from the front doesn't bode well. I don't think anyone but me can hear it this time, since it's pretty small--muffled by the dungeon's innate properties, maybe? I don't know what it is, but I'm remembering that the other dungeon was closed due to total destruction.

Private Message [Aster]

[P-System]: Advise rapid clearing of the remainder of the dungeon.

[Aster K'lon]: Any reason why?

[P-System]: Outside influence is possible.

[Aster K'lon]: Ah, the crashing from before. Doesn't seem like they've entered the dungeon, though.

[P-System]: Advisory remains in effect.

[Aster K'lon]: Understood.

Party Chat

[Jerome Smith]: Can I take the front, this time?

[Arcs S'tar]: No. You are clearly stronger than us, which means that we have more room to increase our abilities.

[Jerome Smith]: Oh, okay, sure.

Private Message [Aster]

[Aster K'lon]: Jerome, what was that skill you used?

[Jerome Smith]: I have no idea. My System made me, uh, what was it called again? The thing I used to cast that [Magic Missile] really fast yesterday.

[Aster K'lon]: Quickcasting?

[Jerome Smith]: Yeah. The System had me quickcast an [Explosive Teleport] while I was in the middle of a [Misty Strike] and then that happened. Spent a lot of mana to do it, though.

[Aster K'lon]: Jerome, what you did is widely known as a "skill combination" or "skill combo". Generally, only exceptionally experienced adventurers have the knowledge and fine control needed to execute them.

[Aster K'lon]: Essentially, your System is incredibly powerful.

[Jerome Smith]: Huh. Thanks, System, I guess.

P-System Log

Aww, appreciation!

Okay, anyways, we're onto the next room. This one is a pretty small square, maybe only thirty feet by thirty feet across. There's two more sarcophagi in this one, though these ones are lying down and have more color to them. Gold rather than grey. There's also another bundle of mana within them, which means more monsters or more traps, I think.

Party Chat

[Aster K'lon]: Do not open the sarcophagi.

[Jerome Smith]: Wasn't planning on it, but why?

[Aster K'lon]: They are primed with a skill of some kind. I cannot identify the exact skill it is, but I am sure that it is an offensive one.

[Jerome Smith]: Alright. No opening, got it.

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: There might be loot inside.

[Arcs S'tar]: This dungeon in particular has a habit of putting artifacts just beyond traps.

[Arcs S'tar]: I'll handle it.

[Proximity Trigger] triggered! [Delayed Detonating Death] cast! [Stareater] cast! P-System Log

Damn, that's a cool skill name. At first glance, all it did was just straight up eat the skill that facilitated the trap, but I'm pretty sure there's another aspect to it that wasn't displayed there. I'll copy the formula down. Maybe I can use it later.

Anyway, elf lady--Arcs, I mean--just disabled both traps and took the loot from them. Not sharing with the rest of the party, huh? Kinda rude.

Well, whatever. Neither Jerome nor Aster made a fuss about it, so that's not really a point of contention. Last room for this path!

This one's a lot larger. Almost fifty feet long, I think, and the only thing in here is one final sarcophagus. I detect mana from inside it, but it's weaker than before.

Damn, Aster is just going straight for it. That's kind of unlike her.

Party Chat

[Aster K'lon]: As I suspected. There is a lever mechanism here that connects to the fountain.

[Arcs S'tar]: Oh, it's one of those quests.

[Arcs S'tar]: We ran a similar one of these a bit back. It wasn't with a fountain, but the premise is pretty similar. Each path probably has a lever, which we trigger. Once we get all the levers triggered, we fight a final boss from the fountain, and then that's the dungeon.

[Aster K'lon]: Very well. That's this first segment completed, then. Shall we return?

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: Yes. Let's go.

[Jerome Smith]: So what do you guys normally do? Full-time adventurers?

[Arcs S'tar]: Yes.

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: You can make a lot off of dungeon loot. It's more than enough for a living.

[Jerome Smith]: Huh. Interesting. I never really had to worry about money in my past life, so I was curious.

[Arcs S'tar]: Reincarnators will always intrigue me. S'ker does not see many of them.

[Jerome Smith]: Really? Where do they go?

[Arcs S'tar]: From what I have read, the northern Edge Cities receive the most. Of those that pass through this city, I rarely see any. It is certainly an enlightening experience to interact with one, to say the least.

P-System Log Well, looks like they're having fun. Jerome is getting to know them more, at least, which is good news for future interactions with this party. Maybe we can even stick together! Party Chat

[Jerome Smith]: Yeah, there's a lot of slang that didn't make it here. Like, for instance, if I wanted to say something was weird, I might refer to it as "sussy among us balls".

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: Interesting.

P-System Log

...

I regret being reborn. Let's just get this dungeon done.

Assuming that the slowly increasing crashing from the entrance doesn't get to us first.