Omnitrickery: So any old kind of cooking implement could have a hidden skill available to the hero upon copying it… I wonder how that works, either based upon the history the item has or the materials it was made out of, regardless of if the item has any skills tied to it in the first place.
Or maybe Sherone has a magic cooking pan that he never knew how to use.
I look forward to seeing what kind of stuff Clara gets from the Lunar wolf! …And hopefully not a 'rabies' shield.
Nah, some skills are linked to the levels (Erst series, bind/prison), some to the elements (Lightning spear, Bubble shield), some to a specific material/form. Some skills can change properties depending on how you unlock them (Reprise different Erst Series variants). Heated grounds is a element skill, but Clara got a different variant specific to the weapon form. (If she got any flaming material, she would probably get 1000 degree knife skill, like how Reprise Naofumi got different Erst Shield variants because he absorbed different materials). But the things you get form the equip bonus is a bonus that only heroes get and that follow the theme of the weapon form. Also ye, the history of the weapon form obtained matters. Like if Ren copied Naofumi's cooking knife, he would get so many buffs to his cooking he would be like a second Naofumi. (Canon to new reprise).
Naofumi got bubble shield from a piece of the whales material, even if the material itself couldn't do it. Or even the whale for that matter. So the equip bonus is whatever the weapon spirit thinks is the right bonus for using a form long enough should give, and is related to the form itself.Rabies shield, lmfao. Weapon form so cracked it yeets cooking tools theme out the window and becomes a shield.
Guest: Clara should probably focus on increasing her defense and recovery, maybe getting some new armor.
I suggest:
Health Pot
Equip bonus: HP recovery (Small)
Equip bonus: skill: Light healing
Special effect: HP restore (Strong)
Light healing: Heal a small amount of wounds.
Aquisition: Absorb a health potion
She will definetly need more defense and stuff, but this would be pretty op. At most the health potion would give extra hp as an equip bonus. But your idea gave me an idea for a future weapon form, so look out for that.
The wolf glared at Clara with its bloodstained and unfocused eyes, before it let out a loud roar that sounded more like a demon's shrieking. As Clara shrunk back in fright, it swung its head at her, its saliva dribbling off its maw and onto the ground. Clara shrieked and ducked just in time, its head swiping directly over her head. She lunged forward, away from the side of the boat. The monster jerked its head in response, teeth ripping violently out of the metal hull, ripping out some of the metal. Clara paled as she looked at the bloody bite mark, with a few teeth stuck inside of the boat's side.
"GET OFF OF MY BOAT!" Sherone hollered, swinging his shield at the beast, knocking him off of the roof. The wolf dug its claws into the ground and glared at its attacker. It roared at Sherone and then lunged forward, claws ready to tear the man to pieces.
"Chain Bind! Knife Rain!" Clara yelled, binding the Lunar Wolf to the ground and showering him with glowing knives. The wolf roared as its skin was cut up, but he didn't fall back. Instead, he crouched down and glared at Clara, standing completely still.
What is it doing?
"GET DOWN!" Sherone screamed, raising his shield and a magic barrier around Clara.
"Wha-?" Clara didn't get to finish asking her question as the wolf's fur lit up, showing several small crescent moons on its fur, which began to glow brighter and brighter. The wolf raised its head and roared to the sky, as a powerful shockwave erupted from its body, launching nearby trees and Sherone's boat away from him. Sherone's barrier was blasted to bits, and Sherone himself was sent flying into a tree.
The chains Clara set up shattered, and the wolf wasted no time lunging at her.
"Erst Lid! Second Lid! E Float Knife!"
The wolf slammed into the first lid, shattering it with ease. Then he clawed the second one and swung at Clara. Despite swapping to her pot and attacking the beast with her floating knife, the attack simply shattered, and Clara was sent flying back, pain erupting through her body.
"DON'T HURT MY FRIEND!" Reiya yelled, throwing one of the, still alive, Drevo monsters at the wolf. The tree beast crashed onto the world, its body cracking. The Drevo let out a screech and launched its monstrous tentacles at the wolf, tying the beast up.
"Miss Clara, are you alright?" Reiya questioned, running to Clara's aid and helping her off of the ground.
"Come here, let me heal you," Sherone stumbled towards, his arm twisted at an odd angle.
"Heal me? Your arm is twisted!" Clara remarked, clutching her side.
"I'm a tank, I can take another few hits, you can't," Sherone replied, sending a star spell at Clara in the shape of a cross. The pain lessened, and Clara breathed a sigh of relief. Reiya looked at Sherone and at the spot where the spell connected with Clara. Her eyes seemed to wander somewhere, but Clara didn't have the time to ask her about it.
*CRACK*
The wolf swung his claws and split the Drevo monster, killing it in one swing and sending splinters in all directions. Without missing a beat, the wolf glared at Clara and lunged in her direction.
"Damn it! Get to the boat, I'll stall it!" Sherone exclaimed, summoning another barrier, this time around the wolf. However, it crashed through the barrier and rammed into Sherone's shield. The man grit his teeth and pushed back against the monster, charging another spell.
"Erst Throw!" Clara threw her burning knife at the monster's face, landing a shot into his eye.
"GRAAAAAAAA," the wolf roared, jumping back. The knife inside its eye disappeared and reappeared in Clara's hand, leaving behind burn marks on the creature's face and a small gash across its eye. The beast stared at Clara with the only eye it had left.
"Nice shot," Sherone remarked, healing himself.
"Thanks."
Sherone began preparing a spell, while Clara glanced at the skills that were off of cooldown. Reiya continued to look at the magic Sherone was charging up and put her hands together.
The wolf looked back and forth from person to person with his only eye, when suddenly, a light blue glow began to emanate from his missing eye, and a crescent moon that was barely a sliver began to glow on its forehead. The monster opened its mouth with the glow getting brighter and slowly approached the gang.
"Sh*t! It's charing up another attack!" Sherone exclaimed, cutting his spell short and launching a glowing arrow at the monster's mouth. But it was too late.
The wolf roared, releasing a powerful blast of energy from its mouth. Clara summoned a Second Lid, and Sherone summoned another barrier, but the two were no match against the blast. The defenses shattered, and Sherone dashed ahead to try and tank it.
*BOOM*
Just before the blast hit him, a green barrier appeared in front of him and blocked the attack.
Huh? Where did that come from?
Clara looked to her side and saw Reiya holding onto Sherone's shield. The shield itself was steaming as if it was dunked into hot water, and Reiya was breathing heavily.
"Chain Bind, Knife Rain!" Clara bound the monster again and showered him with knives, with the knives digging in deeper this time. The monster roared at Clara and ripped the chains to shreds before jumping at her. Clara swapped her form to the strongest knife she had, the Unobtanium Knife, and thrust it forward as hard as she could while ducking under the monster's claws.
Her knife sank into the flesh of the monster's underbelly, however, it got stuck on something hard. Clara's arm was pulled with the monster's body, with the beast continuously thrashing around, trying to hit Clara with its claws as its insides began to spill out.
"Second Slash!"
Just before Clara's face was clawed off, she set off the skill, freeing her knife and tearing up the monster even more. The beast roared and began to thrash around, but Clara jumped out of the way and used Erst Throw again, aiming for its head, while Sherone launched it away with an explosive spell.
But the wolf quickly recovered and began to run towards Clara again. However, its intestines got caught on a rock, tripping the monster. A loud tear of the muscle could be heard as the wolf pulled on the rock, trying to break free, but only pulling out more organs out of it with blood spraying onto the ground. It continued to claw at the ground, trying to reach Clara, as if nothing else mattered. The wolf growled and screamed, foam spilling out of its mouth, as its unseeing eye darted around it.
It tugged one more time, pulling out another lump of flesh that Clara didn't recognize and tried her hardest to ignore. The wolf's left front leg went limp, but the monster continued to claw its way forward with the remaining three limbs. Clara took a few more steps back and sent another rain of knives at the beast.
As the damage accumulated, one of its back legs also went limp, while another got torn off completely. It continued to crawl forward, now biting into the ground and dragging itself by the teeth. Blood began to seep through its nose, mouth, and even eyes. However, the beast continued, as if refusing death itself.
Clara stared in horror at the creature's bloodlust, but she raised her knife with shaky hands and summoned her float knife, launching it at the wolf. It hit, cutting into the monster's flesh, but the wolf continued to crawl, blood spraying and coloring the grass under it a crimson red. Clara chained it up with her skill to allow her to recover SP and get her skills off of cooldown. As she drank an SP potion, the wolf began to bite the chains around it. However, its teeth seemed to be cracking under the tough glowing chains. Nevertheless, the Lunar Wolf continued to bite, even as its teeth chipped.
Even as the teeth broke and fell to the ground.
Even as the gums began to bleed.
Even as the jaw seemed to break.
The skill broke, and the wolf continued to crawl. It pushed itself up with its last remaining leg and opened its mouth, showing Clara a chewed up tongue rolling out. But instead of shooting an attack at Clara, or trying to bite her, its body froze. Its head jerked a few times, before the monster finally collapsed. The glow from its eyes and fur faded and its limbs went limp, never to move again. A low gurgling noise crawled out from its mouth, followed by dark crimson blood pouring onto the ground.
Clara looked at the beast before her, its last unfocused and unmoving eye staring directly at her. She saw her reflection in the beast, her face pale and her body covered in blood and spit.
Clara turned to Reiya, who nodded.
Looks like it's really dead.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Clara slowly walked away from the wolf, keeping an eye on it just in case, before making her way to the rest of the team. Reiya seemed to mumble something as she dropped to her knees, so Clara quickly ran to her side to support her.
"Damn it, what the hell was that?" Sherone mumbled.
"What do you mean?" Clara questioned, handing Reiya a health potion. The ghost girl seemed to be exhausted and her entire body looked to be a bit more transparent than usual.
"Well, I know what a fourth succession wolf is supposed to be like. Judging by the thin crescent on its head when it attacked, it was definitely a fourth one. However, its strength is around what you would expect from a third succession, not a fourth. That and the whole 'organs spilling out' thing that didn't seem to bother it that much. That is just… damn. Thank god we didn't go out here during the night or it would have floored us."
Sherone sighed and looked at the torn up corpse on the ground. He pulled out his tablet and began typing away. "Gonna need to report this thing. You wanna absorb its corpse while I finish? Oh, leave some of the organs for me, I'll send it to the labs to see if alchemists can tell us more. They don't give anything, right?"
"Right. Are you going to be alright Reiya?" Clara asked, turning to the girl. But she noticed that the healing potion quickly phased through Reiya and hit her clothes instead.
"Aaaaaw, I can't drink it," Reiya mumbled.
"Wait, try these ones," Clara said, handing Reiya an MP and SP potions, which the ghost girl quickly downed. The mana potion phased through her like the health potion, however the SP potion was quickly absorbed into her body, giving Reiya a less transparent appearance yet again. She sighed with relief and laid down on the grass.
Clara smiled and walked up to the corpse. It smelled awful, almost rotten, and Clara could already see some vultures slowly flying around the area, looking at the corpse.
Claa tried her best to avoid touching the corpse, as she swung her knife with one hand and covered her nose with her clothes with the other. Soon she separated the parts she needed and looked over the unlocked weapons.
Crescent Wolf Fur Pot
abilities locked equip bonus: +10 defense, night vision (weak)
special effect: Lunar Blessing (weak)
Crescent Wolf Meat Skewer
abilities locked equip bonus: cooking quality improvement 2
special effect: Lunar Blessing (weak)
Crescent Wolf Bone Boning Knife
abilities locked equip bonus: basic potion recipes, +7 attack
special effect: Lunar Blessing (weak)
A fur pot? Well, I got weirder things so who am I to judge. Some decent attack and great defense, as well as another quality improvement to my food? Nice! That means more food exp and more food levels! Not sure what Lunar blessing is, but these knives are pretty good stat wise. This will probably be my best pot shield for now as well.
"Dang it, I'll have to get this fixed now," Sherone complained, pulling the fangs out of his car. He threw them to the side and sighed.
As Clara approached him, she saw her knife's gem light up again.
Hm? Will the teeth give something as well?
Shrugging, Clara brought her knife closer to the discarded teeth, letting it absorb the leftovers. A new notification popped up, showing her another interesting weapon form.
Crescent Wolf Fang Knife
abilities locked equip bonus: "Crescent Slash", +6 agility
special effect: Lunar Blessing (weak)
That's a new skill! Finally, not just another Erst variant!
"Crescent Slash!" Clara yelled with excitement, aiming her skill at a nearby tree. The effect was similar to her Erst Slash, except instead of being a slash of green energy, this attack took on a bright pale blue shade, its shape similar to a moon's crescent phase. It crashed into the tree and made a large dent, however, the tree remained standing.
Huh. It's not very strong. Maybe it'll be stronger during the night, when the moon is out? I'll have to experiment later.
"Hmmmmmmmm~," Reiya mumbled, poking the corpse of the monster they just fought. "Can I eat its soul?"
"Eh? I mean… I'm not sure. It didn't look too healthy, so I wouldn't recommend it. But then again, maybe that's just the body? I don't know how souls work," Clara thought out loud. Eventually, she shrugged and turned to the boat. Reiya mumbled something else and proceeded to bite the air in front of her, emanating aloud tearing and cracking noise.
Clara shuttered and slumped on the side of the boat, relaxing for a moment. Reiya sat down next to her, still chewing the soul, and Sherone walked up to the corpse to bag whatever Clara left behind.
Clara opened her status and smiled. Her level rose to 55, which showed more progress than before. But then she frowned and sighed.
If the first tier took around level 35 ish knights to take care of it, then tier two could need like 70 levels. I still need like 15 levels. Dang, I hope I can get more levels fast enough. I have less than a week.
"Alright, I think we should get going. It's already getting dark and I don't want to be out here when it does. Hopefully that guy was one of a kind," Sherone exclaimed, tossing the organs into an empty bag and into the front seat.
"Alright! Miss Clara, can we try the mack en cheese again today, please?" Reiya asked, glancing at Clara full of hope.
"Yeah, sure. I'll make some when we get back. I need to test something out, be right back," Clara replied, walking behind a tree. She pulled out the fourth portal knife from her gem and stabbed it into a tree. A new waypoint showed up in her status and she sighed with satisfaction.
Now I should be able to get back and forth quickly.
With that, she quickly went back to the boat and the gang flew away, a bit slower this time due to the boat's damage.
"Mack en cheese! Mack en cheese! Mack en cheese!" Reiya chanted all the way back to Cloud X. Sherone joined in while Clara simply hung her head back and closed her eyes. She changed her knife to the boning knife and did her best to relax, letting the gentle movements of the boat rock her to sleep.
A pack of wolves with blue glowing fur and a small crescent on their heads. They walked up to a bloody patch of grass and one of them howled. Very soon, another, larger wolf walked up to the pack, this one having a glowing semicircle on its forehead. The aura around it was filled with power and its fur was bright enough to light up some nearby trees.
The wolf looked at the bloody patch of grass and gave it a quick sniff. It growled and turned away, irritated by the sign. The other wolves exchanged looks and quickly followed the large wolf, their heads hung low. Soon, the pack and their glow were nowhere to be seen.
"Mmh, it's so yummy! Even more than last time," Reiya exclaimed, stuffing her face with macaroni's.
"Eat carefully and slowly, the food isn't going anywhere," Clara smiled and handed her a fork and a towel.
"It isn't? Does human food not run away if left unattended?" Reiya asked, poking one of the macaroni's.
"Here, try using a fork," Clara replied, picking up her fork. She began to eat her food and looked at Reiya. The ghost girl carefully picked up the fork and stabbed it into the plate, cracking it. She looked down at the ground and mumbled 'sorry' as she continued to poke the food with a fork, this time way more gently.
"Phew, that's finally over," Sherone grumbled, sitting down next to them. "Mind if I join?"
"Sure, plates are over there," Clara replied, pointing to the cupboard behind Sherone. He tossed his shield to the side uncaringly, letting it hit the ground with a loud clang, and grabbed himself some mac and cheese.
"What happened to your shield?"
"Well, remember when your friend poured a bunch of mana into it to create a barrier that saved us from the blast? Yeah, it kinda got fried," Sherone replied.
"Huh? How does that work? Could my shield do that?"
"Hm? Ah, no. This shield has a magic constellation embedded into it. So if I pour mana into it, it will be like casting a spell normally, except without the difficulty of having to focus on forming the stars. I can still cast the spell normally, this just speeds up the process and lets me cast an offensive spell while deploying a barrier," Sherone explained. "If you pour in more mana then technically the result will be a stronger barrier, but it could fry the magic circuit."
"Sorry. I didn't mean to break your shield," Reiya mumbled.
"Nah, don't worry bout it. I already ordered a new one today. Also sent your commission as well. I got a backup shield in my boat anyway," Sherone shrugged.
"Can I try it out?" Clara asked, picking up the shield.
"You can keep it. It should still be good for a bit, but it won't be nearly as strong as before and will break in a few more uses. But it can still be used as a normal shield I guess."
Clara spun the shield around a few times, but she didn't see any circuit.
Guess it must be on the inside. Where do I pour in the mana?
The hero shrugged and grabbed the shield's handle, then began to pour mana into the shield. As her mana bar quickly began to deplete, a small barrier appeared around her.
Woah! So that's what casting a barrier feels like.
"Can I really keep this?"
"Sure. You look like you're getting used to it already. Wanna try this gun while you're at it?" Sherone questioned pulling a small pistol out of his pocket. "It works the same way, but has Star Arrow embedded instead."
Oh! If I get one of those, won't that solve my magic problem? I still haven't been able to cast a decent for when my SP runs out!
"Yes please!" Clara exclaimed, grabbing the gun. She pointed it out the window and began to aim at one of the clouds, when suddenly, a shock of energy passed through her arm.
"AGH! Why?!" she yelped, dropping the gun.
"Huh, I guess it wasn't just a Hol thing," Sherone mumbled, picking up the gun.
[Heroes cannot use weapons other than the assigned weapon]
Wait, seriously? Not even offensive magic circuits? That's so lame! I can barely use a magic light orb as is! Well, at least I got a defensive spell, so that's good.
"Oh well," Clara sighed. This will still help me a lot.
"Can I have more mack en cheese, Miss Clara?" Reiya asked, raising her empty cracked plate.
"Sure. You can finish the rest," Clara responded, turning towards the window again. A bright, almost full moon was lighting up the clouds. Its glow reminded Clara of the times that she would look at the moon during the night, instead of going to sleep right away. She burned the curtains in the kitchen accident, so its glow would always keep her up for a few hours. They got new curtains eventually, but she still sometimes let the glow of the moon shine into her room.
Clara noticed that when the glow of the moon fell on her knife, it seemed to glow a bit, with the crescent designs showing up brighter than before. She opened her status and saw that the knife's stats rose a bit, now toppling even her Unobtainium Ore Knife.
So that's what the lunar blessing does! Buffs my forms when the moon is out! I wonder if the different phases of the moon buff differently.
"Ooooooh," Reiya mumbled as she stared at the moon. Clara looked to her side and rubbed her eyes. For a moment it seemed that Reiya's hair turned a shade of light blue and she had a small wolf tail, but it disappeared the next second so Clara chalked it up to a trick of the light. She glanced at her level again and sighed.
I need more levels. Just 15 more and I'm set for the next 3 waves.
Omake: Reiya can't spell (By Colenobi)
Clara: Hey guys, do you want me to make some D-E-S-S-E-R-T? I'm really close to increasing my cooking level.
Laura: Sure, I could go for a T-R-E-A-T.
Reiya: Whatcha guys talking about?
Hol: Yeah, why did you just spell dessert—?
Laura: SHH!
Clara: Shut up! Don't say it!
Hol: Uh... Why?
Laura: Oh god, how do we tell you this...
Clara: Reiya... can't spell.
Hol: ...What?
Clara: She can't spell, so when we talk about something she wants, we have to spell it out loud so she doesn't get too excited.
Hol: She's a wave monster, and she can't handle hearing the word "treat?"
Reiya: Treat?!
Clara: No treat!
Reiya: Treat?!
Clara: No treat!
Reiya: Treat?!
Clara: No treat!
Reiya: Awwwww...
Hol: ...Okay, just what is happening?
Clara: We told you, she gets excited when she hears the word... T-R-E-A-T.
Reiya: Whatcha talking about?
Laura: Training.
Reiya: Aw darn.
Hol: So you guys just... treat her like a toddler?
Reiya: Treat?!
Laura: No treat!
Reiya: Treat?!
Laura: No treat!
Reiya: Treat?!
Laura: No treat!
Reiya: Awwwww...
Laura: Hol, you have to spell if you're talking about F-O-O-D.
Hol: Okay, so... what kind of... S... N... A... C... K are you making Clara?
Reiya: Snack?!
Hol: OH COME ON!
Clara: Really Hol?!
Hol: What?! I spelled it!
Clara: Well, she knows how to spell snack!
Hol: So she can spell "snack" but not "treat?!"
Reiya: Treat?!
Hol: NO TREAT!
Reiya: Treat?!
Hol: NO TREAT!
Reiya: TREAT?!
Hol: NO TREAT!
Reiya: GOD DAMMIT
Clara: Okay, she's getting fussy. It's time for an N-A-P.
Reiya: Yeah!
Hol: ...Reiya. ...What does "N-A-P" spell?
Reiya: party :)
