Elsewhere in the Crypt

  A lone figure skulks through the dark dungeon in search of food and a place to rest. Its one usable eye darting about for both threats and prey. Numerous wounds are visible on its quadrupedal body, the worst of which is the gash on its front leg, hindering its movements. Though to say its wounds were purely physical would be very wrong, since the worst injury of all would be the harm to his ego.

  Forced to run away like a coward, forced to watch his pack be slaughtered, and worst of all unable to even kill the bastard who did it. Yes that shitty skull, he remembered how that bastard slaughtered his pack when they were at their most vulnerable, how it fled after attracting the big beast and the flying swarm.

  A sudden movement to his right caught his attention, one of those scavenger bugs. Usually he wouldn’t even bother with one of these bottom feeders but desperate times call for desperate measures. The critter was looking at him hungrily, probably thinking he was about to die. A surge of anger ignites in his chest at being viewed as prey by a weak bug like this

  Without warning, he charged the bug before it could react and bit his head clean off. Devouring both its head and body in a matter of seconds. After he was finished, he was greeted by the last remaining member of its pack, the glowy letters. He wasn’t entirely certain what type of rat it was, only that if he followed the glowy letters, he would gain strength. This was how he became the Alpha in the first place.

  {You have slain Rotroach: Lv 4}

  {You have gained 3 Exp}

  {Congratulations, You have reached level 10}

  {+3 Vitality, +2 Strength, +1 Intelligence}

  The familiar feeling of power entered his body once more, the numerous wounds dissipating like dust. “More power, I need more power” he thought. The Alpha grinned with his large teeth, a singular goal at the forefront of his mind. To destroy the one who slaughtered his pack, to destroy the one who almost ended his life, to destroy that bastard SKULL.

  Back in the Library

  “Pheww, at least I get some decent Exp for that.” I pant in exhaustion. Surrounding me were the corpses of 13 {Skitterslice Spiders}. Four of them directly in front of me, three to my left, five to my right and back. I glanced around warily and sighed in relief when I didn’t sense any other creatures from {Soul Sense}. I was still rather miffed that I didn’t sense the spiders sneaking up on me, then again their status screens kinda explained why that is.

  {Tier 0 - Skitterslice Spiders: Lv 3-5}

  {A sneaky arachnid which excels in stalking their prey undetected before swiftly dismembering both life and limb with their sharp claws. One should exercise caution when coming across this creature because should you encounter one, others will undoubtedly be near. Common Skills: Sneak, Razor Slice, Leap}

  It looks like the upgraded {Identify} now tells me several new things regarding monsters. For starters, I can now see what skills they might have or at the very least their common skills. I briefly wondered if there was a better way of gaining skills , cause most of my learned skills either came from level-ups or happenstance.

  Other than the skills {Advance Identify} also tells me which tier they are in. I remembered seeing that word somewhere but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I pulled up some of my past status screens hoping to get a clue. Luckily, I found it rather fast.

  “Huh, Tier 0 must be my tier when I was a Pygmy Boneling and I entered Tier 1 when I evolved into a Juvenile Blighted Eidolon. “ I surmised. Done looking at screens, I mentally pulled up some notifications I postponed for after the battle.

  {Levitate has risen to level 2}

  {Congratulations, you have reached level 7}

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  {+3 Dexterity, +3 Arcane, +2 Strength, +1 Free Point}

  {Mana Bite has risen to level 3}

  {Phantomstep has risen to level 4}

  {Aura of Rot has risen to level 5 [Max Level]}

  {Aura of Rot can be upgraded}

  I adorn a simple smile as I look over my recent gains, I don’t think I could ever get bored of the addictive nature of leveling up. I ruminate a bit on where to put the free point before deciding to just put it into {Toughness} for some more survivability. Finished with that, I open my options for upgrading {Aura of Rot}.

  “Some rather unique options this time” I mused. I examine each choice carefully and weigh their pros and cons. After some thought, I decided to cross out {Miasmic Presence} as an option. Although it seems good on paper, in practice it might be a hindrance if I can’t control the skill. “It would suck if I accidentally end up killing the first person I talk to due to my inability to control a skill.” I reason. Sure of my decision, I look at the rest of the skills and after a couple of minutes decide to cross out {Fetid Aura}, for being too basic of an upgrade in my opinion. Thus leaving me with only {Plague’s Boon} and {Deathly Pulse}.

  Both upgrades seem really good and would synergize quite well with my assassin caster build. {Plague’s Boon} would be a solid buff and can, in theory synergize well with {Ebony Claws} allowing me to not only increase my damage but also give me a semi-reliable way to debuff an enemy while {Deathly Pulse} can act as both a solid deterrent incase any enemies get too close to me as well as a sneak attack of sorts when I'm fighting in close range.

  After thinking it through some more, I eventually decided on {Deathly Pulse} as I believe it could offer more usage down the line and could potentially save my hide if something gets too close for my liking. “Let’s see what this skill’s all about.”

  {Aura of Rot has been upgraded to Deathly Pulse}

  {Deathly Pulse: Lv 1}

  {Allows the user to expel a short-range burst of concentrated decay at a radius around their body, Potency and range of Death Pulse’s is determined by Willpower and Arcane}

  “Does this work the way I think it does.” I ponder. I move farther away from where the important books are located, just in case the effect is too destructive. Once I was a good distance away, I activated the skill and a rush of mana surged out of my body before rapidly changing into dark green smoke in the air. I watched with rapt attention as the smoke made contact with a stray piece of paper and the paper began dissolving with a speed visible to the naked eye. After a few seconds, the paper completely dissolved.

  “It wasn’t kidding when it said concentrated decay, that might be one of my strongest skills now.” Feeling satisfied with the test, I checked how much mana that one burst wasted. Only to find that singular burst took 6 mana from me. “Going off of my current mana pool, I can cast that skill 7 times before I run dry. The mana cost is a little steep but it’s worth it if the performance is anything to go by.” I remark. I look back at the green smoke and notice that it hasn’t fully dissipated yet. “So it can also act as a smokescreen of sorts huh, that's good to know.”

  I was about to experiment more with the skill when {Soul Sense} picked up an aura heading rapidly towards me. I didn’t even get the chance to react before it was upon me, the last thing I saw was the glint of something silver then my world went white.