A new power
1291 Words
Aaron breathed a sigh of relief and approached the loot chest which had dropped right in front of him. It was a silver coloured chest with a peculiar beak shaped lock in the middle. This box was a special reward which could only be obtained by defeating the various mini-bosses in the game and contained some of the best early game loot on Solaris.
“Unlock Loot Chest.”
With a clicking sound, the lock opened and the lid was thrown back to reveal the contents of the chest. The Z-band notified him of all the items he had just acquired and unlocked yet another new feature.
[*Silver Loot Chest Unlocked!*]
[30 Healing Potions Obtained!]
[30 Energy Potions Obtained!]
[20 Smoke Bombs obtained!]
[20 Polished Throwing Knives Obtained!]
[10 Fast Travel Orbs Obtained!]
[10 Wooden Torches Obtained!]
[*New Feature Unlocked: Predator Inventory: Allows the player to store items, weapons and equipment in a special inventory with unlimited space. The user may access it by pressing 'I' on the keyboard or using the appropriate voice command.*]
All the new items Aaron had just acquired soon disappeared and another message notified him that they were safely added to his special in-game inventory. With this special storage now accessible, he no longer had to worry about carrying a satchel or backpack around to store different items. This was one of the most useful features of the game, which only became accessible after level 10. Along with these rewards, hitting level 10 also granted Aaron new abilities in the Martial Arts class.
For the present, he didn’t invest his 3 skill points in anything, but went over the new abilities he had just obtained.
[*2 New Abilities Acquired!*]
[1. Adrenaline Rush: It can be used once per day. When activated, it grants the user 100% movement speed and 200% attack speed.]
[2. Perfect Parry: It can be used once per day. When activated, it allows the user to parry all melee attacks. The player must have an appropriate weapon equipped to activate this skill.]
Aaron didn’t spend too much time going through the various rewards he had obtained, but quickly regrouped with the other members of his party. Though they had eventually managed to take down the Cockatrice, the battle had left everyone exhausted and drained of EP.
“You did it, bro.” Zach smiled at Aaron and nodded in approval. This battle brought back all those memories from that time they defeated their first boss in a co-op RPG. Aaron had always been the one to lead from the front, with his brilliant use of strategic moves. Even with 2 NPCs on his team, he had managed to coordinate a well planned attack.
Aaron bumped his fist with Zach and smiled back. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“I can’t believe how well you made use of NPCs. Only you could have pulled something like this off.”
“Well, like I always say, everyone has a role to play. You just need to make proper use of your team mates.”
“Let’s get going now. It’s gonna be noon in a few hours.”
Their conversation was interrupted by Kawasha’s silent sobs. “We cannot leave my father out here like this.”
“Yeah, your old man fought quite well. Too bad we can’t do nothing ‘bout it now. I guess it’s time to put him to rest,” Zach replied.
Mawanko and Kawasha both shed tears and went down on their knees, on either side of Nashoba’s body. The poison had turned his skin pale and blue and he was just moments away from death.
Aaron looked at Zach and noticed he didn’t even show the slightest bit of emotion. “So, guess there’s nothing you can do about this,” he whispered, eyeing him with crossed arms.
“Yeah, this is totally out of my hands, bro.”
“You’re a terrible liar,” Aaron sighed. “Come on, just do your thing.”
“I really hate you bro,” Zach replied with a peevish smile.
“I knew you would definitely have some trick up your sleeve.”
“After how this fool treated us, I feel this serves him just right.” Zach looked at Aaron to see if he could change his mind, but found him unwavering in his intent. “Fine, I’ll save another useless NPC, who’ll probably end up lecturing us again,” he shrugged.
“Get out of my way, guys.” Zach walked up to where Nashoba was lying and channelled his energy into his fingertips. Bringing both palms close together, he cast his special support skill. “Curia.”
An orb of bright green light formed in the little space between his two open palms. He walked closer to the dying chief and sent the magic orb flying towards him. The healing orb gently touched his chest and disappeared inside. A flood of healing magic washed over the chief’s body and his skin turned back to normal. The Curia skill which Zach had just used was a high level restoration skill which had the ability to nullify all life-draining status effects, but it cost the user a whopping 300 EP to cast. Luckily, Zach had invested all his skills into the support tree and had a maximum EP capacity of 400, which made it possible for him to use high EP consuming skills. The only trade off was that, as a support, his HP and defence stats were seriously low and he had to rely on others to deal damage to the enemy.
Nashoba recovered pretty quickly after the Curia spell nullified the effects of the poison. His HP still remained critically low, but he was able to move his limbs again.
“Father, you’re alright!” Kawasha hugged the chief tightly and let out a soft sniffle. He had given up all hope and this sudden recovery felt nothing short of a divine miracle.
“I wish we could spare a moment for you two, but we really gotta hurry to that Orc camp,” Zach reminded them.
Kawasha helped his father get back on his feet and broke out into praise of Zach. “You truly are no ordinary human. I knew I should have believed Odolo. You have saved my father’s life and for that I will forever remain in your debt.”
“I suppose that makes it the second time,” Nashoba added. “I guess I was unduly harsh on you two back in the settlement. You are truly gifted young men.”
“Damn, I never thought I’d get to hear praise from you,” Zach sniped, putting his hands behind his head nonchalantly. He wanted to soak in this moment and rub it right in Nashoba’s face.
“Alright, that’s enough bro. Let’s get moving. We don’t have much time left.” Aaron gave all of them one energy potion to restore their lost EP and handed the chief a healing potion to get his HP back to full.
Having got them all back into fighting shape again, Aaron went on and activated his Z-band again.
[*Absorb hybrid DNA?*]
[Yes] [No]
“Yes, absorb it.”
As soon as Aaron confirmed the command, the floating hybrid DNA was sucked into his Z-band. This special DNA was quite different from the ordinary DNA he had previously obtained by killing other enemies. Defeating a mini-boss was no easy feat and the DNA from such a rare creature unlocked a very special power. A flashing red notification appeared on Aaron’s Z-band and almost immediately he felt a strange burning sensation inside his chest.
[*DNA Absorption Complete*]
[*Blazing Form Unlocked!*]
- Writer
