Chapter 124: Six Piece Set Bonus

William Oh walks on frozen lightning, drinks the tears of the gods, breathes defiance, and stares giants in the eye.

• Jason Salazar

“I did it,” Jason panted breathlessly.

You have reached level 10!

Now that you have reached level 10, experience gain in the Hunting Grounds through the 2^nd Floor have been nerfed.

If you wish to continue to accumulate power, you must Climb to the 3^rd Floor.

Jason Salazar

Prophet of the End Level 10

20 Strength

10 Kinesthetics

40 Resistance

40 Focus

30 Acuity

Charges: 3/40

Free Points: 10

Primary upgrade Available. (2)

Secondary Ability Available.

Wow. I am a complete badass. Jason thought, staring at his outlandishly high stats. I could probably take three Heaths at once now. At least, before he got his Class.

“Did what?” Will’s voice came from behind as he climbed down the hillside to stand beside Jason.

“I got to level ten!” Jason cried, pumping a fist.

“Nice. Say, since you’re done on this floor, can I get the axe and the mask back for a minute?”

“Why?”

A shadow blotted out the evening sun, prompting Jason to look up, and wish he hadn’t.

“No reason.”

***William Oh***

Will would’ve laughed at how comically fast Jason tore off the mask and handed it over if he hadn’t been paying more attention to the roc and counting down its ETA.

15…14…13…

Will slipped on the mask and looped a snake around Jason before he flew the two of them a couple hundred feet back from the pile of dissolving kaith corpses, watching and waiting.

The roc did not see them as a meal. Or even a threat. The bird landed right beside the largest pile of undissolved kaith and began gorging itself, it’s back squarely to them.

From here, Will could make out the roiling thunderclouds that clung to the bird’s shoulder down past it’s tail. Crackling noises accompanied tiny bursts of light as miniature lightning bolts arced from one man-sized feather to another.

Will measured the height from the bird’s shoulder to its pelvis, wondering how big the slab of breast meat would be. The woman at the Stronghold had carved her stall into the slab of salted meat.

What would a fresh roc sandwich taste like? Will thought, glancing at Loth.

“With cheese.” Loth whispered back, seemingly treading the same mental ground.

Will nodded. He would add tomatoes and onions too, but Loth didn’t subscribe to veggies.

“We’re gonna leave, right? Jason asked. “It’s not interested in us, so we can just leave. Right?”

Will pursed his lips in thought. He was itching to try out the 6-piece set bonus. To an unusual degree, actually. And the 2^nd Floor Raid Boss seemed like an excellent target to see what it could do.

But…he was supposed to be the wise leader here. He was supposed to give Jason a good example of what proper Climbing looked like, and proper Climbers did not pick fights they weren’t sure they could win for a chance at a particularly tasty sandwich.

And what if the fight with the Roc spills over on Jason?

Will blinked as he realized what was going on in his head.

The roc was a stand in for the paladin’s Party.

Will had made the right decision to run away….but it ate at him. In the back of his mind, Will was wondering if, with his full set, he could’ve beat them, and prevented them from becoming a problem later. Maybe he could’ve but the fight could’ve easily spilled over to harm Jason or Loth.

And that Nuker would’ve turned you to ash…probably. I’ll never know for sure, will I?

Once he’d realized what was going on in his mind, Will was able to make a rational decision.

“You’re right,” Will said, ignoring Loth’s horrified expression. “Let’s get back to the inn and rest up. We’re heading up to the Third Floor in the morning.”

“Foo.” Loth pouted as Jason heaved a sigh of relief.

Will took that opportunity to duck down and whisper beside Loth: “Mark it.”

Loth’s eyes widened a fraction before she nodded, tossing a handful of scent-laying bugs out, which flew up to the Roc and nestled anywhere they could find that wasn’t brimming with electricity. Mosly on the bird’s face and scalp.

They were so small that the roc didn’t seem to notice.

They headed back to the inn they were bunking in, paid the ‘we were never here’ fee and set Jason up with a big stew dinner and a roc wrap from the nice lady’s stall carved into the side of a breast.

They waited until Jason fell asleep to sneak out and attend to the roc business.

“Now, how is this going to work?” Will asked. “I’m not sure even you could handle the logistics of butchering and brining a Kaijuu-sized bird.”

“I did some research while Jason was eating,” Loth said, opening a narrow booklet with only a few dozen pages. Her notes on the second Floor.

“There is only one Stronghold on the Floor with the capacity to process and brine a roc. It is centered around a caldera with a lake in the center, and a salt mine on the slopes directly above. They call it ‘The Salt Bowl’”

“mmm.”

“They grow a special blend of seasonings on the lower slopes.” Loth said, her black claw tracing the tiny squiggles of her own handwriting. “Which they then process and toss into the highly salinated lake, giving anything brined in it it’s unique flavor.”

“You’re just teasing me now.” Will said.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“A bit.” Loth said. “Anyway, typically, a Climber can’t transport the bird themselves, nor can they process it, nor can they carry hundreds of tons of salted meat with them everywhere they go, so the processed breasts are sold at auction, and the hunter gets 35% of the profit, or some combination of cash and meat. The rest goes to pay for the facilities.”

“Do the hard part and only get a fraction of the cash,” Will groused.

“It’s good to own land,” Loth said with a shrug. “Own the right land and you’re set for life.”

Will lifted the two of them up and followed Loth’s tracking bugs to the Roc.

The Raid Boss was taking a food nap less than a hundred miles from where it had glutted itself on the kaith they’d killed, beak tucked into a wing, looking like a pillar of roiling stormclouds standing atop a floating mountain.

“I want to see if I can do this by myself,” Will said, studying the roc.

“…Why?” Loth asked with a raised brow.

“…I want to get some practice with the Set before we meet that paladin again. I’ve got a few ideas I want to test out…I want to end him.” this living on the run, always wondering when the tireless, indestructible paladin would show up again with another plan to put Will’s ashes in a jar…it couldn’t stand.

“I’m sure he feels the same way,” Loth said, making a ‘go ahead’ gesture. “If things go sour, lead it to that mountain.” She pointed. “I’ll be there.”

Will nodded his thanks before reviewing the set bonuses.

Family Gathering Set Bonuses:

Aspect of the Immortal Serpent’s passive bonuses apply to eidolons created by the user. Phantom Hand can interact with the physical world at will. (2 items)

Phantom Hand loses its hand form, which is replaced by 5 autonomous phantom snakes. These snakes can be fully controlled by the user at will, and have all the effects of Phantom Hand. Each Snake has its own Dimensional Storage, but only 1 can actively provide a Relic’s effect at a time.

Each individual snake can absorb one wound at will, or a lethal wound automatically, carrying the wound until it is healed, or the eidolon is destroyed, returning the wound to the user in whatever state of repair it was when the eidolon dissipated. (4 items)

Aspect of The Immortal Serpent’s Potency is boosted by 5000% (6 Items)