Dark Fate: Book 2 – The First Night
: Chapter 11

I breathed easily as I flicked the goblin blood from my sword and slid it gently back into its sheath. I had not even broken a sweat while clearing out the goblin nest. Simply put, I was too strong by far for any low-level creatures to have a hope of damaging.

Of course, I couldn’t take things easy. That wouldn’t always be the case. Stronger monsters would appear, in time, and they would be able to break my defenses with ease. Eventually, the creatures from off-world, already in their second or third tier, would come, and they would be considered monsters in their own right.

And, even before then, I would have to keep an eye out for nondamaging effects. My defenses primarily reduced the damage from incoming spells and attacks. They did not, however, protect against blinding effects, or petrification, or any number of other, nastier things that people could do with poisons and magic. At the moment, I only had my attributes to defend me from such things. Granted, my attributes were monstrous for my level, but they were not bulletproof, like my [Shadow Armor].

I took a moment to look over the notifications from the battle. I was pleased, though not surprised, to see that I had gained two levels from the fight. According to the common sense of the System, this should have been an impossible fight, or at least a desperate battle against an overwhelming foe. I was fully aware that such common sense no longer applied to me.

I nodded slowly as I looked over the loot. It was common for the first clear of a dungeon to award more powerful loot, and the System added to things when people cleared a dungeon that was supposed to be above their level. Some of the items were more useful than others, naturally.

This beauty was a rare item that any spellcaster would like. Sure, they didn’t typically engage in physical combat if they had any choice, but they often didn’t have a choice. These bracers would amplify any spells they cast or abilities they used, as well as their natural Defense. That was nice, but it was really Battledancers, Monks, and others like them, who were unarmored melee combatants, that truly coveted them.

I handed the bracers to Talia, and ordered her to put them on. These bracers would amplify her defensive abilities, and would have an even greater effect as she leveled up. That single piece of gear would likely be the best item she could replace until late in the first tier. Even then, it would definitely be near the top for a good while after that. After all, an item that added a percentage to your abilities was useful at pretty much any level, unless there were level restrictions.

This blade was curved slightly, with a fang-like appearance. Corrupted steel ran in black veins through the blade, and up into the hilt. It was partly decorative, of course, only possible through magic, but it also served as channel to funnel the power of its victims into its wielder. A purpose-made tool that I would have to be judicious in using, for certain. I tossed it into my inventory, where it could not potentially be used against me.

One of the most common early healer weapons in the world, post-apocalypse. This staff was a decent low-level weapon for a Priest or similar class, but better items would come along before long. Healing an extra 10 points from a spell when someone could easily have north of 1000 hp didn’t sound like much, and, in fact, it wasn’t. However, most effects of that type stacked, which could add up pretty quickly. And if you had Heal Over Time spells, like something that healed X per second for ten seconds, you’d be applying that +10 to each ‘tick’ of the spell. That meant an extra 100 HP healed, just from one spell. I didn’t have a healer pet yet, so that went into the inventory as well.

Now this. This was the big thing. Bloodlinked armors were some of the rarest and most sought-after dungeon drops in the entire first and most of the second tiers. At any stage, their power could be outstripped by the work of a master craftsman making a personalized piece, but those pieces would be expensive, and they would be finite. They did not grow and change with their wearers. Only System-generated items could do that.

I needed blood to unlock the item. I deactivated my [Shadow Armor] for a moment. Damage was damage, even if it came from a friendly source, which was a drawback (albeit an extremely niche one) to spells like this. If you needed blood, whether for something like this, or sealing a magical contract, or as part of some ritual, or any one of a hundred mundane ventures, you had to undo your defenses to allow it to go forward.

I’ll admit, that description damn near brought a tear to my eye. Looking over the actual stats of the armor set, I nodded, appreciatively. The set was made of black leather, and consisted of a suit of studded leather, a belt, and a pair of leather greaves. The stats were nice, especially for low level, but you could replace better, especially amongst heavy armor wearers, if the did not bother with a set, and instead took individual pieces that they found.

On me, well, that was a significant boost to my combat potential. Combined with the [Shadow Armor], I would have a Defense of over two thousand. Plus, the aesthetics were truly wonderful. There was a demonic skull on the chest, embossed and with red crystals for eyes. Similar devices were on the belt and greaves. I would still need boots, bracers, gauntlets, pauldrons, and a helm of some sort, but I definitely had a Demon Lord mystique going on.

The only thing I had left to do with my level-up was to pick my skills. As I thought, I had some interesting new additions I could pick from. I smiled, despite myself. I’d forgotten the childlike wonder of opening your Status to see what new options were there for you. At some point in my last life, everything had become so… routine. I’d forgotten the little things. Perhaps that was what led to my downfall. I promised myself that I wouldn’t forget again.

While there were no ‘bad’ options in that list, I immediately picked Pheromones, Curse Magic, Destruction Magic, and Taming. All of those would be very useful in the future. Pheromones and Taming would make it easier to keep any lovelies I met under control until I built up their dependence on me. And Curse and Destruction magic would give me some help in creating spells. Actually, I got two spells just from picking the skills.

Both of these spells were largely useless for me. That was, after all, is why I hadn’t picked them before. Still, studying their effects with the knowledge of Curse and Destruction magic I now had would make creating new, more effective spells that much easier. So, I would call it a net positive.

Turning to look at Talia, I grinned. “Well, my pet, what skills did you take?”