Chapter Two-Hundred-and-Fifty-Two

< < Select an Evolution > >

< Grinning Scholar — Obtain two known weapon evolutions >

< Unusual Hoarder — Gain the ability to store anything you can carry within a dimensional space >

< Smug Burglar — Obtain two known Relics of Legendary rarity or lower >

The first option depicted him as an evil-looking student, holding a large tome; the second showed him holding the handle of a strange floating door, which led to a room filled with junk piled high; and the last was a version of him dressed as a thief, wearing a shit-eating grin while clutching valuables in his arms.

This might be the hardest choice I’ve had to make yet, depending on what limitations they have.

“Can I take literally any known relic or evolution with either Burglar or Scholar?” Adam asked.

[Yes.]

“So, if I wanted, I could get a fusion evolution?”

“Would I be able to get the Bloodfiend Matriarch, or I suppose it’s called Bloodfiend Patriarch for men, if I picked Scholar?”

[No. You have not obtained this fusion evolution before. Therefore, it is not known.]

“But I know what it does, I know which weapons it requires, and how it works.”

[You must have obtained the evolution yourself for it to be considered ‘known’.]

Damn.

“Does that also mean that I cannot pick Grinning Scholar and then use it to grab Smug Burglar?” he asked, realising there was a potential loophole there.

[You have not obtained Smug Burglar. Therefore, it is not known.]

Adam scratched his head. If he were to take Scholar, then he knew he wanted to at least grab Ghost for the ability to duplicate thrown items, which Parvillo might let him do, at least so long as it contributed to the goal of fixing the integrity exploit that the Flayed Lady had found.

What else could I use?

The endless stamina evolution from Elphin Hero might be a good pick.

I unfortunately only know four fusion evolutions, and none of them are useful to me. If I had tried the Bloodfiend Beast before, then I would’ve been able to use that at least, which would have been powerful as a transformation.

I could take the Beast of Moonport evolution from Beast perhaps, but it wouldn’t help me until at least stage six.

< < Evolution > >

< The Beast of Moonport — Gain double Speed and Damage at night >

Adam pulled out his evolution encyclopaedia to look through all his options of ‘known’ evolutions.

Amongst the ones he found potentially useful were:

< < Evolutions > >

< Elphin Agility — All non-hostile forms of movement consume no Stamina >

< Crawler’s Veil — Unique Skill ( Crawler’s Veil ) | Coats the wielder in a cloak of Mana, turning them invisible until their next attack or 30 seconds have passed >

< Outrider — All movements to close the gap to your opponent are twice as fast >

< Fire Fiend — All flame-based attacks leave behind lingering flames >

< Spear Dancer — Gain increased damage in accordance with how fast you’re moving >

< Huntsman — Gain a Bear Trap Relic >

I probably won’t need the last one to get more bear traps, since if I pick Ghost it should duplicate them.

Elphin Agility might be useful, especially if I pick up the grafted wings from stage six, but right now my stamina management has been fine.

Outrider would let me close the gap in basically an instant.

Fire Fiend might work with some relics like the crossbow bracer, and probably with certain potions that Sprite can make, but it’s a bit specialist.

Crawler’s Veil is likely one of the better choices, given that it is invisibility with a ten-minute cooldown, but I’m not sure if it’ll require my mana to cast. But after stage six anyone with the ‘Mage Aspirant’s Cowl’ will be able to see me and steal my invisibility, since it’s made of mana.

< < Relic > >

< Mage Aspirant’s Cowl (Epic) — Allows you to see Mana and absorb it >

I’m also not sure if the Flayed Lady has some kind of fuckery that lets people track me without needing to see me, but perhaps my slime body counters that, since I don’t have any blood.

Spear Dancer lets me scale damage with speed, which makes all of my speed upgrades very powerful, plus it may end up busted if I can get my hands on the ‘Body of Sloth’.

< < Relic > >

< Body of Sloth (Epic) — Increases Player Defence by 25% | Increases Movement Speed by 25% | Increases Damage by 1% for every 3% Movement Speed | Taking damage reduces all Movement Speed bonuses to 0% for 1 minute >

I don’t know how exactly Spear Dancer’s scaling works, but it may be similar at a three-to-one ratio, or perhaps two-to-one. Regardless, it would let me absolutely break my damage stats. And since I have the shapeshifter’s claw, I can take that enormous amount of damage and double it again. On top of that, if I can get the slothling spring boots, I can triple my speed.

< < Relic > >

< Slothling Spring Boots (Rare) — Charge a powerful and quick leap, accelerating the wearer to 3x Movement Speed. 60-second cooldown >

Yeah. I think that if I pick Scholar, then Ghost and Spear Dancer are my optimal choices. Although, I do wonder about something.

“If I pick an evolution that grants me a certain weapon, such as the Hoplite evolution that gives a parry shield, would I get that weapon too?”

[No. The Fool is unable to wield weapons. Picking such an Evolution would have no effect.]

Figures.

Adam focused on Hoarder. It was a straight-forward choice but with a lot of potential for exploitation.

“Can I store living beings inside the dimensional space?”

[Yes.]

“Even players?”

[Yes.]

Adam grinned. This might be a good choice too. I could use it to store a bunch of ready-made traps and literally make people disappear, plus it would also just be super convenient.

“How exactly does it work? Do I just need to touch something to store it?”

[To activate the dimensional storage space, you must lift the thing you wish to store for 2 seconds with both hands.]

Okay, that makes it not that great against players, even if I can get the jump on them.

“Does it also take two seconds to pull items from the space?”

[No, retrieval simply requires a specific gesture using both hands.]

“If I store a boss or enemy inside the space, are they considered defeated?”

[No.]

“But I can do it?”

[Yes.]

“So, what happens if I store a boss and leave the stage?”

[The boss will perish upon retrieval.]

That might have some ways to be exploited, if a certain enemy has an effect triggered on death, but it’s far less powerful than I hoped, and doing it to an important boss means I basically get no points for it and could make some stages impossible to finish, like Moonport.

While it was a powerful ability, it was much weaker when compared to Scholar’s potential.

If only I knew more evolutions, then Scholar would’ve been truly busted.

“Wait, if I pick Scholar, can I use its ability in a future loop to pick itself?”

Parvillo gave Adam an ‘are you serious?’ stare with all of his eyes.

[No,] he replied.

Adam moved on to Burglar.

“I can pick secret relics with Burglar, right?”

[Yes. Any Relic of Legendary rarity or lower that you have possessed can be selected.]

My first pick would obviously have to be the ‘Mirror Mask’.

< < Secret Relic > >

< Mirror Mask (Legendary) — Copy and perform any Skill or Spell you have seen. 1-day cooldown >

With Prankster’s ability to retrigger relics, it would be incredibly busted, especially since the only requirement for copying a skill or spell is that I need to have ‘seen’ it. That means that I could actually use it to copy Kat’s Bloodfiend Matriarch fusion evolution skill, and probably the skill would last until I turned it off.

But what other relic would I pick?

I suppose the ‘Fiend Tongue’ could be useful to grow my stats more, but the downside of seeing my victim’s memories will 100% be used against me by the Flayed Lady.

< < Relic > >

< Fiend Tongue (Legendary) — Consuming the heart or core of a defeated foe increases total Health by 1. For every 10 hearts or cores consumed, increase Speed and Damage by 10% >

Oh wait, no, I guess I wouldn’t be able to actually get it, since I haven’t possessed it myself…

That’s an annoying limitation.

It means I also wouldn’t be able to get the horsemen mask.

< < Secret Relic > >

< Visage of the Horsemen (Legendary) — A veil of shadow protects the wearer from damage for a total of 5 times. 1-hour cooldown | Manifest a shadowy steed. 1-hour cooldown | Attacks deal 20% bonus Shadow damage | The Shadow protects you from recognition, but the protective effects from Defence upgrades and other damage-reducing boons are disabled | Unequipping the mask makes the wearer unable to equip it again >

I could also use Burglar to get another ‘Kindling Flame’ for my lighthouse to boost its effect, but that seems a bit pointless at the moment.

< < Unique Relic > >

< Kindling Flame (Legendary) — Kindle a flame >

< < Secret Relic > >

< First Light’s Brazier (Rare) — You and your allied Players gain a shield that absorbs 50% of the damage from the first hit suffered in a Stage >

One option could be the ‘Golden Horn’ though, but I’m not sure I need that for the next few stages, and it should be simple enough to grab it the normal way this run.

< < Secret Relic > >

< The Golden Horn (Legendary) — Summon a mount unique to your current location | If the mount is destroyed or slain, this Relic breaks >

I guess another option is ‘Alepheria’s Mandate’, ‘Captain Fallow’s Treasure’, or ‘Mantle of Atrophy’.

< < Relics > >

< Alepheria’s Mandate (Legendary) — Evolves all Summons | Allows for all Summons to be commanded >

< Captain Fallow’s Treasure (Legendary) — Inflicts Gold-cursed on hit, causing hallucinations and lowered reaction speed | Allows a weapon to fight on your behalf >

< Mantle of Atrophy (Legendary) — Activate to consume all Afflictions on a target, delivering the remainder of their effects immediately. If the target dies as a result, the Afflictions are spread to all applicable targets within 20 metres with their durations renewed. 10-minute cooldown | Every time you apply an Affliction, your Affliction Effectiveness goes up by 1% and your Affliction Resistance goes down by 2% for the duration of the current Stage >

“How would Captain Fallow’s treasure work since I’m unarmed?” Adam asked.

[It would return to a default state of Captain Fallow’s sword, but you may apply it to any weapon you encounter in a stage.]

Oh right, Emelia did mention it can work with ballistae.

But I’m already expecting to get both of these from the stages due to my luck, so they’re not worth going for.

“Can I get a second golden tooth?”

[You may only have one Tooth Relic equipped at a time.]

Damn…

“Can I use it to obtain weapon relics?”

[Yes.]

That means I could get a wraith lantern or rosary.

< < Relics > >

< Wraith Lantern (Rare) — When an enemy is slain nearby, their Soul Essence is absorbed | When the Relic is fully charged with sufficient Soul Essence, a Winter Wraith is summoned >

< Rosary (Rare) — Store a mote of holy energy within this Relic with every kill you perform | When the Relic is touched against yourself or someone else, discharge the holy energy within, healing 1 point of Health for every mote of holy energy >

The lantern would let me take advantage of summoning boosts, but it’s finnicky to use and I’m not even sure I want to get ‘Alepheria’s Mandate’ this time around, which would be integral to control the wraiths it summons.

Adam scratched his slime face.

I think my choice will have to be Grinning Scholar.

“Just to be clear. If I pick Grinning Scholar and choose Ghost, will you interfere with my attempts to use it to duplicate items?”

[Yes.]

Adam frowned.

[But only when you are attempting to break the integrity of the Point System. You may use it to duplicate anything you throw in combat, as is intended.]

“So, no using it to duplicate wishing coins, challenge stones, sparks of creation, conjuring stones, or anything else?”

Parvillo paused. [I had not considered how much potential this one Evolution has for compromising the integrity of the Trials of Defiance.]

“Not my fault you made it that way,” Adam replied. “But I’m fine to use it with my bear trap, right?”

[Yes.]

“And potions?”

Parvillo paused again. [I will allow it, within reason.]

That sounds like there are some potions that would be absolutely busted if they’re duplicated. I guess if something like ‘Return to Sender’ exists, the potential for overpowered potions is quite high.

I hate that I won’t be able to fully exploit the Ghost evolution, but this still seems to be my best route to more power. Plus, throwing a bear trap, only to create two copies each doing half its damage, is going to be insanely strong.

“I’m selecting Grinning Scholar.”

< < Evolution Selected > >

< Giggling Trapper => Grinning Scholar >

< < Mastery Shard Obtained > >

[Please select two Evolutions.]

“I’m picking Ghost from the Backstabber Class and Spear Dancer from the Lancer Class.”

< < Evolutions Selected > >

< Ghost — All Throwing projectiles gain two additional phantom copies mid-air, which deal 50% damage and bypass all physical defences >

< Spear Dancer — Gain increased damage in accordance with how fast you’re moving >