A really, really thick golden chain shot out of the ground, or rather from a golden sigil. The sigil looked a lot like the one from Cloutless, and the chain rocketed up a good thirty feet into the air before snapping back into itself after a second, holding still for around four seconds, and dissolving in a shimmer of light after. It was a spell that Enochia knew very well, even if she didn't use it much.
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Lv. 40 — Holy Restraining Order
Cost: 80 Mana
Cooldown: 35 s
Effect:
Form a blazing sigil.
? After 1s, a golden chain rises from the ground, imprisoning an enemy for 4 s.
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It did no damage, and yeah, it was able to be destroyed with enough brute force, but it was decent crowd control in a pinch. Against that knight asshole earlier? It would've been clutch, locking him down long enough for Cervain to go ham.
Now... onto the next one. This skill was one she remembered thoroughly, like a bad tattoo you regret but can't forget.
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Lv. 40 — Black Fang
Cost: 100 Mana
Cooldown: 30 s
Effect:
? The user channels energy into their bite, dealing (50 % STR + 20 % AGI) damage and draining 5 % of the target’s HP to heal themself.
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This skill was trash, but oh boy, it hurt like a fucking bitch when it landed. That was the thing with these skills, it didn't fully explain them. The system was flawed as hell, which confused her big time. ‘Weren't the angels and the heavenly host supposed to be perfect? Like, divine beings crafting this game-like bullshit shouldn't have half-assed tooltips.’
Both of these skills had hidden bonuses, but they were nowhere to be seen. “Lazy coding, Roo? Or just keeping secrets to screw with us mortals?”
Nevermind the silence that followed; this was officially her first skill to go into the garbage folder, since it was trash if you didn't have absurd physical stats pumping your STR and AGI to the moon.
And even then? Still trash. She could use it if she were to torture someone, but she doubted she'd ever go that low.
'Hmm?' She felt her tongue scrape against something sharp in her mouth, and she paused, probing around like a kid with a loose tooth. Her teeth had changed, and became sharper, pointier, like the jaws of a goddamn beast. ‘Is this because of the skill? I mean, it could also be a demon thing that I just missed while being busy not dying.'
She grinned experimentally, feeling the edges bite into her lip a bit. Kinda badass, actually. Made her feel like she could chomp through armor if she wanted... not that she would.
She looked satisfied for a hot second, and truly wanted to just not think about the new quest she'd gotten, no matter how much it was nagging at the back of her mind like an itchy scab.
"Tell me, Roo, besides intelligence, what else will I get with the evolution?"
A bit of silence followed, longer than the usual instant zap of a reply which made her eyebrow twitch. 'What's with the dramatic pause, feathers? Buffering up there in heaven?'
Finally, Roo's text popped up.
[That information is classified.]
This surprised Enochia, not the info itself, 'cause yeah, angels loved their secrets, but the longer-than-usual pause before the answer, and the fact that Roo was this talkative to her at all. The angel was actually answering all of her questions somehow... like, full-on convo mode instead of the usual cryptic one-liners. 'Weird. Is he going soft on me?'
As she was thinking to ask the angel one more thing, another notification appeared in her vision, hijacking her train of thought.
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Would you like to use the Heartstone?
[Yes]
[No]
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"Pffff," Enochia snorted out loud, her lips curling into a mischievous grin. It would take a force of nature to stop her from clicking no—wait, hell no, she meant yes. 'Though I have no idea what it does, you can't just put a big shiny button in front of a girl and expect her not to press it. Curiosity killed the cat? Pfft, cats got nine lives!'
As soon as she jabbed yes, the stone in her hand shattered into a cascade of glittering shards, sparkling like cheap fireworks before vanishing into thin air. What remained was the paper, fluttering lightly in her palm like it'd been freed from a genie bottle. She quickly shook it out and dusted off the ash clinging to it, only to get hit with a fresh notification ping.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
[+5 Grade 5 Accessories]
"Oh shit," she muttered, eyes lighting up like she'd just hit the jackpot on a hellish slot machine. She had a feeling, but this confirmed it! 'Bingo, baby!'
And right on cue, the full quest window bloomed in her vision.
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QUEST ACQUIRED: Exploration- The Man in Sorrow
Category: Legacy
Objective:
Collect all 7 Diaries of the Man in Sorrow.
Progress: 2/7
Description:
A man once walked these halls bearing grief so vast that even Hell wanted to spit him out. His memories have fractured into seven lost diaries. Recover them, piece together his life, and reclaim what this world tried to erase.
Primary Reward:
?The Black Key
? 100,000 XP
? 500kg of Grade Two Materials
? 5 Randomized Blueprints
Additional Rewards:
These rewards will be granted incrementally as each Diary of the Man in Sorrow is recovered.
? 1× Full Grade Three Armor Set
? 1× Grade Three Weapon of Choice
? 1× Grade Two Accessorie
? 1× Soulstone
? 3× Shardshare
? 5× Grade Five Accessories
? 25× Instafix
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This was the second part of the sad guy's quest! Meaning she was also correct to assume the rewards stacked from the bottom up, dishing out goodies with each diary snagged. So her next reward was gonna be... Shardshare? And three of them.
She had zero idea what they were. Crafting crap? Whatever, she didn't really care right now; free stuff was free stuff.
She had two important things to do now, and the first was to check what she got. “Please be something badass and not something like a useless beer mug... wait, actually, a beer mug sounds kinda dope.” She pulled up her inventory with a mental flick, eyes gleaming as she dove into the new loot.
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[COMMON ITEM ? MASK OF MUNDANE MAN]
A plain silver mask that fully envelops the face like a seamless second skin, allowing the user to blend into crowds.
Effect:
? +5 Luck
[Added to the Category: Equipment]
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[COMMON ITEM ? MANTLE OF BLACK MISTS]
An ethereal cloak spun from coiling smoke vapors that shift and reform like living fog.
Effect:
? +5 Agility
[Added to the Category: Equipment]
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[COMMON ITEM ? SUCCUBUS TREND HARNESS]
A revealing black lace harness, plunging neckline, fishnet thigh-highs, and glossy boots.
Effect:
? +10 Faith
[Added to the Category: Equipment]
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[COMMON ITEM ? FLASK OF FIERY FIZZ]
A quirky flask on a chain, eternally fizzing with a spicy, flame-kissed brew that pops and crackles.
Effect:
?+5 Vitality
? Active: +10% speed boost for 8 seconds in heated areas, but ends with a fizzy hiccup that reveals the users position audibly.
[Added to the Category: Equipment]
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[COMMON ITEM ? TALISMAN OF BAD TUNES]
A cheeky amulet with a spinning disco ball charm that blares tinny, off-key jingles at random moments
[Added to the Category: Equipment]
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Enochia's eyes instantly locked onto one of the items that stood out like a sore thumb in her inventory, the Succubus thing-of-a-jig. With a mix of morbid curiosity and instant regret brewing in her gut, she summoned it out, and poof, there it was, dangling from her fingers like some stripper's fever dream.
The thing was a skimpy black lace harness that plunged so low it might as well have been waving a white flag at her cleavage, with black chains crisscrossing just enough to pretend it was "armor" but really just framing all the bits that should stay framed in private.
Fishnet thigh-highs attached to garters that screamed "come hither, mortal fool," and glossy black boots. It was revealing as fuck, barely covering the essentials. She cringed so hard her whole body tensed up, face twisting like she'd bitten into a lemon soaked in vinegar. "What the actual fuck is this, Roo?"
She got pissed, really, really pissed, steam practically shooting from her ears as she hurled the thing onto the ground. "I would have expected this from those creeps on the net, but never from you, Roo! You feathered pervert! Don't worry though, I fully plan on putting it on. BUT ONLY AFTER I POKE YOUR FUCKING EYES OUT. EVERY CREATURE ALIVE WILL SEE ME IN THIS BEFORE YOU, YOU FUCKER!"
She stomped around in a little circle, fists clenched, ranting to the empty air. "You even put good stats on it as well? FUCK YOU! I will not be tempted! No, nein! Not happening!"
It was almost funny, the way she was yelling at the air like a lunatic, but the rage was real. Her cheeks burned red, and she could feel her sharp new teeth grinding together. And here's the kicker: her skin acted halfway as armor, sure, toughened up like demonic leather plating, but it was still her skin, dammit. It looked like armor, felt like armor in a fight, but the only thing more embarrassing than prancing around in this half-naked piece of shit would be layering it over some clunky, heavy-plated bullshit. Like, what, cosplay a succubus knight? She'd rather fight naked.
With a frustrated growl, she quickly recalled it back into her inventory, banishing the offending garment. 'Out of sight, out of mind, you slutty trap.' Shaking off the anger like a dog after a bath, she turned her attention to the other loot, deciding which two to equip since her current accessory was basically useless trash.
She thought for a bit, brainstorming pros and cons in her head. The Mask of Mundane Man? Eh, blending in sounded useful, but she hasn’t exactly seen a crowd of people to blend in to. The Talisman? Hard pass, it didn’t even have an effect. Nah, the winners were clear: the smoky mantle and the fizzling bottle.
She equipped them with a mental flick, and instantly, both appeared on her. The Mantle of Black Mists draped over her like a living shadow, covering her whole body in coiling smoke vapors that shifted and reformed like actual fog, which was cool as hell. It looked so badass, like she was some ethereal assassin from a dark fantasy flick, that she could almost forgive that perv of an angel. Almost, key word there. He still had a lot to answer for with that harness bullshit.
And the Flask of Fiery Fizz sorta delivered on the recovery front? It hung off a chain next to her hip, no surprise, filled with this bubbly red liquid that fizzed and crackled like a mini volcano in a bottle. It made these tiny popping noises, but nothing too obnoxious.
Satisfied for now, she quickly unequipped both, stashing them back in inventory. No need to rock the look full-time; the cloak obscured her vision a bit with its misty edges, and that bottle's fizz could give her away in a stealth op. Not that she was known for those, but it also didn’t look the best on her, making her decision clear.
She'd slap them on when she needed the boosts. For now, though? "Time to see what the sad guy has to say this time."
