We hunt monsters 14, p.76
We Hunt Monsters 14, page 76
“Bob, where are we?” Keith asked.
“He’s not here,” Tac said, his voice sounding a little shaky. “It looks like we were booted somewhere in Humania. Pretty sure he’s back in Monstros.”
“Bob,” Keith reached out.
“Oh, thank the Spirits you’re not dead!” Bob’s panicked voice came back.
“How long have I been gone?”
“About three or four seconds, as best I can tell,” Bob replied. “The world went blank for me, too, but Lycanthian is still here. Your body vanished, so I don’t think he believes you’re dead yet. He’s looking around for you.”
“I need a minute. Can you try and get the others to give me that? Keep him occupied.”
“I can try,” Bob said, his voice shaky. “But no pun intended, he’s a real freaking monster.”
Keith cut his communication with Bob, then mentally started a clock in his mind as he sat and closed his eyes, ignoring the cold and wind buffeting him from all sides.
“I can see what you’re thinking,” Tac said. “And I don’t know if it’s possible or not.”
“We have to try. Now help me,” Keith said, keeping his concentration locked on a singular thought.
He needed a new skill. He was powerful. Extremely so. He had Hunter’s Bloodline, which was excellent for boosting damage against monsters, but he needed more than that. He had Elixir Jubilee, which allowed him to recharge items, skills, boosted his damage with bladed weapons and gave him the ability to call on the power of a terrifying monster. But that still wasn’t enough.
What he needed was power of his own. His stats were very impressive. He had huge numbers across the board, even when compared with someone like Alvin the Unconquerable, his previous benchmark for what he believed to be ultimate power. Keith now believed himself to be stronger. He wasn’t just the ultimate monster hunter; he was the ultimate fighter, embodying physicality on par with mortal Spirits and inquisitors.
He was a Sage of eighteen skills, nearly double that of Alvin, so shouldn’t he have a skill that could strengthen him on that same level? He’d tasted the power of beasts, Avatars, Spirits, and mortals. He had access to all through his items, but that wasn’t enough.
Tac began to weave a picture together as best he could, following the train of his thoughts. There was more there, Keith could feel it. It wasn’t only about weakening an enemy to strengthen himself – it was about making himself stronger than them through the sheer force of his own power. An image floated unbidden to the front of his mind of the Primordial, the creature who’d existed long before the System, one with power to rewrite the rules of the world.
Something like that was out of his league and obviously wouldn’t be allowed, but there was an element to that, a state of being that put him beyond what should be possible. One that truly showcased his inner being.
He’d faced all kinds of powerful enemies but had always been at a disadvantage and came out on top despite that. He had killed multiple Avatars, four World Monsters, dozens of the world’s most powerful fighters, three Spirits, and two Inquisitors. Maybe he hadn’t technically killed them, but he’d brought them down all the same.
“I’m missing something,” Keith growled as his time ticked away. “I’m right there!”
He could feel frustration bubbling up, pushing back at his mental clarity and fought to hold the feeling in his mind.
“You’re looking at it the wrong way, bro,” Tac said. “You’re looking at yourself in a certain way that’s true, but if you really want something like this, you need to look at how other people see you. What do they think when they see you fighting? What do they call you?”
Keith thought about it for a moment, the image sharpening in his mind as he saw the reactions of people through Tac’s eyes. He heard what they said about him when they thought he couldn’t hear and saw how they reacted when they witnessed him take down a monster with a single blow that had just flattened their very best.
“They call me a monster,” Keith said, the image crystalizing in his mind as the notification flashed before his eyes.
Congratulations! You have learned the Active Skill: Spirit of Monsters.
Spirit of Monsters - Ultimate
Level: Grandmaster - I
By fighting monsters, you have learned to embody their very essence into your being, but you are not tainted by their same mindless savagery. You are far more than that — a being who has contended with Avatars, Spirits, Inquisitors, and the greatest monsters on four of the five continents of Raiah. There is no Spirit of monster-kind, at least not yet, but you certainly have the makings of one.
Cost: 25,000 STA per sec
Effects: Your muscles and bones become impossibly dense and resilient, and your physical power is commensurately boosted to that of a monster with similar stats. Awareness is heightened, and mental fortitude is increased.
Secondary: For the price of 250,000 Stamina, you may use the Embodiment of the World skill, infusing your body with the power of the four World Monsters you have defeated for 60 seconds per day.
Penultimate: For the price of 500,000 Stamina, you may use the Embodiment of Spirit skill, infusing your body with the power of every Avatar you have defeated for 60 seconds per day.
Ultimate: For the price of 1,000,000 Stamina, you may embody the physical form of the yet-to-be-born Spirit of Monsters for 30 seconds per week.
In this form, all enemy damage will be reduced to zero, your Imminent Domain will cover the entire continent, and you will gain access to the following skills at the Spiritual-Sage Level: Overpower, Terrible Roar, Spirit’s Reign & Unbridled Might.
Note: None of these skills may be recharged once used. The full cooldowns for each apply.
Cooldown: N/A
While it wasn’t exactly the skill he was looking for, it was close enough. It showcased not only his fighting talents, but one that reflected all his past victories. He was most intrigued by the Ultimate part of the skill. Embodying the physical form of a Spirit was something he’d believed only to be possible by wearing the armor.
He opened his eyes, slowly getting to his feet and feeling the power of the skill roiling just below the surface. He stepped forward, and a gate appeared before him as he slipped through, stepping out on the other side and right back into the battlefield, where Lycanthian was in the process of dismantling Bessie, his final automaton.
Keith’s hammer flew from his grip, slamming into the monster and driving him back a few steps. Bessie was tossed aside, the monster-like automaton still active, but in no shape to fight. In the distance, he could still hear the others fighting as Bob reappeared, scampering onto his shoulder.
“Oh, thank the Spirits you’re here,” he muttered. “I didn’t think we’d make it at the rate he was going through them.”
Lycanthian recovered, the flaming green blade reactivating around his hand as he narrowed glowing eyes.
“I do not know how you escaped me, mortal, but I will not allow that to happen again.”
Keith clenched his teeth as he activated Spirit of Monsters’ main effect, his Stamina dropping by 25,000 points and continuing to tick down as his body changed. It was shockingly quick, dense muscle fibers weaving through his body as his bones grew heavier and his eyes began to glow, changing shape as he took on the monstrous aspects of the skill.
His Monstros items reappeared on his body, and without preamble, Keith activated four of the five armor pieces at once, leaving only the kilt inactive. Pain blazed through him almost immediately as the weight of the armor settled onto him, his bones creaking and his body feeling like it was an instant from falling apart.
But as he’d expected, it held. With his monstrous body, he was able to take the strain. Maybe not for very long, but he could hold it all the same. Blazing power blasted out of him in a wave of crimson as Keith rose into the air, his body appearing like a second sun as he grinned down at the monster standing before him.
“Let’s see how you do in round two,” Keith growled, his voice coming out deeper and more guttural than expected.
He clenched his fists, and the Hammer of War appeared in one hand, Field Leveler sitting snugly in the other. The entire battlefield seemed to freeze as the monster battling his remaining allies in the distance took note of him, Echo of Conflict drawing it in, just as it did for everyone else in the vicinity. Keith’s grin widened as Lycanthian’s wings beat at the air, the monster launching himself off the ground with explosive force.
With four pieces active, he had more than enough power to swing around. His hand clenched tighter on the haft of the hammer as power and pain ripped through him in equal measure. He drew the weapon back as Lycanthian lunged.
His hammer met the Monstros Section Boss’s World Item, and the world shattered in an explosion of light.
Keith’s Status
Status
Name: Keith the Unconquerable Hunter
Race: Avatar Primordial Hunter
Class: Primordial Soul Hunter
Level: 95
XP: 2,265,500/26,100,000 (Reduced from 29,000,000)
HP: 2,125,130/2,125,130
STA: 1,166,940/1,166,940
Strength - 116,820 (Base 68,865)(+250 Class, +100 Racial)
Vitality - 212,513 (Boosted 3,125 + (Base 104,694 X2)(+250 Class, +100 Racial)
Endurance - 116,694 (Base 103,079)(+250 Class, +100 Racial)
Agility - 455,108 (Boosted 27,215 + (Base 142,862 X3)(+250 Class, +100 Racial)
Wisdom - 50,413 (Base 42,788)(+250 Class, +100 Racial)
Luck - 49,169 (Base 44,084)(+250 Class, +100 Racial)
Skills
Passive
Sage of War: Sage – Peak
Probability: Sage – Peak
Hunter of Myth: Sage – Peak
Peak Health: Sage – Peak
Discerning Eye: Sage – Peak
Quick Learner: Sage – IX
Punisher: Sage – IX
Judgment: Sage – VIII
Prodigy: Sage – IX
Back Against the Wall: Sage – III
All-Terrain Psycho: Sage – I
Elixir Jubilee: Sage – II
Spirit Crafting: Grandmaster – X
Spiritual Resistance: Master – X
Intimidation: Grandmaster – III
Monster-Soul Scourge: Grandmaster – VIII
Stacked Odds: Master – I
Extender: Grandmaster – I
Unconquerable Aura: Grandmaster – II
Peak: Master – X
Wood Carving: Intermediate – I
Item Jubilee: Grandmaster – II
Emperor of Dominance: Master – I
Primordial Soul Hunter: Master – III
Hunter’s Bloodline: Master – VI
Active
Ancient’s Fury: Sage - IX
Skyform: Sage - IV
Armageddon Spear: Sage - IX
Heatstance: Sage - V
Hammerrang: Sage - V
Speed Demon: Grandmaster - X
Stone Chucker: Grandmaster - VI
Magician: Grandmaster - VI
Chronosphere: Grandmaster - I
Shattering Snowflare: Grandmaster - VII
Combustive Body: Grandmaster - II
Shard Sponge: Grandmaster - VIII
Lightswap: Grandmaster - VI
Monstros Slayer: Grandmaster - V
Imminent Domain: Grandmaster - II
Spirit of Monsters (Ultimate): Grandmaster - I
Equipped Items
Armor
Breastplate of Battle
Gauntlets of Savagery
Kilt of Wisdom
Boots of the Fleet
Helm of the War Spirit
Electrus’s Plasma Gauntlet (M-Tagged)
Total Armor Rating: 222,897 (35,499 + 723,700 + 200%)
Weapons
Field Leveler
Other
Orion’s Broken Star
Ripper Progenitor’s Icebound Soul
Vanity Avatar’s Mirror
Regal Avatar’s Aura
Brutality Avatar’s Gauntlet
Avatar Token
Dragon’s Heart Clip
Dragon Core Ring
Sartori’s Ring of Annihilation
Electrus’s Supersteamer (M-Tagged)
Electrus’s Heart Gem (M-Tagged)
Orc Emperor’s Crown
The Heart Between Worlds
Traits: Immunity from all debuffs cast by Grandmaster skills and below, Immune to all weather effects. Darkvision, Stark Vision, Spectral Vision, Monster Scent, Hunter’s Endurance, Hunter’s Speed, Hunter’s Plague, System Chord.
Active Skills
Heatstance
Level: Sage - III
Your body becomes as tough as steel and is infused with the power of the sun.
Cost: 500 STA
Damage: 700 - 900 per strike
Armor: +100%
Additional Effects: Effects of Sunstance will activate upon use, boosting all effects by 50%, If struck by a physical attack, the attacker will take 25% of said attack as Burn damage, All enemies standing within 10 ft will suffer burn damage totaling 1% of their HP every 5 seconds.
Duration: 60 Seconds
Three times per day, use Sunstorm to increase the radius of your aura, burning all enemies within a 25 ft AOE.
Hammerrang
Level: Sage - III
Throw your hammer, and it will return.
Cost: 250 STA
Damage: 750 - 1,000
Additional Effects: Will stun targets for up to 5 seconds, 65% chance to cause Cripple debuff, 50% chance to Knockback, 50% chance to Crush. Hammer has a 75% chance to trigger Detonation on impact, inflicting 1% of target’s HP as damage.
Three times per day, use Hammer Storm to multiply your thrown hammer by X200. Hammers will strike from all sides.
Chronosphere
Level: Grandmaster - I
Command time within your sphere of control.
Cost: 1,500 STA
AOE: 100 feet
Additional Effects: +250 Agility. Enemies will move 35% slower
Duration: 30 seconds
Once per day, use Hard Stop to freeze any one opponent for 10 seconds.
*You may teach this skill to others
Magician
Level: Grandmaster - II
Perform a disappearing act.
Cost: 850 STA
Effect: Puts as much as 20 feet of distance between you and a target and renders you intangible for 5 seconds after your reappearance. All damage is increased by 15% for 10 seconds after becoming tangible. Choose your exit location.
Three times per day, use Magician’s Trick to conjure illusory clones of yourself upon reappearance. They will remain active for 30 seconds and mimic all of your movements.
*You may teach this skill to others
Shattering Snowflare
Level: Grandmaster - I
Fire and ice join as one to destroy all in their path.
Cost: 2,700 STA
Damage: 1,920-2,280
Additional Effects: Staggers opponent for 10 seconds, Causes Burn or Frostbite debuffs, Causes heavy bleed for 10 seconds, 30% chance for secondary damage (Ice or Fire) to be inflicted, 10% chance for 4th Degree or Frostburn debuffs
Five times per day, use Glacierflame Stomp to inflict the Shattering Snowflare skill in a 50 ft AOE around you.
Cooldown: 120 seconds
*You may teach this skill to others at the Beginner level
Ancient’s Fury
Level: Sage - VII
Unleash the Fury of the Ancients
Cost: 5,000 STA
Damage: 4,000-5,200
Additional Effects: Stuns all targets, 85% chance to cause Heavy Bleed, 45% chance to break bones, 10% chance to Obliterate
Once per day, use Doomfire Fury to deal 50X Max skill damage covering 10X the skill’s targeting area.
Cooldown: 6 hours
Speed Demon
Level: Grandmaster - VII
You’re a Speed Demon. I kind of feel like it’s self-explanatory.
Cost: 125 STA per second
Effect: Control of movements are increased by a factor of 4.
Additional Effects: +90% to Agility while active, pay additional 100 Sta per sec to double speed further for 30 seconds per hour.
Combustive Body
Level: Grandmaster - I
Your body becomes combustive. Word to the wise, bodies weren’t meant to do that.
Cost: 1,000 HP per second
Damage: 0.5% of total HP
Additional Effects: Propel yourself up to 25 steps in the air, explosive shockwave, combustible punches, explosive body, reflect 25% of all spell damage
Armageddon Spear
Level: Sage - IV
Your strikes annihilate all in their path. Nothing can stand before you.
Cost: 6,000 STA
Damage: 7,500 - 10,000
Additional Effects: Invulnerable while striking, Shockwave on impact, +150% Armor piercing, 75% chance to shatter, 75% chance for allowed follow-up strike, 15% chance to impale
Unique Effects: Instakill on Pinpoint (first three strikes only), ignoring all ongoing effects, Wide strike, piercing up to 10 opponents within a 20-foot AOE
Cooldown: 10 hours
Stone Chucker – Monster Skill
Level: Grandmaster - I
You can move rocks with your mind. Good for you!
Cost: 1,500 STA per second
Damage: 7,500-9,500
Additional Effects: Rocks strike with 2.5X the force of gravity. If physical materials are used, you can turn earth mage spells against them. Crushing damage on impact. 50% chance for stone to shatter and cause additional piercing damage.
Once per day, use Meteor Chucker to form a bunch of ordinary rocks into a bigger rock. Bigger rock equals bigger boom.
Skyform
Level: Sage - III
You can form the sky into ground. Invisible ground that is!
Cost: 250 STA per second
Effect: You can walk on air, as though it were solid ground, regardless of angle. Your field of gravity will shift as you do. Maximum height is set at 35 feet.
Additional Effects: You can carry passengers, heavy objects, and expand the field of Skyform to include transportation vehicles, such as carriages, pack animals, and your favorite pet monster.
