Chapter 108

Natalie chose to talk about the normal abilities first. She’d work into the headache-inducing one afterward. And she supposed [Stylish] wasn’t even the strangest of her kit—that would go to [Carnal Harvest], the lewd skill that was a foundation to her class.

But still. [Stylish] dragged her teammates directly into the fray. The skill encouraged all five of them to ... what? Dress provocatively? To the extent their outfits aroused each other? Now that would create a reputation at Tenet.

“I shouldn’t be complaining,” Natalie sighed. “I got a pretty good haul. Four more skills.”

“Four?” Jordan asked. “Nice. Only got three.”

Two or three skills for the early levels was the standard. Higher levels started providing fewer, but the one or two you did receive would be much stronger.

“Three of them make me a better fighter,” Natalie said. “There’s two passives, actually, clearly encouraging me to take up a new weapon path.”

“Oh?”

“I think you can guess what it is,” Natalie said dryly. “The dungeon was hinting at it yesterday.”

Jordan’s brow furrowed before she connected the dots. “The hammer?”

“[Bigger Is Better],” Natalie said. “That’s the skill name. It makes handling oversized weapons easier, and gives them an attack bonus.”

Jordan immediately started laughing, and though Natalie’s lips twitched, she mostly leveled a sour look at her friend. She was glad, in a way, they had their level ups to distract her, because the way her heart skipped about four or five beats watching Jordan laugh was something Natalie simply didn’t have the energy or mental space to deal with. That wall had been thoroughly torn down, but Natalie had other stuff she had to focus on. Or maybe that was an excuse. Actually, it definitely was an excuse.

“The exact wording is minor bonus to offensive power, slightly easier to maneuver. It’s upgradeable too. I could make it stronger.”

“Right,” Jordan said. “Almost forgot about that. Well, yeah, then, you don’t have a choice. You’d be insane not to go with a large weapon. What else?”

“This one’s more generalist, but it clearly helps offset the problem further,” Natalie said. “[Juggernaut]. Passive one-point-three bonus to furor, applied after all other bonuses.”

“Applied after?” Jordan asked. “Damn. That’s strong.”

Natalie nodded. The thirty percent boost alone was a great skill—if perhaps not the strongest—but the fact it applied afterward meant it was, even at the first progression, potent. Because any furor bonuses from any skill, buff, or item would likewise be amplified by thirty percent. That meant both Liz’s strength boost and Natalie’s armor would also be amplified. If the skill had affected only her base stats, then it would have been much weaker.

“And it grows,” Jordan said. “From one point three to what? Even if it’s small jumps each progression, you’re going to be a monster.”

“Also got a defensive skill, [Hunker Down]. Seems pretty interesting. Something that can be used cleverly.”

“Hunker down,” Jordan repeated. “Huge defense bonus for a brief moment?”

The skill’s name did give it away. “Invulnerable, actually.”

Jordan whistled.

“But I can’t move,” Natalie said. Then, a second later, she added, “And it actually says invulnerable to most physical attacks. I’m guessing truly insane stuff would break through it. And it’s only one and a half seconds.”

Jordan considered this. “It’ll save your ass in a trap, most likely,” she said. “And being able to hunker down and literally catch a boss attack is phenomenal. You really did come out with a good haul.”

“Makes up for my starting skills,” Natalie muttered. “Don’t get me wrong, they’re insane for the long term, but having so much related to ... all that, meant I didn’t have skills that are actually functional.”

Jordan nodded. “What’s the last one?”

“Don’t sound so excited. It’s awful.”