Exile hummed as he studied the other issues with his new spell. ‘The cost is insane, and that’s just for a touch spell. It would be impossible to sustain a fighting style using only the cursed flames element at this level.’
A long, drawn-out sigh escaped his mouth as he wondered if it would ever be viable. ‘I’d need to push a lot of Authority enchantments on my gear.’ Exile frowned as he studied his new gear that still had the same enchantments as his royal armour.
‘With my level going up, I can create stronger enchantments now. I should wipe these enchantments and wear my enchanter equipment.’ Exile smiled as he swapped out his equipment. The enchanter’s set was something he created in his spare time to help prepare equipment for the war with Nar’Kozz.
Although he could only enchant stats to a maximum of his base stats, the enchanter’s gear was fully enchanted with Authority. This gave him access to a higher DP pool to deal with the increasing DP cost of enchanting higher stats. At that moment, he had enough DP to even enchant the full one hundred points of his base Authority stat.
‘This is going to take a while, but it’s the only way to make spells of the cursed flames element more viable. The real problem is deciding what stat enchantments to drop in favour of more Authority.’ Exile groaned at the complications of having a hybrid build.
If he went full mage, he could focus on Authority with Speed being his second-best stat. Then a little upkeep into Endurance would solve any HP and damage issues. He could probably neglect Strength for the most part with that kind of build.
The same could be said for dedicated Strength, Endurance, or Speed builds. However, the current style he was developing with Paul’s help meant he couldn’t neglect any of them. ‘I suppose I could sacrifice some Endurance and maybe a little Strength.’
‘A higher Speed will allow me to avoid enemy attacks and counterattack like Paul wants.’ Exile scratched the back of his neck as he considered that. ‘So, Speed and Authority should be my main stats. However, I can’t let Strength and Endurance fall too far behind.’
‘Ok, that settles it then.’ Exile sighed as he did some quick calculations on what enchantments he would put in each slot. ‘It’s time to get to work then.’
It took a few minutes to wipe the enchantments from his new gear before he got started. Unfortunately, he had to take many breaks to go to the temple to recharge his DP. However, his new gear was ready before even an hour had passed.
[Armoured Cloth Set]
[+60 Speed, +100 Authority, +60 Endurance]
[Black Robes]
[+60 Speed, +100 Authority, +60 Endurance]
[Runeheart]
[+100 Authority, +60 Speed, +60 Endurance]
[Runic Ring]
[+100 Authority, +60 Speed, +52 Strength]
[Runic Ring]
[+100 Authority, +60 Speed, +52 Strength]
Exile felt a massive surge of power as he equipped his newly enchanted gear. The difference between his stats from before to now was astronomical. Every stat had gained an increase, but that only made Exile feel bad for whoever challenged him next. He couldn’t help but grin in excitement as he pulled up his stats.
[Tier: 2]
[Level: 17]
[HP: 1200/1200 (300+900)]
[DP: 627/627 (100+500+27)]
[Strength: 156 (52+104)]
[Endurance: 240 (60+180)]
[Speed: 360 (60+300)]
[Authority: 627 (100+500+27)]
‘My Speed and Authority are on totally different levels now.’ Exile chuckled. ‘Though, even with this much DP I could use Everburn Palm fifteen times. With a recharge through my amulet, make that thirty times in a single battle.’
Exile sighed as he felt that was still too little. If it were a particularly large battle that would last a long time, thirty uses wasn’t much. ‘Then I have to account for any times I miss, or my target manages to evade.’
However, Exile wasn’t too worried about that aspect. With his Speed, it would be difficult for anyone or anything to avoid him in melee. No, the real issue came from when he created a ranged version of this element. It was sure to cost far more DP per use and be easier to avoid.
Exile couldn’t help but wonder if there was another way around the insane costs of this higher element. ‘If the cost goes up when adding more power, a larger area of effect, and making it ranged, then it’d be more cost-effective to create a large area spell that bursts from my position.’
Exile frowned as he came to that solution. It was certain to be costly on his DP, and it was likely only suitable for when he was surrounded by enemies. With his higher Speed stat, the latter was unlikely to happen. ‘It would be better to use my Speed to take them out in melee.’
He sighed as he found himself with an impossible problem to solve. The Everburn Palm was low-damage and touch activated. Theoretically, it was the cheapest spell of its element. Exile didn’t even want to consider what a high-power, long-range spell with a large area would cost.
‘It’s the most expensive spell I’ve seen by far. There’s still another step up from this as well.’ Exile groaned as he estimated a low-cost spell of the next element up to be a minimum of one hundred DP.
‘Forget it, I’ll create low damage ranged spell with no area of effect for now. I need something in my arsenal for range when using this element.’ He slowly shook his head as he put his thoughts aside.
“Ok, so I’ll make it take the form of a purple fireball. That should be simple enough.” Exile smiled slightly as he pictured the rune in his mind. Luckily, he’d had enough experience with shaping fire that the new rune didn’t require him to come up with theories on how it should look.
Things went much smoother for him this time around now that he knew what he had to do. His control over the joint element had improved as he crafted the shape of the rune before feeding the cursed flames element into it.
It took him a little over an hour, but he broke out in a wide grin as the system pinged. ‘Let’s see what you can do.’
[Everburn Bolt]
[Type: Cursed Flames]
[Cost: 80 DP]
[Description: Upon activation, this rune will fire a bolt of Everburn at the target. This spell deals 20% of the target’s Max HP + 20% of the user’s Authority as damage. Inflicts the Everburn Curse on the target if their Authority is lower than the user’s. Everburn Curse: This curse burns the enemy for 5% of their current HP and 10% of their current DP each second. The curse must be purified, or it will burn out when the target has no DP left to fuel its flames.]
Exile cursed as he stared at the ridiculous amount of DP needed to fuel the new spell. However, his attention was soon drawn to the direct damage that was absent from the previous spell. ‘The amount of damage it deals is ridiculous. But where did it come from?’
Exile pondered the mystery for a few minutes before realisation dawned on him. ‘Damn it! The modified Fireball rune I used as the base must’ve contained something that triggers direct damage!’ He couldn’t help but slap his own forehead as he glared at the spell’s stats.
“I was too naive. Of course, I’ll have to create runes from scratch if I want full control over the final effects.” Exile groaned as he continued to stare at the ridiculous spell. ‘Even if I wanted to use it, I could at most trigger it seven times. My DP isn’t anywhere near enough for spells on this level.’
Although his experiments with the new element had been successful, they also left him feeling dejected. He had no doubt that the power of these spells had to be Tier 3 standards. Just having them in his arsenal gave him an incredible advantage over other players.
However, they also suggested that other Tier 3 spells couldn’t be taken for granted. ‘How much will pure fire and dark element spells cost at that level?’ He could only hope it would be less. Though, he suspected for spells at that level to be useful against Tier 3 opponents a lot of power would have to be put into them. Which also meant their cost would have to be high.
‘Everburn Palm is probably a low-level spell for Tier 3. However, because it’s a mixed element, it probably displays greater power than a pure element. So it’s likely a peak level spell for the lowest levels of Tier 3.’
Exile sighed as he felt his understanding of the power scale in the game slipping away from him. ‘With added effects from these higher elements, players won’t be able to judge the true power of spells anymore. The extra effects make it too difficult compared to our existing basic spells.’
He slowly rubbed the bridge of his nose as he felt a headache coming on. ‘Now I understand why Allevia told me to slow down. I can’t afford to rush into Tier 3 anytime soon. There must be some secret out there that she wanted me to learn. I’m betting it has something to do with reducing these costs.’
Exile casually dismissed the spell stat window as he collapsed into a chair. ‘The question is, where am I even meant to look for something like that?’ He shook his head as he stared at the book for creating new spells. ‘I’m going to have to get my own hands dirty digging into things. Maybe I can find a clue back in Valheim.’