Game's Extra: Starting With SSS-Ranked 1000-Death Talent-Chapter 77: New Temporary Skill
Shifting the mind meant shifting the bodies as well.
The puppet Noa started controlling was an ice monkey, its hide covered with glowing frost.
His range of motion increased.
Even his vision was improved, becoming deeper and allowing him to see a wider range.
The sense of smell lowered.
But in this situation, it helped Noa escape the foul smell of the battlefield.
He also checked the status window, expecting lower stats, but found a skill he could abuse.
[ Noa Osborn ]
[ Species: Drymonkey ]
[ Grade: Evolved Challenger ]
[ Class: Wizard ]
[ Level: 19 ]
[ EXP: 16,555/18,100 ]
[ Strength: 31 ]
[ Agility: 32 ]
[ Vitality: 29 ]
[ Intelligence: 39 ]
[ Attribute Points: 31 ]
[ Talent: Death’s Companion ]
[ Talent Rank: SSS ]
[ Skills: Echo of Doom ]
[ Class Skill: Corpse Puppet (Proficiency: 29.1%) ]
[ Drymonkey Skill: Frostbite (Proficiency: 61%) ]
His hunch was right.
[ Skill: Frostbite ]
— You can release a pulse of frost that spreads under a 10-metre radius. It scales with your mana pool and inflicts an additional 5% damage. The cold damage can build up and stack up to five times.
Stacking damage over time was an impressive ability, especially when, as a wizard, Noa could use his Intelligence stat as well.
If it wasn’t enough, the skill had an area-of-effect property.
So, without wasting a single moment, Noa started his offence by sending circular shockwaves of frost energy.
It covered more than ten metres, surrounding every monkey in the vicinity.
Unfortunately, the monsters were resistant to cold.
His initial damage was low, and no monkey realized what was going on.
He used this momentum and increased the frequency of the attack.
The mana was depleted.
Yet he didn’t care, stacking up the Frostbites.
This AOE attack allowed him to add an explosive touch to the monkeys as well.
However, he waited until the Frostbite reached the maximum stacks, and even though the monsters weren’t stunned, they felt something was amiss.
Monkeys were smarter than goblins.
They quickly became aware of the traitor and decided to eliminate him.
Just then, before the waves of beasts pounced on him, Noa triggered the skill he got from Klaus.
The magnitude of the explosion was staggering.
Its echoing sounds shook the world.
Even the sky island seemed to shudder under the might of Noa’s high damage.
[ You killed Evolved Drymonkey Lv. 19 (x23) ]
[ You killed Evolved Drymonkey Lv. 18 (X16) ]
[ You’ve gained 100,000 Experience Points ]
[ Level Up! ]
[ Level Up! ]
[ Level Up! ]
.
. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺
[ You’ve gained 17 Attribute Points ]
The EXP he gained was enough to reach level 18.
Though the amount was more than three times lower than he had expected.
Every monkey who was marked by the Frostbite and his Mana Rage was dead, their corpses charred and unrecognizable.
Instead of stopping the slaughter, Noa ran, covering the burning land.
He approached the frightened monkeys as their confusion made them unable to detect him.
It gave Noa another opportunity to repeat the same feat.
’Wish every skill was this easy and straightforward for me to use,’ he wished.
Some monsters had a difficult learning curve.
The same thing happened with humans—their abilities were much more complex, as they didn’t come with the knowledge the monsters’ skills brought.
But most of all, the higher Noa’s proficiency became with Corpse Puppet, the easier it would be for him to employ the foreign skills.
As if some kind of force was guiding him.
Nevertheless, he had hundreds of monsters to deal with and couldn’t stop.
Nor did he have any intentions of leaving the absurd amount of free experience points.
[ You killed Evolved Drymonkey Lv. 19 (x9) ]
[ You killed Evolved Drymonkey Lv. 18 (x17) ]
[ You’ve gained 20,000 Experience Points ]
[ Level Up! ]
[ You’ve gained 1 Attribute Point ]
Somehow, the system continued to be against him, lowering the amount of EXP he should be getting.
Yet it wasn’t like Noa was punished, or something entirely new was happening.
Most monsters had a special imprint on them.
After killing the same species, the system started lowering the amount of progress the Embers could make.
It was a harsh feature.
However, it made sure that Embers would search for different species.
It worked with their rarity as well, explaining why Noa was seeing less and less growth.
He was used to running.
But running with an ape’s body was a different matter.
His mind was fogged.
His eyes and limbs felt slightly numb with unfamiliar sensations, which he was trying to get used to.
Yet Noa was surprised by how flexible his bones and muscles were, including the blue tail he couldn’t really control.
As he covered the land with unseen frosts, Noa glanced at his teammates.
They had struggled with carrying the knocked-out classmates.
Especially in this cold environment.
Truth be told, they also wanted to fight with Noa, even if their hearts pounded in fear.
The monkeys were loud.
Their agitated screams sent chills through the crowd.
No matter how well Noa was handling them, some of them left his radius.
It was bound to happen, allowing Rika and Ezra to take the second front.
They created the second wall and cut down every runaway monster.
Meanwhile, Arthur and Martha kept transporting the students outside the walls.
Seeing the protagonist in action, Noa couldn’t help but laugh at him and muse on how fate operated.
Who would have imagined that the prideful main character who cared about no one but himself would actually act like a cute puppy?
And most of all, Noa was getting the same resources that Arthur should be striving for.
’What is he planning?’ Noa thought.
He wasn’t foolish enough to believe that Arthur would lie low for long.
But there was something he had to do first.
And it was reaching the final level of the Evolved stage.
It didn’t demand too much of his time, as another Frostbite stacking session was enough to reap the lives he needed.
[ Level Up! ]
[ You’ve gained 1 Attribute Point ]
The system messages covered his vision.
But there was more to come, announcing the condition for him to become a Returne.
