Chapter 288: Stone Cold
Reivyn stood with the other members of his Party on the ramp leading to the next floor. Teilon had gone ahead to scout as much as he could, his phasing ability allowing him to walk through obstacles to enhance his Stealth Skills. Reivyn had tried telling Teilon they had just been joking about making him go scout ahead, but he insisted on doing it anyway. He had a solid argument in wanting to challenge himself for Skill growth.
With Refix’s regimen of training, everyone in the Party was well ahead of their Tier on Skill Levels. Refix instilled a mindset of never growing complacent with their Skill Levels, and even though Teilon liked to complain, he always participated fully. The benefits of living under Refix’s tutelage showed themselves with Teilon being able to successfully sneak through a Tier 5 Dungeon while still being on the lower end of Tier 4.
When it came to Skills, typically Tier 5 was the range where people were coming up on the ceiling of Level 100 and working on a breakthrough. Teilon wasn’t quite at that level, yet, but he wasn’t far off. Another couple dozen Skill Levels in some of his Stealth Skills would see him pushing past the limit, and he was already experimenting with his Phasing Ability he gained from his Class together with his Stealth Skills in unique ways in preparation for reaching Skill Level 100.
The typical “genius” could expect to reach around Level 70 in their best Skill by the end of Tier 4. Even Serilla had stalled out in the 60’s with her Swords Skill before joining up with Reivyn and his family, though she was only at the start of Tier 4. Reivyn’s group consistently shattered the mold when it came to Classers, saying nothing of Reivyn himself.
Teilon’s head popped out through the wall next to Reviyn, glancing back and forth to orient himself before stepping completely through. Reivyn had Sensed him coming, so he wasn’t alarmed, but the other Party members perked up at his sudden appearance.
“There are twenty basilisks on the floor, with a brood mother variant as the boss at the end,” Teilon said. “The beasts are mostly just lazing about, but a few of them walk back and forth along the corridors. The brood mother has dozens of eggs, some already cracked open, but most sitting whole, and I can only assume they’ll have some sort of part to play in the boss fight.”
“They’ll either hatch with little basilisks to distract us or they’re props used to antagonize the brood mother,” Refix commented. “So we should either destroy the eggs quickly, or avoid them as much as possible.”
“That narrows things down,” Reivyn chuckled. “How much of a nuisance do you think freshly hatched baby basilisks could cause?”
“It depends on how their petrification ability works. If they can enhance each others’ abilities by focusing on the same person, then it could be a problem, especially if their ability is fully powered at birth.”