Arc 4 | Last Resort (Part 5)
LAST RESORT
Part 5
For the next two days, I scoured through the massive list of traits for my monsters. Since I only had one slot to fill for each of them, I had to make it count. This would be a part of them for a long time until I could unlock the fifth trait.
Once I was ready, I gathered the others by the boathouse.
It wasn’t a good idea for them to walk inside the cabin now that we’d set up the fake crime scene for the cops to find later. Plus, spending more crystals to clean up any of their messes was a waste of resources.
So, the lake it is.
I could feel their excitement. Today, they were going to receive some much-needed upgrades on their traits, plus a fourth additional trait, as promised. From creation, each archetype started with three monster traits that defined their features, attacks, and defensive capabilities, among others. Now that an administrator (and a guild) had sponsored me, they were kind enough to let me know that I could unlock nine additional traits in the future by either purchasing them with crystals and essence or by completing a hidden System quest. The latter I got when I completed my first official scenario and killed the cultists the System desperately wanted dead. A stacked and fully upgraded archetype would have a total of twelve traits, upgraded to the maximum level of twelve each, which would also cost more crystals and essence.
How many do I need for that? At least seven hundred essences spent on one archetype by the end?
I hated math in high school and barely made a passing grade in geometry. Fortunately, I had Oracle—my super calculator. Obviously, I didn’t have enough crystals to completely upgrade their sheets today, but I was determined to give each of them their fourth trait. After the work they’ve done helping me in the past week, it’s only fair I returned the favor.
Buying a fourth trait would cost five essences and a thousand crystals per archetype. Lucky for me, these traits came for free when I completed the System’s hidden quest, or else this would be such a freaking expensive endeavor that would bankrupt me; it’s not even worth it.
But free is nice. Free is good.
When I opened the [ Monster ] tab from the menu, everyone immediately felt my presence in the System. Goliath straightened his back and stood in attention, and Demon’s body—now possessing Jessica—steamed with smoke, which fired all sorts of bright flashes of hellfire. Siren even stopped brushing her hair and sang a soft, soulful hymn on the rock she sat on. Little white daisies bloomed all over Old Growth’s body, trembling with anticipation.
Nodding, I opened Goliath’s archetype sheet first.
I had thought about giving him this trait from the beginning, but it didn’t make the cut as his starting trait. Now, he can finally have it, I thought. I was extremely lucky that he already had experience as a fighter due to his background as a marine, although I didn’t really believe it was all luck. As a Death Core, I attracted killers, sinners, and murderers to my domain with unusual frequency. Like I was a magnet or something. Why wouldn’t the System choose Andy to be The Goliath?
Like calls to like, after all.
For his fourth trait, I wanted something that would elevate his skills as a killer and a hunter, making him a formidable force to be reckoned with during a delving night.
I hoped.
| Expert Hunter I | The monster has expert mastery in their hunting skills, adaptability, and techniques for three (3) types of creatures. (Selected: Humanoids; Demonic; Beasts). They can automatically sense the presence of the selected creatures within a five-mile radius and track them with extreme accuracy, intuitively perceive their prey’s weaknesses, and exploit their fears. They also apply the appropriate hunting & tracking skills to gain advantage in two (2) terrains. (Selected: Forest, Urban). This is a passive trait.
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