[LEVEL UP! You have reached Level 58.]

[You have gained 0.5 attribute points to distribute.]

Reidar distributed the attribute points immediately, placing everything into A.C.U.M.E.N. so that he could summon more creatures. During the journey to the ant nest, he also invested his perk points.

—[«STATUS»]—

Name: Reidar Miller

Level: 58

Health: 570

Mana: 4345.71

C.L.A.S.P.: 52540 / 74800

Available Attribute points: 0

Skills: Fireball, Aqua Pistol, Stone Bullet, Wind Blade, Summon Primal Pack, Summon Guardian Shade, Summon Bone Militia, Mending Touch, Group Rally, Root Grasp, Circle of Renewal, Void Javelin, Elemental Storm, Summon Razor-Gill School, Summon Spectral Knights, Summon Rift-Sprite Contubernium, Summon Murk-Fin School, Stone Skin, Chitinous Carapace, Hive Mind Echo, Formic Acid Barrier, Corrosive Demise, Summon Vorathid Foragers

Equipment: Shepherd's Crook of the Wild, Summoner's Cowl, Summoner's Mantle, Summoner's Leggings, Summoner's Handwraps, Summoner's Treads, Summoner's Bracers, Summoner's Cloak, Summoner's Sash, Aqua Sprite Pendant, Ember Sprite Ring, Stone Sprite Ring

Proficiencies: Basic Combat (99%), Velia's Regional Map (22%), Velia's Monster Compendium (27%)

Attributes: (S.H.I.E.L.D.: 5.7), (A.C.U.M.E.N.: 28.8), (F.L.A.I.R. : 5.5), (F.L.I.P.: 4.7)

Minions: #N/A

Survival Points: 323,776

Trait: Skill Sharing

Perks: Arcane Potency (6/6), Mana Attunement (5/5), Mana Font (6/6), Arcane Resilience (4/4), Empowered Effects (2/5), Arcane Leech (5/5), Spell Control (5/5)

Perk Points: 0

Titles: The First Killer, The First Apprentice, The Pioneer, Creature Slayer IV, Rift-Sprite Hunter IV, The Exterminator, Guardian of the Innocents, Adept Learner, Abyss Caller

Profession: Tailoring (LVL 11), Woodworking (LVL 11), Enchanting (LVL 11)

—[«END»]—

Reidar urged his summoned wolf forward through the shadowed ravine. They were halfway through the Vorathid Ants' nest, fighting scores of workers and soldiers.

Thanks to the latter, Reidar was on his way to get more levels, and he had already gotten a few. He observed his status interface while his summoned creatures fought.

The three new perks were there and working as intended. Reidar had been forced to use the perk points since he couldn't let them stay there. Besides, he had the time since he wasn't exactly directly involved in the fight, to chose them.

He poured his points into Mana Font, bringing it to the maximum and increasing swelling his pool by twenty-four percent.

Arcane Resilience followed. He invested four points in it. The perk increased his armor rating based on his mana. 1% of his total mana would increase per point, and with 4 perk points invested, it meant he now had around 174% of armor rating from mana alone.

Empowered Effects took the rest, two points boosting non-damaging skills by ten percent, which meant even the summoning skills.

Why these perks? Damage perks tempted him, but he'd learned the hard way: battles turned on sustain most of the times. Healing kept allies fighting and avoided losses; barriers and root grasp controlled the enemy. Group rally empowered them. This obviously included his summoned creatures.

Raw output meant nothing if he collapsed mid-fight, or if his summons got decimated.

These choices bought endurance, the edge over glass-cannon builds that burned bright and died as fast as it killed the enemy.

The First Killer trait also activated during the battle, and that was because Reidar had killed almost a thousand ants since the whole ordeal started.

Chitinous Carapace was a new addition, which armored his and any active summons' skin. It was different from stone skin, as it was weaker, but the latter didn't affect his summons. Though it wasn't like he could use it with so many creatures, because his mana would be drained.

Hive Mind Echo sharpened his mind as if he was part of a hive, toughening his mental defenses. It was a Tier 5 skill, after all, which granted fifteen percent fear resistance, ten percent against mind assaults, and a fifteen percent accuracy boost for coordinated strikes with allies.

Formic Acid Barrier created a shield absorbing damage, retaliating with corrosive sprays that burned melee foes for fifteen acid per attack.

Corrosive Demise twisted defeat into vengeance. Defeated minions had a five percent chance of erupting in acid blasts that would cover around five meters in radius.

The last one was Summon Vorathid Foragers, calling up as many of these smaller versions of the Worker Vorathid ants for fifty mana each. They were meant for pursuit and scouting, but they were 40 levels less than the caster, although they could last up to 2 hours.

Reidar gripped his wand as the tunnel swarmed with chitin-clad terrors. Workers poured forward in relentless waves while soldiers, bulkier and black as polished obsidian, closed in with purposeful speed. The dim light of the cavern caught only glimpses of them. It was enough to make them dangerous but not enough to stop him.

He thrust his hand forward and cast a fireball. A blazing orb erupted from it and slammed into a worker, setting it on fire and illuminating the area.

[Your Fireball strikes Worker Vorathid Ant for 875 fire damage.]

[Worker Vorathid Ant defeated. You have gained 378 C.L.A.S.P. Points. You have earned 113 survival points.]

The soldiers charged, legs pounding the earth. Reidar summoned another wave of fireballs and other kinds of skills. They were almost at 100% proficiency at that point, so what he needed was a little push to have them develop to the next tier.

<Hopefully, their mana expenditure will decrease, because as things stand now, killing these bastards requires too much mana if I simply use offensive skills.>

Besides, there was a limit to what Arcane Leech could do. While the monsters were weak, and the amount of damage he did was high. Arcane Leech basically refilled his mana. But with him needing fireballs of 300 to 400 mana points to be effective against these monsters and only getting a portion of it back, his mana reserves weren't as stable as before.

A soldier clamped onto a skeleton's arm, its venom eating through bone. Reidar hit back with Root Grasp, immobilizing it through thorny vines that shot up from the ground and wrapped around the ant's legs.

[Your Root Grasp restrains Soldier Vorathid Ant Soldier. Status Applied: Immobilized.]

[Summoned Skeleton strikes Soldier Vorathid Ant for 356 slashing damage.]

[Summoned Skeleton strikes Soldier Vorathid Ant for 385 slashing damage.]

[Summoned Skeleton strikes Soldier Vorathid Ant for 329 slashing damage.]

[Summoned Skeleton strikes Soldier Vorathid Ant for 278 slashing damage.]

[Soldier Vorathid Ant defeated. You have gained 189 C.L.A.S.P. Points. You have earned 57 Survival Points.]

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