Inflame (The Completionist Chronicles Book 6), Dakota Krout [free novels to read TXT] 📗

the others. Just as with normal aspects, you will need to create a crafting tool specific for the Special aspect in order to use it! For the purposes of the demonstration, you will have enough aspects, a workstation, and the knowledge of how to create a simple dagger. Do so now!

Joe decided to get started right away and attempted to make a hammer out of the green aspect that has been given to him, which appeared to be a copy of the ‘Zombified’ aspect he had just gained. No matter what he did, though, he was not able to shape the aspect into a hammer. The tutorial came through when he was just about to give up.

As you can see, a Special aspect by itself does not work. You will need to combine the aspect with whatever rarity of aspect you want to use it with! Try again!

Rolling his eyes, Joe pulled together Uncommon aspects, as well as the zombified aspect, eventually managing to form an ingot hammer that shone a sickly silver-green. Using the aspects to craft the hammer went smoothly, even without guiding the process as carefully as he normally did. A new design formed on the striking plane of the hammer, a stylized Dwarven face. Joe got to work immediately, forming a dagger with uncharacteristic ease: surely an effect of the tutorial he was in.

When he finished crafting the weapon, the hammer he was using shattered and its shards vanished. Joe lifted up the newly-made dagger, letting out a low whistle as he read over its abilities.

Zombified Stiletto (Uncommon Special). A dagger designed specifically for killing Dwarves, this blade hungers for the flesh and blood of what it once was. Effect: Adds 50-80 piercing damage on strike. +20% damage when attacking a Dwarf. 5% chance to raise a slain Dwarf as a zombified thrall. 1% chance to raise a slain Dwarf as an uncontrolled zombie. Note: This weapon is highly illegal within areas controlled by the Dwarven Oligarchy.

Tutorial complete!

Joe was once more standing in the landfill, his hands empty, but his mind full of plans for the future.

Chapter Seventeen

“Almost a full week now.” Joe stood atop a section of the landfill that was especially tall, looking between the various ‘mountain peaks’ that he had visited over the last few days. Seven redesigned rituals had been placed on the peaks: Acid Spray rituals at the Beginner ranks. The main reason he had needed to redesign the rituals wasn’t for more potent acid, but so that he could include a time delay in their construction. They would still only be able to damage items at Common rarity or below, hopefully leaving him with a treasure trove at the bottom of the pits after they finished digging for him.

“If everything goes as planned, I have five minutes until they all start up at the same time…” Joe attempted to shake the oversized metal bin he had placed the final acid ritual on, making sure it was firmly in place, then took a running start and jumped from the mountain of rubbish as hard as he could. Thanks to the less than firm footing, he wasn't moving fast enough to cause the barriers to activate, but with his increased strength, he was able to get a solid distance away from the ritual itself.

He slammed into the ground with the force of a man who had leapt off a mountain of trash as hard as he could and approached terminal velocity. Joe chuckled at the inane thought as he struggled to dig his way out of the mushy crater. “Did I get a concussion on the way down or something?”

A gentle rain started, and panic flashed across Joe’s face. “The area of effect is higher than I calculated!”

Damage taken: 55 (Acid rain is dealing 55 damage per second.)

The liquid was draining off his shell, but Joe had to hustle to get out of range. Not only was he concerned about his shell’s durability, but the ground was already beginning to sink. If he got trapped in a sinking zone, he would soon need to start worrying about the acidic gases as well as everything else. A broken cry arose in the distance, increasing in volume as more and more voices joined in. The rabid animals and zombies caught in the acid were furious about the sudden yet unrelenting gradual damage to which they were being subjected. Joe gulped and moved faster.

Eventually, he surpassed the edge of the acid and looked back. A flare of flame lit up the underground, and he hastily guesstimated the actual effect of the series of acid spray rituals as they misted over the edges of the ‘peaks’ he had placed them on. “Maybe… a thousand feet in diameter? That’s a lot more than I thought I would get.”

To be fair, he had crafted the ritual to release the liquid as forcefully as possible, using intentionally weaker acid for a greater range. Even so, he was pleased to see everything work out so well. The garbage was reduced at about two feet per minute, and he had hours remaining-

A thunderous roar and splashing drew Joe’s attention to one of the ‘mountains’ he had selected. He could just barely make out the rotting forms of a huge group of zombies that had attacked the thing damaging them. They tore the ritual apart, and it appeared as though the ritual had discharged all at once, dousing the zombies in everything it was supposed to release over time. Joe waited for the experience to roll in, but… nothing. “That’s odd… I’ve gained experience for fringe kills in the past? Why not these? Did they not die?”

Hello there, youngster! Thank you kindly for your inquiry. I regret to inform you that the experience from residual damage has been… nerfed? Yes, that. We recently implemented a system that allows intent to carry weight in experience gain. There were some people planning to break a Zone in half so they could ‘claim the