Chapter 13: Infodump Tres
Michael shakes his head, the abilities of Riki would be good if the plot progressed how it did in the story, wiping out an army of fifty thousand didn't seem all that big a deal if he could blink around, become invulnerable, and stay invisible...
He tears his eyes away from Riki and moves on to the next Hero... Shadow Shaman. This was actually one of Michael's most-played heroes, primarily due to how effective his abilities were in most situations... His first was called 'Ether Shock', which blasts multiple enemies with orange electricity. His second ability was one of the most well known magical spells probably ever... Hex, temporarily turning a target into a chicken... Michael, again, wasn't sure how it would function in real life, as turning someone into a chicken should make them very vulnerable to damage... Yet, in the game the transformed person retained their health pool...
Shaking his head, he looks to Shadow Shaman's third ability, Shackle. This allows Shadow Shadow to bind a target with ephemeral electrical threads, holding them in place as long as he channels the spell. Very effective, especially in the game, as long stuns were sometimes game-winning on their own. The only real downside to it was its short-range and the fact you needed to channel it, making it easy for enemies to attack you in the meantime.
His last ability was called Serpent Ward, summoning many ephemeral snakes that deal massive damage to any they attack... While they might be stationary, the flame darts they fire are more than effective against most things... Or at least, that's what Michael could infer from how it functioned in the game.
Next on the list was Slark... Though, Michael wasn't really sure how to approach it... The main reason for this was Slark's third ability called 'Essence Shift', which allowed him to both temporarily, and permanently steal Agility from his enemies... Each time you hit someone with Essence Shift allows you to temporarily steal the enemies Strength, Agility, and Intelligence, converting the ... But, if you kill someone who's under this effect, you steal 1 Agility from them... Permenantly!
If used right, this could make Michael incredibly powerful, incredibly quickly... Though, it isn't exactly guaranteed that Slark's ability would work like this, as in the game, you needed to kill other heroes to get the bonus... Obviously, there weren't any other heroes in The Familiar of Zero, so...
Aside from that, Slark also had two other incredibly powerful abilities... His first, which is Dark Pact, which deals damage in an Aoe after a delay that also harms Slark... But, it also purges any disables... Meaning, if Slark was stunned, silenced, rooted, the Dark Pact would remove it. This might actually be able to remove curses as well, depending on how powerful the purge is in real life...
Slark's second ability called 'Pounce' isn't worth really talking about, simply letting Slark pounce on a target and keep imprison them next to him for a couple seconds... Bt his ultimate was truly broken...
Shadow Dance had two components, a passive part, and an active part... Passively, Slark regenerates a percentage of his health and gains movement speed bonuses when unseen... The active, combo's with this by shrouding Slark in a cloud of shadows that follows him, enabling his ultimate's passive abilities even when in combat.
If Michael combined Slark's abilities with Riki, he'd quickly become the best assassin ANYWHERE... Permanent invisibility would allow Shadow Dance's passive to activate, plus Essence Shift stealing Agility would make Cloak and Dagger's percentage Agility damage stupidly strong.
Obviously, though, these combo's were for the future... These abilities would only be good if he had a good foundation... If he wasn't quick enough, unable to attack, or other vital aspects of combat, he'd simply just die.
Anyway, putting that aside for now, next on the list was Troll Warlord, a Hero who basically just throws axes... The abilities involved... Throwing more axes... The abilities that actually interested Michael though were Troll Warlord's passive and ultimate.
The passive called Fervor increased Troll's attack speed the more he attacks a single target... That's it, strong but simple. His ultimate though, Battle Trance, sends him into a berserk state that massively increases attack speed, movement speed, and grants life steal for the duration... Though, it also forces you to attack any enemies in the vicinity... Additionally, you can't take fatal damage during this state, essentially making you unstoppable until the trance ends...
This was akin to a 'panic button', which Michael wasn't adverse to, especially since just the thought of entering combat right now made his hairs stand on end... Having something that forced his hand would be useful in acclimating to this new... Bloody lifestyle.
The last hero on the list is Tusk, a generally 'average' Hero in the game, but potentially very useful in Michael's current situation. His first ability is called Ice Shards, a spell that deals damage to enemies it passes through before creating a large ice wall at the end of its range, potentially blocking the victim from escape... For Michael who possessed the Gandalfr runes, this would stop any mages from running away while he tried to get into melee range...
The second ability is called Snowball, allowing Tusk to summon a huge ball of snow that envelopes him and rolls towards a target, stunning them once it hits and putting Tusk in melee range to follow up.
Next and third ability is called Tag Team, it slows any nearby enemies while also providing Tusk with bonus damage for the duration... How bonus damage would actually function in real life though, Michael was not really sure... Would it increase the strength of the attacks? Somehow alter where it hit? Would hitting someone's foot with bonus damage cause their head to explode?... Confusing.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Niggross
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Chapter 14: Infodump Cuatro
Tusks last ability and ultimate is called 'Walrus Punch', allowing him to ready a deadly punch that deals incredible damage while also knocking the target into the air from the force of it... Essentially, it's a more powerful Shoryuken from Streetfighter...
That's all the common heroes... Obviously, the list was missing the many overpowered heroes from the game, but it more than gave Michael enough options to proceed.
The Heroes Michael was considering out of the list were Dark Willow, Shadow Shaman, Riki, and Slark... Primarily, Michael wanted to be able to do magic to hopefully improve his situation... Being able to demonstrate magical capabilities would put him on the same level as the nobles, while also increasing Louise's prestige for obvious reasons.
The reason Riki and Slark were in consideration was simply due to how powerful they were. If given enough time to cultivate their abilities, Michael would be unstoppable in this world... Well, if what he saw from the anime was anything to suggest people's general strength level... He would still have trouble dealing with high-level mages like Fouquet, but it was better than just being left with the Gandalfr abilities.
Still, the most important thing right now was to secure his position amongst the nobles... Michael didn't think he'd be willing to live like a slave for however long it took to get another chance to pick a hero... So his choices were either Dark Willow, or Shadow Shaman.
Honestly, he could only rely on his knowledge of the game to make a decision here. As the book didn't really give any explanations other than simply displaying the character names. It was lucky he was a Dota nerd that'd memorized every hero, otherwise he might be stuck here...
Anyway, in the game, Dark Willow notoriously had difficult abilities to actually use... Her Bramble Maze missed half the time, as people could simply navigate through it... This would probably be far easier in real life as you didn't have to use the janky point and click controls...
Compared to Shadow Shaman though, she had Shadowrealm, which was an incredible offensive and defensive ability... The only problem was Dark Willow's wisp... Michael was unable to tell if he'd have to capture a wisp in the wild to use such abilities, or if it'd just pop into existence...
Shadow Shaman would be better at dealing damage, as his combo would generally be, Hexing, dealing damage, Ether Shock, then summon Serpent Wards before Shackling, holding the target in place while the wards decimated them.
Michael also had to think about the threats that'd come in the plot though... Would Dark Willow's abilities help him deal with Fouquet?... No. But Shadow Shaman? His Shackle might actually be able to bind it temporarily... Plus his Ether Shock attacked multiple targets, possibly allowing him to hit both Fouquet and her golem.
Nodding to himself and reaffirming his decision, Michael releases a heavy sigh and presses Shadow Shaman's name, causing the book to begin rapidly flipping through pages.
It quickly stops on a page that had a large picture depicting Shadow Shaman's frail and rather gross appearance... He was a troll with yellow skin and white eyes, huge buck-tooth teeth that protruded out of his mouth grossly, and a hunched back.
On the other page though, it displayed not the four abilities Michael was expecting, but five. The were currently greyed out, but everyone aside from the ultimate ability Serpent Wards had a + next it, indicating he could level it.
Spirit : Shadow Shaman
Level : 1
Abilities :
Carnival Tricks (Rank 0) : Allows user to form ephemeral shapes, creatures, and patterns to amuse, distract, or frighten.
Ether Shock (Rank 0) : Casts a cone of ethereal energy that strikes multiple enemies.
Hex (Rank 0) : Temporarily transforms the target into a harmless chicken.
Shackle (Rank 0) : Magically binds an enemy in ethereal threads while also dealing damage throughout the duration
Serpent Wards (Rank 0) : Summons multiple Serpent Wards to attack any nearby enemies.
Michael crooks a brow at the page, not because of how it was laid out, but because of the extra ability... Carnival Tricks? Shadow Shaman never had such an ability in the game... Where did it come from he wondered? And would other heroes also have extra abilities?
...
Another thing to mention was the lack of Talents, extra bonuses you could buy with skill points, and the ability to increase stat points with skill points... Each ability should have four levels, aside from the ultimate which has three, meaning that the max level of Shadow Shaman would be nineteen... If things progress like they do in the game...
Michael wasn't sure if he'd have to reach max level to pick another hero, but it was logically the most likely conclusion.
Regardless, he now had to choose an ability... And the obvious choice, both here and in the game would be Ether Shock. Without support, the other abilities would fall flat compared to it, so it was an easy pick.
He taps the plus sign next to it and has the spell burn itself into his mind, instantly teaching him how he could cast it, along with the range and general damage.
With that, he takes one last look at the book before laying it down next it him on his haystack, his brows almost reaching his hairline as it seemingly fades from existence... He, of course, panics due to its disappearance but is relieved when it rematerializes in his hand as he tries to grasp it.
"Huh, is it one of those 'Soul-Bound' items then? I hope so... Would someone else be able to read it?... He'd have to test it out to see what'd happen, not before making enough preparations to prevent mishaps of course.
With that, he takes one last look at the sleeping Louise before curling up into a ball and trying to get some sleep in this rather cold room. All the while excited to start shooting lightning from his fingertips like a certain Sith lord.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Niggross
Niggross
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