Michael watches as Riki takes a seat on the opposite side of the table, his tail slowly moving side to side as if in interest, the assassin sits his elbow on the table and rests his cheek against his hand, "So, why have you come to visit me then? Apparently you've already received my abilities, and I assume you aren't just here for a social call."
Michael shrugs, "Well, I was actually looking for you to teach me what you know about weapons and other things your abilities don't provide. To be honest, I'm a bit shocked by how friendly you are compared to Slark... That guy killed me almost as soon as I dropped in." he mutters with a slight grimace at the memory of how quickly he'd died.
Riki thinks for a while before eventually grinning, "I suppose I could, but you'd have to be willing to do something for me once I deem you 'trained'."
Michael slowly nods, "As long as it's reasonable, just remember that there are limits to what I and the Book can do." he says, not wanting to get the assassin's hopes up. Riki was turning out to be a cool guy, despite how annoying he was to face in the actual game.
"That's fine, my request isn't anything physical per se, but we'll see if you're worthy of it or not. For now, don't you have some more souls to trap?" he asks and Michael nods.
Just before Michael's about to leave Riki's world though, he pauses in thought, "Say, you might actually know some of the people I'll be able to pick. Got any recommendations?"
Riki leans back, "Hmm, an interesting question. I'm not sure who meets the criteria to be a 'Hero' as you say, but I can make some good guesses. Despite how involved I was in my work, I helped maintain a large spy network in my downtime." he says with crossing his arms, "First and foremost, the people whose abilities would suit you the most would likely be... That Juggernaut fellow from the Isle of Masks, I think his skills would suit your current fighting style... If it could be called that." he says, knowing that Michael's current fighting style was a mishmash of his crappy skills, and overreliance on his Runes and Abilities.
He taps his chin, "There's that Plague God, Necro-something he calls himself, that's going city to city and destroying everything he finds... That aside, I imagine those followers of Selemene would be excellent picks, if you can't get the goddess herself."
Michael nods, "Juggernaut, Necrophos, Mirana and Luna... If I see them I'll consider it, thanks." he says, getting up from the table. "I'll be back soon to take those lessons, cya later, Riki."
Riki chuckles and gives a slight wave, "Oh, we'll if you return after the first lesson. I promise to push you harder than you thought possible."
Michael awakens back in the real world and grins, happy that he'd gained a cooperative teacher who seemed to actually care... Though, he wasn't sure if Riki was just playing him or not, he doubted it, but it was still a possibility.
He shakes his head and flips through the pages to his status, fingering the Spirit slot once he'd readied himself... Suddenly though, the book glows golden and levitates from his grasp, floating in front of him as it undergoes many changes.
Once the formerly large, plain book stop glowing, Michael catches it out of the air as the phenomenon stops, allowing him to examine its new look... The most immediately obvious thing was that the title of the book had changed, from 'Book of Commoners', to 'Book of Heroes'.
Michael didn't know how big the changes such a distinction made, but he imagined it was more than just allowing him to pick higher quality heroes. The book's cover remains black, but the title in written in a high-quality golden inscription, and the corners of the book were now decorated in gold gilding, making it look the part of a magical grimoire.
"It's heavy." he mutters, weighing it in his hands and feeling more than just its physical weight. He shakes his head and sits back on the stump before opening it, marvelling at the higher quality paper than before.
Without waiting another moment, he presses the Spirit slot and is presented with a full list of Hero-tier Heroes. Though, Michael is somewhat surprised by who is actually on the list.
Hero Tier :
Anti-Mage
Axe
Broodmother
Centaur Warrunner
Chen
Crystal Maiden
Disruptor
Drow Ranger
Legion Commander
Lifestealer
Lina
Lycan
Marci
Naga Siren
Nyx Assassin
Omniknight
Phantom Assassin
Skywrath Mage
Slardar
Treant Protector
Undying
Ursa
Viper
Wind Ranger
Winter Wyvern
Witch Doctor
...
If Michael thought he knew what made someone a 'hero' before, he certainly didn't now. He'd thought that those like Omniknight and Wind Runner were way more powerful than the other people listed here, the former as someone who could literally make people both magic and physically immune to damage, and the latter as she was supposedly a half-wind spirit or something, which should make her more powerful, right?
Regardless, he was happy to see some names come up in this tier than at later ones, as their abilities would be incredibly useful to him... Though, he also had to remind himself that their knowledge was also a factor. Someone like Witch Doctor who had relatively weak abilities would still be a veritable library of knowledge concerning medicine, magic, and other things. This was also applicable to Winter Wyvern, who he remembered as being the scholarly sort.
Regardless, he'd spend the time going through each and every one of them to determine the best picks. (Yes, this is gonna be another info dump for those of you who don't know the characters.)
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
ShinAmazake
Kingsprovince
JayJonnaJamison
Jack Allen
Faruk Ereng
Michael looks at the first name on the list and can't help but grin.
Anti-Mage, a former monk whose abilities all revolve around defeating mages, hence his name. This guy was top of the list for Michae, both due to how effective such abilities would be in his current situation, and also because of the potential knowledge the man might hold. He'd undoubtedly know many martial disciplines, though, whether or not he'd be willing to teach them was another matter entirely.
His abilities were all very powerful too! Blink, a more powerful and flexible version of Riki's Blink Strike which didn't require a target to cast. Mana Break, a passive ability that allows Anti-Mage's weapons to burn an enemy's mana with each attack, which would cripple most spell casters to suddenly have their mana drained. Counterspell, an ability that both passively provides magic resistance as well as an active ability to 'counter' any spell targeting him. And finally, Mana Void, Anti-Mage's ultimate ability which would stun and deal damage to a mage and everything near them based on how much mana they were missing.
In the game as Anti-Mage, you'd Blink in, use Manta Style to spawn illusions before attacking the target with Mana Break, which also happens to be usable by illusions. Once the target is drained of mana, you use Mana Void and instantly kill them. Extremely powerful in the game, and extremely powerful outside of it if Michael's suspicions were correct. The magic resistance alone would prove incredibly powerful.
Next on the list is Axe, a big red dude with an axe who, in the game, is able to tank an entire team while simultaneously killing them.
Axe's abilities were Beserker's Call, a taunt spell that also granted you armour for its duration. Battle Hunger, a spell that slowly deals damage to enemies who don't quench their thirst by killing something, it also speeds up Axe based on how many people are affected by it. Counter Helix, Axe's bread and butter, sometimes allowing him to spin and deal massive damage to everything around him when attacked, in the game it wouldn't be strange to see an Axe go helicopter-mode and instantly wipe out any nearby enemies... Last but not least is Culling Blade, or better known as "DUNK!", allowing Axe to instantly kill an enemy who's under a certain threshold of health. To Michael this would be incredibly useful against powerful enemies like giants, dragons, or other things that'd need to be whittled down to kill. He could imagine himself Dunking on the Ancient Dragon while everyone watches... How cool would that be?
Next is BroodMother, which Michael instantly rejects... BroodMother is essentially a giant spider whose abilities revolve around birthing smaller spiders and killing everything with an army of her 'babies'. Not only would it be fucking creepy to run around with an army of giant spiders following him, but that'd also force him to 'birth' them in the first place. REJECTED!
Centaur Warrunner, another powerful tank who was able to retaliate against any who dealt damage to him. Michael knew making himself into a tank wouldn't really be possible at this point, as he lacked the sheer health, strength, and vitality required to be stabbed, burned, and everything else. Not to mention enduring it all while slowly whittling down the enemy would be aggravating as all hell.
Centaur's abilities were Hoof Stomp, an AOE stun around him that dealt some damage. Double Edge, a melee attack that did massive damage to the enemy, but also dealt half that damage to himself, not so useful judging by Michael's experience with Dark Pact. Retaliate, a passive ability that deals a percentage of Michael's strength stat as damage to any enemies who attack him... Incredibly powerful if you had a shit ton of strength... Which he didn't. And his ultimate, Stampede, boosting Centaur Warrunner and any nearby allies speed by ridiculous amounts, also granting them the ability to trample enemies underfoot, which dealt percentage strength damage to its victims. This was very good and could be used to make an army rolf-stomp literally any opponent if it was numerous enough... Still not enough to be picked though.
Next is Chen, a religious dude who rides around on a boar-thing? In the game is mind control monsters and makes them do his work for him. He's also able to heal and deal damage with some spells. To be honest, Michael didn't want to even think about picking this guy, his heal was limited as it was his ultimate ability, his attack spells were crap, and controlling monsters wasn't all that useful as it had a cap in the game... Though, he wasn't sure if it had a limit outside the game. REJECTED!
Crystal Maiden... Very good! Not only was she a powerful ice mage, but more importantly... She was hot!... Er, appearance-wise of course. Her abilities were Crystal Nova, which was a large AOE blast of ice that'd slow and damage anyone caught in it. Frostbite, which would freeze the target and slowly deal damage to them. Arcane Aura, arguably her most powerful ability, would passively regenerate her and all her allies mana, in the game people picked her for this ability alone. And lastly, her ultimate, Freezing Field, which would cause large icicles to fall from the sky and destroy everything around her, slowing everyone caught in it while also protecting her as she casts it. Strong, but rather limited in its uses, as you were forced to stand still to use it.
Michael was heavily leaning towards picking her, not just because of her abilities, but because she could teach him far more than just those spells. She was a proper mage unlike Shadow Shaman, so learning under her would be incredibly helpful for his development. He also wanted her elemental affinity, along with whatever bonus ability he'd receive...
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
If you like my content or want to read ahead please go to : https://www.p.atreon.com/Nagross, I'd appreciate it.
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
ShinAmazake
Kingsprovince
JayJonnaJamison
Jack Allen
Faruk Ereng
bình luận đoạn văn
Tính năng bình luận đoạn văn hiện đã có trên Web! Di chuyển chuột qua bất kỳ đoạn nào và nhấp vào biểu tượng để thêm nhận xét của bạn.
Ngoài ra, bạn luôn có thể tắt / bật nó trong Cài đặt.
ĐÃ NHẬN ĐƯỢC