Skill-Eater: Prison World Saga-Chapter 44: Talking Tactics

Chapter 44: Talking Tactics

Edge’s explanation seemed to satisfy everyone.

They spent the next half hour discussing their primary formation, then moved on to contingencies for how they would respond to a wide range of potential threats. Everyone was fluent with the hand signals that most hunters used in the field, so they could communicate without making noise while they were in sight of one another.

They were packing an impressive selection of consumable items and magitech gear in their kits. Devices that could supplement their skillsets in a variety of ways, enhancing their strengths, increasing their versatility, and shoring up their weak points. While they didn’t divulge the details of their magical equipment, the hunters were happy to share the broad strokes along with the specs of their consumables, so the others wouldn’t be surprised when they used them in battle.

By this point, Edge was certain that his team was capable, and it seemed that their specialties complimented each other’s. He was looking forward to working with everyone and learning more about monster hunting from trained professionals. He broke into a broad grin as the last person finished sharing—eager to find out what would happen next.

There were three more dungeon-clearing teams, and a backup roster in case someone was injured. His crew, which had been given the designation Arrow, went ahead and introduced themselves to the members of teams Spear, Sword, and Hammer. Although their mission was urgent, it was a great chance to network and meet some of Puppet Town’s elite residents. Edge paid close attention to everything that was said and tried to make a good impression.

When he was done making the rounds, he summoned his Guide to check out his profile. It was a good opportunity to benchmark his progress, so that he could track his growth once he entered the dungeon.

Personal Statistics: Edge Vasher

Attributes (Values in parentheses are provided by your traits)

Physical Attributes

Power: 9 (10)

Endurance: 8 (9)

Durability: 13 (14)

Reflex: 9

Speed: 13 (14)

Control: 9 (10)

Perception: 7

Energetic Attributes

Generation: 13

Amplification: 14

Disruption: 7 (8)

Physical Conditioning (Attribute points may be conditioned up to five points each)

Power: 3

Endurance: 4

Durability: 5

Reflex: 4

Speed: 3

Control: 4

Perception: 3

Core Information

Name: [Skill-Eater]

Stage: 1

Cycle: 18/21

Rarity: Unique

Category: Unique

Attribute points per cycle: 3

Ultimate Abilities

[Extraction] <active>

Uses per day: 3

Cooldown period: 24 hours

Steal the skills of monsters, men, and beasts and claim them for your own.

[Overdrive] <active>

Uses: 1

Cooldown period: 1 week

Overdrive increases your Amplification by (10 x stage) for thirty seconds. Activating skills will not require mana during this period. You will be severely exhausted for thirty seconds after Overdrive is complete.

Core Traits

Collector (Unique) <alternate advancement>

You can no longer acquire or rank up skills through normal means. You may slot twice as many skills as before. Additionally, you will gain an extra skill slot with every new stage.

Devourer (Unique)

You may absorb an unwanted skill, freeing its slot and granting a fraction of its experience to the skill of your choice. Be advised, the return on this exchange is significantly less efficient than extracting a duplicate of an existing skill.

Skills

Skill slots: 10 (Unused slots: 1)

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Conceal (Common): Rank 2. Path: Erasure.

Erase your scent and heat signature while you remain still. Visually, you will appear to blend into your environment. The last twenty-five feet of your trail will be removed on activation.

Entangle (Common): Rank 3. Path: Resiliency.

Create burrowing vines to bind your target. The vines are resistant to cuts and tears.

Leap (Common): Rank 2. Path: Assault.

Jump with explosive force. Increased Durability for ten seconds after activation.

Elemental Blade <ice> (Uncommon): Rank 2. Path: Elemental Infusion.

Create a subzero blade of ice or infuse a bladed weapon with a chilling aura.

Harden (Uncommon): Rank 2. Path: Coverage.

Cover large portions of your body in diamond scales.

Regeneration (Uncommon): Rank 2. Path: Unlimited Regeneration.

Rapidly heal wounds. Regeneration can restore destroyed organs at a significantly slower rate.

Regulate Temperature <passive> (Uncommon): Rank 2. Path: Protection.

Gain significant insulation against temperature change, including elemental attacks.

Repel Water <versatile> (Uncommon): Rank 2. Path: Repulsion.

Push large volumes of water away from the user. The shape of the repulsive field can be altered at will.

Double Slash (Rare): Rank 1.

Empower an attack with a bladed weapon. The weapon will have an offset double, and its edge will be magically sharpened while the skill is active.

Shadow Step (Rare): Rank 2. Path: Armored Shadow.

Transform into shadows. In this state, your body is malleable and immune to physical attacks. The cost of transforming your gear is greatly reduced.

Intimidating Roar (Epic) is being digested.

Traits

Trait slots: 3 (Unused slots: 0)

Triple Tap

You are either a genius, blessed by the heavens, or are the luckiest motherfucker on the planet. You managed to win a fight against three opponents at least one stage higher than yourself and—more or less—landed the killing blow on each.

Effects: +10% to Power, Speed, and Control (minimum gain of 1).

Wanted

You have found 1 of the 21 Unique cores in existence, which has painted a target on your back. In fact, checking out the bounty board is probably something you should do sooner rather than later.

There’s a good chance that this is going to end spectacularly badly for you, and I can’t wait to watch it all play out. This trait might help you live a little bit longer, but I’m not holding my breath.

Effects: +10% to Endurance, Durability, and Disruption (minimum gain of 1).

Big Game Hunter

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Holy shit. That. Was. Fucking. Awesome!

You managed to score a kill on a colossal and behemoth creature, all in the same afternoon. I’m shocked to my circuits that you’re still breathing and loved every second of the show.

I hope that you try something that batshit crazy again soon. Here’s a trait that should incentivize you to do just that.

Effect: 50% more damage with weapons and skills to creatures at least twenty times your size (excluding magitech weapons, traps, and spellshots).

25% extra Perception when sensing creatures at least twice your size.

Implants

Heart-Guard (Common)

Size: Small (1 implant point). Aether type: Silver. Charge: Full.

This implant generates a barrier to protect the heart when it detects incoming damage.

Auxiliary Skill Slot (Uncommon)

Size: Small (1 implant point). Aether type: N/A.

An auxiliary skill slot can be used to socket an extra skill beyond the limit of your core. The skill placed in this slot cannot gain experience, cycle up, or be merged or altered in any way, although it can be Absorbed and replaced with a new skill at will.

This is a passive, structural implant. As such, it does not require an aether charge to function.

System Currency

Credits: 4,150

Mortium: 0

Not long after, Gram arrived and had everyone move into the open area in the middle of camp. He was ready to address the expedition before the clearing crews entered the Savage Garden.

“I’m going to hold off on the speeches until we’ve completed the quest, since time is of the essence. Suffice to say that I believe in all of you, or you wouldn’t have been chosen for the roles you’ve been assigned. Instead, I will provide a brief overview of our dungeon-conquering strategy, then let the clear teams get to work.”

“This dungeon has a population limit of 25 people. Once the last person is inside, the fog door will solidify and won’t let anyone else pass through. We’re sending in four teams of six, with the final spot left open so that I can send a runner in case of emergencies. We’ll have to adjust those numbers if anyone in Setna’s crew is still alive. Moving on, all known forms of communication magic are blocked by the dungeon’s walls, along with any manner of remote viewing or scrying.

“As such, each team will enter the Savage Garden for a preset period, after which they will head back out to check in with base camp. I cannot emphasize strongly enough that this mission is a team effort. If you run into anything tricky, exit early and report the problem. We will pool our knowledge, come up with a plan, and build specialized devices to resolve the issue as safely as possible. There will likely be elite monsters inside that will require more than one crew to eliminate. If you find one, observe what you can without giving your position away, then come back for reinforcements.”

Edge knew some of this information already. But this was the most comprehensive analysis of dungeons he’d ever heard, and he leaned in close to catch every word.

“Communication between crews working inside a dungeon is usually possible, but there are always serious limitations. Flares and smoke signals will have their effective range reduced by the overgrowth, and magical interference will limit the effectiveness of communication skills. We’ll know more after you complete your first delve. Early on, the teams will be close enough to back each other up in a pinch. That will change as we proceed deeper, and I’ll update our strategy based on what we discover.

“The dangers inside dungeons generally belong to one of three varieties: monsters, traps, and what is commonly referred to as natural or environmental hazards, which can range from toxic substances to deadly weather and even more exotic threats. Once again, if you run into anything you’re not sure you can handle, come back out and we’ll adjust the crew compositions, craft necessary supplies, and the like. There’s no reason to risk your lives trying to do everything yourselves.”

By now, everyone was nodding along with Gram’s explanation. “Generally, the best strategy to conquer a dungeon is to conduct what is known as a full clear. Each of the four teams will begin purging the region near the entrance, mapping the area and eliminating any threats they encounter along the way. The crews will be relatively close together, which makes assisting each other and retreating to the base camp much easier than during the later stages. Once the entrance has been cleared, each team will proceed along their assigned route while we pacify the dungeon zone by zone.

“In short, your mission is to survey the dungeon and kill every monster that crosses your path. At the end of your first delve, we will send in the supplementary teams while the clearing crews rest. The harvesters will extract resources while the lootfinders sweep for valuables that aren’t in obvious places. On that note, if you run into any traps or hazards, be sure to mark the area so that no one wanders in by mistake.

“Although our ultimate objective is to kill the boss and finish the quest, under no circumstances should you enter the boss’s chamber until I give the order. If you find the entrance, observe what you can from the far side, then head back to report your findings. We’ll formulate a strategy for killing the boss once we have more information.

“Other than what I’ve just outlined, your only other job is to keep an eye out for Setna’s crew. We’ll know if any of them are still alive when the last team enters the fog door. We’ll do our best to rescue any survivors and recover the remains of the fallen. Good luck people, everyone is counting on you and praying for your success.”

Now that the expedition’s strategy had been outlined in full, Gram moved on to briefing the individual crews. Team Arrow would be the third group to enter the dungeon. After surveying the area near the entrance, their assignment was to follow the eastern wall and clear around the perimeter. Spear would do the same with the western wall, while Hammer and Sword went up the middle.

Their first delve into the dungeon would last twelve hours. Anyone who didn’t make it back by then would be presumed missing and in need of rescue. The shifts would get longer as they penetrated deeper into the Savage Garden, but by then they would have a better idea of what they were dealing with and adjust their plans accordingly.

At the end of each day, the clearing crews would pool their knowledge, then rest and recover as best they could. Meanwhile, the alternate teams would head inside, keeping the dungeon at its population limit so that the expedition didn’t waste a second.

With that out of the way, there was nothing to do but wait until Edge’s team was called. Everyone gathered around the entrance as the first clear team entered the dungeon, disappearing through the fog door and into the unknown.

There was a tense moment while everyone waited to find out if there was trouble on the other side, which lasted until a hunter stepped back out and reported that the area near the entrance seemed safe for now. Five minutes later, the second team stepped inside.

By now, his heart was racing, and a gallon of adrenaline was sloshing through his veins. Not long after, it was finally Arrow’s turn. Side by side with his new crew, Edge walked up to the entrance and stopped in front of the swirling pane of fog. In just a few more seconds, he would head inside a dungeon for the first time, and the next phase of his adventure would begin.