Dead Man Walking: Living By Day, Dead By Night - Chapter 185

Chapter 185: Significant Gains in a Short Span of Time
While Zane had largely stagnated in terms of level, particularly because he required so much XP now that he was better at strengthening himself through means other than consuming blood crystal. Like focusing on leveling up his horde.

Olivia, Elena, Madison, Angelica, and Lily all seemed to be leveling up quite rapidly. After all, the sure volume of blood crystals they received through both trade, and via their entire settlement of awakened survivors working together was enough to truly foster an army.

All the blood crystals gained by Gravestone were pooled together at the end of the week and distributed based upon the needs of the settlement. Because of this, Zane first gave his personal companions a large share, ensuring that all of them reached level 20.

After all, the missionaries which he fought in New Reno seemed to be around level fifteen, and if other settlements had such powerful fighters, then Zane needed to ensure that Gravestone did as well. The benefits that came with this boost in power were enormous.

Lily’s gains were the most, after all just a while ago she was level 5. But through consuming an ungodly number of Blood Crystals, and via unlocking multiple achievements during her fights alongside Zane and the others, she had managed to climb fifteen whole levels in the span of a month. A miraculous feat, to be sure. But one which clearly had incredible results.

—

[User: Lily Arbor]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 20]

[HP:170/170]

[Attributes]

[Strength: 17]

[Dexterity: 20]

[Constitution: 17]

[Intelligence: 17]

[Wisdom: 17]

[Charisma: 17]

[Skills]

[Green Thumb – Tier V]

[Description: Your ability to control flora of all kinds has reached a level of mastery. As a result, you are able to rapidly accelerate or decelerate the aging of plants. As well as control the yields of what they produce. In addition to this you are able to freely control plants to be wielded as a means of control or attack against those you deem fit, and can make them more resilient, whether against spoilage, or outright destruction.]

—

While Lily had become a major asset to the continued survival and growth of the town of Gravestone, Madison’s abilities themselves had to reach a level that nobody had expected of her. Until recently, she had been the second lowest level among their ranks, and one who had a borderline crippled start due to her base stats being so low. Even then, she managed to have incredible results in such a short span of time.

—

[User: Madison Harrison]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 20]

[HP: 200/200]

[Attributes]

[Strength: 17]

[Dexterity: 15]

[Constitution: 20]

[Intelligence:15]

[Wisdom: 15]

[Charisma: 15]

[Skills]

[Force-Field Generation – Tier V]

[Description: Your control over your defensive skill has reached a level of mastery. Not only can the force fields you generate resist a multitude of blows from even the highest tier of Undead (Aside from that of a Horde King), but the extent of their range has vastly increased as well. In addition to this, your force fields, once cast, will remain in place until broken, or withdrawn by yourself.]

—

Because of this ability, Madison had cast a barrier around Gravestone that protected it from the attacks of the living and the dead alike. In doing so, she ensured that it was protected at all times, and only those given her permission may enter the settlement.

It would require multiple strikes from the likes of a Juggernaut, or another Tier V undead to break through the barrier. Of course, for a Tier I Horde King like the late Eliza, she could still break through the barrier with ease if she so desired, not to mention those Horde Kings that were well above her pay grade.

Nevertheless, this was an amazing skill to have, as the people could go to sleep without significant worries of impending doom, and with only a limited number of sentries keeping watch.

While Lily and Madison’s abilities were incredible, Angelica’s was not beaten by theirs at all. in fact her own abilities had become quite powerful. Whereas before her healing skills were indeed capable, she had a significant limitation in regards to cooldown. But that was no longer an issue, in addition to this, she had gained a few other interesting additions to her powers.

—

[User: Angelica Morrison]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 20]

[HP: 160/160]

[Attributes]

[Strength: 17]

[Dexterity: 17]

[Constitution: 17]

[Intelligence:17]

[Wisdom: 20]

[Charisma: 17]

[Skills]

[Infuse Health – Tier V]

[Description: Your skill of healing has reached a level of mastery. Not only can you cure any ailment under the sun. But you can also do so free from restriction. Your cooldown has been lowered to a mere 10 seconds, while you are also capable of healing more than one person within an area of five meters. So long as they are still breathing, you are capable of healing their wounds or diseases, and near instantly at that.]

—

Angelica’s boost in healing ability made her a godsend in the wasteland. Before, she had no real use in combat as a healer as her cooldown was too large to feasibly be used in combat. But now she could accompany their party and rapidly heal their wounds. Something that would become incredibly useful in the future wars that were to be waged against the various Horde Kings of the world.

Speaking of Battlefield talents, Olivia’s skill had transformed into a terrifyingly destructive power.

—

[User: Olivia Benett]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 20]

[HP: 170/170]

[Attributes]

[Strength: 17]

[Dexterity: 17]

[Constitution: 17]

[Intelligence:20]

[Wisdom: 17]

[Charisma: 17]

[Skills]

[Electric Discharge – Tier V]

[Description: Your ability to generate and manipulate electricity has reached a level of mastery. You now have the ability to summon the wrath of the heavens, a single bolt of lighting cast down from the sky which can turn even a mighty Juggernaut into a pile of ash with a single strike.

Note: This awe-inspiring power requires you to fully charge your skill prior to launching the attack, a process which takes 10 seconds to accomplish. In addition to this, once used, you will not be able to cast this particular tier of Electric Discharge for another thirty minutes.]

—

While this skill was incredibly powerful, and would no doubt be extremely useful on the battlefield, it came at a great cost. That being the cooldown. Meaning that it could only really be relied upon for use in emergencies. Nevertheless, it was a useful addition to have to the team.

Meanwhile, Elena’s increase in power was something that was capable of being employed far more frequently, and was something that Zane had immediately begun thinking about how to best put to use on the battlefield.

—

—

[User: Elena Pryce]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 20]

[HP: 170/170]

[Attributes]

[Strength: 20]

[Dexterity: 17]

[Constitution: 17]

[Intelligence:17]

[Wisdom: 17]

[Charisma: 17]

[Skills]

[Time Reduction – Tier V]

[Description: Your ability to control the flow of time has advanced to a level of mastery. You can now freely manipulate time to your liking. Albeit for a grand total of thirty seconds. Whether you want to slow down, freeze, or speed up the flow of time, it is within your ability to do so.]

—

There were a multitude of things that Elena could use this ability for on the battlefield. Thirty seconds was a long time when bullets were flying. She could theoretically use this to slow down her opponents so that she could get a precise and lethal strike on them.

Or freeze time entirely to get an ally out of harm’s way. Or she could speed up her own time while everyone else was frozen, allowing her to traverse large distances instantly.

As the leader of Zane’s swordsmen, this meant that Elena could deal a substantial amount of damage in a short amount of time to an opponent. Something that would definitely become much more useful later down the line when Zane began to challenge Bartholomew.

Knowing at how powerful his party members had become upon reaching a level of Mastery, Zane himself was curious what his skill Dead Man Walking would have when he did so. This also created another dilemma for Zane.

With the girls now having effectively maxed out their skills, this meant that if they wanted to continue advancing in power other than by the attribute points they gained with each level up, then they would need to focus on either improving the quality of their gear, or begin hunting horde kings for their unique blood crystals, so that the girls could begin getting more skills of their own.

But Zane knew he was nowhere near ready enough to take on the likes of whichever Horde King owned the ruins of Old Reno. Perhaps there was another way… Perhaps he could go and seek out other Tier I Horde Kings. After all, they had to exist in small cities like Carson City.

When Zane thought about this, it seemed like he would need to do some more research. After all, Nevada was sparsely populated, and outside of the three largest cities being Las Vegas, Reno, and Carson city, what remained were small towns like Winnemucca, Fallon, Fernly, Elko, et cetera.

And Zane doubted that any of them, except for perhaps Elko, were large enough for a Tier I Horde King to call them home.