LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 10: Path of Divinity
He felt like the choice was rather simple. 1,500 experience was likely enough to level him up again, even after he leveled up due to completing that achievement.
So, if leveling up offered him perk points for the path, then it would be redundant for the choice to be to either level up or receive a perk point.
After this near-death experience, Nick was already preparing to spend a decent amount of time farming low-level mobs. Becoming stronger was of the utmost importance in this world filled with danger, and luckily for him, he knew how to get stronger in a video game.
Every single one had that spot where people could most efficiently farm both materials and levels, so all he had to do was find that spot. However, stuff like perk points weren't always the easiest to farm.
[Path point selected.]
[Current Path points: 2]
+--Loading--+
>--< Path interface unlocked >--<
'Hmm. I thought it was already unlocked, but I guess that the boss attacked us before it did.'
Though it would've been nice to have one of these path skills unlocked before the boss fight.
--(Paths)--
[Note: Every 20 levels, a new perk for the path is unlocked. For example, every path that is at least level 20 will have a perk, whereas any path below level 20 will have none. Once a path reaches level 40, there will be 3 perks to choose from. The other 2 will be...]
>--< Limited feature deleted >--<
[Choosing a perk will no longer lock any others]
'Huh?' It almost felt like the system was feeding him the information in the most confusing way possible. Still, he understood it fairly well. Each path had a base perk that could be unlocked at level 20.
Then, once you reach 20, that path diverged into 3 new ones. For example, if he was a mage, level 40 might have him choose between frost, fire, and lightning. Once he chose one of them, the other 2 would be locked.
Somehow, that feature was deleted for him.
<*One-Handed: 20>
[Tier 1: Emperor's Slash – Imbue your sword with the aura of an Emperor: one whose very strike can terraform the land and change society. Your sword now has a powerful AoE slash, dealing 20% of the damage inflicted by your basic attacks to every other enemy within 5 meters of the initial target.]
<*Block: 20>
[Tier 1: The Wall – Imbue your shield with the aura of a wall: one that's so impenetrable that even an Emperor's Slash would be unable to penetrate it. Your shield is now able to block attacks much more effectively. By timing your block with the opponent's attack, you can nullify much of the damage. Timing: within .05 seconds. Damage nullified: 25%]
<*Medium-Armor: 20>
[Tier 1: Empyreal Cloak – Imbue your armor with the aura of the heavens: a place so divine that even the mightiest attacks struggle against its wrath. By expending 50% more mana whenever you cast a spell, your aura adds extra protection, offering a 5% final damage reduction.]
[Note: You must unlock the perk of the lowest tier before you can unlock the higher tier perks. For example, you can't unlock level 40 perks until you've unlocked the level 20 perks.]
[Tier 1: Farseeing Eye – You now have the vision of a god. With this, you can see the status of any weapon or magic anyone uses. Additionally, you can share your vision with any weapon in existence, turning them into another set of eyes.]
'What?' Nick continued staring at that perk as the rest of them displayed underneath. While the other paths only showed the first tier of perks, this one showed him all of them, even if he couldn't unlock them at this time.
'That makes some sense. Whenever I reach a higher level in those paths, I'll be able to see their rewards as well. Hopefully, anyway.'
But that wasn't as important as this perk in front of him. A small part believed that because he had such a high level in [Divinity] already, that meant the perks wouldn't be as good. Already, this was proven to be completely false.
Theoretically, it would be impossible for any opponent to trick him. Sure, he'd have to learn to time the use of this perk with his enemy's strike, but still. Once he mastered that...
And then there's the other part, though Nick didn't completely understand it. What did seeing the status of the weapon entail? He felt like it was more than just its durability but couldn't exactly decide what else would be included.
Experimentation would be needed.
Nick glanced at the last few perks, mostly paying attention to the tier 2 one and the tier 5 one.
[Tier 2: Aether Connection – As a god, it is nothing short of guaranteed that you will have subjects. However, it is up to you to maintain their undying servitude. With this perk, your Valkyries are more in tune with you and thus earn 50% more experience.]
[Cost: 5 Perk points. Tier 5: Progenitor of Destruction – You have taken your first true step on the path of Divinity. Henceforth, even the ground you walk on will quake beneath your feet. All of your attacks now do 1,000% more damage and have a 5% chance to inflict Smite debuff.]
[*Smite – This debuff caused its victim to take 15% more damage and reduces their defense by 3% every time they are attacked. Defense cannot be reduced further than 15% by this debuff.]
Nick couldn't believe his eyes as he saw this last perk. Unlike with the other paths, the Divinity path only had 1 string of perks. Still, looking at this tier 5 perk, he didn't care at all.
Who needs any other perk when he's given one this strong?
Sure, it would be a while before he could unlock the perk, but once he did... especially when combined with the [Dragonwalker] race...
He couldn't see how anyone in this game could contend with that. Monsters, mini-bosses, bosses, nothing. There would be no need to worry about dying anymore.
In fact, he'd be the one deciding who lived and died.
The most important thing for him to do was level up to level 50 then. And there was a single perk he knew would be best for that–[Emperor's Slash].
If every attack he made could turn into an aoe, even if it was weak, he could very easily farm minor mobs. Even if it would take several days of hard work, he'd level up far faster than if he chose some kind of defensive perk.
Though, Juliana did use aoe lightning even if she was currently weak. Looking at the system, Nick understood why.
The tier 2 [Divinity] perk [Aether Connection] mentioned experience for his valkyries. This meant that Juliana was weak, like when first pulling an op unit in any gacha. They had to be leveled up.
'I'll get that perk next then. For now, I need to get stronger myself.' Nick thought as his entire body started tingling in memory of the Basilisk's acid.
Eventually, he would be powerful enough to never need another upgrade again. But that wasn't the case right now.
Even the King of the Cosmos was only human at the end of the day, and like any human, he feared death. The safest insurance against death was to become strong yourself, and thus it was painfully obvious that [Emperor's Slash] was the correct choice.
Then he chose the first perk in the [Divinity] path, [Farseeing Eyes].
After obtaining these perks, he could clearly see the future– one where he would be the embodiment of destruction.