As Abaddon led Tom to one of the unused rooms, Tom closed the door behind them.
"What's up?" Tom asked.
"Um …" Abaddon mumbled as he bit at his claws.
"We don't have all day, Abaddon spit it out," Tom said.
"I don't have the [Lesser Collusus] skill," Abaddon admitted sheepishly.
Abaddon's head hung low as he waited for an explosion.
"I know, buddy. It's fine," Tom said.
"Huh," Abaddon blurted out in confusion, looking up at his friend. "What about the plan? You need me to go big for it to work!"
"Yes, and now I'm going to help you do that," Tom said casually.
"Oh," Abaddon muttered.
"You forgot I could do that, didn't you," Tom asked.
"I forgot you could do that, yes," Abaddon admitted.
"Come on, you're going to take some soul damage. But you should be ok."
"Alright, do you mind if I do a little skill buying before we start? I've been kind of saving them up," Abaddon asked.
"Sure, go for it," Tom said. Just don't spend any points on upgrades. We want to save those for later."
Abaddon nodded as he opened his status. Tom watched with his bloodline skills.
DING!!!
This one was simple and borderline basic, and Tom had no idea how to upgrade the skill. But it was so useful. With it, Abaddon could counter an enemy's finisher and cooldown abilities, escape from a fight, or, more often than not, just attack with no regard for his person. But Abaddon's next three purchases would break his build.
DING!!!
[Close Combat] was the last skill Abaddon needed in his trifecta of attack skills. His style was simple [Charge] to get in close. [Close Combat] until his enemy recovered, then [Giga Impact] to launch the target into the air. Then he used [Charge] again to smash into him as he landed and do the entire set all over again. Keep doing that until the target is dead.
DING!!!
DING!!!
"Good choices," Tom muttered.
It was functionally the same skill, but they stacked. This is where the real melee power came from. Between [Relentless Onslaught] and [Compound Impacts], he would be able to inflict escalating damage with ease. Combined with [Close Combat], he could very easily inflict enough damage to pop even tanky monsters in seconds. And once Abaddon upgraded [Immortal fists], he would become a true monster.
Abaddon just had one more purchase, and then he would save the rest of his points for upgrades.
DING!!!
"Really? Another get-out-of-jail card?" Tom asked.
Abaddon shrugged. "I'm a Tank. My job isn't to put the bad guys down. It's to hold aggro. And that means I need to be able to take a beating."
"You might want to pick up some more [Taunt] skills then," Tom pointed out.
Abaddon shrugged. "[Fe-Fi-Fo-Fum] works for now."
Tom laid his hands on Abaddon, immediately perceiving his soul as [Soul Forge] started up.
"I'm not complaining. I like them. [Compound Impacts] and [Relentless Onslaught] give you a ton of power against single targets, while [Moment of Immortality] and [Not Today] make you even harder to kill." Tom asked.
Abaddon smiled. "Thanks. What do you think we can upgrade."
"I think I can do [Immortal Fist], [Compound Impacts] and [Endless Brawler]."
"What about [Monster lifeforce(Giant)] and [Enlarge]?" Abaddon asked.
Tom already knew that they would need [Lesser Colossus] for the plan to work, but he got the feeling this part
"That part is going to be more painful."
Abaddon blanched.
"What are you blanching for? A demon lord turned you into a pancake this week, and you laughed it off. Yet a little itching has you afraid?" Tom asked.
Abaddon blushed—or some lizard-man equivalent.
"Abaddon is not afraid of anything," he growled.
"Dear god, you're going to be a fucking monster when this is over," Tom said as he placed his hands on Abaddon and then waited as Tom started to rummage around his soul.
Abaddon immediately felt a deep, all-consuming itch. Tom wrapped him in biddings of water, light, and earth magic, holding him in place before he could start scratching his scales. Then the notifications came.
DING!!!
DING!!!
DING!!!
DING!!!
"Alright, Abaddon, how does it feel to be twice as strong?" Tom asked as he stepped away.
"Fuck" Abaddon screamed as he collapsed to the ground, no longer held in place by the bindings.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
"It itches!!!!" he screamed as he rolled about on the ground, trying to scratch every inch of his body at the same time.
DING!!!
"Shit," Tom swore as he looked at the soul damage.
Abaddon didn't respond. He was too busy trying to get his claws under his scales so he could reach the lingering itch.
"Hey, don't worry, big guy. You did better than me, and it's only six hours," Tom muttered.
"It itches." Abaddon groaned.
"I know, buddy. I know. Let's spend some points and get your mind off the itch." Tom pushed as Abaddon started to relax. It took another five minutes to get him to spend his skill points.
DING!!!
Both of those skills were as basic as they were useful. That just left him with his last skill point. But he didn't see anything he immediately wanted to buy with it. So he decided to just save it for now. Confirming his options, Abaddon waited.
First, he felt it, and then he saw it as his body grew even larger, with Tom's head barely coming up to his pectoral muscles. His clothing was ripped open like he was the Incredible Hulk. His entire body wasn't just bigger; it felt denser, as if he was quite literally made of a tougher material than before. Even if his skill levels had taken a hit, he was more powerful than ever.
"I can't wait to show Skippy this," Abaddon chuckled as he flexed his massive body.
"What did you spend your last skill point on?" Tom asked curiously.
"Saving it," Abaddon said.
"Seriously?" Tom asked.
Abaddon shrugged.
"Hey, budd,y you ok?" Tom asked.
Abaddon looked at him, confused, as he tried not to think about Kevin.
"Yeah, of course I am. Why wouldn't I be." Abaddon lied.
"You killed Chad and Kevin and then were almost attacked by an angry mob." Tom pointed out.
Abaddon just shrugged. It had happened; he had experienced it, and he had moved on. Tom didn't look like he believed him, but thankfully, he didn't push it.
"Great, you did that. Now, we haven't had a shower since this thing started, so I'm going to take a bath," Tom shot back as he walked off.
Abaddon looked down at himself, noticing his emerald scales were slightly caked in … something awful. A mix of blood, alchemical crap, actual shit, dirt and who knows what else. His clothes had been nearly torn apart by his growth spurt, burned and damaged in his fights and the smell … he might just want to burn these.
"Hold up, I'm coming too," Abaddon said as he raced after Tom.
The [Steaming Pools] were interesting. Like most bathhouses, they had a changing room, this one modelled after the school's own. Abaddon ignored everyone as he ripped off his sweat clothes, not even bothering to try to salvage them.
For the first time, he looked down at his body. Before the system, he was fat. Now, he was eight feet tall and at least five hundred pounds in almost pure muscle, probably more. Objectively speaking, he had never been heavier in his life.
If he was human, he could have competed for the strongest man in the world. With the lizard man's body, he had been expecting to look a bit more inhuman. Instead, he looked like a furry or whatever the reptile equivalent. The only really different thing was the fact he now had two penises instead of one, and honestly, he considered that a minor thing. Skippy seemed to have more problems with a new body than he did. For him, a new body was no more strange than a new outfit. It was something he wore, not who he was.
Abaddon sighed as he wrapped a towel around his waist to hide his genitals. He was going to need to find XXXXL-sized clothes, probably from the morbidly obese section of Walmart. But then again, considering how much damage his clothing had taken in combat, he might want to talk to Duncan about getting him some properly crafted gear unless he wanted to become a full-on exhibitionist.
It turned out he didn't even need to worry about flashing anyone, as the steam from the cleansing pools covered everyone's unmentionables like they were in an anime. The pools themselves looked straight out of a hot springs episode. Dozens of steaming pools littered the area, with people soaking in the pools while the magic striped the dirt off them.
There was no separation of the sexes; the room hadn't come with it, and the steam kind of made separation redundant. If he was being honest, it was more like a public pool. Or public hot tubes that are extremely clean, as the magical effects kept anything touched by the steam spotless. The best part for him, at least, was the unobstructed view of the sky you had from the baths. For some reason, the floors of the baths were made from bamboo. At this point, it was pretty clear one of the architects had made a Japanese bath for giggles.
Not that he cared as he slipped into the pool with Tom, Alex, and Tom's little sister.
“Ah . . . .” Abaddon groaned in pleasure as he sank down into the water. The water was the perfect temperature, making it a great place to relax. He would need to come here more often, at least once a day. The sluggishness he had been feeling from the soul damage almost seemed to be going away.
A quick glance at his stats showed that his soul wasn’t healing any faster. He still had a couple of hours before his soul fully repaired itself, but damm, did it feel good.
[Aquatic Predator] subtly pushed him to sink his body into the pool, leaving only his crocodilian head above the water. Curiously, he gave a little test with his tail and found himself gliding across the surface of the water like a real crocodile—a crocodile with arms the size of tree trunks and a towel around his waist.
He turned towards Tom and Alex. Tom was dressed in shorts, while Alex was wearing a skimpy bikini, still a pervert.
The cleansing steam slowly ate away at the dirt and grime that had built up over the week. For Abaddon, the water stripped off the grim and left his emerald scales polished to the point of shining. The build-up of dead skin was removed, and the body was cleansed and exfoliated. Their hair looked shiny and glossy, and after a few minutes of chatting, they ended up looking healthier than … Well, Abaddon wasn't really sure because most of the time, they primarily wore sweats. Tom's sister was showing him the spell Illusionary Butterflies.
"That's so great, sweety," Tom said under his breath as his little sister chased after the butterflies, giggling madly.
"But it looks so gay." Alex chuckled as she slipped into the water right next to him
"Anyone know where Skippy is?" Abaddon asked, not seeing his best buddy anywhere nearby.
"He's doing a respec of his build," Tom said. "He's not adapting as well as you are to his new race."
"Oh," Abaddon said sheepishly.
He didn't know it had been that bad.
"So Abaddon, have you had any furries ask you out yet?" Alex asked.
"Ummmm," Abaddon felt his mind go blank.
"What about you, Alex? Find anyone to satisfy your inner pervert," Tom shot back.
Alex blew him a raspberry. "I want to wake up on a bed full of bimbos. Maybe have some brats of my own."
"Wait, you're gay?" Tom asked, stunned.
Alex rolled her eyes. "No, I'm bi. But I want a harem. Not a big one, maybe five people. But only one man. I saw a documentary about a girl with reverse harems, and one of her husbands killed her baby, who was the child of a different husband. There's too much infighting."
"And normal harems don't fight?" Tom asked.
"Well, kind of. But even the bad harems are more cloak and dagger than the pack of Orangutans, which is the reverse harem. No, you only want one guy for the girls. It's all about getting the right group dynamic and."
Abaddon started tuning Alex out as she delved into her perverted fantasies. He absently wondered if she was going to drag Tom into a harem. Honestly, he never really thought about relationships much. He had his friends, he had chemistry … now alchemy. Maybe he would try something with one of those furry girls.
Dismissing those thoughts, he flipped onto his back as he gazed drawn upwards. Before, there had been so much light pollution that he could barely see any stars. Now, he was treated to a sky full of them, with the three moons of Noralon sitting proudly and prominently above them.
"What happened to the moon?" Tom's sister asked as she climbed onto his chest like it was a floaty. She was clearly bored of the other's talk about sex, too.
"No idea," Abaddon admitted. "These are Noralons moons."
"Did we steal the moons?" Chloe asked as the three moons slowly trailed across the sky.
Abaddon opened his mouth to answer when he froze. Why did they have three moons now? Where was Earth's original moon? He would ask Duncan and Tom later to see if they knew anything.
"Do they have names?" Chloe asked as she poked him.
She was clearly bored after his moment of silence and had started poking him.
"Well, what are they called? Can I name them?" she asked, emphasizing each question with a poke.
Abaddon nodded as he pointed first to the largest of the moons. Although all of the moons were actually the same size, each was further away from the planet, making them all appear to be different sizes.
"The Big Grayish Blue one is called Luriel the Sea of Dreams. It's kind of like a big desert full of astral beings, dreams and nightmares. Dotted with oasis, and when you look up at night, you can see the northern lights every night. It is a land of mystery and wonder. The green one is called Bree, a verdant garden. Full of mountains, exotic plants, and giant animals. It's also extremely radioactive."
"What about that one?" Tom's sister asked, pointing to the farthest moon
"It's called the dead god's eye," Abaddon said ominously.
While, Luriel and Bree were mostly uniform in their coloration. The dead god's eye was red, with what looked like a slit pupil running down the middle of the moon like a cat's eye. Sometimes, the pupil was dark purple; other times, it was black. With the way it was positioned, it almost looked like the eye of some great god with his eyelids half shut, hence the name.
It was also the only Moon that the Awoken Myths guild had never visited; it was supposed to be open up for this expansion. He supposed it had technically opened up in the sense that no invisible walls were stopping them from going there now.
"That moon is evil. When it becomes a full moon, a blood moon event is triggered. And all of the dead rise up as zombies to take their revenge on the living." Abaddon said, raising his hands as if he were a zombie and he was going to get her.
"NOOO!" Chloe lept off of him and swam back to her brother.
Abaddon chuckled. He looked back up at Dead God's Eye; he figured they had about two weeks-ish before the next blood moon—something to look forward to after the goblins.
You may skip to the next chapter.
Base
Personal: +4 END, +3 STR, +3 CON, +2 PER +2 SPIRIT
Racial: +3 END, +2 STR, +2 CON +1 PER
Bloodline: +3 CON
Giantslayer Skills: +2 AGIL
Level Bonus: +2 to all Stats
Mini-Character List
Thomas Bruner: Settlement Leader, Party healer, Protagonist. Helping Abaddon develop his skills and manage the soul damage caused by upgrading abilities.
Alexandra Ling: Tom's best friend, Vice leader, Wizardess
Chloe: Tom's sister, Brat
Abaddon: The Autstic Tank is undergoing significant skill upgrades and dealing with the aftermath, including soul damage and the resulting itch.
AN:
Alright I'm having trouble deciding what abaddon will use that last skill point for. So i'm giving you guys the chance to choose:
