My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 248: Overhaul

When Kace looked over his new skills, he noticed that not much had changed. Venomous Thread had gained poison damage which rapidly depleted his enemies' health who were ensnared by it. Plague Spear was the same. The good thing about it was that it would inject its poison directly into their bloodstream when it pierced his enemies. Making it far more difficult to counter.

He was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Plague Spear also came with a new detonation ability. Meaning he could detonate it at any point to create poison shrapnel and release a ten-metre wide poison cloud at its location at the same time. Corrosive Spit changed from a fiery liquid to, obviously a corrosive chemical. However, he did not lose the fire element in his lungs. Instead, if he used the fire in tandem with the Corrosive Spit, it would create a gas that would distort his enemies senses while affected by it. 

'Quite a handy crowd control. Not only that but the gas will continue to spread until it becomes too thin to affect anyone.' All in all, Kace was happy with the modifications to these three spells. Now it was time to study the effects of the modifications to his old Hexblade Spells.

First up on the chopping block was Empower. Now it had been renamed to Outbreak. Its cost rose from 20 MP to 50 Mp and could only be used once per day. It created a wide area of infection to take place. Those who would get caught in it would suffer a 40% decrease in their attributes. Anyone within 20 Metres of an infected would also catch the infection allowing it to spread. 

Each infected enemy would also lose 20 health per second. The spell did not have a time limit. Instead, it only ceased to exist once it could no longer spread to new hosts. 'This will be quite the lethal ability in wars. If they stay close enough to each other, it's possible to wipe out an entire army. However, weaker enemies will probably die too quickly to effectively spread it.'

Next up was Half-Life. It had been renamed to Plague. It still had the same cost in terms of lifespan. However, now it would be an infection that would get stronger depending on how many years of his life he sacrificed. This infection directly attacked the max values of its targets attributes, Health, Mana and Action Points. 

Every second they spent infected by this deadly plague would see a decrease in all of these attributes that could never be recovered. Even if they somehow got their hands on a cure. For each enemy that died while infected, Kace would receive 5% of the total of each attribute that the plague had devoured. While it did not sound like much that would quickly add up if he infected an entire army or city.

'It's good that it spreads just like Outbreak as well. If even a few survive long enough to enter a city from a battlefield, then they'll be doing the work for me.' Kace chuckled as he thought about it. 'I wonder if it's even possible for a well-timed one to just wipe out every hero for me.' It was an amusing thought, but Kace knew it would not come to pass. 

If word got out of a plague spreading amongst them, they would just quarantine the area and not allow anyone to contact the infected. Though it would be great if used as a form of lethal psychological warfare. Cursed Armoury became Corrosive Armoury. It still had the same effect of allowing him to change his weapons' shape except they all now carried a corrosive poison that would help to melt through enemy armour.

Cursed Blade became Plague Blade. Basically, it would infect an opponent with a poison that would continuously drain their HP, MP and AP. Silence became Mana Poisoning. This became a double-edged sword. It would make the opponents mana run rampant, meaning they now had a 30% chance to cast a spell at double strength, 40% chance to cast their spell with its normal effects and a 30% chance for their spell to explode in their own face with the double its usual effects. 

'Considering the Heroes have their own System they'll definitely notice this. It should deter them from taking the risk. Most of their high-end spells would likely become lethal even for themselves at point-blank range and double the strength.' Kace mused over his new skills and decided that the overhaul was worth it in the end. 

'I'll have to be careful when I use these new skills. I can't have the Heroes finding out about them too soon. Otherwise, they'll work on cures. Though, even if they manage to develop some, it'll be hard to supply so many with them.' Kace turned his attention to the exit for his room. His Hydra head had alerted him that he was about to have a visitor.

"What can I do for you, Lilly?" Kace called out. She had been dawdling around outside for a short while.

When her face appeared in his sight, she looked surprised. Perhaps she was not expecting for him to know that she was around. However, Kace was not in the mood to patiently wait around any more. With everything that he had to complete being finished, he was eager to get to the battlefront. 'I need to get used to these new skills as soon as possible.'

"Ah, sorry. Ehm, it's just to say that the preparations are ready to transport you to the North. However, you kind of have to leave right now." Lilly's face and tone looked apologetic when she said this.

"WHAT! How do they expect me to be ready on such short notice!" Kace leapt from the bed, stark naked, and rushed to don his armour.

"Ah, they said that they can spare an airship for a short time. They'll be needed for the border defence in the West. It'll only return in time if you leave now." Lilly stammered as she stared with wide eyes at Kace's physique. A tinge of red appeared in her cheeks before she finally covered her eyes.

"Fucking hell!" Kace grumbled as he struggled to get himself ready. It took a good ten minutes of struggling before he was finally ready. He seized Sylvan in his grasp before rushing for the exit.

"Thanks for everything, Lilly. Hopefully, I'll see you again soon."

Kace jumped out of the exit and fell a short distance. Thanks to his senses from his new phantom limb, he knew the rough layout of where he was. Kace kicked his speed into high gear as he raced through the grove that was the home of the Treants in Stonefall. He politely greeted those that cried out his name as he sped past. 

He caused quite a bit of a stir as he ran through the streets, some were so shocked at his serious expression and his speed they thought they might even be under attack! This caused quite a commotion, but Kace was completely oblivious. He set his course for the fastest way he knew to reach the Airship Docks. 

As he continued his sprint, he suddenly felt like he had forgotten something. 'Fuck! I forget to visit Dhurz's grave with Dhash. I'm sure he'll understand. It'll be the first thing I do when I return!' When he rounded the corner, and the magnificent docks came into his view, he discovered several figures he had not expected to see.

"Grugda! Shadow! Why are you guys here? Shouldn't you already be in the North with Sophia?" Kace yelled as he slowed to a jog up the boarding ramp.

"Hmph! How could. We go if. We did not. Know how well. You were. Recovering!" Grugda snorted as he fixed Kace with an angry look.

"Precisely, my Lord. You should know I would never leave without you. If you were already this well recovered, then you should have allowed visitors!" Shadow appeared equally as enraged as the eljein.

"What do you mean? I thought you guys had already left the city?" Kace was perplexed as to the reason behind this miscommunication.

"The treats said. That you were. Too ill. For visitors. You needed more. Time alone. To recover." Grugda's expression turned softer as he realised that Kace's confusion was sincere. 

To be fair, Grugda had every right to be worried. Since Kace had been taken in by the Treants, getting any information about his recovery had been difficult. It had gotten to the point that he had been harassed daily by Shagrat and the eljein ambassador for any news. Vaskra had almost stormed into the grove and set it on fire to find out where they had been keeping him. Luckily, she had already been sent to the West a few days ago.

Kace looked at the pair even as they stared at him. Finally, they burst out laughing. Clearly, everything had been a misunderstanding. Maybe the Treants really had been concerned for his health. They really had no other reason to postpone their meeting. 

"Anyway, it's good to see you guys again. When do we leave?"

"As soon as our last passenger arrives. There she is now!" The female goblin captain in charge of the ship chimed in. She pointed back down into the city, drawing Kace's eyes to see who would be joining them. However, his eyes went wide in shock as he spotted a familiar woman rushing towards the docks.

"Lilly!"