Risen World

Chapter 169: Rewards and Checking out the Stables

After the boss had finally died Joshua could feel a surge of strength fill him and he was satisfied with that, but he could already tell he was no longer getting the full potential out of his levels anymore. He was only getting about half at this point so it was time to go back and train a bit more before the next big expedition. He had already reached level forty-four which was far more than he was expecting so he couldn't say he wasn't pleased. He was actually almost the same level as his sister already who had a whole year head start on him so he was putting in a lot of work already at this point.

Lilly had also reached level forty-four along with some of her pets. For the most part during the boss fight she just stuck with Cinder and used her empower ability to make Tank and Cinder's attack far more powerful. She even used frenzy to make sure they were at their strongest when they were tearing into the boss at the end. Although the fight did get drawn out a bit since they had to constantly destroy the rock armor that kept being reformed around the boss, they were able to lead the boss on after they figured out all of its abilities. They didn't allow it to burrow into the ground anymore after they figured out how silent it was when moving around underground and they didn't let it use its vomit attack. Whenever it looked like it was going to charge up another vomit Joshua would attack it head on to redirect the angle of its mouth. He used his reset ability so he could use his aura shield once again to slam into its head.

When all was said and done they had a large body full of meat that they would probably end up feeding all the dogs when they got back to the stables. Plus they now had a lot of material to use for weapons and armor from the creature's bones and impressive teeth. Joshua made sure to put it all in his inventory before a message popped up in front of him along with a doorway that would teleport them out of the dungeon.

[Congratulations on clearing the Prairie Dog Dungeon. For clearing through everything in a fast time you shall be rewarded greatly for your efforts. The territory will also give a bonus amount of experience to all that are in your guild whenever training inside of it. Your reward isThe Rock Steady skill.]

Joshua smiled at the experience bonus they would be getting for the area in the future. It would make it a lot easier to train up any guild members they get in the future while also making the James Town territory that they now owned nearby even more worthwhile. Joshua then flipped through his skills so that he could look at the new one that he had just gotten. From the name alone he wasn't able to exactly tell what the skill was used for, but he hoped it would be more than worth the effort it would take to level it up in the future.

[Rock Steady (Passive) A skill that passively makes the user harder to budge or knock back on impact. This becomes even more powerful when in a guarding position. As this skill levels the user will become more sturdy and the impact of the skill will grow alongside the level.]

The explanation for the skill was rather vague, but Joshua got the idea behind it after thinking about it for a moment. It was honestly an extremely useful skill for him especially since he was the tank of the group when it came to most opponents unless they were boss sized and they had to rely on Tank. The main reason Joshua wasn't able to tank as effectively against large boss class monsters was because of their size. They were able to knock him around just because of their weight alone and that forced him to be more of an evasive tank even though his skill set was more designed for head on tanking. This skill would help him out in those situations.

The one disadvantage Joshua had as a tank was the fact that he didn't have a skill like shield wall that would be able to block off far larger creatures for a time period. He did have aura shield, but it had a long cool down and didn't last for very long anyways. It wasn't going to do much for him in a boss fight since they could still swat him aside while he was using the aura shield he just wouldn't take any damage himself in the end. Rock steady would make it far easier for him to stand his ground and would allow him to get a lot more out of his high vitality stat, especially when using aura hardening. If he had the idea behind it right then size wouldn't matter as much against him when guarding and he would be able to block some ridiculous attacks that would have initially sent him flying beforehand.

What made things even better was the fact that it was a passive skill which would level as he trained. He guarded a lot while fighting and took opponents head on so it wasn't going to be hard to level up the skill. In the future he might just be able to block something the size of the prairie dog boss without moving an inch. "So what did you get?" Lilly asked with excitement. "Here's the skill the dungeon gave me." She sent him the information of her new skill through the party chat and he did the same for her.

[Earthen Armor (Active) This skill allows you to create an armor made from rocks and dirt from the ground around you. It cost aura or mana to use and it can be used on yourself or your allies. As this skill levels the armor will grow stronger and the amount of aura or mana necessary to use it will lower. There are no cool downs for this skill.]

Joshua realized it was the same skill that the boss and sub-boss had used in the dungeon and based off the fact that it didn't have a cool down Joshua realized why the overgrown rats had no problem creating more of the stuff every time they were on the verge of dying. Of course using it repeatedly would just drain you of aura and mana pretty quickly and at the moment the only person in the entire group that could use the skill rather effectively was Tank. The earthen armor would slow anyone else down and would become a hindrance to pets like Cinder who relied on their speed. It would be extra protection for Tank when he was fighting on the front lines though and that made it more than worth the trouble. In the future Lilly might tame anther tank like creature that is more earth elemental based and the skill would probably go a long way for it.

Joshua also realized that he had seen the boss use his rock steady skill as well during their fight. It had used it a couple of times, when tank had hit it with a torrent to the face and it didn't even budge, also when Joshua slammed into it with his aura shield and its head only slightly turned. On both occasions the impacts of their attacks should have done a lot more now that he had time to think about it.

"Well it's an interesting skill that you could use on Tank in future fights. We wouldn't have to worry about his head and legs being attacked often with this skill if that were the case." Joshua said with a small smile. "I'd say it will be more than worth it in the end. Especially when it gets stronger and you've basically incased Tank in diamond armor." He said getting a chuckle out of the giant turtle.

"That would be interesting, but I get the feeling if that were to happen then you can expect there to be other creatures out there with skills that could pierce through it. If I'm not mistaken your sister has an ability along those lines if I remember correctly." Tank said getting a nod from Joshua. He was right. Amy did have abilities from her soul beast that made it easier for her to pierce through armor and other defenses. The only reason it didn't work so well on Joshua was because his aura shroud nullified half of an opponent's attacks instead of just blocking it. That made it even harder for her to break through his insane vitality whenever he was in his aura hardened form. Vitality made the body itself tougher so armor piercing wouldn't have as much of an effect if an opponent had insane vitality. You'd just have to have insane strength or magic to get around that.

"Well let's head back we've gotten just about everything we can get out of this dungeon. Plus we're no longer getting the most out of our leveling at this point. It's time for some more training." Joshua said as he headed for the exit. The rest followed him and they all made their way outside back to the large prairie. At the moment there were no animals around, but he was sure that would change soon given some more time.

"Let's stop by James Town so we can put all of the creatures in the stables." Lilly said with a smile. She was looking forward to seeing them soon.

"Sure, I'd like to see how things are progressing there anyways." Joshua said before he opened his map. Now that they were no longer in a dungeon they could teleport to places that they had been before without a problem. As long as they weren't fighting anything or being chased by creatures the system would allow them to teleport through a portal, especially if it was to their own territory.

When they arrived outside of the place Joshua could already see that the wall around the area was already almost completely done and now the robots were heading into the last stretch of the things he had asked them to put together. He also noticed that the stable was already built and there was one being placed near each gate of the town. There was also another building being placed near the gates and that was for the robot defense force that he had planned for the town. At this point the only defenses that weren't quite ready yet were the barrier that would be put up once the wall was completely finished and the drones that would search the area to check for intruders.

They headed for the stables right away since just about everything else wasn't quite ready yet and Lilly need to put away all of the dogs and horses anyway. Once they reached the stables and went through the entrance they were lead into a large portal like realm on the inside. It seemed to connect to Lilly's soul realm and she was able to take out all the dogs and horses that she had tamed and set them aside in different locations if she wanted. For the moment there was no problem letting them be together since they were all tamed by Lilly and wouldn't cause any problems with each other.

Joshua also noticed a part of the stables to the side with some robots and an enormous storage building. Joshua walked over and tapped the screen that was being projected next to the door. It asked whether he wanted to deposit food for storage and he could see that for now there was no food on the inside. At the moment the only pets that really needed to be fed were the dogs since the stables kept grass for the horses to eat. So Joshua started to put all of the lizards and rabbits that he had killed from the early areas into the storage. He still felt like it wasn't going to be enough to last for more than a week at most so he left Lilly there and went to the marsh area to quickly hunt down some more lizards. He spent a few hours killing any lizards he came across and even went to the beginner's areas to chase down some more rabbits to have for later. The rookies looked at him like he was some heroic figure as he blasted past them so fast and took out everything like it was nothing.

By the time he got back and filled the storage house he could already see Lilly sitting their naming all of her pets. Of course when he appeared he had to witness her name a Pitbull Snuggles. At that moment he just sighed and decided to take a quick nap to avoid hearing anymore ridiculous names.