World of Karik: A Game of Villains 58 New Discoveries

Why did he think that he had the situation under control? I quickly recalled the recent events and made sure that I haven't been using magic. Maybe Innokenty, who seemingly had his finger in every pie, managed to get to the swamp as well. I could check...

Not paying attention to the wild cries that could be heard all around the area, I grabbed Innokenty by the scruff of his neck and dragged him toward the swamp. There was a very easy way to check whether or not a person had magic defense. All I had to do was sacrifice him to my dear Mosquito friends. Once we reached the border of their territory the hapless spy stopped wiggling and his health started decreasing rapidly. Well, my experiment is a success. He has no magic defense. The swamp will remain my safe zone. And now, for the final touch…

"For the next ten days, the most important part of your body will be incapable of anything… If you try to spy on me again, I will make the effect permanent." It was a stupid and childish threat but I knew how to make it effective.

Arcobaleno and a burst of flame removed what remained of his health. My ability should show him exactly what was spinning in his head. I hoped that I had implemented my thought deep enough. Fifteen seconds later, he was about to get from under the ground. The moment of truth…

You have received 50 deception points.

Satisfied, I couldn't help but burst into a barking laughter. This was just what I needed to break some of the pent-up tension. I wondered if he would have a panic attack once I return and suggest that we repeat the campaign. In the end, I had gotten advance payment and could not screw the guy over just because of his fear of me. Though that was a matter for a later date. What should I do now? There was no point in starting a campaign against our neighbors before evening. I still had eight hours left to kill. Maybe I should spend that time working on my intelligence. Becoming stronger wasn't a problem; my biggest issue was finding opportunities that would allow me to see the "hidden". Too many weird things were going on around here and I was struggling to get more information.
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I was gradually advancing toward the center of the swamp. Ghouls and Kappas were not what I was looking for. Of course, they had some magical resistance of their own, but I had cast Stone Spikes and curses on them so many times while I was working on increasing my other attributes, but that didn't increase my intelligence. I was looking for something tougher. I remembered where a big Kappa was located but its abilities were really nasty. I needed something simpler.

As the saying goes: "seek and you shall find". Deeper in the swamp, I came across Swamp Runners. Level fifteen, sixteen feet in length, and one foot in diameter. However, something was telling me that if the notorious Boa Constrictor were to collide with these snakes, it would not come out as the winner. Using Flame Flow proved that the monsters were not to be trifled with. I only did 6 out of 10 damage. It reminded me of the Boar, but that one was a legendary class monster. Anyway, it was time to dance with the snakes. I immobilized the creature using the already tested and trustworthy method and didn't leave myself open. On the contrary, I was dealing fire damage and spreading the stench of smoldering slime everywhere. To be honest, the spell was not very efficient as a weapon due to its low damage but it was very convenient as a quick way of checking my enemy's magic defense. Not to mention that it was probably the only way of dealing with those who had sky-high physical defense.

However, this was taking forever. After two hours, I managed to increase my intelligence by only one point. At this rate, it would take me about two weeks to max it out. Sure, that didn't seem long but I could need information before that. I had an idea, but it was pretty disgusting. While I was still deep in thought, the snake got free from the Stone Spikes that had pinned it to the ground and rushed at me. I automatically used strength to enhance my blow and cut it in two. It was a long way to level six and I didn't need any interference right now.

Still, I had to take a chance. Turning my palm toward myself, I activated the Flow which resembled a bright flower furiously bursting into flames. My eyes began to tear up; looking at it for longer periods of time was impossible. Blinking, I pulled myself together and put the flaming palm onto my right shoulder. The pain was unbearable even though it barely broke through my defense. My health reduced slightly. However, it continued to decrease because I kept casting the spell and because it kept dealing damage to me. To prevent myself from dying, I had to activate healing from time to time. However, in the end, it was worth it. The Runner had four points of magic defense, the Boar had five and I had a dozen. The difference was significant. My intelligence increased by one point in less than five minutes, which put me in a good mood. After an hour, I got ten more points. Two hours later, I had fifty points and the long-awaited achievement.

Half Mind

You can now see a little more, including special abilities and their statuses.

It seemed promising. I also wanted to see how all of this affected my skills. Weakness got a list of potential curses that blessings could randomly turn into: poisoning; weakness; acid; lowered strength, dexterity, and endurance, as well as physical and magical defense; slowdown; and even blinding. It was all rather impressive as I hadn't even seen a couple of them before. There was also something else...

Effectiveness of spells: 50%

All of my spells now had the same inscription. The amount of health recovered by healing, Flame Flow's damage and Stone Skin's protection had doubled. If I understood everything correctly, this all happened because I had increased my intelligence. When I had 25 points, my spells were only 25% effective, but now, since I had 50, they were at 50% efficiency. Once I get 75, the damage will increase once more and I will get a new achievement. But I was, probably, getting ahead of myself.

A wave of mild euphoria carried away the pain from my burns. However, I wasn't ready to continue mistreating my body. At least, not today. Maybe I should return to the base early today. Immersed in my thoughts, I walked automatically and somehow reached the outer camp without any adventures. Wait, is that a barrier? It seems that the others had been working hard while I was…minding my own business.

Chapter end