NOVEL WEB Chapter 9: Rage
The sharp sound reverberated through the air as Olgan's face contorted into a expression of horror at the sight of the approaching sword's glinting blade. Internally, he screamed for Lenna to quickly intervene, urgency overwhelmed him.
Clang!
Suddenly, another sword sliced through the air, intercepting Edith's slash just in time.
Lenna's blade met Edith's with a forceful parry, and she smiled reassuringly, as if her previous 'serious' injury was all but a fake. "It's okay, Princess Edith. I'm alright."
Though a flicker of light returned to Edith's eyes, they still burned with madness, an extreme rage driving her, wanting chop Olgan into mincemeat.
"Lenna! Quickly!" Olgan urged, his voice tinged with desperation.
Lenna nodded coolly, her expression determined as she hugged the frenzied Edith to restrain her, forcefully feeding her a Recovery Potion.
Olgan's heart raced as he observed Edith's condition, praying the potion would have the desired effect.
As Edith's HP rose above 50% of her Max HP, clarity returned to her gaze, now fixed blankly on Lenna, who held her gently with a comforting smile.
This was a plan meticulously crafted by both Olgan and Lenna the night before.
In most games, entering a berserk state involves various triggers, but Olgan decided to tackle the most likely conditions all at once.
First, a high HP or VIT was essential. Edith has already satisfied this condition, at least he hoped it's enough to trigger it.
Second, being in combat state was necessary. That's why he had held a spar between her and Lenna.
Third, her Max HP had to drop below half. He guessed that half would be the threshold needed for activation, so he instructed Lenna to reduce Edith's HP to 40%—not too high, not too low, just enough balanced and not too worrying for Lenna.
Fourth, although not strictly required, he included a bleeding effect, mirroring some games where a berserker continuously lost HP while in a rage.
Fifth, the most crucial, was the need for rage itself. What could incite more fury than the thought of harming someone she holds dear? Observing the bond between Lenna and Edith, he figured that 'killing' Lenna would be enough to trigger her rage.
Truth be told, he had no idea what level Lenna currently was, but he recognized that, at his level, he could never cause any damage on her without her allowing him to. Edith who should have easily realized this simple point, in her already agitated state from all the events happening yesterday and the 'killing' today, likely overlooked this detail and succumbed to her rage.
While he considered many more elaborate sinister scripts, he ultimately settled on this simpler approach. A brief yet effective plan seemed best; after all, he didn't want her sanity to shatter beyond repair if he went with more sinister scripts.
With the conditions in place, the next challenge came: How to restore Edith's sanity?
In this real world, comfort from a trusted ally might prove effective, so he urged Lenna to try soothing Edith first. If that failed, he instructed her to feed Edith a Recovery Potion.
Typically, berserkers grew stronger as their HP diminished, gradually losing their sanity in the process.
Restoring Edith's HP was a gamble worth taking, and fortunately, it paid off.
Good thing I don't have to force Lenna to use a Class Reset Scroll on Edith. Olgan sighed in relief.
"W-what's going on? I thought you were stabbed…" Confusion etched across Edith's face as she darted her gaze between Olgan—who nervously smiled back—and Lenna, who wore an expression of guilt.
"Let me explain…" Lenna began, recounting Olgan's plan while also sipping a Recovery Potion herself. Her wound caused by Olgan was serious but not fatal; it would lower her HP significantly but not enough to endanger her life.
Edith listened, her mind still a whirl of confusion. The method was straightforward, but would it truly lead to the desired Class?
However, she was indeed consumed by rage like those who has fallen to Worthless Classes she has heard of before.
Quickly, she navigated her Status Interface, searching for any sign of change in her Class, but it remained a Novice Class. The only differents werea bleeding effect, coupled with a drop in her Percentage Stats.
Her focus shifted to her Skill Panel.
A spark of excitement ignited in her eyes as she looked up at Olgan, "It's real! You've actually discovered a method for acquiring a skill associated with one of those Worthless Classes, and it is remarkably powerful"
With enthusiasm, Edith shared her newly acquired skill with Lenna and Olgan.
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Skill: Rage (Passive)
Level: 1 (05.69% EXP)
Description: Your injuries fuel your strength, increasing STR, CON, and AGI based on current missing HP. When HP falls below 50%, you will gradually be consumed by rage, losing HP each second. The lower your percentage Max HP, the lower your sanity, decreasing PER, INT, and WIS. (Note: If any of these stats fall below 0%, you will lose your sense of self permanently.)
Warning: If you remain in a Rage state for over an hour, you will lose 100% of PER, INT, and WIS permanently and users of Novice Class will be forced to advance into a Rage-related Class.
Current HP: 95/154
Stats (STR/CON/AGI) Increase: +29 bonus each
Percentage Attributes (PER/INT/WIS) Decrease: -0% each
HP Degeneration: -1% per second
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Reading the skill, Olgan nodded his head.
This passive skill appeared formidable, but its drawbacks were equally concerning.
If this was a game, he would have labeled this skill as OP(overpowered).
The negatives of INT and WIS reductions could be overlooked in-game, where they mostly pertained to magic-related attributes, unlike here, where they affected real intelligence and sanity.
The loss of perception was also particularly troublesome; he imagined missing attacks in turn-based games or experiencing a reducing field of vision, fading BGM, and blurring UI in hack-and-slash games.
Regardless, as a self-proclaimed 'professional' gamer, he recognized that extensive testing was necessary for this skill.
Questions flooded his mind: How much would her stats decrease when HP dropped below 50%? What was the safe range for her current HP? What would happen if she were already enraged before the skill activated? So much to consider.
The thought of skill experimentation has excited him.
Olgan rubbed his hands together, looking like a con-artist ready to make a deal, which made Edith, who was about to approach him hesitated, concern etched on her face.
Snapping back to reality, he awkwardly waved at her, "How's the skill?"
To his surprise, it was Lenna who answered, "This is beyond my expectations. It's a perfect skill for Princess Edith."
Olgan frowned, puzzled: "Perfect? Why? A passive skill with such a massive drawback doesn't seem ideal."
Lenna smiled at him for the first time, her happiness evident for the outcome: "Because my Class is Princess Knight, a specialized Class focused on protecting the one we pleadged our loyalty to and swore to protect.
"As long as our connection remains intact and I'm alive, Princess Edith's HP will never drop below a certain threshold. One of my skills allows me to substitute my own HP for any damage she takes"