The Guardian System: The strongest Summoner's quest to save his family Chapter 384: A City Like a Corpse (1)

He'd picked every perk that didn't rely on direct combat, focusing on survival rather than raw power. Hardened Resilience gave him two percent more health per point, which ant that with five points invested, he gained ten percent extra—three thousand health added to his pool.

Endless Endurance did the sa for stamina, while stealthy Presence reduced detection range by three percent per point.

Eight points ant twenty-four percent, which ant he would be harder to spot. Instead, environntal Adaptation cut environntal damage by four percent per invested perk point.

Seven points—the ones he invested—ant twenty-eight percent less damage from the volcanic zones.

Production Efficiency gave him a five percent chance per point to craft an extra item, which ant that with six points invested, he had a thirty percent chance—roughly three out of ten crafts would yield a bonus item. Resource Purity increased the chance of finding rare materials while gathering, and he'd maxed it at ten points for a forty percent boost.

Blueprint Genius had jumped from one out of nine to seven out of nine, with each point reducing material costs by five percent, which ant that seven points gave him thirty-five percent fewer materials needed—a massive advantage that allowed him to use his already limited resources further. Item Durability, anwhile, made his gear less prone to damage, which was dangerous here.

He'd chosen all of it for one simple reason: the Ignis were the weakest things here.

During his travels, his Sky-Hunters had scouted far ahead compared to Reidar's position. They'd seen other things moving in the deep canyons and across the scorched plains. Things his interface reported at levels 600, 650, and even over 700.

He even saw one such monster from a distance at so point. It was a massive, worm-like thing that burrowed through solid rock like it was water, and its level was 723.

He couldn't fight that. Not directly. Even with his new levels and gear, a monster a hundred levels higher would kill him before he could give an order. His summons might last a few seconds, but that was it.

So he didn't build for damage. He did build to survive a single hit, to stay hidden, and to run away when needed. He chose everything to endure this place long enough to find Mara and stop her.

His professions had also leveled up significantly. Tailoring went from 270 to 307. Woodworking increased from 235 to 320. Enchanting had the largest gain, jumping from 293 to 401.

There was another thing that helped him survive. Since he used so many skills during these two weeks, all his proficiencies got past 51%, which ant he could share them again through his trait.

The Ignis were manageable now since he was around their level, but he couldn't handle too large groups.

That made it possible for him to summon his creatures at their normal numbers again, which swelled his forces back to what they should be. That extra firepower was the main reason he had survived this long.

His summons were lower tier compared to the Ignis, which limited his options and forced him to be more cautious in his approach to combat.

That was why he made the choice to focus on survivability above all else, why he invested in the new defensive and utility perks, and why he made the choice to dump all of his available attribute points into S.H.I.E.L.D.

The ruined city sprawled ahead like a corpse left to rot. Ash blanketed everything—thick drifts piled against crumbling walls, powder-fine layers coating broken stone. However, here the ashes were far less than in the other cities, and that was because Reidar was now far from the volcanic area.

But the badlands stretched beyond it and even inside, to the point that the wasteland of cracked earth and jagged rock formations consud a large part of the city, with giant rocks having crushed the buildings.

Countless buildings had crumbled into ruin. Charred skeletons stood in place of what were once towering structures, leaning at impossible angles. Fragnts of glass littered the ground where streets had liquefied from heat and hardened into warped, unrecognizable forms.

There was no movent, no sound except the wind scraping ash across stone. The city had died, and what remained was a catastrophe that had scorched this place and thrown it into silence.