Twilight had gotten ID Create to Level 10, unlocking the Ghost ID, and ID Escape to Level 8, but they were slowing significantly. Perhaps if she created the Zombie ID that ID Create had mentioned they would Level up faster. She thought it over carefully. If she only stayed for a minute, then she should be fine, but she'd wait for her MP to finish recharging first to be safe.
While she waited, she pondered what would happen if she made an ID inside and ID. Would they cancel each other out? Or would the new one overwrite the old one? Was it possible to stack them on top of each other? She made a mental note to give it a try later.
She had her MP back up to full within ten minutes, and used ID Create to bring the Zombie ID into existence. She simply stared for a moment. There were now a pair of rotting corpses that ought to be unable to walk properly in the room with her now. Just as their attention moved to her, she yelled "ID Escape!" and all but smashed her way out.
That had been disturbing in the extreme. Seriously, what kind of sick, twisted being had designed this ability? That was horrifying! Were it not for a combination of Gamer's Mind reducing the impact and Gamer's Body preventing her from throwing up as easily as she might have, she would have vomited from that sight and smell. ...Now that she thought about it that might be on purpose.
Once she calmed down, a thought occurred. The windows had said she could gain Exp. from killing monsters. Maybe that was what the other IDs she could potentially create were for. She resolved to Level it up more, and show the Princess when she got back from whatever was taking so long.
Celestia POV
The Solar Monarch, Princess Celestia, was currently looking at five stone orbs deep in the Everfree Forest, specifically in the ruins that used to be the castle she and her sister, Luna, had ruled from. The elements had degraded a great deal after one of their bearers turned bitter and dark, and the remaining one had turned them on said bearer. The elements had been reduced to little more than hunks of rock, and the Element of Magic, which also represented bonds in and of themselves, was hit especially hard, disappearing altogether.
She wished she'd been able to talk Luna down, but she hadn't and the Elements weren't an option for her this time. She had little confidence in her ability to best her little sister in combat or seriously try to hurt her, and trying to reason with her hadn't worked when Luna hadn't been stewing for 1000-odd years.
She despised herself for it, but it seemed she had no alternative but to train her new student in hopes of her wielding the elements to break the stranglehold Luna's bitterness had over her. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy her pupil's company, quite the opposite, she was eager, intelligent, and powerful, but not arrogant, something very few of the nobility could claim. It was just that it felt wrong to use someone who clearly trusted her implicitly. The worst part was that if she actually told Twilight then she doomed Equestria as you couldn't force a friendship.
She was well aware of what she would be sending one of her little ponies to face with very little to go on. Luna could trounce even Twilight's current strength with little effort, if her power had remained constant, at this point, and if her ability was correct, then Twilight would be able to beat any normal pony in a fight easily without even using magic.
She sighed and started back. There were wards against teleporting to Canterlot over long distances to prevent an invading army from just appearing in their midst. Probably paranoia on her part, but it was only paranoia until it happened.
Of course, that plan hinged on Twilight successfully making friends. According to her parents, Twilight was not shy so much as disinterested in social interaction. She simply didn't find any appeal in it. For some reason, all the Gamers throughout history had been similar having few friends or acquaintances they were close to.
Then there was the minor detail of the baby dragon Twilight had hatched. She was clearly not old enough to take care of him, but from what she'd gathered about Twilight from her family and personally meeting her, Twilight would feel responsible for him, especially if she discovered that the egg used in that test was an infertile dragon's egg that was used to see how the newly-accepted student would deal with failure. Twilight had created life and was, to an extent, the little dragon's mother.
She cleared her mind of thoughts over what-ifs and teleported as close to the city as the wards she had placed would allow. It was her student's decision if she was to raise the baby dragon, and she had to have some way of keeping Luna from carrying out her plans for eternal night, or they were all doomed anyway.
Twilight POV
Twilight had ducked back inside of another Zombie ID, and used Observe on one of the Zombies. She wrote down what the window had said on a piece of paper, before exiting the ID.
She'd switched to spamming Energy Bolt inside the original type of ID (Blank) and had Leveled it up to 10, but like ID Create, it had slowed down a great deal after reaching Level 10.
Energy Bolt only cost 25 MP now, greatly increasing the number of times she could use it, but she had yet to see what it would do to something not made of stone, though that was admittedly impressive since it only took 2 to blast through a wall a foot thick and probably magically reinforced.
She wasn't sure if the spells used to strengthen the walls carried over to the IDs. Something else to ask the princess when she got back. She exited the ID and discovered the princess waiting for her.
"Oh, sorry! Did I keep you waiting for long?" Twilight asked sheepishly.
"No, only about a minute. How did it go?" the princess asked.
"Well, I can confirm 2 things. Skills start slowing down their leveling once you reach Level 10, and Energy Bolt costs 1 less MP every 2 Levels. Currently it's Level 10, so it costs 25 MP per use instead of 30.
I've also gained access to a new type of Dungeon called the Zombie ID, which, as you might expect, has Zombies in it. I stayed just long enough to use Observe on one and write down what I found, then exited the ID." Twilight said with a degree of professionalism that was only slightly ruined by her physical age. She handed her teacher what she'd written.
'Zombie. Lv 8.
HP: 1600.
A vengeful spirit that has taken form as a walking corpse and hates the living. It will attack any living thing it comes across, and is twice as strong as it was in life. Luckily it is easily outrun as it's speed is half of what it was in life.'
Celestia looked the notes and Zombie sketch over. "Well, that's somewhat unsettling. On a lighter note, your drawing is surprisingly good." she commented.
Twilight nodded. "Agi affects your dexterity too. That includes drawing and other art forms. I was hoping you could come with me into the Zombie ID since I can't really Level up without fighting monsters, and if I don't have backup, then I could be in real trouble if I get surrounded since letting them get close is a bad idea according to Observe." Twilight pleaded.
"I don't have any problems with that as long as we're back in a two hour interval or so and you're careful not to let them get close." Celestia said after a moment's thought.
Twilight created the Dungeon and sent a Mana Bolt at one of the Zombies as it immediately turned towards her and started to limp it's way over. The sphere of concentrated mana was larger than her own head, and the Zombie died almost instantly, turning into black smoke which quickly vanished. She marveled at this for a moment, then turned to find the princess examining the Zombie as it tried and failed to bite into her. It's teeth kept meeting resistance as they chomped down beyond what normal fur and skin ought to offer.
"Hm, they aren't very strong are they?" she asked.
"How are you even doing that?" Twilight asked in a mixture of awe and worry as the Zombie continued to try to bite her.
"Alicorns are tougher than the other types of ponies and I'm using a tiny bit of magic to protect myself by toughening my skin further." a bit of discomfort crept across her face. "Could you take care of this one as well? It's not painful, but it isn't exactly comfortable either." Celestia asked. Twilight used Mana Bolt again, destroying this one as well.
Each Zombie left behind 150 Exp and a little purple crystal.
"That's odd, they shouldn't actually have physical forms so it shouldn't be possible for the Zombies to leave anything behind." Celestia noted.
"Maybe it has to do with my power?" Twilight asked.
"Hm, probably. Although that would break the law of energy conservation regardless." Celestia said, marveling slightly at the implications of that. Twilight was breaking the laws of physics without even trying. What could she accomplish with effort?
"Let's see what it is. Observe." Twilight said.
'Soul Stone. A crystallized soul fragment. It can be used as a catalyst in certain spells. Restores 30 MP when used.'
"Huh, ...so that's a thing." Twilight said eventually. She wasn't sure she wanted to keep these.
"If they're far enough gone that they'll attack any living thing, they can't really be called people anymore. I wouldn't worry about those crystals too much." Celestia reassured her.
With that encouragement, Twilight placed the Soul Stones in her Inventory. They'd be great for restoring her MP between skirmishes. They hunted down more Zombies, and Twilight reached Level 13 before 500 had been felled. She had kept track so she could be sure of how much Exp. it took to Level up. Since she was one-shotting them anyway, Twilight left her Stat points alone for the moment.
Energy Bolt reached Level 14, reducing the MP cost to 23, and thanks to her high MP and how often Soul Stones dropped, she was able to
kill off the Zombies pretty much non-stop. She ended up with a surplus of Soul Stones actually. She reluctantly collected the teeth and ribs they also left behind, but drew the line at the skins.
'Zombie Tooth. A tooth filled with the resentment of the dead that have been felled again. It has alchemical and crafting uses.
Zombie Rib. Lighter and stronger than it's counterpart in a living thing, this rib has alchemical and crafting value.'
They were in the ballroom when they passed the 500 mark, and Twilight was almost 80% of the way to Level 14. This made it somewhat less terrifying when a large group of Zombies melded together into a single enormous Zombie which lacked distinguishing gender features, clothing, hair, and had a full height of roughly 3 stories.
They stared for a good 5 seconds, then Twilight used Observe on it.
'Legion Zombie. Lv 34.
HP: 15200. MP: 1200.
An assembly of Zombies full of resentment. When a large number of Zombies feel threatened by mass-hunting, they merge together in order to combat the threat. Similar to it's smaller counterparts, it is very strong and has great stamina, but is very slow. Luckily, it possess no magical abilities. Avoid close combat if at all possible.'
"..." Twilight relayed the gist of this.
"Right. I think it's time we left." Celestia said as the usual variety of Zombies started to pour in from the doors to either side of the ballroom. Twilight nodded. 7 Levels wasn't a bad place to quit at all.
Unfortunately, when Twilight tried to use ID Escape, she got a red window.
'ID Escape cannot be used while a Boss mob is present. Try not to die until it's gone.'
The princess was unable to break down the ID as well. "It seems we have no choice but to fight it." the princess said. "I'll handle the small ones, I need you to take care of the big one." she said.
Twilight nodded nervously. She didn't think she could take care of the Legion Zombie with Mana Bolt, and that was the only Skill she currently had that could be used as an attack. She took a deep breath to calm down.
The princess was counting on her. If Mana Bolt wasn't going to be enough, then she'd have to use something else. First, she'd send a few Mana Bolts at it to make it target her specifically and determine how much damage it did, then see how much MP she had left and try making a new, stronger attack while she dodged any attacks directed her way.
She fired 2 Mana Bolts at the Legion Zombie, taking off about 1% of it's HP with each. She checked how much MP she currently had and how quickly it regenerated now.
'MP: 1563/1607.
MP Regen: 90.57/min.'
Yeah, at this rate, she wouldn't get that last quarter of it's HP down before she ran out of MP. She added her Stat points to Int while dodging swipes and stomps.
MP: 1934/1974.
MP Regen: 110.56/min.'
She fired another pair of Mana Bolts, but still did just over 1% of the Legion Zombie's HP in terms of damage with each. She was trying to come up with an idea, when she realized that each Mana Bolt made a small explosion, which was where most of the damage came from.
Logically, a bigger Mana Bolt would make a bigger explosion and do more damage. However, that would just use a bunch of MP at once and be the equivalent of several Mana Bolts, leading to much the same end result of a Legion Zombie with about a tenth of it's HP left. She only had 10 Soul Sones extra, which would let her take out another 14% of it's HP, but she could not wait long enough to spam Mana Bolt. She couldn't expect the princess to fend off the Zombies forever.
Therefore, she had to add something extra to further increase the damage. Spinning it would give it piercing ability and probably boost the power. It was certainly her best bet.
She gathered as much mana as she could control into a sphere as the Boss approached again. Then, just as it threatened to burst free of her control, she made it spin in a clockwise spiral. Then she launched it straight at the Legion Zombie.
It tore right through the Boss and left it at less than 10%. She hurriedly prepped another with her remaining MP. She'd lost most of her MP making the first one, so she'd had about 300 left after firing it. It was probably overkill at this point, but she wanted to be sure it was dead because she wouldn't be able to manage another shot like that first one.
The Legion Zombie's HP hit 0, and it faded into black smoke. The Zombies Celestia was fighting retreated, and she received 41290 Exp, pushing her to level 17.
She sat down in relief. That had been nerve-wracking. Several windows appeared, and she dealt with them in order.
'You have created a brand new Skill. Would you like to name it?'
Since this probably referred to the Skill she'd used mid-fight, she named it 'Spiral Mana Bolt.'
'Spiral Mana Bolt. Active. Lv 2. 5.06%.
A technique which gathers and spins an immense amount of mana in a spiral to greatly enhance it's power and piercing ability. The Skill's power is further boosted by the sheer amount of mana used in it. MP cost varies according to how much MP the user puts into it.
Takes 10 seconds to charge.
Ignores 20% of target's Defense.
600% attack damage
4 second spin time. This can be increased to 10 seconds according to the user's desire and increases it's power with spin time.'
She stared at the window. "What was that?" Celestia asked, the first surprised look Twilight had ever seen on her face showing up. "You seem a lot more powerful now." she noted.
Twilight relayed the Skill window to her mentor. "I don't exactly have much to compare it to, but it seems extremely overpowered. Then again, 2 shots completely drained my MP." she commented. "I should probably have a look at my... other... windows." she trailed off as she scanned the contents of the three windows in front of her.
'Due to raising Int above 100, a random Skill has been generated relating to your memorization abilities 'Encyclopedic Memory.'
Encyclopedic Memory. Passive. Lv Max. This Skill allows you to remember facts and events as if your Int were double it's actual value.
Due to raising your Int above 100, you have gained the 'Mana Regeneration' and 'Medium Mana Capacity.'
Mana Regeneration. Passive. Lv Max. An ability given only to those of special heritage that accelerates the recovery of mana.
Doubles MP Regen.
Medium Mana Capacity. Passive. Lv Max. An ability given to a small number of mana users with an exceptional ability to handle mana.
Boosts mana-based attacks by 15%.
Lowers MP costs by 10%.'
She checked her Stats to confirm what she suspected.
'Level 17.
HP: 1190.
HP Regen: 14.9/min.
MP: 2184.
MP Regen: 232.32/min.
Str: 32.
Int: 123.
Agi: 35.
Vit: 34.
Wis: 40.
Lck: 27.
20 Stat points to spend.'
She told the princess her new Stats with undisguised glee as well as the new Skills she had gained. Once she calmed down a little, she wondered why the Skills hadn't shown up when she raised her Int. Perhaps they only showed up when she wasn't actively fighting?
Meanwhile the Princess was caught rather off guard. "Isn't this kind of cheating?" she wondered aloud.
"It's not cheating if you earn it and I spent the first 6 years of my life either studying, solving puzzles, or doing activities that would raise Str, Agi, Vit, and/or Lck. It's not the game's fault I exploited 43 points of Int and 35 of Wis, not to mention what I got for the other four.
Since my other Stats were so high already, I didn't spend any from my Levels on them and instead focused on Int. It might be exploiting the system, but it isn't cheating. I'm fairly sure that I can't break the rules because there aren't rules so much as formulas. 'X Int will give you 10X MP.' for example." Twilight explained with complete seriousness.
At any rate, the Legion Zombie dropped a large purple crystal, a quartet of red potions, ...and actual money. "That... That makes no sense! Why would it be carrying money around?" Twilight wondered aloud.
'Greater Soul Stone. A crystal formed from a large number of souls. Restores 90 MP.
Health Potion. A potion made to restore one's vitality and heal minor injuries. Resores 200 HP.'
"Hm, Potions like this are supposed to be exceedingly rare and very hard to make. Could I have it tested?"Celestia asked.
Twilight agreed to let the princess take samples of the Potion and Soul Stones in order to determine their exact properties. She went to her new room and set up her few possessions. Then she went to sleep for the night, mentally exhausted.