Doomsday Lord Ch. 28 | Angelic Inspiration

The requirements to unlock the next level of Difficulty after Normal for a Beginner Instance Dungeon was to clear Normal Difficulty five times, and have cleared all three runs on the same day. Chéng Yáng had already completed the former the day before, so all that was left, was a single successful run.

He put together three groups, using most of the same people as yesterday, except that this time, Zhào Chuān would lead a group, and act as the boss slayer for it. He also made sure that the extra Knights and Rangers from yesterday’s groups were replaced. That way, one he unlocked extra runs, someone would be able to complete them.

Chéng Yáng sent the three groups into the Blood Soaked Cathedral, then waited.

Once the first group, Yú Kǎi’s, exited the Instance Dungeon, Chéng Yáng walked over to portal and walked a full circle around it. When he did, the portal changed colors, becoming red. This indicated that he’d selected the Hard Difficulty. Chéng Yáng walked through, and found himself staring down the usual gate guardsmen: two Low-Grade Lesser Mephits

The Blood Soaked Cathedral, like most Instance Dungeons, was separated into four Difficulty levels: Normal, Hard, Nightmare, and Hell.

The difference between Normal and Hard was pretty small. The mini-bosses were promoted to the Elite Low-Grade level and the boss became Standard-Grade. The number of monsters would also increase by about half and there would be a few more mini-bosses. For an Instance Dungeon like the Blood Soaked Cathedral where a strategy to cheese the boss existed, this was almost the same as no change at all. The only real issue was that the boss had 8 Movement Speed, so it was too dangerous for a Low-Grade Apprentice to attempt.

Nightmare Difficulty was much the same in that it simply increased the number of monsters and their level. The normal mobs would become Standard-Grade, the mini-bosses were Elite Standard-Grades, and the boss would be a High-Grade. The major difference between Hard and Nightmare Difficulty was that you could bring ten people into the latter. As such, in his previous life, it wasn’t particularly difficult for large factions to beat Nightmare Difficulty Beginner Instance Dungeons in the month leading up to his death.

He had never heard of someone beating a Beginner Instance Dungeon on Hell Difficulty. Even though you were allowed to bring in twenty five Players. Hell Difficulty represented a qualitative change to the Instance Dungeon. The mini-boss’s would replace the mobs and were themselves replaced by the boss. This would mean having to face an Elite version of the boss from the Nightmare Difficulty, all while being swarmed by hundreds of High-Grade mini-bosses. No one had even seen one of the bosses on Hell Difficulty, but everyone knew it had to be a truly fearsome existence.

The benefits for clearing the Hard Difficulty Blood Soaked Cathedral were ample. Not only would the number of Normal Difficulty runs increase to five, bringing the benefits of more equipment and Soul Fragments, there would be a reward on par with the Cleric Idol for obtaining the first clear!

Since the danger wouldn’t increase much compared to Normal Difficulty, Chéng Yáng planned to run the Hard Difficulty on his own. As a High-Grade Apprentice, what did he have to fear?

As expected, Chéng Yáng was able to leisurely claim the first clear. Even though the mini-bosses were slightly stronger, Chéng Yáng was still faster than them by a significant margin. The boss was even easier since it couldn’t display its increase in strength in the slightest.

Chéng Yáng dropped down from the tree and pocketed the ring that the boss dropped, without checking its properties then rushed over to the end chest. When he opened it, he found a large crystal the size of two fists put together: Skill Inheritance Crystal!

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Angelic Inspiration
After killing the Demon Duke Bathin, Arch Priest Roswald Ashton was infected with demonic energy and on the brink of death. After watching a Throne deal a fatal blow to Bathin, he created a skill in a fit of inspiration. Using the last of his life force, he sealed that skill in crystal so that it could be passed on to future generations.
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Class Requirements: Cleric
Learning Cost: 200 Soul Fragments
Effect: Fill a person with divine inspiration for ten minutes, increasing their Attack Damage and Ability Power by 10%

Duration: 10 min	Cost: 20 Mana
Targets: ⌊Ability Power / 5⌋	Cooldown: 60 sec

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“Ahahahaha!” Chéng Yáng laughed wildly after checking the system pane, ” It’s really Angelic Inspiration!”

Chéng Yáng couldn’t hide his excitement. Angelic Inspiration was an Advanced Skill! How many groups in his previous life had access to such a thing? It wasn’t many, and now he had one! Moreover, it was an Advanced Skill for a Hidden Class! It’s usefulness was obvious! The Angelic Inspiration skill was powerful enough to put Priests that had learned it in an entirely different class from those that hadn’t.

Only three groups were known to have possessed this kill in Chéng Yáng’s past life. The first was a Settlement in the vicinity of the New York Safe Zone, who had gotten it as the first clear reward just like he had. The other two had only obtained it after clearing the Blood Soaked Cathedral dozens of times. Chéng Yáng smirked, those Yankees would cry if they learned they such a treasure stolen by him.

Of course, there were simpler ways to obtain the Angelic Inspiration skill. The Skill Scroll would drop from from the Normal Difficulty end chest of the Blood Soaked Cathedral and was a fairly common drop in the Hard Difficulty, at least compared to the Skill Inheritance Crystal.

Chéng Yáng didn’t know what the first clear reward was for Nightmare Difficulty, but he yearned for the day he would be able to obtain it. The unlock conditions for Nightmare difficulty were five Hard Difficulty clears and clearing it three times in one day, and fifty Normal Difficulty clears. It wouldn’t be too difficult to fulfill those conditions once some of the Phoenix Village Citizens reached the Standard-Grade Apprentice level, but until, Chéng Yáng himself reached the Pinnacle-Grade Apprentice level, he didn’t dare to try his luck.

General information about high level Difficulties and strategy guides for low level ones were easy to find, but strategy guides for Nightmare Difficulty clears were kept strictly confidential. As such, Chéng Yáng wasn’t sure if the cheesing strategy for the boss would still work.

After confirming that the Hard Difficulty first clear reward was the same, Chéng Yáng checked the three pieces of equipment he had found. His luck had remained pretty bad, so despite there being six mini-bosses this time instead of four, he only got three pieces of equipment. Thankfully, they were all Black Iron quality.

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Guibert’s Boots (Boots)
A pair of boots weaved from the feathers of an Oodra for a cowardly merchant.
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Class Requirements: None
Effects: +4 Movement Speed

Durability: 50

Standard Battlemage Helmet (Hat)
A helmet mass produced by the Nubines Citadel for its famed battlemage infantry.
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Class Requirements: Mage
Effects: +20 Mana, +1 Attack Resistance, +1 Magic Resistance

Durability: 50

Rotten Band (Ring)
Once a powerful artifact, this ring made from a holy tree has been nearly destroyed by demonic energy.
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Class Requirements: None
Effects: +1 Attack Damage, +1 Ability Power, +1 Attack Speed, +1 Movement Speed

Durability: 50

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Although one of the pieces overlapped with his existing equipment, overall he’d gained a total of ten Attribute points. Compared to the Green Bronze set he’d used in his previous life, his current equipment was far superior.

The best item was the ring. Unlike other items, jewelry like rings, necklaces, bracelets, and various facial jewelry like earrings had no limits on the number that can be equipped. The ring he’d picked up today could be used for the rest of his life, unless he’d gotten so many Purple Silver rings that he physically couldn’t fit more on his fingers.

The leaders of large factions often ended up looking like rappers or punk rock enthusiasts since they were covered in piercings and gaudy jewelry. Unfortunately, jewelry was incredibly rare compared to other types of equipment.

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