Chapter 4
As the three children stumbled along the beach, sore and tired and doubly so for Donny, they couldn’t help but shout with joy at the sight of the large outline of a giant turtle flying towards them silhouetted by the sun, a small figure standing on its back waving and shouting something unintelligible. It was a massive turtle, its head and rear legs largely resembled the snapping turtles from Donny’s old world, but it had the smooth, sleek shell and large, boomerang-shaped front flippers of a sea turtle. There was a long, thin tail with a wicked barb that glinted dangerously at the tip extending out and above its shell like a scorpion.
This was his grandfather’s familiar, an evolved sky turtle that was as old as his grandfather and over the years had become part of the family. While the beast may have been an ancient and all-powerful being he had always enjoyed letting Donny and his friends jump off his shell into the ocean, often seen playing with them and flying the group of boys around. The old turtle was very protective of his kids.
“Children, get on, we must go.” The deep, grating voice of the massive reptile vibrated in their chests as he came down to hover before them, front flipper extending out and scooping them onto his shell while turning and shooting out over the ocean in one smooth motion.
“Uncle Kosher, what’s going on? Donny asked after taking a moment to catch his breath.
“I’ll explain what I can but first, are there any injuries I can’t detect?” The rumbling reply came calmly.
The magic of the turtle’s shell allowed the boys to move and speak freely, even at high speeds. A barrier blocked the wind and gravity that would otherwise require a harness or palanquin, as well as ear and eye protection.
“No, we’re fine for the most part, Chucky and Lyle got their heads smacked together. We’re mostly just shaken up” Donny answered for them.
“Shaken up, eh?” Kosher cocked his head to give Donny’s calm and determined demeanor a skeptic look with one of his great-shield sized eyes.
“Now’s not the time to panic, Unc. Now what can you tell me?” Donny said seriously, meeting the turtle’s gaze.
The large sky turtle chuckled and straightened his giant head, looking forward as they flew.
“That technique that was used back there is called ‘Speak no evil, hear no evil, see no evil’, a technique that is commonly used in political assassinations. It’s a Ritual type of technique that’s outlawed in many galaxies due it requires self-sacrifice to deploy and the fact that none below the divine level can resist its effects. Even I would lose my senses if caught in its area of effect.” Kosher explained. “It’s also completely silent and undetectable.”
“Yeah ok, but what’s that got to do with why they were targeting us?” Donny asked, wishing the old turtle would get to the point.
“Because that means the people targeting you have enormously powerful backing, which is why we must leave. There is a lot I cannot tell you, child, but your grandfather will explain more when we meet.” The sky-turtle sounded apologetic at being unable to tell him more, but Donny was able to get a glimpse of what was being hinted at, so he didn’t mind, there was already so much to think about right now. And besides, he had messages to sift through.
Focusing his mind a menu popped up in view of his closed eyes as a menu popped up, Donny immediately noticed that some options were underlined with a red exclamation mark, and some were grayed out showing that he couldn’t yet access all options.
<table style="width: 11.6788%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%" width="136">
Menu:
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%" width="136">
Messages !
Overview !
Statistics !
Skills !
Titles !
Faction !
Store
Class
Paragon
Profession
Quests
Ranking Ladder
Guild
Party
Bonds
Outfits
Storage
Settings
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Donny first selected the setting options and adjusted the menu to only the options he could currently select. He knew from his father’s lessons that there were a multitude of different formats in which to view the system’s communications. The system would typically provide a general interface in a format that is easy to understand for the denizens of newly integrated planets. Apparently, his blue status screens were common in societies that were technologically advanced, and there had been an entire section in the library dedicated to the subject.
<table style="width: 11.6196%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%" width="138">
Menu:
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%" width="138">
Messages !
Overview !
Statistics !
Skills !
Titles !
Faction !
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Then, thinking about it some more, he set titles to automatically show the description of the effects (he still had to go find out what his title “I will not bow’ title offered). Knowing he could make further changes as he went, Donny selected messages.
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="623">
Messages:
System
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="623">
Congratulations!
You have agreed to become the champion of Pheros, the most self-centered, obnoxious, irritable- Ahem… You are the first person to gain the blessing of this god, blah blah blah, here’s what you get. Be thankful.
Title Gained:
The first of your kind (Primordial)
You will earn 50% more experience from all sources. Effects end: Level 100
You will receive a personalized trial and subsequent award upon trial completion at levels: 10, 25, 50, 75, 100.
You have unlocked: Chosen Ladder
You have unlocked: Storage (System)
You have received: System Merchant License Type: Category. Uses: 1/1
Description: You may develop and submit a single creation within a category of merchandise (I.e. Furniture, weapons, clothing, etc.) for sale within the system store (Unlocked at level: 10). The submission must follow system terms and conditions guidelines. The submission must follow system anti-plagiarism regulations. You must read and understand: System TOC & Anti-Plagiarism regulations S. 105C-197C; SML before any submissions for system merchant licensing will be processed. Item sent to: Storage (system)
You have received a boon: Legacy of Pheros (Primordial)
Description: As you tap into your potential you learn that you have an incomparable affinity for learning skills. While only your dedication and comprehension can aid you individually, you will find that this boon recognizes your intrinsic abilities and amplifies that which you already have by magnitudes.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
You receive a multiplicative bonus in skill experience gained,
with bonuses to rarity: common +5%, Uncommon +10%, Rare +20%, Relic +40%, Astral +60%, Legendary +80%, Divine +90%, Primordial +100%
Multiplicative bonuses are based on your aptitude, level and the difficulty of the skill. The influence and effects of this boon may be influenced by your aptitude, age and level of understanding of more esoteric skills. Adversely, your slow and unevolved brain may result in little or no effect of this boon if your frail, mortal mind is found lacking in the fundamental properties of skills.
This boon has no skill level cap.
The effects of this boon become exhausted upon reaching level: 100
You may not use this boon to create new skills, but skills you develop through inspiration may benefit from its effects.
Any experience gained from skills that are beyond your current tier of power will only provide a maximum of 10 levels. All excess experience will instead be converted into attribute points at a one million to one ration. I.E. you will gain a single free attribute point for each increment of one million units of experience points.
Warning: Due to your divine sponsors’ sheer amount of time spent without choosing a champion an unprecedented amount of divinity has been invested in the champion’s blessing of Pheros. It is due to this reason that the system has placed restrictions on this boon. Please understand that this is necessary to maintain balance and preserve the integrity of the Champions ladder. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused and are currently calculating appropriate compensation in remuneration for such a breach of system negligence. Please note that restrictions are subject to change and further balance patches if necessary.
You have received a boon: Proof of concept (uncommon)(trial boon)
Description: Your god does not want to risk raising another spoiled child, so don’t go thinking you can just party up and get boosted to power. You will receive penalties when in groups, and rewards for solitary achievements. Are you sure Pheros isn’t just setting you for another sad and lonely death? Who’s to say but it looks like you’re on your own unless you can somehow make it to level 25 without daddy holding your hand!
You receive +100% experience from killing enemies 20 levels or higher than your current level.
+2% additional experience per enemy within 5 feet of you during combat (maximum 20%)
You receive -100% experience for killing enemies within five levels of your current level
You receive -100% of the experience gained from kills made when in a party
The effects of this boon become exhausted upon reaching level:25
You are the first chosen of a god, you will receive 100% of blessing efficacy.
God: Pheros, will receive 100% of divine reward upon your ascension.
God: Pheros, will receive 200% efficacy of system punishment upon your failure to achieve ascension within: 912 years, 215 days, 17 hours, 34 minutes.
You received a champion’s trial quest: For Family
As you have been selected as champion of Pheros, you have been tasked with saving the descendants of your divine sponsor from their inevitable demise. The people of your clan have fallen into depravity and greed, allowing the family’s once immutable assets to fall into the hands of their competitors, plunging the economy, accruing significant debts, and creating a divide between the leaders of your faction.
Requirements for completion:
· Establish an avenue of revenue through legitimate means for which to pay off all clan debts. 0/1
· Re-establish bonds within the family, connecting all factions as one and eliminating or removing all spies and or traitors. 0/2
· Prove yourself worthy of becoming clan lead within the timeline allotted for your ascension to divinity 0/1
· Establish an improved governance structure within system good-practice guidelines to prevent future collapse from recurring 0/1
· Defeat or make submit a minimum %70 of your clan’s enemies 0/70%
· Bonus objective (optional): Place within the top 3 of the Champion’s ladder
Additional rewards may be provided in accordance with performance at completion of the quest. This quest must be completed before attempting divine tribulation. Bonus objective rewards will be received upon completion of the objective and are not dependent nor mandatory for quest completion.
You have been blessed with a fraction of the knowledge of an ancient being beyond your mortal comprehension. It sure would be a shame if, even with all these advantages, you still managed to somehow die early. No pressure, though! Seriously, don’t sweat it, it’s not like anyone is hoping for your complete and utter failure. Break a leg! Or two…
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Donny stopped reading for a moment. He couldn’t believe the system had pretty much bricked his divine boon! He’d been expecting the proof-of-concept boon, it was pretty much standard when it came to champion blessings and was public knowledge. But he was starting to see what Pheros meant when he told him he’d be targeted. Donny went over the missive he’d read on the subject in his mind.
“Beings who have reached the ranks of the divine may choose a champion to participate in the Champion Ladder. Champions who achieve divinity receive an allocation of divine essence in conjunction with their rank when achieving divinity. Champion rank is determined by a scoring system, which is recorded on Page 143, of this compendium. While the specific details of individual champions are largely personalized, there are base guidelines to the champion system that remain the same for all.
Each divinity who sponsors a champion is limited in both the capacity of bestowment and allotted champions. Upon reaching divinity, a divine storage will be assigned, which will reserve a miniscule portion of the total accumulated divine energy of a respective Deity. This reservoir will fuel the champion’s blessing and may not be altered. Each divinity may, however, decide the parameters of the boon’s, quests, and level rewards for a respective champion. Below is a list of the other known rules and regulations of divine sponsorship:
<ul>
<li>Deities may provide a tiered level-achievement/reward system.</li>
<li>Deities may not assist with the growth of their champions outside of the initial divine blessing itself but may assign a guardian below the threshold of divine power to offer guidance and training.</li>
<li>A deity may offer a single system-affiliated development token</li>
<li>A deity may offer a single divine boon, but total boon efficacy is dependent on the amount of divine energy accumulated</li>
<li>A deity may provide a trial boon.</li>
<li>A deity may provide a trial quest.</li>
<li>A divine boon may not offer benefits which directly or indirectly aid in the success of a divine tribulation.</li>
</ul>
The system will designate boons, achievements, rewards and quests in place of deities who choose to abstain from having a direct influence in the path of their chosen.
Donny had never heard of the system straight up nerfing a champion’s divine boon, it had simply never happened, as far as he knew. Though he was pretty sure he had obtained the first boon with a ‘Primordial’ rarity, like, EVER, he was still absolutely fuming. “What the fuck, system, it’s a DIVINE BLESSING, it’s supposed to be overpowered!” he cursed the system in his mind.
From what he’d understood, most divine blessings involved things like increased free attribute points per level or improved the potency of attribute points. There was even a rumor that Belmont Reaver, the progenitor of the reavers, got an additional FIVE attribute points per point invested!
Meanwhile, His boon had pretty much been made into the lowest level of attribute boons. He didn’t even need any help with skills, his natural talent before even getting this stupid boon already had him to the point of hitting his first bottleneck by the age of five years old! His aura manipulation and skill manipulation were already at least level five, and all he had done was passively practice his aura manipulation. His father and mother constantly bragged about his achievements in chi manipulation to the other great powers, and even their enemies had to admit his innate talent was above S tier.
And it didn’t help that his quest to save his family was beyond what he’d imagined. Although helping to clear his familial debt was a given at this point, wiping out seventy percent of their enemies? What the actual fuck! As far as he knew most of the galactic sector in this part of the universe was against them. And the ones that weren’t didn’t exactly sympathize with them after thousands of years of being oppressed and looked down upon. He couldn’t help but feel that he was in way over his head.
Donny stopped and took a deep breath. “I need to focus; I can’t change what’s already been set in motion. Just need to get so strong that it doesn’t matter who stands against us. I’ll brute force my way through this damn quest if I gotta!” He told himself as continued through his system messages.
Looking at who skills Donny’s eyes grew wide as he saw the pages and pages of skill updates. “How is this possible?” He breathed as he quickly organized the screen to separate the disorganized jumble of updates, he hadn’t been able to see throughout the years he had been improving his skills.
<table style="width: 29.927%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%" width="623">
…
Aura manipulation (primordial) has reached level 2
Aura manipulation has reached level 3
Aura manipulation has reached level 4
…
Aura manipulation has reached level 97
Chi manipulation (Common) has reached level 2
Chi manipulation has reached level 3
Chi manipulation has reached level 4
…
Chi manipulation has reached level 90
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
“What happened to not passing level 5?” Donny couldn’t wrap his mind around what he was seeing as an exhilarating thrill bloomed in his chest. From what his father had said skill growth was the most explosive between levels one through twenty-five, tapering off to a slow crawl by level thirty. Most people would have their main skills around level forty by the time they reached level fifty. And even the most supreme geniuses would only be around the level sixty mark in most skills by the time they hit one hundred. And he had almost doubled that threshold by the age of five.
Suddenly, Donny was shaken out his trance as he felt a ping of danger, he came too, realizing his friends were surrounding him defensively.
“Donny, wake up man! WAKE-”
“I wasn’t asleep bro, chill out. Why are you guys freakin’ out, anyways, we’re with Unc. What could happen to us?” Donny said, annoyed at first but softening his tone as he saw the absolute panic on his friends faces, feeling bad for snapping at Chucky.
“We’re under attack, some sort of giant bird is coming after us, look!” Lyle pointed out, towards the sky, looking at Donny like he was a moron.
Donny looked out, realizing that the giant turtle they were riding on was maneuvering through the air at incredible speeds, flipping and turning in a series of aerial acrobatics that would put any Blue Angel pilot to shame in his grace. Donny was confused at first, then realized the magic that his bestial protector surrounded the kids with had kept them from feeling any of it, inside the bubble it was as if they were always right-side up and standing on firm, unmoving ground. And then his face blanched as he looked out into the ozone and noticed the massive bird the size of an Airbus A380 that seemed to be staring right at him, a single impossibly large eye locking gazes with him from across the clouds.
The massive bird had bright blue feathers that shined with a pearlescent hue when reflecting the light of the bright sun above. It boasted a long, powerful neck with a vulture-like head and a rainbow-colored beak that was half again as long as it’s head and curved into a viciously hooked tip. It had two pairs of wings. The uppermost pair extended out long and powerful, at least twice the length of the massive avian’s torso but slimmer than the typically wide wings of most birds.
The monstrous bird had a second pair of wings closer to its feet that were short and wide and seemed to rotate instead of flap, like a feathered variation of a whale’s tail. From its rear extended long and luxurious feathers that seemed to flow and blend with the sky like a river. They twisted and moved and folded into each other and Donny felt like he could see waves crashing together in the bird’s tail.
Donny shivered, knowing that if that massive bird were to so much as cough towards them, without the protection of the powerful shield encompassing the shell of his grandfather’s familiar they’d all be turned into dust. And somehow, he knew in his heart that the unimaginably large bird was there for him.
“Fuck, Fuck, Fuck.” Donny said out loud as all his friends gave him wide stares.
“Dude, you can’t say that word!” Chucky said, somehow looking more afraid of the curse-word than the literal death-bird flying behind them.
“Right now, we got worse things to worry about than watching our fucking language. Uncle Kosher, how bad are things?” Donny dismissed the other kids and spoke to their chauffeur.
“He’s so cool!” Whispered Lyle to Milo. Chucky gave Lyle a flat look.
“Now that you’re up, you can give me permission to place you in my inner world. I can only allow others in with mutual consent, and your little siblings here refused to go without you regardless of my assurances that I would protect you.” The rumbling voice didn’t seem bothered in the least that he was in the middle of an intense chase. “Now please come along, my shell is a large portion of my strength, and I cannot cook this little seagull with it being used to defend a bunch of little brats.”
Donny couldn’t help but feel a surge of warmth as he looked at his friends, knowing that he had chosen correctly when picking them for his future crew. Even at this young age, they were loyal and dedicated friends. He couldn’t help but smile warmly at his friends for a long moment, appreciating each of them dearly and-
“Bro, you’re giving us a super creepy look, like my mom does to my dad before she takes him into the bedroom to argue with him. You’re not going to start yelling at me and mess up my hair, are you?” Milo looked skeptically at Donny, eyes squinted with a foot cocked back and body turned as if he was primed to run at a moment’s notice.
“Naw man, what? I-” Donny began, face heating up and eye twitching as he felt black lines forming on his forehead.
“GET IN NOW!” Kosher suddenly bellowed, his gravelly voice shaking their minds. Donny flinched at the hint of panic in the turtle’s voice as a sort of spiritual pull tugged at his mind. “Accept the tug!” he shouted, waiting until all his friends blinked out of existence before finally releasing his resistance to the tug of power from the massive turtle, allowing himself to be pulled into darkness.