《Known Danger System 42》 Chapter 1 - System Dangers Jax was sitting on the peak ofa mountain. As a avid hiker that had spent most of his formative years exploring the forests and mountains outside of town. Years later, he stillappreciatedthevast open spacesand would often hike into the mountains to enjoythe quiet views and wild life. Today was a beautiful day with no wind and few clouds. It was perchance a quirk of fate then that due towhat some might call a unfortunatecircumstance the day did not remain so. The paticular circumstance in question was not quite a boom, but a shock wave. It did not move the mountain. However it did move Jax. It moved Jax straight down the mountain, with just about every possible ridge of the mountainand tree to be graced with his momentary andvery impactful presence.
[System Initializing] [Default System Value 42 Engaged]
JAX POV What on Earth? I blinked. The last thing I recalled was falling. No that was not right! I remembered seeing a box pop up. But what was it? I was falling and suddenly a box had sprung up out of nowhere into my field of vision. I could tell there was some text inside the box. I did not paid it any mind however as I was sent tumbling over the steepmountains cliff edge down into the ravine. I sat up and quickly looked around. I could not believe how lucky I was. Not a single broken bone, just a massive headache. All of a sudden and without any warning a box again springs out of nowhere into my field of view.
Achievement unlocked: Title: Lucky Breaks Unlucky Breaks- Access Restricted]Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. [Title: Lucky Breaks Unlucky Breaks]
''You got smacked by the universe. All¡¯s well that ends well though.'' [Strength increased by 1] [Constitution increased by 3] [Endurance increased by 1] [Dexterity increased by 1] [Intelligence increased by1] [Wisdom increased by 5] [Charisma increased by 2] [Perception increased by 5] [Luck increased by 10] [Title Transferable Via Death] Well that answers that I thought.A game windows box proclaiming a achievement unlock, title and stats? The world has turned into some sort of Litrpg book or a game? Was some sort of super A.I involved in this? Was it the powers that be? I pinched myself hard enough for it to hurt. OWCH! I shake my head thinking about how great an idea that turned out to be. Ok so I am not dreaming. Wait I know I have read stories before... I wonder if I have a status page? Within seconds of thinking about my status a new set of boxes sprang into view.
Name Jax Hills
Strength 11
Constitution 13
Endurance 10
Dexterity 11
Intelligence 11
Wisdom 15
Charisma 12
Perception 15
Luck 20
Ok. Base stats starting at 10. Wait what was with that title?!?! Smacked by the Universe? Off a Mountain? I am alive, but I would hesitate to call myself lucky. I do not like the look of that Title transferable via death tagline. I shake my head thinking about the possibily that I will have a target on my back and run a hand through my hair before I suddenly freeze. I slowly take my time then continuing to turn around. The mountain was gone. Where am I?
[Achievement unlocked: Title: Delver Prime]
''Among first humans ofSystem 42 designation[Earth]to enter a dungeon rift. Lucky Or Unlucky?'' Chapter 2 - Love Bites
[Achievement unlocked: Title: Delver Prime]
''Among first humans of System 42 designation [Earth] to enter a dungeon rift. Lucky Or Unlucky?'' [Skill book drop chance in dungeon rifts increased] [Dungeon rift elite monsters gain 1x random extra ability skill] I would never claim to be a fortune teller. The signs speak to me clearly I believe though. I am screwed. As I look around what I immediately notice is the quiet. Not a normal quite that one would expect from being in the middle of the wilderness. There are no birds, no wind rustling the leaves on these odd looking trees. I wonder if I am still on Earth. Every single plant and sign of life reeks of an "otherness" that I cannot seem to place. I quickly put away thoughts of plants because I know that I need to focus on two things. My first priority is to find out if I can get more information from the helpful boxes. Maybe some hint to ensure nothing eats me and my second priority is to find out where I am and figure out what happened. Ok so first things first. I focus on summoning my status page and think about the titles before that appeared in the boxes.
Achievements Titles gained Bonus Status
Lucky Breaks Unlucky Breaks Lucky Breaks Unlucky Breaks Restricted - Active
Dungeon Delver Prime Delver Prime Active
I note that not it seems I get bonuses from my titles but that one of the bonuses seems to be partially locked. Well I doubt there is anything I can do about that now so I focus on the second title bonus and a smaller box appears with the bonuses listed.
Diver Prime Title Bonus
[Skill book drop chance in Dungeon rifts increased] [Dungeon riftelite monsters gain 1x random skills]
I liked the look of the increased drop chance however the second bonus looked really really bad. I could not help myself though as I was already thinking of how many of the already undoubtedly deadly creatures that could exist. Further enhanced via my bonus to have super strength, teleportation, magic or whatever else absurd abilities exist in this place. Like that is all I need some unholy abomination such as giant flying bugs that shoot lasers or something. Glancing over my shoulder at the horizon I notice that it will soon be dark and though I still have a bit of light I had better find a place to rest. Taking a moment to again survey my surroundings I freeze as my instincts suddenly start screaming at me. Quickly as I can I scramble to a tree and crouch. There! Unfortunately for me, my eyes were locked onto a pair of eyes looking right back at me, it was difficult to see the creature behind the eyes but I could tell it was large, quiet and slowly moving towards me though it was still a good distance away. Careful not so spook whatever the creature was I slowly started to back away. Suddenly I heard a low pitched growl and the beast sprang from the cover of darkness sprinting towards me.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. My mind was struggling to take in what the creature looked like. Some kind of giant rat combined with a lizard. All I knew was that I did not intend to stick around to give it a welcome party. Taking one last look at the creature a blue box sprang up as I turned to run.
Draco Rat lvl 5
OH HELL NO! I take off, running with every ounce of will power I have. Where am I running? I have no idea! That thing looks way out of my league though. Strange plants and trees become a blur as I run as fast as I can away from that thing. It is no wonder that I slipped on a patch of wet ground and tumble head over ass down a small hill. To say I was bouncing down the hill would be flattering. This fall unlike my last had more in common with an avalanche, with me breaking every plant and bush I fell onto. Finally I came to a stop having landed in a small pond. Fast as I was able I wadded out and looked around. There was no sign of the Draco Rat or whatever that was and I gave an immediate sigh of relief. I mean, that thing had some wicked looking teeth! I took a moment to gather my thoughts and decided I would go look for some shelter for the night, it was getting way too hard to see and I was hurting everywhere. I decided I had better check out the boxes that had sprang into view in the corner of my vision just to make sure I did not miss anything.
Fall damage received -5, Fall damage received -5 ,Fall damage received -5 Fall damage received -5 ,Fall damage received -5 ,Fall damage received -5
Considering the information I thought of my constitution and a box with the status information sprang into view.
Constitution HP 85/130
I considered the stated heath status and felt confused. That made no sense. Looking at the next box after fall damage I was stunned.
Damage taken from Essence Leech
Damage taken from Essence Leech
Damage taken from Essence Leech
HOLY DAMN! I suddenly noticed the three small ethereal looking creatures on my arms and immediately set to taking each one off. It hurt like hell and they were hard to get ahold of as each leech had a slime textured body that was about a slippery as wet soap. As I got ahold and removed each one I threw them onto the ground and stomped on them all until I got a notification box.
Essence Leech Killed X 3. Exp Gained.
Then moments later I heard a bell. I think it was my head but who knows. Yet another box sprang into view.
Level up
Lvl 2 gained
5 Attribute Points gained
The small mercy is that I am not dead. That was a close call and I am sure there will not be any shortages of those in my future. I close my eyes and focus for a moment. I have only been here wherever "here" is for a short time and I have nearly died twice. It is time for figure some stuff out. I figure it stands to reason that like the boxes I will only simply need to focus on adding the attribute point to whichever attribute I want them to be added with. Taking a moment to breath and clear my mind I summon my full status page and will a point into constitution. Immediately my constitution went up. It worked! I quickly divested my remaining 4 points into strength, endurance, dexterity and intelligence. After all it only makes sense to cover the basics for now. I reasoned that I still had no idea what was going on and what kind of situations I might find myself in.
Name Jax Hills
HP 85/140
Strength 12
Constitution 14
Endurance 11
Dexterity 12
Intelligence 12
Wisdom 15
Charisma 12
Perception 15
Luck 20
Chapter 3 - Gone Fishing Out of the frying pan and into the fire would be an apt expression to explain my current circumstances. My arm is still on fire from the small monstrosities that defiled it. Taking a glance at my status page I am relieved to see my health tick up by 1 after a few moments. Well that answers my question as to whether I have any type of passive health regeneration. Giving a final stomp to the tiny corpses that caused my pain, I look back at the small pond I just extricated myself from. It seemed innocuous enough. No ripples or movement of any type I could discern. Still, I had gained experience and a level from killing just three of the slippery nightmare spawn. With a flash of inspiration it occurs to me that this may be an opportunity and that some experimentation might be in order. Looking around, I spot a low hanging branch on one of the nearby trees. Moving to the branch grab it and I apply weight until it snaps off the tree with a audible cracking sound. I quickly glance around looking for movement, but seeing none progressed to stripping the branch of its offshoots until all that is left of this is nubby spikes along the length of the branch. I break the thinner end of the branch until it is only aboutits lengthabout matches the length of my arm and then inspect my work. To my surprise a box springs up.
Makeshift Club
Force: Blunt 10-25 Damage
Excellent! Looking at it I am confident that it will not snap immediately if I want to use it to wallop the shit out of the next evil bugger I see. Ok, I might be a little tense at the moment. At any rate, I now have my brand new, not so shiny implement of death. Moving back to the water¡¯s edge with maybe a small amount of trepidation I slowly lower one end of the makeshift club into the water and wait a few moments before pulling it back out of the water. As I inspect my new handy weapon I do not see any passengers. Fair enough, it was not really a surprise that this was not going to be as easy as I might have liked. I pause to consider my options briefly before I make my decision. Steeling my resolve I slowly press my fingers into the gauge wounds left by the Essence Leaches. I do not stop until my hand is covered in my blood and it is dropping down off my elbow to the ground. Not giving myself time to talk myself out of my decision I step back to the edge of the water and lower my hand in.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. The effect is instantaneous. Ripples appear in the middle of the pond and start speeding at me. I take my hand out of the pond as fast as I can. I take a step back in the process, then several steps. After I removed my hand the ripples did not slow. I observed calmly and waited. As the ripples reached the water¡¯s edge with no delay the cause appeared. Leech after leech flew out of the water to land on the ground where my blood had spilled and where I had stood only moments beforea swarmed a massive dark mass, if I had been still standing there I had no doubt I would be dead. The leeches paid me no immediate attention however as they single-mindedly slithered all over the ground. I figured they were seeking my blood and that when it had dripped to the ground it had confused them. It was now or never so I leapt forward smashing their tiny bodies to bits and pieces.I continued to smack them with my club until they all stopped moving. It took a good while asthere must have been around a several hundredof them. All slimy with eel like bodies ending in circular mouths ringed with sharp serrated looking teeth. The bloody leech pieces where everywhere by the time any of them took notice of the danger I represented to them. The sheer number of leech bodies causing my footing to behaphazard at best. As the last surviving leeches seemed to somehow sense me amid all the rest of the blood and carnage they swerved towards me, gathering together again in a mass that was to say in the least quite diminished now. Sadly for them, their ticket was up. Even if they did not know it yet. I took my time and let them come at me. To say that having a weapon like the club was unfair might have some merit. Not that it would stop me from using it to my advantage. The remaining leeches where simply not able to get past my gore covered tool of destruction. I did not count how many more swings it took, but by the end there was not a single leech so much as twitching or in one piece for that matter. Served the malicious critters right. I paused to catch my breath and checked all over myself to make sure none of the sneaky fiends had somehow attached to me in my onslaught. Thankfully finding none, I check thelone notification box and then my status page.
Essence LeechSlain X 498 Exp Gained Level up x 10 50 Attribute Points gained
Name Jax Hills
Level 12
HP 110/140
Strength 12
Constitution 14
Endurance 11
Dexterity 12
Intelligence 12
Wisdom 15
Charisma 12
Perception 15
Luck 20
I grin to myself. I think I have found my new favorite pass time. Fishing! Although next time I willbe sure to take a hard pass on being the bait. Chapter 4 - Easy Insights As a chill ran down my spine. I again glanced around me at the bodies of my victims and come to a realization. I absolutely do not want what just happened to them to happen to me. Taking a seat on a fallen log I sit and start to ponder. How am I going to get out of this place alive? What can I do to make sure I survive whatever other dangers lay in the place? Glancing at the giant piles of leech body parts scattered all over the ground. I think about what I have seen so far. A scary as blue balls looking giant rat thing and some type of weird mutant leech creatures. I reason that if I am going to make it out of this place I am going to need to be tough and sturdy at minimum and that it is probably guaranteed at some point that I am going to face something that is able to hit me back. So I need to able to take a hit. I make my decision and without hesitation I divest my newly acquired attribute points to be split with 15 into strength, 20 into constitution and 15 into endurance. Looking at my status page I notice with satisfaction that my health has more than doubled. Even better than that, the increase had caused my wounds to heal slightly faster and my health had already risen back to nearly its capacity. The wounds on my arms are almost completely closed and scabbed over.
Name Jax Hills
Level 12
HealthIf you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. 331/340
Strength 27
Constitution 34
Endurance 26
Dexterity 12
Intelligence 12
Wisdom 15
Charisma 12
Perception 15
Luck 20
Easy mode! Suddenly and with no warning I felt a pain like I could not describe. It was like my insides and skin where on fire! Like every cell in my body was igniting. I doubled over off the log and fell on the ground in agony. What the hell? I could do nothing but writhe on the ground in my torment. I had never felt anything like this before. I wondered fleetingly if this is what it would feel like to burn up in the atmosphere, fall into a volcano or get electrocuted to death. After what seemed like an eternity, the pain finally started to fade. I slowly struggle back onto the log I had been sitting on before. What was that? I had no sure answers, but I figured it had to do with my sudden attribute increases. I did more than just double in strength and endurance. Looking at my arms they do seem like they are significantly larger and sturdier than before. I rested on my seat feeling pretty self-satisfied with the not so subtle transformation of my body. Super Jax is in the house. I try to reign in my enthusiasm. After all, I still have no idea where I am and what else might be lurking around. Looking back at the bits and pieces of the leech bodies I have to admit that I am kind of surprised that I gained so much experience and levels off them. They honestly where not that difficult to kill. At least with their attention elsewhere as it was. If they had all swarmed me en mass when they came out of the pond then I might of been fish food by now. Or leech food? Whatever. I won and they died. No sense in telling myself I should have died. If I was to be honest to myself. Which I always do try to be. If I could get gains like these from killing opponents that where distracted. I would probably do it this way every time. I think to myself, I should probably make it a goal to figure out a way to gain experience, levels and attribute points as safely as possible. After all, I have no one here to rely on but myself. Chapter 5 - Hubris
Dungeon Rift System Message Condition met: 10 Levels Gained (Party Accumulative) Dungeon Rift Access Status : Locked New Condition: Slay All Dungeon Rift Elites Reward: Dungeon Rift Status Unlocked, 1x Random Skill Book
I stayed in my seat and just glared at the notification box that had suddenly sprung up. I hoped it did not mean what I thought it meant. That there was an exit and I could justhave walked away from this place? How unlucky can I be! I swear under my breath keeping the noise to a low grumble. I would like to yell, but I decidedly do not want to attract any of the sorts of attention I have been getting lately from every living thing I have seen. Thinking of the hidden dangers probably surrounding me I realize that it should be darker by now. Hell, it should have been pitch black some time ago. What are the odds that night fall does not completely fall in this place? Well, that is both lucky and unlucky. On the one side I can still see while on the other it will make it really difficult to rest or catch any prey sleeping. That being said I have no idea if the creatures here actually sleep and I have actually been feeling pretty energetic since I invested those attribute points. Once the pain had faded away I felt like I could have run a marathon. Getting off my seat, I walk over to the leech corpses and start inspecting them. Since there is still light I might as well make use of it. The bodies gave off no smell I could detect. They were slippery little devils though. I did not notice any really sticking out as far as their bodies. Really the thing that had struck me the most about them was their hive mind like movements when they were alive. Where they actually controlled by a hive mind or was the instinct that drove their actions just overwhelmingly the same? I spent a couple minutes sorting through the more intact bodies before a notification box sprang up.
Knowledge gained: Essence Leech You have gained a basic understanding of Essence Leeches anatomy. Knowledge rewards: 5% Bonus Damage to Leeches Unique Requirement met: Knowledge: Essence Leech, Kill Leeches 400/400 Unique Title: Sucker
Oh hell no! While the bonus damage was nothing to scoff at I was sure. That title. I would be a joke. What kind of bullshit is this! I don¡¯t know whether anyone will be able to see my titles, but I do know if they are able to that this is one that will get me not only noticed but a hard time. With no small amount of irritation I focused on the title. The more I practiced with the boxes the easier it was getting to call up any status box at a moment notice and with no delay a box appeared with the notification I wanted.
Unique Title: Sucker: Bonus Status: Active Bonus: Talent: You drain target of their health and all forms of energy. Talent Type: Rare Talent Rank: Poor Requirement: Teeth in target. You are what you eat.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
You are what you eat. Yep, someone somewhere was laughing at me. I knew it! Well we will see who gets the last laugh. Gripping my club. I cautiously start heading back to the edge of the pond. The disgusting leeches had all but left both my weapon and me in a disgusting state. The slime had caked onto us both and if anything I planned to at least get it off the club. There was no doubt in my mind what would happen to me if I lost my grip on it in the middle of a fight for my life. Reaching the pond, I keep my eyes trained on the water and submerge both my club and my hands in the cool liquid. I suddenly felt exhausted. What kind of strain I wonder is all this putting on my mind and body? I wearily scrub my hands together quickly while making sure I don¡¯t see any movement or anything else suspicious from the pond. There was nothing so far at least, I hope I killed all the stupid leeches. I for one am not above the desire for a mass leech extinction at this point. Standing up, I figured it was time to go. Haste makes waste after all, but inaction leads nowhere. Recalling the level 5 Draco Rat from before I consider trying to find my way back there. Revenge is best served speedily and when they won¡¯t see it coming after all. Glancing around, I spotted the path across the pond that I had used to take my previous free swim in the pond. Eyeing the perimeter of the pond I decide it''s probably a better idea to go around this time rather than back through the quagmire. Turning around and starting to head away from the water, I suddenly felt a hard tug around my feet and when I say hard I mean it pulled my feet out from behind me and landed me smack on my face. I was seeing stars for a moment as I felt myself being slowly pulled back towards the water. I grabbed a low brush plant with my free hand to brace against the tugging at my legs and glanced down at my feet then back at the water. I could see some downright bizarre looking tentacles stretching from the water to my feet. My gaze flickering from the tentacles back to the water where slowly a monstrosity was appearing.
Elite Essence Leech Level 15
Hauling itself from the water, I could barely read the box that sprang up before it gave another absurdly hard tug on my legs. With that tug the plant I held onto snapped apart as I slide closer to the monster. The tentacles dragging me with tenacity towards its gapping maw. It was a great deal like the leeches I had killed earlier except that it was ginormous and this Elite Essence Leech had two tentacle like arms wrapped around my feet with a mouth that looked large enough that it could probably swallow me whole. Feeling exhausted, I swing my club into the tentacles as hard as I can. Luckily for me they were not armor plated or anything like that. Smacking the tentacles several times, I could tell I was damaging them. I was not sure by how much, but I was sure the club was doing something because I was not yet inside that mouth with its deadly looking teeth. With a snap one of the tentacles around my feet broke off. This would have been a good thing however as soon as I had caused one tentacle to break the other seemingly got a surge of strength. Letting my foot go suddenly it surged forward and wrapped around my waist pulling me off balance and causing me to stumble towards the abomination. The lack of struggle let monster slide its disgusting tentacle up my body and I could tell it was trying to get itself around my neck as I struggled with it. I had to be losing health fast. Not only was this asshole trying to choke the life from me. It was using its other broken tentacle to smack me while it held me in place and the tentacles where not exactly soft or something you would want to cuddle with as they kept cutting me. It didn''t help that for some reason even though it had not gotten a tentacle all the way around my throat yet I was feeling so sapped of energy it was getting difficult to even struggle. Deciding I had better change my strategy before I end up dead. I twisted in the monsters slimy grip and managed to gain some traction on the ground before throwing myself towards it. I think my actions surprised it after my previous struggles simply to attempt escape. I managed to smack it on the top of its mouth several times with my club. It thrashed back at me with both tentacles trying to ensnare me again with its good one, but I was having none of that. Bleeding from a dozen cuts I was under no pretenses that it could not sense me, yet I jumped backwards as far away from the elite leech as I could trying to create space between us. Immediately the tentacles followed, flying at me through the air. I pivoted and turned nimbly starting to run straight back at the elite and with as much fury as I could I gripped my club in both hands and swung it down on top of the creature. Hammering it again and again, alternating between treating the monsters maw like it was a baseball and mole in a game of whack a mole Blood running down my body from my numerous cuts. I swung away with abandon. It was swing or die and I would be damned if I was going to die. In my haze I slowly registered the Elite Essence Leech had stopped moving and I had gotten some notification boxes, but I didn''t stop until the club slipped from my numb hands. Chapter 6 - This Hubris Tastes Like Chicken The locale was quiet except for the sound my wheezing breaths. I check my status and notice that my health is perilously low. It¡¯s sitting still at a paltry 54 out of my 340 health cap. I ache all over and I am still lightly bleeding from several spots. I also notice I have gained a status effect.
Status Effects: Moderate Bleed
Well that is absolutely no good. I crouch down and inspect my most recently fallen foe. Its body has a similar consistency to that of its smaller versions whose bodies littered the area. Rolling the body of the dead elite over I see what I am sure is no small miracle. A tiny Essence Leech has been pressed nearly flat against the skin of the elite and is still alive and wriggling. I hastily grab the leech while being careful to not let it get away or get ahold of me at the same time. The thought had crossed my mind earlier about the exceedingly irritating title given talent. Now would be the perfect the perfect time to try it out. Looking at the disgusting critter that I would have to concede that I had second thoughts. Scratch that. I had third and fourth thoughts about trying the nasty looking wriggler. I was bleeding out though. Maybe not very quick, but at the end of the day dead is dead. I brought the Essence Leech to my lips and try to ignore the texture as I take a bite into the middle of it, away from its razor sharp teeth. ACK! That was terrible! This puts an end to the myth that everything tastes like chicken. Hell I would not even feed that to a chicken. Glancing at a notification box indicating the status of the leech which was now deceased, I also checked out my own status again. Small victories! I had lost the bleed effect, and my health had risen back to 84/340 meaning I had gotten 30 health from biting the thrice damned Essence Leech to death. Taking a moment, I check another of the notification boxes I had been ignoring.
You have slain an Elite ranked monster Reward(s): Experience Gained 20 Unallocated Points 1X Upgrade Skill book
4 Levels Gained You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Unallocated Points (40)
Seeing the rewards I get my inner greed demon appears and I rush back to continuing my search of the elites body. I easily spot the loot this time. Picking up the presumed skill book and looking at it another box springs up.
Activate Upgrade Skill Book? (Yes/No)
Finally feeling excited to gain a real tool that could help me I focus on the yes to activate the skill book. The book disintegrates in my hands and I feel a warmth suffusing my entire body. At last! I am sure this is going to be the windfall I have been waiting for. I focus my mind and summon my status sheet and hurry to divest my 40 unallocated points with the majority 20 going into dexterity I then split the rest between wisdom and intelligence.
Name Jax Hills
Level 16
Health 84/340
Strength 27
Constitution 34
Endurance 26
Dexterity 32
Intelligence 22
Wisdom 25
Charisma 12
Perception 15
Luck 20
Luckily this time there is no lasting painful trauma drama from my gains. I had actually been worried, but apparently I was worrying over nothing. Getting ready to check out my new skill I concentrate on having my skill list pop up. Strangely after a few moments nothing happened. I had gotten the skill book and activated it so I had no idea what the problem could be. Feeling suddenly apprehensive I look at the last blue notification box that popped up after I had used the book. I had not paid it any mind before because I had wanted it to be a surprise when I looked at my skill list. Nervously I willed the notification open. I was dreading what I might find and as I began to read.
Error No Skill Found Searching for replacement...Substitute Acquired Skill: Sucker Synchronization Complete: Status Success Upgrade Confirmed Skill: Sucker Acquired Unique Title Upgrade: Great Sucker: Bonus Status: Active Bonus: Skill Upgrade: You drain target or targets of their health and all forms of energy. Energy types not cultivated by user will be gained after sufficent exposure. Talent Type: Rare Energy Manipulation Type: Psychic (Unlocked) Talent Rank: Great Requirement: Touch You are the go to on tips for how to be a great sucker.
I reaffirmed my resolution to find out who was screwing with me for shits and giggles. I will get the last laugh. Chapter 7 - Dragon Ratter It was time to go. I brushed some of the dirt off myself as I started making my way around the edge of the pond. The battle with the elite essence leech could not have gone better from my point of view. I was alive, not maimed and could still move aroundwhile myhealth moved slowly but steadily upwards. Still, if I had not known my way around a fight that could of turned out very different. Reflecting on how close I came to my ultimate demise I gave a satisfied sigh. I guess all those survival and self defense courses paid off. The proof was in the pudding. I am still alive.Isthat enough though? Although, my father had long passed from this life I am sure he would still probably shake his head in disappointment. After all, I got taken by surprise. I could picture the look of disgust on his face. The smug perfectionist bastard, even now I could not get him out of my head. If time had not caught up to him though, I would be the first to bet he would still be kicking my ass with his training. Training that, in hindsight does not seem so stupid at this very moment. His shitty parenting aside, there is no doubt I may very well be putting a great deal of the studies he had a hand in teach me into practical use. Reaching the path of destruction thatmarked my trail into the pond I immediately start to ascend. Luckily for me with my recently elevated attributes the climb is not a problem at all. It takes a moment after reaching the top, but I manage to find the trail I had left when running from the draco rat. I set about following it back to where I had started. I was sure to be careful to keep my wits about me. I had already been surprised once and I still recalled how I had hardly been able to see the rat that had chased me. I wondered if it was a natural ability or some type of skill that let the one I had seen before remain so hard to detect. Sensing that I was near my destination I slowed my pace down. Crouching slightly I moved slowly forward from tree to tree in the sparesly wooded area while straining my ears and eyes looking for any sign of life. There! It was a hole in the side of a small mound; I figured it must be some type of burrow. Continuing to scan the area I located several more barrow looking mounds with fairly large openings. I waited and sure enough after a short time I noticed the barest amount of movement at a opening.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Even looking at the rat directly it was difficult to make out, but once I located it a familiar blue box sprang into view.
Draco Rat Level 5
Ha! I hoped this was the one that had chased me before. I glanced around and did not see any other movement so I slowly left my cover and moved towards my prey. The rat looked completely feral and was the size of a doberman so I hastily made a planof attack with two stages, first stage being todeal as much damage as I could and the second stage was to quietly and quickly make my withdrawal. As I approached however something made the monster freeze. Without any other indication that it knew I was there its nose twitched and it hissed. Two more draco rats scambled from the opening.
Draco Rat Level 7
Draco Rat Level 9
I moved with extreme slowness towards the nearest cover. Watching as the two additional rats sniffed the air with whiskers quivering. I seethed at myself inwardly. This was not how I wanted this going down. I know no plan survives contact with the enemy but come on! I had not even made contact yet! I really should have remembered rats can live in packs. No time for regret now, I see the glowing red eyes of the rats lock onto me right as I slowly move towards cover. Their hissing is freaking me out, but I feel like I can take them. My slow progress back here ensured that my health had a chance to rise back to max since I set off from the pond and I know I have a distinct level advantage. Taking my club I dash forward meeting highest level rat which happened to be the lead rat straight on. I spring forward and slam the club down on the rats head before it can react. The monsters head explodes, while the other two rats freeze. Ignoring the notifcations boxes I crouch before springing towards the second highest level rat swinging the club this time into its side. The rat gains air as it slams into a tree and lays there twitching for a moment before ceasing even that. Inside I am shocked. I had already realized before that my strength had been doubled but holy hell this was broken. I grinned as the last draco rat, the one that had presumably chased me down frombefore started to slowly back away from me. ¡°This is kind of karma don¡¯t you think?¡± my voice hoarse from the lack of any recent use. I watch the rat dragon wannabe as I continue. ¡°This time you are my prey and this time the way I live is not going to be running away.¡± I had taken no damage from the monsterssince the beginningthis three on one fight. Actually calling it a fight was kind of a stretch as it was pretty much nothing short of a one sided massacre. Refocusing all my attention on the last monster I spring forward andtackle it off its feetwhileusingthe opportunity to utilize my upgraded talent to absorb the life from the weak lizard rodent hybrid. It dies within about 30 seconds and the life fades from its glowing red eyes. I now know what I can do. It¡¯s time to hunt. Chapter 8 - To Make An Omelette The hunt was proceeding more or less as I hoped it would. To start with I preferred touse acautiousapproach tolure the rats out either one at a time, or if I could not manage that, then in smaller more managable groups. After the initial fight I had with the rats earlier Ihad hoped thatall the rats would be within a similar range of levels. Luckily, this proved to be the case with none of the rats I found being higher than me in level. Advancing deeper into the surrounding barrows the fights that ensueare stimulating, but hardly a challenge andfor the most part very brief. It seemed pretty evident to me that my earlier run-in with the essence leeches was making these rats seem like nothing more than fodder for my ascent to higher levels, at least so far. Still, I had noticed that although I have now killed several of them, I still have not gotten enough experience to hit my next level. This of course, made me think that I had probably onlygotten so many levels from the essence leeches simply because it had been necessary to killso many of them. Granted, had the rats had grouped all into one large force like theessence leeches had, thenI am completely confident that I would not be able to stand a chance against them. I would be like a lone moose set upon by a pack of wolves. I surveyed my surroundings, determined to let no such thing happen. I quietly stalk through the barrows towards my next hopefully unsuspecting victims. At this point my clothes where of course are covered in dirt and blood and I had noticed something odd. There is no blood on my actual skin, just dirt. Everydrop of blood that had come into contact with me so far had for lack of a better word seemed to somehow been absorbed into me. On some level it was actually very disconcerting, butat least I did not feel noticably different afterwards. ''This must be a secondary benefit of my upgraded talent¡¯ I thought. Not that it helped all that much since I was still covered in filthy clothes that I had been wearing not only for my hike, but since I got here. The silver lining of landing in the pond prior was that it probably washed off a good deal of sweat that the draconian rodents no doubt would have been able to otherwise use to track my presence even easier. Sensing something off, I paused and started listening again for the vicious oversized rodents. After waiting a moment and sensing no movement I continue to make my way through the remaining barrows that I could find. Though, as I tapped on one barrow after another with my club I repeatedly get no response from any nesting or sleeping residents. Not so much as a whisker showed from any of the open entry ways. "Had I had killed them all?" I wondered. I picked up the pace of my search, abandoning my slow methodical approach. I made my way through the barrows once more, stopping several times to check the bodies for any possible rewards. I found nothing of value among the bodies. I conclude that either I am just extremely unlucky or prehaps monsters that do not have an elite status simply do not grant rewards other than experience.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Looking around to find a direction to search next I decide on a dense growth of brush opposite from where I had began my assault on the barrows. Making my way over I stepped through what is a massive high brush hedge as carefully as I could. I manage to only get caught once by the shirt, which I count as a small victory. Once I get myself untangled and out of the infernal plants I inspected the new view and found myself pleasantly surprised with the change in scenery. I was in a secluded glade that for the most part is clear of foliage or anything else remarkable except for what I took for a cave or entrance that led down that you could probably easily drive a entire school bus into. The glade itself had several breaks in the canopy yet the lighting is still several degrees lower than that outside of the small area, but just enough for a novice tracker such as myself to make out some somewhat fresh tracks leading into what I would callthe hole which must be a cave of some sort. Resigning myself to searching for any surviving rats, I hope that if I do not find any fleeing survivors then at least that I might find their elite and with it the chance for another reward. I made my way to the entrance and what I am able to see further in causes me feel much better. There, sprawling along the walls inside of the entrance are what appear to be stones that are emitting a low level luminescence. Granting enough light for me to find my way without bumping into any cave walls. Following the walls inside the cave I walk the descending path as carefully and quietly as I can. My senses focused both in front of me and above. Some might call me paranoid, but hanging from the ceiling are stalactites of all sizes and I have really never liked cramped spaces that could collapse in on me. Brushing my concern of being crushed to death aside, I continued on my way down the tunnel until I reached what appeared to be a large cavern chamber. From the entry way of the chamber I saw what could possibly be a major concern. The chamber is quiet large, with enough space that fitting a hundred of those damn rats in there would not be a problem. The icing on the cake, however is that there are several dozen groupings of nests that are filled with eggs. The eggs have what appear to be veins on their surface that a pulsed with a faint red light. Having previously seen the reptilian features of the rats and their glowing red eyes I reasoned that this is where they spawned their progeny. Not seeing any movement in the chamber I crept forward until I got to one of the nests and picked up an egg. A notification sprang up.
???? Egg Durability 50/50 Armor 300 Health 10/10 Single Use Consumable: User may gain a 1 stat increase on random attribute.
Feeling nothing but glee due to my absurd luck I hit the egg with the side of my knuckle, not perturbed in the slightest by eating it raw. To mychagrin the egg does not even so much as crack though, I tried again with the same result. Figuring it had something to do with the durability and armor I put the egg down on the ground and gave it a small hit with my club. Nothing. I check the notification again and see that its durability and health have not moved in the slightest. As I frown to myself it occurs to me to try to use my talent ability on it, so I pick the egg back up and cradling it in both hands I concentrate on sucking the life from it, within seconds the red light on the shell dims and I get a new notification.
???? Egg Consumed +1 to Wisdom
HA! Success! Now I wont have to worry about starving to death.I love it when a plan comes together. Is what I would have been thinking, if at that moment I had not heard a blood chilling roar from the far side of the chamber. Chapter 9 - Poached Challenge accepted. The roar was that of a proper monster and there was no mistake. This was something unlike anything I had seen thus far. Though I am not sure if it was my imagination I was pretty sure that I just felt the chamber tremble under the force of the beasts roar. As I took in the sight of it a box sprang up.
Elite Draconic Ratkin Level 21
The creature was basically a rippling wall of muscle. It had hair that looked like spikeswhich ringed the base of its neck andpatches of scales covered most of its body except a few areas were its muscles showed. Oneextremely pointyshort horn rested on its head right between its brightly glowing red eyes. It hada long tail that looked like it was made of the same scales that comprised the rest of its armorand if it had to be described in one word that word would be. Deadly. Yup, I have no clue how I am going to beat this thing.Also, it seems to havefinally decided that it¡¯s time for me to die. Glaring at me like I was already dead it opens its mouth and a stream of flame soars through the air at me. I leap aside and though I dodge as best I can as the flames shoot by, I can feel the heat kiss my skin. It becomes slightly more difficult to breath and as I recover from my dodge the elite dragon rat charges forward towards me on all fours. Knowing I have no chance if I turn my back on it, I grip my club and charge to meet the beast. We clash together with my club hammering down on its shoulder as it barrels into me. My makeshift club shatters into splinters in my hands at the impact leaving one of its scales with a noticeable crack. This does not stop its momentum however and it slams against me sending me airborne for a few moments until I feel my back slam against that chamber wall. Small stones fly off the wall as I impact and then fall to the ground, landing on my feet and going to a knee amid a nest full of eggs. The monster eyed me and paused, snarling at my descent on what was probably its future children. Glancing at the eggs, I remember they are absurdly sturdy and my new strategy forms. I grab one of the smaller football sized eggs just as the beast apparently decides that killing me is worth some fried eggs. Opening its mouth it shoots another stream of flame at me giving me just enough time to throw the egg directly at its mouth and yell ¡°go suck an egg you filthy animal¡±. Its fanged mouth clamps shut with a snap as the egg flies inside of it and lodges in the back of its throat. I charge forward with another large egg in my hand, determined to make use of the opportunity. Closing the distance in a flash as the draconic ratkin shakes its head violently trying to dislodge the egg from its airway, I use both hands to slam the second egg straight into the beasts head causing it to hit the ground, seemingly stunned for the moment. But I was not done yet, not at all. I jump on the elite and straddle its back and lining up the pointy end of the egg with the elites eye and carefully avoiding the horn I set to work, trying to make eggnog as I hammer the egg repeatedly into the elites head as it struggles to rise, its tail trashing behind it.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Suddenly a particularly jarring shake forces me to tumble off the beasts shoulders and lose my grip on the second egg as my enemy makes its way back to its feet with sheer strength of will, one of its eyes a ruined mess with fluid running down its face. It stumbles against a wall bodily and tries to keep its feet as it deals with its no doubt very soon deadly case of affixation. I honestly did not know how it was still alive, let alone standing; I could only imagine what its constitution might be, it had to be nearly dead. Not wanting to lose the opportunity to end it just in case it had some unheard of bull shit ability it could use to survive. I charge back at it and throw all my weight into a body slam that does not seem to have any effect whatsoever. Changing tactics I attempt to body hug the elite as it struggles to both kill me and breathe. It slams us both into a wall repeatedly trying to crush me between it and any surface it could as I hang on for dear life, attempting to absorb its life and energy. Maybe I could earn another title, ¡°Mosquito of the Apocalypse¡± or something. After what seemed like an eternity the struggle of Mr. Badass started to slow down coming to an abrupt and final rest. Rolling away from the elite I notice a somewhat large stalactite sticking from its back and smile warily with relief. If that had hit me too then instead of just the elite I would have been an Elite Jax shish kebab. Not the way I wanted it to go. Checking the first notification, what I see makes me frown.
Achievement Unlocked: Unique Kill Method : Brutal Reward: Increased Drop Chance Duration: 1 Hour Achievement Stage: (1/4) Sometimes killing is it''s own reward, sometimes it''s not.
Just my luck, because there was no way I could not have gotten that before I killed the elite, still there is no sense in crying over it. Recalling how I found the last book, I start searching the recently made corpse. It only takes a moment before I find the prize, a skill book trapped between two of the ratkins larger scales. Wriggling it to work it free, I inspect it carefully and within moments I receive a notification box.
Draconic: Flame Of The Hidden
Activate Skill Book? (Yes/No)
This was it. The broken, overpowered, reason defying ability that would be my key to unlocking my destiny! I would not have to deal with anymore snide sucking jokes from notification boxes. Activating the skill book I get several notifications and eagerly start reading them in order.
Draconic: Flame of the Hidden learned Ability: Flame of the Hidden grants the user burning insights. Ability Type: Rare Energy Manipulation Type: Breath (Unlocked) Ability Rank: Novice
Breath attack unlocked Achievement unlocked Achievement reward : Title Gain: Blower
Error Interaction with previous titles Override Accepted Conflict resolved: Great Sucker and Blower Unique Title Upgrade: Great Sucker and Blower Merge
Unique Title Gain: Suck and Blow Champion Calculating alterations to Draconic: Flame of the Hidden Ability Type: Rare Energy Manipulation Type Change: Psychic Ability Rank: Great Restrictions: Touch If you don¡¯t like it, suck it. If you still don¡¯t like it, blow me sucker.
With near certainty, I now knew my location. It could only be hell. Chapter 10 - En Garde, Draconic Jousting Glaring at my defeated foe I pause to consider my fortune in ending the creature. It was certain that if I had met it before Ihad leveled then I would be dead right now. At a height of 5''8 with short cut, dark hair and a lean build I suppose I am neither what most would consider tall or short but certainly around average for a guy my age. Not exactly physically imposingwhencompared to the beast that is nowdead at my feet. Maybe I need an extra dose of imposing? I give the corpse an inspired and perhaps even slightly maniacal grin. Grabbing one of the excessively sturdy eggs I walk over to the elite giving it a short evaluation before I start bashingitsface in with the egguntil knock loose a larger jagged tooth roughly half the length of my forearm. Now the body was more or less a mess with its head completely turned intonothing short of a ruin, but I am not done yet.Taking the tooth I had gathered I use it to pry loose a scale off the beast¡¯s spiked and armored tail and set to work sawing back and forth into its fleshwith the tooth untilI heara snap and manage to break a huge section of armored tail off the main portion of the body. ¡®Ha! Just likein a souls videogame I used to play.¡¯
???? Bone
Force: Blunt 100-125 Damage
Hell yea! This thing was going to be my new club and oh what a weapon it is,the horrors of this place would think twice about charging me now.There was no comparison to my previous weapon, thisthing is in a league of its own. I give it a few practice swings in each hand before going two hander on ittesting it against the stone wallwhere it leaves a noticeablecrater against the stone. Finally!A tool I could really use. Still I am getting hungry and it feels like it¡¯s been forever since I have had a real bite to eat. I quickily decide that perhaps Imight be able tomake this dead critter of mineinto a meal, cooked with my brand new ability. Feeling both hunger and anticipation I mentally prepare myself for monster barbecue. I will cook it with my flames and tear pieces right off the body, just like a piece of chicken. Preparing myself, I take a deep breath and try to will flames into the air as I blow in the direction of my dead foe turned soon to be meal. Nothing happens.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. I pause for a moment and review the cursed notifications trying to find out what I did wrong, finally deciding it was my method of use by noting that the ability had changed from breath to psychic. Bringing my hands to my face to rub my eyes in irritation, I take a moment before starting again; focusing on a spot in the air several feet up in front of me I will flames to appear as I mentally activate the ability again. With no delayblue flames with hints of orangeappear, casting a light that makes shadows dance along the walls of the cavern. Victory! Willing the flames to spread out and cover the elite¡¯s body, they fly into motion slowly engulfing the body. AsI wait for the meat to cook I notice something is way off. Having cooked plenty of small game animals over a fire I know what a critter should look and smell like when being burned, yet I could not sense any sign of this thing actually being cooked. Ending my abilities use I give the body a moment to rest, and then I check for heat bypressing the back of my hand to it for a moment before pulling my hand back and looking at it. It has not gained any heat and my hand is certainly not scalded and the body is not even hotter than it was when I started. Looking from my hand back to the body I focus on it and get a new notification.
Elite Draconic Ratkin Identified
Status: Deceased
A rare sub-breed of chimera, usually found in the uninhabited wilds, these creatures are predominantly nocturnal and live in subterranean areas. While most species of chimera cannot breed or multiply without assistance, this breed is an exception in that each Draconic Ratkin that reaches maturity canboth lay their own eggs and fertilize them. During periods of breeding or when excited their tails will seize up and lock into place, remaining rigid even after death. This enables the creature to complete its breeding cycle by covering their clutches of eggs with their bodily substances that are secreted via the end of their tail.
As I got finished reading the notification it occurrs to me that the identified status and subsequent block of notification text was probably due to the flames I had just doused the body in. Looking at the notification again and with no small amount of dread, I summon the flames again and will them over my new weapon, only to find as the blue flames covered it that I received a new notification showingthat my items name no longer had question marks, the damage stats on it had changed and theweapons detailsnow had some "flavor text".
Draconic Oosik
Force: Blunt 125-150 Damage The more you know.
Well, at least I was not wrong about finding a "tool" I could use. Still, a weapon is a weapon. If anything comes at me then I will just smack them around with it until they are dead and that will be that. Still it appears that I will not be able to cook the monster, but atleast I will still get to have some eggs. Chapter 11 - Runner Up Breakfast time! Gathering up the eggs that I had used during the fight, I bathedthem each one at a timein my flames and checked out the notifications box that presented themselves to me, both looked identical.
Draconic Egg
Durability 50/50 Armor 300 Health 10/10 Single Use Consumable: User may gain a 1 stat increase on random attribute.
Well, at least the question marks are gone, but it did not seem to have accomplished anything else. I absorbed the eggs one at a time and gained another two points in wisdom. Just like the previous egg I had consumed. "Huh, so much for that. Random my ass." I thought. I walked over to another nest that held another dozen eggs and started absorbing then all one after another as well. Each egg giving me the same notification for wisdom until I reached the ninth egg.
Absorption Failed...
The egg disintegrated into nothing in my hands, butnot wanting to give up on what I could only view as free attribute points I try againand succeed on the next one. Using my absorption ability on the last two I could not stop my immediate frown as each use failed one after the other. Figuring that this was why the item text for the egg had said "may". I wonder to myselfif this might be a case of diminishing returns. Still, I have nothing to carry any of the eggs with so I figure that I might as well try and absorb all the remainingeggs anyway for thepossible stat gains. Waste not, want not after all. I checked the notifications I had been ignoring thus far about took a moment to direct my new found gains from the Elite Draconic Ratkin.
You have slain an Elite ranked monster Reward(s): Experience Gained: 20 Unallocated Points (20 total) Unique Elite Kill Bonus 4 Levels Gained 20 Unallocated Points (40 total)This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
I quickly directed my new attribute points from the elite kill evenly between strength, constitution, endurance and dexterity and immediatelyfelt a surge of energy and power overwhelming all my senses throughout my body. Starting from my core and flowing out to my arms and legs. I watch with glee as my arms which already looked like cords of muscle became even more defined. The sight left me with a feeling of quiet confidence as I continued to feel my body reshaping itself to reflect the increases. Concentrating, I summon my stat sheet.
Name Jax Hills
Level 16
Health 400/440
Strength 37
Constitution 44
Endurance 26
Dexterity 42
Intelligence 22
Wisdom 37
Charisma 12
Perception 15
Luck 20
Skills Draconic: Flame of the Hidden (Identify), Essence Absorbtion: Sucker.
Titles Suck and Blow Champion, Lucky Breaks Unlucky Breaks, Delver Prime.
Taking a moment to review my attributes, skills and titles. Still I know I will probably need to increase my intelligence stat next. There is no telling how neglecting such an important attribute could screw me over. Actually, it is like I can literally sense the impending screwing over headed towards me now. Figuring I had better hurry and finish collecting any possible stat gains from the eggs I approach the next nest. It takes but a moment to reach it, yet as I start to reach for an egg I receive a notification I had not ever seen before. One that I am certain could mean nothing good.
Primary Phase Complete: Objectives 2/4 Commencing Secondary Phase System Error: Requirements Not Met Event Logged Sub-protocol 001 Default Routine Activated.
Without any further warning, I feel a massive tremor shake the cavern and the ground shift under my feet. Moments later, another impact sent several deadly missiles plummeting from the ceiling in exactly the direction I least wanted them to go, towards me. Barely managing to side step a falling stalactite, I immediately decide to give up on the remaining eggs after seeing the impact crater that the falling object made; the thought of remaining here to die in a cave in was not appealing. Being crushed or suffocating both seemed like bad ways to go and I knew that if I stuck around here any longer that it might be the end of me. Inwardly bracing myself I take off sprinting for the area I recalled the exit being. Continually dodging shards of rock and debris entirely due to luck I would assume considering that I could not see worth beans and the air was basically comprised of dirt at this point. I swear with my last breath as I trip on something small and unmovable, crashing to the dirt, the ground actually disintegrates under me. This in turn causes the darkness to wrap around around me. With that I was gone. Chapter 12 - Help Desk Jax could sense the light beyond his eyes, but all he wanted to do was rest. "Hello, welcome to the help desk! I am Routine 001, please call me 001 or Master Protocol. Also, I know you¡¯re not asleep, so you can open your eyes." Jax slowly opened his eyes and took a look around the rather large field covered in some sort of green and purple grass that he was in sprawled in and noted the rather suspicious clearly not human entity that was standing behind a desk with chairs in front of it before lurching to his feet. "Please do not tell me your name is not Worf." Jax spoke slowly not wanting to offend or cause a misunderstanding. 001 glanced down at his body and with no further warning his body shimmered and transformed abruptly into what Jax could only assume was a giant wombat. "I can change projected forms at will if it serves to help resolve communication errors." 001''s stated with a informative tone. "Ok. Can you tell me why you chose to assume the form of a extremely large wombat then?" Jax asked. "Absolutely! The systems default mainframe has data on all known species. Within the notes on humans it states that humans like furry creatures. It also states bigger is better and that anyone who says otherwise is a liar. Is this not true O Great Sucky One?" 001 paused waiting for a response. Jax would swear he was detecting some snark in 001''s tone when 001 asked him that. Still he did answer my question at least Jax thought. "Your case has been filed in the default error archives now and correction is mandatory. Hold one moment while I review your case." 001 promptly replied. "Ah I see the issue. Due to spatial fluctuations you were able to enter the dungeon rift. However, due to how you entered this particular rift (which I will also add is an outdated dungeon rift) the system flagged the your entrance to the area as an anomaly and registered the error before events could cascade to critical levels in the secondary phase. 001 continued "Do not worry however, a new dungeon rift has been selected randomly for you and the others to complete."This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. What would a error cascading to critical levels signify exactly? Jax wondered to himself as he slowly moved to take a seat in one of the chairs offered. "At best it might trigger a structured reset, destroying all foreign contaminants. At worst the event could of potentially effected the spatial fabric of multiple dimensions. One could take a utter changing of the laws of physics to be one manner of symptom as one example of this case. In most cases if a dimension has an event which changes the laws of physics it causes celestial bodies in those dimensions to lose cohesiveness or at very minimum change dramatically. " Jax froze. "Did my mind just get read?" "Yes, it is entirely within my capabilities to use various forms of telepathy. In fact it is stated so within my prime directive that I can employ any methods of communication deemed necessary to fulfil help desk reque..." 001 looked curiously at the hand Jax was holding up. "I hope you know that you do not need to raise your hand to ask a question." queried 001. "Okay okay, I get it. You think you are justified to read my thoughts and seem like you will not be convinced otherwise. If I could though I would prefer that you do so sparingly." Jax replied quickly. "Please, have a seat O Great Master of Suck. The others should be with us shortly." the self-appointed Master Protocol replied rather glibly and seemed to ignore his request while gesturing to the several chairs in front of the desk. "What others? You have mentioned others twice now?" Jax said, eyeing the mysterious being in front of him with curiosity. Mere moments after he spoke however, he noticed a massive beam of light coming down from the sky finally touching down in the field about twenty yards from where he and 001 spectated. The beam flattened the surrounding grasses and as seconds passed by people started appearing on the ground sprawled out. At first the people appeared in pairs, then in groups of 5 or so until there was around approximately forty people all collapsed onto the ground. As the last of these people laid out upon he ground appeared. The beam of light vanished as quickly as it had come. 001 gave a bellow. "WELCOME! As you have all been already acclimatized to the system already and know how to summon your statuses the system has determined that all of you are qualified to take part in tutorial dungeon rift 7h3b4d\/\/0l=li/\/35 otherwise designated Tower of Beginnings. Worry not, due to time dilation within the tower each day spent within is equivalent to about 3 minutes and 14 seconds of your origin timeline." With that 001 stomped his foot and I watched as another beam of light came down and enveloped the group who still where laid out on the ground. They started to vanish quickly and before a few seconds had gone by where nearly gone. Turning to me 001 showed his teeth. "Jax Hills, you are going with them of course, and no you do not get a vote nor can you retain the item from the dungeon rift that you entered via anomaly." With this 001 lifted a paw and Jax was picked up into the air by an invisible force and the club vanished like it never existed. "This 001 is just too overpowered." Jax thought as he was flung towards the beam of light. Jax barely had anytime to yell back at 001. "I''ll be baaaccckkk!" Chapter 13 - Tower of Beginnings Jax groaned and lifted himself off the ground. What.The.Hell. He noted the blue box.
Entry: Tower of Beginnings Floor 1
Jax looked around him and noticed the many forms of other people sent to this place with him. They were now inside an extremely old fashioned and dilapidated village. The village was filled with wooden buildings in various state of ruin and appeared simply to have been abandoned. Small random bushes sprang out of the ground all over the place. The others all around him were starting to shift around and struggle to their feet. Jax inspected them and noticed that most seemed to be relatively close to him in age. If there was a reason for that, he didn''t know. He did, however, notice that several people where currently looking off into space, their eyes darting back and forth. He figured that they were probably checking their status pages to see if anything had changed. He checked his own status page and couldn¡¯t find any discernable change. Just then he caught some movement from the corner of his eye. A sign hung on one of the larger buildings suspended on each side by twin chains. The sign read in large bold script. Village of Gordor with one word scrawled in big blocky script beneath it. WELCOME Jax continued to look around, not feeling welcomed in the slightest. "Excuse me everyone, please gather around." called a voice originating on the far side of the group opposite Jax. The speaker was a guy with a small group of people already behind him facing outwards. Jax edged away slowly thinking there was something definitely off about this group. They gathered together so quickly after arriving that it seemed obvious they must have some prior connection. "Everyone, everyone please. If I could get your attention. You can call me Coyle and as you all know this is somewhat of a emergency. If I could, I would like to offer my advice to the group. The first matters of import I would like to discuss is who should lea-" "Well aren¡¯t you the gracious pragmatist." A second voice called from the crowd speaking over Coyle. Jax looked around but could not lay eyes on the speaker. The voice continued. "What gives you the right to order us around?" Coyle who was also searching the crowd in vain retorted. "If you want to speak for everyone here then show some balls and step forward." The crowd began to part from the general area the heckler had been calling from. At that time a mortal shriek pierced the air. It was all but impossible to see where the shriek had originated. So Jax stepped apart from the others and looked around for a vantage point. The screams were fairly close but the panic of the crowd was causing people to run into each other. There! Jax spotted a gap in the crowd and sprinted for it. Seconds went by as he tried to separate himself from everyone else, he could hear the screams getting closer. Jax spared a glance behind him and noticed the crowd had started running in three different directions away from the square. Coyle and the heckler that had been arguing before had gone their separate ways and Jax was lucky enough to not be stuck with either of them. On the flip side of the coin however, Jax silently counted and realized he was in the smallest of the three groups.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Taking a moment to get some cover behind a wooden wall that had most certainly seen better days. Jax looked back down the street from where he had come. He noticed all of the sudden it was quiet and thought a silent prayer that that at least everyone had started to hide and stopped their screaming. Watching from behind his wall, Jax noticed the sudden movement from between two wrecked buildings. The movement quickly separated into three small forms that seemed to be covered in blood as Jax stared at them and the corresponding blue boxes that sprang up in confusion.
Goblin Children Level 5
People actually died from baby goblins? Jax brought a hand to his face and rubbed his eyes. How sad would it be to be murdered by a baby while surrounded by a large group of people? However, as Jax was contemplating the sad fate that some unknown others had met at the hands of these pint sized goblins. Someone ran onto the street right across from the goblins, Jax caught sight of a flash of red shirt as a young man probably in his early 20''s sprinted before the goblins. The young man was wearing camo full camo except for his shirt. Jax noticed the oddity right before yet another person burst onto the street. "Back away from those things unless you trying to get yourself killed." a young woman spoke softly. Just barely enough for Jax to catch it. The unknown guy just snorted and ignored her before yelling in a challenging tone "God wills it!" and charged straight at the goblins. The goblins in turn, went ape shit. Jax watched in awe as the small goblins gained a massive increase in speed and launched themselves at the man. Jax didn''t know if the man just looked really tasty to them or if the small goblinoids where just really sold on God, but either way with their razor sharp teeth gleaming, the first two latched onto an arm and a leg respectively while the third went straight for the jugular. The guy never stood a chance and no sooner had the guy hit the ground the goblins where back on their feet looking for the girl. Jax had only taken his eyes off her for a second as well, but that had apparently been enough time for her to make like a ninja and vanish. At least now I don¡¯t have to worry about explaining myself and holding back Jax thought as he stepped out from behind the wall and slowly made his way towards the goblin children. The sound of footsteps quickly drew their attention straight to him. Jax stretched out his arms while they charged him, not attempting to dodge the first attacking set of jaws as they clamp onto an ankle. ''Hah dumb ankle biter'' Jax thought. The second is not so lucky however, as Jax catches it by the throat in midair and slams it head first into the third that was going for his throat just like it had with red shirt before. Not giving the second or third goblin time to recover Jax grabs them both and throws each of them against a ruined wall. They each bounce off before the wall shudders and collapses into rubble over them. The last goblin realized something was very wrong, it could not taste blood. The fact it did not know was that due to both level and attribute difference Jax was simply not something it could kill via a bite. The goblins teeth couldn¡¯t even break his skin. The goblin opened its eyes and tried unlatch its bite as realized it could not break the skin but it was too late as it immediately felt itself hoisted into the air by its supposed prey. The goblins eyes flew wide as it was engulfed in blue flames, its low intellect preventing it from understanding that it was not taking any damage. "Well, that¡¯s disappointing." Jax mused out loud as he noted that his flames gave him no additional intel on the goblinoid. "Time to say goodbye to this life, better luck in the next one." Jax chided the goblin as he absorbed the small amount of health the goblin had before laying it on the ground peacefully. Continuing onto red shirts remains. Jax crouched to the ground, careful to avoid the bloody mess that man had become. Covering him in blue flames and inspecting the informative blue box that appeared. Jax spared the man another glance. "Poor guy."Jax whispered sadly as he looked from the man to the blue box.
Race: Human Name: Emil Tago Level: 1 Status: Deceased
Jax felt the weighted hands of fate as he considered what to do silently. "Step away from the body, slowly, hands up." an authoritative voice orders from behind him. Chapter 14 - Righteous Skedaddle Jax slowly raised his hands to the sky and glanced towards the sound of the extremely confident voice. "You! I saw you stand there as they killed him. It''s scum like you that make life shit for the rest of us you know. That guys blood is on your hands." The speaker was at the front of a group of five guys, all eyeing Jax with looks varying from curiosity to disgust. "Did you know him?" Jax inquired? "We didn''t have to know him to care." A second voice chimed in. "Julian was right when he called you scum." The second speaker watched Jax with his fists clenched as he stepped closer to the one Jax assumed was Julian. Julian noticed and did not let the opportunity pass. "Come on guys, lets teach this miserable sack of shit a lesson, he should never turn his back on someone needing help." The rest of the group had gained a hard gleam in their eyes as they listened and were nodding in agreement. Jax braced himself for the fight and started backing up slowly as he tried to get his back to a wall. "Oh, there is no way we are letting you get away creep." Julian crowed as he motioned to the other guys. "Surround him, we cannot let this guy get away and cause more people to get killed." If Jax had remained standing still or backing away, their strategy may of helped them overcome him. However, just as Julian stopped speaking Jax leapt forward and sent a fist straight into his solar plexus. Julian dropped to his knees like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Gasping and wheezing while hunched over while the other five attackers sprang at Jax trying to help their compatriot. Jax guarded himself by dodging what he could and blocking their strikes with his arms as they swung at him. He took several blows to the shoulders and one to the face before shoving one of his assailants into another and jumping out of their range. He smiled and dropped his hands. ¡°I will give you guys one chance. If you give up now and stop trying to hurt me, you can go.¡± Jax had realized that while he had with hardly any difficulty taken Julian out of commission, the others and their assault on him had nearly no effect. Even the hit he took to the face had not really phased him in the much. It immediately occurred to Jax that the cause was most likely due to their difference in both levels and attributes. It was also most likely the case he figured that his attackers had no idea that they were at such a disadvantage, hell, it was incredibly likely they were all ranked at level 1 still. This gave Jax a huge boost of confidence in estimating their threat level. ¡°There is no way you¡¯re walking away from us asshole.¡± The guy who had stepped towards Julian before snapped. ¡°First you let some guy you could of obviously have saved die, then you hurt Julian. You are done! Finished.¡± Jax watched as the remaining three of the group eyed him warily. ¡°I don¡¯t know Alex, maybe we don¡¯t need to do this.¡± Alex turned and snapped at them. ¡°Come on you cowards, we cannot just let this ass wipe walk away after what he did. Besides, since we landed in this place right next to each other we should obviously stick together.¡± Jax snorted in contempt as his patience reached its tipping point. ¡°Look, Alex. You seem to be very confused here so let me tell you. Your logic makes no sense to anyone with two brain cells to rub together and if you do not stop this stupid shit now, you are probably going to end up dead.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Alex reddened and sputtered turning to try and help Julian back to his feet. ¡°You¡­ You think you have what it takes to fuck with us?¡± Alex turned to the group. ¡°That¡¯s it. Come on you guys, lets end him.¡± Julian meanwhile was still finding it to breath properly. He put a hand on Alex¡¯s shoulder and leaned close. ¡°There is something not normal about this guy lets pull back and rethink our plan, we can take care of him later.¡± Alex glared at Julian, the raging fury radiating off him intensely. ¡°Now you want us to let this scum walk away?¡± Julian started to respond when another otherworldly shriek pierced the air. Everyone turned, but it was too late. Jax dove for cover but was not quite fast enough as he saw a blur of motion and felt a sudden and immediate pain as a sharp weapon buried itself in his left shoulder while he dove for cover with his previous feelings of confidence shredded. Jax quickly glanced towards the direction of the newest threat and observed several goblins much larger than those he had seen previously. He glanced at the blue box that sprang up which notified him that these where goblin scouts before willing it away. There appeared to be at least nine goblins clothed in what looked like skin, all armed with throwing spears that while crude seemed quite varied in their assembly. The only thing that was uniform among them was the extremely sharp looking ends. Glancing back at his would-be attackers he noticed that of the total of six including Julian that three had taken throwing spears to various vital areas from the stomach to the throat. While the remaining three did not have a scratch on them, with two of those three being Alex and Julian. Two of the three on the ground with throwing spear wounds where still bleeding out but had not died immediately unlike the unfortunate third. Jax did not think they would make it though as he clenched his teeth together and pried the spear out of himself. Luckily while it hurt like hell the spear had not gone through him and was only sticking to him held mostly in place by muscle. At first Jax figured that the weapon may have hit bone and the small wound was actively bleeding Holding the throwing spear in his right hand Jax stays low and grabs one of the guys who collapsed on the ground in a daze while bleeding out. "Sorry buddy, I did not want this, but if I don¡¯t do this I will probably die, and I am not going to let that happen." Jax mumbles as he starts to use essence drain to heal himself. The pain fades away as his bleeding slows to a trickle and then stops a few moments later allowing him to step away and retreat from the glassy unmoving eyes he could feel following him as he stepped back. Meanwhile Julian and Alex watched in a haze as they saw their groups numbers had just been culled. Alex snaps out of it as he notices the goblins starting to draw closer. Alex turns to Julian. "We have to get out of here now." Julian nods wordlessly and without even sparing a glance at Jax or the rest of them turn and start running away together. Jax watches them for a moment while he keeps an eye on the slowly approaching goblins, noticing they slow their pace but keep running even as they notice they are not being followed. In moments they are out of sight and Jax forces all thoughts of them out of his mind for the moment, their time will come. Turning to the last remaining attacker Jax frowned. ¡°Are you with me? You¡¯re not running like your friends.¡± ¡°Yea those guys were crazy anyway, I am with you. The name is Sten by the way.¡± Sten eyed the quickly approaching goblins. ¡°Not sure if it matters whether I am with you or not though.¡± ¡°I do not intend to die here¡± Jax replied, tightening his hold on the spear as he used it to swat another shifty approaching projectile out of the air. ¡°You take that one, you are going to need it.¡± He said before knocking another two of the spears to the ground. Determined to not be disadvantaged against the monsters again. Jax quickly grabbed the two spears on the ground as well and returned them to their senders. Getting a great deal of satisfaction as one connected to a leg and sank into it as its owner screamed in a high guttural pitch. Sadly, the goblins were prepared for the second spear and nimble dodged out of its way at the last moment. Still, it was the break in momentum Jax had been waiting for and as they stopped moving forward he began his own advance. Chapter 15 - Sizable Advantages Chapter 15 - Sizable Advantages Nothing like a potentially fatal situation to help foster new alliances. I spare a quick glance over my shoulder at my new-found ally. I quickly gesture for Sten to follow me as I charged forward, closing in on the nearest enemy as fast as I can. Which apparently surprised them because they did not start to really move to defend themselves and didn¡¯t even have their weapons up to guard until my first spear had already been plunged into the closest of the goblins. Shrieking, they immediately spread out and started to form a circle. Seeing their quick reaction, I did not slow from my previous attack and charged right at the second goblin, ripping my weapon out of my first victim and whipping the point forward towards my next target. Sadly, while I may be quicker than them, they seemed to have some experience fighting, because no sooner had I started my charge towards the next goblin they attempted to regroup and each goblin to either side of my newest intended victim quickly leveled their weapons at me and closed ranks with their compatriot. This left me partially surrounded with two goblins to my left which included the injured one I had hit with the spear before charging, three to my right with and the last and closest three goblins in front of me. I was not in a good position and it seemed the goblins knew it. Closing in on me from each side, their guttural language grated on my ears as I focused on dodging each potential attack, while the monster¡¯s weapons repeatedly sliced through the air as they sought to end my life. Luckily, I was not alone and having taken their attention with my what may have looked to the goblins to be insane charge towards them I had afford Sten the time he needed to catch up. I spared a glance at him as he barreled past me right into the two goblins to my left. Not even stopping it looked to me like he might just impale himself on their weapons with his charge. Yet, by some stroke of luck he must have managed to smack aside their weapons as he slammed bodily in the first injured goblin and managed to roll or maybe more accurately fall towards the second to engage it while the first dropped to the ground, Stens weapon impaled through it with what must have been at least a quarter of the weapon protruding from its back. As he faced his second opponent I refocused on the six remaining goblins that had momentarily stopped attacking me when Sten barreled by. Seizing the opportunity, I close the distance with the three closest goblins in front of me with a leap and use the spear like a baseball bat. The spear connects with the goblins head with such force the goblin has no time to even react before its head simply disappears, along with a good portion of my weapon. The two goblins standing to either side of me snarl and shriek as they realize what had just happened right next to them. Overcoming their shock as to my apparent ability to vanish and reappear within striking distance. Even as they stepped in to stab me with their spears however, I had already focused and used my ability.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Summoning bright blue flames to roll around me and engulf the goblin I had just effectively beheaded. My attackers stumbled in surprise as the flames writhe in the air as if alive not knowing that the flames are harmless. Still, I will not surrender the advantage and let them recover, I grab at the spear of the nearest goblin and yank it straight out of its hands. Delivering a quick kick that lands solidly on the goblins knee, I use the new weapon to bat aside its compatriots spear before stepping inside its guard and slamming my weapons point directly into the third goblins stomach. Not pausing for a moment, I wrested its own weapon from its grip as it stared down at the spear that is sticking out of it like a new limb and grab the second goblin by the throat while using my ability to drain it of its remaining life force as it clawed at my arm fruitlessly while I stare down my three remaining enemies. I can still hear Sten fighting behind me, but I know that it is not the time to check on him as the last three goblins I am facing seem to be losing their minds. Their guttural high pitched gibbering being about as distracting as it possibly can be. They charge at me as one, which may have been effective. Except that as soon as they had maybe a few steps they all turned and ran in opposite directions. I silent reflect on the wonders of goblin loyalty as I turn around to see Sten finishing off the last goblin on the ground, blood slowly dripping from small scratch wounds along his arms. Briefly, glancing at the spears which littered the ground and bodies I decided to give them a brief search. Slowly turning over each body it seems clear that each goblin had nothing of value on them except their weapons and makeshift clothing. Sliding some of its makeshift clothing off its body, I rip it into strips and head back to Sten. "Here you go, use these to wrap the cuts on your arms." I gave another look at his arms as he slowly took them from me. He glanced from the rag strips in his hands back to me. "Do you think this is made from human skin?" Sten started to look ill. "Look, I don¡¯t know what they are made of, but you are losing blood. So, either make your own bandages or use those, just try to stop your bleeding please, you should start to regen if you can stem the bleeding." Sten looks up at me confused. "Regen? What are you talking about?" I pause for a moment before instructing him about regeneration due to stats. Sten looked shocked and afterwards explained to me why he had no clue about regen. Apparently, he had only just activated his status screen moments before he was snatched away via teleportation to the where I was, along with the others by Master Protocol. It was seriously starting to seem to me like "Master" Protocol was seriously power tripping or had a vastly different perception of what being ready for a challenge meant. Not a chapter. "Short" term hiatus due to myself vs self-doubt on the direction/quality. Basically self doubt and quality concerns. I have been averaging over 84-120 hours per work via my day job and that is just one of my responsibilities which IMO has really cut into the quality control of both my writing and my own editing process.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! I actually have additional content already finished, I just can not stand to post it without having had any real opportunity to scan for glaring problems and flaws as I try to take a bit of pride in whatever I do.