《Welcome to the System》 PROLOGUE - The System PROLOGUE ¡°Mr. President, do you really think it wise to actually increase the military budget in the middle of such troubling times with Russia and China?¡± Adam Ross sighed in his hearth and asked himself, not for the first time, why me! For the thousand time in the past 2 years, why couldn¡¯t he just stay happy as a retired sergeant, no he had to run for president, worse he actually won. ¡°First I would like to point out there is no tension between Russia, China and the US, in fact Nickolov, Lei Chen and I just had a friendly conference last week¡±, yeah they had conferences every week anyway, with 56 other national leaders but no need to tell them that, ¡°the military expending are a necessity, more than 13% of equipment we have are obsolete and a big part of our personnel is retiring in 2 years, we need the money¡± also not technically a lye as a great deal of personnel retire every year and 13% of weapons really are obsolete as swords and shields were out of use for hundreds of years now. ¡°Mr. president¡± said another reporter as he got up ¡°What about the nation wide, mandatory lessons for policemen about big predators, it is clearly a waste of money and shows signs of corruption¡±. ¡°The Alonor project was a tried and approved project signed by my predecessor and deemed necessary by both me and the senate.¡± When Adam¡¯s aid whispered into his ear it was time he sighed in relief ¡°We are finished here gentlemen, thank you for your time¡±. Leaving the public conference Adam took of his necktie and breathed deeply ¡°Jackson I need a coffee¡± getting to his office, not the oval one but the comfortable unofficial one, and drank his coffee laying his head back he rested for exactly 1 hour and 22 minutes before being called by his assistant, it was time. Adam sat on the top of a long rectangular table, at both sides of it were the most important man and woman of the country, the chief of intelligence, marshals various generals in charge of important projects, senators, all parts of the government were present, waiting. Perhaps the most out of place people on the table were the two small skinny men on civilian clothes, one was an employee of ¡®Mages of the coast¡¯ an RPG gamer and developer, the other a fantasy and Scy-fi writer. ¡°Everything is ready Mr. President¡± lifting his head Adam replied ¡°Very well connect us Jonathan¡±, 58 monitors lighted up with 58 faces of important chiefs of state from all over the world, from Russia and Japan to Brazil, Argentina and South Africa, undoubtedly each one surrounded by their own staff. English had been chosen as the default language and each gave their greetings one at a time before silence fell on the conference, breaking the silence the Portuguese representative started ¡°So, this is it gentlemen.¡± They all just nodded their heads and became quiet again, finally another one couldn¡¯t stop himself ¡°What if it doesn¡¯t happen?¡± ¡°If it doesn¡¯t happen¡± said the serious Japanese prime minister ¡°I will be throwing the biggest party Japan has ever seen that¡¯s what¡± many of them smiled while sharing the thought. ¡°how much longer?¡± one of the nervous staff asked outside the camera ¡° 7¡­ 6 ¡­ 5¡­ any time from¡­ now!¡± nothing happened for a few seconds and many released breaths of relief but Adam knew better as he had been briefed constantly about the event, ¡°we now have a 2 hours window for the event to happen gentlemen¡± time to wait in terror. ¡°Tell me again, how are we to enforce the law after it happens?¡± of course he knew all about it but asked anyway as a way to relieve his staff tension, as they started explaining and discussing the subject he tuned them out thinking about his son, he had really fucked up there. BOM! A massive impact shook the entire floor snapping him out of his thinking in time to see panic, fear, excitement or sadness in the faces of many of his fellow rulers ¡°It has begun¡±.
SYSTEM WARNING
Your world is being invaded!
SYSTEM WARNING
A joining of dimensions has caused cracks to appear between your world and an alien one, creatures may invade from it beware
[Congratulations! Adam Ross has been successfully integrated into the system]
¡°status¡± He called out loud and a blue screen appeared in front of him.
NAMEAdam RossRACEHuman
TITLESPresident of US, Sergeant, Terrible Father
STATUSFatigued (-30% stamina)
LEVEL1HEALTH100%
STAMINA52%MANA[LOCKED]
STR6SPD5
END7DEX5
WIS6INT5
AbilitiesN/aSkillsN/a
STR ( Strength)
Level of muscle in the body, maximum human level = 10 current level = 6. Strong
SPD(speed)
level of reaction and fast movement, maximum human level = 10 current level = 5. Above average
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
END(endurance)
how much physical trauma a body can take, how much pain one can withstand, how hard it is to hurt, how fast stamina drains, maximum human level=10 current level= 7 Very though
WIS(Wisdom)
Capability of making correct decisions based on prior knowledge or infer information from possibilities, maximum human level = 10 current level = 6. Wise
INT(intelligence)
Capability of remembering, learning or creating information, maximum human level = 10 current level=5. Above average
DEX(dexterity)
dictate coordination, maximum human level = 10 current level=5. Above average
All across the planet mankind heard the disembodied voice of the at the same time, many ignored it, some praised it as the word of God, some panicked thinking they were crazy and some became excited in a whole it was a marking moment for humanity but not especially worrying, until the sun started to turn black that is. Jonathan called for his attention outside the camera showing him images in the holographic table, in it a small circle of red appeared in the center of the sun and slowly spreading to cover it¡¯s entire length like corruption, when it was finally completely taken over a gigantic eye appeared on the center of it looking down on the planet with dispassion as if looking at an ant, for a few seconds it searched the planets but founding nothing interesting and moved on. The sun rift started to close slowly but no one relaxed, all their eyes glued to the image until the end, his aid used the zoom on the image when the rift became too small showing it¡¯s last moments, just as it was about to completely close a mass of tentacles squeezed it¡¯s way out nearly unnoticeable at the distance. ¡°Shit! Fuck I want somebody monitoring that¡­ creature right now!¡± Two of the generals on the table jumped up and ran out of the room while Adam wiped the sweat out of his forehead. Touching the table he changed the image to that of the 5 selected arrival points, one of them only showed images of wrecked twisted metal, fire and blood, no survivors could be seen, thankfully 2 of the other points were already exterminated one showed tired troops dragging the bodies of giant spiders and throwing them into a huge piles to be burned while the other showed 4 house sized cats dead from countless bullets and grenades. The last 2 locations were still in the middle of heavy fighting, one with an army of small humanoid creatures, Adam had been briefed into the most common races to expect so he recognized them as goblins, tanks and grenades crossed fireballs and thunder strikes, bullets crossed rains of arrows as goblin warriors madly dashed towards the soldiers trampling their already dead brethren. The US soldiers had a great advantage, superior weapons, discipline and lack of surprise allowed them to slay goblins by the hundreds but the little monsters were endless and there were a few bigger elite who could slay several soldiers by themselves. On the last site there was only one enemy, an enormous hybrid of man and bird nearly 30m high spewing flame and sending blades of air flying everywhere, it was already wounded, missing an arm and with it¡¯s face a mass of burned flesh, many holes were opened in it¡¯s wing and body, it clearly would not live much longer but seemed dead set on taking out as many enemies it could before death having destroyed 8 tanks and left only 1 helicopter still on the air, many soldiers holding missile launchers were still attacking it from the ground. Adam did not need to ask about the losses, he knew they were crippling but he was curious about the first site ¡°what happened on the place we lost?¡± ¡°it was an elemental creature Mr. President, something made of smoke and thunder, immune to physical attacks there was nothing we could do¡± he sighed ¡°We knew there was a possibility such creatures would transition, did it seek more victims?¡± ¡°No, it appears to have detected the many nuclear devices surrounding it and is hiding in the location¡± thanking god for small favors he considered detonating the nukes but, as long as it was contained there was always hope they found a way to kill it without destroying half the country, turning towards his staff again he asked the question he didn¡¯t want answered. ¡°Did it work?¡± ¡°Mostly, the national holyday avoided most huge crowds thus no unstoppable treat was spawned in any of the cities we are monitoring but many individual creatures still appeared, the police preparations seems to be working but¡­ frankly civilian losses will still be staggering and we won¡¯t know how many cities we can keep until at least tomorrow night¡± Laying his head back on the chair Adam closed his eyes and rested for a full minute, when he opened them again most of his fellow leaders had also recovered from the shock however the screens showing Afghanistan, England and India were dark, no way to know what happened yet. ¡°Gentlemen, I believe you will all agree?¡± said Nickolov from Russia, they all nodded their heads ¡°Very well , for now it is every country for itself, I hope to see you all again in 7 days when our internal troubles are settled¡± turning off his own camera Adam turned to one particular general ¡°It¡¯s time to activate project Ragnarok¡±. Chapter 1 - Explanations Hey guys just so you know I will be posting a chapter a day until chapter 5, after that I can guarantee 1 chapter a week but will post more if I write them Also, constructive criticism and input is welcome but insults are not so try to keep it civil Warning: this chapter is heavy with information dump next one will have some action __________________________________________________________________________ He stayed in his cage, a very comfortable place really, nearly a kilometer wide with the most luxurious installations and a breathtaking garden, everything He could ever want was there. It was still a cage. And so he stayed there floating cross-legged in the air and looking at the 2 meters thick Satayev glass wall, stronger than most metals and actually resistant to his power, it was a new discovery from a Russian scientist and he found it quite annoying, more annoying than the glass was the man standing on the other side of it. ¡°It has began¡± said the president, his voice being transferred by speakers inside the cage ¡°Yeah I kind of noticed¡± he said, his eyes momentary shifting to the small blue window to his side
Congratulation, your telekinesis (string) has leveled up!
Lifting his hand to the side palm up he caught one of the metal exercise machines bolted to the floor, his power manifesting itself as countless invisible strings warping around each other in the form of a giant hand, lightly lifting his arm up the invisible hand ripped the machine out of the floor, a simple tug with his index finger pulled it to his side and he started to move his fingers as if crumpling a paper ball, the hand followed suit crushing the machine into an uneven round form, his eyes never left the president¡¯s. ¡°Could you stop that?¡± ¡°No¡± president Adam sighed, half in sadness half in frustration ¡°You have improved once again.¡± For the first time Aaron turned his eyes to where the invisible hand was, although he couldn¡¯t see it he could fell every string that made it up, it was his pride. In truth he could only use a certain amount of power in his strings, only slightly above his own arm strength, it had taken him years to learn how to create the complex system of pulleys, levers and wheels from simple strings that would allow him to affect things with several times that strength, he had spent even more years learning to manifest such system in less than half a day, even now he could only manifest it in any reasonable time in only one size and strength, it still made him extremely powerful. ¡°What do you want father?¡± president Adam turned to one of the guards which brought a chair, a giant TV screen rose from the ground ¡°We are executing project Ragnarok Aaron, the other 31 are already active¡± ¡°that bad huh¡± ¡°Worse, despite our ample preparations we are still short on personnel, we lost more than 250 cities that we could confirm while only 68 are fully in our control from which only 16 are big cities, there is a powerful elemental besieged in Texas and the creatures continue to spawn from which only 68% are ones we have any prior knowledge about and, sometimes, even that knowledge is flawed¡±. Aaron had to whistle at the bitter face the president made ¡°We need you Aaron¡± ¡°Why? I am sure you will get all kinds of mages and shit soon enough¡± ¡°Yes but what we need are not soldiers, we have enough of those and they are handy alright but we want heroes, powers like yours will certainly have a geometric growth in the system¡±. Turning back to his father Aaron though about it, all he ever wanted was to leave this damned cage but, he just hated doing what they wanted him to. ¡°Is mom safe?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know¡± closing his hand into a fist he threw the crumbled machine with all his strength at the glass wall, small cracks spread through a 2 meters wide area, a futile action but satisfying nonetheless ¡°She was supposed to be safe in England, you promised me even the queen wouldn¡¯t be safer!¡± ¡°Unfortunately that was before an ancient dragon spawned on England and ate said fucking queen¡± throwing another machine the cracks spread some more as he screamed ¡°And you can¡¯t find mom?¡± ¡°Working on it¡± they stopped talking then, staring at each other as Aaron recomposed himself. ¡°Fine¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I said fine I will be your little super soldier¡­ if that dragon killed mom I am gonna have to get stronger to slaughter it¡± Adam smiled, relieved at least one thing had worked out in this cursed day.
Adam Ross has invited you to the US army guild
YES NO
Congratulations you are now a member of the US army guild
¡°Now just say ¡®status¡¯ and you will see details about yourself, focus on one and more information will appear¡± ¡°Status¡±.
NAME Aaron Ross RACE Human(variant)
TITLES Calamity child, Codename: Loki
STATUS Well rested (-10% stamina loss)
LEVEL 1 HEALTH 100%
STAMINA 96% MANA 638/912
STR 8 SPD 8
END 9 DEX 12
WIS 7 INT 9
ABILITIES
Telekinesis (string) ¨C Beginner level 5
SKILLS N/A
STR ( Strength)
Level of muscle in the body, maximum human level = 10 current level = 8. Incredibly strong
SPD(speed)
level of reaction and fast movement, maximum human level = 10 current level = 8. Incredibly fast
END(endurance)
how much physical trauma a body can take, how much pain one can withstand, how hard it is to hurt, how fast stamina drains, maximum human level=10 current level= 9 Unbelievable though
WIS(Wisdom)
Capability of making correct decisions based on prior knowledge or infer information from possibilities, maximum human level = 10 current level = 7. Very wise
INT(intelligence)
Capability of remembering, learning or creating information, maximum human level = 10 current level=9. Unbelievable intelligent
DEX(dexterity)
dictate coordination and the ability to make small, complicate movements , maximum human level = 10 current level=12. Are you even human?
¡°That¡¯s¡­ yeah I think it¡¯s time I start working out again.¡± ¡°Feeling a little inadequate father?¡± declining to answer the president waved his hand, a loud buzz sounded and a whole 2 meters wide part of the glass wall started rising, Aaron released the strings forming his invisible chair and let his feet touch the ground once again finally walking out of his cage. He felt¡­ Free, for the first time in nearly a year he was out of that damned place and soon, hopefully, he would be out of the entire facility, Stretching his arms wide he took off his grey shirt then started taking his pants off as well, frustrated the president protested ¡°For fuck¡¯s sake don¡¯t you have any shame?¡± ¡°Shame? What¡¯s that? I guess I was too busy learning how to kill to be taught about it, damn I want a bath¡­ and those damn grey cloths burned!¡± Walking away from the president¡¯s side entirely naked he even scratched his but just to piss him off more while a stone faced grunt led him away. Refreshed and just out of the bath Aaron looked at the tight spandex looking clothes handed to him with a disgust, ¡°You¡¯re kidding right?¡± the grunt handing him the clothes shook his head ¡°No sir this is the new standart vest for the Einherjar sir¡± ¡°Great!¡± getting inside the whole body spandex he left the bathroom looking like a diver even his hands and feet were covered, a new grunt lead him into a wide armory it¡¯s wall filled with all kinds of guns, armors, swords, bows, etc. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°So you must be Aaron then?¡± said a woman in medical garb as she adjusted her glasses ¡°Nope, I am just looking for the exit¡± ¡°Very funny now sit down so we can get you into armor¡± resigned he sat down as a grunt pushed in a cart with metal pieces ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°That is your new armor¡± ¡°Cool¡± Inspecting the loose pieces inside the kart he lifted the front half of the chest part concentrated
Congratulations you have learned the skill
As the blue window faded away he instinctively knew how to use the new skill and immediately put it to use.
Black specter armor set CLASS A
DEFENSE
SLASH 5 BLUNT 5
PIERCE 4 MAGIC 3
ABILITIES
Optical camouflage Thermal camouflage Omni vision (helmet) Aim assist (helmet)
Radio communications
Interesting, lifting the leg pieces he put it on, it covered the whole leg in a mirrored black armor, as he put both sides on the medical woman used a special substance to seal the locks ¡°How the hell do I get out of this thing?¡± ¡°With enough deformation it will automatically unlock or you can use another compound¡± As he finished getting into the armor and looked into a mirror, it looked sleek and deadly, like a futuristic soldier, in the chest piece there was a neck protector and all parts molded into his body perfectly and didn¡¯t even weight that much ¡°The armor is made from a new metallic alloy, has a thin film of Satayev glass on the inside and is resistant to all forms of attacks, it¡¯s the best we currently have, now time to get the rest of your gear¡±
Raven knive set CLASS A-
ATACK
SLASH 5 BLUNT 1
PIERCE 6 MAGIC 0
ABILITIES
+ 1 SPD
Modern Smith & Yessel Model 97 CLASS A-
ATACK
SLASH 0 BLUNT 6
PIERCE 7 MAGIC 0
ABILITIES
+ 1 STR +1 END
Raven Series Jian CLASS A-
ATACK
SLASH 5 BLUNT 2
PIERCE 6 MAGIC 0
ABILITIES
+ 1 SPD +1 STR
UNA med pack CLASS A-
EFFECT Increase healing by 500%
HM29 Adapted Rifle CLASS A-
ATACK
SLASH 0 BLUNT 8
PIERCE 10 MAGIC 0
ABILITIES
+ 1 STR +1 END
After finishing his choice the woman helped him find the places for everything on the armor, the sword and knives were standart gear and had fixed sheaths on the armor, 2 on each arm for throwing knives, 1 in each leg for the longer dagger and one in the back for the sword, the gun also had a proper place in the hip and there was a small opening to keep items besides the sword sheath where he kept the med pack as for the rifle, he hang it by a strap around his shoulders. Picking up the helmet he put it on, it looked like a motorcycle helmet but much slimmer ¡°Great, now that I look like a proper little soldier for you guys, where do I go?¡± Another forgettable grunt, or maybe it was the same one he already forgot, lead him away trough the corridors and locked rooms of area 0 until he could finally see the light of the day, true sunlight spilled from the windows, he closed his eyes and enjoyed the feel of it on his skin for a while until they reached an open hangar with 3 military transport helicopters. A few of the many man and woman dressed like him looked his way but soon lost interest, looking around he found some people he knew ¡°Good you¡¯re here, it means we can start¡± With a nod the oldest man there introduced himself ¡°I am John, codename: Balder, this is Yui, codename: Frigg, and Eric, codename Siegfried, I believe you already know Jessica and Garth.¡± Most just nodded their heads but Eric extended his hand excitedly ¡°Nice to meet you man!¡± ¡°Sure whatever¡± said Aaron as he squeezed the hand half-heartedly and inspected the group. Jessica was a 28 years old extremely average brunet with a crooked nose, attractive enough but no top model she could turn her body into steel, Garth was 32 and an army vet, he was a black bald man capable of using sonic strikes, John appeared to be around 50 something, his hair was already white and his face was full of scars according to him he could hypnotize people, Yui looked Japanese and could be anything from 30 to 45 years old, she could manipulate fire finally Eric was the what most would consider a hero, tall blonde and with a football player build he could strengthen his body Aaron immediately disliked him. ¡°Alright people pay attention!¡± boomed John and everyone of the hundreds present became quiet standing at attention, hands behind his back, Aaron ignored them just standing relaxed in place ¡°Very well I believe you are all aware of what happened yesterday afternoon, I will be explaining what we know about it¡± ¡°Now all of you Einherjar are not trained to stand in ceremony so I won¡¯t, the experts still don¡¯t know what caused it but 92 years ago our dimension started to merge with an alien one, hallucinations, visions, dreams and other subconscious messages started becoming more and more common and frequent, 37 years latter the first supernatural power was registered and our government invested heavily in finding out what was happening We discovered several facts, the conjunction of our world with this strange one was deemed unavoidable, unfortunately we also discovered that the more people who knew about it the faster and harder it would come, our experts call it the power of faith, simply speaking in this other world belief can and will affect reality and, as it started to merge with our world, belief also started to affect us. While keeping the event as secret as they could our government tried to prepare as best they could one of those preparations was the 500 of you Einherjar¡± A giant projection appeared before them all with a map of the US, it was divided into blue, red and black areas with the red being the dominant color, there were also a few blue and black dots of different sizes blinking the biggest one right in the middle of Texas, six of the small blue ones were blinking in their location, turning to the projection John started pointing. ¡°As you can see the blue areas are places the US retains complete control at this moment, the black areas are places we have lost completely and the red areas are still being contested for as for the blue and black dots, the first are vip personnel and the latter are dangerous targets, don¡¯t mess with the black dots¡± John turned back to the soldiers and continued ¡°Now each one of you has received a message with a team number or letter, numbers from 4 to 25 will form 20 man teams to aid the US army while teams Alfa, Beta and Gama will be formed by 22 men, 20 Einherjar and 2 of our very own vip personnel, those vip personnel are not your average soldier, they are members of Ragnarok project and those who make it into their 3 teams will find out just what that means. About this system¡­ utilize an ability such as shooting or sword fighting for long enough and the system will recognize it, use that ability in a specific way enough times and it becomes a skill, skills can also be learned from books acquired by slaying monsters, we still don¡¯t know why they do that by the way. Last but not least, if you kill enough monsters your level will increase and you will gain a single attribute point which you can freely distribute to increase your attributes without effort¡± Finishing his presentation John waited a while until all received their team numbers ¡°Very well people move to your designated exits your mission briefings will be done on the way we have no time to lose, move, move, MOVE!¡± Checking his own blinking visor he read
Team Beta ¨C Helicopter 2
Darting towards the huge military transport helicopter he noticed Eric running by his side a big smile on his face ¡°Oh¡­ great.¡± Chapter 2 - The Node Alright guys this is a warning, in the next few chapters there will be only a small amount of character development, this happens because they are supported by the US government they have no need to craft things right now, neither do they need to find out what happened (there are a bunch of well paid geniuses doing that) Their job is to kill things and save people, unfortunately, in such hostile territory, standing around or chatting can be a very dangerous thing as it distracts them or alert the enemy of their presence so they won¡¯t be doing that very much. Basically shit just hit the fan and they don¡¯t have time to stand around and talk, the more time they take to control a city the more resistance they will encounter. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ ¡°Alright everyone ready?¡± said Beta 1 over her communicator, her voice filled with the hard tone of command ¡°Beta 2 ready!¡± ¡°Beta 3 ready!¡± ¡°Beta 4 ready!¡±¡­ they all said in order until it was Aaron¡¯s time , he tightened the straps over his shoulder and called ¡°Loki ready!¡± ¡°Siegfried ready!¡± and Beta 1 pulled the lever motioning with the other arm ¡°Go! Go! Go!¡± He Jumped out of the plane together with 21 others, the black mirrored surface of their armor shinning from the sun As they nosedived towards the ground at incredible speeds in a tight formation. Their mission was simple, a small city close to Washington DC had been the spawn point for some kind of minotaur race, horned giant rats and a plague of undead creatures, they were to conquer the city and pave the way to connect two territories under US army control. Conquering a city in the was much like capture the flag, there was always a round ball called a node spawned under human control, one node for each major spawn point and a city core, the race that controlled a node could call more monsters out of it, as far as they knew the human node had been controlled by a minotaur but the city core was still in human hands though they had no communication with it. The plan was to land and take over the human core as it would have the lightest resistance for landing then make a dash for the undead one before their numbers grew too much, from there they would call army support, divide into 2 teams to take the other nodes and finally meet at the city core it was a good plan. As the buildings rushed to meet them in freefall a small text in the corner of his helmet visor flashed with the number 5 starting a countdown, they quickly spread their formation and, when the count hit 0, they spread their parachutes with just the right timing to not get hurt hitting the ground. They were landing directly into the former human node in a wide park, it took less than 5 seconds for one minotaur laying about to notice them, with a loud bellow he pointed towards the sky and received one of the 5 missiles into the face for his trouble blowing up in a sea of gore, five explosions rang into the park blowing groups of minotaurs that had still not reacted but a few crossbow bolts returned fire, still 70 meters up Eric released his parachute accelerating fast towards the ground. Pointing his hand down fingers spread Aaron sent a hundred invisible strings descending at random, they covered the bolts gently and, pulling violently with both his arms to the side he felt like he was arm wrestling a bear but he succeeded causing the strings to tense and deviate the bolts from their course, he didn¡¯t really need the gesture but it helped him focus and increased his strength. Aaron rolled his eyes as Eric hit the ground in a classic superhero landing crackling the ground around himself before dashing towards a 2.5 meters tall man with the head of a bull and wicked looking horns. The minotaur seemed affronted by such puny creature daring to challenge, it charged right back at him head lowered for the collision, it never came, Erick¡¯s sword drew and arc from it¡¯s sheath to the floor in a diagonal cut separating it¡¯s head, right arm and shoulder from the rest of the body in a spray of blood. Now barely 35 meter high all soldiers lifted their guns raining bullets upon the unprotected bovine as Aaron released his own parachute and manifested his invisible giant hand using it¡¯s superior strength to ease the fall, he still had to roll over to stop, looking to his side at the cracks that spread from Eric¡¯s landing he shook his head in envy before pulling two daggers from his legs.
[Congratulations, you have developed a new skill, would you like to name it ?
YESNO
¡°Finally!¡± looking at the huge minotaur charging his way while holding his axe he shook his head ¡°Whatever, got no time for that¡±
New skill has been named by the system as
Materializing his strings he used them to tangle the creature¡¯s legs, the minotaur tumbled to the ground it¡¯s powerful feet snapped his strings, a huge bang sounded inside his head as the forceful destruction of his ability caused him incredible headache. Fortunately he was used to pain not stopping for a single second he jumped over the fallen monster and stabbed it behind the neck
You have slain minotaur level 3 +60 XP
By his side Eric bisected his fourth minotaur with a particularly beautiful spinning slash, he frowned ¡°Alright, I refuse to lose to Mr. Perfect.¡± Manifesting 7 invisible strings he warped 3 around the handle of his Chinese Jian and one around the handles of each flying knives quickly pulling them out of their sheaths, a single thought sent all four knives flying towards the crossbow¡­ man¡­ bull? Whatever, two knives pierced the eyes of one of them while a third deflected a particularly accurate bolt flying towards the head of Beta whatever, not like he could recognize any of them in their armors, the last knife slit the throat of the shooter. With another thought his sword pierced point first into the chest of a charging minotaur, manifesting one more strings he used it to wrap around the arm of another attacker pulling it off balance as he jumped up and stabbed one dagger on it¡¯s ear.
You have slain minotaur level 2 x 4 + 220 XP
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
You have learned the ability
The Betas finally landed and started to provide covering fire as both he and Eric dived into the remaining minotaurs, moving like a tornado of death, his four knives no longer looking for accuracy but whirling around him slashing off limbs from anything that got too close, his sword then moved in to finish off the wounded by stabbing them on the head or chest only using his daggers to parry the few who managed to get too close. When the enemies started to decrease his communicator screamed into his ear ¡°Loki! 6 O¡¯clock!¡± out of reflex a string materialized and he violently pulled sending himself tumbling to the side as a 3 meter tall monstrosity nearly bowled him over. The freak was a black skinned minotaur with a nose ring and pierced ears built like Mr. universe, even his muscles had muscles, a simple iron plate covered his chest area.
You have slain minotaur level 1 x 3 + 150 XP
You have slain minotaur level 2 x 7 + 385 XP
You have slain minotaur level 3 x 3 + 180 XP
your has gained a level
You have learned the ability
Ulmog ¨C Minotaur guard ¨C Level 8
¡°Fuck, it is a named monster!¡± ¡°What¡¯s Siegfried status!¡± ¡°Sorry Beta 1 I got bashed out of the way by the big guy but the armor held!¡± annoyed he screamed at them ¡°Stop chatting already and kill the damn cow!¡± Lifting it¡¯s gigantic hammer Ulmog gave a deafening bellow and charged back at Aaron, he sent two of his knives towards the creature¡¯s eye but, with a wave of it¡¯s hand, they were easily bashed aside so hard the strings snapped, another painful mental impact hit him, he shook his head then materialized 5 strings to wrap around himself and pull his body into a tree branch before the creature got close, still a little out of it he called his companions who had stopped attacking. ¡°What the hell Beta 1¡­ Beta 1!¡± seeing all 20 soldiers standing around trembling Ulmog changed his targets, deciding to kill the defenseless before they recovered ¡°Fucking useless soldiers, Sieg!¡± ¡°I got it!¡± Eric rammed the monster with his shoulder from the side making it take four or five steps to stabilize himself and leaving Eric dazed. ¡°Are you fucking retarded, look at the size of that thing you idiot!¡± Eric shoot his head ¡°Not helping Loki!¡± using another string he sent a stone flying towards what he guessed was Beta 1¡¯s head, it bounced harmlessly from the helmet but the impact managed to jolt the soldier out of his paralysis ¡°Damn it just applied a fear effect!¡± Seeing that the Einherjar had started hitting his companions to wake them up Aaron pulled his gun and turned back towards Eric, the fool had actually engaged the minotaur in some kind of duel, ¡°Just shoot it already¡± taking his own advice he took aim and squeezed the trigger.
Crippling strike -12% health
Hitting it¡¯s left eye was more out of luck than skill in such moving target he continued shooting but the bullets didn¡¯t even register as they bounced off it¡¯s skin, it must have a ability! Eric dodged another swing of it¡¯s hammer and retaliated with a two handed slash, it drew blood but was mostly ineffective. As both he and the soldiers released an entire magazine into the overgrown steak only 36% of it¡¯s health went down, it also learned to maneuver Eric between itself and the guns slowly retreating to avoid being flanked. ¡°Sieg can you stop him for a second?¡± ¡°I can try, what do you have in mind Loki?¡± ¡°We do have grenades don¡¯t we?¡± ¡°switch to grenades!¡± Jumping out of his tree Aaron started running towards the minotaur ¡°NOW!¡± Suddenly Eric used both hands to pierce the minotaur¡¯s hoof pinning it nearly to the hilt into the ground, jumping back he dodged the bull¡¯s full swing and kicked it¡¯s arm, with a hoof pinned down the minotaur couldn¡¯t step back and fell on it¡¯s ass, 20 grenades fell around it. The monster still managed to pull the sword out with a grunt and was prepared to jump away when Aaron materialized and held it in place for the 2 full seconds before the creature flexed it¡¯s muscles and broke the skills¡¯ grip, already too late. The earthshaking explosion went off at the same time that Aaron fell to his knees, his eyes, nose and ears bleeding from the extreme backlash of his strongest skill ¡°shit I am gonna have a headache¡± One of the betas had to help him to his feet as Eric said ¡°Can¡¯t believe it is still alive!¡± taking his massive claymore he chopped down at the now deformed neck decapitating the monster.
Siegfried has slain a named monster, as you have dealt 20% damage to it +51 XP
Congratulations you have reached level 2, as a human you gain 1 attribute point
Recovering a little from the backlash he took his arm off the Beta¡¯s shoulder and walked away massaging his forehead only stopping in front of a floating black orb, from behind him came Eric¡¯s voice ¡°So this is the node?¡± ¡°Sure looks like it¡± extending his hand he held it for a full minute before it changed color to a bright blue.
Congratulations, Loki from US army guild has claimed this node +100 XP to all guild members in the node¡¯s range
¡°Shit we got survivor!¡± Chapter 3 - Rescue Well, NovaLord pointed out that U.S. Military should be a better name for the guild, what happens is that the U.S Military is not a guild but an aliance made up of army, airforce and the navy guilds.... thought the details will start to be explained latter (about chapter 12 or so) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ ¡°We have Survivors here!¡± Aaron laid with his back to a tree uninterested in whatever survivor they had found, a few Einherjar ran towards the voice as Beta 1 barked commands ¡°Teams 4 and 5 set up a perimeter, Beta 4 contact command, I want to know if we have any friendly forces close by.¡± As he was catching his breath Eric approached him ¡°You fine man?¡± he just nodded as his head was still killing him, he would recover soon enough, taking off his helmet despite his orders, and when the hell did he follow those anyways, he took a deep breath and decided to see those so called survivors. It was a nightmarish vision to say the least, the park was full of children, young mothers or innocent couples enjoying their holiday when the arrived, most of their bodies were in a huge pile, naked, about 20 of them were hung from trees by their hands, their blood draining in a big puddle and all their body hair shaved, yet another 7 people were impaled in spears over a huge bonfire being roasted. There were only 6 survivors, all of them adult woman 3 were overweight mothers 2 were clearly strong athletes and a single unexpectedly petite girl probably the only ones to survive the brutal rape from the creatures, all but one of them had dead eyes and wouldn¡¯t even move as the Einherjar tried to help, the only one to react was a black athlete as she clutched desperately at the medic¡¯s arm. ¡°Fucking cattle¡± cursed Beta 1 as she helped take the bodies off the fire but Aaron remained quiet, he briefly wondered if that¡¯s what happened to his mother or if she was simply killed in the attack. As rage flooded his mind it washed away the pain and he stopped panting and righted himself, his powers had always answered to strong emotion, reloading his rifle he changed it to armor piercing bullets, he also took the time to change his Smith & Yessel to exploding bullets as the normal ones had proved far from adequate. ¡°Ok people change of plans! Teams 4 will still stay here and protect the node but team 5 will stay with them control just informed me we have some resistance still alive at fifth street barricaded against those giant rats, we rescue the cops there and send them back here before taking out the rat node¡± letting her weapon hang from it¡¯s shoulder strap she turned to one Einherjar ¡°Beta 17 you¡¯re in charge here, burn those corpses quickly¡± ¡°Ok boss¡±. As they slowly left the park, weapons at the ready, they saw the destruction brought onto the city and one couldn¡¯t help cursing ¡°Fucking monsters this is worse than Iraq¡± ¡°Shut up soldier¡± ¡°Whatever¡± they advanced quietly so as to better focus on finding threats and keep their concentration moving as fast as they could without being negligent. Aaron took the time to think about his new status point deciding to spend it into , although the strength of his strings was directly linked to his own making them stronger and would make surviving easier he still chose , it increased his mana and learning capability, plus he had a feeling that with the it was far easier to raise physical attributes, at least to the maximum human level, than it had been before. ¡°Enemy sighted¡± ¡°Halt¡± crouching down behind an abandoned car he watched as every Einherjar took positions behind cover, looking over his helmet spotted 3 giant rats at the distance coloring them red, focusing on one of the rats the visor automatically zoomed allowing him to use inspection, his visor also game an estimation of size, weight and distance.
Horned Rat ¨C Level 1
1.5m high ¨C 2.31m long ¨C 191kg ¨C 613m ahead
TARGET ASSIST¡­?
YESNO
Glancing aside the data vanished and the zoom returned to normal only leabing the red colored rats ¡°Switch to silencers, I want precision shoots, team 2 take them out¡± 4 muffled sounds were released from under cover and the heads of the 3 rats blew up soundlessly, their bodied fell ¡°Team 1, torch then, all teams, advance¡± Looking up as they advanced Aaron wondered how many survivors were holed up in these tall buildings, a pity they had no time to evacuate them all, some could prove to be useful workers or even fighters ¡°Beta 1 I may be able to scout ahead from above.¡± She paused a moment to consider ¡°Siegfried can you follow him?¡± Eric shook his head ¡°It¡¯s not that I can¡¯t but it would make far too much noise¡± ¡°Very well, Loki go ahead¡± Wrapping a string around his own waist and another on the top of a tall building he pulled himself up to the seventh floor window and looked ahead ¡°Ok, there are Horned Rats everywhere from here to a single building where about a hundred or so of them appear to be trying to get in¡± ¡°Loki can you clean the way so we can approach the target without being detected?¡± ¡°If you lent me a sniper, sure¡± Beta 1 lifted her own gun taking off the shoulder strap and he pulled it up with a sting ¡°All teams, Loki is gonna clean the way to our targets, advance quickly and take positions here, here and here, Loki you and Eric will stop the rats retreat so we kill as many as we can.¡± Taking the safety off he took aim at the closest rat, his helmet doing nearly all the work as it showed him the best angle for the shoot, pulling the trigger he made sure the rat¡¯s head blow up then changed targets, some of the closer rats noticed their companion¡¯s deaths but were too slow or too stupid to escape before being shoot themselves the aim assist making his job incredibly easy, it seems being so huge caused the normally sharp and quick-witted rodents to be overconfident and dulled their reactions.
You have slain Horned rat level 1 x 17 + 340 XP
You have slain Horned rat level 2 x 9 + 192 XP
You have slain Horned rat level 3 x 2 + 48 XP
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You have learned the ability
Your has increased a level
¡°The way is clear!¡± Slinging the gun over his shoulder he used another string fixed at the top of the building like a rope to run along the wall and jump into the next one advancing ahead of the team to scout, fortunately there were no rats on the smaller side streets but he saw thousands of human skeletons laying around, their flesh picked clean most likely by the rats, he saw a terrified woman locked in a room through a window while he was advancing but had no time to save her, making a mental note to send someone to help her he moved on. When they reached the point where Beta team would stay he sent a string down and wrapped it around Eric¡¯s waist, pulling him up he started moving before Eric got a good footing purposely letting him hang on the air as they passed through the rats on the ground a smile crept into his mouth as he heard the whispered ¡°fuck, fuck, fuck¡± in the common channel of their helmet. Landing about a hundred meters away from the targets behind an abandoned car in silence he had to dodge an arm punch ¡°the fuck man I almost fell in the middle of them!¡± ¡°Sorry my mistake, Beta 1 we are in position.¡± He answered speaking softly ¡°Ok from what we know those rats will not run away when attacked so¡­ you guys will hit them first, when they charge you we strike to cause confusion, a few of them will probably escape but none of us should be in any danger, do you see any elite or boss?¡± ¡°Nope¡± ¡°then start.¡± Putting his hands bellow the car they was currently hiding behind Eric lifted it up over his head and threw it with all his strength at the mass of horned rats smashing half a dozen to a pulp, the other 94 turned our way, murder in their eyes, ¡°Show off¡±. As he materialized his power all 7 blades sprang into life, twisting his strings he sent them whirling towards the horde, activating , this time even faster with the help of the , he caught one rat¡¯s tail and used it¡¯s body to bash the others out of the way
You have slain Horned rat level 1 x 5 + 100 XP
Congratulations has increased a level
Suddenly the other side of the rat tide exploded in noise as Beta team switched to full auto and threw fragmentation grenades, Eric continued with his brute force approached Smashing into the rat tide with his massive sword, using his armor to absorb the bites that got through. It only took a little over 10 minutes to completely clean the streets of the critters but, as rats were quite adept at escaping, quite a few of them managed to scurry away amongs the explosions and blades.
You have slain horned rat level 1 x 16 +320 XP
You have slain horned rat level 2 x 5 +110 XP
Congratulations has increased a level
Congratulations has increased a level
Sheathing his blades Aaron righted himself, while the rest of the team went to inspect the corpses and check the survivors he decided to check his own status.
NAMEAaron RossRACEHuman(variant)
TITLESCalamity child, Codename: Loki
STATUSWell rested (-10% stamina loss)
LEVEL2HEALTH92%
STAMINA66%MANA638/962
STR8SPD8
END9DEX12
WIS7INT10
ABILITIES
Telekinesis (string) ¨C Beginner level 8
Multitask ¨C Beginner level 2
Shooting ¨C Beginner level 1
SKILLS
Inspect ¨C Beginner level 1
Titan¡¯s hand ¨C Beginner level 3
So, he gained 50 mana from a single level, quite a significant increase, wondering what else he gained he concentrated into the new abilities
SHOOTING ¨C Beginner level 1
Ability to use firearms+ 10% damage with guns
DAGGER ¨C Beginner level 1
Ability to use small blades+ 10% damage with knives
MULTITASK ¨C Beginner level 2
Ability to do more than one thing at the same time+ 12% performance
TITAN¡¯S HAND ¨C Beginner level 3
Manifests a giant hand that imitates the body¡¯s movements13 x User strength
Wow, that¡¯s some ridiculously strong increase, Aaron already liked this , if it hasn¡¯t killed his mother yet he could even learn to love it. Turning his head away from the many blue windows he watched as Beta team finished cleaning the bodies from the front of the barricaded door ¡°This is the U.S. army open up!¡± Chapter 4 - Typical Party ¡°Get away from us!¡± came the voice from behind the barricaded door as Beta 1 approached it, her own 4 man team stood with their weapons ready aiming at the entrance, always better to be safe than sorry. ¡°Beta 1 this is control, voice recognition indicated it is police office Kyle Cooper speaking¡± ¡°Thanks control, Kyle, can I call you Kyle? This is commander Jessica Smith from the U.S. army, we are here to help¡± ¡°No way, have you seen those things out there!¡± ¡°We have exterminated the horned rats Kyle you can open the door now¡± with a calming voice Beta 1 tried to persuade the cop, a small crack appeared at the door and an eye peered out, surveying the situation, finally a hand holding a gun and his whole head popped out to look around seeing all the dead rats he screamed in terror before finally calming down. ¡°Oh thank god, thank god!¡± Beta 1 put her hand over the gun and lowered it slowly, when Kyle walked out another 7 cops followed ¡°Thank god you¡¯re here, we got 31 civilians inside 2 badly wounded, you have to help us.¡± 2 armed men from team 1 entered the room followed by 3 medics to evacuate the civilians ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± ¡°Holy shit¡± ¡°Cool¡± ¡°I demand an explanation!¡± The Einherjar awkwardly looked at each other, none of them willing to deal with hysterical civilians despite their training, turning to Eric he smiled ¡°Go ahead, you¡¯re the hero after all¡­ yeah I am talking with you Sieg¡± ¡°Fine.¡± Eric walked closer to the confused civilians and cops ¡°Calm down gentlemen we are here to keep you safe¡­¡± losing interest in the weaklings Aaron got up and started walking away, he understood the need to protect non combatants, after all they would need farmers, workers and other support personnel if they wanted to maintain a good way of life but he still disliked such defenseless people, he just hoped they were saving useful people not leaches. Pulling himself through the air he stepped on top of a buss ¡°Control how is our schedule?¡± ¡°We are a little behind Loki but it can be completed¡± he shook his head, this was the problem with heroes, always having to save everyone despite pressing needs, they were gonna be late. Opening a private channel he started talking ¡°Tell general Iring to execute plan delta¡± ¡°Aaron you are aware the reason we didn¡¯t drop on top of the undead node is because it is the most likely place for survivors to be gathered, at least until night, it was too risky¡± ¡°Command look at the streets, the number of deaths, we won¡¯t make it in time with those survivors, night will fall, if we don¡¯t do it we can lose more than just this city, command it is an order execute plan delta¡± ¡°understood, where will you go?¡± looking over the city he made up his mind ¡°I am gonna take out the minotaur node, send team Beta to the horned rats and drop some troops over the undead one¡± Closing the channel he watched as his helmet¡¯s map updated with a new path directly to the minotaur node, using his strings he soundlessly pulled himself up into a building top and started running in a straight line, manifesting a few thicker strings he laid them over the gaps in the buildings and used his dexterity to run over them quickly leaving team Beta behind. Truth be told his own situation was not optimal, his early displays of power had wasted too much mana and were not truly his style, to avoid unnecessary losses from Beta team he had to, how was it they said¡­ draw agro by fighting in such stupid way and now that he was alone he could finally do as he was used to. Soon he started getting closer to the minotaur node by ignoring all distractions be them monsters or survivors, he would save more people by disabling their node than helping every single one of them himself, messing with his status he managed to keep his health, stamina and mana bars visible on the corner of his vision watching his mana very slowly go down. His power was pretty versatile but he couldn¡¯t help wishing it could do more, it would be pretty convenient to materialize a string inside someone¡¯s brain however he couldn¡¯t do that, his strings may be invisible but they couldn¡¯t became intangible, as a matter of fact his power worked by well defined rules. His strings always started from his body, their length and width depended on how much power he put into them and, to further control them, he had to spend more power. What all that means is that if he wanted to do anything he had many ways to do it, unfortunately controlling the strings cost far more than materializing them so he always had to find a middle ground, control them just enough to do achieve what he wanted. As he got within 8 blocks of the node his mana hit 300 hundred, dangerously little to take on a node, especially if there were more enemies of Ulmog¡¯s strength so he sat down and engaged the visual camouflage of his armor, it took on the same pattern as the wall behind him, it wouldn¡¯t make him invisible just extremely hard to see, disengaging the air filter over his mouth he ate an energy bar from his suit as both food and rest drastically increased recovering mana regeneration. He just watched the area around his target while quietly eating, it had spawned inside a supermarket that had ignored his father mandatory holiday paying dearly for it, using his visor¡¯s zoom he could see it¡¯s door where two minotaur guards waited. Groups of 5 or 6 level 1 and 2 minotaurs constantly came and went from the supermarket bringing what he guessed were tributes before leaving again but they were mostly searching for prey on the city the problem were the 4 man patrols who walked a perimeter around their base, always 3 of them were out at all times and the minotaurs were around level 4 or 5, he would have very little time to kill all guards and face the boss before he was overwhelmed with monsters. He was debating if he would try to take out as many of the creatures as possible before they noticed him or try to slip through them and assassinate the boss when he noticed 4 young humans fighting one of the weaker minotaur groups. Three guys and a girl no more than 20 years old fought 5 minotaurs, 2 of the guys held shields holding the minotaurs back one holding a makeshift spear and the other a baseball bat filled with nails, the girl held a western sword and darted in and out of the fight slowly bleeding the creatures, the last skinny guy hang back and, when Aaron was starting to think he was useless, threw a fireball at one of the cattle blowing it away in an explosion of fire and heat, the girl darted in while the other minotaurs were still startled and disemboweled one with a two handed swing, her face turned white as she jumped back and watched the gruesome sight of his insides spilling on the ground, still holding her sword she tried to ignore what she had just done and looked for another opportunity to strike. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Two fireballs later and a competent performance by the shield bearers the minotaurs were annihilated ¡°Now that¡¯s the kind of people we need not leeches and lazy idiots¡± glancing at his mana that just hit 530 he watched as the spear shield bearer started to gather some fallen coins, a ring and some leather ¡°What the fuck, why did mine never do that?¡± Interested he threw himself down from the roof and used a string to slow down, walking close to the walls he approached and laid back on it relying on his armor¡¯s camouflage to remain unnoticed, Stuffing their items into a backpack they looked around, deciding to rest on a buss. ¡°Damn that was cool¡­ ouch!¡± said the mage as the girl hit the back of his head with the handle of her sword ¡°Shut up Nathan¡± ¡°Damn woman can you be more gentle?¡± shaking his head in amusement spear guy asked ¡°Ok what do we do now? Your parents were not home Aly and Raphael¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°They are dead, you can say it Mica¡± all four got quiet for a while before that Nathan guy cleared his throat ¡°We have water and food but, if we don¡¯t find help soon¡­¡± getting up from his seat Mica tried to give them some incentive ¡°For now we continue hunting, that last fight was perfect guys if we continue that was we can hit level 3 by the end of the day¡± ¡°And then what?¡± ¡°Then we continue getting stronger, the world has changed guys even if we are rescued we need power to be safe!¡± Having an idea Aaron smiled, he could use this group and perhaps they had even gained some useful things from the monsters, disengaging the camouflage he approached them ¡°Perhaps I can offer another option child¡± not that he was that much older than them but seniority was useful for establishing control. All four of them jumped nearly half a meter up before scrambling for their weapons reading themselves to fight him, using his strings he tied them back to their seats holding them in place ¡°Now now no need for all that aggression I just want to make a deal¡± sitting down on top of a car he waited for their answer. ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°Well Mica for starters I want information so how about we play a game, I will ask you a question and you have to answer truthfully, then you can ask a question and I will answer truthfully¡± ¡°And if we don¡¯t want to?¡± ¡°Well, then I can just go and let you guys continue struggling for survival¡± seeing their disbelieving looks he laughed out loud ¡°What you though I was gonna kill you guys? No I am actually quite happy you guys survived¡± ¡°Fine¡± Releasing his strings he waited for them to get comfortable, their hands never left their weapons but they didn¡¯t get up. ¡°I saw that when you killed the minotaurs they gave you guys some items, why don¡¯t that happens always?¡± With confused faces they looked at each other ¡°But they always do that¡± fixing them with a look he started to raise his arm but the mage spoke ¡°Wait wait it is true, look in most games if the monster is so weak he doesn¡¯t have a chance of hurting you it won¡¯t drop anything¡± ¡°And Elite monsters, do they also not ¡®drop¡¯ anything?¡± he shook his head ¡°No, they usually drop more items but sometimes those items are just their own equipment¡± Hmm, he supposed Ulmog¡¯s hammer and armor would count as his ¡®drop¡¯. ¡°Very well then, your turn¡± Discussing among themselves they made him slightly curious about what they would ask but in the end it was a very predictable one ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°You may call me Aaron codename: Loki from a branch of the U.S. Military, my turn, how are you able to use magic?¡± ¡° We killed a horned rat capable of using it and it dropped a fireball skillbook.¡± As they processed the fact that he was from the military he waited patiently for the new question, finally Mica asked ¡°If you are from the military them you must know, how can we be safe?¡± ¡°By growing stronger¡± he nearly laughed out loud looking at their frustrated and angry faces ¡°Just kidding, relax I just couldn¡¯t resist, there are basically 4 ways you guys can be safe¡± Lifting one finger he started. ¡°One, leave the city, monsters spawned depending on the population density the camp has far less people so it has far less monsters, for now at least¡± lifting a second finger he continued ¡°Two, go to central park, two teams of my companions have secured a perimeter around the place and are accepting refugees, they have a fair amount of firepower¡± ¡°Tree, go to the prefecture, although I am not absolutely certain about the situation the police captain and about 250 officers should be there protecting about 3000 survivors making the place safe¡± lifting his fourth finger he finished ¡°Four, the most dangerous but also most rewarding on the long run, help me complete my objective and cleanse the city Now for the last question, what are your skills and abilities?¡± the four hesitated to answer for a while, afraid of revealing all their trump cards but it was clear he could kill them with very little effort anyway ¡°I got spear and shield abilities at level 1 plus a taunt skill¡± said Mica ¡°Raphael has club and shield abilities as well, Alysha has sword ability and a power strike skill and Nathan has the fireball skill¡± without discussing anything Raphael asked before Mica could ¡°How long has the government known about this hell?¡± Aaron smiled, smart kid ¡°More than 50 years¡± Letting them digest that he got up from the car and jumped to the ground as anger slowly colored their faces, with an angry voice Mica asked ¡°If we help you, then what?¡± ¡°This city has three main monster races invading, each one has a spawn point we call node, conquer those nodes and no more monsters will spawn in the city, then we can slowly hunt down the remains and restore order.¡± ¡°How do we conquer those nodes?¡± ¡°The minotaur node is in the S.J. supermarket protected by a minotaur boss, the others are someone else¡¯s problem for now¡± exchanging another look all 4 of them nodded and Aly spoke ¡°Fine, we are in.¡± Chapter 5 - Trap Hi guys, since this is not realy a spoiller I am gonna say it, Aaron do knows how to meditate, the system hasn''t reconized it as an ability yet because he just isn''t a meditating guy in fact he hates it, in his words "Have you ever tried to meditate? it is boring goddamnit!" so, he will meditate if he absolutely needs to but otherwise, nope. Plus there is the fact that meditating leaves one extremely vulnerable, not a good idea in a city full of monsters and no backup. Also, the reason I started writing this was because I always found it funny how the military and police look like headless chicken in nearly every apocalypse novel, for example in "Sole survivor", while I quite like that novel the fact that it took the MC teleporting there to kill even a single slime just annoyed the hell out of me, here is why. Spoiler : I once heard some very wise words from my friend when he saw a big spider, he said "Kill it! Kill it with fire!" Think about it, it just isn''t possible that no police office there had ever played and RPG game, and even if they didn''t or these games didn''t even exist in that universe, if anyone shoot something and it does nothing the very next thing they are gonna try is burn the fucking thing to ashes. Why is it that no part of the government is even remotelly competent in most of those novels, it always take a 16 years old to save the world, Ok I get those novels where the guy is stuck into a school or something and has to man up, the military doesn''t have unlimited men to save everyone but the others... lets say a damn dragon spawn somewhere, if it is the huge flying lizard kind a simple heavy gun with piercing bullets can kill it, if it is the magical and inteligent one you may require a missile and, If it is the endgame godlike kind you may be fucked but I still refuse to believe a nuke wouldn''t drop or at least hurt the thing they don''t need a 16 years old to face it with a sword. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ¡°Very well this is what I need¡± Said the strange soldier as He spread a mapa in the ground and marked the supermarket on it with a circle, drawing a bigger circle with many streets around it, ¡°Those points are minotaur groups¡­¡± ¡°Parties¡± ¡°what?¡± ¡°they¡¯re called parties¡± Michael had to sigh at Nathan¡¯s idiocy, thankfully Aly covered his mouth with her hand before he continued arguing with the heavily armed super powerful guy ¡°Anyway, those minotaur GROUPS are much like the ones you just took care of and inconsequential, I will be taking care of them, Those¡± and he marked 3 positions on the bigger circle ¡°those are 4 man patrols with much stronger creatures it is with them you have to worry¡± ¡°So you want us to help you eliminate those patrols one by one?¡± ¡°Nope, despite what it looks like this is not a game, if a patrol doesn¡¯t return, make too much noise or has any way to alert the others we would be swarmed with minotaurs, what I need is a distraction.¡± ¡°We could just burn them out of it¡± suggested Raphael ¡° We could but that would enrage the boss and you guys got no chance against it what I need is a way to draw most of the minotaurs out but leave the boss unconcerned¡± with a thoughtful look Aly inspected the map ¡°But the fire could work¡± ¡°What do you mean Aly?¡± ¡°Look the supermarket is in a 3-way intersection, the door has a free look down the street we could arrange a distraction a few blocks away, if it is loud enough it should attract most of the fuckers¡± After a few more minutes discussing they finally came up with a plan. Michael plunged his spear with both hands at a car, once, twice, 12 times before he managed to penetrate it¡¯s fuel tank, drawing gas from it he filled another bucked with it, his fourth one, his spear was a crude thing, a sharpened kitchen knife tied to the end of a metal pole, he had made it a few hours after the hit, looking at it he remembered how it all started. The five of them were enjoying the holyday watching a movie on Raphael¡¯s house when his mother screamed terrified from her bedroom, all of them ran towards it expecting anything but the little green man banging her head repeatedly on the ground, blood splashing everywhere, Raphael¡¯s father was the first to react kicking him off his wife then jumping on top of it trying to strangle the thing, out of nowhere a second green midget appeared and used a bone knife to stab Mr. Ramires¡¯ back. Alysha, Suzanna and Nathan were still numbly watching when Raphael lost it, jumping on the small creature he started brawling with it as his father continued to strangle the other one not even noticing his wound, Raphael fought with rage but he was not a killer, not yet, exitating at the last moment he was hit on the head with the telephone and fell over, desperate Michael himself ran to the bone knife and stabbed the green thing in the chest driving it into the ground, screaming and crying he stabbed it over and over again until it had long stopped moving, the girls had to drag him away from it. Mr. Ramires managed to choke the other goblin to death but his knife wound had hit an artery and he bleed out soon after, Mrs. Ramires died later that night, her head injury had been too severe and, without medical attention she couldn¡¯t hold out. Suzanna had died early in the morning when they killed the hobgoblin in their neighborhood, they had to abandon her corpse after to escape the horned rats that were attracted by the smell of blood, Michael only hopped the other people who helped attack the goblins had managed to escape too. ¡°we are ready¡± he said to the soldier dressed in futuristic armor, Loki he called himself, Michael didn¡¯t trust the man but he was their only hope, as the man¡¯s armor changed color he became nearly indistinguishable from the background, as if pulled by an invisible string the man rose to a rooftop and disappeared completely. ¡°Fucking bastard¡± cursed Alysha venting her anger, Nathan put a hand over her shoulder to calm her down ¡°It should work Aly¡± Raphael ignored their discussion picking up some of the gas containers ¡°Let¡¯s go, I don¡¯t want to see what he would do if we mess his timing¡±. Helping his friend Michael picked up some of the containers and started walking towards the trap, Nathan soon caught up ¡°Do you think he told us the truth?¡± ¡°About what?¡± Nathan scratched the back of his head ¡°I don¡¯t know, everything?¡± sighing Michal though about it ¡°I don¡¯t know Nate but, probably, he doesn¡¯t seems like someone who bothers with lying¡± ¡°But¡­ they knew it? They knew it was going to happen and didn¡¯t say anything?¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Of course the government knew it idiot, they just don¡¯t give a shit about us¡± ¡°Enough Raphael¡± ¡°Whatever¡± barely contained anger radiated from Raphael¡¯s voice, Mica just ignored the bickering, he was tired, he needed a place to rest, yes rest and maybe cry a little. Getting everyone in position they put the containers where they could do the most damage and waited, watching the 4 man patrol approaching their trap, they were 5 blocks directly in front of the supermarket¡¯s door in a semicircle of abandoned cars. Crouched behind a car with Nathan he couldn¡¯t help smiling in anticipation even in this terrible time ¡°Do it!¡± Nathan nodded his head and started whispering his spell, getting up he hurled a ball of burning hot fire over their heads, it flew in a straight line falling just to the side of the target thankfully a spark touched the gas container. BOM! The explosion shook the street blowing the car windows just as the minotaurs were passing by, it blew all four of them off their feet, breaking cover he dashed with his spear ready and stabbed the four on their throat.
Your party member has slain minotaur level 4 x 3 + 42 XP
You have slain minotaur level 5 +30 XP
A second fireball flew over his head like an arrow to explode upon the still starring minotaur guards at the supermarket entrance blowing him away, the second minotaur gave a bellow of rage and lifted his weapon as the first tried to stand up again, suddenly both of then rose slightly in the air by their throats struggling to free themselves, Michael could hear their necks breaking as they fell back down in a bonelessly, looking up he saw a small blurry figure about 6 meters above them on the wall for a second before it dived through the window, lifting a hand to his throat he shivered. A crowd of minotaurs squeezed past the door of the building, they saw both guards dead on the ground and the burning street with Michael standing over another four of them, his spear still dripping blood. All 30 or so minotaurs bellowed in rage and charged him with burning red eyes ¡°Oh fuck!¡± turning around he ran towards the trap as fast as he could but the monsters were much faster gaining on him, a cold feeling at the back of his head made him turn around and lift his shield to hide behind. The crude stone hammer hit his shield like a truck cracking it right in the middle and sending him flying to fall a whole 4 meters away then roll for another 3 before he managed to get up and continue running, adrenaline making him not even notice the pain or the broken arm. Finally Raphael started the truck he had been hiding on and accelerated blocking the street and the minotaurs way back, jumping out of the truck on the other other side of the creatures Raphael screamed ¡°Get out of there Mica!¡± Using his only good arm Michael vaulted over the car line, 3 other minotaurs jumped right behind him before a fireball hit the car and exploded the second gas container sending all 4 of them flying from the impact, another two fireballs fell on the inside of the circle of cars blowing the rest of the gas containers and turning the whole place into a burning hell. Alysha darted out from a building, her sword in hand stabbing the closest minotaur in the throat, Michael tried to get up, adrenaline still running in his system but he just couldn¡¯t ¡°Mica stop, don¡¯t move!¡± she screamed at him as the two surviving minotaurs got to their feet, holding her sword tightly in a defensive position Alysha waited for the less damaged of the creatures to make the first move, he couldn¡¯t watch it, he wouldn¡¯t accept another of his friends dying, he started crawling towards his spear and gritting his teeth. As he reached it and turned around he saw the minotaur¡¯s axe swing, Alysha jumped back with the gracefulness of a dancer then, with a lightning fast lunge she pierced her sword in it¡¯s unprotected side then pulled it off and let the creature fall to the ground already dead, the second monster was even easier as he was already badly wounded, dashing over before it could even lift it¡¯s weapon she passed him by using her sword to cut low on it¡¯s already wounded leg she ended up at the creature¡¯s back as it fell to it¡¯s knees, holding her blade with both hands she turned, using all her momentum and strength to cut at it¡¯s neck, unfortunately minotaur bones are extremely though and the sword got stuck halfway only half decapitating the minotaur. ¡°What?¡± ¡°What what?¡± ¡°You¡¯re starring Mica, now close your mouth and lay down you¡¯re hurt¡± He let himself fall back down, his entire body hurting ¡°I want¡­ to pass out¡± ¡°Yeah, Nathan already did that¡±
Your party has slain minotaur guard level 6 x 11 + 176 XP
Your party has slain minotaur level 5 x 13 + 195 XP
Your party has slain minotaur level 6 x 6 + 96 XP
Looking over at the burning flames Aly laughed ¡°Hey I just got to level 3!¡± ¡°Congratu¡­ lations¡± turning over Michale laid belly up and put his good arm over his head ¡°Get me a healing potion¡­ will you¡± ¡°Sure, Raphael should be arriving soon anyway, hey you think army guy did it?¡± ¡°I am sure we are gonna find out soon enough, one way or the other¡±. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hey guys tomorrow I probably won''t be posting a chapter so don''t worry, Also, is it too soon to ask for a review? I don''t mean rating my novel (although that would be nice) but telling me what I am doing right, what I am doing wrong, what could be better things like that Chapter 6 - Boss fight Greetings readers! Unfortunately I come with sad news, I just now realized I started posting this novel at a really bad time, I got exams coming up soon and I won¡¯t have much time to post chapters in at least the next few days, Monday I will be posting another chapter as it is a fairly short one but after that I will probably take a week off for studying, real sorry about that. Don¡¯t mistake me the chapters are mostly ready until chapter 22 and planed to the end of the arc but they are on paper so it takes time to digitalize them. In compensation I promise to post a chapter a day from 29/09 to 08/10 ____________________________________________________________________________ He hung from the top of the tallest building as he watched the loose minotaur groups walking close to the target, getting on his knees he put on the silencer in his rifle then lifted it to his shoulders, the aim assist quickly marked the 3 loose groups of minotaurs in a red light indicating their distance and calculating the best shoot, slowly releasing his breath he pulled the trigger seven times, he missed one, to kill the first six minotaurs dropping them with piercing bullets.
you have slain minotaur level 1 x 5 + 250 XP
you have slain minotaur level 2 + 55 XP
Turning to the other 2 groups he ran to the other side of the building to get a shoot, making sure to drop all minotaurs before they warned anyone else, their tendency to stand around with dumb faces and look for the enemy when one of them died made it much easier.
you have slain minotaur level 1 x 8 + 400 XP
you have slain minotaur level 2 x 3 + 165 XP
Congratulations you have reached level 3, as a human you gain 1 attribute point
Happy his increased level in such opportune moment he decided to increase his again.
Congratulations you¡¯re the ninth person to break the limits of humanity trough the as a reward you gained the ability title
PIONEER
you are one of the pioneers of humanity in the system + 10 XP gain
Congratulations you¡¯re the first person to break mankind¡¯s limit with trough the as a reward you gained the unique skill
DIVINE INSPECTION
Knowledge is power, with divine inspection you can see trough one¡¯s attributes and obtain far more information
Congratulations, by breaking through your race¡¯s limit in you gain +100 mana
Smiling at his unexpected gains he found it a pity that only his max mana and not the current one increased, getting off his knees he materialized a wider string he laid it down between rooftops then ran trough it using his abnormal dexterity and speed to not fall, he got to the supermarket just after one of the minotaur guards got a fireball to his chest and fell down, using another string he fixed it to the roof¡¯s edge and tied his waist before running down the side of the building stopping right above the two guards, creating another two strings he tied them into hangman¡¯s knots and dropped them around the creature¡¯s heads before pulling, using his hands to increase control and power.
You have slain minotaur guard level 6 x 2 +147 XP
Congratulation has increased a level
Releasing his strings he turned around and jumped through an open window to step on one of the steel support beans, the supermarket was a mess, most of the shelves were pushed down and a round open space was made besides the black node, besides the node there was a huge bonfire over which various pieces of meat from the butcher shop were slowly roasting, they probably tasted better than human meat. As most of the minotaurs present ran out of the door he could finally see the boss, it just continued sitting on a throne made of broken shelves and other products covered by clothes it¡¯s body was big but lean and it was gnawing on a huge piece of cow leg ¡°That¡¯s got to be cannibalism¡± he whispered to himself, the boss didn¡¯t even lift his head at the commotion convinced that his troops could deal with it. By the sides of the boss were two huge minotaur guards, nearly the size of Ulmog also enjoying the food, an old and skinny minotaur with impressive twisting horns and a walking cane was also sitting down in a smaller throne. On one of the corners of the place there was a big pile of dried up human corpses discarded away and a dozen naked human woman laid in a crude holding pen, they were big or strong woman and, although they were still breathing and moving, their eyes were already dead, taking care of them were 5 minotaur females, looking very much like the male the only difference were 3 sets of breasts on their chest but didn¡¯t appear to be fighters. [tr] [tr]
Uthar ¨C minotaur chieftain ¨C Level 14HEALTH100%
STR21END15
DEX18SPD12
WIS6INT4
[tr] [tr]
Ethok ¨C minotaur shaman ¨C Level 10HEALTH75%
STR14END9
DEX12SPD12
WIS6INT8
[tr] [tr]
Minotaur guard ¨C Level 8HEALTH100%
STR15END12
DEX6SPD10
WIS1INT2
[tr] [tr]
Minotaur guard ¨C Level 8HEALTH98%
STR14END13
DEX7SPD9
WIS1INT2
He had to smile, knowledge really is power however he didn¡¯t know if he should laugh or cry at a level 14 Boss with more than double his strength. Giving time for the other minotaurs to get as far away from the place as possible he silently approached the boss jumping from support bean to support bean finally standing right above it he thought about his fight with Ulmog, this boss was probably even stronger than him and much, much faster. He needed to fight the boss with no distractions and even his gun probably wouldn¡¯t be fast enough to get all 4 of them before the boss reacted, if his gun could even get through their hides. Manifesting twenty wide strings he twisted them around each other in groups of five forming four strong ropes, tying them in hangman nooses he sent them looping around the throats of all four and tightened it before they noticed. All four of them jumped to their feet in fright as the invisible rope bit into their necks, using everything he had he tightened the noose, the boss was the first to react getting up it dashed away from the source of the attack trying to get distance to stop the ability, it wouldn¡¯t. The two minotaur guards fell to their knees clutching their throats in panic helplessly, the shaman pointed his cane to the naked women on the holding pen, a translucent scarlet light was drawn from all of their orifices as they screamed and dried up becoming husks as the light flew into the shaman¡¯s hands then covering its entire body and starting to eat away at his own invisible hope, pain started to increase in his head. Dissolving the shaman¡¯s rope Aaron jumped aside as a bolt of scarlet light hit the place he had just been destroying the support bean and blowing a hole through the roof of the building, the minotaur females screamed and bellowed in fright as they hid at a corner trembling. Even as he drew his Smith & Yessel from its holster the old bull gathered the remaining scarlet light into a ball and sent it the boss way, with no time for proper aiming Aaron went for a body shoot, the bullet pierced it¡¯s right lung and exploded inside the body blowing a hole the size of a basketball in it, he looked at his own gun, impressed.
You have slain Ethok + 260 XP
The scarlet ball of power hit the back of the boss and his muscles bulged in an unnatural way, veins appeared all over its body flashing red and its neck nearly doubled in size making the rope snap, a huge backlash hit his brain as his ability got destroyed, the enraged bull turned towards him, its eyes flashing red. ¡°Fuck that complicates things!¡± increasing the pressure on the last two minotaur guards he heard their necks breaking from the pressure as his adrenaline increased his power, seeing it the boss bellowed in rage, it¡¯s voice seemed to hit Aaron hard in the chest and make him dizzy.
You have slain minotaur guard level 8 x 2 + 200 XP
Fear gripped his heart and his muscles locked up in terror of the monster running his way, the red light filled it¡¯s body and it grew nearly 10 centimeters with each step it took, its horns growing and curving with demonic fire, its claws extending from its hands. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Jumping onto another support bean he Shoot all 13 of his remaining bullets at the creature, unfortunately the bullets were not enough to pierce its skin exploding on contact and blowing small holes all over its chest and arms.
Normal strike -18% health
In an even greater rage tentacles sprung from the monstrosity¡¯s back and countless mouths opened in its huge chest screaming as one in terror and rage, one of its tentacles grabbed a minotaur guard¡¯s hammer and threw the huge thing at him. Although his whole body was heavy and rigid Aaron still knew better than to stand still so he jumped into another bean dodging the projectile and ran alongside it as a sword and then a whole metallic shelf flew his way.
though your willpower you have overcome a fear effect, you have gained
Looking back the boss was back into his normal form but its eyes were still red and its muscles still bulged with glowing veins, picking another shelf with its hand he threw it at him but he was already too far making it fall short. Releasing a breath he made all seven blades leave their sheaths and fluctuate around him he was extremely angry ¡°Fucking cow and its stupid fear effect goddamnit¡± his heart was still beating like a drum against his chest and his breathing was still ragged, rage flooded his veins as he tried to recover, he absolutely hated feeling fear, he had felt it too much already, letting himself fall to the ground he sent two knives towards the creature¡¯s eyes. Lifting his rifle he took aim at the boss even as it picked up another shelf and batted his knives aside, pulling the trigger he unloaded a full clip on the fucker with penetrating bullets but they just bounced right off its hide with flashed of red, as the boss prepared to throw the shelf he manifested a string and tried to bind its arm but his power just dissolved when it came into contact with its skin. As the shelf came flying his way he used to bash it aside then pick up one of the wooden balcony and return the favor, as the minotaur was districted he reconnected both knives with new strings and sent them at its back, one hit its neck harmlessly while the other hit one of the gunshot wounds and penetrated to the hilt
Normal Strike -3% health
Unfortunately he lost connection to both knives as soon as they touched the scarlet light running through the boss¡¯ body and couldn¡¯t reconnect them, finally tired of throwing things the boss picked up a double bladed war axe with a nearly 2 meters long handle and started walking towards Aaron cautiously. Using his left hand to take a box of exploding bullets out of the compartment at his back he threw both the box and his gun aside to catch with strings and start reloading, with a mental command both strings holding his daggers came close and released the blades at his hand while keeping his 3 remaining blades hanging on their strings ready to strike at any opening. Coming within 3 meters of the beast he started circling it, stepping over spilled products and shelves, the minotaur was cautious as he had already proven he could wound it while he was buying time to finish reloading, not an easy thing to do with his power.
Congratulation, your has increased a level
Finishing reloading he made the first move, aiming with his strings was worse than shooting from the hip but his first bullet still went more or less towards its head unfortunately the boss saw it coming and blocked with the axe¡¯s blade before retaliating with a horizontal swing towards his neck Dodging down he saw the blade pass harmlessly over his head but the handle suddenly flashed into his vision in a rising blow, he only had enough time to block by crossing his daggers before the hit sent him flying in the air, he bounced off one of the support beans and fell down nearly 30 meters away losing control of all his strings.
you suffered -59% HEALTH!
¡°That¡¯s it, no more playing nice¡± the armor was good enough to absorb most of the damage but it still got bent a little and hurt like hell, emboldened by the good hit the boss charged him, axe ready for an overhead strike. Manifesting he used it to grab his fallen jian and, using both hands to increase its strength, he thrust it upward, all his power and the minotaur¡¯s own momentum drove the extremely sharp blade up its pubic region to the hilt severing its little brother, blood gushed out of the wound as the boss immediately stopped in place and screamed like a little calf.
Crippling strike -24% health
¡°Ha¡­ coff coff¡­. Idiot¡± getting up slowly, his arms still hurting like hell, he snorted at the crying minotaur, using its distraction he picked up the fallen gun with a string and started to shoot the bovine in the head. The boss raised its hands to protect its face as bullets continued to explode on impact but he still managed to blow off a piece of horn, 3 fingers of its left hand and an even an ear, the final shoot managed to hit its neck and blow off a huge chunk of flesh in a shower of blood.
Normal strike -6% health
Critical strike -19% health
Dashing the small distance between them he took advantage of the minotaur¡¯s distraction to grab the handle of his sword, twist it, then push it further inside its guts, a desperate swing of the creature¡¯s arm bashed his head aside sending him sprawling away still holding the sword
Critical strike -17% health
you suffered -21% HEALTH!
The hit finally managed to calm his anger down, so what if this thing had made him afraid, it would die like all the others, looking over at the bloody creature he finally noticed that it had lost the scarlet color on its body and its muscles were deflating, its eyes were back to normal ¡°So the skill had a limited duration¡± to test it out he materialized a string and wrapped it around the knife still stuck in one of its wounds smiling as he managed to pull it out. Unfortunately that small act also awoke the boss from its pain induced daze, using its good hand it grabbed the handle of the axe and charged him again, as the bastard prepared its arm for a swing he used a string to wrap around its middle finger and pull back snapping it with a loud crack, the axe fell down from its hand and Aaron threw his sword using again to drive it into the boss¡¯ neck would all the way through before twisting it.
Critical strike -11% health
Clutching its throat the minotaur fell down, blood gushing out to form a pool on the ground, Aaron finally released a breath and sat down, watching it slowly bleed out, turning his eyes towards the fearful minotaur females he sighed without knowing what to do. The right thing to do would be to kill them, it would stop more monsters from being born as well as earn his some more XP but it would leave a bad taste in his mouth, he mostly didn¡¯t care if weaklings got killed but really disliked killing them himself, he finally decided to ignore the creatures, who knows they could prove useful for information and, if the army wanted them dead, they could do it themselves when they arrived. ¡°Command this is Loki, the minotaur node has been conquered¡± ¡°Good work Loki we are sending the army to secure the location in 108 minutes¡± ¡°Understood¡± getting up he started to walk towards the black orb floating besides the fire when he got the notice.
You have slain Uthar level 14 +932 XP
For being the first to slay a boss more than 10 levels above you in single combat you earn the ability
GIANT EATER
When killing Elite creatures more than 10 levels above you +1 attribute point, when killing Boss creatures more than 5 levels above you +1 attribute points
Finally getting to the node he put his hand on it and held on for a full minute
Congratulations, Loki from US army guild has claimed this node +100 XP to all guild members in node¡¯s range
___________________________________________________________________________ Aaron¡¯s Status: Spoiler :
NAMEAaron RossRACEHuman(variant)
TITLESCalamity child, Codename: Loki, Pioneer
STATUSWell rested (-10% stamina loss)
LEVEL3HEALTH20%
STAMINA66%MANA210/1112
STR8SPD8
END9DEX12
WIS7INT11
ABILITIES
Telekinesis (string) ¨C Beginner level 9
Multitask ¨C Beginner level 3
Shooting ¨C Beginner level 1
Fear resistance ¨C Beginner level 1
Divine Inspection ¨C Beginner level 1
Giant Eater ¨C MAX
Dagger mastery - beginner level 1
SKILLS
Titan¡¯s hand ¨C Beginner level 3
Chapter 7 - Trade As I said before this is a very short chapter but the next one will return to the normal length, it will probably come 28/09, Originaly I planed to release chapter 7 and 8 together to make up for it''s short lenght but I just didn''t have time sorry, see you next time ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ After the node finished turning blue Aaron used his power to tie the hands and feet of the minotaur females then walked back to the boss¡¯ throne and sat down, it was unexpectedly comfortable for such crude thing, sitting there waiting with nothing better to do he looked around, his eyes caught the meat over the fire and thought why not? Materializing a new string he pulled a piece of lamb? It was probably lamb, laying his head back he took a bite out of it he enjoyed the taste of well roasted meat while his mana slowly recovered, he had a little more than an hour to wait anyway, his arms, back and head still hurt like hell but he was used to pain, strangely enough the food seemed to help with health regeneration as well, just another oddity with this new world, finishing his lunch he put the helmet back on and closed his eyes to rest. Snapping awake with a jerk Aaron instantly materialized his power making his four knives cross around him in a defensive position while his rifle pointed at the supermarket entrance ¡°Don¡¯t shoot!¡± lowering the gun he stretched his arms and looked at the internal clock of his armor, he had actually been napping for 32 minutes ¡°Well come in Mica, make yourself at home, grab a bite¡± The four teenagers looked completely fine, Mica even had a new spear with a wide blade and a shinning black wooden shaft, his eyes narrowed suspiciously ¡°Say¡­ you guys wouldn¡¯t have a healing item with you?¡± with a wide smile the girl spoke ¡°Sure we do soldier, what would you give for it?¡± ¡°How about your life?¡± all of them instantly stepped back, weapons ready, Mica¡¯s face was a mask of determination, both the girl and the other warrior¡¯s eyes filled with rage and the mage was just scared. ¡°Joking, I am just joking, didn¡¯t I already say I am quite happy with you guys being alive?¡± using 4 strings to send some meat their ways he continued ¡°Besides, if I really needed those items I could get them without even hurting you guys, they are merely a comfort not a necessity¡± the mage¡¯s knees nearly gave up ¡°Oh thank god!¡± Looking around the place the girl barked ¡°How can you still eat in a place like this!¡± glancing around at the corpses and spilled blood he shrugged ¡°You get used to it¡± finally noticing a big red orb laying besides the shaman¡¯s body he used his power to pull it to his hand, ¡°Wow you got a skill book¡± turning the orb around in his hand he turned to the group ¡°This is a skill book?¡± ¡°Yeah¡± ¡°Well it certainly doesn¡¯t look like it¡± he decided to inspect the thing anyway
Consume Spirit ¨C Skill Book
Can consume the spirit of a creature slain by your own hand to temporarily empower yourself
higher levels increase number of spiritshigher levels increase durationmana cost depends on spirit consumedat higher levels can have other effects
Creepy skill, it could certainly prove useful in some situations but he thought it didn¡¯t really fit him, searching for more useful items laying around he picked up the shaman¡¯s cane, the boss¡¯ axe and a well crafted jeweled blowing horn.
Uthar¡¯s axeCLASSD
ATACK
SLASH3BLUNT2
PIERCE0MAGIC0
ABILITIES
N/A
an iron axe crafted by a minotaur blacksmith, not the best of weapons but good enough for one of the primitive creatures
Forged by IanokUsed by UnokUsed by Utharkin good condition
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Oakwood staffCLASSD+
ATACK
SLASH0BLUNT1
PIERCE0MAGIC0
ABILITIES
+5% magic skill power
A magic staff made from simple oak
Made by EthokUsed by Ethokin good condition
Horn of the Oxblood clanCLASSC
ABILITIES
+ 10% morale for nearby allied troopslight stun effect for enemy troops
A horn crafted from Ethaol Oxblood, creator of the Oxblood clan, by a master craftsman
Used by many generationsslightly deteriorated
¡°Well well well this makes things easier, how about this, I give the axe to angry boy there and the magic staff to your mage, in exchange you guys share half your health and mana potions with me plus you guard this place until reinforcements arrive?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°No¡± ¡°We gotta think about it¡± said the mage, the warrior and Mica at the same time, the girl just kicked some things aside and started looking around. Letting them discuss things among themselves he opened the inbuilt compartment at his back and put both the skill book and the horn inside, having to take out the last 3 boxes of normal bullets to make space, they were mostly useless anyway, he slowly recharged the rifle with piercing bullets and the handgun with his last exploding hounds while waiting. Eventually Mica approached his chair ¡°When do those reinforcements arrive and what would they do with us?¡± ¡°In about an hour they should be here to defend the node, as for what they would do, they would probably offer you a job really¡± pushing himself up from the chair he continued ¡°I suggest you guys take it, lone groups will not live long in this new world¡± exchanging a look with the other 3 Mica nodded ¡°Fine, we accept¡±. Taking out 9 small bottles about 7 cm tall from their backpacks 6 of them had a red color and the other 3 were blue and slightly shinning, the mage separated 3 of the red ones and 1 blue before handing them to him, he raised an eyebrow at the division but didn¡¯t say anything as he was not sure half a bottle was even effective. Opening one of the red bottles he took off the mouth piece of his helmet and sniffed it, it smelled like a mixture of strawberries and blood, draining it all he noted it was tasteless like water but far thicker burning like alcohol as it went down his throat, immediately he started feeling better, the muscles at his back no longer ached, his arms were no longer swollen and his head stopped hurting, his health bar was very quickly going up only stopping at 87%. Noticing his mana was nearly full from the node¡¯s bonus regeneration he walked out of the supermarket and looked at the sky, it was already the end of the afternoon. ¡°Control what¡¯s the situation?¡± ¡°The city core is still in human hands but we haven¡¯t established communications, the human node has received no attacks and Beta team has just finished the rat node, plan Delta has been successful and we will be dropping troops to take over the node in 10 minutes¡± ¡°Will it be fine without the Einherjar?¡± ¡°The army is not incompetent Loki, besides we are dropping Titans at each location¡± ¡°Fine, I will be moving towards the city core soon, a group of survivors will hold the node¡± ¡°Understood¡±. Taking off his helmet for a while he felt the wind in his face and enjoyed seeing the beautiful orange light of the sun just about to go down, he smiled at the beautiful scene, at his freedom, he ignored the boy observing him from the market¡¯s door ¡°And you called us kids¡± said Mica as he stared ¡°A useful method to establish seniority and, with it, dominance¡± walking to his side Mica watched the sky with him ¡°Beautiful isn¡¯t it Mica?¡± being in a particularly good mood made Aaron chatty ¡°Why did you act like such a dick?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just say the place where I grew up was not the best one to learn about social manners¡± smiling wide he had to continue ¡°Besides, you guys probably won¡¯t live long enough for me to care about your opinion, good bye Mica, hope you guys make it¡± Putting his helmet back on he started jogging away in fast but sustainable speed before using his strings to pull himself to the top of a building and disappearing from view. An hour latter Aaron turned around to see the skydiving troops fall over the supermarket, two huge metal balls were slowly descending with many parachutes, the titans he presumed, ignoring them he continued on. As the sun completely went down he engaged his helmet night vision on the left eye, taking about 10 minutes to get used to the different perspectives from each eye before moving on, noticing a movement at the street he stopped on the edge of a rooftop and looked down, a man got out of his car through a window, he was in a daze as he turned towards Aaron¡¯s destination and started to slowly walk towards it with slow but sure steps, all around him other man and woman started to get up. ¡°Control, was operation delta really successful?¡± ¡°Affirmative Loki, the army on sight confirmed the death of a necromancer boss¡± ¡°And the elite?¡± ¡°It¡¯s body was probably destroyed in the bombardment¡± ¡°Fuck, I think we got a problem.¡± Chapter 8 - Hero Hey guys a very long chapter for you today to make up for the last one, hope you guys enjoy it ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ Erick released the trigger from his still smoking minigun watching its barel slowly stop spinning, ahead of him lay a sea of dead horned rats, his ears were still ringing from the noise but he couldn¡¯t help smiling at the power of his weapon, with mana cursing through his enhanced body he could actually shoot the thing from the hip, it gave him an incredible sense of power. He had initially thought using the 2 miniguns to be a little too much for the simple creatures but they went by the the principle of better safe than sorry, now he was glad they did. The majority of the horned rats had been the usual level 1 or 2, useless against them but the elite and the boss were something else, hiding among their lesser brethren they cast powerful magicks through their horns, their thunder strikes were powerful enough to overcome even their armor¡¯s powerful defenses actually eletricuting Beta 7, the team¡¯s medic had to restart his hearth. ¡°Team 2 and 3 clean those bodies away and burn them, team 1 help with the wounded!¡± While Beta 1 started to set a defense perimeter Eric released his heavy gun, letting his mana disperse from his muscles he felt his sense of strength vanishing to be replaced with exhaustion, walking towards the floating black orb he put his hand over it, a minute latter it turned completely blue
Congratulations Siegfried from the US army guild has claimed this node + 100 XP to all guild members in the node¡¯s range
Congratulations you have reached level 3, as a human you gain 1 free attribute point
Distributing his new point on speed getting it to 9 points then went to help with the bodies, deciding to save mana he did it the usual way, with a natural 10 strength it was not that hard, soon 3 huge fires were lighted. Beta 1 once again barked in an angry voice ¡°Team 2 and 3 will guard the node while team 1 advance to the city core, Loki should be meeting us there¡± putting his minigun back into a supply box with the second one and their ammunition he concentrated and release a small amount of power from his core letting it run through his veins feeding his muscles with pure mana and empowering them slightly, only about 40%, a situation he could easily maintain for quite some time he lifted the huge crate on his back and started following team 1. They were only 5 blocks away from the rat node when he caught some movement from the corner of his eyes, focusing on the slightly open manhole he say a small blonde head peek through quickly and hide again, his mood was ruined at the sight of the small child alone in such terrible place. ¡°Siegfried you okay?¡± ¡°Yeah, sure¡± moving on before team 1 left him behind He tried to ignore the child, they would have time to save her later, when their mission was complete, He managed to walk a full 5 steps before his legs wouldn¡¯t move anymore ¡°Fuck it!¡± releasing his crate he ran back to the manhole and squatted looking down. A young and dirty girl of around 8 years old was curled into a ball on a corner of the wall quietly crying and trying to hide ¡°Hey beautiful¡± the girl gave a little scream and tried to hide harder ¡°Shhhh, it¡¯s okay cutie we are here to help¡± ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t call me cute¡­ momy said only bad people say it like that!¡± Behind his back Erick could hear his teammates snickering and Beta 1 grumbling ¡°Just what we need, another burden before we complete the mission¡± ¡°oh come on captain, it¡¯s just a kid¡±, ignoring the other four Erick continued ¡°It¡¯s okay I am not a bad guy, what¡¯s your name?¡± peaking through her bangs she replied ¡°Lily¡± ¡°Well Lily don¡¯t you want to leave this hole? It¡¯s okay we can keep you safe¡± finally lifting her blonde head she looked at him with her big green eyes ¡°Will you help me look for mommy?¡± ¡°I can try¡± her small face was filled with indecision so Erick took off his helmet and smiled ¡°Come here¡± getting up she came closer and lifter her arms, picking her up he put her into his shoulders while she mumbled ¡°I want to go home¡±. Picking his crate back up he got an angry look from Beta 1 but, whatever, he was from Ragnarok he didn¡¯t answer to the Einherjar, soon they started back towards the prefecture as the sun started to go down ¡°Are we there yet?¡± asked the little girl waving her small feet over his shoulders ¡°almost Lily, just 40 more minutes¡± ¡°That¡¯s too long!¡± smiling at the girl¡¯s voice he offered ¡°Why don¡¯t you sing a little then?¡± ¡°YES!¡± ¡°Siegfried we can¡¯t have a child singing in the middle of a mission!¡± ¡°Relax a little Captain, we should have conquered all nodes, the most dangerous creatures should be dealt with, anything her singing may attract will only be more XP for us¡± As they advanced with the setting sun Lily started singing lightly while Erick whistled a tune, they made a strange vision, a group of 5 heavily armed people, one of them carrying a nearly two meters tall crate with a little girl on top advancing accompanied by a song. ¡°Hey!¡± screamed a man from a third story window ¡°Hey! Help!¡±. A private channel opened as Beta 1 spoke ¡°Siegfried we can¡¯t save everyone¡± ¡°I agree Beta 1 but our mission is nearly complete, what¡¯s the problem with letting some of them follow us on their own?¡± Beta 1 shook her head and closed the private channel so he screamed at the man ¡°Look man, if you can get down and follow us we are going to the prefecture, if not we can send some people latter to help you out!¡± As their noise attracted attention a horned rat that had been away from the boss jumped over the cars towards him but Beta 3 turned around and released a burst of 3 bullets exploding it¡¯s head and they moved on. The barricade become visible 4 blocks away from the city core, corpses of horned rats, humans, minotaurs and many other creatures could be seen on the street clean of cars in a sort of kill zone, putting Lily down on the ground Erick patted her blonde head and squatted down ¡°Stay here sweetie you are almost safe¡± ¡°Okay¡± getting back up he turned to a blonde woman with a short sword at her side and a haunted look in her eyes ¡°Take care of her¡± the woman nodded and he left. All five of them dressed in armor approached the barricade and soon there were about 15 man with all kinds of guns aimed at then, only 3 of them were policemen, Beta 1 spoke first ¡°We are the US army don¡¯t shoot!¡± a man in the center of the barricade looked at her, he held a shotgun and had a cruel air, his hair was still messy with blood ¡°Yeah? And how do we know that?¡± taking out some official looking papers from her back Beta 1 handed it to the man and took a few steps back. After reading the papers the man started to get nervous, two other men came closer and started whispering among themselves but, with their helmet¡¯s help they all could hear them ¡°I thought the government had fallen man¡± ¡°What if it¡¯s true?¡± ¡°No it¡¯s the mayors town now they can¡¯t just take over¡± ¡°Yeah, and who knows they could be one of those Changelongs or whatever was their name, just changing their appearance to trick us, they certainly look strange enough¡±. Deciding to end their speculations early Beta 1 took off her helmet letting her brunet long hair fall to her back ¡°Look we are human, we just need to get inside, we have around 200 people with us and need a safe place to leave them¡±. Looking at Beta 1¡¯s face the four man exchanged a few more words then the shotgun wielding one answered ¡°Ok, you can come in but you have to leave your weapons with us¡± ¡°I am sorry but I can¡¯t do that¡± smiling to take the bite out of her words Beta 1 gestured at the city ¡°We are just not allowed to go without weapons in the world right now¡± lowering his head the man said ¡°It¡¯s a pity¡± Beta 1 tried to reason further ¡°Looks it¡¯s just an army thing, we really have to get inside¡± Erick snickered, who knew they taught soldiers to use female willies ¡°you understand right?¡± ¡°I see¡­ then dye!¡± Lifting his shotgun before any of them could react he shoot Beta 1 in the face, the back of her head exploded in blood, bones and brain matter that splashed over Erick¡¯s helmet and chest armor, the other 3 team members scattered jumping for cover as all 15 men opened fire their way but Erick just stood there, his armor blocking the bullets and his enhanced body strong enough to withstand the already half dispersed impact. Erick Lennon was not a killer and, despite the many dead corpses around the city, he had never seen a person die in front of him, since he was 10 years old and discovered his power he had been trained to kill monsters and save humans, when he was 16 he had to face a tiger in hand to hand combat, at 17 he had to spend a month alone in a desert but all those times the danger was to himself or animals never other humans. He had always been a simple man, a little dumb even, so he had to read, get classes and learn from the best teachers in the world turning what he himself recognized to be a gentle musclehead into an intelligent man that the system itself attributed a 6 on intellect and wisdom, slightly above average. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. In his mind he knew people would take this new reality as a license to kill and oppress each other but he still hoped that, with a common enemy, mankind would unite and help each other, it seems he was wrong. Standing there as they shoot at him Erick was angry at himself and those bastards, slowly drawing his giant sword from his back he circulated the maximum amount of mana through his veins making himself 200% stronger, darting towards the barricade he swung his sword sideway bashing away the 4 man in command before picking up a wooden pole used in the barricade, a 3 meters long 50 cm wide pole he flung to his right smashing most of the shooters there, the only two that managed to jump aside were shoot by the Einherjar of team 1. Turning to his left where the last 6 men stood, their mouths hanging open he punched the first one on the face before grabbing the second by the throat and throwing him at the others hitting 3 of them, finally kicking the last one on the stomach. Ignoring the pain filled cries he stepped into one¡¯s arm as he moved inside the perimeter dead set on finding whoever commanded those men and giving him a piece of his mind. As he looked at the buildings around the prefecture he saw many tired faces without hope, at the side of the street there was a drunk man fallen, walking some more he saw a young man dart from a building and point a pistol with trembling hands, slapping the gun away Erick grabbed the boy¡¯s throat and lifted him into eye level ¡°Where is the leader of this place?¡± his deadly calm voice freaked the boy even more he peed his pants and pointed at the prefecture, good it saves time to be in the same place as the city core. There were two guards at the door of the building the boy pointed out, two shots rang out from Beta 2 dropping both men before they could even turn around to warn someone else inside and Erick stormed the place. The door exploded inward with a kick as he entered the wide corridor that ended into a reception desk, stopping to think for a second he hear some muffed sound from his right and turned, opening every door with violence he saw that most were completely empty of people but had improvised weapons, stocked food and luxurious items, as the doors banged on the walls a naked fat man opened another one further inside ¡°What the hell is going on here!¡± his helmet¡¯s facial recognition software told him the fat man was the chief of police. The sound of flesh hitting flesh coming out of the room were the last straw for him, putting all his power on his right leg he pushed against the ground leaving a footprint on the marble floor, grabbing the fat man by the arm Erick threw him on the opposite wall before storming into the room, already knowing what he would find. Many startled naked men were there standing over beat down young girls or beautiful woman, one particular corner there were two kids no older than 11 years old, their tights were still bleeding, their image overlapped in his mind with the one of the little girl Lily outside. Screaming in rage his eyes turned red but, before he could do anything, a huge muscular man drove into his side carrying him through a wall and riding him into the ground, the men was completely naked but had a metal gauntlet on his left hand which he used to punch the helmet repeatedly ¡°You fucking idiot who do you think you are¡± after the fourth punch even the metal of his helmet started to get bent ¡°I am a fucking level 4 you bitch I rule here!¡± Putting a hand on the side of the man¡¯s head and another on his chest Erick pushed him aside and smashed him on the ground once, twice, three times before getting up and kicking his stomach, the threw up all over the floor but he continued kicking and kicking. ¡°Siegfried, Siegfried!¡± looking to the side he saw one of the Einherjar trying to drag him away from the collapsed and bleeding bastard on the ground, breathing deeply he looked around, them up and counted to 10 before he could calm down ¡°Bring them away, bring them all away, the law will decide their fate latter¡±. Still breathing hard he turned his face away from the rape room letting the rest of the team deal with the naked men and women while he grabbed a metal chair and ripped it out of the ground, dragging it towards the big floating black orb the size of a basketball he used his power to pierce it¡¯s broken legs into the marble and sit down, putting a hand on the orb and waiting 10 whole minutes.
Congratulations, the US army guild has conquered the city core + 500 XP
When he walked out of the node¡¯s room he saw that the Einherjar had already dragged the rapists away and were busy helping the victims while a few dressed men and women were coming into the building, not wanting to see it anymore he left in search of the little girl. When night came the Einherjar had already managed to separate the criminals and rapists from the few normal people, using the civilians they reformed and strengthened the defense perimeter fully blocking all other entrances but the main street, opening the wooden crate Erick mounted both rotating guns at one side and a massive autocannon on the other, tired both in mind and body Erick found a bed and decided to take a nap. Lark watched his guards, it was almost midnight and both were already nearly dozing off on their feet as they had been guarding him for just about 4 hours already, Lark was a brutal man having taken only 2 days to reach level 4 he had faced all kinds of monsters and killed many humans, there was no way he was getting killed like a common criminal. ¡°Hey Cornwell, it is Cornwell right? I remember because your daughter kept calling your name as I penetrated her ass¡± ¡°Shut up! Shut the fuck up!¡± the old man holding a 6-shot revolver just said and continued ignoring him ¡°No its true, she cried and called for you, it made her squeeze me harder¡± finally losing his cool the old man lifted his revolver ¡°That¡¯s it I am gonna kill this fucking bastard!¡± ¡°Cornwell calm down man¡± his companion, a skinny man with a beard tried to stop him but Lark continued ¡°You know what¡¯s best mate? By the end of it she enjoyed me, she was moving by herself!¡± Knowing he had succeeded Lark stepped away from the window as two bullets hit it, shattering the glass, as the old man came closer actually dragging the other guard so he could have a better shot Lark activated his own ability it was a powerful skill that turned his own blood into a lava like substance, slashing both his arms with his own nails he threw his blood out the window on the old man¡¯s face, getting the other guard in the arm as well, then he turned towards the door and used his blood to melt the lock. His ability quickly drained his mana but the pain filled screams from the guards and the melting door lock were rewards enough, kicking the door with his 11 strength he quickly escaped the room and broke their necks before their screams attracted someone else, picking up both weapons he threw one to his right-hand man and kept the revolver for himself as he quickly escaped the building and the perimeter. Laughing happily Lark decided, he needed to get stronger then get himself one of those fancy black armors, this world was different now and it would be his, ¡°I am gonna kill that fucking wannabe hero¡± ¡°Sigh, don¡¯t you always hate how superheroes have to keep fighting the same villain over and over again in comics?¡± Turning around Lark lifted his revolver searching for the source of the voice among all 39 men that followed him ¡°I mean even when they win the hero always lock them away in a supposedly safe location and you just know the villain is gonna escape sooner or latter.¡± ¡°Show yourself!¡± starting to get creeped out Lark screamed and pointed his gun towards the darkness of the alley but only saw shadows ¡°SHOW YOURSELF!¡± ¡°Then you get that speech about the value of life and how they are heroes, they can¡¯t step as low as the villains, they can¡¯t degenerate or they lose¡­ bullshit¡± ¡°I am gonna fucking kill you, you little creep!¡± one of his men used magic to illuminate the alley they were in but Lark still couldn¡¯t see the speaker, only his men were there and 15 of them were already missing ¡°But like the man who defeated you heroes are needed, they give inspiration and hope for the people even when there are those who take advantage of their good nature¡± Dropping from the top of a building another black armored man stepped in front of Lark, he tried to shoot the guy but found that he couldn¡¯t even move, he and all his men fell down to their knees dragged down by an invisible force, Lark¡¯s own arm started to bend against his will, slowly it brought his gun closer and closer to his own head, the figure crouched down in front of him ¡°Too bad for you I am not a hero¡±. Chapter 9 - Zombie Apocalypse Hey there, here''s another chapter hope you guys like it. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ ¡°Wake up Sieg!¡± kicking the sleeping man out of his makeshift bed Aaron turned around and prepared to leave ¡°Who, what, why?¡± disoriented Erick sprawled on the ground before finally picking himself up ¡°What the hell!¡± Waiting for Erick to catch up and put on his helmet Aaron started explaining ¡°We have an undead problem¡± ¡°I thought plan delta had eliminated them?¡± shaking his head Aaron opened the door and left the prefecture walking out into the heavily fortified street, there were armed civilians running everywhere. ¡°It seems they managed to deal with the boss but the elite escaped and started raising everything he could, I managed to attract most of the horde this way so, at least the other nodes should be fairly safe¡± following him Erick adjusted his weapon ¡°Fuck¡±. The remaining Einherjar members were sitting in a makeshift command tent, around them was an old but still fit man, a slightly overweight young man and a beautiful woman with a haunted look, coming closer he asked ¡°So, are preparations ready?¡± ¡°Almost Loki, we got enough ammunitions for the two minuguns and the autocannon to last the night and about 26 small guns¡± The woman interjected ¡°We too are willing to fight¡± ¡°No¡± Erick, the fool, denied the woman instantly, he wondered what the hell were they thinking when they trained such na?ve hero ¡°Yes, Sieg we need them¡± ¡°But they¡­¡± before Erick even finished he caught his arm and dragged him aside ¡°Can I have a private word with you?¡± walking far away they finally stopped. ¡°Aaron you don¡¯t know¡­ you didn¡¯t see¡­¡± ¡°Of course I know Sieg, as a matter of fact I am surprised there are so many men who opposed it now, in normal times, we would let them all break down, cry, do therapy and eventually, be able to live a mostly normal life but that was before¡± laying back against a car he continued ¡°We have no time for that now, if they break they will die, better to let them fight, it will form a far bigger scar but at least they will be alive¡± ¡°Fine, sigh, ok fine it¡¯s just¡­¡± ¡°I know¡± he didn¡¯t but it was probably the right thing to say, behind his mask he smiled just because he didn¡¯t like acting and didn¡¯t usually bother with it doesn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t good at it, besides he had turned out fine. An awkward silence hang between them for a while before Erick decided to change the subject ¡°Hey Loki, about our abilities¡­ are yours still growing in an accelerated rate?¡± ¡°Yep, it is nearly intermediary already¡± ¡°What¡¯s up with that?¡± scratching his chin with his forefinger Aaron thought about it ¡°I think it¡¯s just catching up, kinda like our abilities are already above the beginner level and it is just taking the some time to recognize that, when the level reflect our correct level of control it should stop growing so fast¡± Their little exchange having successfully dispelled the awkwardness between them they walked back to the command tent, the civilians ended up participating in the defense, a member of the Einherjar would operate the autocannon another one would use a minigun and an ex soldier would use the other, Erick would guard the entrance with two miniguns and most of the fighting woman while he would guard the other one with 11 armed men. Beta 2 had assumed command after Beta 1¡¯s death and he would stay in the command tent organizing people, about 300 of the civilians had got makeshift weapons and were ready to fight anything that came too close, Erick handed his own rifle to a black man with an impressive beard and taught him how to recharge the bullets before taking his place in the barricade, waiting for the enemy to come. Michael watched as soldiers in urban camo landed around the supermarket, all of them with huge guns and serious faces, they ignored the four friends and immediately pulled their parachutes out of the way running around setting barricades and opening space for killing fields by dragging cars out of the way and burning corpses. Looking to the side he saw his friend Nathan¡¯s mouth hanging open as a giant ball of metal landed at his side and uncurled itself into a 3 meters tall mecha with giant rotary guns in place of arms ¡°So cool!¡± a mature man with gray hair and a buzz cut approached him. ¡°Are you Mica?¡± ¡°Yes sir¡± the man patted his shoulder and smiled ¡°Good work son, you can rest now¡±, as the soldiers settled down into an efficient and wary vigilance Michael saw they were all hard men and women without time or inclination to talk to them. ¡°I don¡¯t like this¡± ¡°Raphael¡± ¡°What? I don¡¯t like those laying bastards¡± lowering his head he scratched the nape of his neck tired ¡°Raphael they are not lying, I doubt it very much those men knew any more than you about the monsters¡± ¡°Them who did?¡± nearly screaming Raphael got up but Alysha and Nathan dragged him down again. ¡°Calm down, you too Aly, if we want to survive and have a chance of finding your parents we gotta calm down¡­ and get stronger¡± turning his way, the three of them started to pay attention ¡°Look, I don¡¯t think this is a temporary thing, the world is changing like in those novels of yours Nate now tell me, what happens next?¡± Nathan didn¡¯t even need to think ¡°The strong will survive and stand at the top while the weak are cannon fodder¡± a glint in her eyes Alysha said ¡°Then we need to get a gun¡± ¡°Not necessarily, guns are useful for the masses but they don¡¯t work on the truly strong¡± Smilling he slapped his thigh and pointed at Nathan ¡°Exactly, look we are only level 2, my strength only increased by 1 point but I am much stronger than before, your fireball is also only level 2 but it is already like a grenade, think about when we hit level 10 or 30¡± ¡°If we just charge at the monsters we are dead Mica¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mean don¡¯t use the guns just don¡¯t stop training with other things.¡± ¡°You 4!¡± A soldier came running their way ¡°The commander is calling for everyone come with me¡± dusting themselves they got up and followed the soldier, most of the other men were already there, the grey haired man who first congratulated them looked around before starting. ¡°People we have a situation, the undead threat was not fully neutralized in this city, this location will be attacked in about 2 hours so be prepared, for those of you who watched most zombie movies, forget them.¡± ¡°The undead have 5 main characteristics 1, as the name suggests they are dead which means they can¡¯t be killed they will continue to move unless rendered incapable, that means smashed into paste or dismembered¡± ¡°2, undead are instinctual creatures they are not intelligent but will follow most instincts of the previous body, they can see, hear, smell or fell your location and will prefer to attack weak or wounded prey first, they will also probably dodge attacks on their faces and became enraged when hurt.¡± ¡°3, undead do not have restrictions, they can feel pain but it doesn¡¯t stop them as such their body limits don¡¯t apply, they are stronger, faster and more sensitive than us but they also destroy their muscles fast, no slow moving zombie for us guys those things are gonna come at us like PCP addicts.¡± ¡°4, the undead magic does not distinguish between races, any dead creature bigger than a cat can and will be raised against us so, finish burning those corpses fast.¡± ¡°Finally, undead is not a sickness it is the result of cast magic, a person will only turn undead after they die and a necromancer uses a spell on the body don¡¯t be afraid of those bites or scratches.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°That¡¯s it men I want both Titans guarding the side streets and 15 man with them, get 10 snipers up on that roof to take down the strongest looking creatures, aim for the head people it won¡¯t kill them but zombies that can¡¯t see, hear or smell you are far easier to deal with, I want all 4 flamethrowers ready, if they overwhelm your position retreat to the store front then retreat into the market, in the last case we abandon the node an follow the escape route understood?¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± Pointing his way the commander called ¡°You four come over here¡± accompanied by 2 soldiers he and his friends got up on the command post quite intimidated by the powerful presence of the commander ¡°Not exactly the safety I offered right?¡± ¡°What?¡± the commander just shook his head and sent the soldiers away only he and his aid were in the command post with a deep breath he sat down ¡°Ugh I am too old for this shit, look things are gonna go to hell very soon¡­ a fucking zombie apocalypse who would have guessed¡­ anyway I can¡¯t really protect you guys here so fell free to escape through the roof, my men will show the way¡± They were surprised by the commander¡¯s attitude, Raphael was the first to speak ¡°If it is all the same to you I prefer to fight¡± looking him over the commander rubbed his temples ¡°Civilians fighting in the zombie apocalypse, with swords, axes and everything, sure whatever just don¡¯t get in the way¡± waving them away with a dismissive hand the commander got up and started to look intimidating and in control once again as he analyzed a map. The commander¡¯s aid lead them away as Raphael and Alysha started to get exited ¡°I am sorry about the general, this new end of the world thing hit him hard¡± interested he turned to the aid ¡°Wait, so you guys didn¡¯t know about this? Even with all those military exercises and increased weapon budged?¡± ¡°No, I mean sure we knew something was going on but we just thought it was another Iraq this¡­¡± and the aid motioned to the destroyed streets ¡°They said something about the power of belief and how the more people who knew the faster and harder it would hit us¡± ¡°If you wish strong enough it happens is that it? Think positive to attract good things? Fuck you that¡¯s bullshit!¡± said Raphael nearly screaming ¡°Not in the it isn¡¯t, they say that¡¯s why the second wave is gonna be much stronger, people know about it now, they believe¡± all four of them stopped and looked at the men ¡°Wait there is gonna be a second wave?¡± ¡°Yep, take care not to turn into zombies, I would hate so have to shoot you.¡± With those happy words the aid turned back to the command post and left them to do their thing, not willing to stop and imagine what kind of new horror was coming they just chose one of the sides with a huge metal armor they called Titan and sat down watching the men do the final preparations, a sergeant came over to them. ¡°So you guys are here to help us then?¡± He nodded ¡°Looks like it¡± ¡°And what exactly can you do?¡± looking at each other no one wanted to reveal their cards but he could see the man was not gonna let them participate if they didn¡¯t talk ¡°I got a taunt skill, it attracts aggression from creatures, Nate over there can throw exploding fireballs and Raphael and Aly are strong melee fighters¡± ¡°So a bait, a grenade launcher and two useless guys, how many shoots?¡± doing the math Nathan answered ¡°I think I can do about 12 shoots with the mana pots we got, more if we drop others from the zombies¡± Looking over at an iPad the sergeant considered for a moment ¡°Ok so¡­ you guys will stay back and taunt only when I tell you to, fell free to throw your fireballs when I call for grenades but keep 4 of them for the case we have to retreat¡± patting Raphael on the back the soldier left to continue preparations. They didn¡¯t have to wait too long before the first human walked by, his back curved, everyone stayed quiet, unreasonably hoping it would pass them by, it seemed to sniff the air then turn their way with dead eyes, with a guttural scream of excitement it charged them, faster than a human could, hopping through cars in a bestial manner, dozens of other undead following in its wake. For a moment the only noise was that of the zombie screams ¡°FIRE!¡± Michael¡¯s side exploded in noise as 15 man opened fire with automatic rifles, the first wave of the creatures was quickly mowed down with destroyed heads or ripped off limbs but their numbers only increased, cats, dogs, minotaurs and horned rats soon joined them as well as other strange creatures ¡°Titan¡­ fire!¡± The 3 meters tall metal giant lifted both arms, the barrels of the rotary guns started working with a loud noise before shooting a wave of piercing rounds that caused pure destruction as it shredded through 4 or 5 zombies each, the remaining soldiers switched to 3 three-round burst and started picking headshots, many of the zombies had their faces or limbs bitten off or had gapping wounds on their bodies. For a few seconds there was calmness as the Titan destroyed hundreds of zombies but eventually it ran out off ammo, the spread zombies turned even more feral sensing a chance to attack ¡°Bait!¡± Jumping on top of a car Michael lifted his shield and banged on it with his spear while activating his He felt his small amount of mana circulating through his belly and flowing up his arms until it mixed with the shield amplifying the noise ¡°Come here you stupid freaks!¡± Like moths to a flame the zombies grouped up jumping over themselves to be the first to rip him apart ¡°Now!¡± all 15 soldiers lobbed grenades into the middle of the horde and a fireball flew over a few seconds later, the blast from the combined explosion thundered down the street blowing bits and pieces of zombies everywhere and nearly making him deaf, the fireball actually caused many zombies to burst into flame but they were soon stomped out by the following creatures. The Titan finished reloading and started shooting again, at the right side a dark shadow flew over the zombie¡¯s heads absorbing quite a few shoots before it jumped over the barricade to attack a soldier it¡¯s teeth sinking into flesh and drawing blood, the other zombies got even more agitated, Alysha¡¯s sword flashed hitting it¡¯s already rotting neck and sending its head flying with a but the undead rat continued ravaging the soldier before searching for another prey blindly, taking a running start he jumped from the car with his spear ready pinning the headless body down into the ground, a soldier caring a flamethrower came over and incinerated the corpse. Every now and then a strong minotaur or different monster came over but they held until the Titan reloaded 3 more times, the sergeant¡¯s radio sprang into life and he stepped back to hear some now orders, lowering the radio the sergeant screamed ¡°Retreat! Grenades and firaballs now, now, now!¡± Over the explosions and flying pieces of zombie they retreated fast to the front of the supermarket, the other Titan was already waiting there and soon the troops from the middle street also returned. Nathan gulped down the last of his potions as He, Alysha and Raphael fought off the few creatures who managed to enter the perimeter, fireballs and bullets flew everywhere as they waited for all three blocks to fill with zombies ¡°NOW!¡± Suddenly it seemed as if the whole world exploded in thunder and a rain of glass from the windows, all three streets shook as the buried explosives killed thousands, in the distance more mindless undead screamed and charged their way. Chapter 10 - Siege ok guys be happy I have another chapter for you For those who want to know what the heavy weapons look like here twin barreled machineguns the mecha is like this just kidding it''s more like this the rifle with grenade launcher ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ [tr] [tr]
Human (dead) ¨C Level 1HEALTHN/A
STR12END9
DEX5SPD10
WIS0INT0
Congratulations your has increased a level
Aaron frowned at the charging undead high status and lack of health but decided to warp its neck with a invisible string and squeezed, it simply continued on as if nothing happened ¡°right, no breathing¡± changing his approach he pulled the zombie back but it was too strong and only slowed down a little. Bang! The boom from a shotgun rang besides his ear and blew the creature¡¯s head clean off ¡°That works too¡± releasing his strings he watched as a wave of gunfire rang out all around him and the charging zombies had their limbs or heads blown off but they still crawled on, murderous desire in their dead eyes. As the number of zombies got so dense they started to push ahead despite their defense a far more powerful and louder weapon sprang into life as Beta 3 opened fire with the huge twin barreled machinegun, the bullets passed through the dead things like a hot knife through butter sending limbs flying and even cutting some by the waist blowing huge holes in their bodies, a single bullet could take out 6 or 7 of the creatures, humans, minotaurs, horned rats, goblins and large wolves fell in droves, disabled but not destroyed they continued to wiggle powerlessly on the ground before being trampled by those behind them. The large gun only had to shoot for a small time to mow down the advancing undead and Beta 3 timed his shoots expertly letting the creatures gather before destroying them, when he finally stopped smoke was flowing out of its two barrels, Beta 3 reloaded in a hurry but no other zombies came into view and the few that could still move actually got up and retreated ¡°Oh that¡¯s not good¡± he said, more to himself than anyone else, activating his communicator he informed the Einherjar ¡°Beta 2 the elite is here!¡± ¡°Are you certain Loki?¡± ¡°According to command zombies don¡¯t retreat, ever, the elite must be controlling them directly¡± ¡°Got it Loki things are gonna get complicated.¡± Terrible screams of rage and hunger came from the night showing the horde was still there, just beyond their vision as if a powerful will keeps them away, 20 minutes of silence left them all nervous and his helmet¡¯s night vision even showed him some movement in the distance only making it harder to wait. The second wave of attack came as quickly as the first only this time those in the lead were not zombies but skeletons, picked clean by whatever creature had killed them there were huge bite marks on their bones. Some of the men could not wait anymore and opened fire but the skeletons were actually harder to stop as the bullets either missed completely or chipped away at a single bone with little effect, he decided to act ¡°Guess it is my turn¡± Closing his eyes Aaron concentrated hard, harder than he had done in a long while but he had trained for this, opening his arms wide he put 500 mana into the attack and thin invisible strings spread from his fingertips, at first it was only one from each finger but soon they turned into a hundred then into a thousand, finally there were too many to count as he threw them to loop around the light post and fall like a blanket over the incoming skeletons. Squeezing his hands into fists the strings sprang to life like snakes, twisting and turning through their bones, entering holes and joints until they were all tangled up, then he pulled, closing his arms and actually crossing them over his chest the lines snapped becoming tense and pulling the bones apart one by one, even the smallest of bones were not spared. When he opened his eyes again he saw the skeleton army had became nothing more than single bones hanging in the air, dissolving his strings the bones fell down to litter the ground, unfortunately it was far from over.
You have slain skeleton level 1 x 198 + 2613 XP
You have slain skeleton level 2 x 3 + 46 XP
So it seems that completely pulling their bones apart actually counted as utter destroying them he mused, before he had time to recover, fast and small screaming zombies charged them, children, teenagers and even babies crawling on the ground, they came spread apart, dodging and crossing each other to make it harder to hit, their appearance stunned the men before their eyes turned red in a quiet rage, the guns sounded again in the night as they actually took their time aiming, concentrating once more he pulled all seven blades from their sheaths making them rise soundlessly in the air. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Congratulation has risen a level
Focusing on the incoming horror he sent his blades chopping heads or limbs trying to disable the fast creatures, even he was affected by the sight of a hundred dead children, it was somehow worse than thousands of adults ¡°Control find me the elite damn it!¡± ¡°We got a satellite over your location Loki but unless the elite deliberately do anything suspicious it will be hard¡± The sound of scrapping metal called his attention once again to the distance where a pair of minotaurs worked together to push a car turned on its side ahead of a great sea of undead advancing on a light jog, soon more cars become visible, Beta 3 screamed ¡°Don¡¯t let them get close!¡± turning his twin barreled machinegun on the advancing cars he shoot them full of holes but, while the metal did not fully stop the bullets, it diminished their power by a lot ¡°the grenade launcher!¡± The ex. Soldier holding Beta 3¡¯s own gun lifted the riffle with a grenade launcher attached and shoot, the wind started to deviate the grenade from its target but they were close enough that Aaron managed to guide them with his strings to fall directly bellow the makeshift shields turning them into balls of fire, the minotaurs bellowed in pain as the machinegun hit them doing incredible damage once more, another 3 cars got blown up. ¡°On the walls!¡± screamed one of the men and he switched his attention, like spiders the zombies were trying to flank them by climbing over the building walls ¡°Snipe them let me and Loki take care of the street!¡± increasing his shooting rate Beta 3 focused on stopping the dead from advancing while he used his blades to cripple the fallen. It took them 30 minutes of constantly shooting, the guns nearly overheating, but the last of the zombies fell, none of them having made past the defense line ¡°You think this is it Eron?¡± asked a man with a handgun ¡°I don¡¯t know man¡± looking at the other defenders already relieved he shook his head ¡°I certainly hope not¡± ¡°What, why?¡± ¡°Because if this is all that came our way the other nodes are screwed¡± They all looked at him dumbfounded for a second before quickly starting to recharge their weapons, better safe than sorry. Strange movements among the pile of zombies ahead of them caught his attention, turning his head he watched it, nearly convincing himself it was just the normal wiggling when the moving increased in speed ¡°Fire team burn them! Burn them now!¡± he screamed over his communicator but it was already too late. The fallen bodies, limbs and other pieces started spinning around on the ground and gathering in a tornado of blood and flesh finally sticking together in a macabre growing ball of human and monster parts, soon it was the size of a small elephant then it was the size of a small house. ¡°What the hell¡­?¡± words stuck in his mouth he watched as the ball of flesh uncurled itself into a terrible giant made of countless bodies, all its tiny mouths roared in unison as it stretched and towered at least 8 meters over them. [tr] [tr]
Minor Undead Abomination ¨C Level 14HEALTHN/A
STR30END7
DEX4SPD7
WIS0INT0
A single second of awed silence rang between them before everyone opened fire at the same time, even he pulled out his handgun and discharged at the fucking thing, blood and bits of flesh flew everywhere but the creature barely noticed, slowly focusing on the barricade it took its first step. Manifesting Aaron used all his strength to pick up a fallen lamp post and pierced it all the way through its head to absolutely no effect, grabbing one of the burning car remains the abomination threw it with extreme power blasting a hole into the barricade, grabbing another one it aimed better. Beta 3 jumped out of the machinegun¡¯s seat just in time to see it being hit by the flying ball of deformed metal ¡°Retreat! Retreat!¡± helping a man up he started running as Beta 3 got his gun back from the ex. Soldier and shoot all the remaining grenades towards the thing only managing to blow small wounds on its grotesque body. Using Aaron grabbed the fallen machinegun and turned it towards the monster¡¯s leg, thankfully it still worked as he used the remaining bullets to cut off its left limb, the recoil alone nearly broke his skill, it still tried to charge him but fell over without a leg giving them enough time to run as it actually started to heal. ¡°Beta 2 we lost the first barricade tell the others to retreat!¡± vaulting over the inner barricade he turned to see the abomination actually get up once again and grab the pole piercing its head, pulling it loose the creature threw it like a spear towards them crushing 2 men and piercing the ground deeply. When Erick¡¯s team also finished retreating Beta 2 picked up a metal box filled with wires and turned a key stuck into it. KRAKABOOM! All the glass windows were blown apart as the street disappeared into a cloud of rubble and smoke from the extremely powerful bombs, he waited quietly, his eyes never leaving the street as the dust started to settle down. A zombie jumped at one of the men¡¯s back ridding him into the ground and ripping his throat out in a show of extreme savagery and power, it had came from their backs. ¡°Loki, Siegfried, they got in!¡± screamed Beta 2 ¡°They are jumping down from inside the buildings!¡± looking up Aaron saw dozens of zombies throwing themselves out of the fifth floor windows above them, undisguised hate in their eyes as they fell inside the barricade, the scream of hundreds of resonating voices came from inside the dust as it parted to reveal a damaged and burnt aberration getting up once again. Chapter 11 - Necessity And we got another chapter for you, also I would like to ask you guys, please talk with me I am lonely! Not even a thank you in the last two chapters thats just sad _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ¡°Fuck!¡± Turning around Aaron sent his sword flying towards the landing zombies with all his strength chopping off their legs bellow their knees, the first five zombies fell down but started crawling towards the defenders with their arms. Beta 2 jumped out of the command tent lifting his sword ¡°Charge them! Slay them before they recover from the fall!¡± leading the hundreds of survivor holding all kinds of swords, knives, fire axes and even shovels they attacked the creatures as they fell. The civilians holding guns started shooting the other zombies still in the air as the ones in the ground were immediately swarmed by Beta 2, he sent his blades flying chopping off limbs or blinding the dead when they were about to kill one of the survivors but his true attention was on the abomination behind him, harassing and trying to delay it with . His distraction cost him as a armless dead goblin pounced him, it¡¯s teeth were blocked by the armor but the momentum nearly caused him to fall, pushing its head aside he used one of his daggers to pin its mouth close before trying to push it away with his leg BOM!
you suffered - 11 % HEALTH
The zombie grabbing on to him exploded in a pink cloud of blood and bone shrapnel sending him tumbling through the air to fall in a heap, all around him men screamed in pain as the zombies they were chopping exploded sending pieces of bones flying everywhere. ¡°What the fuck!¡± since his armor had once again absorbed most of the damage he wasn¡¯t really hurt but the impact had still stunned him and dispelled his strings ¡°Command what the hell was that?¡± ¡°Our best guess, it was a spell called corpse explosion¡± getting up he started to look around for his weapons even as more zombies started to rush from behind the abomination or falling from buildings around him. ¡°Loki, the good news is that the Elite must have shown himself to be using such spell and, at this time, it is unlikely he can use the zombie eyes to see what¡¯s happening, the explosions will most likely be in large droves and at random times, just keep your distance when they stop moving¡± From the other side of the street Erick came running to help defend the place but stopped at his tracks at the sight of the abomination ¡°What the hell is that?¡± ¡°The fuck if I know!¡± looking at the translucent apparition shinning behind Erick he had the desire to ask the same thing. [tr] [tr]
Shade¨C Level 11HEALTHN/A
STR3END0
DEX12SPD18
WIS0INT0
¡°So, wanna switch?¡± ¡°Oh thank god yes!¡± with renewed vigor Erick lifted his giant sword and charged the abomination, materializing a string he curled it around a makeshift spear and hurled it towards the shade, it didn¡¯t even bother dodging as the spear sailed right through it with no resistance. ¡°What a pain¡± walking towards the creature he lifted two pieces of burning wood hopping that fire could hurt the damn thing, sending one of the pieces flying towards the creature he used his string to swing the other one sideways towards it¡¯s body, the first one passed right through its head once again harmlessly but, as the second one was about to hit the shade moved, it left only a blur in the air as it retreated faster than he could believe, narrowing his eyes he wondered, now why would it dodge? The fire clearly didn¡¯t hurt it. Smiling at the simplicity of it he dropped the last plank and instead sent his invisible string towards the flying thing watching as the spirit dodged aside faster than he could move his power, materializing a dozen more he sent them at the thing trying to block its escape. Using a few seconds to watch the battlefield he saw Erick fighting the abomination using superior speed and skill to dance around the stronger creature the fight was actually quite even but the others were in a far worse situation, the remaining Einherjar were engaging the zombies with melee weapons, relying on their armor to resist bites and explosions as the rest desperately tried to keep their distance or run away ¡°Fight damn it! Fight if you don¡¯t want to die!¡± screamed Beta 2 as he continued to wave his sword even with 4 zombies hanging on to his body scratching and biting his armor, many of the men had already been gnawed to death joining the other side soon after. Shifting his attention back to the shade he started to do more than just keep it at bay using his hands to increase his control and speed but the spirit was just too fast dodging in and out trying to approach him, they were in a deadlock, glancing at his mana in the corner of his vision he saw it was only at 239 and going down fast, he was fighting a losing battle. Fuck he had no time for this kind of crap the civilians were dying all around, remembering the minotaur¡¯s horn on his back he pulled it out and threw it towards a disheveled woman ¡°Hey you! Catch!¡± nearly dropping her gun the woman catch the item ¡°Blow It now!¡± With no time for further explanations he turned back and charged the shade, he didn¡¯t really care if the useless people got killed but it was still a waste of resources they couldn¡¯t afford right now, as a second round of explosions rang out among the zombies he decided it was time for desperate measures. A horn call sounded loudly behind him and seemed to fill the very air strengthening his resolve as the shade screeched eerily and dived towards him taking advantage in his lack of attacks, letting himself wide open he watched as the shade plunged its hands right through his armor and into his chest. Cold air filled his chest burning his body and internal organs as he screamed in pain and pulled all the strings he had manifested back towards his body, the closer they were the faster he could move them, catching the shade by surprise he managed to trap it and hit it with a dozen strings, they passed right through without resistance leaving glowing paths in their way, the shade screeched in pain and fell in pieces
You suffered - 78% HEALTH
You have slain Shade level 11 + 220 XP
Congratulations you have reached level 4, as a human you gain 1 attribute point
Falling to his knees he threw up pieces of ice inside his helmet frosting his visor, taking off his helmet despite the danger he continued throwing up ice and blood all over the floor as his body was consumed with pain, looking behind him he saw the armed civilians recovering their courage and fighting back, probably the effect of the horn he wished he had remembered it earlier. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Despite their newfound enthusiasm he knew the survivors couldn¡¯t hold on for much longer, he briefly considered escaping, it wouldn¡¯t be very hard with just him but he knew Erick and the Einherjar would never agree, besides his father would probably lock him up again for disobeying orders, taking out one of his three healing bottles he drank it whole seeing his health climb back up to 45% his pain becoming far less. Getting up he put his helmet back and turned around to help the survivors trying to buy a little time for¡­ something when command contacted him again ¡°We found him Loki, the elite is ten blocks to the right of your location using some kind of sacrificial magic in open air, there are at least a thousand survivors with it¡± Looking around he found a old man holding one of their rifles, using a string he pulled the weapon out of the man¡¯s hand and watched as the startled guy was pounced by a zombie, going down with no weapon to defend himself, Aaron lamented the loss but he just didn¡¯t have time. Running towards the right he stepped over the corpses of many fallen zombies moving too fast for their flailing hands as he used his powers to pull himself into a rooftop and continued running. A flash of red in his motion sensors warned him just in time to turn his body and avoid the talons of a large owl, its neck half eaten by some creature its eyes dead, he felt a small impact from his back as a huge vulture slammed into him followed by another big bird and another. Although their beaks and talons couldn¡¯t hurt him through his armor he was soon surrounded by a huge flock of the creatures flying around and attacking, his vision was completely blocked, looking at his mana blinking at <63/1112> he briefly considered what to do when huge talons broke through the bird encirclement. Throwing himself back one of the talons still hit his chest driving him into the concrete roof and causing him tumble back nearly falling off the edge, looking down he saw two deed scratches on his right shoulder and one in his belly. Pulling up his rifle he thanked god it was one with a grenade launcher attached , shooting towards the flock he hit a falcon exploding barely 9 meters from him, small fragments pelting his armor with bruising force but the effect over the undead birds was far greater, another two shoots and he managed to decimate the creatures. Without so many birds flying around he managed to see a man sized red and black eagle flying into his direction, its chest was caved in and it had the same dead look in its eyes. [tr] [tr]
Terror Bird (dead) ¨C Level 4HEALTHN/A
STR12END8
DEX7SPD16
WIS0INT0
Aiming at the creature he sent a string of bullets into its head but the creature didn¡¯t stop, diving at him undisturbed by several new holes in its brain, he dived out of the way and turned shooting his last grenade but the bird was too fast flying out of the explosion range, releasing the riffle he let it hand by a strap over his left shoulder and pulled his handgun once again, he didn¡¯t have time to reload so he only shoot 4 times, with the help of his helmet he managed to hit with 3 of them. The exploding bullets blew up half its head in a shower of blood and the Terror bird fell down on the roof flopping around uselessly without eyes, ears or beak to orient itself, holstering his handgun he moved on, using his power to form ropes between the buildings and moving in a straight line towards his target while his mana went down <21/1112>. Finally he got as close as he dared, crawling towards the edge he peeked out at the street, the undead mage was standing on top of a 15 meters tall pile of cars and between two minor abominations like the one he had faced, around them were a sea of zombies, there were at least a few thousands surrounding a couple hundred survivors kneeling. As he watched a mindless zombie picked up a young man and kicked away the child who was clutching at his arm, the man struggled and the child cried but another survivor covered her mouth and the zombie was just too strong dragging the young father to the top of the car pile to stand in front of the elite, using his helmet¡¯s zoom he inspected the creature. [tr] [tr]
Undead Mage (Elite) ¨C Level 10HEALTHN/A
STR6END4
DEX5SPD7
WIS2INT7
It was actually a small goblin wielding a skull cane ¡°Control how is the situation at the nodes?¡± ¡°All nodes are relatively safe the attack is concentrated on the city core, Siegfried has retreated inside a fortified building and they are taking heavy casualties!¡± The mage made the man kneel on the ground, its rotten mouth started to chant in a strange language as it drew on the man¡¯s face with blood them slit his throat, gathering the blood in a bone bowl he ignited it in purple flames and spilled it over its own head. Laying his riffle on the ground he secured it with a proper support then laid down and took a proper shooting position ¡°Control what¡¯s it doing?¡± ¡°Probably gathering power, there is no way a level 10 elite can create such powerful abominations by itself¡± moving slowly to avoid detection he pulled out his riffle current ammunition and recharged it with his only magazine of high explosive incendiary bullets, breathing in and out slowly he used aim assist to line up the shoot. ¡°Command what happens to the zombies if the elite dies?¡± ¡°they will continue attacking but without any coordination or corpse explosions¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I was afraid of¡± Taking one last look at the kneeling survivors he steeled his hearth, closed his eyes and breathed deeply, when he opened them again he was ready, released his breath he pulled the trigger. Two bullets hit the elite¡¯s head and another three its hearth before exploding its skull and igniting its rotten clothes, releasing his riffle he let it fall to the side and crawled away from the edge before fumbling with his helmet, taking it off he threw it aside heaving in desperation, it had been a long time since he last cried. He had thought dead no longer bothered him but now he saw there was a clear difference between knowing he caused hundreds of innocent deaths and seeing it with his own eyes, down the street the burning mage lost control of the zombie horde, inhuman screams of excitement and rage mixed with those of terror and begging as the zombies reverted to their true nature starting to slaughter the survivors.
You have slain an elite Undead mage level 10 + 160 XP
Chapter 12 - Leaving Here is today''s chapter ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ With his stamina bar blinking at 14% He started to make his way back to the city core, both his rifle and handgun were completely out of bullets in his doomed attempt at helping the survivors escape but in the end he had been forced to watch them all die, when he was 3 blocks from the core the sound of gunfire stopped, too tired to pick up the pace he just moved on nearly dragging his feet. Getting to the edge of the last building he looked down, the street was turned into a war zone, burning cars and corpses were everywhere and close to the command tent there were the remains of the abomination chopped into small pieces but still trying to move, a couple dozen civilians wondered the street with melee weapons attacking the few zombies capable of movement until they were cut up into harmless bits. Dropping down on top of a dead minotaur he had a small amount of fun scaring the crap out of the poor SOBs ¡±Holly fuck!¡± screamed a young man who actually dropped his weapon, ¡°Where are the rest of my team?¡± ¡°Man don¡¯t do that! They are resting inside¡± picking up his axe from the floor the man pointed towards one of the normal buildings. Too tired to bother with the evil glares he was receiving he dragged his body inside, it was an average business building filled with rooms most of which had people inside, resting and talking to each other, opening one of the doors he put his head inside. A small family of three rested on the floor, the father and mother were old and a young woman was serving them some food, all of them turned to him ¡°So¡­ you guys know where the rest of my team is?¡± ¡°On the second floor at the end of the hallway¡± closing the door he moved on. Climbing the stairs one step at a time he entered the wide room and saw the rest of beta team as well as Siegfried discussing something ¡°Hey¡± ignoring them he took off his helmet again and fell on his ass laying his back against the wall, eyes closed. ¡°Are you okay?¡± opening his eyes he saw a small blonde girl looking down at him, lifting his arm he ruffled her hair and smiled ¡°Sure, sure, hey Sieg have you called an extraction team yet?¡± coming his way the softie lifted the girl in his arms ¡°Yes, they should be here in another 40 minutes¡±. Accepting the extended hand he let Sieg pull him to his feet ¡°Did you take care of the elite?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really wanna talk about that right now but, yes¡± getting to the table with the three Einherjar and a few civilians he saw a huge map of the city spread open. ¡°The city is currently in our hands so no other monster should spawn inside it, if you separate in teams of five with a gun for each team you can start searching for survivors and exterminating the remaining monsters¡± ¡°are you leaving us alone?¡± asked the same armed woman he had seen before on the command tent ¡°No, fifty soldiers and sergeant Smith will stay and coordinate with you to help the rescue and help keep in contact with the government, the rest of them has to return, there are more places needing our help¡±. Leaving the map open he left with the team to wait for their ride outside, as they left the building once again he cursed the fact that he didn¡¯t get any rest, no matter he could sleep in the helicopter. A tired man with a huge machete approached them ¡°Ah sir¡­ What do we do with the corpses?¡± ¡°Pile them up and burn them¡± thinking about it Aaron suggested ¡°Gather them in piles of about 85 creatures then have those who volunteer to exterminate the remaining monsters burn it, it should give them a level¡± ¡°Good thinking.¡± As the men started to pile the bodies Erick offered ¡°Hey let me help you¡± motioning the wannabe hero and the Einherjar started to walk towards the bodies ¡°Sure go ahead, I will just rest over here¡± choosing an abandoned car he opened the door and sat down before feeling some stares coming his way ¡°What, I am not stopping you go ahead help them¡± ignoring the workaholics he laid his head back and sighed. As he closed his eyes and relaxed the scene of hundreds of survivors kneeling among zombies flashed into his mind, jumping out of the car he decided to help with the bodies after all. Picking up a human corpse he dragged it by its only remaining limb, a leg, towards the closest pile, lifting it with a grunt he threw it on top of the other body pieces and went back to pick up an arm that had fallen down throwing it dismissively at the pile as well. ¡°Don¡¯t you have any respect for the dead?¡± turning around he saw an angry woman holding a shovel and squeezing with all her strength ¡°Respect? What use do they have for that now?¡± he could see the desire to hit him in her eyes but ultimately she left ¡°Fucking bastard¡± ¡°you don¡¯t know how I wished that were the case¡± returning to his work he grabbed the only hand of a goblin and dragged the flailing creature to the pile as well. ¡°Can¡¯t you just not act that way?¡± releasing the goblin at the bottom of the pile he looked at Erick coming his way, a human body at each arm, gently laying them on top of the pile Aaron picked up a bottle of gas and spread it all over the wiggling corpses, most zombies were still trying to kill him. Throwing the bottle away he turned back ¡°I am just tired, my stamina bar is blinking at 9% damn it¡± looking at his mana bar he saw it was already back at <89/1112> so he sat down and manifested 2 strings using them to pull amputated limbs and pieces ¡°What happened with the elite?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s just say, knowing hundreds of innocents died away from me and seeing it with my own eyes while powerless to help are two completely different things¡±. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. The loud noise from a military transport helicopter started to be heard in the distance and soon the Einherjar joined them in waiting, Beta 2 Threw him a rifle ¡°Here, the guy you lent it to is dead¡± taking the riffle he had been using off he threw it back ¡°So, who is the owner of this one?¡± ¡°Beta 1¡± ¡°Oh¡­ have you found my blades?¡± ¡°No, want me to ask some people about it?¡± he shook his head ¡°Leave it, we have more of them and those men could use some good blades here¡±. As the grey and green helicopter appeared over the top of the buildings the small blonde kid came running out of the building and hugged Erick¡¯s leg, looking at him with big puppy dog eyes ¡°Are you going to leave?¡± he could just imagine Erick¡¯s helpless look behind his helmet, it cheered him up a little ¡°Yeah Sieg, are you going to leave?¡± The glare he received could have killed a lesser man, he just snickered, crouching down Erick put a hand over the girl¡¯s head ¡°I have to honey but, do you want to go with me?¡± ¡°Can I? But what about mommy and daddy?¡± ¡°People will inform me as soon as they find them¡± The Einherjar didn¡¯t have the authority to question but he opened a private channel and whispered ¡°What the hell do you think you¡¯re doing?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t leave her man¡± ¡°What do you mean you can¡¯t leave her, its easy just release her and walk away¡± ¡°I can¡¯t¡± wanting to massage his temples he stopped gathering body parts and got up ¡°Whatever, it¡¯s your problem¡±. As Erick and the others turned to watch the helicopter¡¯s final approach he bulled a piece of burning wood and called for the little girls attention, putting the piece of wood on her tiny hand he motioned for her and whispered ¡°Now throw it at the pile¡± she obeyed him before anyone noticed, as the zombies caught fire the girl took a step back and Erick turned around giving him the evil eye once again. ¡°What the hell do you think you¡¯re doing?¡± ¡°Giving her a headstart since you insist on taking her along¡± stepping in front of the little girl he shielded her from his evil influence ¡°Lily you don¡¯t have to obey the mean uncle¡± ¡°Hey I am not an uncle!¡± The transport helicopter didn¡¯t land hovering above them it send down a ladder from its side, the Einherjar were the first to climb then Erick climbed helping the child along the way, as he grabbed the ladder he screamed to be heard above the noise ¡°I still think you should have left her!¡± without anyone noticing he materialized a thick rope and wrapped it lightly around the kid¡¯s waist ready to catch her if she fell. Being the last to get into the helicopter he saw there were fourteen Einherjar strapped to their seats, six losses were a big blow but less than expected for a first mission in this new and strange world, he had to lift an eyebrow at the sight of the familiar four young civilians sitting together in a corner, command probably saw some use for them on the long run. Strapping himself besides Erick he looked out the door at the civilians lighting piles of zombies on fire, there were already many women and children carefully leaving the buildings, no longer as afraid to help as before, as the helicopter started to gain height the tightness in his chest abated a little, he was not a hero in any sense of the word but seeing that the lives he sacrificed were not completely in vain made him feel a little better. They lifted above the buildings and he saw the sun starting to rise on the horizon, he appreciated the view for a few seconds, he had spent nearly two years on that underground facility with little chance to see neither dawn nor dusk he was caught in its beauty every time, it gave him a sense of freedom. Turning towards the four civilians he said ¡°Long time no see Mica¡± the four turned his way and the one he recognized as Raphael grumbled ¡°Great, so you are alive¡± ignoring the less than animated response he asked ¡°Didn¡¯t you guys want to find someone in the city?¡± it was the girl who answered with a monotone voice ¡°Not anymore, my parents were among the zombies that attacked our location¡± ¡°Oh...¡± After that he choose to keep quiet and lay back, to the left of the helicopter a flock of huge terror birds started to fly towards them but two of the Einherjar sat at the machineguns mounted on the door and opened fire upon the creatures, they were not undead and fell rather easily. Just to annoy the guy he laid his head on Erick¡¯s shoulder and pretended to be asleep knowing his victim was too much of a good guy to say anything, his team communicator sounded in his ears ¡°Beta team this is command, we have another situation that requires your attention before returning to the base¡± Beta 2 the new team leader answered ¡°Understood command, moving to the new destination now¡±. Rolling his eyes as the helicopter turned sharply to the right he relaxed and got more comfortable in his seat, soon he didn¡¯t have to act anymore as sheer exhaustion dragged his consciousness away. Chapter 13 - The worst creatures Shorter than normal chapter today from a familiar point of view, enjoy ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Adam Ross Stared at the huge projection on the wall, both He and his adversary were on top of a huge stage and, bellow it, there were thousands of people, on the projection there were their names followed by constantly changing numbers, he was nearly mesmerized as he stared, hoping against hope for the right result. When the numbers finally stopped he saw the result, everyone exploded in noise as thousands of people cheered and commemorated, his wife and son climbed up the stage and ran over to congratulate him, she hugged him and gave him a deep kiss while his son patted his back smiling ¡°Congratulations dad¡± looking at the image again barely believing his luck he saw the numbers, a few millions to zero, he had lost. Turning his way his adversary and new president of the United States came closer extending his hand in a compliment, he shook the hand and congratulated him ¡°Congratulations on winning Eduard¡± looking into his eyes Edward Hamilton smiled and said ¡°Good morning Mr. President¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I am sorry but it is time to wake up sir¡± Lifting his left arm that had been hanging by the side of the couch he wiped the droll of his face and grumbled ¡°Five more minutes¡± ¡°Mr. President I believe you will want to listen to general Jackson¡¯s report¡± Lifting his other hand from his belly he scratched his sleepy eyes and yawned. ¡°What time is it?¡± ¡°Eleven a.m.¡± ¡°What!¡± jumping out of the couch he stumbled and nearly fell on his face ¡°Why the hell did you let me sleep so much!¡± ¡°Mr. President you hadn¡¯t slept in nearly three days, even if there was any decision that needed your immediate attention nobody would trust your decision.¡± ¡°Fine, fine¡± adjusting his tie and dusting his suit he righted himself and yawned once more before shaking his head ¡°What¡¯s this about general Jackson again?¡± ¡°I took the liberty of marking a meeting with him in half an hour sir¡± ¡°Ok fine, since I am awake anyway get me a line with Mr. Sullivan while I wait¡± walking with fast steps he put a hand on the door knob and twisted. ¡°Ahem! I am sorry to say this sir but, you stink¡± freezing where he was he sniffed the air twice before releasing the knob ¡°Change of plans, get Mr. Sullivan to be present at the meeting, I will be taking a shower¡± ¡°Of curse Mr. President.¡± Taking his suit off he threw it aside and walked into the shower, letting the water ran off his face and body he relaxed for the first time since this whole mess started, sighing he extended his hand for the soap.
Congratulations, your guild has claimed a city, as the guild leader you get + 100XP
Congratulations, you have gained a level, as a human you get + 1 attribute
Startled he let the soap slip through his fingers and fall to the ground ¡°Fuck!¡± goddamnit he couldn¡¯t get a fucking break, even in the shower this cursed had to remind him of its existence, having finally reached level 3 without killing a single creature he distributed this new point into wisdom he finished his shower quickly, his good humor had vanished as soon as it came. Jonathan, his aid, waited for him at the door of his room with a few folders of information and a cup of coffee ¡°Sir, I think you would like to know the Einherjar¡¯s Beta team has just returned to the base¡± looking his way quickly Adam asked ¡°How is he?¡± ¡°He is doing fine sir, their mission had a few inconveniences but was ultimately a success he has already reached level 4¡± Releasing a breath he didn¡¯t know he had been holding Adam picked the folder from Jonathan¡¯s hands and started walking towards the meeting room, reading the mission report on the folder he was quiet the whole way as sadness gripped his heart, what a mistake he had made. Entering the room he watched as all three people inside got up and waited for him to sit at the table before them ¡°Greetings Mr. President¡± ¡°Let¡¯s not waste time general, what do you have for me?¡± ¡°Mr. President today at 3 a.m. target C tried to break through the encirclement, our troops were still unable to damage the elemental creature and I was forced to detonate one of the nuclear devices at the western border of the perimeter¡±. Looking at his general without saying a word he put a hand over his eyes ¡°God, a nuclear explosion in American soil¡­ and it¡¯s not even the second wave¡± ¡°Sir I¡­¡± He lifted his hand to stop the general from saying anything else, he knew there were no casualties this time but it was still a hard thing to swallow. ¡°Did it at least stop the creature?¡± ¡°Yes sir, our troops have already recovered a guild badge, the second one since the avian giant, we also have recovered a skill book but our inspection level is too low to know much about it¡± ¡°Thank god for small favors, what about Target B, is it still on England?¡± ¡°Yes sir the dragon seems quite content on nesting at Windsor castle for the time being¡± Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Pushing some pictures his way the general sat back down, in the pictures he saw the result of the nuclear explosion as well as the remains of the british castle and the huge red lizard laying on top of it ¡°Fuck that¡¯s a big lizard¡± ¡°we could send a nuclear missile at the creature?¡± ¡°No, no more nuking things damn it!¡± Shaking his head at the overeager man he received another cup of coffee from Jonathan and drained it in a single moment ¡°ok so, any suggestion about what to do with the new guild badge?¡± ¡°Sir the air force and navy are eager to have their own guild and the senators want a chance at guild politics as well, the army itself is asking for a civilian guild¡± he thought about it for a while. ¡°As far as I am concerned the senators can go fuck themselves, the few that have any clue are not asking for a guild and the others are fools who still think the world can return to normal, what¡¯s your opinion for the others?¡± ¡°Well Mr. President the Navy has no reason to have a guild at the moment as we have no need to defend ourselves from the sea before the second wave and the air force needs a guild but they wouldn¡¯t receive it¡¯s full advantages as they are usually too far away to even receive experience from their kills, my suggestion is to form a guild for civilian fighters as make an alliance¡± ¡°I see¡­ I will have to think about it thank you general.¡± Turning towards the third man in the room Adam laid back on the chair and asked ¡°And you Mr. Sullivan, what do you have for me?¡± ¡°Well our space experts are currently monitoring Target A, its confirmed the creature is making its way towards earth, its size is a little over a thousand square kilometers and it will probably arrive in about 8 to 9 years if its speed doesn¡¯t fluctuate more, well after the third wave.¡± ¡°At least we have a little time to figure out how to stop the thing good to know, have the space guys work on ways to intercept the target before it arrives but I suspect we will have to coordinate with the other nations after the second wave, have you compiled the information we have at this time?¡± ¡°Yes sir¡± Passing him yet another folder, oh how he cursed the endless things, Mr. Sullivan got up ¡°If you will excuse me sir I need to coordinate with Alfa team¡± Studying his new papers he saw all the information they had gathered about the a whole 98 pages of reports and conjectures he would have to read by the end of the day ¡°How are the Einherjar as a whole doing by the way?¡± ¡°Very well sir, we had a 11% loss rate at the first mission, far better than any other military unit plus nearly all of the survivors reached level two and some managed to get to level three, now that they have the experience success will be greatly increased.¡± Dismissing the general he made a mental note to decide the guild badge¡¯s fate before the end of the day and prepared himself for lunch with Senators Baldwin and Cornwell, oh joy, the two of them represented the old kind of senator, those who wanted to find a solution and banish all the creatures back to wherever the hell they came from so they could enjoy their privileged life and leave problems for future generations. In truth the only difference between him and them was the fact that he wouldn¡¯t delude himself into thinking such thing was actually an option, the was a terrible thing but unfortunately it was here to stay and all they could do was adapt. Surviving his lunch by focusing on the food and thinking happy thoughts he mostly tuned out whatever crap about his lack of effort or military excesses that they complained about, leaving their meeting he called for Jonathan ¡°Remember to double the agents watching those two bozos they are bound to do something stupid so we can get rid of them.¡±
Congratulations, your guild has claimed a city, as the guild leader you get + 100XP
Stumbling on the middle of the corridor his aid managed to catch him before he fell down ¡°Goddamnit I hate those things!¡± before Jonathan could even ask he answered ¡°it¡¯s those damn system messages always popping out when I last expect¡± shaking his head he moved on. His phone rang and he answered ¡°What now?¡± ¡°Hello Mr. President this is Linda Rollman from daily news¡± turning around he threw the fucking phone out of the window, it skipped off a statue and broke down into many tiny little pieces ¡°Damn!¡± ¡°I am sorry Mr. President I am sure we can get you a new phone in a few hours¡± ¡°Forget it this is the fourth time some newshound finds out my number, it¡¯s just that I was aiming for the fountain.¡± He didn''t know why those people still thought he would actually give an interview at this time, reporters were the worse creatures the had managed to throw his way and he had no wish to actually meet one "Jonathan what else do I have to do this evening? I just threw out my appointment book". Chapter 14 - Rest Day Hey guys, does anybody know how to change the collor from a table? I would apreciate the help as I can''t find the answer easily and am frankly too lazy to search better also, enjoy the chapter Meaningless rant Spoiler : ok here''s the thing I was incredebly tired when I wrote this chapter and I made so many mystakes you wouldn''t believe, then I had to spend so long profreading the fucking thing I just wanted to erase it all and start again, in the end I had read it so many times and already had this image in my head about what I wanted to say so I missed far more than I normally do, I am honestly sorry but... well someday I will come back to fix it but for now it stays as it is. Finally the bullying scene should have been better but, although I was slightly fat in school I was also strong and mean so no one messed with me , at least not to my face,I don''t have any experience with it and I just couldn''t come up with anything better _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ The bodies flew everywhere as the airplane dropped bombs and used it¡¯s cannon to destroy the rocks where the resistance had been riding, their hiding place being found the troops charged out, their weapons spewing lasers as they made a last stand against the betrayer, the airplane made another pass but Red was faster, his laser weapon hit the plane¡¯s wing and blew it right out of the sky, the troops cheered. ¡°Too late my friend, victory is mine!¡± Lord Shadow came out of a abandoned bus, mounted on his terrible war beast a terrible creature it walked strangely on only two legs and had a terrible sharp beak it used to eat its prey Red wondered how Lord shadow had tamed such terrible being, even worse than it was the monster at his side prepared to attack them ¡°Never, we will never surrender!¡± As Lord Shadow pointed his monster charged and the resistance attacked, their laser weapons shoot like crazy but the monster was invincible, finally Red managed to kill the creature with his bare hands but his allies fell, it was only he, lord Shadow and his terrible mount, when it seemed like all was lost¡­ ¡°Honey lunch is ready!¡± Getting up the boy froze on his tracks, Lord Shadow was a terrible villain and needed to be stopped but his mom had made French fries today, deciding that fries won over evil lord he got up and kicked the penguin plush sending it flying with the action figure on top, a poor end for Lord Shadow and his terrible mount but it would have to do, nearly stepping on the fallen airplane/ Lago brick he ran out of the room and into the bathroom. Although he was too small to reach the sink properly he managed to drag a stool in front of it and wash his hand, as he quickly ran down the stairs his mother screamed for him to take care but he just jumped on a chair and looked over the top of the table watching his mon put the plates on it. ¡°Ok honey what do you want to eat?¡± ¡°French fries!¡± ¡°Of course you do, ok but only if you eat your salad¡± stuffing his cheeks he actually stopped to think about it but French fries were just too alluring ¡°Fine.¡± Devouring his food like a small void he ate his fries with his bare hands despite his mother warning, it tasted better this way, his meat also meet a similar fate down his throat, he only stopped when he reached the dreadful salad, poking at it with his fork he eventually picked a leaf of lettuce and ate it with a sour face then returned to poking it ¡°Eat your salad honey¡± ¡°Yes mom¡± he picked another leaf. The doorbell rang loudly and he jumped out of the chair ¡°I will get it!¡± ¡°Get back here this instant you little!¡± acting like he hadn¡¯t heard her he reached the door and asked ¡°Who is it?¡± ¡°The mooonster, I come to eat little boys that don¡¯t listen to their mothers!¡± Breaking out in a huge smile the boy opened the door and jumped at the man¡¯s arms ¡°Daddy you¡¯re here!¡± catching the boy and lifting him in his arms the man laughed ¡°Hello champion what did you do to your mother now?¡± At the kitchen door the woman had a radiant smile as she told on him ¡°He didn¡¯t eat his salad¡± ¡°Oh, Is that right?¡± putting the six years old boy bellow his right arm the man closed the door with his left and started to walk back to the table ¡°Well we can¡¯t have that can we?¡± ¡°Stop it ahahaha nooooo¡± with his arms and legs flailing in the air the boy laughed and laughed. Sitting the boy back in his chair the man turned towards his wife hugging her and kissing her deeply ¡°How come you¡¯re back?¡± ¡°What, you don¡¯t want me back?¡± slapping his chest the woman laughed ¡°Of course I want you, how long are you staying this time?¡± ¡°Forever¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I got promoted out of field work, they want me training new recruits for a while.¡± Incapable of words the woman just gave a exited scream and flooded him with kisses, while his parents were being silly the boy looked away ¡°Ewww, gross¡± poking at his salad once more he saw there were still a dozen fries left uneaten, looking back at his parents he saw that they were certainly not watching him. Frowning his face in concentration he felt a cool sensation traveling from his head right behind his eyes and down his neck towards his right hand, pointing at the fries a thin and fragile string left his finger and clumsily wrapped around a fry, he managed to pull it a whole two centimeters before it escaped the string, he tried again. When the man finally stopped kissing his wife they both turned to see their son happily eating half a dozen fries on his plate, the woman was less than pleased ¡°Aaron Ross!¡± Stuffing the fry he had been eating into his mouth the boy turned, his guilty face was incredibly cute. Over lunch Adam explained to his son that he would now be living with him, the boy was absolutely out of his mind with happiness, trying to tell him all about a lord shadow and the war that had been going on in his bedroom, suddenly the boy remembered something ¡°Daddy are you no longer a hero then?¡± ¡°what?¡± ¡°Mommy always said you have to be away and has all those shinning medals because you are a hero and have to help people¡± ¡°Aaron, dad has already saved enough people, now I will just teach other people and be your hero.¡± Over the months their life was blissful, his father had three months of paid leave he spent playing with him or enjoying time with his mother, when his dad finally had to return to work his hard times started, tired of playing alone he went to play in the streets with the neighbors kids, being the second youngest and also the most strange with his overactive imagination and lack of friends the older boys started to bully him. He started to leave the house less and less once again but his mother was always busy and he only meet his dad at mornings and at night, he spent close to a year as the excluded kid making sure to avoid the worst bullies but one day Roger, a nine years old fat tall child and his two friends cornered him on the way home pushing him down so he hit his head on a rock and started bleeding. Aaron tried to stop himself but he couldn¡¯t and started crying, it only made the boys laugh as they mocked him on the ground, picking up a glass bottle Roger approached him ¡°Please don¡¯t, I want my mother¡± ¡°You baby, here I have something for you¡± laughing harder at his crying face Roger opened the bottle and dumped its contents on his chest, it was full of spiders. Screaming in fear he tried to take off his shirt but got stuck, as the spiders crawled all over his body the sick boy laughed and laughed, he rolled on the floor screaming and crying, trying to beat the spiders away with little success, finally as one of them crawled into his face he lost it to fear and anger. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Burning hot power flooded his head and, like a dam breaking, it burned its way down his neck and out of his arms materializing into 10 strong strings moving wildly, each one nearly as strong as an adult human they swung around him uncontrollably, Aaron was beyond sanity, having always been afraid of spiders he was not even conscious, one of his strings lashed out and hit one of the boys in the chest nearly sending him flying while another wrapped around Roger¡¯s arm and slammed him into a tree, he screamed ¡°Get it off, get it off!¡± With very little control his strings tried to obey his order the only way they could, by destroying the spiders, they lashed at the creatures hitting his own body with enough strength to break the skin and shred his clothes, they wouldn¡¯t stop until every last spider was crushed. His father had been home for the weekend and came running out of the door desperate to help but having no clue about what was happening, in a last ditch effort he threw himself over his son¡¯s body receiving several lashes on his back, one of the string wrapped around his throat and squeezed cutting off his air, he struggled but the string was too thin and hard to catch, finally Aaron passed out from pain, terror and blood loss and the attack stopped. The boy opened his eyes in a hospital, his body wrapped in bandages, to the side of his bed he could hear his parents discussing ¡°No, absolutely not¡± ¡°Isabella he needs help and I can¡¯t give it to him!¡± ¡°He is just a child Adam!¡± ¡°He nearly killed two boys, three if you count himself as well, it is better this way¡± ¡°Better for who?¡± ¡°Everyone!¡± Pulling the curtains around his bed open a kind looking old man came closer, his father, a doctor and two soldiers accompanied him ¡°Hi champion, it¡¯s good to see you awake¡± ¡°Daddy what happened¡± ¡°My little hero you lost control and hurt some people¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t want to¡­ I just wanted it to stop¡± using a hand to push the hair out of the boy¡¯s face his father smiled ¡°I know champion, that¡¯s why those man are gonna help you, you just have to go with them for a while.¡± ¡°His mother came closer as well and kissed his forehead ¡°Honey, you don¡¯t need to do this¡± ¡°Isabella¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t! I won¡¯t let you do this!¡± putting an arm around his wife¡¯s shoulders his father lead her away where they started talking in angry whispers, the kind old man approached. ¡°Hello Aaron, my name is Horace Loren and, in a way, I am your father¡¯s boss¡± ¡°Are you a hero too?¡± ¡°No Aaron, I am not a hero I just make them, do you want to be a hero?¡± and the old man gave a kind welcoming smile ¡°Do you want to help people like your father did?¡± Jumping out of his bed, cold sweat dripping down his head like a waterfall, Aaron had to take a full minute to calm himself enough so he could get to the refrigerator and pull a bottle of cold water, drinking half the bottle in a single motion he poured the rest on the top of his head, deciding it was not enough he decided to take a cold shower before he was finally back on track. Putting on his tight spandex suit, well it was not really spandex but sure looked like it, he left the room still feeling a little embarrassed by the dress code, unfortunately they had to be as ready as possible at any one time, at 4 in the morning there were very few people working on the Einherjar¡¯s building, not wanting to go back to sleep he decided to go to the academy. He spent the first 45 minutes running at 9 km/h just to get in the mood before picking up the weights for an entire hour, as he lifted a huge weight alternating between each hand in 4 sequences of 50 a new message appeared
Congratulations, due to your constant effort your strength has increased by 1
Finishing his series with a satisfied smile he dropped the weight and looked in the mirror, thankfully his body did not change abruptly, it didn¡¯t change at all and he couldn¡¯t even feel the difference, then again he didn¡¯t feel the difference with intelligence as well, deciding to finish his exercise by hitting a sand bag he followed the sequence his Sifu had taught him long ago remembering the fluid motions of punching and kicking he was so found of.
Congratulations, you have learned
By the time he finished the academy was already full with Einherjar on break, men and women who had just returned from missions, all of them wearing the same form fitting full body suit like a second skin. Entering the bathroom to take a second shower he regretted his decision nearly immediately, like in most military training places the showers were open with no walls between men and women, trying to hide his embarrassment he showered quickly not looking anywhere, although he had gotten naked in front of his father that was just to annoy the man and, being naked in front of his father and two men was completely different from being naked in front of a bunch of women, he was still a virgin for god¡¯s sake. When he finally left he was fairly sure he had failed at hiding his discomfort but at the very least he didn¡¯t get hard, boy was that a relief, perhaps it was the fact that everyone was so nonchalant about it or perhaps it was the black man with a third lag that took a shower besides him, nothing keeps you soft better than the feeling of inadequacy. Taking a cup of cappuccino he sat down on a table in open air and started to read the reports from other Einherjar and Ragnarok members on his tablet, if nothing else the sheer diversity of the monsters they faced was interesting, from disgusting slime monsters to flying magical hogs and everything else in between. Reading about the strengths and weaknesses of other creatures he was actually quite bored, outside of the big bosses that spawned at places with gathered military power in the beginning the rest of those lesser creatures didn¡¯t pose any threat to him, he could kill them all either with his blades or by keeping his distance and snipping them even if there were many more of them his mobility would allow him to run. Before he turned off the device he made sure to read every information they had about England¡¯s situation, painfully little as it turned out since the dragon had taken over and nobody dared coming closer with a plane and aggravate the guy. Erick joined him at his table soon after with his own cup of coffee ¡°Hi¡± he just nodded ¡°I read your report by the way¡± releasing his cappuccino he lifted an eyebrow ¡°You did the right thing man, I am glad you were there cuz I don¡¯t know if I could have done it and then we would all be fucked¡± taking another sip he looked around, his chest a little lighter ¡°Where is your shadow?¡± ¡°Lily is still sleeping, they haven¡¯t managed to find her parents yet poor thing, you think they still have a chance?¡± thinking about his own missing mother he turned his face ¡°There is always a chance¡± both their wrist communicators rang out at once, turning his head he read
New mission, transport helicopter 7
¡°Damn don¡¯t they give us a break!¡± complained Erick but he just laughed ¡°They just did, a whole 8 hours break even, I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re complaining about¡± ¡°Very funny I barely had enough time to sleep damn it¡± ¡°You are aware we will probably be on missions near constantly for at least the next month or so right?¡± ¡°Fuck I had a lot of trouble making myself forget that why did you remind me!¡± Not a chapter Hi guys i have some good and some bad news Good news i found out why i was feeling so bad yesterday. Bad news its because i was comming down with a huge coldThis story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. So i am gonna have to apologise but there won''t be a chapter today. On a diferent note, do you guys want me to post things like experience needed for next level, a bestiary, or other people''s status in a separate post? Chapter 15 - Philly They boarded the transport helicopter together and strapped themselves in, Beta team had been reinforced by four new fighters and Beta 2 had been promoted to team leader, Einherjar¡¯s teams 5 and 12 were also following them, each one in a modified V-22 Osprey, the three helicopters lifted from the ground and quickly achieved incredibly speed as they proceeded to the destinations. ¡°What is the mission again?¡± He asked Erick at his side ¡°I don¡¯t know I suppose Beta 2 is gonna explain it right now¡± right when they finished speaking Beta 2 released his straps and walked to the center of the helicopter ¡°Ok soldiers we are going to Philadelphia, it is the last big city needed to conquer Pennsylvania and unite New Jersey, New York and Virginia, it is essential to the government¡¯s plans ¡± ¡°Then why haven¡¯t they conquered it already?¡± ¡°They tried, the general send a few thousand troops there together with Team 4, they took over the City core and more than half of the 39 nodes but they were attacked by a variety of creatures, while they were fighting back we suddenly lost communications¡± ¡°What kind of creatures?¡± ¡°Well, mostly goblins but there were a few stalkers, a pretty big group of wargs, some carnivorous plants and a group of earth bears, according to our information a Hobgoblin warchief managed to control most of the creatures into a coordinated attack and forced the general to retreat before we lost communications¡± ¡°And what¡¯s the situation now?¡± ¡°We aren¡¯t really sure, we know we lost all but 5 nodes but our surveillance system doesn¡¯t see any of the creatures out on the streets, we will be dropping down troops at every known node our own Beta team will make the droop at the city core In the university of Pennsylvania, eliminate any resistance we find and capture the city as fast as we can, your own helmets should have received the mission information so take your time analyzing it, we will be there in about 20 minutes.¡± Reading the information he received on his helmet¡¯s visor he became interested in the hobgoblin warchief and its ability to use strange letters in place of spells to attack, he suppose the creature could make for a good fight being a level 14 boss but all else would pose little to no danger to the team much less to him and Erick, if the fool didn¡¯t decide to act like a hero and make trouble for them all it should be easy. Spending the rest of the time quiet he made sure to check all his gear was in order, checking his rifle, handgun and the new blades he put them back into place and checked his supplies, four magazines of armor piercing bullets, another two magazines of exploding bullets and a magazine of high explosive incendiary bullets for his riffle, he had given up on normal rounds, for his handgun he picked 2 boxes of exploding bullets and 2 boxes of R.I.P bullets, it should be enough to handle everything he encounters. ¡°Alright people we are here!¡± Beta 3 and 4 controled the autocannons to watch the ground as the helicopter actually hovered above the Blanch P. Levy park and dropped down from ropes, a meaningless action as it turned out because no creature showed up to attack them, Beta 1 and 2 were the first to come down and they lifted their riffles to give cover as the other Einherjar climbed down as well, he touched down on the grass and looked around but, outside of a few patches of grass or trees marked by blood there was nothing important around. They advanced in a coordinated manner, running through the woodland walk at a very fast pace, the city core was actually located inside the Penn Law building, getting to the front door they stopped, hiding behind cover ¡°Ok people we assume the creatures are inside so be prepared for some close quarters action, we will separate into two teams of 10, Beta 3 will be point man for team B while I will lead Team A, Siegfried can you go with them?¡± ¡°Of course Beta 2¡± ¡°Very well then, I will enter through the front entrance while team B will circle around and try to surprise them by entering from the second floor are we clear?¡± ¡°Yes sir¡± Without caring much either way he followed Beta 2 inside, Beta 9 was their point man, holding a shotgun on his shoulder the man advanced inside the building and proceeded towards Golkin¡¯s hall, the city core was supposed to be at the auditorium there, as Beta 9 turned corners carefully he walked around calmly, the building was nearly destroyed with claw marks, burns and blood everywhere, if there was a single piece of furniture left intact they would be lucky. Their advance was slow but steady as Beta 2 and 9 cleared rooms carefully and the others gave cover, eventually he got feed up with it ¡°Why the hell are you still slicing the pizza, there is nothing here¡± both of them turned his way and looked at him ¡°Its¡­ slicing the pie¡± ¡°I know I just prefer pizza¡± Ignoring the Einherjar he just walked ahead, manifesting a thick string, almost like a rope, he twisted it around itself until it formed a 1,5 meter wide disk, making two more disks he layered them on top of each other and used them as a shield as he walked ahead, although it wouldn¡¯t stop a bullet it would weaken it enough to make even a piercing sniper round useless against his armor. No longer bothering with the Einherjar¡¯s time consuming method he quickly arrived at the auditorium, it¡¯s doors were ripped off its hinges and a huge pool of blood spread all around the entrance dripping down the stairs, pieces of a destroyed wall blocked the way and he easily jumped over them to see the red city core floating alone in the center of the room, claw marks and bullet holes were everywhere.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Manifesting he dragged one of the biggest pieces of rubble with him as he touched the glowing ball and sat down on top of it, entering the room Beta 2 said ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be wasting mana like that¡± ¡°How much mana do you have?¡± ¡°one hundred seventy-five why?¡± he looked at his own mana [1143 / 1212] by using his free attribute point from level 4 to increase his wisdom he actually gained 100 mana points, he snorted in amusement at having wasted just short of half Beta 2¡¯s mana on useless thing, not that he cared, his own recovery rate was abnormally high so he would be back to full in a couple of minutes anyway.
Congratulations, Loki from U.S. army guild has conquered the city core + 500 XP
Using his communicator he called ¡°Hey Sieg, get over here there is nothing in this damn building¡± soon enough another 11 men entered the room, looking around at team A sitting around the auditorium, Erick approached him and asked loudly ¡°Where the hell are the monsters?¡± but he shook his head ¡°I have a better question, with all this blood and fighting where the hell are the bodies?¡± ¡°Another undead thing you think?¡± ¡°Who knows they could have been eaten by a flying pink unicorn for all I know¡± ¡°You know what¡¯s amusing? I honestly wouldn¡¯t be surprised if that was the case, this world has gone crazy¡± Quietly watching his mana he saw it recover four points in a minute, then five points each minute for the next four minutes and finally four points again, doing the math in his head he could recover 288 points in an hour by just sitting down, 4.8 point in a minute and 0,08 points per second ¡°Hey Sieg, how much mana do you have?¡± ¡°320 why?¡± ¡°Just curious¡± so he could recover just short of Erick¡¯s entire mana in a single hour, cool. Manifesting a single normal sized string he slowly manipulated it trying to figure out how much mana it consumed when Beta 2 called over the common channel ¡°This is Beta team, Teams 4 and 12 what¡¯s your situation?¡± ¡°This is team 4 We have safely captures the nodes Beta 2, there was no resistance¡± ¡°This is team 12, the situation is the same¡± ¡°What about corpses did you find any?¡± ¡°No¡± ¡°A lot of blood and signs of fighting but no bodies¡± ¡°Very well keep me informed¡± ¡°Captain, I got in contact with the rest of the soldiers, all units have faced no resistance and successfully seized their nodes¡± ¡°Then why isn¡¯t the city under our complete control yet? What the hell is going on?¡± Beta 2 appeared to doze off for a while but he saw a slight blue light in his visor, catching on quickly he too opened a city map marked with all nodes and the city core starting to comb over it trying to find something they missed. ¡°Wait, why the hell isn¡¯t there a node at Fairmount Park?¡± he asked out loud ¡°There can¡¯t be a node everywhere Loki, other important places also don¡¯t have one¡± ¡°yeah but none of them are as big as freaking Fairmount park¡± Beta 2 focused on him ¡°You¡¯re right, it¡¯s a long shoot but worth looking at command could have missed it in their search, now wait a moment¡± touching his helmet Beta 2 received a call from the soldiers and transmitted it to the common channel. ¡°Beta team this is first sergeant Guerrero we got something on Jefferson Station¡± ¡°What is it First sergeant?¡± ¡°it¡¯s some kind of hole in the line¡¯s wall, it¡¯s big enough for a person to fit in easily and there is blood around it¡¯s edges¡± ¡°Understood First sergeant Guerrero, Beta team is the closest to your location, secure the entrance and wait for us to arrive, the rest of the Einherjar meet us at the station as soon as you can.¡± Getting up and adjusting his weapon Beta 2 ordered ¡°You heard the man people get moving!¡± ¡°What about Fairmount Park?¡± ¡°Loki, it¡¯s a good shoot and we will have to check it latter but Jefferson Station takes priority¡± they all left the building much faster than they came in, following his lead once again curling his ropes in the form of shields as they started to walk to the new target he stopped. ¡°I could go check it out on my own¡± ¡°Loki there is no reason for you to advance alone¡± ¡°What, you guys got Sieg he can handle those creatures almost as well as I can, besides it¡¯s not like I am gonna get killed by some hobgoblin, those corrupted bull we had to face after that zombie fest in the first mission are just about the worst thing that came out of this wave and even they couldn¡¯t hurt me¡± ¡°Fine, do as you wish¡± Nodding towards Erick he left the team, taking the 34th street straight towards the park caring little for defense or wariness besides keeping his makeshift rope shield in front of him as he pulled himself on top of a roof and started running, thankfully there were no flying monsters anywhere in sight and he could move as he wished the shield ended up simply breaking the harsh wind coming his way. When he got to the park he didn¡¯t find anything out of place, ¡°Control can you get another image of Fairmount Park for me? I just know there is something wrong here¡± ¡°Sending you the images now Loky¡± ¡°Thanks¡± opening his images he started to search from the center of the park, zooming in really close he spent a whole 20 minutes looking but finally found what he thought were traces of blood and drag marks but couldn¡¯t really be sure. Following the river he made way towards what he saw on the image ¡°Loky this is Beta 2, we arrived at Jefferson Station, we will wait for the rest of the Einherjar to arrive before moving to explore the opening¡± ¡°Why wait so long you guys got the armor and Sieg¡± ¡°After Beta 1¡¯s death I am not taking any chances¡± ¡°Ok good look with that¡± When he arrived nearby the location he quickly found more traces of dragging and blood on the ground, following more or less their direction he found what looked like a rabbit hole but moved on, then he found another, and another one, covering a range of two kilometers he found twenty seven holes randomly spread and in three of them he saw signs of blood. ¡°Oh there is something here alright I just don¡¯t know what yet¡± following the direction where the holes increased in number he started to walk, paying attention so he wouldn¡¯t miss anything, eventually he found what he was looking for, bellow some bushes there was a hole slightly bigger than average and an abandoned child shoe close by. Engaging his night vision he came closer and laid down, he could actually squeeze his entire body inside the hole but didn¡¯t bother with it seeing the hole was a little over a meter deep and then there was some strange thing blocking the way further, Materializing once again, he put all his concentration on the spell thinking about his anger at the children¡¯s shoe, at his pain when he killed the undead mage and knew what was gonna happen, at his mother still missing and at spiders, he never forgot to think about spiders, linking the giant invisible hand¡¯s movements with his own right arm he closed his fist and punched the ground. The blow fuelled by so many of his emotions was devastating, it was as loud as a bomb and shook the ground making it cave in about half a meter all around the hole, adding his frustration at having to repeat the action he struck again, even stronger this time, the ground finally gave way around him and he fell. Chapter 16 - Down the Rabbits Hole Aaron Fell three meters down, earth fell all around him covering his armor and weapons, pulling a dagger in each hand he stayed still, alert to any noise as he waited for the dust to settle so he could better inspect the situation, it did so slowly and with no signs of any creature showing up to check on the noise, when he recovered enough vision he put the daggers back in their sheaths and pulled his rifle. The hole he fell in revealed a tunnel just a little over two meter high going away from the river and towards West Fairmount Park with a slight inclination down ¡°Control I found something, I think it¡¯s the same kind of tunnel Beta team is about to enter I will scout ahead keep a tab on my location please¡± ¡°Understood Loki¡± Using his helmet¡¯s night vision he managed to walk through the tunnel without using any light that would reveal his location but this time he was far more careful, engaging his armor¡¯s full camouflage ability and maintaining an invisible rope shield both at his front and back, it actually cost him quite a bid of mana but he had a lot to spare and he didn¡¯t want to get a fireball to the face or something like that. Touching the wall he noticed it was covered with some kind of sticky muck that held the walls, over the distance of about 500 meters he saw many small tunnels connecting to the one he was in, some were just big enough for a small dog to pass while others could house a crouched man but the one he followed seemed to be the main one ¡°Control are you getting this¡­ control?¡± great he lost communications, that was not supposed to be possible with those armors. He briefly considered retreating and following Beta team but now that he found the tunnels he was fairly sure the hole on Jefferson station would lead them here anyway, what are the odds of two unknown estrange tunnels in the same city? Anyway he could probably deal with anything that came through and there were enough side tunnels big enough for him to fit in if he really had to escape. As he continued to make his way down the quiet tunnels he finally crossed paths with another bigger one, it was nearly four meters high and five meter wide covered with the same stick substance as the others but still dripping from the selling, as he stepped into the new tunnel his metal but sunk about two centimeters in the thing and he actually had to use a little strength to take each step. Making an educated guess that what he was after would be further down he took this new tunnel, sticking close to the wall and holding his rifle ready for any eventuality he didn¡¯t forget to put a silencer on it so he could kill whatever creature lived here without warning everything else. The number of tunnels that intersected with the one he was walking increased the further down he went, he had already been walking for nearly an hour and the map making feature on his helmet was going crazy trying to plot out their probable destinations as well as mapping out what he had already walked as the tunnel twisted and turned randomly thankfully he didn¡¯t have to do like Theseus and leave one of his strings to mark the way, he would probably run out of mana before getting to the end of this thing.
Congratulations your has increased a level
Congratulations your has increased a level
Congratulations thanks to the constant use of your you have created a skill would you like to name it?
YESNO
He chose no once again, seeing as he would probably just call this rope shield anyway and the system had done such good job with a very imposing name much better than ¡®The hand¡¯ or ¡®useful pulley system¡¯ as he had called it before, plus he was curious about it.
Congratulations you have created the skill
TELEKINETIC SHIELD
Manifests a shield made out mana converted into telekinetic energy it can block both physical and magical attacks2 Def in all aspects
¡°Oh I expected better from you, how unoriginal¡± He suppose there wasn¡¯t much you could call a shield made out of coiled invisible telekinetic rope and it wasn¡¯t really a very powerful or original concept to begin with, there was no sense calling it the godly aegis now. Looking at his shield he noticed his skill slowly blending in on itself, it was still made out of a invisible rope but now it looked far more uniform and well made, he immediately noticed a decrease in both the mana and concentration needed to maintain the shield¡¯s form, he stopped loosing 8 mana per minute to lose only 4, still it was too much for him to maintain for much longer and he choose to dismiss them both, he would call it again if he needed to turn any corners or something like that. His boots continued to make squish noises as he descended the tunnel for a while when he heard a clicking noise on one of the connected tunnels, immediately stopping in his tracks he glued himself to a wall on instinct before remembering what was covering the damn thing sinking a whole 2 centimeters down, pushing away immediately he felt his hands sink deeper on the wall while his body was released with a sticky noise, his back looked like it had been covered by snot. ¡°Ugh¡­ just ugh¡± finally managing to get away from the wall he didn¡¯t even care about the noise anymore, he was not a clean freak but this was just too much, shaking his arms to get rid of the glue he shook his head, at least his weapon hadn¡¯t gotten covered in the thing, whatever creature had made that clicking didn¡¯t seems to notice the noise he made so it was either deaf or too busy to care. He briefly considered continuing down the main tunnel or following the noise eventually deciding for the latter as he could always find the main tunnel again with his helmet¡¯s map, manifesting only one this time he stepped on top of it and used his powers to manipulate the thing floating 20 centimeters off the ground, a neat little trick he enjoyed doing to impress people but unpractical as it drastically increased mana cost, this time it was necessary to keep him from making even more noise. As he moved the shield through the tunnel he crouched down on top of it and aimed his riffle still keeping close to the wall, this tunnel was smaller than the main one and had a bend about 400 meters down, this time he did slice the pie, slowly increasing the area he could see so he wouldn¡¯t get surprised or ambushed at what he found. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. At first he didn¡¯t recognize the creatures, a mass of dark things were covering the entire end of the tunnel and crawling all over the walls, using his zoom he could finally see them clearly, red hairy ants the size of large cats were furiously working to expand a tunnel, taking out big chunks of earth out of the wall with their pincers they passed it along to those behind them, those in turn ran back through small tunnels on the selling taking with them pieces of earth twice as big as themselves, the ants were so numerous it was impossible to count working so frenetically they didn¡¯t even notice him floating behind them, in less than a minute the tunnel had grown about five meters in depth with the same 3 meters of high and 4 of width. After a minute of work the ants plucking out earth pieces rotate with new ones and, at the corners, he noticed ants with slightly bigger abdomens spewing the stick goo to make the walls stay in place ¡°What the fuck, it¡¯s a fucking anthill¡± disappointing with not having to fight powerful underground creatures and monsters from the depths he watched a little longer and saw a single ant come over from a more distant hole than the others, materializing a string he laced its head and pulled it closer. The cat sized ant clicked it¡¯s pincers loudly in annoyance and he watched worriedly the others, they just continued working so he released his breathing and moved back behind the bend before dispelling his shield, the fall made his boots sink even deeper in ant vomiting but he ignored it and looked at the creature.
Dwarf Ant Worker ¨C Level 1
HEALTH100%
STR3END2
DEX 3SPD2
WIS 1INT1
It was a black and much like the average garden ant he had seen in his childhood just about a meter long and 30 centimeters high, it tried closing its pincers over his finger but the armor blocked it so completely he didn¡¯t even fell the pressure, getting one of his strings around the joint of neck and thorax he squeezed cutting it off and dropping it on the ground, it¡¯s headless body continued moving by itself and he felt a little bad, like the boy who pulled wings off flies, but he couldn¡¯t risk it somehow communicating his presence. Returning to the main tunnel he continued on, quickly but carefully so he wouldn¡¯t warn any of the ants for another twenty minutes before his communicator suddenly started working again ¡°Loki, this is control answer us! Loky!¡± ¡°Control I am here¡± ¡°What the hell is going on Loki?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know yet but the hole was a damn anthill control, it is covered in a sticky muck I thing somehow blocks my signal¡± ¡°Have you encountered any threat?¡± ¡°Not yet, the tunnels seem mostly deserted but I found a couple of them working, they are about the size of a housecat and seems too busy to even notice me.¡± ¡°Very well Loki I will try to warn Beta team their signal is still on but weakned, I thing they are still far away from the center of the tunnels¡± all the while Aaron had been walking ahead and looking around, he had finally turned another corner when he was forced to stop stunned ¡°Control can you trace my location¡± ¡°Just a moment, the signal just increased in intensity I am getting an image, damn how did we miss that hole it could fit a small car through! Yeah we got your location Loki¡± Looking at the image before his eyes he was mightily impressed, the tunnel ended in a precipice and there was an opening the size of half a football field with thousands of similar tunnels, about 30 meter up the opening started to close ending in a small hole of about 2 meters from where he could see the sun, looking down he saw the precipice continued for a hundred meters and nearly all the first 40 meters were absolutely filled with worker ants, there must be millions of the things there crawling all around. ¡°Fuck that¡¯s gonna take some work to get rid of, how the hell did they dig so much in only 4 days?¡± sending a recording of what he was seeing to control he said ¡°I am gonna see if I can assassinate their queen, it should make it far easier to deal with them if I do, pass that along to the Einherjar will you¡± ¡°Understood Loki good luck¡± Using one of his blades to scrap a piece of the tunnels edge clean of the muck he sat down and pulled an energy bar from his pack, eating it slowly he watched the ants working frenetically for an hour as his mana recovery bought him back above one thousand, Manifesting a very long string he used his power to attach it to the opening in the ceiling then he slit down. As he was recovering his mana he had seen some of the workers bringing some larvae out of a tunnel and into another, guessing they had came from the queen¡¯s chambers he approached, his armor¡¯s camouflage ability was really exceptional, no ant discovered him even when he was just 4 meters above them, his strings normally lasted about an hour if he didn¡¯t dissolve them so he left the one he had used hanging there for his returned and moved on The tunnel he chose was the biggest he had seen till now at 6 meters high and 8 wide and its floor was filled with ants, some of the hasty ones even walked through the walls, he manifested another long and thick string and tied a long dagger to each end, piercing them both into the ceiling of the tunnel he tested it and saw they were pretty secure, using the rope to pull himself he advanced through the tunnel quietly, even here the tunnel¡¯s ceiling was not used very much. Advancing slowly he soon saw the signs that his communication had been cut off again, he considered just dropping down and walking with the ants, it¡¯s not like they could actually hurt him with their power but enough of them could pile on top of him to stop his movements and then what face would he make when Erick had to pull him out of a ant pile he was stuffed in. After his string ran out he briefly manifested a shield to step on again before pulling the first dagger out and sending it ahead, fixing it on the ceiling once more he continued to pull himself, although it was far more strenuous on the body the amount of mana he saved this way was necessary if he wanted to stay above half his total pool, always a good choice if only for the fact that having a small amount of mana left him feeling incredibly depressed. After the third time he had to do that he saw his first branching tunnel, it was just slightly smaller than the first one and had nearly no ants coming out of it, he knew it was certainly not the right one but his curiosity got the better of him, getting a hundred meter inside he stopped seeing them altogether and dropped down, pulling his daggers from the ceiling he flicked them to get rid of the muck then sheathed them ¡°Damn I am gonna have to clean the whole armor latter¡± Following the way he ended up into a wide open room, inside were bones, thousands upon thousands of bones, pieces of cloth thrown away and all kinds of discarded items laying about, he saw many guns and other weapons he guessed came from goblins and other humanoid creatures, the bones were all picked clean ¡°I guess I found our missing creatures¡± a few particular items caught his attention. Walking towards the first one he pulled it up, it was a black flowing hide full of holes
Stalker¡¯s hideCLASSC-
ABILITIES
The wearer is 10% harder to notice
The hide of a stalker beast killed while still invisible it retains a little of its power
Slain by Roger SandersNever usedin poor condition
Interesting it would come in handy sometime if he found a way to repair the thing, going towards the second he knelt down and spread the bones apart to see a small ring, pulling it in his hand he also inspected it
A ringCLASSN / A
ABILITIES
N/A
A normal average ring, the diamond on top of it is false
Well he couldn¡¯t win them all, stepping over the bones once again he stopped in front of a smaller humane skeleton, he would have guessed it belonged to a young boy were it not for the abnormally sharp fangs, a hobgoblin them, picking up the glowing white orb bellow it¡¯s cranium.
Rune Inscription (Impact) ¨C Skill Book
Can draw a forgotten rune to generate a powerful impact on activation
higher levels increase strength of runehigher levels increase effect of runemana cost dictates power of the runeat higher levels can have other effects
He had passed on the consume spirit skill book but this one interested him a lot, holding it in front of his face he looked deep within the white orb at a small point of light for a while, slowly the light filled his vision and them words started appearing in his mind, it was not that he read them or listened to a strange godly voice they just entered his mind directly and he knew the information, at the end of the transfer a single symbol appeared, the he now knew, it burned itself into his mind. He staggered back and fell to his knees but the orb was still glued to his hand, that¡¯s when he knew he had made a mistake, he felt the light inside the orb start to drill into his hand slowly and incredibly painfully as it opened a new patch in his body, he remembered the day he snapped and his mana manifested wildly, he remembered how painful it was for a huge amount of mana to pass through a small patch but this time there was no patch, when the light finally reached his head he started crying, he bit his lips and drew blood his hands going white as he squeezed the orb desperately and arched his back. The light from the orb drew a beautiful figure in his body marking a very specific pathway before finally reaching his mana pool in his brain, then it drew the mana out, the pain was like nothing he had ever felt, beyond his fears, beyond his anger down to his very soul and he screamed, screamed until his throat couldn¡¯t make a sound anymore, down on the other tunnel thousands of ants stopped what they were doing, their feelers twitching as they turned towards their dumping ground. Chapter 17 - Escape He finished screaming his soul out and the skillbook crumbled into his hand falling through his fingers to join the bones in the ground, he fell to the side and convulsed, his mind still too hurt to process anything around him and them he went blank. A jolt to his heart finally brought him back to reality as he took big gulps of air and tried to get up only to fall back down sprawling over the ground sending bones and items flying everywhere ¡°Fuck¡­ damn that hurts¡± putting a hand over his chest he thanked god for the inbuilt defibrillator but its charge had actually damaged the metal plate to some extent. Finally managing to get up on his feet he stumbled away from the entrance, picking up the stalker cloak he wrapped himself up on it and used a small to float towards the ceiling, looking worriedly at his health and mana he saw both had taken a big dip he was only at [31%] and [459 / 1212] The ants burst into the room almost like a living wave of creatures, many getting over themselves to be the first, unfortunately they didn¡¯t stop in the ground climbing the walls and even the ceiling looking for him, he was forced to hover on the middle of the room waiting for the creatures to finish their search while watching his own mana go down fast, after five minutes he started to get desperate deciding to wait only until he hit 300 mana to make a break for it but that¡¯s when things became complicated. From the tunnel came some far louder clicking noises and a couple hundred black ants the size of very large dogs with mandibles twice the size of their smaller companions and small spikes in their bodies followed closely by Red ants the size of small ponies with smaller but far more sharp looking clicking mandibles and big abdomens, finally there was a single red ant with a big lumbering body and a disproportionally big head it was slightly bigger than even the other red ants and nearly dragged itself over.
Dwarf Ant Soldier ¨C Level 1
HEALTH100%
STR6END4
DEX 4SPD5
WIS 1INT1
Fire Ant Soldier ¨C Level 1
HEALTH100%
STR9END6
DEX 4SPD6
WIS 1INT1
Fire Ant Spitter ¨C Level 1
HEALTH100%
STR3END2
DEX 3SPD2
WIS 1INT1
As soon as he read the creature¡¯s name he knew he had been made but doubted they knew exactly where he was, as the ant lifted its head and spit a red liquid far off to his right he relaxed but another 12 spitters came inside the room right behind, clearly they were not stopping and, eventually, he would get hit or run out of mana. Lifting his rifle before they had the chance to start attacking he took the initiative and put three bullets inside the head of the first one, it had already lifted its head for another shoot so, when the head exploded in pieces of carapace and ant meat the red liquid spilled all over the smaller black ants around it eating tight through them like acid, they gave long loud screeches as their bodies seemed to be dissolved under the effects of the substance.
Congratulations you have slain Fire ant spitter x 13 + 123 XP
Seeing his chance he used the aim assist to put three bullets on the heads or bodies of each one of the remaining twelve spitters, the soldier ants started to jump from the walls or throw themselves from the ceiling trying to get to him but the place around the tunnel entrance was momentarily cleared by the acid. Controlling his shield as best as he could he flew towards the entrance, he only got a little over ten meters inside it before he was covered in black ants, he was not adept at using his power in such wasteful way making his speed too slow, opening fire in full auto towards a part of the ground he decimated both the red and the black ants there before jumping out of the shield and instead pushing it ahead of him he started to run.
You have slain dwarf ant soldier x 14 + 15 XP
You have slain fire ant soldier x 11 + 24 XP
Using the shield open the way by bashing the ants on his front turned out to be far more effective as they were far lighter than him and he was more used to the action making it faster and wasting less of his already depleted mana, he dashed into the tunnel as an army of creatures either followed him or tried to block his way.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. A single string pulled out the sword from his back, the long but light blade was ideal for the job as he swung the string in a wide ark swiping the ants on his front he managed to slay dozens of them with each swipe keeping just enough of the creatures away so he could continue dashing towards the exit, his chest was still hurting like hell and his head was killing him but he ignored them and moved on.
You have slain dwarf ant soldier x 43 + 47XP
you have slain fire ant soldier x 29 + 63XP
Half a dozen ants were still clinging to him trying to bite through his armor and one managed to get a mandible over his chest area where the defibrillator had damaged the armor, it wasn¡¯t enough to hurt him but it actually managed to crack a small piece of it, given enough time It could be a problem. His vision started to go white and cloudy at the edges, the physical strain right after so much pain and the shock was too much, still he struggled and managed to remain awake with pure willpower, he was near the end of tunnel, he was nearly out, bashing the last of the ants away from the entrance he looked up, and knew he wouldn¡¯t make it.
Fire Ant Queen ¨C Level 1
HEALTH100%
STR11END7
DEX 6SPD9
WIS 2INT2
Dwarf Ant Queen ¨C Level 1
HEALTH100%
STR7END4
DEX 4SPD10
WIS 2INT2
Titan Ant Queen ¨C Level 1
HEALTH100%
STR21END12
DEX 4SPD6
WIS 1INT2
Burst Ant Queen ¨C Level 1
HEALTH100%
STR8END3
DEX 5SPD10
WIS 2INT1
The opening was filled with hundreds of flying queens from four different races preparing for a nuptial flight ¡°oh fuck me they¡¯re gonna spread!¡± a hit from behind his back drove him forwards to slip into the precipice but he managed to turn around and attach a string to the edge and see a fire ant spitter had hit him, he put two rounds on its head before running out of bullets, chancing the magazine for one of the incendiary ones.
you have slain a fire ant spitter + 11XP
From his back a thin amount of smoke floated up and his system flashed with a red symbol on his upper right back, the spit actually did some damage ¡°Control I need help!¡± ¡°Loki what¡¯s happening!¡± ¡°I fucked it up and need someone to clear the entrance to the hole¡± jumping out of the tunnel he extended his hand and grabbed the string that was still hanging from the top hoping the virgin queens were too busy to come after him. ¡°Loki Beta team is still 34 minutes away from your position but one of the army helicopters can drop some soldiers in your location in 4 minutes!¡± ¡°Control there is a few thousand queens here ready to start new colonies, with how fast those things breed we can¡¯t let them¡± one of the Titan ant queens finally noticed him, it was a huge thing nearly 10 meters long and 4 meters high with wicked sharp mandibles and powerful wings. When the ant started to fly his way many of the other followed it and he knew whatever plans he had of escaping were screwed, 21 strength was more than enough to crush his armor fuck he was gonna die ¡°Forget it control just blow this hole up, can¡¯t let those ants leave here!¡± releasing his string he let his body fall down for a second before materializing a shield in the air and pushing of off it ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°I will fucking find a way do it!¡± Hitting the floor in a roll he managed to get inside another of the smaller tunnels, looking back he saw the titan ant give up but the others smaller queens continued towards him, the walls of the anthill seemed to be alive as nearly all the millions of ants started to run after him covering the walls and the floor walking over each other, now that he was out of the tunnel he could see a few titan ants and burst ants among the fire and dwarf ones, he was so gonna die. Thankfully the tunnel he chose had very few ants inside, only a few dwarf ant workers that were easily kicked aside as he ran through them his chest and head killing him as they ached and burned, he didn¡¯t pay enough attention when crossing an intersecting tunnel and got a spit on his neck that nearly made him fall and started to smoke immediately with a hissing sound. More out of desperation than anything he turned around and filled the tunnel walls with bullets, the stick substance ignited but the flames did not spread as fast as he hoped taking time to spread the flames, none of the queens were in sight but the soldiers were quickly gaining on him. As he was looking back another two fire spits flew over his shoulders but a third hit his left leg, turning he shoot the three fire ant spitters ahead as well as quite a few of the soldiers around them but the number of ants coming on from ahead started to increase so he took another turn towards the left. A round brown ant jumped on his shoulders and started to bite at his neck, scrapping off pieces of his armor where the spit had hit him, worried he stabbed the thing in the belly, like it¡¯s name the ant exploded sending him flying to the side and allowing the mass of ants to gain on him, he couldn¡¯t escape.
you have slain a burst ant soldier + 5XP
Turning around he used his string to pull the five grenades he had separated for the mission, putting one on his riffle¡¯s launcher he shoot towards the ceiling then recharged and shoot again ending up shooting all five the last grenade being an incendiary one, as he took the shoots he was left wide open and a fire spit hit his chest making him fall back on his ass. The already damaged chest armor hissed loudly, a few of the faster ants managed to get through before the ceiling completely fell down but the others were either crushed or blocked from advancing, out of breath and hurting all over he tried to shoot the remaining ants but they were just too close managing to climb over him and trying to bite his body, manifesting his strings he pulled his four knives out and stabbed the creatures while he grabbed the burst ants with his own hands and threw them in the walls.
You have slain Burst ant soldier x 12 + 66XP
You have slain fire ant soldier x 19 + 41XP
You have slain dwarf ant soldier x 29 + 31XP
Knowing the ants wouldn¡¯t take long to clear the way or find another path towards his location he started to walk away, too tired to even run anymore his helmet was blinking red all over indicating damage on five to six parts of his armor, the chest and neck were particularly damaged and many of their systems were no longer working, a white fog started to creep up on the edge of his vision but this time he was just too tired, too hurt and his mana was barely at 120, he just didn¡¯t care enough to recover when he fell down he stayed that way and passed out. Chapter 18 - The 4 queens Erick looked inside the dark tunnel and sighed, He hated such closed spaces, it¡¯s not that he had claustrophobia but it was close, touching the edges of the opening with his hand it came out sticky with a yellow muck ¡°How long is this tunnel?¡± ¡°You have to crawl for about 80 meters before you reach a second larger tunnel and it¡¯s all covered with this stuff¡± walking away he shook his head, it¡¯s couldn¡¯t be just a tunnel it had to be a small tunnel as well great. When the other two Einherjar teams arrived Beta 2 gathered them all ¡°Alright teams, we are gonna be entering the tunnel soon it¡¯s covered with a strange but harmless goop the second tunnel goes towards the south of here but Loki has just informed control he found what appears to be many tunnels under Fairmount Park so, it is likely we will be heading that way at some time, our communications seems to get cut off inside the tunnel so one of the teams will be carrying a landline inside¡±. Checking his rifle once again from nervousness he waited for them to get ready ¡°What do you think we are gonna find inside there?¡± looking to his side he saw Beta 2 approaching him ¡°I don¡¯t know, moles?¡± ¡°Not likely but good shot, Loki has gone in alone over there¡± ¡°Loki is kind of insane¡± ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have allowed him to separate from us¡± finishing with his rifle he got up ¡°Yeah, you can¡¯t really order us and even if you could, do you think he would have obeyed? They both had to laugh at that thought before he got up, it was time to go. He was supposed to be the third one inside but, when it was his turn, he stood at the tunnel entrance for a few seconds trying to gather his courage, turning to his side he asked ¡°You think anyone could still be alive inside there?¡± the Einherjar he was looking at turned out to be a woman, she answered him ¡°I doubt it but, could be¡± ¡°Alright, alright¡± entering the tunnel he crawled on his elbows and knees as quickly as he could trying to catch up with the two point men, crawling for what seemed like forever before seeing the exit. When he reached the end of the small tunnel Beta 2 helped him get out, covered in goop but with his rifle and handgun safe, the new tunnel was much bigger, nearly 3 meters high and 3,5 meters wide, when the fourth Einherjar arrived they started walking with Beta 2 himself as the point man, advancing as fast as they could the tunnel walls were covered with smaller intersecting tunnels at every 12 to 18 meters from all sides. Soon they crossed another, even bigger, tunnel and had to decide which one to follow, the new tunnel would take them closer to Loki¡¯s last know location so they decided to go that way, it was a tense but boring march and, after nearly an hour walking while fully alert, he was tired and had a small headache, from behind them a short stocky Einherjar approached. ¡°Command just got in contact with us, Loki has found some kind of giant ant colony, he is gonna try and assassinate the queen alone¡± ¡°Idiot, it may not even be a single queen for all we know¡± lifting a boot and looking at the sticky goop that came up with it he asked ¡°Since when do ants produce this crap?¡± ¡°Since when do ants build man sized walls?¡± ¡°Good point, you know we should get going I have a bad feeling about this¡± taking point himself Erick started to move a little faster than was safe, almost jogging down the tunnel, his weapon ready, soon he heard some movement on the side tunnel. Lifting his hand to call for a stop Beta 2 ordered teams of four Einherjar to check those tunnels while the main bulk of the troops continued moving ahead, when they were reduced to only 28 men he saw the first enemy. It was one of the cat sized black worker ants carrying a huge piece of bone easily 5 times its own size walking in the same direction they were, taking aim he shoot its body before jogging over and stomping on it
You have slain Dwarf Ant Worker level 1 + 1XP
Kicking the bone out of his way he tried to move on but Beta 2 stopped him kneeling down to look at it Beta 13 got close to them ¡°Do you think those things are storing the survivors somewhere?¡± ¡°No¡± Eric turned around to stare at Beta 2 waiting for an explanation ¡°It is winter, very few ants store food for the winter they eat as much as they can and hibernate¡± ¡°Fuck!¡± Refusing to believe it Eric turned and moved on soon they heard a growing noise coming from beyond a bend in the tunnel about 130 meters ahead, as the roaring noise of hundreds of legs moving started to come closer he took a step back and didn¡¯t hesitate to lay belly down on the goop covered floor, besides him Beta 2 and 13 also laid down with their rifles pointing ahead, behind him another three man knelt down and three stood.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. The noise grew and grew until he could feel the ground trembling over the passing of many creatures, the first ant over the bend was a small round one, he took the first shoot piercing its head and the thing exploded violently, right behind it hundreds of dog sized ants of different sizes approached. Nine guns blazed into life roaring as they spewed a wave of death and destruction their way, the first ants died without even knowing what hit them but they continued advancing in a constant flow of hundreds advancing over the walls the ceiling and even their dead brethren, they ran fast, faster than a normal men but died even faster as bullets fell upon them like rain. Erick recharged for the third time and continued to shoot but he started to get worried, the ants seemed to not have an end and, while every dead body made it harder for them to move it also blocked their bullets, slowly they advanced decreasing the distance from 120 meters to barely 65, a huge bronze colored ant opened the way covering nearly half of the tunnel with its huge body, small ants still ran through its legs as it used its mandibles to crush the bodies in its way. They all focused their fire on the huge creature, it managed to resist a whole two seconds of their concentrated fire before falling over the side, another two such ants took its place, when they finally took care of the three giants the horde had advanced a whole 12 meters and they couldn¡¯t drive them back ¡°We have to retreat!¡± ¡°They are too fast we can¡¯t escape¡± from behind them one of the Einherjar screamed ¡°We found a wide open space on one of the side tunnels chief¡± ¡°Does it have a escape route?¡± ¡°Yes¡± ¡°Do it, retreat!¡± the three man standing behind them turned around and started to run, the man kneeling got up while Erick got in a crouching position, all six of them started slowly walking back while trying to maintain the advancing ants at a distance, ¡°Beta 2 Command just sent word from Loki he is in trouble! It seems he failed to assassinate the queen and is asking for rescue!¡± ¡°Goddamnit! That¡¯s what this is about, the queen is escaping¡± Eric thought so too but that just opened up another question what do they do about it? When they were just short of 35 meters from the opening Beta 2 decided ¡°We still retreat into the open room¡± he disagreed ¡°We can¡¯t let the queen escape, it killed too many people in only 4 days if we let it escape we may never catch it again!¡± ¡°We are not letting it escape Siegfried, Beta 13 get some charges and block this tunnel after the intersection, we will lure the queen into the open room where all of us can shoot at the same time!¡± changing his rifle magazine one more time Erick picked up the pace on their retreat. A small explosion and shaking of the ground warned him of Beta 13 successfully blocking the path, getting to the second tunnel he emptied his second to last magazine, lifting their guns all six of them turned around and ran. The tunnel they were in was 140 meters long, 42 of which they managed to cover before the ants turned the corner, as they ran Erick covered the rear but the others were just too slow, the goop making it harder to move, thankfully the other Einherjar seemed to have predicted it and scraped the last 50 meters of floor clean of the thing. He picked up the last two Einherjar with his arms and actually carried them out of the tunnel with barely 15 meters between him and the ant army coming his way, the room had about 250 square meters of open space covered with that strange ant stuff, close to a tunnel at the end of the room were all the remaining Einherjar lined up with their rifles before the Ants even got into the room they opened fire. Despite the heavy rain of bullets the ants exploded out of the tunnel like angry piranhas after blood covering the room and spreading even as they died, every now and then a small ant exploded taking those around with it, making legs and other pieces fly everywhere, seeing the other 8 men getting into position and recharging their rifles, taking his last magazine he threw it over to Beta 2, and turned around. Throwing his own rifle to the side he pulled his huge ass sword from his back and smiled, the thing was ridiculously oversized but perfect for a man of his strength, now that he finally had enough room to swing it was time to get to work, breathing deeply he concentrated and felt the burning fire that was his mana on the center of his chest, sending it into his hearth he spread the mana through his veins feeding every cell in his body with nearly half his entire mana pool, more than enough to last him a few hours and make him as strong as possible. Gripping his sword handle with both hands he pulled it back and readied himself, from inside the tunnel a giant ant, bigger than the titan ant soldiers, pushed itself out from among the crowd, it¡¯s head was enormous and had a strange square shape with two points, kinda like horns, at each side
Titan Ant Knight (Elite) ¨C Level 4
Normal bullets bounced right off it¡¯s skin as it opened the way for another one just like it to walk through, then came a pair of elites from each of the 4 races using the knights for cover and finally walked the four queens.
Titan ant queen (Boss) ¨C Level 6
Dwarf ant queen (Boss) ¨C Level 5
Burst ant queen (Boss) ¨C Level 6
Fire ant queen (Boss) ¨C Level 7
Each of the queens was different but all of them barely noticed the bullets as they looked around the room, their feelers twitching right and left finally focusing on the line of men standing before them, they clicked their mandibles in annoyance. He too was annoyed, he didn¡¯t have time to deal with those monsters while Loki was nearly dying somewhere, reading his sword he dashed and swung, time to kill those bastards. Chapter 19 - He dashed towards the queens, sword in hand and prepared for a mighty slash, the two Titan Ant elites prepared to block him, their mandibles opening wide to try and crush his body, fixing his right leg in the ground he used all his strength and momentum to swing his blade in an horizontal slash, he hit the head of the first one at an angle and, instead of cutting it open, his sword just left a dent on its carapace before being diverted aside. He did not even have time to be surprised at the creature¡¯s toughness before a jet of red hot lava flew his way, jumping aside he saw it fall on the ground and start to sizzle quickly eating away a 50cm deep hole, the fire ant queen pulled its head back for another attack. The endless number of ant soldiers continued to pour through the tunnel and into the room as the Einherjar maintained a constant wave of gunfire their way but the elite and queens were his problem, the fire queen spewed another bucket size shot of lava like substance but, now that he was paying attention, it was easy to sidestep and watch it fly by harmlessly, after its useless attack the queen laid back, all four of them deciding to watch their underlings do their work for them. The eight elites charged him, the dwarf ants were the fastest but only the size of dogs they would prove little to no challenge so he worried about the others, the fire ants were bigger, stronger and had incredibly sharp looking mandibles that closed with high snapping sounds that screamed danger, the burst ants were the ones he had to watch out for the most, mobile bombs the size of large dogs they would explode with incredible strength as soon as he killed one of them. ¡°Beta 4 we can¡¯t have those elites stopping us from shooting, block them!¡± Releasing his rifle Beta 4 pulled two short swords and started walking towards him to intercept the ants before they could get to the other Einherjar, Beta 4 was the close combat expert of the team and his blade skills were excellent as he pulled both of his short swords Eric said ¡°I will try to kill most of them just block any that gets through¡± ¡°Roger that boss¡±. Using a strong swipe he tried to cut the two dwarf ant elites but they were too fast to get hit by such big action so he had to turn the flat of the blade and bash them away as quickly as he could, the move was too weak to do any damage, the fire ants arrived latter but he was out of position for any damaging attack barely managing to kick one away he had to take a hand out of his sword to garb the other, the creature was actually too hard for him to crush so he threw it at the first burst ant elite and actually hit the thing square in the head stunning it. Lifting his sword he used the flat of his blade in a descending swing to crush both ants together, The burst ant exploded with such force it sent him flying up when he refused to release his weapon, he fell back down and pierced the ground with the sword point to stop himself but one of the titan ants immediately got its mandibles around his torso and bit down, its strength so great his armor started to get crushed. Struggling to free himself he desperately dragged the ant and used his only free hand to throw his sword like a spear piercing the other burst ant, this one exploded harmlessly away but the second titan ant caught his right leg biting down as well, while he was busy dealing with the titan ants a fire and a dwarf ant elites got past him and were eagerly intercepted by Beta 4. The two titan ant elites bit down on his chest and leg crushing his armor a little bit more with each movement lifting him up they started to pull him apart, using both hands he grabbed the mandibles biting down on his chest and spent another 10% of his mana to send a thick wave of power to his arms, he knew his veins would be glowing red as he applied more mana than he could safely handle to both arms overcharging them
Congratulations you have discovered a new skill, would you like to name it
YESNO
Ignoring the message he strained his arms and pulled, its right mandible actually broke off and he was left with a meter long sharp weapon in his hand, the other mandible had bitten him so hard it actually stuck in his armor and the Titan Ant couldn¡¯t pull it out, grabbing the one he broke off with both hands he pierced it deeply into the ant¡¯s head then pulled it out and pierced it again. Ants were a tenacious race and it still didn¡¯t die so he decided to test something out, in the helicopter ride after their first mission Loki had handed him a skill orb he had used when he was alone, although the pain when a new mana channel was opened from his hearth had been a bitch to bear the skill was a great one to have, it was time to use it. Putting both hands at the sides of the ant¡¯s head he channeled his new skill, the mana left his hearth and followed a new path towards both of his arms twisting in a strange way before entering his arm bone and concentrating in the palm of his hand, the mana took root on the ant¡¯s head and started to draw the life out of it. Weakned by the skill the Titan Ant lost its footing and fell down, it trashed pitifully and then stopped, he felt a strong wave of energy flowing into his hands and through his arms to spread over his whole body
Titan Ant Knight (elite) spirit has been consumed + 5 STR, +6 END, +2 SPD, +1 DEX, +30 mana, gained skill
GUARD
Block one strong attack every 5 minutes, -20 mana
You have slain Titan Ant Knight (elite) level 4 + 112XP
If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Seeing its partner being killed the second Titan Ant was enraged, it pulled him free of the dead one¡¯s mandible and shook him in the air before smashing him in the ground with a loud bang, he didn¡¯t even feel the impact as his acquired skill was triggered so he grabbed the ground and kicked at the ant¡¯s head with his free leg his improved strength managing to make it release him, stunned. Getting on his feet he ran towards the creature while it was still stunned and hit its head with a strong uppercut, his improved strength actually managed to flip the creature over so he jumped on its chest and stomped on its head over and over again before it recovered crushing it into pulp.
You have slain Titan An Knight (elite) level 4 +112XP
As nearly all of the elites were killed the four queens clicked their mandibles loudly and he had to jump aside again to escape another shot from the fire queen that fell on an Einherjar, it sizzled on his body deforming the entire chest armor and doing critical damage. The place where Eric had just been standing on suddenly exploded with a loud bang and the air dislocation sent him flying aside to fall on his back, looking towards the queens he saw red sparks gathering around the burst queen for another explosion, both the dwarf and titan queens started to run towards him while the fire queen spit another red acid shot towards the Einherjar. Dashing towards where his sword had fallen he screamed ¡°Beta 2 Incoming!¡± Beta 4 had finally taken care of the surviving fire and dwarf elites so he ran towards him screaming ¡°I take the big one!¡± Eric tried to stop the guy but he slipped past his position charging the Titan Ant Queen with two swords in hand, the Queen tried to catch Beta 4¡¯s head between its mandibles but he managed to blocked with his swords unfortunately the queen was too powerful and, with a flick of its head, sent him flying away. ¡°Okay¡­ maybe it¡¯s better if I deal with the little one instead!¡± the Einherjar screamed as he picked himself up, Eric just shook his head in amusement and readied his sword, the buff from was still active so he decided to take the Titan queen head on, his feet sliding 2 meters back as he blocked the ramming attack with the side of his sword. Using both hands he pushed the ant back and used an overhead blow to slash at its head, the queen¡¯s carapace was too tough to be cut but his strength still caused it to act like a blunt weapon breaking a small part of it so he tried to do it again, this time with . As his sword was about to hit the creature the world exploded.
-12% HEALTH!
Loosing his sense of direction and with his ears ringing he managed to keep his hands around the sword but his visor was flashing red all over for armor damage, he was confused and dizzy, when he finally managed to get his bearings one of the Einherjar was trying to lift him by the arm ¡°Siegfried you okay?¡± putting a hand on his helmet he tried to keep the world from spinning and answered ¡°Yeah, what happened?¡± ¡°The burst ant got you with an explosion!¡± Getting back on his feet his hand tightened on the handle of his sword, three Einherjar were keeping the Titan Queen occupied by circling it with shotguns and keeping it confused while the others were still killing the seemingly endless wave of soldier ants coming from the tunnel, their bodies starting to pile up nearly to the ceiling, using the time before he was fully recovered he named his new skill then shook his head and prepared himself. Running towards the confused Titan Queen he activated both and , maintaining his sword parallel to his body he dashed ahead and used his own momentum to power a descending diagonal slash on the creature¡¯s head bashing it into the ground the carapace broke and pieces of the ant flew everywhere, with its head crushed but legs still twitching he hurriedly put his hand on the mess and used his last amount of mana to activate .
You have slain Titan Ant Queen (Boss) level 6 +255XP
Congratulations your has reached beginner level 4
Congratulations you have became level 4, as a human you gain 1 attribute point
Titan Ant Queen (Boss)¡¯s spirit has been consumed + 8 STR, +7 END, +3 SPD, +2 DEX, + 50 mana, gained ability
You lose all power from previous spirit
Congratulations has reached beginner level 2
TITAN BODY
All resistances increases by 100%
Noticing a flash or red coming in his direction he lifted the Ant¡¯s remains and used it to block yet another fire spit then threw it aside and dashed towards the two long range queens as fast as he could, the red lights around the burst queen started to gather faster and covering nearly its entire body so Erick knew he wouldn¡¯t make it in time. Twisting his body he used centrifugal force and his own impressive 18 points of strength to send his sword spinning towards the creature, it flew so fast even the nimble ant didn¡¯t have time to dodge, a burst ant¡¯s body was far more fragile to an edge than those of the titan race but he missed the throw hitting the creature with the handle, it was still enough to send the smaller queen flying disrupting its spell casting and crushing several of its legs
Crippling Strike! -78% health
The fire ant queen spit at him one last time then tried to turn around and run but it was already too late, ducking bellow the fire spit he grabbed it¡¯s head and body then pulled it apart with pure strength, a little of its insides dripped into his arm sizzling with the same sound as the fire spit so he threw its head aside and its body into the half crushed burst ant getting it covered in the corroding stuff.
You have slain Fire Ant Queen (Boss) level 7 + 185XP
Getting burnt by the fire ant¡¯s blood the Burst queen finally exploded with enough power to rival a powerful grenade it shook the room but the ant goop on the walls managed to hold it together and avoid any cave ins, breathing hard he recovered his weapon once again and looked around. Without the Queens to protect the endless ants started to retreat from the room leaving half of it covered with their curled up corpses, thankfully two of the Einherjar had taken the trouble to bring big boxes of ammunition with them so they managed to sustain a high rate of fire to the end of the fight, there were several men hurt from burst ant explosions or the queen¡¯s fire spit but no one death, Beta 4 had managed to cut apart the dwarf ant queen and was laughing over its corpse while striking a manly pose and bothering another Einherjar to take a picture, trying with little success to clean his blade of ant blood and goop he walked towards a tired Beta 2. ¡°Is everyone ok?¡± ¡°We are, but control just bombed the place where Loki was and now they can¡¯t get in contact with him¡± ¡°Damn what happened?¡± recharging yet another magazine into his rifle Beta 2 let it hang on his side before passing a hand through the top of his helmet ¡°Loki spotted queens ready to fly and spread, he called for a missile from control and ran, it should have been enough time for him to escape the explosion radius but he never entered in contact again¡± ¡°shit¡± ¡°Men start looking for surviving ants and loot, somebody check the room¡¯s integrity we shoot everything and there were a lot of those exploding fuckers around no telling if this crap isn¡¯t gonna fall on top of us!¡± Sheathing his sword dirty as it was Eric started to look among the ant corpses for his rifle but his head keep stealing glances of the tunnel where they came from so he was relieved when Beta 2 screamed at him ¡°Go!¡± ¡°What about you guys?¡± ¡°We are quite grown up no need to babysit us go¡± nodding in thanks he ran into the tunnel using his 18 strength to push corpses out of the way as he went. Chapter 20 - Fire Running back into the tunnel he shouldered aside hundreds of dead ants at its entrance and walked in, the tunnel was completely clean of the ant army so he moved on unimpeded, turning right he started to see the corpses again. His skill would last an entire hour but he had already spent 12 minutes fighting, he had no time to waste, when he trampled over fallen ants and ran towards Fairmount Park he saw a few of the mutilated ants were still alive and twitching and made sure to step on them while running
You have slain dwarf soldier ant level 1 X4 + 4XP
Continuing through the bend in the tunnel he stopped seeing ants altogether but didn¡¯t slow down in the least, 3 more points of increased his speed by a tremendous amount and the big increase in endurance meant he wouldn¡¯t get tired for a long while, worry made him run so fast he probably broke every human record by a large margin for about 9 more minutes before he heard a loud roaring coming from his front. Increasing his speed to the point it actually left him panting for air he soon saw the reason for so much noise when he reached the end of the tunnel, a huge pit opened up ahead of him, looking up he could see the open sky, the hole was very deep and there were thousands upon thousands of dead or stunned ants around signs of explosions the noise was coming from a huge fire that had spread over various parts of the pit. ¡°Siegfried do you hear me!¡± nearly jumping out of his skin from the unexpected voice he answered ¡°I am here control¡± ¡°Good, we noticed your signal coming from where Loki asked for an air strike do you see him?¡± Looking around the huge opening all he saw were the corpses of countless queens and normal ants of all races ¡°No sign of Loki control!¡± ¡°Ok Siegfried, we are sending the last location we have for him good luck¡± Over his visor a red line started to trace a path coming from one of the lower tunnels, standing in the middle of the hole without support and then going towards a new tunnel on the other side and continuing inside, it was one of the tunnels completely filled with fire, taking some distance to create momentum he jumped towards it. His boots hit the ground with great strength crushing a burnt titan ant as he struggled not to fall back, regaining his equilibrium he glanced inside the tunnel, it looked like the entrance to hell as the ant goop burned from floor to ceiling with strong orange flames as far as his eyes could see, ¡°Control how fire resistant is my armor?¡± ¡°Very, as long as it is not damaged it can withstand temperatures higher than 1350 oF for extended periods of time¡± Looking down at his damaged chest and leg he cursed ¡°Crap¡­ I hope my endurance can make up for it¡± entering the tunnel he saw the flames lick at his armor with each step but didn¡¯t feel anything on his body, the fire covered everything around him as he ran crushing ants everywhere and barely able to see. After running for a little over a kilometer he started to feel the heat over his leg and upper chest it was barely noticeable over his great endurance and the acquired skill from the ant queen, when the tunnel branched ahead of him he chose the left entrance and dashed through, slowly the tunnel started to become smaller and the number of dead ants diminished until he had to crouch to move on. He tried to slid into a stop as soon as he saw it but the range of vision inside the fire was just too short making him slam into the wall at a fast speed and fall on his back, the flames covered his whole body and the head on his chest started to build up, a red light started blinking announcing dangerous levels of heat on the two damaged areas and he started to sweat. With no time to lose he turned around and ran back the way he came, he turned right this time and ran for another two kilometers before facing an intersection again, looking at the two sides he chose the one with burned ants piled up to the ceiling, pushing them all aside he made way as fast as he could but there were so many his progress was severely impaired. After nearly thirty minutes he came upon a cave in where the ants had already labored to open a small passage among the rocks, knowing he had made the right decision Eric crawled through the small passage, the damaged parts of his armor started to hurt as his flesh burned slowly from the incredibly high heat, even his impressive body and skill couldn¡¯t completely stop it.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Moving on he nearly stumbled over the fallen body hidden among the flames ¡°Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!¡± crouching down he turned the body over spreading the ashes of dead ants all around it, the armor couldn¡¯t actually catch on fire so he used his arm to wipe the burning ant goop from it and saw the two damaged areas over Aaron¡¯s chest, neck and upper back. ¡°Loki, fuck LOKI!¡± shaking his body desperately to try and wake Aaron he tried screaming at him ¡°Damn it Aaron answer me¡­ fuck!¡± without wasting any more time he lifted his friend over his shoulder and ran back ramming into the cave in with all his power he burst right through it.
Effects of have ended
The damaged areas of his armor immediately started to hurt and he felt the heat all over his body, the flames licked at his and Aaron¡¯s armors hungrily but his speed had been considerably slowed after losing the skill. He still had 50 mana stolen from the ant queen plus another 48 he recovered with time so he activated on his legs and tried to make the most over the short time it was activated, each of his steps become like long jumps as he tried as much as he could not to shake his cargo ¡°Almost there man hang on.¡± His mana ran out the moment he saw the end of the tunnel but there were already soldiers with fire extinguishers working on the tunnel entrance so as to not let the fire spread further, running towards them he screamed ¡°Medic, I need a medic here!¡± three of the soldiers ran towards and thinking to take Aaron from his shoulders ¡°Careful!¡± His armor was still so hot no one could even come close ¡°Get us an extinguisher quickly!¡± the army had been using a new cooling fluid in their extinguishers and five of them were turned his way covering his body in white, both of their armors let off steams noisily before he finally laid Aaron¡¯s body on a stretcher inside a makeshift elevator suspended over the ant pit and grabbed one of the support ropes starting to be pulled up. When they finally got above ground once again he couldn¡¯t hold back, releasing the rope he got as far away as he could from the hole and took off his helmet throwing it away and breathing hard ¡°Oh thank god, fresh air¡± grabbing at his collar he used all his power to pry the chest armor open breaking the locks on its sides and throwing it away as well, a sharp pain on his chest made him scream as a part of his burnt skin stayed glued to the armor One of the doctors from the army came to help him and lead him into a field hospital besides some trees starting to examine his burns ¡°Don¡¯t worry It¡¯s just a second degree burn, with the government special treatment and the way this world has changed it should be perfect in two to three days, do you have another wound?¡± ¡°Yeah in my leg, how is Loki?¡± ¡°Hard to know for certain, his chest and neck have at least third degree burns, the skin is probably glued to the armor so we can¡¯t pull it out in the field we have to move him back as fast as we can¡± Looking back at Aaron getting strapped on a stretcher he waved the doctor away and walked closer. ¡°Is he conscious?¡± ¡°No, we gave him some sedatives for the pain he won¡¯t be waking up anytime soon¡± one of the Einherjar¡¯s transport helicopters landed close by and the army personnel ran over carrying the stretcher, lifting his arm he scratched at the painful burn until blood flowed out ¡°Shit, hang in there buddy.¡± Sitting back down he let the medics take his boot off with a unique magnetic key and treat his leg burn
Congratulations, as you have withstood heavy pain as well as extended physical exercise +1 Endurance
Immediately noticing his wounds no longer bothering him as much, not like they hurt less but as if he just endured them better he decided to spend his free attribute in endurance to break the human limit.
Congratulations, you¡¯re the sixth person to break mankind¡¯s limit with through the system as a reward you gain the skill
PAIN RESISTANCE
Pain is essential to life but there is no reason to feel it so much, pain resistance dulls all pain be it mental or physical
Congratulations, by breaking through your race¡¯s limit in you gain
ENHANCED VITALITY
The way to win a fight is simple, don¡¯t die. With enhanced vitality you lose stamina 10% slower and recover health 10% faster
You¡¯re the seventy third person to break through human limit!
¡°Well that should speed up things a little¡± with his leg and chest bandaged he left the army medics, the rest of the Einherjar were just now climbing out of the ant pit together with a huge sack of loot, seeing him walking their way Beta 2 gave a greeting. The Einherjar threw him his rifle and took off his helmet, he was a young man in his thirties with black hair parted in the middle, taking off his handgun as well he said ¡°I hate those damn things¡± ¡°What? But you¡¯re the second best shot in Beta team¡± ¡°Just because I am good at something doesn¡¯t mean I have to like it¡­ damn I need a drink, and a vocation¡± sitting side by side they both let the army deals with the remaining work while making small talk, an hour and a half later.
Congratulations, The U.S. army guild has fully conquered the city of Philadelphia, as you participated in this conquest and its population was higher than 1 million + 5000XP
Chapter 21 - Treatment ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Mr. President I am sorry but¡­¡± ¡°Just answer the question soldier¡± he said with a deceptively calm voice, this was not supposed to happen, lowering his head Mark Williams designation: Beta 2 answered him ¡°Upon landing on the city we noticed the lack of resistance, Loki captured the node and, while investigating the monsters disappearance, became suspicious of the lack of a node in Fairmount Park, it was a good observation and worth pursuing but the hole in Jefferson station was our priority Loki asked for permission to investigate the matter alone, given his powerful ability and gear I allowed it. Once he arrived on Fairmount park Loki informed control of a hole he found on the ground and his intentions to enter it unfortunately the tunnels were covered with a strange substance that blocked our communications, latter control regained communications and Loki asked for an air strike at his location before losing it again, Siegfried went after Loki as soon as he could and found him inside a burning tunnel he was unconscious and with a damaged armor we rescued him and sent him here.¡± He didn¡¯t say anything afraid that if he opened his mouth he would kill the idiot, how could he let a member of Ragnarok investigate alone! His hand twitched towards the gun at his hip and he had to turn his eyes away to avoid the sudden urge to shot the soldier in the head for his incompetence, he started to walk from one side to the other of the room incapable of waiting quietly Aaron couldn¡¯t die, not like this. Twenty minutes later he finally calmed down enough to admit the man wasn¡¯t at fault, one of the most important rules of command is not to give an order that wouldn¡¯t be followed and there was no way Aaron would have done anything less than whatever he wanted in that situation, sitting down besides the soldier he sighed, more for small talk than real interest he asked ¡°Considering what the ants did to the city, how did you guys survive?¡± ¡°Mostly luck sir, it is currently winter and those ants seemed to hibernate at this time, our best guess is that once they were transferred to our world and noticed the cold the ants started eating any meat they found gathering nutrients before retreating into the tunnels to sleep warmly, were we to face then in the streets they could have overcame us with numbers and inside the tunnels there would be too few guns capable of shooting at the same time the wide room we encountered not only allowed all the Einherjar to shot at the same time it controlled the amount of ants that could get in from the tunnel at any one time, we could have held on until our ammunition ran out.¡± From the white corridor came one of the doctors responsible for his son, Adam got up quickly and ran to him grabbing at his arms ¡°What is his condition¡± ¡°Mr. president your son is stabilized but we must speak with you, please sit down¡± dizzy with relief he let the woman guide him back into a chair and looked at her face ¡°Sir the situation is not good, you are aware of the ¡®mana recipient¡¯ we started to develop once the system came?¡± ¡°Yes¡± ¡°Well in most humans that recipient is located above the pubic area and bellow the navel, away from vital organs and easily accessible to all parts of the body, in Aaron¡¯s case however that ¡®recipient¡¯ seems to be inside his brain. Doctor Anton has noticed that an unusual and powerful mana flow consistent with the use of a skill book but much stronger has gone through his brain and his body could not fully adapt to the sudden change forming several aneurisms, we will need to operate him but he is currently too fragile, he has suffered third degree burns in 82% of his body and forth degree burns on the chest and neck areas, considering the importance of such places we are not sure why he isn¡¯t dead, in fact he should have died several times over. We have tried to administer two healing potions directly into his body and that¡¯s why he is stable but the potions seems incapable of healing his brain, their effect is also severely reduced on burnt flesh working much better in cuts, bruises, broken bones and blood loss, with enough potions his body will eventually be restored but it may already be too late for his brain.¡± The doctor stopped talking, giving time to process all the information, a small tear escaped his eye but he didn¡¯t even bother hiding it, had he made another mistake and condemned his son once more? He only wanted to give him back his freedom and the army was the only way to do it, the missions were supposed to be safe with his level of power goddamnit! His voice shaking with barely contained grief he asked ¡°Isn¡­ isn¡¯t there anything to be done?¡± ¡°There may be a solution sir but it is¡­ unorthodox¡± ¡°What!¡± ¡°The head researcher in our facility has obtained a certain amount of troll blood and isolated a substance he believes to be what gives them a great regeneration through distillation, in animals it has proven effective in regenerating flesh.¡± ¡°How is that different from a health potions and what can it do for my son¡± ¡°The potions heal, they return bones to their places and close cuts almost like it reverses the time of the cut leaving no mark, the Troll serum, as we are calling it, accelerate regeneration and provides the energy for it, doctor Anton¡¯s proposal is to surgically remove the areas affected by the forth degree burn and apply the troll serum for them to regenerate quickly¡± ¡°Will it work?¡± ¡°We are not completely sure, as the areas are so vital we must be fast and the serum has to be very concentrated our estimation is a 72% success rate, if we wait for the potions to have enough effect for the operation his chances are, well unknown.¡± He wasn¡¯t even thinking straight anymore, resting his elbows in his tights he buried his face on his hands, ¡°Do it, the troll thing do it¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. He Signed the damn endless forms she gave him then watched as she ran back before running his hand through his hair grabbing at it ¡°Sir¡­ are you alright¡± breathing deeply he lifted his head ¡°Yeah, yeah I am fine¡± the soldier he had just been cursing in his head put a hand over his shoulder to comfort him, damn he was supposed to be the president of the united states not a crybaby. ¡°He was a good boy you know, with a little too much imagination but very gentle like his mother¡± Beta 2 sat down at his side patting his shoulder in consolation ¡°Sir, if I may ask, why does Loki hates you so much?¡± ¡°You can call him by his name here Mr. Williams¡± laying back on the wall he looked up, his hands clenching the chair as hard as he could ¡°I made a mistake, it was an honest mistake made out of desperation but a mistake nonetheless. I handed my son over to the government but come on what was I to do! I was just a recently promoted to Sergeant, I had great faith in the military and my son had just manifested a power I could not explain that put everyone in danger I was desperate!¡± ¡°I read Aaron¡¯s file when I become a member of Beta team, you were afraid after he nearly killed those boys it¡¯s understandable¡± ¡°No, fuck those kids if I would have killed them myself had I found out earlier but my son had just whipped himself into a coma with an invisible force while I was helpless to stop it and though the military was my only chance It even worked, Doctor Loren was a great help in the start and Aaron developed greatly, he was happy.¡± ¡°Good evening doctor Loren¡± ¡°Morning sergeant Ross it¡¯s a pleasure to see you again¡± said the old man while shaking his hand ¡°Your wife just left the facility few moments ago¡± ¡°We can hardly be considered married now doctor the last time she spoke with me was a year ago¡± ¡°I am sorry¡­ coff¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, how is my son?¡± with enthusiasm the doctor lead him inside the facility ¡°He is doing very well, very well indeed we just started a new speed and strength exercise as well as a few memorization techniques since you visited us last week Aaron will love your presence.¡± ¡°Dad!¡± the ten years old boy ran and threw himself into his arms ¡°Hey champion!¡± grabbing his son he swung him around before setting him back on the ground and ruffling his hair ¡°I heard you have been training huh little hero¡± ¡°Yes dad it¡¯s great, mom comes over every morning and Horace plays chess with me every night, they even have this super cool robot that throw things and I have to catch them it¡¯s fun!¡± lifting his eyebrow he looked at the good doctor. ¡°It¡¯s a new machine that throw light balls at a target and he has to stop or deviate them, it¡¯s supposed to improve his control, reaction speed and the strength of his power¡± ¡°Like a pitching machine?¡± the doctor¡¯s smile disappeared immediately ¡°In an overly simplistic and somewhat insulting way¡­ yes¡± He played a chess match with his son trying to hold back but his son noticed immediately and got irritated in the end he won by a small margin and swore to work on his skills a little, wouldn¡¯t do to get crushed by his 10 years old son the next time he came, he also saw the training room, it was a wide room with a futuristic pitching machine and a wide target painted in red and white, various different toys and weights laid about the floor and a huge city full of green army men toys and monster figurines. ¡°Dad, dad! come see my war board! Mr. Turner made it for me!¡± Aaron pulled him by the arm and stood in front of the miniature city, lifting his hands his child wiggled his fingers and 5 green soldiers started walking towards a huge dragon that slowly floated in the air ¡°See dad, that¡¯s white claw the cruel! And those are the black fang soldiers they¡¯re gonna fight him to save the princess, Roooargh! Puny humans!¡± he was entranced by the figurines moving by themselves with complicated movements while his son made funny voices and heroic lines. ¡°Impressive isn¡¯t it? He can move 10 small figurines or 2 big ones at the same time now but I hope¡­ Coff, coff¡­ I hope one day he can manage to move them all¡± ¡°You alright doctor?¡± ¡°Oh it¡¯s just a cold¡± he stayed with his son the entire weekend playing before duty called, he had a month long field exercise with some new recruits. The next time he visited his son was working with the pitching machine, a green ball slightly bigger than a baseball was thrown from its open end towards the center of a huge red and white target, Aaron stood at its side, both hands extended towards the ball and a frown of concentration on his face, the ball continued to move unimpeded until very near the end when the boy fell to his knees and the ball hit 13 centimeters to the left 6 centimeters down from the bullseye. ¡°Good work kid!¡± ¡°thanks dad, wanna see what I can do with the piano?¡± ¡°Sure champion I will be right there¡± doctor Loren approached him ¡°Coff coff¡­ may I have a moment please?¡± ¡°Hey kid, be right back!¡± walking with the doctor he helped the old men sit down and waited ¡°As you may have¡­ coff, coff¡­ may have noticed I am not in my perfect condition¡± ¡°what¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°I am sick, ha¡­ two doctorates in medicine, one in psychology and I still ignored all the symptoms until it was too late¡­ I have only 5 months left¡± ¡°Wait, isn¡¯t there anything the government can do for you?¡± ¡°No, the government doesn¡¯t have any secret medical treatment for me Mr. Ross¡­ Coff coff¡­ don¡¯t worry your son already has sufficient control over his powers, personally I would allow him to continue his training at home unfortunately, given my current health condition, they prefer¡­ coff coff coff¡­ they prefer to get a second opinion on the case, I recommended a friend of mine continue my work but you know how those things work¡± he broke up into a wide smile despite the inappropriate moment ¡°Sorry¡± ¡°Oh please do smile, I have become quite found of your son it¡¯s good to see him reuniting with his family before I go.¡± ¡°Did you? Reunite I mean?¡± Adam closed his hands so hard he actually drew blood ¡°Of course not¡± punching the wall with all his strength he felt his fingers breaking but didn¡¯t make a sound, finally he took a deep breath ¡°Some fucking rich senator did a power play and promoted someone into his own pet general, Doctor Horace Loren¡¯s recommendation was never taken into consideration and Major Lance Parker took control of Aaron¡¯s training and everything went to hell, he never forgave me for being unable to save him from the bastard, my wife never forgave me for letting the army take him in the first place and I never forgave myself for failing them both.¡± Unable to stop himself he started crying, it was all just too much, he had agreed to become president when the came so he could finally provide some freedom for his son and now he was dying ¡°You did the right thing¡± Looking at Beta two trying to comfort he gave a weak smile ¡°I know, and yet I can¡¯t forgive myself¡± Cleaning his face with an arm he tried to return to his tough president persona ¡°Now shut up soldier and get me a cup of coffee¡± after the leader of his son¡¯s unit went to obey his order he turned towards the operation room and waited for the result, he waited for 8 hours¡­ alone.
Congratulations your U.S. army guild has conquered another city +100 XP
¡°Oh for fuck¡¯s sake!¡± Chapter 22 - Choices Aaron woke up slowly and opened his eyes, his vision was blurred in shades of blue so much he couldn¡¯t see anything, his whole body was heavy and he couldn¡¯t even feel his legs he tried to scratch his eyes but his arms failed him, confused he asked for help ¡°Hemmgh¡± someone laid a hand over his eyes and said ¡°It¡¯s alright now you are safe¡± relaxing, he let himself go back to sleep. When he woke up again his body was hurting like hell, his vision was still blurred but this time he managed to rub his eyes with his hands and the images slowly came into focus, blue windows filled his field of vision and, although they were see through, there were so many of them it was hard to focus on anything else, as a way to distract himself from the pain he started to read the first one.
Congratulations, you were blessed with Intermediary 1
What the hell? With no way to know where this came from he just moved on with the messages.
You lose 16% HEALTH from heat
Congratulations, has became Intermediary level 2
You lose 13% HEALTH from heat
Great Achievement!
Your direct actions have caused the indirect death of more than a million creatures, an impressive feat, as a reward you receive 1% of their XP in a 10 kilometer radius of your location + 12652XP
Congratulations, you have reached level 5! As a human you receive 1 attribute point
Resting his head back he closed his eyes for a moment digesting the new information, the sound of the door opening made him open them again ¡°Good you¡¯re awake¡± with fewer windows he was able to finally see the familiar white hospital room, trying to turn his head towards the door his neck exploded in pain. ¡°How are you feeling Aaron?¡± ¡°Like crap¡± ¡°then you¡¯re much better than expected, where does it hurt?¡± ¡°Everywhere¡± there were still some windows left but he ignored them in favor of the doctor that stood besides his bed analyzing half a dozen machines ¡°Ha, where does it hurt more then?¡± ¡°My neck and chest are killing me¡± ¡°Not the head?¡± ¡°No¡± the doctor finally bent over him, he was around 40 years old and bearded ¡°Damn I am good!¡± Slowly turning his head towards the doctor he endured the pain and asked ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Well you screwed up and ended up getting roasted for it then there was whatever the hell you did to your head, boy were you fucked up! We had to cut you up and take the worst burned parts out and test a new regeneration technique finally we opened your head to take out a dozen aneurisms before praying for your recovery¡± Well that explains the whole body pain, turning his head back he tried to touch his chest but it was covered in bandages, he still couldn¡¯t move his legs and every one of his words hurt his throat ¡°Am I a cripple now?¡± Making some annotations on a clipboard the doctor answered distracted ¡°Na, a week ago you would be a corpse but today, with those healing potions and troll serum, you should be back on your feet in about two days and back to work in another five with nothing more than a few scars to show for it, now, if you excuse me, I have more work to do¡± Releasing a breath of relief he returned to his initial position where his neck didn¡¯t hurt so much, he had been overconfident, so sure nothing could truly hurt him he let his guard down and nearly died, what the hell was he thinking, sighing he decided to read the rest of his messages
Congratulations, you¡¯re the second human to get to level 5, your title now gives you +15% XP
As you reached level five you can now choose a class
As a human you have 3 possible generic classes:
WarriorMageArcher
As you have met the necessary requirements you have 6 specific classes
SoldierMentalistAssassinRune fighter
Rune CrafterMind warrior
Warning! Extensive use of regenerative substance has damaged your body! -7 STR, -7 END, -5 SPD, -6 DEX, rest and exercise are needed to recover
Warning! The extensive use of distilled troll blood has permanently consumed 500 of your mana and given you the skill Beginner level 1, further consumption of troll blood can increase this skill
After he finished reading all the blue windows his head started to hurt and he became incredibly tired, probably a combination of such low endurance and the many wounds in his body, trying to get more comfortable in his hard hospital bed he briefly considered what class to choose but his eyes refused to stay open and he couldn¡¯t even see the class descriptions, exhausted, he fell asleep once again. Aaron stared at the bathroom mirror, one hand gripping the sink and another holding a metal pole with an IV bag, he had taken a whole five minutes just to walk to his current position from his bed, his completely hairless reflection starred back at him, even his eyebrows were burned off and he was still covered with bandages on the chest, neck and the top of his head, he looked like a damn mummy. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. He had lost the fifth day since the arrived in a bed unable to get up but his recovery was going at an accelerated rate and his new ability should make it even faster, thankfully scars were not the only thing he had gotten from the fire he started, the massive experience gain meant he wouldn¡¯t fall behind by so much when he finally recovered.
Your dexterity has recovered by 1, current DEX: 8
Glad the IV bag was doing its job of nurturing his body he finished washing his hands and dragged the pole back into the room, sitting down on the bed panting for breath he materialized a single string and used it to turn on the TV on the wall, a military operation was being covered ¡°Our soldiers are now trying to conquer the city of Chicago as a way to¡­¡± Turning the volume nearly all the way down until it was just background noise he distracted himself with small exercises for his power twisting twelve incredibly thin strings in precise movements, there was a time he could do it with 30 strings but his decrease of dexterity affected even that aspect of it. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re awake!¡± opening his room door Eric walked in holding the hand of a blonde little girl ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be conquering a city or something?¡± ¡°Just came back, it was strange without you¡± pointing towards one of the chairs on a corner he said ¡°Go ahead, make yourself comfortable¡± he also sent one of his strings and pulled the chair away when Eric sat down making him fall on his ass. Clapping slowly the blonde man shook his head ¡°Oh very mature Aaron, very mature¡± ¡°Sorry I am just so bored staying here¡± the little girl was giggling at their exchange so he sent another string to ruffle her hair and laid down on the bed to rest ¡°So, how¡¯s the war going?¡± ¡°About the same, the east coast is completely in our hands but general Owen is locked down on the Northwest and they¡¯re trying to open the way for him to come back, and you, are you okay?¡± ¡°Yeah I am fine, should be back on my feet for the second wave.¡± ¡°Great, man the huge slime boss from the last mission was bothersome enough I would hate to have to face stronger monsters with only the Einherjar there.¡± ¡°Ha, I have to tell them you think they¡¯re weak!¡± ¡°No, wait, that¡¯s not what I meant, they¡¯re just not suited to fight such strong beings¡± ¡°No human is suited to fighting those things Eric we are just freaks, that¡¯s why we invented teamwork.¡± ¡°I guess that¡¯s true¡± Eric said distracted as he opened the huge backpack he had brought with him, pulling out a small juice box he handed it to the quiet little girl then pulled out two Styrofoam cups ¡°Coffee?¡± ¡°Oh thank God!¡± grabbing the cup in a lightning fast movement despite the pain it caused he cradled it close to his chest ¡°Oh I missed this so much¡± He drank the coffee quietly while watching the TV, the hot liquid went down his throat like ambrosia healing his mind far more than his two days of rest, finishing his cup too fast he eyed the one in Eric¡¯s hand with undisguised lust ¡°Could you not do that?... Aaron!¡± ¡°What?¡± he said licking his lips. ¡°Sigh, here¡± The blonde extended his arm offering the cup, picking it up as fast as the first he said ¡°Oh, you didn¡¯t need to¡± ¡°Hand it back then¡± ¡°NO! My precious!¡± drinking his second cup slower he closed his eyes to better savor the wonderful taste ¡°This is bliss.¡± Opening his eyes once again he used one of his strings to guide the empty cups into the trashcan in the corner, looking eagerly towards Eric he hoped there was a third one inside that bag ¡°What are you doing?¡± The large man was gently using a sheet to cover the sofa by the wall and trying to make it more comfortable, a pink pillow was pulled out of the backpack as well as a toothbrush and shampoo ¡°They want me to get to level five before the second wave hits so I have to leave in about two hours for another mission¡± ¡°So?¡± taking out a cute bunny plush and laying it on top of the pillow Eric turned his way with a most dreadful smile. ¡°Lily will be staying here with you¡± ¡°No¡± ¡°I have¡­¡± ¡°Hell no!¡± ¡°You own me Aaron¡± it was true, the man did save his life ¡°Anything else then, just say it¡± ¡°What I want is for you to take care of Lily for two days¡± they stared at each other for a while but, ultimately, he lost ¡°Fine whatever, but I am not changing any diapers.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t use diapers!¡± said the little girl puffing her cheeks in pure indignation ¡°Of course you don¡¯t, uncle Aaron is just being mean¡± he declined to comment on the subject returning to his exercises while Eric finished getting the room ready ¡°Cheer up man it will be good for you to have some company¡± ¡°Sure it will.¡± When he was finally done Eric gave the girl a hug and kissed her forehead ¡°I have to get ready now sweety, be sure to treat the mean uncle well¡± ¡°Uhm!¡± she grunted in agreement, coming closer to the bed Eric extended his hand, he took it and pulled the guy closer to whisper ¡°Are you planning to adopt the girl now?¡± ¡°we are still searching for her parents¡± ¡°Do you really think you¡¯re gonna find them?¡± without saying anything more they parted with a pat on the shoulder, before releasing Eric¡¯s hand he looked deeply into his eyes and begged. ¡°Don¡¯t I get a kiss too?¡± ¡°Screw you!¡± he laughed loudly as his had was slapped away but, when Eric got to the door, he had to say something ¡°Hey man, thanks¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry you would have done the same for me¡± ¡°Maybe¡­ if I was in a good mood¡± shaking his head Eric walked out, a small smile creeping up on his mouth. Since his new economic sized roommate seemed to be content drinking her juice he decided to ignore her for now and finally review his new class options.
WARRIOR
Requirements: a level 5 human
+ 1 STR every even level + 1 END every odd level acquired when learning the class A new class skill at levels 6, 8 and 10
MAGE
Requirements: a level 5 human
+ 1 INT every even level + 1 WIS every odd level acquired when learning the class A new class skill at levels 6, 8 and 10
ARCHER
Requirements: a level 5 human
+ 1 DEX every even level + 1 SPD every odd level acquired when learning the class A new class skill at levels 6, 8 and 10
SOLDIER
Requirements: a firearm mastery, military training
+ 1 END every level acquired when learning the class A new class skill at levels 6, 8 and 10
MENTALIST
Requirements: INT higher than 10, mana higher than 600
+ 1 INT every level acquired when learning the class A new class skill at levels 6, 8 and 10
MIND WARRIOR
Requirements: INT higher than 10, a weapon mastery
+ 1 INT every even level + 1 SPD every odd level acquired when learning the class A new class skill at levels 6, 8 and 10
ASSASSIN
Requirements: Killed more than 20 creatures unnoticed
+ 1 SPD every even level + 1 DEX every odd level acquired when learning the class A new class skill at levels 6, 8 and 10
RUNIC FIGHTER
Requirements: INT above 9, mana above 500, at least one rune
+ 1 INT every even level + 1 free attribute every odd level acquired when learning the class A new class skill at levels 6, 8 and 10
RUNE CARVER
Requirements: INT above 10, mana above 500, at least one rune
+ 1 INT every even level + 1 free attribute every odd level acquired when learning the class A new class skill at levels 6, 8 and 10
Well that¡¯s a lot of choices, he tried to inspect the offered skills but no further information appeared on blue boxes, uncertain about what to chose his eyes wandered around the room and came to rest on the quiet girl sitting on a chair, her small legs hanging loose without touching the floor, her eyes sad ¡°Say, have you ever played chess?¡± Chapter 23 - Sifu Reed ¡°In the dark of the night I was tossing and TURNING!¡± ¡°Stop it!¡± ¡°And the nightmare I had was as bad as can be!¡± ¡°Nooooo¡± he was laying on his bed and singing merrily, his new roommate laid at his side covering her head with the blanket but he could see her peeking towards the TV, continuing to sing along with the character he watched as the guy separated into many pieces while it¡¯s head continued to sing ¡°Aaaahhhh!¡± Lily quickly hid her head back under cover but he just laughed, this was his favorite children¡¯s movie. ¡°He wins you know?¡± he said to her when the music finished which earned him a rain of small little punches on his chest bellow covers ¡°Ouch ouch ouch ouch! You win you win!¡± ¡°Well this is certainly not what I expected to see¡± tall and slim old men walked into the room holding something long wrapped in cloth, his hair and beard were already starting to gray but his body was still very fit. Getting up from his bed he hurried to get a chair ready before bowing towards the man his right hand making a fist while his left stayed open over it, this was one of the only men he actually respected ¡°Greetings Sifu¡± his old master looked him over noting his bandages and dulled movements ¡°Aren¡¯t you in a sorry state boy¡± lowering his head in shame he said nothing, his master didn¡¯t like explanations. ¡°You gave in to arrogance boy perhaps I shouldn¡¯t have given you my approval¡± ¡°I understand Sifu¡± coming closer his master laid a hand over his shoulder and smiled ¡°Regardless I did give the approval and at least you survived to learn from it, I am glad¡± his Sifu was a master of the Pak Hok Pai or White Crane Style, born and trained in the United States he wasn¡¯t of Asian descent but he was one of the strongest masters of the style. Letting his master sit down on the chair he pushed the pause button on the TV controller he sat down on the bed and made Lily sit at his side, his master had never been one for too much formality outside of training but he was still a little stiff at a man who could kick his ass even without any special power ¡°And who is this nice young lady¡± ¡°This is Lily, one of my colleagues said it would be good for me to take care of her until I got better¡± ¡°It would, perhaps you would learn some responsibility and not dive alone in unknown territory or use unknown items while there, I read your report¡± ¡°Is that why you¡¯re hurt uncle A?¡± ¡°No, I already told you it was a 100 meters long dragon that tried to eat me.¡± A punch hit his head so fast he didn¡¯t have time to even react, it broke his skull in tiny little pieces ¡°You know I don¡¯t like lies Aaron¡± cold sweet dripped down his forehead as he understood it had only been his master¡¯s bloodlust that had hit him ¡°Apologies Sifu, it seems you have improved¡± ¡°Yes, although I have yet to gain a level this so called has still given me some benefits.¡± Damn, the man was already monstrously strong before who knows how powerful he would become now that the was giving him ability and skill¡¯s bonuses ¡°Truth be told I came here to cheer you up after such massive mistake but it seems you have actually managed to make a friend¡± ¡°Oh no, I am just taking care of her¡± ¡°I meant the one who left her with you¡± ¡°Friend is¡­ too strong a word for our relationship right now¡± his master just smiled. They chatted a little about the way this new world was turning out and, when Lily left to go eat something in the cafeteria, he was able to open himself about meeting his father again and his mother¡¯s disappearance, to talk about his life and ask for some guidance explaining his new class choices, his master had always been a good listener and occasional adviser ¡°I never had a family you know, I almost envy yours when I see it, you know it was not really your father¡¯s fault Aaron it is about time you start to forgive him¡± ¡°I can¡¯t¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I don¡¯t think you should simple wake up and be over it but it is time to stop scratching at the wound and let it heal as for your mother, all you can do is get stronger, strong enough to go look for her, dead or alive it will be the only way to get you closure¡± And awkward silence hung between then as his master let him think over his words, anyone else and he would have dismissed them quickly but Caleb Reed had never betrayed his trust and this was the first time he ever mentioned such notion, as the silence started to get too long his master broke it ¡°Now tell me about those classes of yours¡± ¡°Well, I can throw out the first three normal classes they just seem weak¡± ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate then I am certain they can became quite powerful in the right hands, but I agree they don¡¯t fit well with your style¡± ¡°Yeah as for , just no, I considered as it just screams mind reader but, do I really want to know what people are thinking? Most of them are evil bastards I don¡¯t need to be in their heads to know that. sounds like more of what I already do, a fighter with telekinetic powers, it would probably be the stronger class in my case, it¡¯s just¡­ I don¡¯t want to follow the path that bastard set for me, also seems powerful but it sounds like it relies too much on the element of surprise and I just saw what happens when you lose that to an unexpected occurrence. Finally and intrigues me the most, the rune I learned seemed to require more than most other skills so it is probably useful and could be a way to enhance firearms but I don¡¯t know how powerful such class could be in a battle, runes just seems more like it would be something for production not fighting¡± pondering over the options a little his master asked ¡°You truly want my input on this?¡± ¡°Yeah, it just seems like Mind Warrior would be the way to go if I want to grow faster right?¡± ¡°Well it¡¯s been my experience that there is no useless ability in this world Aaron it just depends on how well you use it, as I said before even the first three classes should be fairly powerful in the right hands, then again really do seems like too much of a production job for you¡± ¡°so you think it¡¯s weak?¡± ¡°No, I think you would have no patience for it, also keep in mind that an unhappy man does not do his job well¡± Yes he could see it, if he choose he would always remember that bastard every time he used an ability or skill, he made his decision.
Congratulations, you have became a ! As a You learn the ability you will also earn one more point upon level up according to your class
RUNIC FIGHTER
Description:Although you have the ability to use runes you prefer to take a more direct approach to fighting, runes used by you are more powerful but in exchange you find it harder to learn new runes and making them takes more time
RUNIC POWER (passive)
statusBeginnerLevel:0
Description:Runic power permeate your body making any rune used directly by you more powerful
Current bonus:N/a
Warning! Your current power is significantly higher than the great majority of your race, combined with your class being a rare one you have been designed an as an elite you receive -25% experience, skill and ability increase 10% faster
A new wave of information appeared into his mind indicating a new path between his mana and his hearth, he gritted his teeth waiting for the pain but it never came, the mana never leaving its small cozy place inside his brain, it seems that, contrary to using a skill book, class advancement just gave him the blueprint and it was up to him to actually build the path, he looked at his own status once again.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
NAMEAaron Ross (Elite)RACEHuman(variant)
Class:Runic FighterJob:N/a
TITLESCalamity child, Codename: Loki, Pioneer
STATUSGreatly weakened
LEVEL5HEALTH100%
STAMINA78%MANA712/712
STR4(9)SPD5(8)
END4(9)DEX7(12)
WIS10INT11
ABILITIES
Telekinesis (string) ¨C Beginner level 10
Multitask ¨C Beginner level 5
Fire Resistance ¨C Intermediary level 2
Shooting ¨C Beginner level 1
Fear resistance ¨C Beginner level 1
Divine Inspection ¨C Beginner level 2
Giant Eater ¨C MAX
Dagger mastery ¨C beginner level 1
Runic Power ¨C beginner level 0
SKILLS
Impact Rune ¨C Beginner level 1
Titan¡¯s hand ¨C Beginner level 3
Telekinetic shield ¨C Beginner level 1
Thankfully he had already regained a lot of his lost status but his recovery seemed to be slowing down, it looks like full recovery would take a lot of work, ¡°Rune Warrior it is then?¡± ¡°How do you know?¡± ¡°Seriously? Inspect is not such a hard ability to acquire boy¡± smiling at the old man he decided to build the patch latter and test his new rune ¡°By the way I think it¡¯s a good choice.¡± ¡°Why are you really here Sifu?¡± ¡°With all my students out on the field so I had some free time, plus I brought you a gift¡± he said pointing at the long object he had brought with him ¡°Your Si Baak had a little tradition, he would forge a weapon with his own hands for every one of his students that was competent enough to become a Si Hing, it¡¯s a little late for you since you but I decided to adopt his tradition¡± His master got up from his chair and uncovered a jian a little over a meter long, its hilt and scabbard were made of simple black wood, the pommel was a small metallic ball from which a long red tassel hang, the hand guard was small, metallic and had a yin yang symbol carved upon it, getting up from his position he received the gift with reverence bowing his head. He unsheathed the weapon revealing a thin blade about 80 centimeters long, just above the hand guard there was a strange symbol looking slightly like a Chinese letter, ¡°It¡¯s beautiful, what does this word mean?¡± ¡°I have no idea, it formed upon the blade when I completed it, the sword is terribly inconvenient to handle but you prefer to use your powers anyway and it¡¯s ideal for that¡± he wanted to hug the blade and caress it but managed to contain himself in front of his master, he inspected the blade.
Flying Crane Sword CLASSS-
ATACK
SLASH3BLUNT2
PIERCE9MAGIC0
ABILITIES
+ 1 DEX+1 SPD skill
Description:
A sword masterfully crafted with modern techniques and tools by Caleb Reed for one he considers his disciple, it¡¯s dimensions are unusual but its piercing power is so great it formed its own skill
Sheathing the blade again he used his strings to pull it back out and moved it about in a practiced way following a set of movements, the sword flowed naturally from one move to the next as if it was piercing through the air with elegance ¡°It¡¯s perfect Sifu¡± ¡°It better be, I spent a lot of time making it¡± The door opened again and Lily walked in barely carrying four large cups in her arms he smiled, he had trained her well, sending three strings over he pulled three of the cups out of her arms making the girl released a sigh of relief since she could stop worrying about spilling them ¡°Coffee?¡± ¡°You know I prefer tea¡± ¡°More for me then¡± happy he put two of the cups aside and started to drink the third. Looking at his watch his master got up ¡°It¡¯s about time I let you finish that movie¡± ¡°you¡¯re going already?¡± ¡°Your father wants me to get at least some levels before the end of the week so I will be going to the frontlines with Einherjar team 5¡± ¡°we have frontlines now?¡± ¡°You should look at your tablet more often boy.¡± Bowing towards the old man once again he finally sheathed his new Jian and laid it bellow the TV with respect, the man bowed towards him, then Lily and left, turning towards his roommate he said ¡°Do you like him¡± ¡°He is nice¡± scratching his chin in thought he made a mental note to see if his master was accepting new students. Lily startled him by jumping on the bed and reaching for the remote controller, he was faster putting it out of her reach ¡°Nope, I am the master of the controller¡± ¡°But I want to watch the movie!¡± pointing towards the TV he pressed the button and continued to watch the little albino bat suffering under his master¡¯s hand. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sifu ¨C Master / Father Si Baak ¨C Master¡¯s elder martial brother Si Hing ¨C Elder martial brother For those who were curious what the other class abilities did here they are: Warrior
STRONG STRIKE (Active)
statusBeginnerLevel:1
Description:Mana permeate your every strike increasing its power
Current bonus:+1 STRCost:10 mana
Mage
MANA STRIKE (Active)
statusBeginnerLevel:1
Description:Releases raw mana through your hand in a wave of power pushing everything away
Current power:+6 STRCost:12 mana
Archer
PIERCING SHOT (Active)
statusBeginnerLevel:1
Description:Infuses mana into your arrows making them spin faster in the air
Current bonus:+1 piercing dmgCost:20 mana
Soldier
INCREASED PHYSIQUE (Passive)
statusBeginnerLevel:1
Description:Spreads mana through your body enhancing every aspect of it
Current bonus:+5% to all physical traitsCost:N/a
Mentalist
MIND BLAST (Active)
statusBeginnerLevel:1
Description:Uses a blast of mana to strike directly at an enemy¡¯s mind causing great pain and confusion, degree of effect varies with INT, enemies with INT 25% above yours are not affected, enemies with INT 75% bellow yours die on hit
Current bonus:N/aCost:50 mana
Mind warrior
MANIFESTATION
statusBeginnerLevel:1
Description:Uses mana to directly manifest any physical object you can imagine
Cost:Depends on size and strengthManipulation cost:20 mana per second
Assassin
BACKSTAB(Passive)
statusBeginnerLevel:1
Description:Striking from the shadows is always more effective, activates every time you attack unnoticed
Current bonus:+50% dmgCost:N/a
Rune Carver
ENHANCE RUNE (Passive)
statusBeginnerLevel:1
Description:Runes carved by you are naturally enhanced to be more effective
Current bonus:+5% effectCost:N/a
Chapter 24 - Second wave
Congratulations, you have now fully adapted into your new class!
He hit the huge red button on the treadmill and waited until it slowed into a stop before finally stepping down, putting his hands on his knees he took deep even breaths as sweat poured down his face like a waterfall, three hours of constant exercise and he hadn¡¯t recovered even 1 attribute point, it seems it would take far longer than he originally thought to be back at 100%, at least now he finally test his new runic powers. He had noticed it a few minutes after he changed classes, his strings had gotten harder and harder to control until they naturally dissolved themselves, at which point he also couldn¡¯t use any other skills or abilities that required mana, he had tried meditating but the only thing he managed to figure out was that his mana was changing, while once it had been just like a gas floating freely around his head now it was slowly condensing, becoming liquid, now the process had finally finished and his mana rested safely into a pool around his forehead. Picking up a bottle of water he drank half of it and poured the other half over his head before dragging his tired feet towards one of the private training rooms, laying down on the floor he tried to recover his breath for a good five minutes before pushing himself into a sitting position. Circling his new mana he felt it answering slower to his commands, as if it was sluggish and harder to move, sending it through the mana channels responsible for his telekinesis he noticed it took longer to manifest his strings but they were stronger and more solid than ever making them harder to break by at least 25%. Dismissing his string he saw it had spent the same amount of mana as before so he pulled a quarter from his pocket and started playing with it bouncing it between his fingers, he finally started to use his new mana paths. He wasn¡¯t very familiar with the new paths responsible for the and guiding this new mana through them was like pouring water from a cup through a straw, his control was great from all his training as a kid but it still took the better part of 10 minutes to pour enough mana and 1 out of each 6 mana points used spilled over into the other paths uselessly. Finally he pinched the coin between his thumb and forefinger lifted it into eye level and used his other hand to draw the rune on top of it, it briefly glowed with a red light while he set the activation requirements, upon impact this time, the glow died down and he saw a small symbol drawn on it, his mana was drained for a little more than 600 points a hundred of which were wasted on the wrong channels but he had succeeded. The waste was a worrying fact, he had trained his strings so much his control was perfect when creating or controlling them but his other skills and abilities were not nearly as developed, would he lose 15 to 20% mana every time he used them? Would it become even harder if he formed other paths? He just didn¡¯t know. Dismissing his worried for the moment he pulled his arm back and threw the coin at the wall, it hit with a flash of red light and a bang far louder than should be possible, the coin was nearly completely nailed to the wall cracking the area around it for 20 cm. ¡°Ha, impressive¡± he couldn¡¯t hold back an exclamation from pleasant surprise at the sight, it seemed that 10 STR concentrated into such a small area and activated so suddenly had a fairly destructive effect not unlike a bomb, he wanted to experiment more but his mana was already nearly in the red. While he waited for his power to recover he got into the lotus position and cleared his mind, concentrating into his remaining mana pool he decided it was time to finally start working in his ability. Controlling his mana perfectly he first tried to bash the mana path open, each hit sent a wave of pain into his brain and by the third one he had to give up, it was just too much to bear, changing his approach he formed a thin thread of mana and started spinning it as fast as his control allowed, it was far thinner than the necessary size for the path to work but for now it would have to do. Using the spinning thread he drilled at the walls of his mana pool, it was far faster than before and caused a constant but less intense pain on his mind, gritting his teeth he continued to drill all the way through his head down his neck and into his hearth before the pain forced him to stop. The new path formed was incredibly small but he could already feel the tickle of mana falling through it and mixing with his bloodstream, he didn¡¯t feel anything different so he rested for half an hour before deciding to continue his work. Once the path had been opened it became far easier to just enlarge it, it still hurt like hell but, in just another two tries, he had managed to get his new mana path to exactly the size needed for the skill to work, mana mixed in with his blood and he made a conscious effort to spread it to all parts of his body feeding every one of his cells, he felt the very nature of his flesh slowly changing and consuming another 50 points of his mana before having fully adapted, once his very bones were changed the mana path naturally closed and started to heal.
Congratulations, has became beginner level 1
The time it took to train his new ability was enough to recover more than half his lost mana so he sat down and ate a cereal bar until he had enough power to try again, picking up a second coin he drew another impact rune on its side, this time the waste was less by 3 points, an insignificant improvement. Tossing the coin at the wall slightly to the side of the first one he felt an additional jolt of mana leave his body enhancing the coin as it flew, the impact was slightly bigger than the first one breaking off a piece of the wall instead of simply cracking it, strangely enough he lost no mana of his own by enhancing the rune he was just felt as if something was lacking in his body he knew that, like stamina, it would recover with time. His wrist watch beeped warning him it was time to have lunch so he left the training room and went to the bathroom, this time there were only males there so he had an easier time showering, the best part of getting turned into grilled meat and having to recover were the looks of respect he received when the soldiers saw the huge scars in his chest and neck, correction it was the second best part the first one was not having to wear the ridiculous spandex clothes. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Leaving the gym in actual comfortable clothes he made his way towards the cafeteria ¡°You¡¯re late!¡± looking down he saw the little devil with her cheeks inflated and poking his chest with her finger, it still gave him a strange feeling, leading him into a table she pointed towards a plate very proud ¡°I already prepared a perfectly balanced lunch like the medic said¡± sitting down he poked at the salad ¡°do you know who eats grass? Cows that¡¯s who¡± ¡°But the medic said you have to eat it to get better!¡± using his fork he stole a piece of chicken from Lily¡¯s plate and took a bite ¡°Nope, meat rules.¡± ¡°Hey!¡± As she slid away from him trying to protect her food he started eating his nutritionally balanced meal without complaining, he had long since learned to enjoy all kinds of food, his eyes wondered about the room catching sight of a huge TV on a corner but all it was showing were survivor lists or war reports he quickly lost interest ¡°Say, how was your day runt¡± ¡°don¡¯t call me that!¡± he used a string to ruffle her hair again making her laugh ¡°it was fun, uncle Eric is still away but aunt Aly came to visit!¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Aunt Aly from home, she is training here with uncle Raphael to fight the bad things¡± A new program on the TV caught his attention, the governor of North Carolina was giving an interview ¡°The president continues to deny us any information it is getting to the point that¡­¡± a¡°Hey pay attention to me!¡± ¡°Just a second runt¡± the TV continued ¡°Governor Eliot why are you saying this¡± ¡°Because I believe in the rights of people, president Ross is trying to destroy our democracy he is lying to the people and refuses to¡­¡± unable to stand the hypocrite bastard any longer he threw his fork with his strings piercing right through the TV and piercing the wall behind it, the noise it made caused the entire dining hall to go quiet ¡°What? I don¡¯t like the guy.¡±
Congratulations, your has evolved, it is now Intermediate level 1 As you have reached an intermediate level your Strings become stronger As you have reached an intermediate level your strings take less power to manifest and control As you have reached an intermediate level you can make thinner strings without losing their power
Good to know that fucker was useful for something, finishing his food he prepared to leave ¡°Hmm¡­ Aaron¡± ¡°What is it kid¡± ¡°nothing¡± she scuttled away on the table lowering her head ¡°Say it runt¡± ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ aunt Aly said everyone has to learn to fight if they want to survive, I want to survive¡± lifting his hand he briefly scratched his chin trying to reach for a goatee that wasn¡¯t there anymore ¡°You want me to teach you?¡± ¡°I¡­ hmmm¡­. Yes¡± she said embarrassed ¡°Well, for shooting it would be better to get Beta 2 or some other Einherjar but I guess I could teach a little about fighting¡± using one of his strings to pull her to her feet he called ¡°Come on then runt, time to get started¡±as they walked on the corridors of the facility he recovered enough mana to carve another rune, searching his pockets he found an empty cereal wrapping. Drawing the rune on the move proved to be a harder ordeal than he expected as his concentration was not wholly on the magic causing him to lose over 630 mana before completing the thing his only blessing being the fact that Lily was a quiet kid, had she bothered him even once he may well have botched the thing and the backlash would have been a bitch, this time he tried to program the rune differently, instead of exploding on impact he tried to make it activate some time after it hit only managing to make it have a 1 second delay, releasing the wrapping he watched it fall down. Bang! Lily gave a high pitched scream at the loud noise, the wrapping had been blown to pieces by the strength of the rune but the ground was left mostly intact, it seems material and surface area of the object really affected the power of the by a huge amount. Thinking about possible uses for this new tool he lead the girl until they were on the open air training grounds ¡°Okay midget pay attention¡± ¡°Uhmm¡± she grunted and straightened herself ¡°I guess since you¡¯re a kid you probably won¡¯t be fighting anytime soon but it is always better to be prepared, first and most important is stretching and endurance¡± taking turns with her he stretched in every way possible for a whole 25 minutes, her young body making it easier then started a very light jog for another 30 getting their bodies heated up for exercise. ¡°That¡¯s it Lily breath deeply trough your nose and release from your mouth, try to keep your breath even¡± letting her rest a whole minute he continued ¡°Now, the style I am gonna teach you is not the fasted one to learn and you won¡¯t be anywhere near competent for a long time but, then again, you wouldn¡¯t win a physical fight with any monster soon no matter what I taught you so it doesn¡¯t really matter that much now imitate me.¡± ¡°Spread your legs half a step beyond your shoulders and lower your waist until your body forms a 90o angle with your legs¡± ¡°What is nimth decres?¡± ¡°Like this, yes keep your back straight, good that positions is called the horse stance keep it for as long as you can, now make a fist with your hands and hold them at your waist, when I count I want you to rotate your wrist like this and punch out like me every time I count punch once with each arm, HA¡± he gave a single punch with all his strength ahead of him then repeated the motion slowly for her to see ¡°1, 2, 3, 4, Lily I want you to imagine there is someone in front of you, you¡¯re to punch through his chest and into his middle don¡¯t stop at his skin or you won¡¯t do any damage¡± The girl held on in that position for far longer than he would have thought showing a great determination, as he taught her he went back to the basics noticing and correcting a couple of nearly imperceptive mistakes in his own movements, bad habits he had created along the years and never noticed over an entire hour he taught her making her do another 4 stances and training another 2 punches and a kick before she was utterly exhausted, strangely enough he felt his own martial arts improve after teaching her, they became purer as he started to pay more attention to each movement and even the timing of his breath.
Congratulations, your has improved a level, it is now level 2
After his new student nearly passed out from exhaustion he continued his training for another our, pushing himself well past his current limits, sweat staining his clothes, his advanced moves had a satisfying improvement as he managed to execute them with perfecting even as he held himself upright more on willpower than strength, he got another two notifications before resting.
Congratulations, you have recovered a point in your current endurance is 6
Congratulations, your has improved a level, it is now level 3
Falling down on the ground next to a napping Lily he closed his eyes and felt the burning pain on his aching chest that indicated he had gone too far, his neck was also killing him and he could barely stand, there was a time he could have gone all out for another 2 hours without stopping but his injuries had taken a lot of him. He knew he should count his blessings he was in the and had already recovered at such ridiculously fast pace instead of the months of healing and rehabilitation he should have gone through normally but, well it was human nature to always want more, laying the back of his head on his hands he decided to follow the little girls example, a nap was exactly what he needed. ¡­ The mana wave hit him like a punch making him jump to his feet and materialize a dozen strings around himself before he realized what was happening, at his side Lily also woke up ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± she asked but he just shook his head and pointed up, a second pulse of mana passed through his body making the hair on the back of his neck stand straight up and a strange sensation in his belly, the mana pool on his forehead was active like crazy nearly boiling inside his brain ¡°It¡¯s time¡± A third mana pulse traveled through the air and a gigantic rift opened up on the sky, unlike the one on the sun this rift was far closer to the planet appearing to cover an entire quarter of the sky, countless small things fell through the rift towards him soon painting the late afternoon sky full with the bright light from countless falling stars, then came the thing, it was so tremendously huge it was hard to believe, it was glowing in a soft blue light and as round as a ball, a second moon had came into the sky he was speechless but, by his side, his little companion had the right words for it ¡°Beautiful!¡±
SYSTEM WARNING! Creatures are invading your world, be advised that new monsters won¡¯t spawn on already conquered cities!
SYSTEM WARNING! Beware stronger creatures of the lesser races have arrived at your world, beware mortal races have now arrived at your world.
SYSTEM WARNING! Mana has flooded your world, experience gains for your race have been recalculated, it is now possible to acquire a job, nests can now be formed naturally
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Here''s a drawing I made of Aaron''s Jian I will probably draw the rest of his gear... someday Answers! 1 - Tactile telekinesis A: ok don''t you guys think it is a little too early for him to become superboy? Come on he just got to level 5 there is a lot of ground to cover before he gets something as strong as Tactile telekinesis, he may or may not get this power latter when he reaches higher levels 2 - Classes and levels: A: ok this is a little bit of a spoiler so I am gonna put tabs Spoiler : Simply put levels 1 to 5 are considered childhook levels, at level 5 you get an initial class and are also finally considered an adult, at level 10 you enter advanced classes you''re considered a strong creature, level 15 you get the heroic classes you''re the cream of the crop, level 25 you achieve epic classes you become the hero they write stories about, the stuff of legends and level 40, well at level 40 you asccend becoming so badass only a nuke would stop you 3 - The Runic fighter class A: Sorry guys it''s just the way Aaron goes, you have to realise that his telekinesis is the whole reason Aaron had been locked up, the reason he antagonises his father and many other things, his power did not make his life easy you see, so he doesn''t invest in it as much as he should, in fact if Aaron gave his all into training and developing his power he would be far stronger than he is now, however don''t worry his focus won''t sudenly shift to only using runes, A Runic fighter is essencialy a magic warrior that uses runes to augment his powers, his main weapons will still be telekinesis and guns runes will just make things easier. 4 - Creating other weapons with Aaron''s power A: it is possible but hard to do, his power manifest as strings and very few weapons could be made from strings still... he did create so who knows. 5 - His injuri and status: A: yes he is hurt, thats what happens when you get burned alive you need time to recover, still he will eventually get back on his feet however it is important to note that actions have consequences and screwing up won''t be fixed in the blink of an eye, one of you asked why he is only an when he is so much more powerful than the average human... thats because he is currently hurt, had it been before with nearly all statuses close to the human maximum and more than 1000 mp he would easily had made the cut. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. 6 - Gaining abilities similar to telekinetic blast from training. A: since that would be a form of aplying his telekinetic ability it would be a skill and he could learn it but it requires constant use to be reconized as such by the system like with telekinetic shield, take note that his ability is telekinesis(strings) and manifest invisible strings, it is a lesser form of the telekinetic ability that can manifest as anything and harder to manipulate because of it still, now that he is hurt, he will be searching for ways to make up for his physical weakness. 7 - and Eric''s ability A:It is a passive ability because it changes the body permanently, like Aarons newest it uses some mana creating the initial mana paths for the body modification but once it is complete the channels close and your body is forever different, the mana that the ability requires is recovered like stamina, its like the person recovers mana two times, once towards his mana pool that can be used in skills and abilities and once by the whole body to feed the , it is different from Eric''s power because 1- Eric''s only increase his however since his strength is higher his muscles make him a little faster and tougher, like increasing 5 also indirectly increase 1 and and 2 - Eric''s ability is like taking an adrenaline shot while is permanent and in all aspects including recovery and healing speed. 8 - Would for arrows work with bullets A: Yes and no, the skill is directly linked with arrows but, mana paths are versatile, if you''re daring enough to experiment and try to change the path slightly you can get it to work with nearly everything, like someone who already has for arrows would find it much easier to learn or the 9 - Creature and second wave: A: tecnically two questions but I am gonna answer them at the same time, again a little bit of spoilers but nothing that would ruin the plot, still if you want it to be a surprise don''t read it I (somehow I can''t get a spoiler tag to work here just don''t read if you don''t want to) Creatures are divided into 1 - Lesser races: incapable of learning classes their bodies are far stronger than humans and they gain more attribute points with level up but have very low inteligence, thei''re the animals and monsters of the world, they gain levels far faster than any other class of creatures but have few skills, all of them in low levels, basically it is easy to find a lesser race at level 25 but it''s skills would be far bellow others, they also give low XP 2 - Mortal races: Humans, Orcs, dwarves, lizardman and most thinking races are here, with lifespans of 50 to 500 years they gain XP slower but can learn classes and jobs, their abilities and skills are far stronger than lesser races, basically they start far bellow a lesser race but with enough time can far surpass them, a level 1 human would get destroyed by a level 1 minotaur but a level 15 human would easily defeat a level 15 minotaur 3 - Greater Races: nearly immortal and far more powerful than the others they need much more XP for each level staying decades at level 1 but can easily slaughter lesser and mortals even 15 levels above them, Dragons, elves, devils, angels are menbers of the greater races. 4 - Divine Races: the most powerfull things they can rival gods from the moment they''re born but require so much XP to level up it can be milenia before they get to level 5, High dragons, Titans and Devas are examples of those races. the first wave brough with it only weak lesser creatures, the second wave will bring the mortal races and stronger lesser creatures the third wave that is yet to come will finally bring the greater races. 10 - The movie A: Yes it was Anastasia, I highly recomend it for children, Rasputin was so cool when I was younger. Chapter 25 - Arrival Gul¡¯Tar¡¯s armored feet hit the strange black stone floor heavily with each footstep as he looked around his new home, he was still in awe at the sheer size of the metal and glass towers that surrounded him, they were so big even a titan couldn¡¯t touch their tops he couldn¡¯t even begin to imagine what kind of creature could have build them, perhaps a god could have build one or two of the things with its power but certainly not so many. Using his wide shield he bashed one of his clan aside and climbed on top of a hollow metal square with wheels, probably some kind of small carriage and looked around, his kind filled the paths between the towers with their huge numbers, his entire clan having came through the opening and quickly conquering two nodes, his eyes couldn¡¯t help but glance at the huge ball of fire in the sky, still fearful of it falling down on his head, at least he had not been the only one to scream and dive for cover when seeing the ridiculous thing for the first time. In one of the side paths he saw half a dozen horde members taking their turns with a few of the betrayer¡¯s females, raping them and filling them with seed but he had no interest in such acts, snorting in disdain he walked away. His heavy black scaled armor glinted at the light as he took some distance from the horde in search of something interesting to do, the old world¡¯s marvels were certainly interesting but he didn¡¯t have Gul¡¯Tanarin¡¯s curious mind or Gul¡¯Aman¡¯s simple one to be distracted so long by new marvels, good battle was his life¡¯s love and he still hadn¡¯t found one today. A small metallic glint from inside one of the square towers caught his attention and his advanced allowed him to lift his shield in time, the impact was incredibly heavy but his shield was strong, his was high and he had managed to get it in the right position to not just block but actually deflect the arrow so there was no damage. Hiding his head and vital organs behind his shield he dodged between his metal carriages but three other blindingly fast arrows managed to hit him, one of which hit his metal greaves and made him stumble. Hiding behind cover he tried to search for the arrow shaft but didn¡¯t find one, just a small hole in his greaves, taking it off he saw blood leaking from a small wound on his leg, using two of his claws he gritted his fangs and pulled out a very small metal piece from inside, he brought it close to his eyes, Brogath¡¯s balls how did such small thing manage to hurt him? Throwing it away he put his greaves back and hang his axe on his waist, now that there was nothing blocking it his would quickly heal the wound, time to stop playing around. his arms he put them below the metal carriage and flipped it over on its side so he could get up without having to break cover, another four loud noises sounded as his foe him again, he made a note of how fast this strange new weapon could be reloaded, with a grunt he lifted the carriage over his shoulders and hurled it towards the glint he had seen earlier. Before his big metal projectile hit he grabbed his axe with his right hand and applied to its edge, pulling his arm back he strained his muscles as much as he could charging with nearly 150 mana, a quarter of his total, black and red lightning covered his weapon. The carriage hit the side of the tower with a huge noise of twisting metal, glass flew everywhere and, before his enemy recovered, he swung the skill charged axe horizontally, a dark rift opened in the air with scarlet lightning at its edges and flew at an astonishing speed towards the tower expanding on its path. Like a huge maw it struck the side of the tower and took out a huge chunk of it nearly ten meters wide and thirty five meters long, the space around the area was still distorted with chaotic power but what caught his attention were the white lightning around the edges of the damaged area seeming to come from the building itself. As he didn¡¯t get any experience he knew his enemy was still alive so he ran both his legs he ran and jumped nearly ten bodies up getting inside the tower, looking around he found no signs of his foe, sniffing the air he felt no scent of blood, a small noise drew his attention towards the inside of the tower, walking ahead through a narrow path he paid as much attention as he could to the sounds, a voice was speaking as quiet as it could from further ahead, its language was not as melodious as those trice curse elves but far less grave than horde members or demons. His screamed at his head and he froze instantly, looking around he found a thin, nearly invisible line at ankle level, a trap, smiling he stepped over it and moved on, he knew he should stalk his enemy and kill it quietly but that was just not his style so he opened his mouth and called ¡°Good job, this little fight of ours is truly exciting¡± the voice got frantic so he picked up the pace.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. A hand appeared over the door and threw a small round object towards him, Gul¡¯Tar knew better than to underestimate such things, who knows what kind of unholy magic the betrayers had created over the years they had been left alone, activating his he lifted his shield and jumped back, the object exploded in a wave of fire and noise just ahead of his shield throwing him nearly five bodies back and pelting his shield and armor with something hard, both the armor and prevented new wounds but the metal projectiles were still painful. His shield had been greatly damaged, cracking in the middle and with several round metal balls pierced into it, the explosion had been so powerful it had bent the shield and his hand armor so much they would be useless, using his other hand he pried the shield out of his arm and let it fall to the ground before running towards his enemy taking care not to step in any trap. Entering the room with haste he jumped over some fallen wood and continued on towards the back following the noise, finally he caught up with his foe, one of the betrayers dressed in grey clothes and holding a back piece of metal the size of a dagger on his hand, the male said something but he couldn¡¯t understand instead he inspected him
Joshua Smith ¨C human ¨C level 3 ¨C age 31 ¨C focus
What? What in the three hells? His satisfying battle had been with a devil¡¯s damned child? Sighing he started to walk towards the kid, his screamed at him but it was already too late, his feet stepped into the wet floor and an enormous amount of lightning ran through his body completely ignoring his to hurt his internal organs, fortunately his was highly resistant to such attacks leaving him hurting but in no way seriously hurt. Shaking his head to clear it he enjoyed the sensation of power running through him and looked at the child ¡°Good try¡± a movement of his hand warned him in time to lift his axe and block another four shoots of those strange small metal projectiles, another two hit his leg and he actually caught one last shot with his bare hand, it hurt a lot, in no way was he faster than those damn projectiles but he could predict their path from where the black metal object¡¯s end was pointing. Looking at the child¡¯s eyes he saw only death and despair inside, the male had no more tricks to play, still he didn¡¯t try to escape, his eyes wondered around the room noticing a few clothes of different sizes thrown to the side and a small fake white creature fallen on the floor, the child was protecting others, perhaps an even youngling spawn, the fake stuffed creature was probably a toy to teach it how to hunt. He could understand wanting to protect family, it was an honorable goal even for a child ¡°You truly gave me a good fight kid¡± putting his axe at his waist he decided to give one last honor to the foe and attacked empty handed, the child fought back well but the difference in was just too great he killed him with a punch to the chest, kneeling besides the body he put his hands over the head of the fallen and whispered ¡°Although you were a child and of the betrayer¡¯s race you fought well and for a good reason, I shall honor you tonight¡± holding the head between his hands he twisted it and, with a show of strength, pulled it free from the rest of the body. ¡­ ¡°You¡¯re looking happy¡± Gul¡¯Tar turned his head to the side and caught the image of his brother Gul¡¯Tanarin dragging a sack through the dirt ¡°Yes I had a good fight today¡± lifting the skull to his lips he drank it whole before filling it back with fire water, his brother took of his hood and smiled ¡°It must have been a very good one for you to actually honor one of the betrayers with a drink¡± ¡°Brother said it was fun!¡± bellowed their huge younger sibling still entranced by the two silver balls shinning in the sky, one of them was the usual Lanua of their hell dimension and the other, smaller one, something they hadn¡¯t seen for countless generations. Throwing his sack aside Gul¡¯Tanarin sat down with them around the fire and asked ¡°I am surprised you are not enjoying the captured females like the rest of them¡± ¡°Bah, what honor is there in spewing seed for those weak fragile things, it is disgusting, any spawn that came from their belies would only lessen the horde, only true warriors would be worthy enough to rape¡± ¡°and yet you honor one of those weak things tonight¡± ¡°An exception not the rule¡± Lifting his cane Gul¡¯Tanarin detached the huge horned skull on top of it and turned it over, filling the skull with his own fire water he took a satisfying drink. ¡°Are you sure you want to do this brother?¡± turning towards the stupid giant looking at the sky Gul¡¯Tar sighed ¡°He is family, soon he will reach heroic level, you know what happens then¡± ¡°But¡­ there is a reason they¡¯re called the betrayers¡± ¡°what choice do we have? Do it¡± while his brother got up and walked towards the sack he had brought Gul¡¯Tar took his last gulp from the human skull then smiled at it and threw it on the fire. Cutting the sack open Gul¡¯Tanarin pulled a human female out of it and waved his hand over her face causing a blue light to lift from her mouth, the female tried to scream but his brother put a hand over her mouth, walking closer he looked at her eyes and shook his head, the universal sign for no, thankfully it seemed to translate well into human language as she stopped trying to scream water leaking from her eyes ¡°Is something wrong with her?¡± his brother tasted some of the water and waved his question away ¡°Probably not It¡¯s just salt water¡± ¡°Are you sure she is a warrior?¡± ¡°Well she managed to kill one of the horde with a strange weapon and didn¡¯t cower when facing me so¡­ it¡¯s the best I could get, now let me concentrate this isn¡¯t easy you know¡± ¡°it will have to do¡± he knelt at the side of the female and waited while his brother chanted in the most ancient language he knew, green light started to gather over both of his hands, the female seemed terrified but she didn¡¯t cry out refusing to give in to the fear, good. Putting one hand on the human¡¯s forehead and another on his own Gul¡¯Tanarin finished his chant in a shout and it started, green gas left the human¡¯s mouth as she tried to scream in pain but it was useless, the gas floated around then flowed towards his own mouth, pain filled his head as an incredible amount of information entered his brain, the female¡¯s very soul brushed against his and he could feel her brave and stubborn personality, he knew she was also getting glimpses of his life but the connection was soon severed, the parting was far more painful than the joining like a part of his soul was ripped off from him, he fell back convulsing. ¡°Did it work?¡± pushing himself to a sitting position he took a moment to make sure of where, and who, he was ¡°I think so¡± the female was still suffering on the floor so he took her hair out of her face and waited until she opened her eyes,¡°Greetings child¡± ¡°You¡­ you speak English?¡± ¡°Now I do, good news I have a message for your leaders.¡± Chapter 26 - The Great Deal Panting and out of breath Adam adjusted his tie and sat down at the huge table he had been awake for close to two days now getting ready for the second wave and dealing with his son¡¯s recovery and he was dead tired, his aid handed him a glass of water and an open folder, he looked through it quickly than raised his eyes ¡°What¡¯s the situation of Ragnarok project?¡± ¡°Our own side had two loses, as for the global forces there is no way to know before contacting them Mr. President¡± answered one of his commanders consulting his own papers, ¡°Which ones?¡± ¡°Balder and Skadi sir, Skadi died blocking our men¡¯s retreat from a clan of Mountain trolls after the second wave, their level was far higher than we had estimated as for Balder¡­ He exploded.¡± ¡°He what now?¡± ¡°Exploded sir, we don¡¯t know how¡± ¡°Give me that damn report!¡± the marshal handed him the papers and he read them as fast as he could, apparently Balder had faced a similar problem to Skadi expending all his mana into a mental wave to stun a dozen ogres but got hit by a giant club, when the Einherjar managed to drag him away he drank a health and mana potion then suddenly exploded killing the two men helping him, turning to his expert he asked ¡°Any ideas what happened?¡± ¡°Aaaaa¡­¡± searching among a bunch of folders in front of him the small men appeared to be gathering his thoughts, adjusting his glasses he finally started to talk ¡°Well man¡­ ah I mean Boss, I¡­¡± ¡°Just start talking!¡± ¡°Yes sir! It could really be anything from a stealth monster to a delayed effect of the club but, the most likely case is something wrong with the potions¡± ¡°Sabotage?¡± ¡°Sir, we don¡¯t really know anything about those potions, what are they made of? What are their effects? Are they all the same? Do they already exist or are they created by the system? Frankly the only thing that truly appears out of nowhere as drops are those potions, I think they are made somewhere and, if so, it¡¯s not really that much of a stretch for one of them to have been botched¡± ¡°John, get one of our specialists on those potions now, I want to know exactly what they¡¯re made of and if there is any danger¡± ¡°Mr. President I fell it¡¯s my duty to inform you the amount of potions dropped by monsters has started to diminish¡± ¡°Even more reason to experiment with them, we need to know how to produce more, besides we can¡¯t take the risk of another man exploding, what is the status of the others?¡± ¡°All are above level 5 now sir even Loki, their status and classes are already in your folder¡± ¡°Good, anything else?¡± one of the navy commanders got up at the end of the table ¡°Sir, after the second wave hit three of our destroyers were attacked by what appears to have been a Kraken¡± putting a hand on his forehead he massaged at his already growing headache ¡°Did they repel the creature?¡± ¡°Although there was extensive damage to two of the ships they managed to slay the monster, it dropped four skill books, a weapon and another guild badge, more than that every man on the vessels got at least one level and the captains gained three¡± ¡°I thought damage contribution and distance made such battles fruitless?¡± ¡°Uhmm¡­ boss if I may?¡± Looking at the small frightened man he signed for him to go ahead ¡°Sir, clearly battles at sea are different it could be they have an increased range of XP gain or they calculate contribution by ship not individual¡± taking his hand of his forehead he scratched at his small beard in thought ¡°Ok, clearly the second wave made the ocean far more dangerous, have our ships retreat closer to the coast and allow the navy the creation of their own guild, protect our coastal waters but do not pursue any monsters beyond them¡± His phone beeped warning him that his son would finally be cleared for action latter in the day if everything was alright, it was earlier than he thought so he confirmed the message and smiled ¡°Mr. President I have general Owen on the line¡± he pressed the button and the face of his army general on the northwest appeared ¡°Greetings general I hope everything is alright?¡± ¡°Mr. President the situation is not good, our conquered cities are currently safe but there is just no way to move everyone back to the east coast, wyverns have spawned around our positions so we don¡¯t dare put any plane on the air and travelling on foot is even more unlikely, the second wave hit the middle US hard sir¡± ¡°Understood general, you have my permission to join the Canada¡¯s government, keep our people safe¡± A huge boom sounded behind the general and the camera shook violently, glancing back worried the general screamed ¡°I want that fucker down now you idiots!¡± turning towards the camera again he saluted ¡°Understood sir, it was an honor serving the United States!¡± the camera turned dark. ¡°very well people we have officially lost the west coast however Canada remains our ally in this troubled times I am sure the good general will still help us in the future any other problems we have to deal with? We still have 5 minutes¡± one of his few trusted senators and the only one to attend the meeting got up ¡°Mr. President it is about time we speak about payment, freezing the market price and using our food stocks has worked until now but the people have now fully lost trust in the money, they have started to only use products and very few are actually going to work.¡± ¡°OK what can we do about this?¡± handing him another folder the Secretary of agriculture started pointing out words and graphics ¡°As you can see we have already started gathering people in government farms and planting special grains, mainly rice, wheat, corn and potatoes, most monsters are actually edible so we don¡¯t have a lack of meat we just need your permission to start paying people with meal tickets, the civilian guild is also gaining strength and they are helping the police to maintain public order and make sure our people don¡¯t starve¡± another secretary interjected ¡°Sir we have around ten thousand soldiers training civilians in all conquered cities to participate in battles, by the end of the week we should have at least fifty thousand man at least moderately ready to fight, our specialists have also suggested the creation of an adventure¡¯s guild to collect necessary items from monsters.¡±Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°Very well I agree with all points minus the guild, what the hell is an adventurer¡¯s guild! This is not a fucking game and killing those things is not a gods damned adventure! Perhaps I should send the fucking idiot who suggested it to the frontlines so he stop being so stupid¡± ¡°Sir we¡­¡± ¡°Have you not read Doctor Mason¡¯s reports? What we need now is normal workers, farmers, salesman, cooks and teachers to maintain our society not suicidal man trying to gain money from hunting those creatures, that is our job¡± ¡°Understood sir¡± Adventurers ha, there may come a day when they create a mercenary guild or something like that but it is far off in the distance, they don¡¯t even know what use most monster¡¯s drops have much less creature weakness and characteristics that would actually make it possible to hunt them with a minimum of safety, those guys play too much computer games ¡°Sir, about Senator Goldwin and governor Eliot?¡± ¡°Let them do as they want, we control the military and have enough support in the senator Goldwin may try to get the public against me and take my place but he is fated to lose, as for Eliot Grant¡­ for a long time my dearest wish had been to put a bullet through that bastard¡¯s head, now he doesn¡¯t threaten me anymore, just don¡¯t let Loki get close to him or things can get ugly¡± ¡°We are ready sir¡± ¡°Very well connect us¡± on the far off wall the monitors lightened up revealing the country leaders of 52 countries, it seems they had lost even more people since the last time and there were some new faces to the ones who answered, thankfully the new Canadian ruler had connected and the England prime minister had managed to survive his dragon attack, he was even the one to talk first ¡°Good evening gentlemen it is good to be back with you¡± they all nodded his way Adam spoke next ¡°Good to see you Charles we must talk latter¡± The Russian president was the next one to go, always a man of action ¡°Very well my friends I believe you¡¯re all aware of why we are here, no need for small talk, I accept¡± ¡°I agree¡± ¡°I accept¡±¡­ they all manifested their agreement to the deal, it had been discussed long before the hit them, the deal was an alliance between all their countries for military aid, communication, dealing with threats, a new common gold and silver coin accepted everywhere, and many other useful things like sharing technology and the Ragnarok project, they chose the metals because they had always been valuable ones and had few military uses at the moment. ¡°It¡¯s good to see we are all in agreement then¡± said the new Japanese Shogun, a title that raised more than one eyebrow but nobody could fault him, not every government could survive the and some cultures could accept an absolute ruler easier than others, Adam knew that if he suddenly declared himself king at beast they would laugh in his face but, more likely, he would get a bullet to the brain as congratulations.
Great Achievement! A great deal has been completed, every member present at the great deal has been awarded the title: for the first time more than half of the human¡¯s military power has been united in a powerful alliance, +1000 XP
NEW WORLD ORDER (FOUNDER) As one of the founding members of the new world order you now have the ability to give quests! Quest Rewards will be taken out of your own experience or itens automatically upon its completion, your level may not drop bellow 5. As one of the leaders of the New World Order you can now communicate with other leaders using mana The system has recognized your agreement breaking it will have heavy penalties
¡°It seems our actions had unexpected rewards friends¡± ¡°Indeed¡± all of them stayed quiet for a moment thinking about their new title but soon the Brazilian president called for their attention ¡°Very well this is great and all but I don¡¯t have much time left, what is the situation of project Ragnarok?¡± All of them turned towards the Spanish president, since the Ragnarok member codenamed M¨ªmir resided in his nation and had been responsible for monitoring the situation ¡°In total 6 Ragnarok members have been killed, of those the two strongest both residing on the US, the loses are minimal as the others were all lesser members not even receiving God codenames, from the survivors only 2 have not yet acquired a class, most have received a Boss ratting on their power and the big three have become Elite bosses, the only unexpected thing is that Loki has been nearly killed and is still in recovery, he only received an elite ratting from the ¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t Loki supposed to be capable of rivaling the big three if he put his mind to it?¡± Adam sighed, even here his stubborn kid caused him grief ¡°Loki has always been stubborn and contrary, he refused to train his powers despite his talent and fell from second ranked to fifth over the last years, once in action he got overconfident and was overwhelmed by numbers after making a mistake, he has been cleared for action earlier today and will make a full recover soon¡± Prime minister Charles just had to needle him ¡°You really should have sent him to us Adam the boy hates you¡± ¡°If I sent him to you he would have been dead fighting that fucking dragon, What the hell were you thinking Charles and where is my wife!¡± ¡°The dragon is under control¡± said the man through gritted teeth ¡°As for your EX wife, I am sorry Adam but we are still searching for her¡± He just closed his eyes, the chance of her being alive had just dropped by a lot, he started to turn towards the Spanish president but he answered before the question was ever asked ¡°M¨ªmir said sorry but he can¡¯t help you my friend¡± Dozens of parallel conversations started between the leaders present, the Chinese leader had declared himself emperor as well as the South African one and a few worried about dwarves in Germany and Fay on Ireland were discussed before he finally called for attention ¡°Very well gentlemen I believe all details were already discussed previously, if there is nothing else?¡± ¡°Yes we are all busy man my friend and our own nation dangers are far from over I will keep my line open for any who wished to discuss with me but it is time to go¡± The Brazilian president said with an anxious face before being the first one to disconnect, Adam followed close behind. Turning of the camera transmitting his signal he drank his entire cup of water and rested his back against the chair ¡°Damn I need to sleep, thank god this is it for the day¡± his phone beeped again and he lifted it reading the new message, ¡®Aaron¡¯s release canceled again, passed out from exercising too much, please pass by the hospital for further discussion¡¯ putting the phone back in his pocket he lowered his head and banged it repeatedly on the table ¡°God damn it Aaron.¡± Chapter 27 - Back into action ¡°So, what do you think?¡± asked Aaron, he never thought he would spend the day after the second wave sitting down and talking with a nerd from Mages of the coast but here he was, discussing mana. Unfortunately he had not recovered in time for the second wave, his doctor said he would be free to act if he managed to recover all his attributes to average human levels, unfortunately his refused to budge from 4, his frustration had caused him to overwork himself nearly collapsing on the gym and getting grounded, now he couldn¡¯t even exercise anymore, at least he had gained that point in and another one in ¡°I think you should stop learning so many different abilities for a while¡± ¡°What do you mean¡± the skinny nerd looked around and grabbed my water bottle, it was the kind that you squeeze to get the water out, shaking the bottle he started to explain ¡°this is your mana pool, when you want to use an ability you squeeze the bottle and the mana flows through the opening, which in this case is the mana path¡± he squeezed the bottle and squirted water over the floor ¡°that was not intentional, anyway if you create another mana path you create another opening in the bottle so that, when you squeeze mana naturally flows from both openings.¡± ¡°First, how do I stop the mana from spilling on the other paths, second, why should I stop learning different abilities¡± ¡°well you just have to block the other paths like you¡¯re doing now, better mana control would be the way to go but, if there are too many openings and they¡¯re all over the bottle they become too hard to block, I think that¡¯s why we have classes, abilities learned through classes are all alike, their paths are close to one another and it gets easier to block them all with a single hand.¡± ¡°In other words, specialization is the way to go¡± handing back my bottle he nodded ¡°Yeah¡± good to get confirmation from the big brains, Aaron thanked the man and waved him off, using a string he picked up the controller and turned on the TV, unwilling to watch any more war news he changed channels until he found an old TV series on rerun. Having nothing better to do he decided to try and create something else with his powers concentrating once again he manifested a couple dozen strings and wove then together slowly, wrapping one string around the other in a twisting pattern, after finishing he materialized more strings and continued to twist them until he had a pretty solid 60 cm pole, he then created another smaller one of about 6 cm and put them together into a T shape, now he could start working. Extending some strings between each of the three points of his construct he formed the frame for his new weapon, to finish it he just had to fill in the space between the pole and the strings then try and make an edge at the sides and in front of it, it proved to be harder than he though but, after nearly an hour of trying, he managed to do it. His power would stay manifested for an hour and a half now so he still had time to experiment, looking at his construct it looked like a very triangular sword, he formed another 20 cm long pole and attached it to the end of the blade, to others it would be invisible but in his eyes it was a¡­ well a very VERY crude sword, give him a break it was his first time doing it, grabbing the handle of his weapon with one hand he swung it at the wooden table with force The weapon made a loud bang and he felt the minor backlash of some of his strings breaking, the construction was still fine but it¡¯s thinnest part had completely dissolved ¡°Fuck¡± it seems any string thin enough to create an edge would be too weak to cut other materials and break on impact. His failure did not discourage him after all, even though he clearly couldn¡¯t make a blade yet the construct seemed to work well enough as a blunt weapon, dissolving his failed sword he created another pole, this one he made two meters long and much wider, a Bo staff, using both hands he struck the table again breaking it in two without any damage to the weapon, yes blunt objects would work, laying the staff at the wall without dissolving it he proceeded to create a variety of other things like a one handed hammer, a mace, a two handed heavy hammer and even a monkey¡¯s fist which was by far the most useful for him given the range he could swing the thing and the fact he could make it pretty solid and heavy with his power, he then started to create many monkey¡¯s fists of different sizes to get familiar with the process each one being materialized faster than the other, when he had created about 35 of them he got a message.
Congratulations, your has increased, it is now intermediate level 2
Congratulations, you have created a new skill, would you like to name it?
YESNO
He just decided to leave it¡¯s name the same as the weapons
MONKEY¡¯S FIST
StatusBeginnerLevel1
DescriptionA blunt weapon created from strings it can be very devastating in the right situations
Current Bonus2/3 Blunt dmg
Happy with his new skill and the fact that his was still growing at an accelerated pace he dissolved all his creations and got up, it was time for Lily¡¯s training. Like before he had decided to practice outside and the little girl was already waiting there, dressed in sportswear and already sweating ¡°Hey why would you start without me!¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re not doing anything today Aaron¡± came a voice from behind him, turning around he saw Eric coming closer with a bottle of water on his right hand ¡°And what are you doing here?¡± ¡°Since I was without my partner I was given an easier mission, just had to help deal with a group of rapist, murderous bastards and oversee the start of an evacuation before they sent me back, did you know humans now give about 125 XP?¡± ¡°Damn that¡¯s gonna cause trouble¡± ¡°Yeah the law enforcement guys are having one hell of a hard time maintaining order.¡± Squeezing Eric¡¯s hand Aaron turned to the little girl to start training but the blonde man interrupted him ¡°Ahem, she has already stretched and just waiting to receive instructions¡± ¡°Ok then just let me stretch too and¡­¡± ¡°No, what you are gonna do is obey your doctor¡¯s orders and stay quiet, you can instruct her perfectly well sitting down¡± they stared at each other for a few seconds but in the end Aaron conceded, the big wannabe hero had actually grown on him.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Sitting down on the ground he started ¡°Ok then, Like yesterday start with the horse position do you remember it?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Ok, start with a straight punch, Lily your thumb goes over your index and middle fingers ¡± Lily concentrated and punched out once, twice ¡°No, pull your elbows backwards and keep your chest open, keep your back straight¡± she punched out once again this time her form was better but there were still some minor mistakes, he wanted to get up and show her but knew Eric would bother him if he did instead he materialized ten strings and wrapped them around her body forcing it to move the right way. ¡°Eh! Wha¡­¡± ¡°Remember runt, this is the right way to move¡± after that the training progressed fairly well, he repeated the three punches and two kicks and made her practice them for close to an hour them started teaching her three stances and made her practice moving between them using his strings to correct her every time there was a mistake. From inside the facility he noted a soldier come running their way ¡°what now?¡± Eric got up and waved the men over, the soldier stopped a few meters in from of them and saluted ¡°Sir, Colonel Delacroix has requested both of your presences on the second meeting room¡± he got up and dusted himself ¡°Fine we will be there shortly, Lily you can go practice shooting now we are finishing early today¡± messing up her hair with a miniature version of he said ¡°If I am not back tomorrow look for Caleb Reed, you met him when I got my Jian¡± ¡°Ok Aaron¡± she forgot to bow as he had taught her so he sent one last string and curved her back forcefully before bowing back. Together they made their way towards the meeting room putting a hand on his shoulder Eric asked ¡°Hey, you think they¡¯re gonna clear you for action?¡± ¡°Yeah probably, I mean I already got all my attributes back to at least five and have been without exercise for nearly a full day¡± ¡°Great, I can¡¯t wait to see your equipment¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± smiling widely and with a shine in his eye Eric answered ¡°They managed to finish the TALOS 3, members of Ragnarok get a customized one when going on missions¡± Aaron looked at him and couldn¡¯t help smiling as well. While his Specter armor set had been incredibly advanced and easy to use it was only a modified version of Modern Revision Suit with Satayev glass, only issued because they hadn¡¯t completed the TALOS 3 on time, eager to see his new gear Aaron picked up speed. The room was empty except for two men sitting down on a wide rectangular table one of them had the traditional army uniform while the other was still in comfortable civilian clothes they both got up ¡°Good, you¡¯re here¡± They shook hands and the Colonel started to talk ¡°First, Loki you¡¯re cleared for action, your new armor and weapons will be waiting at the helicopter, you¡¯re going with only Beta team this time¡± ¡°Understood, what is the mission?¡± ¡°We have received a call from a survivor camp on Detroit, it seems that more than 35 thousand people managed to gather close to the interstate 75 on the Rouge River, they have no Node and managed to make themselves a very thorny target so most monsters were ignoring them before the second wave, yesterday what appears to be a, is it a sloth or a parliament?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it matters Colonel¡± ¡°anyway at least 16 Owlbears took residence not even a kilometer from them and have already made two assaults on their fortified position the creatures have an average level of 19, there are also 3 elites and a boss confirmed among them, the survivor¡¯s camp has no way to fend off such strong force. Your mission will be to land on the camp, inspect it, them eliminate the Owlbears then eliminate any other threats around the location, we are also sending heavy weaponry with you to make them safer, the camp has about a hundred policemen and an ex. Marine FBI agent so they should be able to handle the weapons with some safety, Loki here¡± Catching the thrown object he saw it was a small metallic box with an opening ¡°A DNA key, just stick your finger in there and your TALOS 3 suit will be unlocked for your use, can¡¯t have just anybody using the thing now can we¡± sticking his thumb into the device he felt a slight pain as a small needle pierced his skin then the small box gave a beep and flashed green. ¡°What are you guys waiting? Go!¡± When he finally got to the helicopter hangar and stood before his new armor he immediately fell in love with it, instead of the black metallic color of the Specter armor this one was more opaque, it was also even sleeker than it, instead of being made from different metallic parts that connected together it was more like a whole body suit with only a single opening at the back, the helmet was smaller and, instead of the wide visor covering the whole face there were two sharp glasses in place of the eyes. ¡°Improved kinetic dispersion, better hydraulic system, smaller and more durable power cells, 98% range of movement, absolutely 100% body armor instead of the 95% of the Specter one, we even found a way to make Satayev glass into a fluid and filled the armor with it so it even has a better magic resistance finally, we integrated adrenaline and troll serum shots inside¡± told him the tech genius taking care of the armor until he arrived ¡°Thanks, I will try not to damage this one so much¡±
TALOS 3 armor setCLASSA+
DEFENSE
SLASH6BLUNT6
PIERCE5MAGIC5
ABILITIES
Optical camouflageThermal camouflage Omni vision (helmet)Aim assist (helmet)
Radio communicationsKinetic dispersionHeat dispersionLife assist
He put on the usual spandex suit (he knew it was not spandex but some kind of highly technological material) them got some help getting into the armor, it felt absolutely perfect as it adapted to his muscles until he didn¡¯t fell like he was wearing anything ¡°It¡¯s perfect¡± ¡°Of course it is now go¡± Putting all his blades on their proper places in the armor he chose two new weapons besides his own sidearm, the first one a combat shotgun while the second was a sniper rifle, after his last mission he had learned that there is no such thing as too much firepower, then stacked up in ammunitions, his armor was actually lighter than the previous one so he could take more in his pack.
Modern Winchestor model 3 CLASSA-
ATACK
SLASH0BLUNT10
PIERCE9MAGIC0
ABILITIES
+ 1 STR
ASW Draco 200 CLASSA
ATACK
SLASH0BLUNT8
PIERCE11MAGIC0
ABILITIES
+ 1 DEX+1 STR
When he entered the helicopter the entire Beta team was still wearing the Specter armor but Eric was clearly different, his armor was actually brown and far bulkier than the previous one, obviously designed to magnify his strength and endurance, it fit him very well, Aaron strapped himself in and continued to practice with his strings, he used a similar technique to knitting to train their dexterity and fine control
Congratulations, you have recovered 1 DEX point
Eric started discussing with the other Einherjar about this survivor camp they were going to but he had no interest in it so he laid back and dozed off, when he finally woke up again they were almost there, ¡°¡­and they have even managed to secure a food supply¡±, yawning he turned towards the guy who was still talking ¡°You do know it won¡¯t be so easy to deal with the survivors right?¡± Eric turned his way questioning ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°well we are the government, we are the ones who didn¡¯t tell them anything and failed to keep their city safe, they survived alone till now and some leader times probably control the camp they won¡¯t like us just waltzing in there and¡­¡± The entire helicopter lurched sideways violently and he hit his head on the back of his seat ¡°What the fuck?¡± ¡°We are under attack get ready!¡± Chapter 28 - Landing ¡°We are under attack get ready!¡± Aaron reacted instinctively, releasing his belt he jumped to his feet and ran towards the helicopter¡¯s heavy weapons, unfortunately his speed was not what it once was and one Einherjar got there first, turning around he looked out of the window but only saw a few arrows his the metal walls harmlessly, the helicopter dropped suddenly and his feet left the ground briefly but he used his strings to tie himself down, when they recovered from the sudden drop he started to hear the shots ¡°There is something in the air!¡± Turning towards the back of the helicopter he used his strings to move towards it, the vehicle turned to the right nearly throwing him at the wall and succeeding in throwing Erick, he had to snicker at the sorry figure, the new Beta 1 was the first one to get to the back and hit the big red button to open the huge door, pulling his sniper from the back he loaded it with a magazine of piercing bullets and searched for the enemy outside, he didn¡¯t see anything. The helicopter was hit once more threatening to throw the soldiers out, the vehicle¡¯s heavy guns continued to spew bullets outside like mad and the pilot even shot two of the four missiles it carried, heavy boons rang outside, ¡°Loki, you got to do something!¡± screamed Eric ¡°Why me? You do something!¡± Looking back he saw a spear point sticking out of the helicopter¡¯s side ¡°What the fuck?¡± At his side some of the Einherjar looking out of the door started shooting at something, so he started to search the skies through his riffle¡¯s scope, his helmet¡¯s visor automatically calculated wind speed, distance and other variables as he finally found his prey, at first he thought it was some kind of bird but under the zoom from his equipment he was able to see a slightly humanoid shape and hands holding a weapon, it was still to far away for but he took aim carefully and squeezed the trigger slow and smoothly
You have slain Ashktas level 6 + 224 XP
He hit the creature in the chest and it dropped out of the sky like a fly, unfortunately it had been too little too late, the co-pilot ran out of the cabin and screamed ¡°Get everyone ready the helicopter is not gonna make it!¡± ¡°Shit¡± All the men holstered their weapons and picked up parachutes at the vehicle¡¯s sides, Aaron put it on in a practiced manner then readied his rifle once again searching for more enemies. The pilot ran out of the cockpit soon screaming at the top of his lungs ¡°Jump, jump, jump! Another big one is coming!¡± the pilot them ran and dived right out the huge door, Aaron covered their jump until only he and Beta two remained them dived out as well, looking around at the sky he saw nearly forty of those creatures flying around, one of them held a brilliant red light on its hands, it pulled its arm back and threw the light out just as Beta 2 dived, the projectile flew like a meteor hitting the helicopter¡¯s and running it through, with a loud bang and an explosion the helicopter was divided cleanly in two and started to fall down with them. Aaron immediately turned his gun towards the creature who had thrown the attack and took aim again, his second shot rang out loudly, it had only been possible thanks to his visor¡¯s accurate calculations.
Normal strike -23% health
The creature stumbled in the air but didn¡¯t go down, pulling his rifle¡¯s lever he chambered another round, the creature had taken some distance flying out of the range of his gun so he searched the sky for more targets, his aim assist lightened five targets in red, they were quickly closing in on him, taking aim he shot, the first one he hit on the leg while the second missed completely, the next three shots were confirmed kills.
Normal Strike ¨C 21% health
You have slain Alashi level 5 + 210 XP
You have slain Tashol level 5 + 210 XP
You have slain Shaskale level 6 + 224 XP
Another fourteen of the enemies fell down from the Einherjar¡¯s fire in barely 8 seconds of freefall but they were quickly running out of time as the ground was quickly approaching, a shower of arrows reached them, most missed or bounced right off their armor but Aaron saw one shinning slightly in red pierce the helmet of an Einherjar, another one covered in green light his Beta 2 on the belly and a third hit him on the chest, the new armor blocked the enchanted projectile completely bouncing the arrow off and absorbing the bruising impact. Releasing his rifle he let it hang by its strap and pointed his hands toward Beta 2 and Beta 11, the two were the best shooters of the unit, Materializing bellow them and himself, he didn¡¯t immediately stop their fall but used his control to lower their speed gradually over the next 4 seconds, the stop was still jarring but not debilitating so with their armors, as they stopped in the air Beta two understood immediately and screamed over the communicators. ¡°Give the others cover now!¡± The rest of the Einherjar were already past the perfectly safe 5500 feet and getting into a dangerous height even for their powerful gear, Aaron immediately lifted his weapon, his helmet¡¯s computer synchronized with the other two and automatically divided the approaching enemies between them marking his own in red, aim assist did all the necessary calculations as he changed his rifle¡¯s magazine and shot again, he had enough time to shot four bullets.
Normal Strike -21% Health
Critical Strike -88% health
Crippling Strike -49% health
You have slain Eshas level 6 + 224 XP
Congratulation, your has increased, it is now level 2
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. He hit all four shots killing one outright while hitting one in the chest and cutting a wing off another, only one was still up for fighting, the creatures were finally close enough for him to see them perfectly, they were humanoid but their bodies were covered in feathers and their legs were huge wicked talons, they all had a pair of huge wings at their backs and were covered in green light clothes, he took the time to inspect one
Asahior ¨C Harpy ¨C Archer - Level 5
HEALTH100%
STR8END5
DEX 12SPD15
WIS 4INT6
Congratulations, your has grown a level, it is now level 3
On the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of a familiar red light, turning around he saw an arrow flying towards Beta 11, dissolving the shield bellow the man¡¯s feet he let him fall back down but the arrow curved in the air following him, they didn¡¯t have enough time to intercept it but Beta 11 tried to block with his own gun, he failed, the arrow pierced through his gun, his arm and into his chest before he exploded in a shower of blood and metal. Many arrows flew down past his position as the harpies dived down towards the Einherjar who had just opened their parachutes, turning his weapon after them he took aim again but a second red arrow flew towards him, he immediately created another four shields in its path then used a string to pull one of his knives out of its sheath and swung it towards the arrow, the projectile pierced through the first shield easily enough but by the fourth it had lost some speed, his throwing knife hit the arrow straight on. Alone his knife would not be enough to stop the arrow but he had taken the time to inscribe all six of his short blades with the impact rune, his was also triggered and both weapons exploded in a shower of red and a long bang, calling Beta 2 over the con Aaron said ¡°Get them I will take care of the Boss!¡± The Boss still flew outside his range, it was already charging another arrow with its full power, looking at his own mana he saw it continued to drop quickly, maintaining his shields on the air taking a lot out of him, before the creature finished charging it¡¯s skill he took aim and shot.
Normal strike - 8% health
The harpy had actually been fast enough to mostly dodge the bullet, the long distance clearly had something to do with it but the thing was incredibly fast, pulling the lever he chambered another round and shot.
Normal strike - 12% health
Normal strike - 2% health
Normal strike - 4% health
Normal strike - 13% health
Unwilling to continue getting hit the creature flew to a safer distance and just observed the fight, at his side Beta 2 dived out of his as another green glowing arrow nearly killed him, the fight had lasted a whole 35 seconds, more than enough time for his team to have reached the ground, seeing as his own mana was getting dangerously low he decided it was time for him to bail. Dissolving his shields he let himself fall down, ignoring the surviving creatures he pulled all six remaining blades and had then flying around his body, he waited until the last possible moment trying to get as close to the ground as he could before opening his parachute, with his power it wasn¡¯t really necessary but he wanted to keep a minimum amount of mana for any eventuality Barely three seconds after he opened the parachute three arrows pierced holes into it, he could already see the Einherjar on the ground shooting up, whipping his blades around he managed to deflect some of the arrows and actually pierce one of the harpies that had dived with its talons extended
You have slain Ashurs level 5 + 210XP
He started to lose control of his ragged parachute so he released it¡¯s straps and let himself fall down feet first, creating a bellow his feet he waited until he was very close to the ground before slowing himself down, his blades were furiously rotating around him blocking all arrows, he also saw a couple more harpies fall down from his team¡¯s fire, coming to a stop 15 meters above the ground he jumped down lifting his knees and rolling when he hit, his armor absorbed the fall completely and he quickly turned around pulling his rifle and searching for more targets. ¡°they gave up¡± said Eric as he offered him a hand, he still searched the skies and saw the boss with only about seven followers beating their wings well away from their shooting range, they stayed looking at him for a while but turned around and flew away, he had a feeling they were not finished yet, turning towards Beta 2 he saw his team leader was still on the ground ¡°You okay?¡± ¡°They fucked up my parachute when I was close to the ground, the armor held but I broke my legs and drove the damn arrow further in¡± Turning towards Eric he asked ¡°How many have we lost?¡± ¡°Eight dead and another three wounded, cursed birds¡± from the ground Beta 2 grunted ¡°Get me Beta 7 I need the doctor¡± ¡°They managed to drop him sir¡± answered Eric ¡°Goddamnit! Jose get over here then!¡± another Einherjar came closer, letting the healer deal with Beta 2 Aaron pulled Eric away. ¡°Where are we¡± he asked ¡°We fell at Zug island, we are about 12 kilometers from the survivor camp¡± putting a hand on his chin he thought ¡°The equipment, can it be recovered?¡± ¡°Probably, it didn¡¯t fall into the river so it¡¯s just a question of getting it out of the wreckage¡± ¡°Ok here is what we are gonna do, get the wounded back on their feet even if you have to use potions then we go to the camp, deal with those bears, finally we get some of the survivors to help recover their weapons while we hunt those fucking birds out of the sky¡± ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
NAMEAaron Ross (Elite)RACEHuman(variant)
Class:Runic FighterJob:N/a
TITLESCalamity child, Codename: Loki, Pioneer
STATUSGreatly weakened
LEVEL5HEALTH100%
STAMINA78%MANA712/712
STR5(9)SPD5(8)
END7(9)DEX8(12)
WIS10INT11
ABILITIES
Telekinesis (string) ¨C Intermediate level 2
Multitask ¨C Beginner level 5
Martial Arts ¨C Beginner level 3
Fire Resistance ¨C Intermediary level 2
Shooting ¨C Beginner level 2
Fear resistance ¨C Beginner level 1
Divine Inspection ¨C Beginner level 3
Giant Eater ¨C MAX
Dagger mastery ¨C beginner level 1
Runic Power ¨C beginner level 1
SKILLS
Monkey¡¯s Fist ¨C Beginner level 1
Impact Rune ¨C Beginner level 1
Titan¡¯s hand ¨C Beginner level 3
Telekinetic shield ¨C Beginner level 1
Chapter 29 - The camp ¡°How is he doctor?¡± ¡°He is fine Siegfried the arrow is not poisoned, I Just have to set the bone and give him a potion¡± looking over the shoulder of the doctor Aaron asked ¡°what about the others?¡± ¡°minor bruising from falls nothing serious¡± nodding Aaron walked away, he pulled out his rifle¡¯s used magazine and recharged it with new bullets, every rifle bullet he had brought was designed for big game hunting and had a inner coating of the new Satayev glass to pierce magic. Fixing his rifle at his back he pulled the assault shotgun and chambered six rounds, the guns maximum load, all of them were double slugs designed to punch right through three car doors and still have stopping power on the other side, the ideal round for big powerful creatures even under armor. Looking around he saw the Einherjar bringing two armored corpses with a string he stole one of their throwing knives, no use in letting a perfectly good weapon lying around, one of the Einherjar put his hand on the ground and concentrated, the concrete suddenly broke and opened up revealing a hole which they put the bodies in before it closed nearly perfectly, they would recover it when they were ready to go back, one of the men make the sign of the cross and bowed his head, Aaron just shook his head and walked away. Aaron was angry, while he didn¡¯t really like most people but, damn the Einherjar were his people, attacking them just pissed him off plus he didn¡¯t like being dropped off a helicopter a little over 2000 meter from the ground, kicking the ground around him he looked towards the place the harpies had flown to, yeah he would get them¡­ eventually, he wished he could have inspected the damn boss and known it¡¯s name. Looking over the place they had landed he noted that grass had grown to above his waist all around him and the few buildings he could see were absolutely covered in green vines, in the distance he could see a huge three, it was dark, had beautiful red leaves and gave him a very eerie feeling, staring at the thing for nearly a minute he realized it was fear, he used
Titan Jubokko Sapling ¨C Level 1
HEALTH100%
STR21END25
DEX 6SPD15
WIS 2INT3
What the fuck? ¡°Hey anyone has any idea why the name Jubokko sounds familiar to me?¡± He said over the con while taking a few steps away, although its statuses were very high he had a feeling they were not the problem with this thing, Eric walked closer and stood at his side ¡°what¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°I think we should leave this place soon¡± he pointed towards the tree, the man took some time inspecting it ¡°Oh¡­ what¡¯s the problem¡± ¡°Well I really don¡¯t like anything with the name Titan in it much less something with those stats at level 1¡± ¡°Wait you can see stats?¡± He looked at Eric¡¯s face behind the helmet for a second ¡°Ah¡­ surprise?¡± now that he thought about it
Eric Lennon ¨C Human(variant) ¨C Spirit Fighter - Level 6
HEALTH76%
STR12END11
DEX 8SPD10
WIS 6INT6
So that was his class then interesting, ¡°Anyway I don¡¯t like the look of that thing¡± activating his communicator again he used the team channel ¡°Ok people let¡¯s leave!¡± holding his shotgun ready he let Eric lead the way as he covered the rear, they were two potions short but every Einherjar was back on their feet. They didn¡¯t meet any creatures until they reached the bridge crossing towards Jefferson Avenue when Beta 2¡¯s visor picked up a single creature hiding in the shadows of the structure, he called for a halt and switched his visor to x-ray ¡°Ok guys it¡¯s a troll¡± ¡°Seriously? That¡¯s so clich¨¦¡± ¡°You think it is gonna try and charge us a toll?¡± Joked someone over the common channel, waving the others away Eric took his huge sword off his back and advanced ¡°This one is mine guys¡± When Eric approached the bridge the troll walked out from behind cover and stuffed his chest trying to intimidate its enemy with its size which, at just short of 4 meters tall, indeed towered over Eric, it was covered in rags and had no weapons, its skin was green like goblins and it¡¯s head was filled with a long dirty black hair, it was fat but not overly so and had a huge mouth filled with sharp uneven fangs, turning towards Beta 2 Aaron commented ¡°So that¡¯s a troll huh, it is far less intimidating than what I pictured¡± ¡°Yeah that¡¯s the runt of the band for sure, we meet some river trolls before and they were about half a meter taller and had far more fat, look it¡¯s not even using a club¡± The fight was a short brutal one, Eric approached with his sword at his side, he glowed briefly as he used to make himself more powerful and the troll charged with a guttural roar, dodging a grab Erick cut upwards and made the creature¡¯s right arm fly away before slashing deeply at its side, the troll just screamed in rage and pain before trying to turn and get the annoying human hurting it, Eric was faster and smarter, keeping to his back and injured side he rained strong blows at its leg making blood fly everywhere. The troll¡¯s arm started to regenerate at a visible rate but the armored fighter finally managed to cut off its feet and, with a well aimed kick, drop it into the ground where he could finally cut off its head, when he finished he put a hand at the trolls hearth and drew a green glowing orb from it which he put on a small compartment in his armor.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. According to the reports fighting trolls was a pain in the ass, the creatures had an enormous amount of body mass and a ridiculously high regeneration rate, as long as you one didn¡¯t destroy or separate the creature¡¯s head from its body it would continue to use body fat to regenerate any wound including lost limbs and even the hearth in a matter of minutes ¡°you done yet?¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go¡± the bridge was still intact but the city after it was a whole other story, nearly all its buildings were covered in vines and trees sprouted from the ground in the most unexpected places a fortunately grass still hadn¡¯t grown very much only staying right below the knees but it was still a pain to watch for hidden dangers. Opening a private channel Aaron asked from the back of the 14 man group ¡°What was that all about?¡± ¡°New skill from my class I can capture the spirits of creatures to use latter, they still only last a day so I had lost my previous ones but this one will do nicely¡± ¡°Cool, so what exactly does a do anyway?¡± ¡°Well you remember that skill book you gave me? I though the skill was very good and this class lets me maximize its power by capturing spirits for later and enhancing the effectiveness of the skills¡± A loud cry of some huge creature to the right made them all stand quietly on guard for a while as they advanced through the city turned forest, the vines on the buildings didn¡¯t reach all the way to the top yet but they would be doing that soon, Aaron took the quiet time they had to recover his spent mana, with his full mana down to a little more than half what it was his recovery had initially taken a drop but, after the second wave, it had actually risen to slightly more than 5 points per minute that means that, even if he didn¡¯t stop to rest, he could recover his full mana in a little over 2 hours and they had walked for an entire one already. At their increased walking pace they were just a kilometer from Ford Woods Park when meet the first humans, it was a group of 6 people walking carefully between the buildings checking everywhere for something useful, one of the six guys held an old Winchester 44 but the others all held primitive spears or fire axes, they spotted the armed civilians first Beta 2 whispered orders through the common channel and they activated their camouflage before spreading themselves surrounding the unaware group, after what happened with the previous Beta 1 he was not taking any chances. Strangely enough the new Beta 1 had also died with a destroyed face being the first one to be hit by one of the Harpy boss arrows. Pointing his rifle at the group he ordered them to show themselves and called ¡°Freeze, this is the US army lay down your weapons!¡± Aaron could just see the guy holding the Winchester think about it, the gun¡¯s barrel moving just a little, so he aimed at the guy¡¯s head and started to slowly apply pressure on his trigger, truth be told a normal shot from the gun could never pierce their armors but who knows what kind of skills they could have, he had immediately inspected them but none were above level 4 so there was little knowledge he could gain. In the end the six of them knew they were beaten and chose not to struggle thus Beta 2 used one of his combat knives to cut the vines away from one of the buildings and lead them all inside, it was a Arab restaurant, seating all six he started asking questions while Aaron Looked around the place ¡°Where are you guys from?¡± they shared a look and refused to talk ¡°Answer the question we just want to help¡± The young man with a baseball cap was the first to open his mouth, he was short and held a spear made with wood and PVC with a sharp piece of metal tied to the top, inspection told them he was called Jordan and was a level 2. ¡°Damn man we are from a survivor camp a little ahead of here happy¡± ¡°Good, who give the orders there¡± Dodging a slap to the head from his companions he said ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know man, there is some dude with a cool sword and a group of policemen that are always discussing things¡± ¡°What were you doing so far away from the camp then?¡± this time the old guy who had the Winchester talked ¡°Fine, father Jonas is coordinating the supplies and he always sent search teams out to find more, but if you think you guys can take on the camp so easily you¡¯re wrong¡± Convinced they were not lying Beta 2 relaxed a little but didn¡¯t fully let down his guard ¡°We don¡¯t want to conquer your camp Mr. Salvador, earlier today an FBI agent inside your camp managed to contact the US military an asked for support while dealing with some creatures that were moving on your location we are that support?¡± ¡°How come you¡¯re walking around the city then? Shouldn¡¯t you have arrived in one of those fancy helicopters or something?¡± handing them back their weapons but still maintaining a safe distance he didn¡¯t answer so Aaron did ¡°Let¡¯s just say the skies aren¡¯t as safe as they used to be¡± Together they started moving towards the camp in a careful manner the old man explaining to them ¡°The strong things aren¡¯t really interested in this part of town and Mr. Reynolds always sends patrols to clear out any weaklings that move over so the streets are mostly safe around here, still it pays to always be safe¡± ¡°Mr. Reynolds being?¡± asked Beta 2 ¡°The big boss, he is already level 5 knows how to move that sword of his like¡­ I don¡¯t know but it¡¯s damn beautiful to watch¡± The camp turned out to be a barricaded space covering the University of Michigan Dearborn, the Henry Ford collage an amount of the open area around the Rouge River and even the Islamic center of America, the barricade was fully covered in thorny vines and blended perfectly with the forest like environment around them almost like a natural barrier was formed there, still if Aaron concentrated he could see the cars and pieces of furniture used to construct it bellow all that green ¡°Well we are here, time to find this Reynolds.¡± ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
NAMEAaron Ross (Elite)RACEHuman(variant)
Class:Runic FighterJob:N/a
TITLESCalamity child, Codename: Loki, Pioneer
STATUS Weakened
LEVEL5HEALTH100%
STAMINA78%MANA587/712
STR5(9)SPD5(8)
END7(9)DEX8(12)
WIS10INT11
ABILITIES
Telekinesis (string) ¨C Intermediate level 2
Multitask ¨C Beginner level 5
Martial Arts ¨C Beginner level 3
Fire Resistance ¨C Intermediary level 2
Shooting ¨C Beginner level 2
Fear resistance ¨C Beginner level 1
Divine Inspection ¨C Beginner level 3
Giant Eater ¨C MAX
Dagger mastery ¨C beginner level 1
Runic Power ¨C beginner level 1
Minor regeneration ¨C Beginner level 1
SKILLS
Monkey¡¯s Fist ¨C Beginner level 1
Impact Rune ¨C Beginner level 1
Titan¡¯s hand ¨C Beginner level 3
Telekinetic shield ¨C Beginner level 1
Chapter 30 - Father Willian Truth be told Aaron thought their cautious approach was unnecessary, while monsters could pose a danger to them it was very unlikely any weapon found by civilians could pierce through their armor, coming closer to the barricade Beta 2 let the man lead along it looking for an opening, soon Aaron¡¯s helmet detected movement hidden among the thorn covered cars highlighting a human silhouette in the green color of a neutral target. The old man leading them said ¡°we are here¡± Taking a few steps ahead of the group he shouted ¡°Hey Jonny we¡¯re back!¡± a voice came from the hidden man ¡°What¡¯s the password?¡± ¡°Screw you. you stupid shit open up!¡± ¡°What are those things with you old bastard?¡± ¡°Humans Jonny that¡¯s all that matters¡± the voice was quiet for a second before saying uncertainly¡± ¡°They don¡¯t look human to me old man, they look more like aliens¡± ¡°What the fuck Jonny. There is no such thing as aliens you idiot¡± ¡°Who knows, with the way things are I wouldn¡¯t be surprised¡± Sounds of scrapping metal and things moving came from over the barricade and a small opening appeared head of them it was only big enough for a single person to pass while crouched, Aaron would prefer to just climb over the 3 meters tall makeshift wall but he supposed it wouldn¡¯t hurt to obey their hosts for the moment, Beta 3 and Beta 4 had stayed behind with long range snippers to cover them in case anything went wrong. Eric went first as the most resistant, his wide frame barely fitting in the small tunnel as he nearly had to crawled through after which he called over the con ¡°It¡¯s clear you guys can cross¡± the rest of them crawled through Aaron going last to cover their back, on the other side the grass had not grown so tall and the place still looked like that of a normal city making a huge contrast to the forest like environment outside, the man who welcomed them was little more than a boy probably around sixteen or seventeen years old he shook the hands of the sic civilians then nodded their way ¡°You can take of those strange helmets now this place is safe¡± ¡°We would prefer not to thank you.¡± Soon a group of 5 armed men came running their way. Their leader considered raising his gun and pointing at them but, upon looking at their military gear, thought better of it ¡°Jonny what¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really know boss, old Jos¨¦ brought those guys over ask him¡± ¡°They said they¡¯re military boss, apparently someone called them about our owlbear problem¡± turning towards Eric the leader asked ¡°Really?¡± putting a hand on Eric¡¯s shoulders Beta 2 answered ¡°Yes, an FBI agent in your camp managed to get in contact with the government, unfortunately we had a little accident along the way but we can still take care of them without any problems¡± ¡°Well if that¡¯s the case them¡­ welcome I guess¡± as Beta 2 started discussing with the men they let Jos¨¦ and his group walk away and slowly made their way towards the center of the camp, Aaron quickly lost interest in their discussion and started looking around, rows of tents were laid on the open grounds between the buildings and many humans were walking around, most walked with fast steps clearly having a purpose while others laid about in a daze, the distinction between useful workers and useless leaches clear to see, dogs and cats were everywhere interacting with the men or eating from piles of trash found at the edges of the tents, quite some distance away from the living quarters there were small, one man tents in long rows extending for hundreds of meters, probably the bathrooms. At least Aaron couldn¡¯t see any signs of the corruption that had settled in the first city he visited, no outright rape on the open or murder, at the back of the camp his visor caught sight of a what could only be graves, a whole lot of graves, undoubtedly there were some cases of rape and theft in such big group of survivors but they were not done out in the open and probably still considered wrong. A very old priest stood at the side of a younger athletic woman in a police uniform, the priest was the first one to move, with a wide smile that accentuated all his wrinkles he extended his hand towards Beta 2 ¡°Welcome, I am father Willian I am in charge of the camp while Reynolds is out on the field¡± ¡°Greetings father, my name is Roger Sanders the government heard you have a problem with Owlbears so they sent me and my team to take care of it¡± ¡°The government? It¡¯s good to hear there is still civilization out there come, come inside so we can talk in a more comfortable place¡± moving his arm in an arc the old man indicated towards his small church, it was a beautiful building with an old architecture. For the first time Aaron focused on the old man, he was small and had a very round face, his hair was completely white and he had many wrinkles in his face, his eyes were brown and radiated a kind light reminding Aaron of his own doctor, the man who had helped him get his powers under control, he was surprised that he actually liked the guy on their first encounter. They entered the empty church by the front door, seeing the place without benches and with barely any ornament Aaron said ¡°Not a lot of people wanting to talk to God after this catastrophe is there?¡± ¡°You would be surprised young man, people just don¡¯t have the time to pray during the day but at night we are so filled that I had to take out the benches to get more space¡± ¡°Is that so?¡± the old man laughed kindly ¡°God¡¯s role has always been to comfort his children in times of need my friend, a lot of people that did not believe before have now found their faith.¡± The priest opened a door leading to a meeting rooms in the church and froze, right there out in the open was a 30 something brown haired man with a beard having sex with a young blond on top of a table, the man continued thrusting in and out of the barely legal teen for a second, their grunting masking the sound of the door opening so lost in pleasure they both were, father Willian cleaned his throat to call their attention.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Jumping apart immediately the men covered his dick with his hands while the girl tried to hide behind the table in shame ¡°I am sorry father¡± putting a hand over his eyes the priest just sighed and shook his head ¡°Just get dressed Sindy, as for you Jonas, we will talk latter¡± The two of them dressed in a hurry, the man going deeper into the building, his head lowered in shame while the young girl put on her blouse and skirt then ran out the door with her shoes in hand ¡°Sindy¡± Called the father before she left ¡°I understand why you¡¯re doing this child but it is not the way, you know I am always here to talk if you want¡± She didn¡¯t respond, too ashamed to say anything. ¡°Well a lot have indeed found their faith but, unfortunately, some have also lost it, as you will see if you stay for a while father Jonas is a good man but he is facing somewhat of a crisis of faith right now you will have to forgive him¡± Looking around the room the father said uncertainly ¡°I guess we will have to use the other meeting room now, Lisa please remember to ask someone to clean that table later¡± When they were all seated in the second room Aaron couldn¡¯t help but whisper at Eric¡¯s private con ¡°Haha that was certainly new, I had never cockbloked a priest before¡± ¡°Shut up man that¡¯s not funny¡± he really thought it was but chose not to discuss it further while Beta 2 interrogated the priest ¡°I was told a man named Reynolds was leading this camp?¡± ¡°Yes, Reynolds was the one who first stablished the camp and lead it until it got to this size but he is currently out on the field, one of our patrols saw a group of goblins too close to the perimeter and he is the strongest man we have to take care of it, meanwhile he left me in charge of anything important, truth be told the camp basically runs itself now, Reynolds has managed to find some competent people to do the work all he needs to take care of now are the important decisions¡± Interesting, this Reynolds may be more capable than Aaron initially thought if he knew how to delegate so well, he had initially thought the men was just the typical survival local lord, an ordinary guy who got lucky and learned some useful skill then decided that, now that the world had gone to hell and he had power, he could be the boss and do whatever he wanted, the amount of military reports Aaron read with some variation of them was staggering, from brutal leader of a small group to crazy cult leader for hundreds of survivors and even pseudo warlords appearing left and right, it seemed that every lucky bastard out there thought that the government was done for and decided to dictate their own rules. As a matter of fact most of those were either already criminals and survived because of their illegal guns and brutality, anti-government gun nuts or crazy survivalists so it was not a big surprise when their groups were a little twisted. ¡°From what I could see you guys are pretty well organized here, how did you manage that?¡± asked Beta 2 to the old priest ¡°Well Reynolds started it all but it the community was only created by all of our efforts, the church helps keep our people united, even those who are not Christians like to use the church when praying, then we have nearly a hundred policemen protecting the camp and one man knew where several truckloads of grain could be found so we got everything we need right here, until yesterday that is¡± The old man said the last part with such sad bitter face that even Aaron felt sorry for him Lisa, the policewoman at his side, also made an angry face ¡°what happened?¡± asked Eric ¡°our safety perimeter used to be about twice what it is now but after that second moon appeared yesterday we lost 7 patrols and 2 of Reynolds¡¯ response teams, now every time we get some intruder the people refuse to leave if Reynolds is not with them and we lost many of our strongest people¡± Motioning with his hand the priest asked ¡°Lisa get me some water will you, thanks, you see we could have probably taken care of the bears by ourselves before but we lost most of our strongest men and nearly all our best weapons with those response teams¡±
Congratulations, your minor regeneration has recovered 1 point in every depleted attribute
The unexpected but welcome message nearly scared the crap out of Aaron as he was concentrating on the priest¡¯s words, now that was truly unexpected ¡°Thanks for the information father we may have to ask some of the survivors to recover the gear from our helicopter latter is that okay?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t really know if the men are gonna trust you enough to leave our perimeter with you Mr. Sanders, I think only Reynolds could get them to do it and he will only be back in another hour or two¡± ¡°I understand, I guess we should take care of those Owlbears first them, do you mind if we walk around the camp while we wait for him?¡± ¡°Not at all just try not to upset our people, the order at the camp is fragile as it is¡± Each of them got up and shook the old priest¡¯s hand before walking out of the church, the sun was still high in the sky but it already had a little of the orange color that indicated the end of the afternoon, Aaron could see a lot of people finishing their daily chores and stealing glances at the sky to check the time, after a second Beta two stopped at his side ¡°Loki I want you to find that FBI agent who contacted us before and confirm the priests information¡± ¡°You think he is lying?¡± ¡°Probably not but it never hurts to be certain, plus the good father may not know everything¡± ¡°what exactly do you want to find out?¡± ¡°Well, you realize that the government can¡¯t evacuate all those people, they¡¯re too far away from both ours and Canada¡¯s new borders, and look at them. Although there are some who have given up most have a purpose, they¡¯re organized and working together chances are that, if they survive long enough with this level of organization, they can actually get more survivors and grow into a small city state, the government is more than happy to provide heavy military weapons and make their chances of survival far higher but they want to make damn sure their leader is stable, they don¡¯t want this to come back and bite them in the ass later.¡± ¡°are you serious? You do realize there is like, thousands of people here right?¡± ¡°The TALOS 3 inbuilt computer is the best one we have and you¡¯re more suited to this than Eric so¡­¡± ¡°Fine, I will find the guy just give me some time.¡± On his helmet¡¯s display appeared the picture of a 40 years old blond men with a square jaw and serious face, at its side was the information, Special agent Carl Sherman 43 years old, 6 years with the FBI white-collar Crime unit, there were also the agent¡¯s exact measurements, Aaron started to walk away from their group intending on finding a quiet place to engage the cloaking device on his armor when the church¡¯s bell rang. Lisa, the policewoman they meet before, ran out of the building as fast as she could, relief flooded her face when she saw they were still close, she shouted at them ¡°Hey, if you still want to take care of those creatures we need your help, now!¡± at the other side of the camp the loud noise of an explosion rang and screams of fear started to sound out as well was the sound of guns being fired, Aaron smiled despite himself, at least now he didn¡¯t need to search for a single person among 35 thousand without revealing it to anyone. Chapter 31 - Owlbear they ran towards the screams, Eric¡¯s power and superior equipment showed itself clearly as he quickly left the rest of them in the dust, Aaron¡¯s TALOS 3 armor more than made up for his lower allowing him to keep up with Beta 6 and 8, the two fastest Einherjar on the team, as they ran Aaron had just enough time to ready his shotgun and load 6 rounds on it before he was there. The camp had been turned into a war zone, apparently the owlbears had broken through the barricade and made directly towards the barracks, their speed allowing them to get through the safety zone stablished before enough fighters could block them, fire had started to spread through the fragile fabric of the barracks threatening to burn down the entire camp, men and women with guns were constantly shooting at the creatures from hiding places trying to confuse them with bullets from different directions with little success as the Owlbear¡¯s thick, fur covered hide allowed them to simply ignore the projectiles, pulling the arm of one of the hiding gunman Aaron asked ¡°How many are there?¡± ¡°There are five of the damn things! Luckily only one elite showed up but we can¡¯t stop them!¡± arriving at his side Beta 2 looked over the situation and ordered ¡°Beta 6 and beta 10 you¡¯re with me, Beta 12 to 14 you guys take the one to the right, Siegfried you¡¯re the fastest one get the one furthest away, Loki you deal with the two in the front, the rest of you help with the fire!¡± Without time for further discussion Aaron ran ahead looking for his two targets, the creatures were hidden from view by the tents but their locations were easy enough to find from the screams, following a trial of destruction he entered one of the corridors of neatly lined barracks, pans, clothes and other household items were spread around the ground and he saw many civilians hiding from the beasts, cowards, better that they get up and help with the fire since the owlbears could probably smell their fear anyway. He finally saw the first creature, it was crouched down upon the corpse of a woman tearing a big piece of flash of her belly with its strong short beak, nearly twice the size of a Kodiak bear it¡¯s front legs were slightly longer than the hind ones and had feathers lining their outer side, its front paws also had longer claws, almost like talons, it had a face that was a mixture between an owl and a bear but, strangely enough, it seemed to fit the creature well.
Owlbear ¨C level 20
HEALTH96%
STR45END35
SPD19DEX6
INT2WIS2
Well fuck that¡¯s intimidating, wary of taking even a single hit Aaron materialized four strings and pulled his throwing knives out of their places quickly sending two of them towards the creature¡¯s eyes however the thing was simply too fast, abandoning its current meal it dodged to the side before charging towards him, his eyes widened and he threw himself to the side just as the creature tried to bite him, it missed the bite but still managed to hit him with a glancing blow from its arm, 45 points of sent him flying through the air and he actually bounced twice of the ground before finally managing to stop himself.
¨C 21% HEALTH!
His armor absorbed most of the blow but it still knocked the air out of him, fortunately the creature was so fast it had trouble stopping itself on such poor ground giving him time to recover and get into a kneeling position, completely giving up on the blades he lifted his shotgun and discharged it into its neck as it dashed towards him again.
critical strike, -76 % health
Every single one of his shotgun shells held a solid, arrow shaped slug of depleted uranium meant to destroy even the toughest of creatures and he shot six of them right into its neck and down its throat, even them it didn¡¯t stop the creature, in desperation he materialized a dozen strings and wrapped them around himself, with his having reached intermediate their speed was actually far faster than his own allowing him to safely pull himself out of the creature¡¯s path. Turning around as fast as he could he hurriedly recharged his gun but the owlbear didn¡¯t attack him immediately, instead it slowly turned around and stumbled, it¡¯s chest was bleeding and it seemed to struggle to breath, he had probably hit the creature¡¯s lungs, releasing a sigh of relief he fully reloaded and watched as the monster fell down, not willing to take any chances he discharged another six shots on its head from a safe distance.
Congratulations, you¡¯ve slain Owlbear level 20 + 630 XP
Slowly he approached the dead owlbear and put a foot on its shoulder, its head moved ¡°FUCK!¡± he actually used his strings to pull himself more than 10 meters away from the body before noticing a jet of flame coming out of the bullet holes in its skull, the bullets had actually ignited inside the creature. Searching around the body he finally saw a small glow bellow it¡¯s massive body, manifesting he used it to roll the thing over revealing a pack with 50 feathers, and two crystalized eyes, pocking the eyes with his feet he saw that they were perfectly clean before picking it all up and putting them into his backpack.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°Loki, you all right there?¡± called Beta 2 over the con ¡°Yep, not a problem¡± deciding it was better safe than sorry he actually pulled out four of special slugs, each one hand carved by him with an before deciding it was better to warn the others over the common channel ¡°This is Loki, be advised that the creatures are tougher and faster than we believed do not approach them, I repeat do not approach them¡± ¡°Damn¡­ Shit¡­ Too late man¡± came Eric¡¯s out of breath answer ¡°God those things are tough!¡± smiling at the thought that he was not the only one having a hard time he loaded two more rounds, this time double slugs with blunt points, and started looking for his second target but the screams at his location had actually stopped indicating that those who hadn¡¯t escaped were already dead. Without the noise to guide him Aaron had no way to know which way to go so he manifested a small and jumped on top of it, using his control he rose nearly seven meters above the tents before seeing the signs of the second creature, the fire was already getting under control as hundreds of survivors worked together to smother the flames, keeping his strings wrapped around himself he created a second ahead of him and jumped at it. Although he could have simply moved his already manifested shield with his control it was actually more cost effective to create new ones at each step, keeping an eye on his status to avoid wasting all his mana he saw his health had already recovered two percent, his working for all it¡¯s worth, he briefly considered using more troll serum to rise the ability¡¯s level but decided the risk of permanently losing more mana was just not worth it, finally he got close enough to inspect the second, smaller bear.
Owlbear (Elite) ¨C level 18
HEALTH99%
STR47END31
SPD25DEX6
INT3WIS4
Engaging the stealth option on his armor he slowly lowered himself closer to the creature and aimed at its broad side, his mana drained quickly as he took the time to aim at where the creature¡¯s hearth and lungs should be and shot three, the first bullet hit and, with a loud noise, activated his rune for a devastating effect.
Critical strike, -82% health
Normal strike, -11% health
Congratulations, your has increased a level! At beginner level 6 it now makes you 16% more effective at multitasking
Congratulations, your has increased a level! At beginner level 3 it now increases the power of any bullets fired by 13%
He had managed to hit the side of the creature, his rune enhanced bullet leaving a huge hole but the elite was so fast he barely saw it dodge out of the way after the first shot making the second one barely hit its leg and the third miss completely, before he could point his gun at the creature¡¯s way once again it gave a screech so loud his head nearly exploded inside his helmed, losing his balance he started to fall from his telekinetic shield and even his camouflage was somehow disturbed. Regaining his mind he immediately used the strings wrapped around his body to move himself in a downright impossible way for a human dodging in the air like a marionet, only a blur of movement indicated that he made the right choice as the owlbear attacked the place where he had just been. Touching down on the ground he quickly turned around and tried to shot the last three bullets but, before he could, a spear of searing hot fire flew his way making him uselessly waste his last runed slug, thanking God for his control over the strings he once again used them to increase his speed and range of motion barely getting out of the spells¡¯ way, it exploded on the ground, the shockwave sending him flying and finally snapping his strings giving a huge mental backlash.
-26% HEALTH
Congratulations, you¡¯ve created a new skill, would you like to name it?
YESNO
Congratulations, by displaying incredible fine control in a combat situation your has recovered by 1 point
¡°Oh for fuck¡¯s sake where the hell did an Owlbear learn to throw fucking fire lances¡± Seeing the owlbear preparing to charge again he manifested at its side and tried to punch its open wound with an invisible blow.
Normal strike, -4% health
¡°Goddamnit just fucking die already!¡± he couldn¡¯t believe the creature was still alive with only 2% health left, thankfully the blow gave him just enough time to fall down and turn around, the monster was standing far away from where the was with a second fire lance forming in front of the its beak, taking aim he shot the last two double slugs then used the to block the creature¡¯s spell, the lance exploded in contact with his power destroying it in a massive wave of fire but, despite the painful backlash, he smiled.
-41% HEALTH
Congratulations, you¡¯ve slain Owlbear(elite) level 18 + 1114 XP
Congratulations, by going through heavy physical strain in a combat situation your has recovered 1 point
Letting himself fall on his back he stayed there breathing hard for a minute, his head hurt like a bitch and his stamina was blinking red angrily but he was still smiling, he just felt so¡­ alive at this moment, finally he opened a private channel ¡°Beta 2 this is Loki, I have dealt with the elite and a second monster just don¡¯t ask me to do anything else¡± ¡°Understood Loki, good work¡± pushing himself in a sitting position he saw that the fire from the exploding spells had already started to spread, looking at his mana still well above the 150 mark he materialized the biggest he could and controlled it with a movement of his hand to pick up as much dirty as it could before pouring it over the fire, doing it several more times he finally smothered it completely. Materializing a string he used it to get up then laughed out loud and stretched, ¡°Damn that was fun!¡± still in quite a good mood he walked towards the creature¡¯s body, time to check the loot. Chapter 32 - Risking death Eric ran as fast as he could towards the source of the screams ahead of him, as the fastest member of beta team he was the only one capable of catching up to the furthest creature before it did any more damage to the camp, sending a wave of mana to his legs he used to radically increase their power and dashed ahead leaving deep footprints on the ground, those people had already suffered enough he had to help them. Unfortunately the creature seemed to be moving at about the same speed as he was and leaving a devastating path of destruction in its wake, making a sharp corner where the monster had apparently changed directions he saw a young woman struggling bellow a pile of rubble, blood had formed a pool around her as her left leg was pinned by the huge pile and a metal pipe had pierced her side. When he approached running her face turned into one of absolute terror and she struggled harder ¡°Calm down, I am here to help¡± still struggling and crying she asked ¡°What¡­ what are you?¡± getting to her position he put a hand on her shoulder and looked at her wound ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Jas¡­ Jasmine¡± he smiled though she didn¡¯t see it behind his helmet ¡°Well jasmine, my name is Eric I am with the US army now, this is probably gonna hurt but I want you to bear with it please¡± She nodded, as fast as he could he put his hands below the rubble and lifted it off her leg, he didn¡¯t even need to enhance his power as the TALOS 3 hydraulic system already boosted his enough. Using his hands he pinched the metal pipe and broke it off behind the girl then injected her with a very small dose of troll serum and told her ¡°don¡¯t pull the pipe out and ran back the way I came, there are no monsters there¡± with no more time to waste he left the girl there and dashed after the creature again, he knew he had lost precious seconds with that good deed but he just couldn¡¯t let her lie there dying. As he ran he saw many others suffering or hiding but none of them risked death so he managed to ignore it and move ahead, the loud screech of the creature to his right made him increase the power in his legs, gunshots also sounded together with screams of pain and terror convincing him he was getting closer. His weapon was a powerful automatic rifle loaded with piercing bullets that he lifted to his shoulders when he approached the creature¡¯s location in a hurry, the huge unholly mixture of an owl and a bear had just teared apart a small grey tent and used it¡¯s huge, talon like claws to rip its previous occupants to pieces as a few brave men tried to shot it in the head.
Owlbear ¨C level 19
Eric knew a bear¡¯s skull was extremely tough but he didn¡¯t know if that applied to one with an own¡¯s head, still it was better to be safe than sorry so, dashing towards the creature, he unloaded a full clip from his rifle aiming at its heart and, as it lifted its head to screech hatefully, he his legs and slammed into its side with everything he had¡­ the creature didn¡¯t even budge.
Critical Strike -67% health
¡°Oh fuck¡± Turning it¡¯s huge eyes towards him the creature showed surprise at his pitiful attack for a single second before getting up on its hind legs and bashing him away with its paw, thankfully he managed to block the blow with his gun but he was still sent tumbling back, when he finally managed to stop his body he heard Loki¡¯s voice over the common channel ¡°This is Loki, be advised that the creatures are tougher and faster than we believed do not approach them, I repeat do not approach them¡± ¡°Damn¡­ Shit¡­ too late man¡± he answered trying to recover his breath, lifting his weapon he saw it was bent nearly to the point of breaking, The Owlbear tilted its head unnaturally while looking his way as if to say ¡°Hu? You¡¯re not dead yet?¡± making him grit his teeth in anger, a movement at the creature¡¯s feet made him realize there was still someone alive there ¡°Stop! Stay quiet I will grab its attention!¡± throwing the now useless riffle at the bears face he pulled out his long sword and roared in challenge at the creature, the owlbear did not like it at all. Falling back on four feet the monster charged him at a speed he hardly believed possible, he had just enough time to lift his sword before the creature bit down on it with its brutal short beak, its momentum lifted him off his feet and drove him back nearly 25 meters before the bear thrashed it¡¯s head trying to shake him off, unwilling to give up his sword he held on for dear life, finally his enemy slammed his back on the ground with all its strength.
-16% HEALTH
His armor was able to lesser the back-breaking hit into a merely painful one, he also managed to plant both his feet on its head, twisting the blade sideways he pulled puled the sword out of the creature¡¯s beak and fell down, the owlbear did not waste any time making a swipe at his chest with its front claws, he once again managed to block the blow, this time with his own arm, the sharp talons glowed red as they pierced through his armor and into his forearm scrapping his bone before he was sent flying once again getting tangled in the barracks.
-9% HEALTH
Starting to feel like a dog¡¯s chewing toy he picked himself up and noted that, at least he had managed to pull the beast away from the civilians letting them escape, he also blessed his luck as the owlbear had actually lost him among the fabric of the tents giving him precious time to recover, his left arm was hurting a lot and he couldn¡¯t put any strength on his grip, using his helmet¡¯s interface he ordered his armor to apply some troll serum at his wound and waited as quiet as he could.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! It took the creature nearly a minute to catch his scent over the cloaking power of the TALOS 3 allowing his arm to be nearly fully recovered, when the owlbear looked his way he dashed out of cover and away from the creature still trying to think of a way to kill it, his riffle was gone and he doubted the few grenades he held could pierce the creature¡¯s hide, he ran in a zig zag pattern between the barracks using and on his legs to neutralize the bear¡¯s speed advantage. When the Monster got too close it tried to swipe at his back once again but he was prepared, rolling away he twisted his body and tried to pierce the creature¡¯s armpit with a well aimed stab, the blow was perfectly timed but the beast¡¯s fur and hide were just too tough stopping his blow before it had done any lasting damage
Normal strike -1% health
Without losing any time Eric pulled his sword back and started running in the opposite way, both he and the Owlbear turned into blurs as they ran back the way they had came, all of his powers allowed him to generate just enough to barely stay out of the monster¡¯s range but it wasted mana like crazy, desperate and with his mana running out he activated with the Troll spirit he had captured earlier
Young Troll¡¯s spirit has been consumed +6 STR, +5 END, +1 SPD, +50 mana, gained skill
TROLL¡¯S REGENERATION
Active once a day to regenerate completely at the cost of body mass or attributes
Congratulations, has increased a level At beginner level 2 it has a chance to absorb up to 12% of the slain creature¡¯s attributes and the single, highest level, ability or skill
The huge increase in and gave him renewed courage but it was still uncertain if, even now, he could pierce the bastard¡¯s hide so he used the extra mana to try something else. He had a very good control of his skill as it had accompanied him all his life, even before the and, over the many fights he had after the arrived, he managed to learn something called a which would use mana to increase the power of a weapon¡¯s blow, he decided to try and mix the two, pulling his mana from his heart towards both of his arms with he used the mana channels to circle the power there for a second before trying to imitate the effect. At first it didn¡¯t work but, after he poured another 30 mana, it felt like something snapped on his skin his arms felt like they were on fire as he created a new channel out of his hands and into the blade, slowly a barely perceptible white sheen of power crawled over his sword until it enveloped it completely.
Congratulations, you have learned the skill
WEAPON ENHANCEMENT
Releasing mana from your hands you enhance the attack of a weapon in accord with how much mana you pour on it
Pouring all his mana into the three enhancement skills he had he prayed to god for it to work then waited until the owlbear was nearly upon him once more to turn around and stop in place, spreading his legs he pulled his left leg back then bent the right one and pointed his sword ahead firming his stance as best he could, the movement caught the monster by surprise and it didn¡¯t have enough time to dodge charging right at his sword¡¯s point. Its own momentum drove the sword into its chest to the hilt, buffed up as he was Eric was still not fully able to stop the creature sliding back about 8 meters and leaving deep furrows in the dirty ground, in a last attempt to kill him the owlbear bit down on his collarbone breaking it and piercing his armor once again, his still wounded arm couldn¡¯t take the strain and broke as well making him scream in pain.
-42% HEALTH
Congratulations, you have slain Owlbear level 19 + 392XP
Congratulations, your has increased a level At beginner level 10 your consumes less mana
Using his hands he pried open the monster¡¯s beak them fell down on his back panting, he broke out in a cold sweat at the thought of what would have happened if he failed to kill the creature¡­ Eric had always been training to fight those monsters but this was the first time he truly felt the danger of dying, he did not enjoy the feeling, activating his he watched as his bones snapped back into place and his wounds closed, no use keeping the skill for latter when it would expire in less than an hour.
You¡¯ve used as you have enough body mass you will not lose any attributes but feel incredibly hungry
it took him nearly five minutes to manage to get up again and, when he finally did, he noticed his stamina was nearly in the red, taking his distance from the dead body he contacted the team leader ¡°Beta 2 this is Siegfried, my target has been eliminated¡± a few seconds passed before he received a whispered answer ¡°Understood Siegfried good work, try to see if the creature has dropped any loot¡± looking at the huge dead creature he sighed and walked back. Wishing to pull the sword out he put both hands on its handle and noticed they were still shaking from fear, then he remembered the happy face of Lily and the desperate faces of the other civilians he saved, ¡°It¡¯s okay, I can do this, they¡¯re just monsters¡± when his hands finally became steady he pulled at the sword, the sheer muscle density of the monster made it hard to pull the sword out of its body but he managed to do it slowly, he then pushed the body slightly aside to see a small necklace of feathers with a single huge talon in the middle laying on the ground.
Necklace of the Beast CLASSB-
EFFECT:Increase and by 1
Seeing no downside to it he immediately wore the necklace then searched around the ground some more without finding anything, finally a few human heads started to look at his location from far away curious to see if the monster had been slain ¡°Beta team this is Beta 2, all targets have been eliminated, you¡¯re to help stop the fire from spreading then reunite back at the church¡± ¡°Understood beta 2¡± he said over the cons and heard similar answers from every member of beta team, cleaning his sword with a fallen piece of cloth he sheathed it back and, seeing no fire on the immediate vicinity, he looked around confused, finally he shouted towards the civilians ¡°Hey can any of you tell me which way is the church?¡±