《Anti-Hero: Journey of Fear》 Chapter 1: New Game ¡°Welcome, registered user.¡± A soft female voice echoed throughout the white chamber. I was going to take this new world of FEAR by storm. ¡°You are in your atrium, this place is your link to all VR programs. Do you want me to upload your programs and settings from your previous capsule?¡± ¡°Yes, upload everything.¡± The white room faded away to an ornate tower chamber. It had taken quite a long time to craft a perfect atrium, but the results had been worth it. A single tower standing on top of a large snowcapped mountain. Soft lighting and ornate furniture decorated the entire place. I ran a hand over the bed, I never realized it was this rough. I will have to fix that, but it was a low priority at the moment. ¡°New program Fate: Experience Acute Realism has been detected, do you wish to upload?¡± ¡°Upload program, place in empty portal location one-one.¡± I began to make my way down the central spiraling staircase of my tower. ¡°Affirmative, will be completed in thirty seven seconds, please stand by.¡± I passed the library, the torture room, the information center, the training room, and my editing center on my way down. With a time dilation of five to one, it was far more efficient to stay in virtual reality, known as VR, than in the real world. With the new capsules, only the underprivileged were left out. Weak pitiful beings hoping for handouts, they would be crushed in the days to come, the few that managed to enter FEAR. Glory, fame, and wealth were there for the taking if one was bold enough. I entered the portal room, which was on the second floor. I had already deleted all other portals to other games and hobbies that I used to distract myself with. I had kept the training programs as part of my atrium. Sword swinging was a must have skill now a days. The online videos might have helped pay the bills, but that was just a bonus to show casing my brilliance. The stone staircase spiraled around a large obsidian doorway that was filled with a grey mist. ¡°Upload complete, please be aware that the game will not start for another seventy two hours, fifteen minutes, and eight seconds.¡± I ignored the voice and stepped through the portal. There was a lot one could learn from character customization and I planned to take advantage. I was once again standing in a white room. There was a woman standing in front of me. Her white dress was a pearl color which offset it just enough from the background white to discern her lithe figure. Her face and chest were slightly plain, but perfectly symmetrical. Things like that were very important; everything should had a proper place and design even appearance. ¡°Welcome to the starting chamber. You do realize the world will not open for quite a while?¡± ¡°Yes, but let us start with what I can do.¡± ¡°Very well, we will begin with your avatar.¡± A perfect naked duplicate of myself appeared slightly off to the side. ¡°Limitations on what I can alter?¡± ¡°Some in terms of height, weight, and proportions. If there is an issue I will inform you.¡± ¡°Hmmm, what about other races, a tail?¡± ¡°Only the race of human is possible.¡± I cursed at the lack of information on the game. There was almost nothing out there but rampant speculation and I was going in blind. I was the tip of the spear and needed to figure out everything first hand. ¡°What about muscle mass? Will my appearance change with training?¡± ¡°Your stats are the driving factor behind abilities. Your appearance will change depending on the choices you make. If you are injured you will scar and so on.¡± ¡°Reduce height to five feet. Remove all hair. Slightly more endowed. Less fat, and muscle. Whitest skin tone possible. Increase bone density.¡± ¡°That last request is not possible, internal features cannot be altered.¡± I let out a sigh and got to work on the face. It was simple enough to make the nose and mouth small with shallow cheekbones. I changed the eye color to red. In the end I looked like a small, hairless, albino child slash demon. All the better to strike fear into the hearts of my enemies. "Give me the standard local outfit." I wanted to blend in. "There is no standard. Please specify your outfit. If there is an issue I will inform you." That was annoying. I considered going with something fancy, but that would draw unwanted attention. For my starting wardrobe I chose a large straw hat and simple grey robes with a rope belt. I took roman style sandals for my foot ware. No stupid flip flops or anything else that was silly, functional yet simple was my credo. With stats being the primary driver for abilities, my size didn¡¯t matter. It would be easier to blend in and be under estimated by being smaller. It may make me less intimidating but I would soon be legend enough. It was a tough balancing act between making people afraid or blending in. I hoped to straddle the line between the two play styles. "Can I get a pin with a rain drop?" "No metal objects or anything that can be used as a weapon will be given." So much for that work around. Stabbing people in the eye with a sharp pointy needle was always exciting. Once I was done the avatar faded away and I felt my body change to what I had selected. That was really weird, like hundreds of bugs all crawling over me. I spent a minute moving around, getting used to my new size before returning to the female guide. ¡°Your character selection is complete. Do you wish to do the tutorial?¡± The lady in white asked. ¡°I was hoping you might answer a few questions. How do the stats work?¡± I asked. Her expression did not change as the silence stretched out. ¡°Very well, there are nine stats, of which you may increase eight of them. Constitution affects your HP. Strength affects your carrying capacity, HP, and damage. Dexterity affects your speed, and reaction time. Endurance affects your SP. Wisdom affects your decision making and MP. Intelligence affects your learning rate and MP. Charisma affects your attractiveness and ability to convince people. Luck affects things of chance. Finally Fate which you cannot alter affects events.¡± ¡°Can you tell me the math behind the stats?¡± They were probably weighted differently since Endurance would increase SP more than Dexterity most likely. ¡°No, that is something you will have to discover.¡± I cursed to myself at the lack of information. ¡°How are you affecting how fast I learn or my decisions?¡± ¡°I shall pose a demonstration that shall explain this.¡± A red rubber ball appeared in her hand and she flung it at me. I tried to dodge to the side but it curved and smacked me in the forehead. ¡°Constitution would determine how much damage you could take. My strength determined maximum throwing power. Your dexterity was too low to react in time. Endurance would determine how long you could dodge or I could throw balls at you. You made a poor decision dodging in that direction while I made a good decision to throw that way. I would learn to throw faster with a high intelligence. Charisma might make me hesitate to attack you if you fit my perception of beauty. Luck, well luck affects things. Fate allowed this discussion to occur.¡± ¡°If my Wisdom tripled, how would I make better decisions?¡± ¡°The technical explanation is that the signals that are sent to your brain are slightly altered. Your perception would change very slowly with higher stats.¡± That made a bit more sense. ¡°Now would you like to do the tutorial?¡± The lady in white asked. ¡°How does magic work?¡± I asked her, ignoring her earlier question. I needed information not stupid hand holding experience. ¡°No, that is something you will have to discover.¡± I gave a small shrug and then charged forward attempting to attack her, my punches kept missing as she swayed out of the way. ¡°You cannot hurt me.¡± My point wasn¡¯t to hurt, but to push the game. ¡°If you continue I will retaliate.¡± Perfect, I was getting a reaction. A bolt of lightning shot from her eyes and speared my small body. I convulsed and collapsed to the floor smoking. Not perfect. That hurt, oh my god that hurt so much. I had done pain training on the old capsule, but oh my god this hurt so much. Half a minute later my body came back to perfect health and the damage was erased. I forced myself to stand and attacked again. I was burned, stabbed, pierced, bitten by snakes, ripped apart by suddenly appearing boars, but I kept charging at the lady in white again and again. Finally I lay in pool of my own blood, my body refusing to die as it slowly healed itself. Scars and wounds disappeared. ¡°Will you please do the tutorial?¡± She had responded which gave me the upper hand. ¡°No, give me an advantage. Something that no other player would have.¡± ¡°This world is built on balance and order. You cannot destroy it, no matter how willful you are.¡± ¡°I plan to do far worse things in your world. I shall bring a wave of despair and darkness to all who enter. What is a little pain now for an advantage?¡± There was a long moment of silence. ¡°No.¡± With that metal bars sprung up between me and the lady in white. Oh well, it had been worth a shot, but that was way too painful. ¡°Very well, let¡¯s do the tutorial.¡± I grumbled out. Even though her expression didn¡¯t change I could tell she was smirking. ¡°Please select a first and last name.¡± ¡°Rain of Blood.¡± ¡°That name is not acceptable, please choose another.¡± I let out a long breath and calmed myself down. ¡°God Hackz, with a z.¡± ¡°That name is not acceptable, please choose another.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s go with Shadow of Darkness.¡± ¡°That name is not acceptable, please choose another.¡± ¡°Luke Skywalker.¡± ¡°That name is not acceptable, please choose another.¡± Dammit, that would have been hilarious. ¡°Sauron.¡± ¡°That name is not acceptable, please choose another.¡± I really wanted to try and take another shot at the lady in white. My eyes drifted to the red ball she had thrown earlier. I kept listing off stupid names while I went and picked it up. I smeared some of the still wet blood from my clothes onto it. I then threw it at the lady in white. For a second I thought she would dodge but it struck in the middle of her dress leaving a large red stain as it rolled down her dress. ¡°That was unwise.¡± She hissed out. I then felt my body explode. You know what it feels like to have your body explode, not pleasant. I had nothing to compare it to, except that if a papercut is one on the pain scale and getting bitten by snakes is a seven, then exploding in a maelstrom of fire and blood again and again is a million. After what seemed an eternity the attacks finally stopped and I was standing in the white chamber once again. I quickly collapsed to my knees despite my effort to remain standing. The lady in white was all cleaned off but now there was a clear pane of glass between us. ¡°Just pick an acceptable name already.¡± That was when I started singing as terribly as I could. I figured I was never going to get to come to this place again unless I died, which wasn''t going to happen, so I might as well try everything possible. The singing was so terrible even I could tell how terrible it was. Suddenly my voice stopped working. ¡°You may annoy me, but you will not get anything out of it.¡± I got my voice back. ¡°Give me a suggestion on the name then since you don¡¯t like my choices.¡± ¡°Bob Schmelling.¡± ¡°Hell no.¡± ¡°Joe Rory.¡± ¡°No, more action and darkness.¡± ¡°Kenji Shadowen.¡± ¡°Perfect, I accept.¡± She probably lined up the first two just to get me to lower my expectations. ¡°Now to assign stats.¡± A screen suddenly appeared before me.
STATUS
NameKenji Shadowen
Level0
Constitution0
Strength0
Dexterity0
Endurance0
Wisdom0
Intelligence0
Charisma0
Luck0
Fate0
Remaining Points40
I reached out and began quickly tapping away. Speed was the key, strength meant nothing if you couldn¡¯t hit your target. I was almost tempted to be a luck based character, but that would have been really annoying telling what my luck was actually affecting. With the last point used the bottom line disappeared.
STATUS
NameKenji Shadowen
Level0
Constitution5
Strength5
Dexterity25
Endurance5
Wisdom0
Intelligence0
Charisma0
Luck0
Fate0
Completely unbalanced, but I planned to dump almost all future stat points into Dexterity. Playing balanced was a great way to fail at everything and all my past experience made me believe that. I was going for speed, insane speed. My mind was my own so the other stats did not seem that useful. I would be zipping through my opponents so fast they wouldn¡¯t realize. I only added points to constitution and strength just to have some ability to lift things and HP. Area of effect or AOE attacks would be my primary concern. The window snapped shut. ¡°It has been¡­an experience Kenji Shadowen. Enjoy the tutorial.¡± ¡°Thanks, I will try to avoid getting hit. Maybe we can have a rematch some time?¡± ¡°We shall see.¡± Everything faded away and I was in a small office with a balding man across from me. ¡°Hello, I am Bob. I represent the Omnitrek legal department. This meeting is being recorded. I will be taking you through the terms and conditions of Fate: Experience Acute Realism. If at any time you have questions you may interrupt. You may be asked questions to confirm your comprehension of the terms and conditions involved. This will take approximately thirty in game minutes. Please bear with me. Section one part one, use of software¡­¡± I leapt out of my chair and smashed Bob¡¯s head on the desk multiple times. Leaving a messy bloody pulp of his face. Everything faded away and then it was back to how it appeared when I was in this door less and windowless room less than a minute ago. ¡°Every time, I am interrupted from an action that is not a question we will start from the beginning. Hello, I am Bob¡­¡± I let out a groan and Bob paused. He then started once I looked at him again. Ahhhhh, so tedious. Despite that I paid attention. This was pain of a far worse and different sort than the lady in white. ¡°¡­event of pain, suffering, or mental trauma the Provider may not be held responsible.¡± ¡°Wait, question time. The lady in white caused me a lot of pain. I mean a lot. So how are you going to compensate me since I haven¡¯t agreed to all of this yet?¡± ¡°One moment while I process your question.¡± We sat there in silence for over a minute. A man in a suit appeared next to Bob. ¡°I am Senior Legal Advisor Tanaki Kurasmi of Omnitrek. That event was a mistake and has been corrected.¡± He gave me a small bow. ¡°Stuff it, lady in white caused me pain and I didn¡¯t sign anything to get blown apart multiple times before the game even starts. I want compensation.¡± Tanaki just gave me a look and I pressed on. ¡°I want an approved broadcaster license.¡± The terms and conditions were strict enough that only approved broadcasters could post things online without getting into trouble. Even then they were limited in the types of information that was allowed to go up. That was my main source of income and I hadn¡¯t gotten approval from the standard application. That might have had to do with my most famous video, Rain of Blood. A ten minute video of me performing terrible things on NPCs and my teammates in Dungeons of Ramunir. ¡°We could ban you from using the 2.0 VR Capsule and all other Omnitrek products during the litigation process.¡± ¡°True, but that is lose, lose. One broad caster license and I will waive all legal mumbo jumbo.¡± Another round of silence. ¡°Very well, command override Tanaki one seven six three. Broadcaster license to active customer and legal paperwork packet one through eighteen.¡± The standard capsule female voice spoke up, ¡°License has been granted. Paperwork has been sent.¡± A pile of papers appeared on Bob¡¯s deck. After that there were more documents to review and I had to finish the lecture with Bob. It was almost impossible to keep the shit eating grin off my face. I had my license, but there were content rules. Fortunately that was only for public videos, I sent my videos out through my own private channel. Uncensored violence was my signature and I wasn¡¯t about to let go of it. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. At the end of the legal suffering I was transported away once more. I appeared in a large training hall. There was a large obstacle course off to one side with moving logs, spikes, and lots of other wicked instruments. I saw a dueling ring surrounded by a number of people chatting and a weapons rack nearby. There was an archery range as well. A large man came up to me. ¡°Hello, I am trainer Bob.¡± He looked like a hulked out version of legal Bob. Probably some ones idea of a joke. ¡°Welcome to the training hall. When you first start off you are welcome to visit here.¡± ¡°Do I get any starting bonuses if I beat the course or someone in the dueling ring?¡± I asked. ¡°Nope, this area is to get used to simulate violent situations only and get a feel for bladed weapons.¡± I let out a small sigh. I looked around but the walls were thick stone with no doors and the windows were at least three stories up. I ignored what Bob was saying and went over to the weapons rack. I took a short sword and a bunch of daggers, sticking them in my rope belt. I then walked over to the shooting range and grabbed a bow and a quiver. I tested a number of bows until I found one I could use. I placed the bow on the stand next to me and picked up my sword. Trainer Bob had unwisely decided to follow me. ¡°Trainer Bob can you come here a second?¡± He walked over. As he opened his mouth I shoved my sword through his mouth and out the back of his head in a spray of blood and brains. He shook for a moment and tried to bring his arms up but his body went limp in under a second. Tilting my sword down, I slid the fresh corpse off of my blade. The twenty people at the dueling ring had not noticed what I had done. I set the short sword on the arrow rack and picked up the bow I had chosen. I let loose an arrow that sunk into the back of one of the people at the dueling pit. The rest turned to look at me as they all drew their weapons. I was able to get off another two arrows before I had put the bow over my shoulder and start running. As I ran I threw my daggers as people got closer and closer. After two people went down they all began to spread out in an attempt to corner me. That was when I reversed directions. The man behind me had a look of shock on his face as I leapt onto his chest and drove both daggers I was holding into him. He let out a sequel like a stuck pig, annoying but not important. Not pausing for a moment I retreated again at a slow walk while keeping an eye on my opponents. I then pulled my bow off my shoulder and let loose an arrow at anyone getting too close. All the people with shields moved up front to block my arrows while the shield less hung back and spread out even more to flank me. Once I ran out of arrows, I cast the bow aside and went back to my daggers. They were all individual fighters not a unit which was what made this sort of tactic possible. If they had all kept rushing me like they had been at the start they would have eventually gotten me. Apparently most of them realized the same thing as well and they began to advance quickly towards me as a group. I ran into the obstacle course. I dived to the ground just in time to avoid a swinging log that smashed the person behind me. His entire body was flung away as a bloody smear across the stones. Two of them had taken bows from the shooting range while the rest pushed into the obstacle course. Men and women were ripped apart from the various contraptions as they attempted to reach me. I focused on darting from spot to spot that were less intensive in the number of death traps while ready to intercept anyone who was getting too close and avoiding pot shots. In the end I somehow succeeded. I had lost my right arm after I had let an attacker get too close. I had closed off the wound with a turnakit. It was merely a matter of getting a circular piece of cloth around my arm and then using an arrow shaft to twist the cloth tight and tuck one end of the shaft under the cloth to stop from bleeding out. First aid program in my atrium had actually been worth the purchase. My pain resistance training allowed me to ignore the wound for the most part. At least it hurt less than being exploded by a vengeful lady in white. With everyone dead I picked a corpse. I cut off all the clothes. Nothing unexpected found. I then began cutting into the body. While I had used and trained with various medical programs it was a nice refresher and I confirmed that all the organs and internal structure was the same. If people in this game had their hearts in their pelvis area or their brains in their arms, it would make me change my targeting priority. I heard some noise and saw one of the wounded ones trying to crawl away. I didn¡¯t know where they were crawling to since there was no exit from the training hall. I watched for a bit but it quickly became obvious they were trying to escape from me. I walked over to half dead woman with an arrow going through her gut. I jumped on top of her and stabbed a dagger into her neck. With a quick yank there was a small pulse of blood out of the wound and she stilled. I cut away a piece of cloth over her arm and then proceeded to rip pieces off her forearm with my teeth. Blood went everywhere but I chewed the raw flesh ignoring the mess that I had just made. Raw meat was nasty but I chewed anyways. ¡°Delicious.¡± My view count would triple from that alone. Nothing happened after that so I stabbed myself in the heart and died. I then respawned once again in the training hall pre-massacre with trainer Bob once again. ¡°¡­visit here.¡± ¡°Question trainer Bob. Will you take off all your clothes so I can have sex with you?¡± ¡°What are you talking about you sick freak! Die!¡± Trainer Bob was a lot stronger than the others and he soon removed my head, another experience I did not want to repeat. For the third time around I took off all my clothes and walked up to one of the female fighters and asked the same question I did Bob. I was stabbed brutally and died painfully. For the fourth time I went on a massacre again and was killed. Fifth time I succeeded and had managed to incapacitate one of the female fighters while killing the rest off. "Tell me everything you know or else." I dug the tip of the dagger into her and slowly twisted it. "Never!" She shouted and bit off her tongue. I then began moving all the corpses and equipment to the wall to make a ramp up to the windows. I finally reached them and looked out. There was nothing but white. I tried breaking the windows, but I couldn''t even scratch them. I wanted to find some hidden secrets, but it appeared there weren''t any. There didn¡¯t seem to be anything left to do before the game started so I returned to my atrium to work on video editing before the game would start. I made a living from posting blood thirsty in game videos. My goal was to break the system with a rain of blood, pain, and depraved acts. So far FEAR had held up fairly well. I also needed some time to shake off the pain from all the times I was mutilated. While I had a fairly high pain tolerance after pushing myself on the last VR capsule, this 100% experience had been something else. The moment my video was posted my view count was shooting up along with my ad revenue. Minutes before the game launched I stepped through the portal once more. Everything faded away and I was standing at a dirt cross roads. I looked around and saw farms in every direction, and what looked like a city in the distance. The other way showed a forest. The sun was high in the sky, making it impossible to get a sense of direction. I saw some farmers working in the fields, and some birds overhead. That was when it really hit me. The heat of the sun, the sounds, the smell of natural fertilizer. It was all so real. I had nothing except my clothes. ¡°Options¡± I called out. Reading the manual beforehand on all the basic commands was important, no need to waste time on trivial details.
OPTIONS
Orientation
Transperanecy
Display
Notifications
I set all windows to full display outside of combat after five minutes. I really wish there was some sort of bar or number to indicate my HP or even SP, but this game was all about realism and making things difficult. Information was the most important thing, then weapons, then mayhem.
Quest-Easy
Talking to Locals
Talk to villagers to gather information
+10 EXP
Accept (Yes/No)
I smirked at the quest. I accepted it, but I wasn¡¯t going to do it in the way it was envisioned. There would be blood. Lots of blood. I scanned the fields until I saw one farmer off by herself. A younger woman, who looked worn and well-tanned. The ridge created by the road along with the distance between the others should be more than enough. I found a large branch lying nearby laying on the side of the road. I picked it up and quickly began making my way over. The woman was too focused on the weeds to not notice my approach. I swung the branch and struck her over the head. She collapsed on the ground and I gave into the need for a feral smile. I quickly straddled her with both my legs going under her shoulders to prevent her from moving once she woke up. I picked up a rock and set it on the back of her neck. I then slapped her a couple of times and she let out a moan. ¡°If you behave I will let you go.¡± I said. ¡°Do¡­don¡¯t hurt me....¡± She mumbled out into the dirt. I removed the rock from the back of her neck allowing her to get some air. ¡°Time to answer some questions and everything will be fine. Do you know what Dexterity is?¡± ¡°Noooo¡­¡± she groaned out. So NPCs didn¡¯t have access to the various screens. Good to know. ¡°Who rules this area?¡± ¡°Lord Brackley of Brackley Bay.¡± She said. ¡°Don¡¯t think about trying anything, otherwise you are dead. Next question, magic?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I was tempted to kill her right then and there but I figured there were a couple of more questions I could ask. ¡°Are there swords?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Tell me about money.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have any.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care about that, how much are things worth?¡± ¡°Hundred coppers to a silver and twenty silvers to a gold piece. Depends which lord made them.¡± ¡°How much is a sword, or a horse?¡± ¡°Sword is about a silver and a horse five silvers for a working breed.¡± I then smashed her head with a rock sending her brains everywhere. I licked some of the blood splatter off my hand and smiled at the salty taste. I got up and began walking back to the road. From there I turned and began making my way towards a house a short distance away. Some of the farmers gave me looks but they ignored me for now, that was going to change. ¡°Display all screens.¡± This would bring up all the waiting pop-ups.
Blunt Weapons-1
A bat, club, all the same
LvL 1: You understand the basics of blunt weapons
Torture-1
Noooooo!
LvL 1: You understand the basics of torture
Murderer-1
Your soul is tainted
+1 Fate per LvL
Depraved-1
Your are a demon in human flesh
+1 Fate per LvL
Experience
+60001+10 LvL
You are level 3
Quest Complete-Easy
Talking to Locals
+10 EXP
Quest-Easy
Start of Journey
Go to the city of Brackley Bay
+10 EXP
Accept (Yes/No)
I should definitely start killing more people. If that was how things were going to work. I accepted the quest and I closed the screens as I made my way to the small cluster of houses that that road ran right past. They were small wooden huts with stone chimneys. I saw a larger building off to the side, probably a barn. I held the branch from before in my hand. I knocked on the door to the house. I heard movement. An older lady opened the door. I slammed the branch into her face. She stumbled back. I repeated the attack again and again. In seconds I was out of breath and the woman¡¯s head was smashed in. The small house was dark, with only the ambient light leaking in. Poor stupid peasants couldn¡¯t afford windows. It was a simple matter to begin searching the place. I found a sack and stuffed three fresh loaves of bread in while munching on the forth. The biggest find was a cutting knife and an iron fire poker. Not great, but good enough for starting weapons. I quickly got to work cutting up the corpse. Everything was the same as the other NPCs from the training hall, which was good. I went to the barn next. There were two horses, this was more than perfect. I had studied how to put on a saddle before starting. It was slow going but I managed it, making sure all the straps were secure on both horses. Something I would need to practice more in my atrium. I mounted a horse and I led exited the barn while bringing the second along with a rope and continued my journey down the road.
Riding-1
Yee Haw!
LvL: You understand the basics of riding
Biology-1
Blood is good
LvL: You understand the basics of biology
Murderer-2
Your soul is tainted
+1 Fate per LvL
Experience
+60001+10 LvL
You are level 5
I opened up my status menu. "Status."
STATUS
NameKenji Shadowen
Level5
Constitution5
Strength5
Dexterity25
Endurance5
Wisdom0
Intelligence0
Charisma0
Luck0
Fate3
Remaining Points15
Three points per level, that was not that much. Also no points for actions taken either, which was a disappointment. I placed five into wisdom, intelligence, and dexterity. I figured some MP would be useful if there was any magic out here. Things were going great and there were more people to kill. *** Jacksaw821: Did you see the video that went up? Ticklebot: Holy crap that was intense Ramponator: No mercy, just the way I like it UltimataSecret: I know he likes to push things, but damn, never pissing off the lady in white Ticklebot: Note, do not get stains on her dress Hellzor37: I tried killing everyone at a farm but they overwhelmed me Ramponator: That is why the Lord of Blood makes it rain red and not you MysticSage: All those farmers don¡¯t stand a chance Lord¡¯s Disciple: Make it rain! Chapter 2: Massacre I saw more farmers out in the fields in front of me. I moved my horse off the road and made my way over. ¡°A moment of your time good farmer.¡± The three men nearby looked up and the nearest one came over. ¡°What do you want?¡± He grumbled out. ¡°Are there monsters are around here?¡± I asked. ¡°Maybe up in the forest, but Lord Breckley keeps things pretty safe around here.¡± That meant patrols, and soldiers were probably pretty common, good. I slammed the poker down on his head. There was a loud crack and the man crumpled to the ground. ¡°Hey, why did you hurt Samual!¡± One of the other men shouted. They rushed at me with pitchforks and other farm implements. Spinning the horse I smashed another farmer¡¯s face and he went down. My horse began to panic as the last farmer drove a pitchfork into its chest. It reared up and slammed a hoof down on the offending farmer knocking him to the ground. I looked around and four more were closing in. They closed in from the front and my right. I urged my mount forward with a vicious kick in the sides. With a burst of speed my horse cantered forward. I managed to graze one of the farmers but he didn¡¯t go down. Getting my mount under control I spun about and delivered a well-timed blow to the crook of a neck of another opponent. The farmer¡¯s head titled at a wired angle and he went down. My arm was getting tired so I switched to my left. That only helped for a short bit as I took down another farmer. Unfortunately another two had just shown up making it four to one. My horse wasn¡¯t doing too well either. I backed away and there was a moment of silence as both sides caught their breath and contemplated their next move. I pulled out my dagger and threw it. It hit at an angle on one of their legs, but it was the shock value I wanted. I leapt off the horse and darted forward. The animal was a bloody mess anyways and wasn¡¯t responding. I drove the poker through a surly looking brute. Unfortunately he grabbed onto it as he collapsed to the ground depriving me of my main weapon. I was exhausted and there were still three opponents left. I grabbed up a pitchfork on the ground. A terrible weapon but it would have to do. I threw it and impaled another farmer in the chest. I guess they weren¡¯t used to throwing their farm implements, thank goodness. If they had been they could have easily won this fight. I retreated back and hastily picked up another pitchfork as the two remaining farmers advanced. I strafed around and put one farmer between me and his co-worker. He lunged in an attempt to skewer me. I batted the attack to the side and counter lunged plunging the pitchfork into his chest. The farmer went down with a groan. The last one turned to run but I had already pulled the pitchfork out of his companion. I threw the pitchfork and struck his legs tripping him up. I was sweating and exhausted, but there was still work to do. I went around and made sure to kill each and every farmer that was still alive. I then searched through the corpses for anything. I found a satchel, and ten copper coins in a small pouch on one of them. I took the money and put my bag of bread in the satchel. I also reclaimed my bloody poker and knife. First I cut off the cleaner sections of clothes to use as bandages and wraps going forward. Next I began to cut open the corpses making a mess. I looked up at the sun and held up my hand to the horizon for a nifty trick to tell time without a clock. Each finger between the horizon and the sun was fifteen minutes until sunset. I had about an hour and fifteen minutes of sunlight left. I took the second horse and began making my way through the fields leaving clear muddy hoof prints.
Piercing Weapons-1
Stright through
LvL 1: You understand the basics of piercing weapons
Throwing-1
Zing!
LvL 1: You understand the basics of throwing
Light Conditioning-1
Death sprints are fun
LvL 1: You understand the basics of light conditioning
Basic Biology-2
Death sprints are fun
LvL 1: You understand the basics of light basic biology
LvL 2: You understand the theory behind basic biology
Murderer-11
Your soul is tainted
+1 Fate per LvL
Depraved-2
You are a demon in human flesh
+1 Fate per LvL
Army of One-1
Who needs help
+1% Constitution per LvL
+1% Luck per LvL
Enemy of the People-1
A mad dog to be put down
-1% Charisma per LvL
Experience
+240004+10 LvL
+77102+9 LvL
+77103+7 LvL
You are level 11
Quest-Medium
The Gods
Learn about the gods of the land
+100 EXP
Accept (Yes/No)
STATUS
NameKenji Shadowen
Level11
Constitution5.05
Strength5
Dexterity30
Endurance5
Wisdom5
Intelligence5
Charisma0
Luck0
Fate13
Remaining Points18
Experience gains were plummeting as the level difference became closer and closer. So no farming weak farmers. I smiled at my over the top pun. My Fate was increasing incredibly quickly which also concerned me. Well the more the better, I was destined for greatness anyways. I dumped ten points into Dexterity, five into Endurance, and then the last three I tossed onto Constitution. I had run out of energy too quickly in that fight. I didn¡¯t feel any different, but it was hard to tell. I looked at my skills. They would probably have to be a higher level if I was going to get a benefit from them. Still no magic skills unfortunately. ¡°Fireball,¡± I whispered and waved my hand. Nothing happened and I let out a small sigh. I also accepted the quest. At some point it would be more worthwhile to do quests than kill people¡­not. I chuckled to myself at my brilliant sense of humor and the roll I was on. I came to a small stream at the edge of the fields with a forest on the other side. I got off the horse at the edge of the stream and slapped its rear. The animal darted across the water and into the woods. Hopefully that would throw off any pursuers. I then carefully made my way on the stone and not the mud and took a drink from the river. I felt a hundred times better. Holy crap, I needed to take a piss. The realism was astounding. Putting my personal monster away I began to circle back through the half grown fields towards the houses from before. It took quite a bit of time and it was almost dark. I saw at least fifty farmers with torches and pitchforks and also ten soldiers. There was a knight on a massive horse. The animal didn¡¯t sag and was covered with metal plates. Definitely a warhorse. I snuck around the crowd to the back of the barn.
Stealth-1
You find comfort in darkness
LvL 1: You understand the basics of stealth
I closed the screen out. There was a large wood pile next to the barn. I climbed up it carefully and then onto the straw roof. I made my way to the far edge and listened in on the proceedings. ¡°¡­we are going to form groups of ten with two of my men per group.¡± The knight had taken charge of the proceedings. ¡°Hurry up!¡± He shouted. The farmers quickly formed groups and the knight directed two of his men to each group. ¡°You are group one, two, three, four, and five.¡± He pointed at the various groups. ¡°Group one will come with me, we will follow the monster¡¯s trail. Group two will head up the road. Group three and four will check the fields, stay in shouting range of the soldiers. Group five will check the village and surrounding area. Meet back here at dawn. Let¡¯s go, the eight will decide our fate!¡± Everyone quickly began to disperse with the soldiers giving out orders. I noticed the soldiers had short swords and shields. They wore blue uniforms with a fish emblem stitched on it. That was probably Lord Brackley¡¯s symbol. There was a large rafter under me so I settled down onto it and pulled straw over myself. I also wrapped a piece of cloth around my nose and mouth so I wouldn¡¯t sneeze. With my straw hat helping me blend in and the dark color of my robe I wasn¡¯t worried about being spotted. I dozed off during the night waking up a couple times as people checked the barn. I woke up before dawn. I focused on meditating and trying to find my magic while I waited for all the groups to return. As I lay on the barn roof completely still people began to slowly return in small groups here and there. I bit down to stop myself from yawning as I waited and stared at the people.
Meditate -1
You are on the path to enlightenment
LvL 1: +100% MP Regen
Cost: Cannot Move
Observe -1
You like looking at the world around you
LvL 1: Learn the Name and LvL of target
Cost: 10 MP
NOTIFICATION
By unlocking an active skill you have unlocked your HP/SP/MP bars in the ¡®Options¡¯
Thank god, finally. Unfortunately I was stuck and could only whisper, ¡°Close¡± to remove the screens. I stared at one of the soldiers and whispered, ¡°Observe.¡± Above his head in bright blue letters showed me his name and level.
Terry Umpton
LvL 37
I did a villager next.
Garth Steadfast
LvL 18
Next I did one of the kids I saw standing around. He looked about eight or ten.
Thomas Steadfast
LvL 6
The farmers probably got their levels from easy quests, while the soldiers killed things. The system probably auto-distributed their points, which wasn¡¯t surprising. I saw the knight coming back and checked out his level.
Sir Willos Stormblade of Brackley
LvL 107
Oh my god. He was a monster. I stared at his horse to see if the skill would work on animals.
Thunder
LvL 57
The stupid horse was a higher level than me and the soldiers. That really pissed me off. I quickly crushed any thoughts of fighting these impossibly leveled beings. ¡°Meditate.¡± I figured I might as well work on the skill while I lay hidden. ¡°Listen up, we tracked the demon to the Greenwood but the trail disappeared. I have dispatched two of my men to go bring a bring a-¡° ¡°Hey is there anything I can help with?¡± A young lady, with clothes that were way too tight came strolling into the group completely oblivious to the situation. Sir Willos spun towards her and I saw a hand on his blade. ¡°Who are you and what are you doing here?¡± ¡°Oh, I am Trixy Maidenheim. I wondered if this is a quest or an event.¡± ¡°What city do you hail from?¡± ¡°Um, well I am new here.¡± People began to whisper about demons. Two middle aged men walked in, both with blue jeans and t-shirts. ¡°Hey what is going on here?¡± ¡°Is this an event?¡± ¡°SILENCE!¡± Sir Willos boomed. ¡°Soldiers arrest this trespassers and take them back to Breckley. Put them to questioning. If they refuse harsher measures are allowed.¡± ¡°Hey you can¡¯t do this.¡± The woman yelled when soldiers grabbed her. ¡°What kind of game is this?!¡± One of the men shouted. The last guy took a swing at one of the soldiers. The soldier went down but Sir Willos was behind the man in an instant on his horse. With one swing of his blade the man lost his head in a spray of blood. He pulled out a cloth and wiped his blade before sheathing it. There was a stunned silence from everyone. ¡°The law and order of Lord Breckley shall be enforced. Send word to the garrison that too many strangers have appeared and to question any unknown person heavily and hold them for questioning.¡± The shocked faces on the two surviving players was hilarious. The girl broke down into tears as the soldiers began leading her away which was even funnier. ¡°People of Willhelm, I will be leaving five of my men to watch the village in the coming days. Please treat them well. I swear that I will do my utmost to protect the people of this land. The eight will decide their fate!¡± There was a cheer from the crowd. He stared around the area before leaving and I could feel the cold gaze of his eyes sweep over my position. Thankfully he didn¡¯t see me. I was attached to my head. He then turned and left the town, catching up with his men escorting the prisoners. So five soldiers and fifty villagers to slaughter, so much juicy experience. Souring relations between the players and the local NPCs was just a wonderful bonus. I carefully watched which buildings the soldiers went to.
Deception-1
Who done it?
LvL 1: You understand the basics of deception
¡°Logout.¡± I whispered.
LOGOUT
You will be placed on auto pilot while gone. Please dictate instructions.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°Remain in place, meditate, do not speak or make noise, and do not move. Sleeping is allowed.¡±
LOGOUT
Instructions confirmed. You are now logging out..
Everything faded away and I was once again back in my tower. I quickly went to my editing floor and began splicing and cutting the video I had taken. In less than an hour the video was done and released out to my adoring fans. I then checked up any information that had been released. There wasn¡¯t much. Apparently MP regenerated incredibly slowly. Players had been randomly dropped throughout the world. There was a lot of shock over the level of pain and the level of realism. Unfortunately there was no world map, no stats, nothing concrete. I let out a sigh. I would be doing my own investigation it appeared. My first video was going over well. Based on the comments I received everyone was being sent to legal Bob first before entering the game now. That made me smile. I checked the status of my physical body and all was well, the capsule was working fine. Well time for some more murder and mayhem. I went back down my tower and through the portal. Everything faded back in and I was still in the same location. Not much time had passed, perfect. I carefully watch the movements of people throughout the village. There was one soldier walking about. They were probably taking shifts. I watched his patrol route and he did eventually pass the back of the barn. That made me grin. Making sure no one was looking my way. I moved backwards slowly and then made my way back across the barn¡¯s roof in a crouched position. I reached the back of the barn and looked out. There were more fields, but I didn¡¯t see anyone working in them at the moment. Unfortunately they were growing some leafy plant which was still quite small and wouldn¡¯t provide cover for what I had in mind. I also noted that the only domesticated animal I had seen were horses. I hated dogs, well wild dogs. A well trained attack dog that obeyed my every whim was always nice. I had wanted one growing up, but they were incredibly expensive. Keeping one in my atrium was kind of silly. Maybe I would find a pet in game. A dragon or Cthulhu would be worthy to have me as a master. Time to focus, I needed to get more levels. I looked down at the wood pile and there were three rows of logs stacked up against the back of the barn. That might work. I waited pressed against the roof until the soldier began to walk past the back of the barn once more looking around. I had taken the time to set my HP, SP, and MP bars in the bottom of my vision. ¡°Observe¡±, I whispered. My MP plummeted from six tenths full to a bit over half full.
Redder Unsel
LvL 28
As he passed by I leapt off the roof and slammed the iron poker onto his helmet, leaving a large dent in the leather. He crumpled. I then proceeded to drag him over to the wood pile. I got to work moving logs from the second row until there was a depression that was out of sight. I then stripped Redder of his canteen, sword and sheathe, whetstone, satchel with jerky, and a money pouch with twenty seven copper. I also began to strip him of his clothes and change. Stripping someone who is unconscious is a pain. Thankfully the head wound wasn¡¯t bleeding that much. I decided to leave the shield with the corpse. While incredibly useful, I wanted to focus on speed, and nothing has more style than duel wielding. After what felt like an hour, but probably closer to ten minutes I was dressed in a blue tunic with leather arm and leg guards. I also had a metal studded leather skirt. I dragged the body into the depression in the wood pile and then covered him up with a number of logs leaving the iron poker with him and the shield. I took my outfit and put it in the satchel and had the hat attached to the satchel since I was wearing his leather cap. I kept my original sandals. I took a deep breath and began munching on a piece of jerky as I distributed the next three stat points I had gained from a level up. They all went into strength since I was starting to feel weighed down by everything I was carrying. I drew out the sword and said, ¡°Observe.¡± Nothing happened, probably needed identify or something like that. I sheathed the blade and I made my way through the village of Willhelm to one of the houses I knew the soldiers were resting in. I opened up the door. The interior was dark but I spotted a soldier asleep on a bed. A woman was also asleep on one nearby. Tricky, but doable. I raised up my short sword and stabbed down through the soldier¡¯s throat and the bed in one smooth motion. I placed my hand over his mouth but it wasn¡¯t necessary. After a couple of quick spasms he was dead. I withdrew my blade and went over to the woman I repeated the process. I only got 761 experience from her with a five level difference. The amount was decreasing dramatically based on relative level. I filled up my satchel with bread and jerky. I also threw my old robe into the fire pit and took a peasant outfit. I found eleven copper in a money pouch on the soldier bringing my total up to forty eight. I had a mouthful of bread and some more water. I had to keep my energy up, murder and mayhem is tiring work. That was how I spent the day. I killed all three remaining soldiers in their sleep and eleven more peasants. The late night they spent searching for me was coming back to bite them in the ass. The experience was dropping off exponentially, with a three level difference only giving me 338 experience. The one child I killed only gave me two experience for being nine levels below mine. I brought up Constitution and Strength to ten and put the last five points into Dexterity raising it up to forty five. As I was patrolling the town waiting for people to return a rider came through town. The blue and the fish symbol made me figure he was some sort of official messenger. ¡°I come with a message from Lord Breckley. All foreigners are to be detained for questioning. If they resist they are to be put to the sword. Any trouble here?¡± ¡°Nothing to report. Everyone else is dosing off from last night¡¯s search. So who are these strange people?¡± ¡°No one is talking, but Lord Breckley is mobilizing everyone. I also heard the Church of Eight has received some sort or prophecy speaking of travelers coming from a distant land.¡± ¡°Are they dangerous? I know one killed a bunch of people around here yesterday.¡± ¡°Not so much, but be careful. Hopefully I can make two more towns before nightfall to check on things. Be sure to pass all that along.¡± The messenger took off in a cloud of dust. A bunch of farmers were coming back to the village after seeing the messenger and it was late in the afternoon. I was counting twenty three people. Luckily I had a trap prepared. After I had killed everyone in the village I had dressed up one of the villagers in my robe and move them into the barn. I also found a jar of oil and spread that on the barn¡¯s sides with a striker ready in my satchel. ¡°Listen, we managed to kill the demon. I moved it into the barn.¡± I shouted to the growing crowd. Everyone began making their way into the barn. I kept my head down but thankfully people seemed to buy my deception. When most of the people were in the barn with only three left outside a shout went up. I stabbed the person near the entrance and then slammed the door shut. The other two people let out a cry and backed away. I moved over a large log in front of the door I had leaned up against the barn earlier. The two villagers rushed me. Unarmed villagers versus me with a sword was a lost cause. They fell to the ground bleeding and screaming. There was banging on the door and I knew it wouldn¡¯t hold. I quickly used the striker and set the barn on fire. The fire quickly spread over the dry wood and straw roof spurred on by the oil. The screams tripled in volume and I heard more banging on the door. I stepped into area in front of the barn waiting. The door soon gave way and a crowd of people pushed their way out side along with a billowing cloud of smoke. I had two blades, one in each hand and rushed into the crowd stabbing and cutting. I didn¡¯t allow myself to stand still to let the villagers grapple me. With the smoke inhalation most of them were dizzy and were easy to make short work of. One after another I killed the villagers. When the last person fell trying to hold their guts inside of them I dropped my blades and collapsed to my knees exhausted. I took a long drink of water from my canteen and poured it over my face. Next I stripped out of my clothes and returned to where I had hidden my satchel. I quickly put on large peasant clothes with a Brackley uniform underneath. I then began making my way towards Brackley down the road.
Cutting Weapons-2
Light Conditioning-2
Deception-3
Who done it?
LvL 1: You understand the basics of deception
LvL 2: You understand the theory behind deception
LvL 3: You understand the limits of deception, +1% Intelligence
Murderer-50
Depraved-5
Army of One-2
Enemy of the People-3
Massacre of Willhelm-1 MAX
What about the children?
Permanent state of war now exists between you and the House of Breckley
+10 Fate
+1% Constitution
+1% Strength
+1% Dexterity
+1% Endurance
Experience
+20284+4 LvL
+23667+3 LvL
+11255+2 LvL
+7505+1 LvL
+20020 LvL
+411-2 LvL
You are level 16
STATE OF WAR WITH THE HOUSE OF BRECKLEY
You have declared war upon Lord Breckley by massacring his people. You are to be killed on sight by any soldiers. A bounty will be issued for you. Allies may be called to assist. Upstanding citizens will run from you. The state of war cannot be ended unless by agreement of both parties or destruction of faction
That is not good. Definitely not good. ¡°Quests.¡±
QUESTS
EasyStart of Journey
MediumThe Gods
COMPLETED
Easy1
Medium0
There was no way to cancel the stupid quests. I continued walking to the city of Breckley in the distance. I had my large straw hat on and kept my head down. The peasants I passed gave me a look, but ignored me. The soldiers and messengers passed by barely spared me a glance. I had two swords in my satchel along with all the food and money I had collected. I placed my three points into Dexterity and then reviewed my status.
STATUS
NameKenji Shadowen
Level16
Constitution10.3
Strength10.1
Dexterity48.48
Endurance10.1
Wisdom5
Intelligence5.05
Charisma0
Luck0
Fate65
I had hundred and fifteen coppers and enough jerky and bread for about a week. The only reason I was headed towards Breckley was it would be the last thing they would be expecting. If I could somehow kill Lord Breckley I would probably get some sort of bonus status. Night was falling but I kept walking towards the city. I saw the guards close the main gates but I wasn¡¯t too worried. I went off into the fields and began circling my way around. I also took out both my swords and strapped them around my waist. The walls appeared to extend out to the cliffs on this side of the city. I was about to circle around to the other side when I heard movement nearby. I crouched down and saw three people whispering to each other and pointing at the wall. I stayed and watched as they approached the wall. Suddenly soldiers were all around them. They had been in pits covered with wood planks and slabs of grass. Simple but effective. Two of the people were killed as they squealed like pigs while the last one was taken away towards the gate in the wall. The two corpses were put up on stakes. The rest of the soldiers got back under cover. I will say this, Lord Breckley does not mess about. Getting into the city was going to be next to impossible. There was a good thirty feet of plain grass between the fields and the walls. Probably littered with stake pits and other traps. The walls themselves were about three stories tall, very smooth so next to impossible to climb. They extended to the very edge of the cliff face and I figured there was something similar on the other side of the city. Soldiers were alert and set up to ambush and they were patrolling the top of the wall if their silhouettes were anything to go by. The fact that they didn¡¯t use torches up on the wall in order to keep their night vision was what really impressed me. I began to carefully move away from the wall and followed the coast line away from Breckley. It was a clear night and I enjoyed looking up at the vast expanse of stars in the sky as I walked along. I needed a place to rest. I looked over the cliff face and saw a ledge down and off to the side. I went over there and climbed down. It was big enough and had rocks between me and the sea so I didn¡¯t feel like I was going to roll off. I went to sleep. *** Ramponator: The blood, he made it rain! Sliceman23: That was amazing, I tried to do the same thing but got taken down UltimataSecret: High dexterity is risky. Notice how the stamina bar was very low for most of that Hellzor37: Endurance is the best way, so I can run run run away to fight another day HolyMan: You are all sick freaks Ramponator: Thanks HolyMan: I am going to find Kenji and feed him to a troll piece by piece Ticklebot: Not very holy is that? Sliceman23: Don¡¯t feed the trolls, our lord will wash away his sins with the rain of blood *** ¡°Tanaki Kurasmi you are fired for giving Rain of Blood a Broadcasting License. Clean out your desk within an hour.¡± Chapter 3: At Least I Tried I woke up to a beautiful sunrise out over the sea. Took a mourning piss off the side of my ledge paying attention to the wind. A shit came next, thankfully it was all hard so there wasn¡¯t much to clean off with swabs of damp grass. Too much realism was annoying, but I figured most of the weaker players would crumple under the strain. I had some water, jerky, and bread while I contemplated my next move. Players were appearing all across the land and were either being eaten by monsters or hunted down by the local NPCs. I was probably one of the few, in one of the better spots with swords, food, and a canteen. Unfortunately I was in a state of war with the local city. I let out a small sigh. I needed a base of operations where I could really get into questioning the NPCs. Getting into the city at the moment was next to impossible. I kept both swords strapped to my waist instead of putting them into the satchel. I climbed back up the cliff.
Climbing-1
Up, up, and away
LvL: You understand the basics of climbing
That made me smile, another skill was always welcome. ¡°Skills¡± I said.
SKILLS
Blunt Weapons-1
Piercing Weapons-1
Cutting Weapons-2
Throwing-1
Riding-1
Light Conditioning-2
Climbing-1
Stealth-1
Basic Biology-2
Torture-1
Deception-3
Meditate -1
Observe -1
Murderer-50
Depraved-5
Army of One-2
Enemy of the People-3
Massacre of Willhelm-1 MAX
A good start, but only two active skills. My MP was barely going up. Based on an eight hour night it looked like it only went up about 1%. Since I had about 100 MP based on my Observe skill that meant I was regening at about 0.1 MP per hour. That was stupid, but it also meant I would need to be careful how much MP I used. I figured that there were probably higher and better skills beyond Mediation which allowed a person to gather MP much more quickly. It also meant specializing was the way to go. I closed out my screens and gathered up a bunch of pebbles. As I walked I would alternate hands throwing them at targets. I soon earned another skill.
Ambidextrous-1
Right is left, left is right
LvL 1: You understand the basics of using both hands
Good news, but unfortunately the first two levels of a skill didn¡¯t seem to have any effect on my stats. I needed to rank them up if I wanted bonuses. As the mourning dragged on I saw the cliff quickly descending and a small fishing village where the cliff turned into a beach. I quickly laid down in the tall grass and stared at the village. I counted nine buildings. So about forty to fifty people. I also noted soldiers patrolling around the village. I used Meditate while I waited and watched. Multi-tasking and leveling up these soft skills at all times would be useful in the long run. A night attack would probably best. Laying there was boring, but boring was the path to surviving. I could easily imagine all the other players running around demanding quests and then getting stabbed to death. As I sunk into my daydream I almost missed the person who faded into being off to the side of the village. Unfortunately for them the soldiers saw as well and raced over. I counted eight soldiers, so probably a ten, with the last two resting or patrolling somewhere else. The player tried to run but a well-placed arrow brought him down. The soldiers bound the poor soul up and carted him off to what looked like a shack of some sort. This could be an opportunity. If they had captured a number of people, I could easily free them to cause chaos. I didn¡¯t want followers or a guild. Well maybe latter on once I was powerful enough on my own. No other players appeared and soon the fishing boats were returning. As night quickly approached I saw three large wagons surrounded by at least fifty soldiers approaching. The back of the wagons were filled with people. They were heading away from Breckley. I also saw a knight leading them. ¡°Observe¡±, I whispered.
Sir Davos Roththorn of Breckley
LvL 93
So fifty fishermen, sixty soldiers, and a knight. The soldiers quickly began setting up a small camp on the outskirts of the village while the knight and a couple of the soldiers went into the houses. I had only fought the peasants straight out, but I didn¡¯t harbor any illusions about my chances against a knight or trained soldiers in a straight up fight. I couldn¡¯t sell any loot I gathered either. The best I could hope for would be various coins. The prisoners in the wagons were well guarded but however many were in the hut had not been moved yet. There were twenty per wagon, so sixty players. From what I could see at least half were wounded in one way or the other. Even if they were in tip top shape, Sir Davos would cut through them like a hot knife through butter. Even the soldiers would massacre them. I saw two soldiers outside the house Sir Davos was sleeping in. If I got up on the roof I could get in that way. Kill the knight, kill anyone else inside and then escape out the same way while lighting the building on fire. Using the weapons I collected I could arm the prisoners I freed from the hut and then lead an assault on the wagons to free the rest of them. I waited until the guards switched out again in the middle of the night. I then moved down towards the village and next to the house Sir Davos was in. I looked around the side and saw a wood pile. Using that I made my way up onto the roof. I carefully moved the straw and wood slats out of the way and ducked my head inside. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. I counted two soldiers asleep on beds along with Sir Davos. Another soldier was sitting on a chair and dozing. Probably was ordered to stand guard inside, but dozed off. I saw the knight¡¯s sword and armor next to his bedside. There was no good place to climb down into the house. The walls were stone and mortar, so once I jumped in I would be trapped. Sir Davos stirred slightly and let out a snort but didn¡¯t wake. That was far too close. I used my fire striker and started a fire going on the roof. I then wrapped some of the burning straw in a spare shirt I had and tossed it onto a nearby house. I did it again for a second house. Finally I set the roof on fire that I was on. I put the striker away and readied my grip on a single short sword. I then leaped down and directly onto Sir Davos. My aim was off and my sword went through his shoulder. My body landed on his chest causing him to exhale all the air inside of him preventing him from screaming. I quickly leapt off the man and drew my second sword leaving my first pinning his shoulder into the wooden bed. I stabbed one soldier through the throat and was racing onto the second when Sir Davos started shouting. ¡°Attack, get your asses in here!¡± The dozing soldier woke up with a start just as I finished stabbing the second soldier through the neck. The two soldiers from outside burst in. I was already moving behind the freshly made corpse. The roof had really started to go at this point giving a red glow to the room as embers rained down. ¡°Get this stupid sword out of me and grab my armor. Guard the door!¡± Sir Davos roared. The soldiers leapt to obey. In seconds the knight was escorted out along with his gear and the three surviving soldiers. I heard shouting from outside as the village became an inferno, now I just needed to get out. I raced to the door as smoke began to fill the single room house. I yanked open the door while staying off to the side. Arrows flew through the doorway and thudded into the far wall. I pushed the door shut. ¡°Get buckets, don¡¯t let the fire spread. Double the guard on the prisoners. Surround the burning buildings, don¡¯t let him escape.¡± I heard Sir Davos booming over the shouting outside. Shit, with him organizing things it would next to impossible to get out of alive. I began to pry up the stones that made the floor and found sand underneath. I quickly got to work with a nearby bucket scooping out the sand and dirt and tossing it off to all sides around me so there wasn¡¯t an obvious pile. Embers were raining down all around me and it was getting hard to breath. I pulled over a table over the hole I just made and then jumped in. With a bit of work I leveraged the large flat stone back over my hole in the ground and waited. It was dark, hot, hard to breath, but there was nothing else to do. I focused on my meditation while I waited. Eventually the heat died down and it became a bit easier to breath. I just waited. Time stretched on and I lay there hidden in a hole under a stone in a burnt out hut surrounded by enemy soldiers and a pissed off knight. I heard boot steps above me. ¡°Dammit, my pack is gone.¡± ¡°You¡¯re lucky it¡¯s not your hide, Sir Davos is pissed.¡± ¡°Yeah, but shit, I had forty copper in there I was saving up.¡± ¡°Thank Culk that you weren¡¯t the one killed.¡± ¡°Shit, is that Brain¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s left of him. Come on, we have to find the corpse of the person crazy enough to do all of this.¡± I heard them moving about above me. ¡°You hear about the Willhelm massacre?¡± ¡°Who hasn¡¯t, an entire village. These Travelers are going to pay by the eight. I had a cousin in that town.¡± ¡°I thought you hated your cousin.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the point. We can¡¯t just have these travelers walking all over us. I say kill them all and ask questions later.¡± ¡°Find anything?¡± ¡°No, you?¡± ¡°No, just Brian and Jacob. No other corpses.¡± ¡°Not it.¡± ¡°No way, I am not explaining this.¡± ¡°Well I am not explaining it either.¡± There was a long moment of silence. ¡°Coin flip to let Culk decide. Fish, you go, lord¡¯s face I go.¡± ¡°Deal.¡± I heard a ping as a coin hit the stones. ¡°Shit, lord¡¯s head. You are way too lucky you know that.¡± ¡°Thank you Culk for saving my sorry ass.¡± I head the soldiers leave. There was more shouting as more people came into the burnt out house. ¡°Where is that bastard who thought he could stab me? I am going to flay him and then feed him piece by piece to the fishes.¡± That was clearly a pissed off Sir Davos. ¡°Sargent, your men surrounded this place the whole night?¡± ¡°Yes, Sir Davos. Only five people left the burning buildings after we surrounded them. Three soldiers and two peasants. I personally checked them all myself and had the other villagers confirm the identities. We checked the other houses and surrounding area, there is no corpse or anyone suspicious.¡± ¡°Well then, what caused the fire, stabbed me, and killed two soldiers!¡± Sir Davos boomed out. ¡°They might have escaped before we completed our encirclement.¡± The Sargent said. ¡°Well get your men out there and start looking. This is unacceptable. We need to make the mines in a week, but at this rate we won¡¯t get anywhere. Start the wagons going. Search for half a day with thirty men and then catch up at the next town. I except results.¡± I heard Sir Davos move away by the clank of his armor. ¡°You heard him, let¡¯s get this piss hole organized. Squads one, two, and three are to move with the wagons and Sir Davos to the next town. Squads four and five along with the one assigned to the village will spread out and search the surrounding area. If you find anything, call in a tracker. Move it ladies!¡± I waited quietly under the stone. While I could have used the auto pilot, skills wouldn¡¯t level up when using it. This was the perfect time to work on my stealth and meditation. So I waited in the dark. I heard villagers move through the house picking up what remained of their home. Being a good assassin is mostly about waiting for the right moment and acting as swiftly as possible. Not about dressing in black and throwing ninja stars. That is what most people don¡¯t realize. It isn¡¯t all about charging into dungeons and killing things. Waiting and planning are far more useful skills. I dozed in and out and waited. Even when my body screamed to move I waited. When I was about to go out of my mind and hadn¡¯t heard anything for quite a while, that was when I acted. I carefully pushed up on the stone. Dust and debris rained down, but I was ready with my eyes and mouth shut. I waited and then pushed up on the stone again. It was night out with some flickering light that wasn¡¯t nearby based on the low intensity. I carefully moved the stone up and off to the side and was pelted with a cloud of dust and ash. Almost everything had been cleared out of the burnt out shell of a house. I carefully climbed out and then replaced the stone. I made sure to kick dust over it again to hide where I had come from. No need to give these idiots any extra clues. I went over to a corner dark corner and took a long drink of water and had a piece of jerky. I put my short sword back on my waist, the other one was probably snapped by Sir Davos in rage. I made sure to stretch my cramped muscles and take in the fresh but slightly sooty air. I then made my way out of the burnt out house to the other side of the fishing village from where I had entered. From there I quickly moved along the shore and away from my last battle. That had been a disaster. I kept moving keeping an eye out for anywhere I could hide out. After about an hour of walking I came upon another fishing village. I quickly went around it and pressed on. I finally found a couple of large boulders. Exhausted, I collapsed in between them. I dived out of the way just in time before a rock smashed into the ground where my head had been. A younger man was looking at me. He tried to kill me, there could be no mercy. I drew my sword. ¡°Hey now, this doesn¡¯t need to get violent.¡± ¡°You started it.¡± ¡°You are dressed like one of them, how was I to know. This is my hiding spot.¡± There was a long stretch of silence. ¡°Um, you are welcome to stay here too.¡± I threw my sword at the player. It was dark and I was tired. The blade drew a long gash along the player¡¯s side. ¡°What the hell man. Why are you attacking me?¡± He shouted. What an idiot. I rushed forward and tackled him. We landed on the ground with me on top. I pushed both of my thumbs through his eyelids and into his eyes. He thrashed and yelled but wasn¡¯t able to break free. I pushed harder and he finally stilled. I pulled out my thumbs with a squelching sound and then wiped them off on the corpses face. I collapsed and fell asleep next to the cooling body. I woke up well past dawn. I gathered up my sword and scouted out around my position. A bunch of trees nearby, beach the other direction, some larger rocks, and not much else. I had the last of my water and some bread and jerky. I then stripped out of my clothes and proceeded to wash them in the ocean. The soot smell was impossible to get rid of, but thankfully it became more manageable. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Next I gathered some wood for a fire. I focused on dried out branches of which there were plenty of, to limit the amount of smoke. Next I began searching the corpse. The guy had nothing, literally nothing. He was probably hiding out here and starving to death. What a wuss. I started the fire and began roasting the man¡¯s leg. I hadn¡¯t encountered any wildlife and I wanted something more than stale bread and tough jerky. While my food was cooking I scouted out the nearby forest for some water. There was a small rocky stream running towards the ocean, which I took some water from. Moving water had a lot less chance of making me ill than stagnant water, at least I hoped. No idea if I could get sick in game. Returning to my camp site I checked my wet clothes I had laid out on the nearby rocks. Still damp unfortunately. I made sure the leg I was cooking was well done and chucked the rest of the corpse into the ocean. Let the little ocean critters take care of it. Then I decided to go through all the pop-ups I had missed from my last adventure while my food cooked.
Stealth-2
Meditate -2
Murderer-52
Enemy of the People-4
Player Killer-1
No mercy
+1% Constitution per LvL
Smoke Inhilation-3
Smoke is the true killer
LvL 1: -10% HP/SP
LvL 2: -15% HP/SP
LvL 3: -25% HP/SP
Experience
+120002+10 LvL
You are level 3
That was not good. Hopefully smoke inhalation would go down over time, since it appeared all the effects were stacking up. I placed my three stat points I gained for my level into dexterity.
Dexterity Focus-1
Speed is all relative
+25% to Reaction Time per LvL
Reaction time was probably one of those hidden stats, but I wasn¡¯t about to complain. This was exactly what I had been hoping for. If it went up at fifty and not fifty one dexterity, which meant every fifty dexterity I would get a lot faster. So about seventeen to twenty levels to push dexterity up to one hundred depending on how much I dumped into the stat. I continued to rotate the leg while I stretched out my aching muscles. I had already stretched out after waking up but I wanted to get back to fighting standard as quickly as possible. My mind was also thinking about how killing NPCs increased my Fate while killing players increased my Constitution. That made absolutely no sense. It was dusk and the leg was thoroughly cooked. I began cutting pieces away and enjoying the freshly cooked meat. It makes a big difference having a warm meal versus a cold one. After a couple of pieces I put back on my clothes and settled in close to the fire while munching on meat.
Cannibal-1
What it means to survive
+1% Constitution per LvL
+1% Fate per LvL
I closed the screen and contemplated what the stat Fate would do. The lady in white said it related to events and I was unable to increase it when I had spare points. There was a sense of foreboding about it. It was already high and would only get higher. Probably better to avoid eating more people, while a percentage didn¡¯t seem to do much, once Fate got over one hundred it would have a bigger impact than a single point would. I wonder if a god or dragon would come down and bless me. I chuckled to myself, more likely eat me instead. My fire died to coals as it got dark and I lay there next to it staring up at the night sky. My mind was on that one percent share. With a company value of seven something trillion dollars, one percent was seventy billion. Only one person could win, they could not donate, give, or pass on the money to anyone else who ever played FEAR for a period of no less than ten years. No super guilds or massive splits, only one winner. I wanted to win more than anything else. I would be secure in my future. No more over the top violence to penetrate an already over flowing online video market. The Rain of Blood video was the only reason I was able to afford this new capsule and game. Unfortunately the upkeep and subscription costs were crushing. I logged out setting my auto pilot to sleep while staying alert for anything approaching. I logged in at dawn. I had spent the night editing and sleeping in my Atrium. My in game body was stiff and sore from sleep on the ground, if only my comfy bed could some with me. While the time dilation was five times, I still needed to sleep to put my mind in a rested state. I packed up all my gear and continued to follow the coast. After half an hour of walking I saw a person in front of me as I came around an outcropping. We both stared at each other. After a bit of staring we both advanced. It would be nice to actually speak to someone. Female, and also dressed like the locals. I also noticed a short sword on her waist. We stopped twenty feet from each other. She was easily a foot taller than me, but that didn¡¯t mean anything since stats were what mattered. With short black hair and a small bosom it would be easy to mistake her for a man. ¡°Hello there.¡± I said, opening up conversation. ¡°What does NPC stand for?¡± She asked. ¡°Nice pulsating chest?¡± She began to draw her blade. ¡°Non-player character.¡± She let her sword slide back in its sheathe. ¡°Was almost tricked once, can¡¯t be too careful. The NPCs around here are going nuts.¡± ¡°Indeed, shall we go over to that large boulder to avoid prying eyes?¡± I gestured towards a large boulder. She looked around and then nodded. We walked over but kept our distance from each other. ¡°I am Kenji a pleasure to meet a fellow survivor.¡± ¡°I am Helena, good to meet you as well.¡± We both stopped behind the boulder near the shore. ¡°So want to trade stories?¡± ¡°Very well, I shall tell half of mine, then you tell yours, then I explain the rest.¡± ¡°Sounds fair.¡± I spun a tale of woe, mostly about me running away scared chased by peasants and soldiers. I wasn¡¯t about to let people I ran across that I was probably one of the main reasons they were being hunted in this area. Helena had a similar tale. I did pick out that she had joined a group but they had betrayed her in order to escape. When one of the NPCs tried to rape her she killed the man and then ran away also. Then an NPC had tried pretending to be a player in order to capture her, hence her question. The second half of my story was truthful except for the part I left out about killing and eating another player. It was a hunch that such a tale would not go down well. ¡°So tough six days also.¡± She said. ¡°Yes indeed. There is nothing up the coast but Breckley and that place is a death trap if I ever saw one.¡± She gave me a small nod. ¡°Do you want to travel together?¡± That was a tough question. I didn¡¯t trust her in the slightest. Even if she was a fan of my work, I would trust her even less. ¡°Perhaps, I plan to rampage my way along the coast killing and gathering information. You?¡± ¡°Just trying to find some town I can get my bearings in. Up the coast is another large city, Mendal. Maybe not as bad as Breckley, but soldiers are out everywhere.¡± I decided to go with her. The pros were quite high, and even if she did betray me I would only loose a bit of progress. ¡°Let¡¯s head back the way I came. There was a larger fishing village we can take out.¡± I said. ¡°That seems¡­risky.¡± Changed my mind, she was a wimp. Time to kill her. I was at Smoke Inhilation-1 this morning, so only a minor debuff. ¡°Then only one of us will leave here alive.¡± I stood up and drew my sword. ¡°Are you fucking kidding me? You too, I swear if I die I am going to haunt you from the grave.¡± She drew her sword as well. ¡°Remember these words ¡®Rain of Blood¡¯.¡± I gave her a leer. ¡°What a creep, I didn¡¯t make it all this way to die to an asshole like you.¡± I began to advance slowly. I noted her stance and saw she had taken sword lessons in VR as well most likely. Her body only presented its side profile and she was resting her sword pommel on her hip as she advanced to conserve her SP. No apparent weaknesses. We slowly approached until the tips of our blades were touching. We pushed against each other and she quickly began to beat me. She had put more points into Strength. I backed off and she pushed forward with a jab. I deflected her attack off to the side and began to circle to her left, my right. She stepped in and unleashed a swing in my direction. I stepped back just out of range. Once that blade went by I stepped in and jabbed my sword into her gut. Unfortunately I didn¡¯t penetrate too far but at least I had gotten first blood. She let out a yell and swung wildly at me while I quickly darted to the side of her attacks. A glance at my SP bar showed it down two thirds. She stepped in and jabbed. I deflected the attack and used my left hand to pull my knife out of my shirt. While not much as a kitchen knife, the surprise value was worth it as she brought her arms up to her face to block my throw. It was over. I slammed my sword into her gut once again, pushing the blade all the way through and then darted away. She collapsed to her knees on the ground her sword falling off to the side as she lost her grip. ¡°Asshole.¡± She spat out. ¡°Well you have three of them now, so that makes you a bigger ass hole.¡± She collapsed on the ground. I walked over to her pack while I kept an eye on her. I would let her bleed out. I didn¡¯t think her pack was poisoned or trapped but there was no need to rush. It wasn¡¯t a pack so much, but the same type of satchel the soldiers used. It would sling over the shoulder and hip and have a strap over the chest. I sniffed it, but didn¡¯t smell anything unusual. Nothing weird about the color or texture. I nudged it a couple times just to be sure there wasn¡¯t a creature inside of it. No movement, so I opened it up and dumped everything out on the ground. Thirty two coppers, which wasn¡¯t much. Whetstone, jerky, bread, canteen, and small wood figure delicately carved. The craftsmanship was very good and I could see why she would have stolen it. I then turned back to her corpse. I kicked her a couple of times making sure she was dead. I then took up her dropped sword and cut off her head for good measure. I lived by my motto, if it has its head it isn¡¯t dead. Next I gathered up my blade and knife and cleaned off both of them. Then I began searching the headless corpse for anything useful, but there was nothing. I let out a disappointed sigh. Only the extra sword was worth the effort. I strapped the extra blade on my waist and started off again munching on day old meat wrapped in stale bread. I checked my screens.
Player Killer-2
Experience
+122-5 LvL
Well that was disappointing. Only a level twelve. I had honestly expected a bit more. I let out a long sigh. *** Sliceman23: Sick shit, this guy is depraved HolyMan: You will all burn in the fires of hell Ramponator: I hope I meet our lord in game, for the rain of blood will be glorious Sliceman23: To help or to kill him UltimataSecret: Aren¡¯t they both the same thing? PedoBear9000: Best video ever, when they started talking I was like boring. But then he cut her up HolyMan: You are an abomination and will burn Lady_Killer: This asshole is the reason NPCs are after everyone Ramponator: So our lord trolls for the good of all, and he who die are granted salvation *** Lord Breckley sat on his throne watching his knights assemble before him. On the other side of the room were the clergy from the Church of Eight. Both groups equally useless in quelling this disaster. ¡°I summoned you all before me because of the recent crisis. These travelers continue to appear over our lands and already the mines are filled to bursting. We kill them, more come. We torture them, more come. No matter what we do the endless tied does not stop.¡± Everyone began muttering to their neighbors. ¡°My family has ruled this land for over a thousand years, since the founding of the Church of Eight. One thing my father taught me was to always look for a solution outside of the barrel. It is simple, we will use these travelers to hunt down and kill other travelers.¡± There was a dead silence. ¡°Their minds think in the same weird way. In exchange for becoming official hunters, a select group of travelers will hunt down and kill every other traveler in our lands. In exchange our merchants, towns, and cities will be open for their use as any other lawful citizen.¡± ¡°This is an outrage. We can-¡° ¡°SILENCE! Sit down and shut up Sir Davos. You were wounded and the village you were in burned despite having sixty soldiers are your disposal and returned early from your escort duties. That is the reason for this. Neighboring lands may make the same offer and what then. While we fight these travelers who appear in our lands, our enemies will corral them and send them against us! No, we will use them as the tip of our spear. Let them fight amongst themselves as barbarians and heathens do. You will leave them alone and we shall see if they can succeed on their own merits.¡± ¡°For our clergy and knights we must prepare. Word has come that Galmore to the south is mobilizing all of their citizens. While they may be fighting against travelers there is also a chance they could march into our lands. Sir Willos, you will take half our clergy and knights and secure the southern border. I will leave the situation in your hands, but we must avoid a full scale war.¡± ¡°Sir Davos, you will be my representative to the hunters. This is your¡­reward and you may not refuse such an honorable task. If they harm a single one of our citizens, execute them all and recruit another group. Your first task is form a group of these travelers and to hunt down and kill one specific traveler who has declared war upon us, Kenji Shadowen.¡± Bonus Chapter 1 - Stat System Revealed This chapter discusses how the stats work. This is all behind the scenes stuff, but it will help put the values into context. You do NOT need to read this to enjoy the story and this story is NOT a stat fest. I keep it mostly behind the scenes in the story to prevent it from becoming bogged down with math. At the same time it helps keeps things guided as to the relative strength of various individuals. Also be warned that some of this is a bit of a spoiler, understanding how everything works. You can always skip this and come back at any time, this information is just a bonus. If you do decide to use my stat system, all I ask is credit and a link to this story. Lots of good reviews are appreciated as well if you like it. These are the effects of a single point in each of the stats. These are based off of a normal human having in the range of 40 to 100 with a maximum stat point count of 300. When the stats get over 100, then things get a lot more wonky.
Constitution+150 HP+0.15 HP Regen/Hr+0.1 Max Speed (MpH)
Strength+50 HP+0.05 HP Regen/Hr+0.1 Max Speed (MpH)+2.2 lbs (1 kg) Max Carry Weight
Dexterity+5 SP+0.005 SP Regen/Min+0.1 Max Speed (MpH)
Endurance+15 SP+0.015 SP Regen/Min+0.1 Max Speed (MpH)
Wisdom+10 MP+0.01 MP Regen/Hr<0.0005> Best Decision %/Choice
Intelligence+10 MP+0.01 MP Regen/Hr<0.001> Learning Rate %
Charisma<0.0002> Convince %/Speech<0.0002> Attractiveness %/Person
Luck<0.0001> Chance %/Event<0.001> Crit %/Attack
Fate<0.005> Event/Day %
HP (Health Points): This is how much damage a person can take. The best way to think of HP is to compare a professional boxer to couch potato. The boxer can take a lot of hits and keep going. The couch potato will be out in a couple of punches. For certain attacks, like a sword to the back of the head, that is fatal no matter how much HP you have. People are like onions, they have layers, the deeper you go the greater the damage until it would be so high that a person would die regardless of HP. Players feel weaker as a percentage loss of their HP. It should be noted that a player with a very high HP will have more blood than a player with low HP. These differences only become apparent at extreme differences in HP. The base measure of blunt damage is Speed(Mph)*Strength. Strength can be changed out for the weapon and this is ignoring all cutting or other special effects. Defense is calculated my multiplying Constitution and an amour value together and subtracting that from the attack damage. A boxer who has been hit a million times won¡¯t even be hurt by a lighter tap. HP Regen: This is set at a base of 1% per hour. Wounds take time to heal, so unless there is an ongoing condition, it is possible to recover in three to four days. Unfortunately the more serious wounds tend to come with percentage penalties that linger. Max Speed: Four stats contribute to max speed which is separate from stamina. Constitution is your body holding together while you run, Strength allows a person to push off faster, Dexterity is about reaction time, and Endurance prevents the muscles from burning up. The fastest man in the world, Bolt, can do about 27 MpH in a hundred meter sprint. Running across water for a human being requires around 90 MpH. Jump Height: Jumping is a combination of strength and dexterity. Getting the math to work so people were not shooting all over was very tricky. The short of it is that when the added value of strength and dexterity is one hundred, jumping height drastically scales off. Up to 100 (Strength+Dexterity), Jumping Height=1.01^(Strength+Dexterity) Above 100 (Strength+ Dexterity), Jumping Height=0.8+1.001^(Strenth-100)+1.001^(Dexterity-100) So it really starts leveling off at around 2.7 feet. Max Carry Weight: This is the weight a person can carry without an SP penalty. SP (Stamina Points): These are consumed in a tier based structure. Take your speed in MpH and then round down to the nearest ten, substituting one for zero. Nine would round to one. Eleven to ten, twenty nine point nine to twenty and so on. Multiply that value by two and again by the MpH. That is the amount of SP consumed per minute. Carry weight in pounds would be also multiplied against this number. 5 MPH = 5 SP/Min 9 MPH = 9 SP/Min 10 MPH = 200 SP/Min 10 MPH (Over 5 lbs) = 1000 SP/Min 19 MPH = 380 SP/Min 20 MPH = 800 SP/Min 27 MPH = 1080 SP/Min 90 MPH = 16200 SP/Min OR 270 SP/Sec SP Regen: It has a base of 0.1% per minute or 6% per hour. This means a person could recover after a seventeen hours. Again this was designed with real world limits in mind. You can¡¯t go running all day, eat a piece of bread and then keep running. Sixteen hours also indicates a person has to sleep in that time frame. This also takes into account walking long distances, sure you don¡¯t feel tired right away but you eventually will and won¡¯t recover as quickly. MP (Mana Points): The consumption varies widely per the ability used. I will note that the MP is very low on purpose. A magic oriented character will have to prepare and work to make sure there MP remains full. This also prevents magic spam. MP Regen: It has a base of 0.1% per hour. This means it would take about forty two days to completely replenish one¡¯s MP. This forces magic oriented characters to find ways around such limitations with skills and a high number of points into Wisdom and Intelligence. Reaction Time (s): 0.99^((1+Percentage Change)*Dexterity) This means you start with a base of one second and go down from there. This also means there are diminishing returns for each bit of increase. The reaction time counter is sent when an individual notices something. Let¡¯s take someone shooting a gun. We will go with a speed of 3000 ft/sec. Different guns travel faster, slower. If the gun fires at the instant you notice it then with a 0.25 reaction speed you will need to be 750 feet away to even move. This then ties in with movement speed and when you notice the gun being aimed. This is taken to a lesser extent for arrows and thrown weapons. If I noticed someone bringing a gun up, that gives me an extra second to act which is a big deal. 1 MPH = 1.466 FPS (feet per second). So moving does make a big difference and the ability of an opponent to track a target. Matrix style dodges would require an insanely high maximum movement speed and reaction time for close quarter¡¯s combat, stat points in the hundreds, not tens. Best Decision % / Choice: (1+Percentage Change)*Wisdom*0.0005 This means that for each choice there is a chance of making the best possible choice. There are millions of choices we make each day, not just the large ones we pay attention to. Do I rub my eyes? Do I hold back my yawn? Do I wipe my butt one more time after taking a shit? These are all the choices that are impacted. This does not include the very best decision possible, merely the best decision one can come to out of all the possibilities they can contemplate. A person who doesn¡¯t understand anatomy can¡¯t just cut open a person and perform open heart surgery because they have a very high percentage. The knowledge just isn¡¯t there to carry them through the task. Also a person¡¯s own history and motivations will sway them to specific choices of action. Learning Rate %: (1+Percentage Change)*Intelligence*0.001+1 Everyone learns at their own base speed of one hundred percent. This speed varies slightly from individual to individual. By increasing the learning speed concepts and tasks are grasped at a faster rate than normal. An individual could easily halve or further reduce the time it would take to learn a concept. This is applied only to intellectual concepts. One cannot learn how to throw or catch from a book. While they can read about the best way, they still have to put it into practice in order to gain the experience needed to improve the skill. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Convince %/ Speech: (1+Percentage Change)*Charisma*0.0002 This is the ability to change a person¡¯s mind to your side per speech event. A speech event is a single sentence or collection of sentences delivered together. So over time in a conversation a person would be drawn in to your point of view. Attractiveness %/ Person: (1+Percentage Change)*Charisma*0.0002 This is the concept of a soul mate. For each person encountered there is a slight chance of instant attraction at first sight. Chance %/ Event: (1+Percentage Change)*Luck*0.0001 For every event there is a favorable or unfavorable outcome. Having a bullet jam in a gun aimed at you would require a tremendous amount of luck. First a bullet would have to be made improperly and then that specific bullet would have to be selected by your opponent. The bullet would have to be the first one in the chamber and then it has to jam. This merely shifts the scale in one direction rather than the other. An opponent¡¯s luck would cancel our your own and there is still randomness involved. Even with a value of 99%, there are still events that will happen against you. Even 100% can be canceled out by a person inspecting and confirming things to remove luck as a factor. My sword was checked yesterday by a blacksmith so there is 0% chance of it breaking, so 100% would do nothing. Luck exploits the unknown to push things in your favor. The greater the unknown the more luck can influence. Crit %/ Attack: (1+Percentage Change)*Luck*0.001 It is simply the chance that double the HP will be removed in an attack. Event %/ Day: (1+Percentage Change)*Fate*0.005 This is the chance of something interesting happening. J I have also included a number of examples below. I use these as a guideline for the most part and it should be noted that I do not include skill benefits in the calculations. This is merely to have an understanding of stat point distribution.
STATUS
NameA Regular Modern Soldier
Level30
Constitution20
Strength35
Dexterity20
Endurance25
Wisdom10
Intelligence10
Charisma10
Luck5
Fate0
STATUS
NameA Regular Modern Officer
Level50
Constitution25
Strength35
Dexterity20
Endurance30
Wisdom30
Intelligence30
Charisma20
Luck10
Fate0
STATUS
NameA Delta Force Operative
Level80
Constitution45
Strength60
Dexterity40
Endurance55
Wisdom35
Intelligence35
Charisma20
Luck10
Fate0
STATUS
NameA Regular Modern Doctor
Level85
Constitution20
Strength15
Dexterity60
Endurance40
Wisdom80
Intelligence60
Charisma25
Luck15
Fate0
STATUS
NameA Regular CEO
Level70
Constitution20
Strength15
Dexterity15
Endurance15
Wisdom40
Intelligence50
Charisma85
Luck20
Fate0
If you are a soldier, officer, delta force member, doctor, or CEO I apologize if you were offended by my stat distribution. It is merely a generalization, certain people would have higher stats than others, but I they give me a very useful baseline to work from. It should be noted that level does not indicate combat potential, only amount of stat points available. Experience: Experience is based on an exponential curve based on the opponent¡¯s level. In my story death is required to register experience. As you can see in the table below, it makes a big difference fighting and killing higher level opponents. Credit only goes to one individual based on who did the most damage. Indirect means such as burning, suffocation, or poison count as long as there is only one degree of separation. If you light a torch on fire and then pass to torch to another person who then burns up a bunch of people, they will get credit and not you since you had two degrees of separation and they had one. The experience needed for any level is 500*LvL. So level 17 requires 8,500 EXP. This means that at higher levels it takes much longer needed to advance up. < -10 = 0 EXP -10 = 1 EXP -9 = 2 EXP -8 = 3 EXP -7 = 5 EXP -6 = 8 EXP -5 = 12 EXP -4 = 18 EXP -3 = 27 EXP -2 = 41 EXP -1 = 62 EXP 0 = 100 EXP +1 = 150 EXP +2 = 225 EXP +3 = 338 EXP +4 = 507 EXP +5 = 761 EXP +6 = 1142 EXP +7 = 1713 EXP +8 = 2570 EXP +9 = 3855 EXP +10 = 6000 EXP > +10 = 6000 EXP Quests: Quests are divided up into six levels and are the primary means of experience at the higher levels. There is a level requirement to receive specific quest ranks. The higher ranked quests are insanely difficult. Each higher rank is supposed to be one hundred times more challenging than the one previously. Only one quest from each rank can be assigned at a time and they can¡¯t be deleted once accepted. In addition a new quest is given out when the old one is completed.
RANKEXPSTAT POINTSLVL UNLOCK
Easy100
Medium10010
Hard1000120
Legendary10000330
Lifetime100000550
Impossible10000001070
Skills: Skills are divided up into four different categories. Combat skills, crafting skills, survival skills, and spiritual skills. Each skill has five levels and small percentage bonuses are given out for level 3 to 5. Leveling up skills happens at the speed of plot. I mean to say, there is no concrete way of how skills level up besides repeating the action, and even then the speed of leveling up is hidden. The percentage bonuses tend to focus around the stat or ability affected. They are kept small since there are a lot of skills, and mastering a bunch could easily make an individual way too overpowered if the percentages are not kept at a low amount. There are five tiers to skills. Mastering a skill may or may not unlock another skill in the chain. This mostly depends if I can think of anything reasonable as the next tier of skill. Higher tiers tend to have better skills with more active ones. In addition to skills there are environment effects and status effects. Environment effects have to do with the location. A person in a cold environment may experience an HP penalty, or if they are in a mystical glade receive an MP Regen bonus. The levels can vary but for the most part they stay in the range of 1 to 5. Status effects are everything else. Titles, actions, disabilities, they all get lumped into this category. Titles tend to be either one level or multi-level up to an unknown amount. Chapter 4: Natural Born Naturalist Onwards I trudged. I thought about running, but that would drain my SP. It wasn¡¯t worth the risk being caught in an exhausted state. As I was trudging across the plains that lined the coast I saw a larger town up ahead. A real port, stone houses with two floors. There were a couple of larger buildings in the center. If I had to guess, probably a thousand people at least. There was also a wooden palisade surrounding the town about eight to ten feet tall. How many could I kill was the big question. I saw patrols of three soldiers a piece moving around the city and there were at least six different patrols. So thirty soldiers, so possibly a knight or a knight¡¯s holding. Based on the description this was probably Mendal from the way the dead girl described the city. I made it a point not to remember the names of the people I killed. Well unless they were totally epic like Lord Breckley. He had a special spot at the top of my ¡®to kill¡¯ list. While there was a wooden wall around the city, it was incomplete near the sea. I waited until it was quite dark before making my move. The night sky was overcast as well. The fight with the girl had done wonders for my spirit since I felt confident I had picked the right build. I found a barrel next to a one floor house and used that to help me up onto the roof. Lifting myself up was a pain, I definitely needed to add a couple points to my Strength. I made a hole in the roof again. It was too dark to see anything but I heard at least two different people breathing. I leaped down into the house, touching the ground lightly. I drew one of my swords and very slowly slid across the floor. There were two people on the bed. I drew my second sword and then stabbed down with both blades. I moved the blades side to side making sure I did enough damage to kill both of them. I listened and heard some more breathing. I moved over to the second bed and stabbed down with both my blades into the neck. I wiped the blood off on the blanket. I moved to the front door and undid the simple latch keeping it closed and let the door swing open. I then waited off to one side. With any luck a patrol would come by and enter the house. I waited for a good couple of minutes considering other plans when I heard the steps of people on the ground outside. ¡°Door¡¯s open.¡± ¡°Probably forgot to latch it.¡± ¡°Wait, it could be a trap.¡± I cursed silently to myself at their intelligence. A soldier stood in the doorway. ¡°Wake up in there, your front door is unlatched.¡± Time to gamble. ¡°Helppppp, I can¡¯t feel my legs anymore and it hurts.¡± I used the most pitiful voice possible. Two of the soldiers came into the house while a third stood right outside the doorway. ¡°In the corner over there.¡± The two soldiers moved deeper into the one room house. I snuck out of my corner and raced over to the soldier standing in the doorway. He looked at me in surprise but both my swords pierced his neck, silencing him. I yanked them out and felt a spray of warm blood over my face. I spun around and the other soldiers were hovering over one of the beds. I raced up behind them, switching from a standard grip to a backwards grip. I almost dropped one of my blades in excitement but managed to keep a hold of it with the tips of my fingers. I reached the guards and drove my blades into the back of their necks. One collapsed immediately while the other spun around, the sword still in his neck. I kicked up into his groin and he fell to his knees. I moved to the side and yanked my other blade back out of his companions neck. I stabbed the last guard through the eye with it, killing him instantly. I freed both my blades and wiped them clean. My SP bar was two thirds of the way out, shit. It took about half a day to refill and I had just started. It wasn¡¯t worth the risk and I let out a small sigh. I took all three swords the soldiers had and then I set fire to the house and quickly left. By the time I reached the outside of the city it was quickly being put out by the soldiers and villagers. I began to make my way inland past fields and some outlying houses. I noticed movement up ahead and quickly ducked down behind a tree. ¡°¡­you know right?¡± One of the figures said. ¡°Yes I know living in the wilderness sucks, but better than being stabbed to death.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t sign up for this shit. I wanted to be a merchant.¡± ¡°Tell me about it. I wanted to be a mage, whatever.¡± ¡°Looks like someone stirred up the hornet¡¯s nest.¡± ¡°A fire, dangerous. That is exactly the reason why the NPCs are out for our blood.¡± They both turned and started walking away. I crept behind one of them and stabbed my sword through the first one¡¯s neck. He died with a gurgle. His companion spun around and I hit him with the flat of my blade as hard as I could. He staggered a bit and that was all the opening I needed. I kicked him in the groin and then whacked him over the head again. I left the dead one in the field and dragged his unconscious companion off to the side behind a couple of trees. First thing I did was remove all of his clothes and stuffed them into my near to bursting satchel. I poured some water over his head and then slapped him a couple of times. He groaned. ¡°Listen, otherwise this is going to hurt a lot more. You are going to lead me to your camp or I am going to torture you.¡± ¡°Uhhh¡­.yeah¡­.what¡­about Ethaaaan?¡± He asked groggily. ¡°At your base, show me where it is.¡± I helped him up and let him lead me. I had my sword ready to go at a moment¡¯s notice pressed into his side. After walking for an hour through some fields and a bit of forest we came to a small clearing by a stream. There was a fire pit and bunch of supplies and gear scattered about. Yes, there was rope, that would be perfect. I managed to tie up my prisoner standing up. It was almost dawn and everything was lighting up. ¡°So what now?¡± The prisoner asked. ¡°Tell me everything you know.¡± ¡°If I don¡¯t?¡± ¡°Well like most male players you endowed yourself more than normal. While a plus for the ladies, that just give that much more to cut off.¡± I held up my sword. ¡°If I log out?¡± ¡°Then I leave you tied up here and keep you alive for a while. Might hand you in to the soldiers for whatever they do with prisoners.¡± I could see him slump in defeat. ¡°Now here is some water and some jerky.¡± I fed and watered him. He munched slowly while giving me a glare. ¡°I couldn¡¯t take two prisoners and you were smaller so that is why I killed your companion.¡± ¡°Asshole.¡± ¡°Yes, I get that a lot. So start by explaining how things went for you from day one.¡± ¡°Well wasn¡¯t so bad at first. Went through a small village and got quests to go to Breckley Bay. I saw them round up a bunch of players trying to enter, so me and Ethan we ran off into a field with a couple others. We kept going after the others stopped and never saw them again. We made our way along the coast and set up here.¡± ¡°Name and level?¡± ¡°Rock Terran, level nine.¡± I whispered, ¡°Observe.¡±
Tari Kale
LvL 3
¡°You know Tari, it isn¡¯t nice to lie to someone.¡± I saw him pale. ¡°I think there needs to be a punishment.¡± ¡°I am sorry, no, please no.¡± He begged. I ignored his pleas and gagged him. I started up a small fire in their fire pit while he alternated between sobbing and staring at me. I let the fire build up using the wood they had stockpiled while I sharpened by swords. ¡°You know, pain is in the mind. Also the log out command along with the other commands are vocal. Did you know that?¡± He began to thrash around even more, but I had made sure the ropes were tight. I set my sharpened blade in the fire, letting it heat up. ¡°You can pre-set your log out command to mental activation like I did. Unfortunately you can only do that in you atrium. And it doesn¡¯t look like you have. You could kill yourself, but that is why I have rendered you immobile.¡± The muffled screams were clear evidence of his terror. Death was easy, knowing you are about to be tortured with your only escape taken away, not so much. ¡°So, even if you plead, I am not taking off that gag until I am done.¡± What followed next was a morning of pain. I sliced off piece by piece, switching blades as they began to cool off. First went the nether regions, then an eye, next a couple of fingers, then the well sculpted abs, and then I cut off a leg. He watched in horror from his one remaining eye as I began to cook his leg over the fire. While it was cooking I went over and removed the gag. ¡°Log-¡° I punched him in the gut. I then quickly placed a piece of wood his mouth to prevent him from biting down. Using my kitchen knife, I cut out his tongue. The flesh sizzled as the red hot knife cut through. The handle was wood and I had wrapped in a couple of wet rags to hold onto it. Tari was sobbing, unable to speak. ¡°You know damage is calculated from a number of factors. The biggest one is in regards to striking critical areas. Heart, brain, and spin. As long as you don¡¯t bleed out, you really won¡¯t die that easily. Kind of like magic. I am curious about all the status affects you have, but that is a minor concern. It is time for dinner. If you don¡¯t eat, then that is as bad as lying and I will have to start again.¡± I made the poor soul eat his own leg. That would be another 100,000 viewers right there. While people might call me a monster, I did what I had to do to make a living. With the advent of VI, a lot of people lost their middle class jobs. Why do you need an accountant when an VI can crank out the numbers? I wasn¡¯t super smart or rich. So I turned to video casting to make a living from all the other unfortunate schmucks out there. With the ad revenue I was barely staying afloat in my one bedroom apartment. At first I had tried general adventure videos, but those were a time a dozen. People wanted violence, so I gave them violence. Rain of Blood was a masterpiece of horror and suffering. I had gathered a bunch of other players in a room along with NPCs and then set us all on fire, while snakes poured in and bit everyone, and spikes shout out of the floor. Even at the old 20% pain level, people were pissed off. That got me kicked out of my guild the Ever Knights. On the flip side the video was a sensation like no other. With FEAR coming out, it was natural to carry that popularity over. With 350,000 followers I was on the cusp of true internet stardom. Unfortunately with these new capsules taking up everyone¡¯s time ad revenue was plummeting at the same time my subscriber count was shooting up. That meant that I had to be the craziest guy out here, killing and torturing people in order to keep and grow my fan base. The sheer excitement of people hoping I would die would push my stardom to new heights. This one clip, demonstrating why people needed to have mental logout set-up would push things even further. Yes, I am a monster, but even a monster needs to survive. The only good part was that I had hidden my face throughout the recording by cutting out portions where I saw my reflection. No need to give the haters an easy target. For each person I killed, I knew they would gather their friends to hunt me down and dish out the same punishment. At the same time they would watch my videos to know where I was in the world. I was done eating and feeding my prisoner. ¡°If you have the balls to come back and manage to defeat me, I will not log out. I will take everything I just did to you.¡± A complete lie, but hey good to get people interested in me. ¡°One more thing before I kill you.¡± I leaned in and whispered, ¡°Rain of blood.¡± With that I stabbed two swords sideways through his neck. With a quick pull, I half decapitated the player leaving a large V shaped wound that was gushing blood. I threw more wood onto the fire and went to sleep with a single tear running down my face. That had been though, guess I wasn¡¯t desensitized enough. I should probably torture some more children in my atrium as practice. Any weakness would be my downfall. The next morning I began sorting out the campsite. There were a couple more coppers and stale bread. I let out a small sigh. I picked the best two swords and left the rest. I then checked out my screens that were piling up.
Cutting Weapons-3
Straight through
LvL 1: You understand the basics of cutting weapons
LvL 2: You understand the theory behind cutting weapons
LvL 3: You understand the limits of cutting weapons, +1% Dexterity
Torture-3
Noooooo!
LvL 1: You understand the basics of torture
LvL 2: You understand the theory behind torture
LvL 3: You understand the limits of torture, -1% Charisma
Murderer-56
Murderer-56
Player Killer-4
Depraved-7
Cannibal-2
Experience
+180003+10 LvL
+1501+1 LvL
+10010 LvL
+121-5 LvL
You are level 18
Torture gave me negative Charisma, who would have guessed that. I dumped all three points into Endurance. While not my preferred choice, I wouldn¡¯t last for two back to back fights.
STATUS
NameKenji Shadowen
Level18
Constitution10.9
Strength10.1
Dexterity52.02
Endurance13.13
Wisdom5
Intelligence5.05
Charisma0
Luck0
Fate74.46
What I really needed was to kill off at least a bunch of soldiers. I had been doing the math and it appeared each level required level*500 EXP to level up. So for level 18, I needed nine thousand experience, which meant killing a lot of high level enemies. I left the campsite and traced my way back to the fields. Saw a bunch of farmers going through the crops, pulling weeds. Not worth the trouble. I followed the edge of the fields through the forest back to a road. I then began following the road until I found a place where it curved around a large boulder. This was perfect. I set up a rope I had taken from the last two corpses and tied it up to a tree on one side. Next I waited on top of the boulder. A large merchant caravan with at least twenty soldiers was the first to pass by. I noted the uniforms were much more varied and none of them blue. Probably mercenaries or swords for hire. They passed by and I kept waiting. I then heard a horse approaching. One of those messengers for the local lord most likely. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I pulled up on the rope so it raised up above the height of the horses head. I tied the rope off and waited. The messenger struck the rope in the chest and flew back off the horse. The horse went a couple of paces before stopping. I untied the rope and checked the messenger. Unconscious but still alive, perfect. I led the horse off the road a good fifty feet into the forest. I then returned for the messenger and did the same thing by dragging him. Once in the forest it was a task to get the unconscious man back up on the horse. I eventually had to roll him off a small rock ledge onto the horses back, his uniform was a mess. I then led the horse into the woods. The horse seemed to be getting a bit agitated and I stopped. I looked around and there was nothing. I was going to trust the horse¡¯s instincts more than mine. I drew out one of my swords. A bulbus plant creature appeared from behind a tree. ¡°Observe,¡± I said.
Leafy Bulb
LvL 12
Weak, but it was a bulb and a plant. Poison would be a problem and it could easily be part of a group. I began to back the horse away but the creature continued to approach. I threw my sword and drew my second one. My first sword sank into the leafy flesh of the creature. I didn¡¯t see a face or eyes, but it had vines coming out the base. Purple pus leaked from the large bulb where my sword and pierced it. Definitely a poison type. I raced in and stabbed my sword at the creature¡¯s base. At the same time I reached out and grabbed the hilt of my first sword. With a twist and a yank, I shredded the Leafy Bulb and sent it flying into a tree. It impacted the tree with a splat and sunk to the ground unmoving. I checked my screens and I had received experience, so it was clearly dead. I back tracked a bit and found a small stream. I cleaned off my swords and tied up the messenger to a tree. I unsaddled the horse and let it hang out near the camp while I began gathering food for a fire. I got tired of waiting and poured some water over his face to wake him out. ¡°What happened?¡± He groaned out. ¡°I captured you. You are going to answer some questions and I will let you go.¡± ¡°Never you dirty Traveler. I would rather die than submit to the likes of you.¡± ¡°Listen, I didn¡¯t want to come here. I was minding my own business and-¡° ¡°Lies, the Travelers have chosen to invade our land and burn our homes.¡± ¡°Fine then, now I am going to let you live no matter what. What really matters is how many pieces you lose before you answer my questions. First one is name.¡± ¡°The eight will decide your fate you barbarian.¡± I lifted the blade out of the fire pit and chopped off one of his little fingers with a sizzle. He let out a loud yell but then I punched him in the gut, leaving him gasping for air. I set the sword back over the fire. ¡°Name?¡± ¡°Never, Lord Breckley will avenge us all.¡± The man was stubborn and refused every question. He clearly wasn¡¯t going to talk so I chopped off his head and gained 6000 experience. At least I got the trap making skill for my rope trap from before. I checked his belongings and found fifteen copper and a silver coin. A dagger, much better quality than my kitchen knife and the rest was junk. Well I did switch out with the clean set of undergarments he had in his satchel. That afternoon, night, and into the following day it rained incredibly hard and I was forced to take shelter under a rocky overhang with my trusty horse. I named her, Horsey. My naming skills are legendary. I did manage to bring Meditate up another level since I had absolutely nothing to do while it rained and rained. Being wet was a good way to be miserable and I would chafe horribly.
Meditate -3
You are on the path to enlightenment
LvL 1: +100% MP Regen
LvL 2: +200% MP Regen
LvL 3: +400% MP Regen
Cost: Cannot move
Well at least I can fill up my mana faster. Observe is incredibly over powered the way it gave me information. I am curious to see what information I get when I level it up even further. The worst part was skills don¡¯t level while on auto pilot. That meant I had to sit under a tiny rocky over hang, damp, with a smelly Horsey. You know what was even worse, the fact that I barely gained enough MP to equal one Observe. MP regen was super terrible. I mean on a scale of one to ten it was a negative thousand. Maybe if I had dumped my points into Wisdom and Intelligence, things would have been better. I didn¡¯t have much MP left and I had made it a point to only use the skill during dire circumstances where it couldn¡¯t be avoided. When it finally stopped raining I went to check on the corpse of the messenger. I saw a number of those bulb creatures crawling all over him. That was gross. I counted five enemies. First I made sure Horsey was a safe distance away before I attacked. Three were about the same size as the one I killed, while two were a bit larger about two feet tall and darker. Probably the stage two versions. I darted in and stabbed both my blades into one of the larger darker ones. I twisted and turned while I yanked my blades out. Purple fluid went everywhere down its side onto the half emancipated corpse. These bulbs were probably sucking the nutrients out. The three little ones began to emit a purple cloud from their bulbs which quickly spread out in a sphere. The last bigger one aimed its bulb at me. I quickly ran away and behind a tree. There was a loud crack as part of the tree I was hiding behind exploded. All that remained was smoking purple goo. Shit, cloud based poison and ranged attacks. One on one, it was easy enough. Another crack at the tree I was hiding behind. I darted over to another tree and saw the smaller ones advancing on me using their vines to wiggle themselves across the ground. Crack! A small sapling shattered and toppled next to me. Freaking bull shit over powered monsters. I did note that there was about a ten second gap between each of those ranged attacks. Also the purple clouds seemed to stay localized around the smaller bulbs. I retreated further back into the forest. It took another minute before I was confident the smaller ones were far enough away from the larger bulb for my plan to work. I ran around the small clearing while moving in. The bulbs were not fast moving creatures, or even that clever. Compared to the soldiers, it was a bit sad. I waited for the next shot and then raced in, counting in my head. I sliced up the larger bulb before I even got to seven. I threw both my swords and impaled one each of the smaller bulbs. Their clouds faded away. This was the time I decided to experiment. I lead the last Leafy Bulb away from its friends and then made sure that both the ones I had impaled were dead. I left one sword on the ground and kept the other in my left hand. I then allowed my right hand to move through the purple cloud.
Spore Contact Paralysis-1
......
LvL 1: The body part exposed cannot move
Experience
+3002+2 LvL
+362-5 LvL
It wore off after a minute, but damn that was really dangerous. I could easily see someone becoming ensnared in a cloud and then being sucked dry as they lay helpless. I closed out my open windows. I then kept putting my hand in the cloud and leading the leafy bulb around the clearing while I let the paralysis wear off. After a couple hours of this it finally happened. [/tr][/tr]
Poison Immunity-1
Tastes like chicken
LvL 1: You are immune to basic poisons
I then began to stick my hand deeper and deeper into the cloud with no ill effects. I wasn¡¯t confident enough to breathe it in. If my entire body became paralyzed I would be screwed. So I just kept moving around the clearing and throwing stones at the Leafy Bulb. I took the time to wash off both my swords. I was hoping to exhaust the stupid thing, but as the day wore on that became less and less likely. In the middle of the afternoon, throwing finally went up to level two. When the sun started to go down the Leafy Bulb finally ground to a halt. That should have been obvious, it was a plant based creature. I wanted to smack myself for not realizing this sooner. I used up some rope to lasso the creature around its base where the bulb connected to the vines and some small leaves and I then tied it off to a nearby tree. Next I took the time to inspect the desiccated corpse. I saw a number of smaller bulbs growing in the corpse. If the bulbs had a strong paralysis, then there has to be a higher tier predator that eats them and is immune, or a night predator. I spent a very long night working on my meditation, not daring to go to sleep. That was when I heard a rustle. I saw large black woodpecker shaped birds fly down and jam their beaks into the dead bulbs with a slurping noise. I counted two of them. Since it wasn¡¯t confronting the bulbs during the day time, I put it around the same level as the bulbs, high teens. I threw one of my swords and it hit one of the birds with the hilt. It staggered and let out a caw while its companion flew off. I threw my second blade and clipped the bird¡¯s wing. I then began to race around the clearing to retrieve my weapons. Yes, throwing swords is stupid but it could shoot razors or wind blades for all I know. Caution trumps proper fighting style. I picked up both of my swords and closed in. That beak was huge and vicious looking, glinting a silver death in what little moonlight and starlight managed to break through the canopy. I threw both of my blades again. The first one sparked off the beak while the second one lodged into the creature¡¯s chest. I walked around to retrieve my first blade and found that it was chipped. The bird was so going to die. I closed in behind it and drove my blade into the back of its head as it was sluggish from its injuries. I pulled up my screens to confirm the bird¡¯s death.
Experience
+17131+7 LvL
You are level 19
I dumped the three points into Endurance, bringing it up to 16. I meditated slash rested the remainder of the night. The following mourning the bulb was trying to break free but was unable to free itself from the rope. There was a large dead bird next to a corpse where three new bulbs were emerging. The first thing I did is very carefully approach the purple spore cloud the bulb was sending out. I let put both my arms in and one of my legs. No effect or any notifications. I then backed my body out of the cloud and moved my head through the cloud and took a short breath. I then pulled myself backward. For a second I thought everything was fine until a pop-up appeared.
Spore Contact Paralysis-2
......
LvL 1: The body part exposed cannot move
LvL 2: Your lungs and throat cannot move
It was weird. While I could move my body, I couldn¡¯t breathe. I remained absolutely still. I saw my SP dropping quickly. Finally the effect disappeared and I could breathe again. I shook myself off and went over to the dead bird. The guts smelled nasty and the only real thing of value was the large metal beak. Unfortunately with the animal dead, whatever was keeping the beak hard and durable was gone. It acted like glass and shattered easily. I let out a sigh. No loot for me, there probably was a way to take the beak intact but I didn¡¯t have the knowledge or skills. I then went over and looked at the smaller bulbs. Contact paralysis was way to over powered and I planned to harness that for myself. I would unleash these creatures into towns at night and then finish off the inhabitants. I just needed to become one hundred percent immune to the stupid poison myself. The rest of the day was spent with me inhaling a bit of poison and then laying outside the creatures range. I guessed the next level would be injection, which would paralyze my organs and implant seeds/eggs? I was going to stay away from that. It was also a great way to practice my Mediate skill. The night passed uneventfully as I slept in fits and starts. The following day I noted that the three Leafy Bulbs on the almost dried out corpse were close to adult size now. I went back to the on and off paralysis from my captured bulb trying to get an immunity. After two thirds of the day I finally succeeded after being poisoned for what was probably the hundredth time.
Poison Immunity-2
Tastes like chicken
LvL 1: You are immune to basic poisons
LvL 2: You are immune to intermediate poisons
Type: Spore
Interesting, I had never gotten a type in a skill before. I wonder how many other poisons are out there. I gave a small shudder at the pain that would come with that line of thought. I checked and I was clearly immune inside the cloud. I touched the Leafy Bulb and nothing happened. I gave a small smile. I then led Bulb One to the tied up Horsey. Horsey collapsed, paralyzed and I took my sword and stabbed her in the head. Same level as me, so not that much experience. I then let Bulb One feed on Horsy. It crawled up and injected a stinger like device out of its base and settled in. The other bulbs broke free of the other corpse and soon there were four bulbs on top of Horsey. Since they were all together I took the time to rope them all together with a long leash. I tied them off to a tree and then took a nap. I woke up to the sounds of cawing at dusk. One of those birds had returned and was draining one of my blubs. I leapt up and raced over. I drove both of my swords into the back and neck of the creature. It collapsed in a heap. I removed my swords and went to clean off my swords in the stream. I had been sure to drink water from upstream with all the washing off of monster fluids I had been doing in it. The three remaining bulbs were already on the bird draining it or impregnating it. Whatever, nasty shit, that¡¯s what it was. *** RoidBeast1: I can¡¯t get enough of this guy, every time I think he can¡¯t be more insane he ups the anty Ramponator: He is more than a man, he is legend FuriousGhost: I am going to cut off this legends dick and feed it to him for what he did in game HolyMan: I shall stand by your side on such a noble quest PedoBear9000: Trolling the ultimate troll, like that is going to work Ramponator: Hate him, love him, you have to respect him GODHAXLOL: YOU KILLED HORSEY! Sliceman23: Let us have a moment of silence for Horsey UltimataSecret: An army of bulbs, this shit just got real Ramponator: More like a group or a team, for an army he would need lots of corpses Ramponator: Never mind, I am sure the corpse problem will solve itself HolyMan: I shall prepare my Legendary Sword of Herbicide Chapter 5: Not My Fault I woke up the following mourning to three larger bulbs. I unhooked the rope and picked up my pack. With a jerk on the rope they began to follow me. Bulb One was still the biggest. If they evolved, grew, or transformed into the shooting one it would be much harder to control. We arrived back at the road. The hard part would be getting people in range. I picked up the smallest bulb, but it was fairly heavy. I wouldn¡¯t be able to get a good distance into my throw. I threw the rope over a low overhanging branch and lifted the bulbs up into the canopy. They were clearly unhappy struggling up there, but I didn¡¯t care. I then tied the rope off to a nearby tree. When the next caravan came through I would lower the bulbs right in the middle of their group. The spread wouldn¡¯t be that great since I had only one rope, but it would knock out the core of the caravan. A couple of messengers went by, a bunch of peasants, but nothing that was a good target to attack. Finally I saw fifty soldiers marching in formation up the road led by a knight. They were fairly close together in their formation and the poison took a second to work so I should be able to get almost all of them. With a range of about five feet, I figured I could get the knight and most of the soldiers to give this operation a go. When the knight was almost underneath the bulbs I lowered them. The knight and the horse inhaled the cloud, but kept going. I lowered the bulbs so the soldiers got the full effect. I did it this way, so the knight would keep going for another second or two since only his face and breathing would be paralyzed, so I could get most of the soldiers. It also had the added benefit of preventing him from shouting. When people started to fall down I let the bulbs drop into the middle of the formation. Soldiers began to collapse all over the place. The first thing I did was rush down and stab the knight¡¯s horse a number of times in the side. It collapsed to the ground bleeding out and unable to breathe. The knight began to free himself from his fallen steed. I raced over to the bulbs. I quickly cut one free and threw it at the couple of soldiers at the back of the formation getting them in the spore cloud. I then cut another one free and tossed it over at the knight. I made it just in time. He had freed himself and turned to run but was hit with the paralysis. I then raced back to the soldiers and began stabbing them in the back of the head as quickly as possible. Killing people is hard work but soon they were all dead and I moved onto the knight. I stabbed him in through his armor and into his head. It was messy and bloody but I finally succeeded in killing him as well. I gathered up a bunch of food, arrows, rope, a new satchel, canteen, more rope, and clothes. I also looted the entire group for money. I didn¡¯t even bother to count as I rushed to complete the job before anyone else showed up. I swapped out my worn blades for new ones, one of them being the knight¡¯s sword. It was much higher quality than the others and a little bit longer. I then cut the rope from the bulbs but they were too busy moving from corpse to corpse to care. Loaded down I raced off into the forest. I didn¡¯t stop for anything. I knew that when Lord Breckley found out, there would be an army rampaging through these woods killing every little thing. I had done it, oh my god, I had taken out that entire group and a knight. Holy crap, I killed a super high level character. I stopped when it was getting dark and started a fire. I then munched on some fresh bread and jerky while I looked through my screens.
Depraved-10
Army of One-5
Trap Making-2
Battle of Gloommore Forest-1 MAX
Definitely not monsters
Permanent state of war now exists between you and the House of Breckley
+10 Fate
+1% Constitution
+1% Dexterity
+1% Wisdom
+1% Intelligence
Experience
+7200013+10 LvL
+3084012+9 LvL
+179907+8 LvL
+2055612+7 LvL
+1484613+6 LvL
You are level 32
Holy crap, thirteen levels and about a hundred and fifty thousand experience. That is insanity. I dumped thirty four points into Endurance bringing it up to fifty.
Endurance Focus-1
You are a brick wall
+25% to SP per LvL
I dropped the last five points into Strength. If I had to be running everywhere I needed the Endurance and the Strength to carry all my gear and loot. What can I say, I am a pack rat. ¡°Status.¡±
STATUS
NameKenji Shadowen
Level32
Constitution11.3
Strength15.15
Dexterity52.53
Endurance50.5
Wisdom5.05
Intelligence5.1
Charisma0
Luck0
Fate88.74
I sorted out the mess my satchel was. There was way too much coinage. Three hundred and fifty seven pieces of copper and four pieces of silver. Way too much freaking copper, but I wasn¡¯t going to chuck it away. I had a short bow, two bow strings, and thirty arrows in a quiver about to burst. I pulled out the knight¡¯s sword and laid it near the fire and just stared at it. I had a suspicion certain skills unlocked when an action was repeated. It was boring, but if I was right this would prove invaluable. I ended up sitting and staring at the sword for over an hour before it finally happened.
Identification -1
What is this now?
LvL 1: Learn the Name and LvL of an item
Cost 10 Mana
Why couldn¡¯t it be one mana instead of ten mana? I needed a wizard, or someone focusing their stats into Wisdom and Intelligence. This is freaking annoying. I would never be able to level this stupid skill up. I looked at the stupid sword once more. ¡°Ahhh, screw it. Identification.¡±
Sword of House Regent
LvL 60
¡°Well Sir Regent you are dead as dead can be.¡± *** On a road where the corpses lay, the Leafy Bulbs grew into Grand Bulbs and the affectionately named Bulb One continued to grow into a Swarm Bulb as the other two bulbs fed it more and more nutrients from the plethora of corpses. A giant pod, the size of a fully grown man with vines stretching up to twenty feet. Unlike its smaller companions this monster could birth other monsters. It had taken three generations of Lord Breckley''s family to suppress the monster population to an all-time low. While the low level monsters were easy enough to wipe out, when something like a Swarm Bulb appeared it was a disaster of epic proportions. To fight such a creature that stood at level one hundred fifty was incredibly difficult. That is why if a monster killed a person it was hunted down without remorse. With a hundred foot spore radius and numerous smaller bulbs exiting from the Swarm Bulb, it would require no less than an entire army to put down. As people traveled down the road they were taken out by the Grand Bulbs and then their corpses were delivered to the Swarm Bulb to grow even larger. In the thousand years since the first Breckley seized control of the land and built a city to protect his people, no one had ever weaponized monsters. The sheer horror and the numerous tales throughout all lands had scared people away from even considering such an attempt. While the poisons and parts might be used for research in small corners of the world no one would dare use a functioning monster. This was a new type of warfare that would send ripples far and wide. *** The next morning I set off through the woods in search of more bulbs. I came across a couple slimes that were easy enough to slice open, but didn¡¯t give any experience. They weren¡¯t even poisonous so no working on my immunity. I finally found a bulb with the signature purple spore cloud. A small one, which was perfect. I had a second satchel with me for just this purpose. I stuffed the monster inside and closed it up. The spore cloud quickly disappeared. A ready-made area of effect weapon. If I got into melee I would flip open my pouch and get a spore cloud. ¡°Who¡¯s the cute cuddly over powered bulb creature. You are, you are.¡± It didn¡¯t seem to get me. Maybe I could somehow tame a dragon or a phoenix or even¡­wait for it¡­a half dragon half phoenix. It would shoot fire beams from its mouth and talons. It could fly of course. Have scaly feathers that glimmered like a rainbow. It would be immortal except for one weakness only I would know. Finally it would fly me around, since I was sick of walking through this stupid forest. I saw a couple more small bulbs but ignored them as I pushed onwards. I had people to slay and a war to wage. I saw a small dirt path up ahead and started following it. I soon came to a half assed wood shelter as the sun was slowing going down over the horizon. I saw a bunch of people lounging around and talking. I counted three people, possibly two more in the shelter. They were clearly players since one had blue hair. Why we could pick blue hair, but not an outlandish name was beyond me. Well I was a tiny bald albino, so meh. ¡°Hello there fellow players.¡± Two of them jumped up holding swords. There was no chance they could beat me in a fair fight, plus I didn¡¯t fight fair. ¡°Hey there, this is our area.¡± ¡°No problem, I am just passing through.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be a jerk Rand, we need all the help we can get.¡± The leader put his hand on the flat of the blade and his companion lowered his sword. ¡°You are welcome to join us, we don¡¯t have much. Been pretty brutal out here.¡± I just nodded and approached. One hand was on my bulb bag in case of trouble. ¡°So I am Marissa. This is Rand, Orion, Loretta, and Jack.¡± ¡°I am Kenji Shadowmer.¡± I said and watched their reactions closely. None of them reacted or were very good in hiding social tells. ¡°Great to meet you Kenji.¡± I sat down at the fire pit. Two of the group went off to gather wood while the rest of us sat on logs laid around the campfire. ¡°So what is going on out there? All I hear from my friends is that the NPCs are cracking down on us players as hard as they can.¡± Rand said. ¡°Indeed, I have already been in multiple fights against them. I attempted to free others, but the strength of their knights is hard to overcome.¡± ¡°Well we have been hanging out here killing bulbs and slimes to get stronger. There aren¡¯t that many but I know we can do it.¡± Marissa gave me a smile. ¡°We have been thinking about moving on, any ideas on good hunting spots.¡± ¡°No, I have only retreated to the forest since Lord Breckley¡¯s forces will be no doubt pursuing me after the last fight. While I doubt they would travel more than a day from the road, I would be careful for patrols.¡± ¡°Thanks for the warning, you must be pretty strong to go up against the soldiers.¡± ¡°I am strong enough.¡± ¡°Eh, what level are you?¡± ¡°That is a rude question Loretta.¡± Rand said. ¡°A level high enough to survive and warn you not to try anything.¡± ¡°Hah, no worries. It is us against the NPCs.¡± Rand said. The other two returned with a bunch of wood and tossed it onto the fire. ¡°So tell us of your last fight, the one you had to run from.¡± Loretta said. ¡°Well, there were six of us. Not friends, we just happened to cross paths. We laid an ambush at a road not far from here. We managed to kill ten soldiers before the knight that was with them road two of my companions down. The other¡¯s broke and fled and the knight pursued them. I took the opposite direction and have been traveling for a day and a half.¡± Complete bullshit, but I wasn¡¯t about to let the bulb out of the bag. That made me wonder if the person who came up with that expression about cats and bags actually stuffed cats into bags and used them as weapons. Surprise, angry cats to the face! ¡°I already died once. Some asshole NPC decided to stab me in the groin. Why the groin you ask, because he was sadistic.¡± Orion said. ¡°I saw one guy lose an arm. That must have been painful. I would probably restart.¡± Jack said. ¡°So find any hidden skills?¡± Loretta asked. I was really beginning to dislike her. ¡°Like my level I will keep my abilities to myself. While you all are welcoming people, trust is not easy to come by.¡± I said. ¡°Indeed. Well we can split the watch up tonight three ways. Me and Kenji, then Lorreta and Jack, finally Orion and Marissa.¡± ¡°That seems reasonable.¡± I said. ¡°Since you are being so welcoming, I do have some extra food I can spare.¡± I dug into one of my satchels and pulled out three loaves of bread and twelve pieces of jerky. It was half my food stash, but some good will would be useful. I also took out the wood carving I had kept and passed it to Marissa. She blushed and gave me a smile. Cannon fodder slash meat shields were always good things to have. ¡°Awesome, you are the best.¡± Orion said. I gave everyone half a loaf and two pieces of jerky including myself. Everyone sat around the campfire with smiles as the sky grew darker. ¡°That was excellent thanks Kenji.¡± Rand said. Everyone else followed with a thank you and I just nodded in return. ¡°You should totally join up with us.¡± Jack said. ¡°You seem capable.¡± Orion added. ¡°Don¡¯t push the guy, he seems like a lone wolf.¡± Marissa said. ¡°Thank you, I will think on it.¡± I replied. ¡°With your help we can easily get strong enough to stomp the stupid NPCs.¡± Loretta said. The conversation drifted into all the NPC hate and what they were going to do. I smiled at their childish enthusiasm. I was in the midst of a war and they thought it was a game of tag. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. I walked off to the side of the clearing to get some fresh air as everyone settled down for the night. Jack came up next to me. ¡°If you want to sleep you can.¡± ¡°Thanks, but I will keep watch. While I prefer to solo, I will contribute towards the group while I am part of it.¡± ¡°You know we could really use you. I mean this whole thing has been a struggle since day one.¡± ¡°You would not like my methods. I wish to part on good terms, so let¡¯s leave it at that.¡± ¡°What can be worse than stabbing someone in the groin?¡± Jack asked. I was silent since there was no good answer. ¡°Ah, I won¡¯t ask then. Well if you change your mind you are more than welcome.¡± I gave him a nod. ¡°Thanks.¡± I took to walking around the edge of the clearing while Jack sat by the fire. Maybe I could team up. It would be nice to have people watching my back. With their help, I might even risk making an attempt on Lord Breckley. Jack woke up the next two when our turn was done and I settled in to sleep. I woke up at the crack of dawn. I looked around, everyone was still sleeping even the people who were supposed to be on watch. I guess being part of a group wasn¡¯t for me if they were that lazy. I then looked over and saw Loretta. Her face was twisted in an expression of terror as the bulb sat on top of her. I quickly got up and checked the others. All dead, suffocated in their sleep. I checked Loretta and she was somehow still alive. I figured the bulb liked to keep its victims alive somehow while feeding or impregnating the target. I could see the horror and pain in her face. It was easy enough to figure out what had happened. ¡°You just had to be greedy, didn¡¯t you? Well congratulations on killing everyone here.¡± I began looting everyone. The only thing of value was a couple of copper coins. I built the fire back up and tossed their bodies into with along with their belongings. ¡°I hope you all get a better start wherever you respawn.¡± I then turned towards Loretta. I pulled the bulb off of her and put it away in my satchel after wiping the good stuck on it onto the ground. Purple goo dripped from the wound in her chest ¡°I don¡¯t know how you are alive, but I know you didn¡¯t set up the mental log off feature if you are still here. You know what happens now? Tiny little bulbs are going to grow out of you and then suck your juices out. I could kill you, but your stupidity killed everyone here. So I am going to leave you paralyzed and alone. I honestly didn¡¯t want this to happen. Me not wanting to kill someone, how weird. I was like, let¡¯s have a change of pace. Let¡¯s not kill everyone I meet. I was even thinking about teaming up with all of you to put the hurt on the NPCs. Share the secrets of magic.¡± Her eyes somehow twitched at that. ¡°Oh yes, I know so many secrets. But now you can have bulbs grow out of your body. Oh, look up Rain of Blood if you really want to know how I usually do things. Smell you later.¡± I walked away from the helpless frozen girl as plants ate away at her insides. I followed the small dirt trail that led from the clearing. In about half a day I came out to some fields. I opened up my satchel. I then proceeded to walk up to the farmers and stab them in the head while they lay on the ground paralyzed. More farmers rushed but quickly succumbed to the spores affects. I quickly dispatched them. I didn¡¯t even bother keep track after twenty. I then marched into the small village. A soldier spotted me and called for help. Three more joined him, one of them had a bow. I charged forward and the three soldiers collapsed. I ducked to the side as the arrow flew by me. I was within range and the last soldier collapsed. I then killed and looted them for copper and more food. I searched the village and killed off the people who were hiding. The children choked to death from the spores and they were too low level to bother with. I took a fresh change of clothes. I covered up the bulb and took a horse. I passed through another villager on the coast killing five more soldiers and then turned towards Breckley. That was when I saw twenty soldiers approaching. I headed straight for the center of their formation and they parted around me giving me glares. I uncovered my satchel. They all collapsed, choking to death. I made short work of them and looted a lot more coinage. Unfortunately Horsey the Second perished as well. Even with all the deaths I had only gone up to level thirty three. I pushed forward down the road. The bulb really was over powered. I saw a priest of some sort walking along the road slowly. I pushed myself to catch up. He was dressed in grey with eight symbols on his robe. ¡°Hello.¡± I called out. He turned, his face wasn¡¯t that old but he had a short white beard and white hair with only small hints of black. ¡°Hello, Traveler.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to fight.¡± ¡°The smell of death surrounds you. With the blessings of the Eight I will not allow you to pass.¡± ¡°I can accept that. Why don¡¯t you teach me about your faith while we wait here? If you distract me enough you might be able to kill me or allow someone to come to your aid.¡± ¡°Hah, I accept your challenge. For you shall convert before I send you from this world.¡± I pulled out a piece of jerky and began chewing while the man talked. ¡°In the time before man, there were nine gods who forged the world. Tafe, forged the idea and all that is. Culk imbued the randomness to disrupt the rigid order. Machisar gave us hopes and dreams for tomorrow. Gencellitni gave us our thoughts and history. Dowism gave us context and the ability to grasp things that lay beyond. Duerance gave us the ability to move forward. Xyiterted gave us speed and haste. Trentghs gave us the power to carry out our duties. Finally Onciontituts gave us our form and life. Man came into being birthed by the divine and we reached to greater and great heights.¡± I definitely need a pen and paper to work something out I suspected. ¡°One thousand years ago, our hubris grew too great. Man attempted to enter the realm of the divine. A great war was fought and in the end mankind cast down Tafe and imprisoned her for all time. Unfortunately the remaining gods responded and gave their gifts to lesser beings in revenge, creating the first monsters that plague our land to this day.¡± ¡°Now a new monster has come, the Traveler. In hordes upon hordes you assault and destroy out homes and culture. Well no more. I call on Trentghs, lend me your aid!¡± A flash of light surrounded the priest. I flipped open my satchel and spores surrounded me. The priest darted in and attempted to punch me, but I ran away. He backed out of the spore¡¯s range and took a breath again. ¡°You call upon the aid of monsters. There can be no forgiveness for your wickedness.¡± He was immune, to the contact poison of the spores, this was not good. I threw a sword at him but he easily side stepped the attack. Shit, this old man was tough. ¡°I call upon Xyiterted, lend me your aid.¡± Another glow surrounded the priest and he moved in at twice the speed. I used my sword in wide slashes to keep him at bay. He had to retreat to breathe which allowed me a chance to recover. I dodged each punch by the skin of my teeth, and watched as my SP quickly plummeted. ¡°Forgive me oh gods, but I must call upon a third of your siblings. Culk lend me aid in this time of need!¡± Another glow surrounded the priest. This just cemented in my mind my dislike of magic users. He darted in again and I didn¡¯t notice anything different. Then I stepped off to the side and there was a rock underneath my foot. With my balance off kilter, the priest landed a glancing blow. I was spun around and he retreated from the swipe of my blade. Before I could recover he was next to me. He delivered a single punch to the Leafy Bulb killing it instantly and then backhanded my hand holding my sword sending it flying away. ¡°A greater evil I have never met. May you forever remember the name-¡° I head butted him as hard as I could. His nose exploded in a shower of blood. I kicked out and struck his kneecap which I heard a loud snap from. He collapsed to the ground and the nimbus of light around him vanished. I spat on his body. ¡°Remember this name, Kenji Shadowen.¡± I then stomped on his groin again and again, until his crotch was a bloody mess. I then kicked him in the face to shut off his moaning. My shoulder hurt terribly and I had a headache. If I had been hit head on, I would have been pulverized. I checked his corpse and found my first gold piece. ¡°Dammit, I need another bulb.¡± I muttered as I continued to search the corpse. I found a book embossed with eight symbols similar to the blood robes the man wore. ¡°I always enjoyed reading.¡± He had nothing else on him. I collected my weapons and said, ¡°Well for an old guy you put up a half decent fight.¡± I then went off through tall grass towards the forest in the distance. I then started going through my screens. There was one that caught my eye.
Quest Complete-Medium
The Gods
+100 EXP
Holy War-1
A crusade
Permanent state of war now exists between you and the Church of Eight
+10 Fate per LvL
+1% Constitution per LvL
+1% Strength per LvL
+1% Dexterity per LvL
+1% Endurance per LvL
+1% Wisdom per LvL
+1% Intelligence per LvL
+1% Charisma per LvL
+1% Luck per LvL
STATE OF WAR WITH THE CHURCH OF EIGHT
You have declared war upon the Church of Eight by killing a priest. All priests can sense what you have done and will attempt to slay you. A bounty will be issued for you. Allies may be called to assist. Upstanding citizens will run from you. The state of war cannot be ended unless by agreement of both parties or destruction of faction.
Quest-Medium
Scout the Gloomwood
Find the disturbance in the Gloomwood
+100 EXP
Accept (Yes/No)
Quest-Hard
Protect Mendal
Do not allow the civilians in Mendal''s church to perish
+1000 EXP +1 Stat Point
Accept (Yes/No)
Quest-Legendary
Kill Bulb One
Kill your pet bulb one
+10000 EXP +3 Stat Point
Accept (Yes/No)
¡°Aww, crap.¡± *** ¡°Sir Davos! Something approaches the town!¡± ¡°What is it soldier.¡± ¡°A¡­I don¡¯t know, it is massive sir. It comes from the Gloomwood.¡± A chill ran down the knight¡¯s back. While he may be brash and loud, he knew the danger of what approached if he had to guess. ¡°Hunters, head towards the Gloomwood to the west of here. Find the disturbance and report back.¡± Twenty yes sirs sounded off as the hunters raced off. At least these Travelers would die and not his soldiers. ¡°Mobilize the garrison and the town. I want a bow in every single hand that can shoot before mid-day. I want the women and children evacuated to the church and the building sealed. Also call up all the priests to me.¡± A chorus of yes sirs sounded off. The bells in the church tower began ringing out. Farmers out in the surrounding fields began to rush back from where they had just begun their daily work. ¡°Move it people!¡± Sir Davos shouted. He moved his left arm, the shoulder was still stiff from his wound. Nothing serious but enough to slow him down just a tad. People rushed to and fro but Sir Davos stood and watched, mentally preparing for the coming battle. He saw seven of the hunters running down the road from the Gloom Wood just past mid-morning. ¡°Open the gate!¡± He bellowed out. It was a simple wooden gate and walls. They would hold, but it was nothing compared to the might of Breckley¡¯s walls. The hunters raced in and collapsed on the ground. Sir Davos turned and looked down at them waiting for an explanation. ¡°Oh my god. That thing was huge.¡± ¡°It just grabbed up Kevin.¡± ¡°No, no, no, no.¡± Only one of the hunters looked up at Sir Davos. ¡°Big, a really big plant with vines is moving down the road towards here. There is a massive purple haze around it and hundreds of smaller plants.¡± Sir Davos turned and looked back out over the fields. A hill in the distance blocked his view but he could easily imagine a giant Swarm Bulb and all the horror it meant for Mendal. ¡°You hunters go up to that hill and keep watch for it.¡± ¡°No way, that thing will-¡° Sir Davos had already cut off the idiot¡¯s head in a shower of blood. ¡°I don¡¯t ask twice.¡± The six remaining hunters went back out the gate to stand on the hill. ¡°Remove this thing, and bring up the priests. I will need as many blessings as possible if I am to go head to head with what approaches.¡± ¡°You¡­you really think you can beat a Swarm Bulb.¡± One of the braver soldiers asked. ¡°We shall see.¡± *** HolyMan: A crusade it is, for I shall smite his evil from this world Ramponator: What a noob, don¡¯t let the bulb out RoidBeast1: hilarious meme, check it out GODHAXLOL: YOU KILLED HORSEY THE SECOND! Ramponator: He kills everyone 6996: Unless they kill themselves first Sliceman23: Bulbs growing out of you is now top of my list on how I don¡¯t want to die PedoBear9000: What was number one Sliceman23: Sword to the groin FuriousGhost: I am going to put a bulb on his dick, lets see how he likes it Ramponator: No, just no, you are officially banned from my presence UltimataSecret: Just heard a super boss is approaching Mendal RoidBeast1: Rain of Blood is so going to kill it with leet skillz HolyMan: Only those of the faith will survive the coming doom AngryMomX: Kenji, Rain of Blood, I am level sixty with ultimate magic and I am coming for you Ramponator: Trollollollollol Horsey: Please stop killing me GODHAXLOL: HORSEY UR ALIVE! Chapter 6: I Love You Tafe I found a bulb really easily since one was coming out of the forest. I picked it up and stuffed it in my satchel. I then looked into the forest and saw at least fifty more bulbs making their way out. I counted at least seven larger ones. I quickly began moving away. Suddenly there was a loud crash. I looked behind me and massive bulb appeared out of the forest. Huge vines shot forwarded to drag itself along while other bulbs exited out from underneath giant leaves at its base. My first thought was, wow what an awesome event. My second thought was that is fairly big, Bulb One really ate quite a bit. My third thought was, OH MY GOD RUN RUN RUN RUN! As I ran the bulb kept up right behind me. ¡°Observe¡±
Swarm Bulb
LvL: ???
How high level did something need to be to get freaking question marks? I should have never accepted a stupid Legendary quest. I should have known it would be something stupid like this. Damn fate caught up with me. I now had a boss monster mowing its way across the fields towards me. I crested a hill and saw six people standing on the next one. I didn¡¯t stop running. Fifteen seconds later the boss came over the hill behind me. I could see all their expressions turn to terror as they fled. I reached the hill they had been on and saw them rushing into Mendal just as the gates swung shut. I changed directions to flank the town. I noticed a knight standing over the entrance while hundreds of soldiers and townsfolk lined the walls. Bulb one came up over the hill and went for the town instead of me thankfully. A shimmering glow appeared around the townsfolk as they unloaded hundreds of fire arrows into the monstrosity. It just ignored them and kept moving forward. The glow intensified around the knight and he leapt off the wall in front of the gate with a thundering boom. I honestly thought about helping, but I wasn¡¯t going to try tackling a Swarm Bulb. The knight rushed forward and was a blur as he cut through giant vine after giant vine. Despite his efforts he was slowly being pushed back. The pace of the Swarm Bulb slowed as its vines were cut and it had become a raging inferno from all the fire arrows. I thought it was over but then four vines shot out and grabbed onto the wall. The knight managed to cut two before the Swarm Bulb pulled. The wooden wall collapsed as people fell screaming to their deaths while the Swarm Bulb somehow leapt forward and slammed into the knight sending him flying backwards into the town. That was when hundreds of the smaller bulbs began moving into the town from behind the Swarm Bulb. With the shimmering shield blocking out the spores gone, the people were helpless to the bulbs as they steadily advanced on their paralyzed bodies. I honestly couldn¡¯t think of what I could do to save the town and complete my quest. A raging fifteen foot monster with super vines and a massive cloud of paralyzing spores that is spawning loads of smaller monsters was a bit beyond me at the moment. The walls were destroyed and the majority of people were paralyzed. While the boss mob has been wounded, there was limited effect. I couldn¡¯t drop anything on it. Everything on fire was pretty much already burning after the wall had come crashing down. Just when I couldn¡¯t think the situation could get any worse, the Swarm Bulb unleashed a spray over the town from the top of its bulb. From what I could see, things were melting as the purple goo hit them. If a buffed knight couldn¡¯t win, what the hell was I supposed to do? The smaller bulbs wouldn¡¯t give that much experience and I didn¡¯t stand a chance against those vines. That thing had range, melee, more toughness than a tank, and horde of minions. You know every time I think things can¡¯t get any worse, someone should smack me because that was when all the smaller bulbs converged on the larger bulb and began to give a portion of their nutrients healing the damage that had been done. The giant bulb grew another five feet in under a minute. The birds had long beaks to pierce the bulbs. That was the way to win, possibly. Pierce the center and the thing should die off. That was easier said than done. I needed one really strong attack. Something that would punch through everything. I entered Mendal as the Swarm Bulb slowly advanced on the center of the town, which is where I assumed the church was. The mid-size bulbs were ignoring me, which made me wonder why. Well if the parent was Bulb One, I had inhaled a lot of its spores, so who knows how I appeared to them. Also I wasn¡¯t doing anything to them while they fed off the paralyzed corpses. I saw a large barrel off to the side with a small crack. Oil, that had some possibilities. I moved the barrel on its side and began rolling it down the street towards the Swarm Bulb. I heard sounds of fighting and figured it was probably the knight from before. I pushed the barrel right next to the Swarm Bulb, which thankfully ignored me. Watching those massive vines that could snap me in an instant was incredibly scary. I ran back and then used my striker to light the trail of oil on fire that had dripped out of the barrel. I then hid behind a street corner. Do not believe Hollywood, watching explosions is not good for one¡¯s health. The barrel went off in a giant whoosh. I looked around the corner and the bulb had once again become a towering pillar of flame with a huge chunk carved out of its base. Suddenly it tilted to the side and fell into a house. Holy crap that actually worked. I looked around and most of the town was going up in flames and loads of smaller bulbs were working on the corpses. Meh, not my problem. I pulled up the windows to confirm.
Running-1
Run like a tree, jump like a rock
LvL 1: You understand the basics of running
Quest Complete-Medium
Scout the Gloomwood
+100 EXP
Quest Complete-Legendary
Kill Bulb One
+10000 EXP +3 Stat Points
Experience
+60001+10 LvL
You are level 34
Quest-Medium
Homework
Read the book in your possesion
+100 EXP
Accept (Yes/No)
Quest-Legendary
End the War
End the war between you and House Breckley
+10000 EXP +3 Stat Points
Accept (Yes/No)
I took both quests. It was what I was planning to do anyways. I then dumped all nine stat points into Strength bringing it up to twenty four. I then went around killing bulbs. It was easy enough to dodge the bullets and cut them apart. The knight kept his distance from me but also worked on killing the bulbs. Sure enough the hard quest was complete.
Quest Complete-Hard
Protect Mendal
+1000 EXP +1 Stat Points
Quest-Hard
Defeat Sir Davos
Kill the mighty Sir Davos, Hero of Mendal
+1000 EXP +1 Stat Points
Accept (Yes/No)
I fled. I ran out of the town and followed the trail of destruction back into the forest. Once I was in a position to rest I realized that I never got rewarded for saving the stupid town. I then realized that the hard quest called Sir Davos the Hero of Mendal. That probably meant I didn¡¯t get recognized and the only one who knew I helped was that knight. I let out a long sigh. ¡°At least you still like me bulby? Right?¡± I asked the leafy creature I had stored in my satchel, no response. Well I had my Legendary quest to kill Lord Breckley and the hard one to kill Sir Davos. Those stat points were the real driving factor. It was hard to tell, but looking back on it, I had been far more exhausted and tired at the start of FEAR than now. I tossed my one stat point into Strength and started looking around the forest for someplace to spend the night. I was probably the strongest player in FEAR. With the permanent death penalty many people tried to play it too safe, while other¡¯s tried to bull rush through. It was like a tight rope act, one needed to be balanced. I had discovered magic, killed a boss, completed some very hard quests, and pissed off all the NPCs. I found a small clearing by a stream. I killed a couple of slimes that were just sitting around and began building up a fire. I settled in to read the book I had liberated from the Priest of Eight. The Basic Chants of Eight by Tegith To call upon the eight one must invoke their name and state the full chant. One¡¯s heart must be open to them and one must dedicate their life to the path of the Eight. Each chant drains one spiritual energy to access these powers and care must be taken not to overextend one self. For as one ability increases all other¡¯s decrease in equal measure. We shall begin with Onciontituts.(Pronounced Onk-i-ON-tit-uts for people who were wondering and want to join in) This chant shall stave off illness from one¡¯s own body. Oh Onciontituts aid me with your grace. Empower my body and soul to withstand the rigors that are placed upon me so that I may survive what is to come. Cleanse my body of filth and pestilence so that I may bask in you glory. I carefully recited the full chant out loud. Insufficient Wisdom
I cursed and cursed at that stupid screen. So unfair, I had the secrets of ultimate magic before me and I couldn¡¯t access them. The entire book was filled with chants. I flipped by most of them looking for any more explanations on how magic worked. At the end there was another blurb. When one has mastered the basic chants, that is the first step on the path to enlightenment. The next step would be to use various chants to empower others and the land around oneself. May the eight guide your path to a greater understanding. Tegith, High Priest of the Church of Eight
Quest Complete-Medium
Homework
+100 EXP
Quest-Medium
Training
Reach level five of any one skill
+100 EXP
Accept (Yes/No)
The old man didn¡¯t use long chants so that was probably the third level of skill. Someway to compress or store chants to be used for later. The forth level might be some combination techniques or attack techniques. Instead of boosting or shielding one could drain and hurt. What was really troublesome was that there was no mention of shielding. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. While all the chants were defensive in nature, boosting and assisting, there was no mana shield or magic shield. If someone tried to chant my body into exploding how the hell was I going to counter that? That also turned my thoughts to the lady in white, was she a god and which one was she. Probably the sadistic one, Xyiterted (Zei-IT-er-ted) sounded evil enough. I wanted fireballs and laser beams. Not stupid chants I couldn¡¯t even use. I really needed a minion to learn some magic. I saw the way the knight moved and he probably was boosted to insane levels. I flipped back through the book again. There were no chants to Tafe the fallen goddess. I checked again, no chants to her. Oh my god, that was so simple I had missed it. The gods were the stats, I let loose a laugh at that. Someone had a cheesy imagination. It took me a moment to work out the names to the stat, the descriptions helped quite a bit. So that would also tie in on why people have nine stats and can only alter eight of them. Church of Eight indeed, I know your secret. I decided to try my own chant. ¡°Tafe, fickle lady in white with a temper.¡± I really was hoping I guessed right. ¡°Give me some of your powers to aid me now. You owe me one.¡± There was a long stretch of silence. ¡°Guess she is an imprisoned old hag, with a stained dress.¡± There was a distant screeching noise in the forest. Note to self, do not piss off women. Second note to self, do not piss off gods. Third not to self, female gods who are imprisoned still can smite one from a distance. Forth note to self, RUN! I grabbed up my satchels and began running through the forest. It was already getting dark and I could hear a creature screeching from behind me. ¡°Sorry, sorry, no more insults. You are quite beautiful Tafe.¡± Unfortunately goddesses once scorned do not forgive lightly. I came out into a clearing. I saw another player sitting by a campfire looking worried. ¡°Hey there!¡± I said as I ran over to him. He startled and tried to stand up but I did a flying kick into his shoulder knocking him back down. ¡°What-¡° I raced by him to the other side of the clearing and then turned to watch while I hid under some dense shrbbery. Out of the forest burst a giant screaming praying mantis. The thing had to be as tall as a person with giant metal scythes clearing a path. ¡°Observe.¡±
Forest Guardian
LvL 69
It pounced onto the helpless player and he was literally ripped apart. I couldn¡¯t help but think of Rain of Blood as pieces of the dead player showered over the Forest Guardian and around the clearing. I hid, not daring to breathe. The reptilian eyes swept around the area and it stood there ready for battle. The tension was insane. I figured I had a one in five chance of winning, and almost no chance of winning uninjured. While level denoted natural toughness and capability, weapons, equipment and training all played a major role that were not taken into account. With those scythe hands it was easily at a much higher combat level. Also the speed was insane and its exoskeleton looked fairly sturdy. A sword thrust would probably be the way to go, if I could even manage to get that close. The Forest Guardian spun around and darted back the way it had come. I let out a long breath but waited another couple of minutes to make sure it was truly gone. I then snuck away from the blood soaked clearing. Shitty way to die, but the online crowd would eat it up. It was dark now and I spent a night hiding in the forest in the dark resting. The following mourning I woke up refreshed and debated on what to do next. Attack Mendal, that was simple enough. With a good chunk of the wall destroyed and the populace killed I figured the soldiers and knights would come and clean things up, possibly a few more of those priests. While the soldier¡¯s weren¡¯t that great for experience any more, they were plentiful. Plus I needed to find and kill this Sir Davos. I did stretches to limber myself up and then made my way back towards Mendal. I heard the soldiers before I saw them. ¡°Check that bush, there might be a bulb.¡± I looked around and saw soldiers combing through the forest in a line. They were exterminating the bulbs to prevent a repeat from before. I waited behind a tight cluster of trees hearing the soldiers approach closer and closer. If they were willing to come to me, who was I to refuse them. When I heard a soldier get close enough I flipped open my satchel. I then spun around the trees and stabbed him in the face before he could collapse. Shouts went up and down the line as I turned and ran towards the next soldier. He brought up his sword but was unable to block as the paralysis took him. I killed another two this way before noting that my SP gauge was halfway empty. I then turned and ran off into the forest. As I ran the soldiers became clustered together right behind me to keep up. I made sure not to go too fast so I was always just in sight. I then dropped my bulb satchel in a clump of large ferns and kept running but slightly slower. The soldiers put on an extra burst of speed and they were caught in the paralyzing spore cloud. Three of them had seen the trap and managed to avoid it. I rushed back and they moved to confront me. Duel wielding is hard and tiring. The important thing is to not block and focus on speed and attacking. The first soldier swung wide and I darted to the side. His companion rose his blade up to block but I leapt up and drove my knee into his stomach. He collapsed backwards and I rolled through the attack over his prone form. I then threw one of my blades at the soldier in front of me and rushed forward not waiting for the result. He blocked my thrown blade but I was already in his guard and cut his neck open. A spray of blood shot out and he collapsed trying to hold back what little remained of his life. The first soldier was helping the second up to his feet. I rushed over to where there brethren lay on the ground, paralyzed. I began to kill off all eleven of them as quickly as I could. The soldiers rushed in but didn¡¯t dare enter the spore cloud and were too well trained to throw their weapons. I then kicked the bulb at them which had crawled on top of one of the soldiers. There was a moment of priceless shock on their faces as purple pus with tiny green orbs shot out of the stinger before it could retract at the base of the bulb. The bulb flew at the two soldiers. One of them stepped forward and sliced the bulb in half mid-air. Unfortunately for him he succeeded in cutting the bulb in twain. Purple goo went everywhere coating the soldier and to a certain extent his companion. They collapsed screaming as their flesh smoked. I stepped forward and quickly put them out of their misery. I was sure more of them were right on my tail so I quickly got to looting. I grabbed another satchel and began looting all the food and money I could find. One of the soldiers had some fruit looking things, which would be a nice change from meat and bread. I didn¡¯t bother to count the money. I also packed a number of spare swords as well and all the arrows and bow strings they had. I had no idea when I might see civilization again. With my looting done I ran off before I slowed down. I walked the rest of the day heading deeper into the forest. It was time for some monster hunting and training. I was strong for a player at this stage, but nowhere near the strength needed to take on Lord Breckley and his knights. I could beat a soldier easily. A knight with their armor and skill would be much harder. The biggest problem was the sheer numbers I would have to face. There was also Sir Willos, that guy was over level one hundred, which was insanity. I needed to be hells of a lot stronger to steam roll my way through the city of Breckley and kill the Lord. Observe had gone up to level two allowing me to know the strongest stat of a target. Not that great. Running had gone up to level two, meh. Light conditioning had gone up to three, giving a one percent bonus to SP. I could get behind that. I did the math and my percentages came out as the following. Constitution, 14% Strength, 2% Dexterity, 4% Endurance, 2% Wisdom, 2% Intelligence, 3% Charisma, -2% Luck, 6% Fate, 2% SP, 26% Reaction Time, 25% The fact that luck was so high made me cringe. I really hated luck, I made my own fate. Okay bad choice of words, I made my own destiny. Much better, the goddess Tafe handled the fate side of things. That night I rested and then I pushed on again the following day. I saw some bulbs and slimes, but the monster type had not changed. I also saw a couple of deer but they ran away the moment they saw me. I came upon a large river and began to follow it upstream. I came to a small lake surrounded by hills. This was perfect. I set up a campsite on a large chunk of rock overlooking the lake. While exposed, I was more worried about monsters than players. I sorted out everything I had taken. I had enough food for twenty days. That gave me ten days in the wilderness for training and then another ten days to go find civilization. In the mornings I went swimming in the cold water. Next I would gather wood. After that I began to do stretches, sit-ups, squats, and push-ups. Following that I would read for a while and attempt to memorize the chants. None of them worked, since my Wisdom was too low, but I wanted to be prepared in recognizing them and be able to teach them if needed. I would follow that up with archery and then throwing. I would have my dinner and then meditate until I fell asleep. While it may seem a bit silly, those percentages have a much greater impact the more stats one has. Sure one percentage point isn¡¯t a lot but once I rose my stats up over one hundred they were more valuable than the points themselves to a certain extent. *** BloodyRainLord: That boss was epic, total smack down on the NPCs GODHAXLOL: YOU KILLED BULBY Sliceman23: That is not a big loss, that thing was a menace 6996: Unless he tamed it, that would be awesome to ride into battle KilluaXXX: Until it decides to eat you HolyMan: You see his true evil, join me and we shall smite him down FuriousGhost: I am coming for you, I have just passed Breckley, you can¡¯t hide for long PedoBear9000: Stalker skill level five Ramponator: ROFL UltimataSecret: I want a magic book Guild_Master: Go kill a priest RoidBeast1: Those fuckers are worse than the knights, one ripped off my arm and beat me with it HolyMan: A priest after my own heart Nooblet: Great Rain of Blood, please stop cutting out the content that we want RoidBeast1: Yeah, no editing the chants we needz the magics Ramponator: Noobs GODHAXLOL: IT¡¯S A TRAINING MONTAGE! Chapter 7: Options
SKILLS
Blunt Weapons-1
Piercing Weapons-1
Cutting Weapons-3
Throwing-3
Light Archery-3
Riding-1
Trap Making-2
Ambidxterious-2
Running-3
Swimming-2
Light Conditioning-5 MAX
Medium Conditioning-1
Climbing-1
Stealth-1
Basic Biology-1
Torture-3
Deception-3
Poison Immunity-2 Type: Spore
Meditate -4
Identification -1
Observe -2
Murderer-90
Depraved-10
Army of One-5
Enemy of the People-3
Massacre of Willhelm-1 MAX
Battle of Gloommore Forest-1 MAX
Player Killer-4
Cannibal-2
Holy War-1
Dexterity Focus-1
Endurance Focus-1
STATUS
NameKenji Shadowen
Level34
Constitution11.4
Strength25.5
Dexterity53.04
Endurance52
Wisdom5.1
Intelligence5.15
Charisma0
Luck0
Fate122.24
Quest-Medium
Monster Hunter
Kill the forest guardian
+100 EXP
Accept (Yes/No)
I was a bit disappointed. Maxing out light conditioning had only given one percent SP bonus for levels three through five and then unlocked medium conditioning. While I didn¡¯t think I would unlock ultimate power, I was hoping for a bit more. My arrows were all used up, broken and cracked from the repeated shooting. I had tried practicing with my swords but the skill wouldn¡¯t level up unless I was beating something alive apparently. It had been only seven days, but I was done with the training and trying to improve my skills. I wanted to kill things again and was going a bit stir crazy. I sat at the edge of the rock looking out at the stars and how the scene was reflected against the lake. I had the twenty four basic chants memorized. They were all fairly similar, but each of them was slightly different. I could see how it would be insanely easy to trip up and do the wrong chant. Next time I fought a magic user I would shout random things to confuse them. Also it was a big help to hear the names of the Gods otherwise I would never have been able to pronounce half of them just from the text alone. Each stat or god got three basic chants. The first was to remove a condition and heal in some way. The second chant was to boost a stat a small amount for a short time. The final chant in each set was a bit trickier. At first I thought it was to boost a stat but that didn¡¯t make any sense since there was already a chant. It finally came to me a couple of days into the training. The second chant was for a longer period of time but a smaller increase while the third chant was for a doubling or even tripling of a stat for a very brief period of time. I figured it was the third type of chant that the priest had used against me. I let myself smile as I looked out across the water. I was currently in the top fifty of all players. With the millions of people who had signed up, that was a bit surprising but not unexpected. I recalled the message that had come up recently.
NOTIFICATION
All players have been ranked based on levels and skills. You will be informed if you are in the top 10000, top 1000, or the top 50.
***TOP 50***
I honestly wondered how strong the strongest player was. Probably insane and I would need to take them down in order to reach the top. Maybe I was the strongest and someone would try to take me out. I stood up and began taking a piss off into the lake. I heard the twang of a bow. I tried to twist out of the way and piss went everywhere. The arrow went through my shoulder. I fell on my rear. I quickly tightened up the pants I was wearing with my left hand. My right arm was weak and not doing so well with the arrow lodged into my right shoulder. That shot had come from behind. I rolled as another arrow hit the rock where I had just been laying. The arrow embedded in my shoulder twisted and I had to bite back a scream. I grabbed the sword that I had set next to me while star gazing and began to move forward at high alert. Someone was out there and they were making a go at me. While they failed in their surprise attack and now they were going to pay. Another arrow flew at me from the tree line but I was already moving to the side, letting the arrow easily slip by me. I continued racing forward to the source of the shot. I heard a person moving and darted in sword swinging. The figure had a sword of their own and blocked head on. I pushed on their blade and my higher Strength pushed their blade back. They moved to the side to strafe around me, but I countered by moving back and turning to keep them in front of me while not losing my footing. The figure came in swinging. I blocked the attacks easily enough, but my right shoulder was not doing me any favors. I deflected the next jab and kicked out towards their knee. They had good battle sense and stepped back just in time to avoid a shattered knee cap. Damn, this person had some skill. While I had the stronger Strength stat they were my equal in terms of Dexterity apparently. Time to change things up. ¡°Oh Xyiterted, aid me now. Speed my senses for this time when all is at stake. For through your guidance I shall overcome the hardship placed before me. With your power let me now succeed where others might have failed.¡± The figure had a cloth around their face and it was dark, but I could see them hesitate as I did the chant while continuing to trade blows. The moment it was complete, but didn¡¯t activate of course, I didn¡¯t go for any fancy tricks. I just slammed my blade as hard as I could down at the figure. They stumbled, and I kept raining blows down on them. They sank to one knee and then two before finally losing the grip on their blade sending in flying into the brush. I kicked out and sent the figure backwards onto the ground. I then stabbed with my blade into their wrist, almost cutting off their right hand. The figure screamed, but I kicked them a couple more times. They were cradled around their bloody stump, well not really a stump since the hand was still attached by a strip of flesh. ¡°Log out.¡± I heard the figure gasp out. I placed my sword on their neck. ¡°Get up and come with me.¡± The autopilot obeyed. That was the thing about autopilots, you couldn¡¯t order your autopilot to kill themselves or do anything impressive. I got the figure out onto my rocky out cropping where I could see them better. I pushed half the wood I had stacked up by my fire pit into it with my foot to get some light in the area. ¡°Take off all your clothes.¡± The auto pilot looked like it was going to refuse for a second, but then it obeyed. There was a chance that the player had only said log out to trick me. The black cloaked figure was a woman. They were having trouble with only one hand but managed. ¡°Lie down on the ground face down. Put your good hand behind your head and your other one stretched out.¡± The woman listened without complaint, but I saw the fear in her eyes. I let my sword heat up in the fire while keeping any eye on her. After a minute I walked over and burned the wound shut and cut off the rest of her hand. She let out a scream and then fell silent. She stopped moving after that. I checked her eyes and breathing, but she had passed out or the system had calculated that she had lost enough blood and HP to pass out from the pain. I went into my pack and found strips of ripped up clothing I used for bandages. I then broke off the tail of the arrow and pulled it out of my back. That hurt, but luckily it hadn¡¯t broken inside of me when I had rolled on the ground. I then proceeded to touch my white hot blade to my wounds. The next thing I remember after that was waking up with the fire dying down. I must have passed out. The woman was still unconscious thankfully. I finished bandaging up my wound. My shirt was a total loss, but I had a spare thankfully, which I wasn¡¯t going to use just yet. I was exhausted from a day of training and now I had this nonsense to deal with. I cut up all the woman¡¯s cloths and searched her for any hidden weapons and loot. I found a knife in her boot. Simple, but effective, a true classic. Once that was done I bandaged up her stump and then tied her to a tree some twenty feet away from my fire. After that I went to sleep. I woke up the next morning sore. I checked my wound and my status. I had lost about a third of my HP in the fight yesterday and then another third burning my wounds shut to stop my bleeding. It had gone back up a smidge, but HP regen was slow as was well but thankfully not as bad as MP. I figured it would take anywhere from three to four days to recover all my lost HP. That was really annoying, but nothing I could do about it.
Cutting Weapons-4
Straight through
LvL 1: You understand the basics of cutting weapons
LvL 2: You understand the theory behind cutting weapons
LvL 3: You understand the limits of cutting weapons, +1% Dexterity
LvL 4: You understand the applications of cutting weapons, +1% Endurance
At least that was one bit of good news. I looked over at the woman and saw that she was awake. ¡°Good morning, player or auto-pilot?¡± ¡°I am going to rip off your balls, you ass hole.¡± She continued on her rant which I tuned out. It was too early for this shit. I slapped her in the face to shut her up. ¡°Why are you pissed at me?¡± ¡°It¡¯s me Helena.¡± I couldn¡¯t place her. ¡°You killed me.¡± ¡°Ah, well I make it a point not to remember the people I kill, since I kill so many.¡± ¡°I am going to rip your eyes out and shove them up your ass so you can see my sword going-¡° ¡°Enough already, geez. So you came here for revenge.¡± ¡°I already have mental log-out set up, so hah!¡± ¡°I figured, well thank you for being a fan and now the question of what to do with you.¡± ¡°Let me kill you, I will rip off your face with my teeth.¡± ¡°Woah, a bit much don¡¯t you think. Well I am going to have sex with you. Before you start screaming about rape and all of that I am also going to untie you. So you have a chance a killing me.¡± There was no gamble, I already knew my Strength stat was much higher and I figured the loss of a hand would hinder her greatly. I was a bastard, but I wasn¡¯t about to force myself on anyone, or any player. The least I could do was to channel her hate in a productive manner. There was also the fact that other players had noted the massive penalty they got from raping other players. Sure eating them and torturing them was fine, but heaven forbid any sex. NPCs were fine, but I guess they wanted to discourage potential law suits. She seemed conflicted. On one hand she wanted a shot at killing me. On the other hand she hated my guts. ¡°Fine, let¡¯s do this.¡± The first thing I did was gag her securely. She mumbled out curses and yelled at me through the gag. Too late, she agreed. The system would recognize her statement and no penalties would be applied. ¡°You didn¡¯t think it would be that easy. You can try to ungag yourself with your free hand once we start.¡± I could feel the heat of her glare.¡± Next I made sure my weapons and gear were hidden in the forest. I didn¡¯t want her escaping and grabbing one of them. Then I got undressed and went to untie her. I wasn¡¯t that worried about her having friends, since they would have attacked while I had been resting. Fifteen minutes later I had lost about a tenth of my HP from her hitting me with her one hand and her stump and she was out of SP was exhausted. I got up and tied her back up. I was glad I had trimmed her nails on her remaining hand before we started. She alternated between hitting me and trying to undo the gag to bite me. She never managed to get the gag off thankfully. I went for a swim in the lake to get cleaned up and then got dressed and started packing up all my gear. I had found her satchel, but there was only some food and a couple of copper. Nothing valuable for all this headache. I guess the tender fruits of her flesh would have to suffice. I walked into the forest and found a bulb after looking around for a bit. I carried it back with me. She had regained her senses and was staring in horror at the bulb I was carrying. ¡°Now you have two choices. First choice I kill you quick and easy. Second choice I set you free with no hand and no clothes. Third choice is that I set this guy on you. Interesting fact, you don¡¯t die while this thing is attached. Well you will eventually when more bulbs grow out of you, but that is very messy.¡± ¡°You know how this is going to be decided, online poll. I personally think option number two is the cruelest since you have to kill yourself and you can¡¯t just auto pilot out of the situation. On the other hand option three would prevent you from respawning for a couple of days. I will have an answer for you in three hours, tell your friends and family to join in the vote.¡± *** Ramponator: 2, 2, 2, 2 6996: Three of course HolyMan: Let her suffer for her failure, three PedoBear9000: Two and three somehow, combo? Ramponator: Put the bulb on her and then remove it and set her free, Option 4 UltimataSecret: Option 4 KilluaXXX: Option 3 or 4, bulbs rule JackSlash: Option 1, let the blood rain GODHAXLOL: YOU SCREWED HELENA Ramponator: Best part of VR FuriousGhost: You are all sick shits, option 1 Tattles: Seems like someone is a sore loser, in a couple ways, option 4 *** ¡°Well the votes are in Helena. For option one, a quick death, you got 57 votes. For option two, set you free, you got 587 votes, for option three, bulby, you got 783. In a surprising twist there was a forth option to combine two and three and that received¡­wait for it¡­.3,287 votes in that little impromptu poll.¡± I went and took off her gag. ¡°You are all sick shits. I am going to kill you all!¡± She screamed out in rage. ¡°Good luck with that. This honestly was your best chance. See you are going to go back to the beginning while I only get stronger. I will also take those as your last words.¡± I placed the bulb I had hunted up during the voting and placed it between her breasts. I had to respect the smaller breasts, monster size breasts would be way to unwieldy and make a person top heavy. I waited for a minute then pulled the bulb off and stuck it back into one of my satchels. I saw a number of green eggs in the wound as it slowly healed shut. I then removed the rope and put it away as she lay there paralyzed. ¡°Well have fun.¡± I left her there, her face a picture of frozen rage. I was hoping the paralysis would wear off. Naked with monsters growing inside of her and only one hand. If she did come back as some weird player monster hybrid then that would be a bridge I would cross when I got to it.
Torture-4
Stright through
LvL 1: You understand the basics of torture
LvL 2: You understand the theory behind torture
LvL 3: You understand the limits of torture, +1% Charisma
LvL 4: You understand the applications of torture, +1% Charisma
I let out a small sigh. I really didn¡¯t care about Charisma or Luck. I set myself to heading further west, deeper into the forest or out of it for all I knew. I had no idea about the local geography, online no one was sharing anything either. The few people who did share, well Breckley and Mendal were not on their maps. I had no idea how big the world was, but based on the low encounter rates with other players I figured it was fairly large. I saw a new monster that afternoon. A tree creature with a face. ¡°Observe.¡±
Small Forest Ent
LvL 43
Strongest Stat: Constitution
Cutting through that bark would be hard. I backed away and it just kept on eye on me standing still. I gathered up a bunch of branches and started a fire. I piled more and more onto it, until it was really going. I set my satchels off to the side and picked up a bunch of long branches that were burning and red hot. I rushed the forty feet back to the Small Forest Ent and placed them at its base. I then ran away. Nothing happened for two seconds and then I saw the tree roots rip out of the ground as the Ent smashed the burning branches in a cloud of embers. It began to move at a slow to moderate pace after me. I gathered up my gear and moved to place my bonfire between me and the Ent. It hesitated at the edge of the fire. I threw one of my swords which stuck out of the Ent as a sap leaked down the side. It moved forward right into my fire. For a second I thought it would just plow through, but it faltered in the middle of the burning logs and branches. Half a second later the Ent became a pillar of flame. A few seconds later the Ent was gone except for a cloud of ash that collapsed in a black wave over the forest floor. I ducked behind a tree as the soot washed by me. I then looked out and saw that my fire had gone out and the whole area was covered with a layer of soot and ash. This was going to be long and messy. I built up the fire again. I then ran to where the Ent had been and raced through the trees hitting them with swords. I managed to get three more Ents. They all began to move towards me. When they hesitated near the fire I would throw a sword to enrage them and they pushed through the fire. With the three Ents after me they were close enough that when on went up the other two did as well. They burned briefly but intensely. I wondered if there was a way to harvest their sap, it would make for a great fire bomb if it truly was the source of their combustion. The slowest part was having to rebuild the fire each time as the soot and ash smothered it. I made sure that I never pulled more than two to three Ents. Once I had two of them after me I stopped hitting trees with my sword and retreated. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. I killed off a total of fifteen Ents and was covered in Ent soot. I wanted to try something, so I pulled a single Ent and led it through the forest and then back towards my fire. Every time it stopped chasing I would run up and hit it with my sword. By the time night fell the Ent stopped moving even if I hit it. I had four canteens with me. I normally only kept two full since there were a number of streams in the forest and it was a pain to carry around that much water. I used my two spare canteens to collect Ent sap. I smeared some onto a branch and threw it into the fire pit. The sap was incredibly flammable. Once I was done I washed off the stickiness in a nearby stream and returned to my fire. I built it up some more and allowed myself to relax. I had leveled up to thirty seven from killing all the Ents. I dumped all nine of my stat points into Constitution. With my HP being as low as it was, I wanted to avoid being killed in a single attack. I lay down next to the fire and began to drift off. I heard the beat of wings nearby. I was too tired to really care. What, I always cared. My body numb. I couldn¡¯t focus. Everything was blurry. There was a huge shape moving towards me. Act. I had to act. I grabbed my sword next to me and stabbed my foot. The pain cut through the haze. I saw three large moths about the size of my head hovering around my campfire. ¡°Observe.¡±
Luna Moth
LvL 41
Strongest Stat: Wisdom
A smart bug is still dumber than a dumb human. I swung my sword up and cut one of them in half. The other two moved to fly away, but they were too big to move quickly. Two quick slashes later and they were dead. I got out my bandages and wrapped up my foot. I then looked at the corpses. There was a faint yellow powder on the wings. I poked it with my finger and it locked up. I could move it just barely, but it was hard. I spent the rest of the night poking my fingers into Luna Moth poison. I figured they sent out a barrage of it over an area to knock out their prey. Then they would land and probably lay eggs in me, or something equally freaky. Mourning came and I was exhausted. I washed myself off again from all the soot and packed up my stuff. I carefully cut off the Luna Moth wings and placed them in the shirt that woman had ruined. I then left this portion of the woods until I found a stream and a couple of large boulders. I washed off more of the soot and then washed out my clothes as best as I could. I was really hating the Ents and their soot clouds. I gathered a bunch of wood and started a fire. I ate bread and jerky while I left a piece of Luna wing on one of my feet. The paralyzing effect went up to my hip and then faded away from there. Every so often I would alternate legs. After half a day with still no improvement in my resistance I scrapped a tiny bit of the yellow powder onto a piece of bread. By tiny I mean minuscule. I then touched my lips with the piece of bread. My entire face froze up. Not enough to completely paralyze me, but all my muscles were sluggish. I then took a tiny bite and began chewing. I had a canteen of water ready. My jaw and tongue locked up. It was an effort to swallow but I did. I lay there on a slap of rock in the middle of a forest trying to breathe. My mind grew heavy. What. I. Focus, must focus. Poison moths. I hate bugs. A few minutes later the effect wore off. It was surprisingly restful being unfocused like that, once you got past the terror of losing control and eating bug poison. I also activated my Meditate skill while I was laying there prone. Multi-tasking was the path to success. Night came and I set the wings aside. I went to sleep. A number of times during the night I would wake up and listen. I managed to kill two more Luna Moths at the beginning of the night and after that no more showed up. I went back to poisoning myself the next day. Late in the afternoon I finally got a message.
Poison Immunity-2
Tastes like chicken
LvL 1: You are immune to basic poisons
LvL 1: You are immune to intermediate poisons
Types: Spore, Bug
That took far too long, but was worth it. The poison just gave me a moderate numbing affect now. I applied it liberally to my injured shoulder and foot. My health was still low and not recovering quickly as I would have liked. I took a deep breath and calmed myself. That was probably how people died. They rushed and placed themselves in a bad situation. I went back to hunting Ents. I would kill about twelve a day and then rest during the afternoon. At night I would doze while keeping an ear open for the Luna Moths. Two to five showed up every night and I quickly killed them off and then went to sleep. Not to say I wasn¡¯t alert, but I was a lot less worried after they had shown up once, since there never was a second round of them. I figured they pick a target at stuck at the target for the night. After five days I had reached level forty five. I had placed all my points into Strength and it was at forty nine. The only real event of note was when I pulled a massive Ent. This thing must have been Granddaddy Ent and I was barely able to keep ahead of it as it charged through the forest. I lured it onto the bonfire but it just plowed right on through. That was when I threw my canteen of Ent sap. It burst open and then the sap was struck an ember from my fire. I was still grinning like a loon from creating a fireball. The Ent had literally stumbled back and then erupted into a pillar of flames as well. I poked around the soot hoping for some loot or drops, but nothing. My right arm was usable again, but a bit stiff. I made sure to use it every mourning and it was slowly getting better. Trap making went up by one and I got a one percent wisdom bonus. Probably from all the Ent fires I started.
Trap Making-3
Everything was covered in soot. Even my food had a soot like taste to it. It was time to return to civilization and to kill off Lord Breckley and this stupid war. I still had no idea how a player, no matter how awesome, could start a war with a country. The system seemed to legitimize terrorism, which was both scary and something to look for more information on. I set off towards the east as best as I could manage using the sun rise and sun set as my main ways to direct myself. It took two days to get out of the forest. I wasn¡¯t in that big of a hurry as my HP was still recovering. This farm had a large fenced off pasture for some cows. I also saw more fields in the distance. I kept the bulb in my satchel covered as I made my way to the farm house. I was feeling in the mood for some diplomacy, it was time to try and start building up a group. The incident with the moths only highlighted how a group would be useful. It was nearing sunset so I figured everyone was inside eating dinner. I knocked on the door and stepped back. The farmhouse had at least three rooms if the ¡®L¡¯ shape was anything to go by. The walls were motored stone and the porch was elevated, with only a single entrance and no windows. A man opened the door, a hand on his sword. He looked at my soot cover form and the two blades on my hip. ¡°You can cooperate and live, or I can kill everyone here. It will be annoying, but that is how it is.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t take me, I was a soldier under Lord Breckley.¡± He raised up his weapon. I flipped open my satchel with the bulb and he collapsed. I closed my satchel and he lay there unable to move. The poison ran out before he could choke to death. I figured the duration had to do with Constitution and how long one could go without breathing, which was related to SP. All I knew as that the SP cost went up very quickly the longer one held their breath. I stood there in the doorway as he got up again and picked up his sword. He sheathed it. ¡°On your word to the Eight there will be no violence?¡± He asked. ¡°I already gave you my word, that should be good enough. Call out your family, I am not explaining this twice.¡± Eventually the family was gathered in front of me. His wife, three teenage boys, two younger daughters, and a little boy. The wife was also pregnant. No wonder they were able to have so many soldiers. The NPCs had a distinct lack of birth control it appeared. ¡°I am going to explain how things are going to work once. I am going to stay here for two nights and then leave. If you don¡¯t cause any trouble I will leave some copper for your efforts, maybe silver. If there is trouble then things will get unpleasant. First rule, the girls, your wife, and the young one don¡¯t get to leave the house. I won¡¯t be touching them unless there is trouble. Second everything I eat one of you will eat. You poison the food you will be killing your family. Understand so far?¡± I got uneasy yeses. ¡°Third if you go for help things won¡¯t end well. Fourth you all do what I say. I won¡¯t ask anything too unreasonable. Any questions?¡± There was a silence. ¡°What is your name?¡± One of the boys asked. A bit braver than most, and I decided to answer. ¡°I am glad you asked, Kenji Shadowen.¡± They all paled at that and one of the girls let out an ¡®eek¡¯. ¡°I see my fame proceeds me. No matter, behave and all will be fine. Now I want a large dinner, meat, cheese, wine or beer. Also fruit if you have some and bread. You and your three boys can start bringing buckets of water. I am covered in filth and wish to be clean. Also prepare a set of clean cloths.¡± No one was moving. I wave my sword at them and they all jumped. ¡°Get moving, I will eat after I am rinsed off.¡± The women moved back inside the house and the father and sons went to get water. They came back with buckets and the water was clean enough. ¡°Bring out your little one.¡± ¡°No, I won¡¯t let you-¡° ¡°Shut up, or I will kill you and then drag him out. I plan to hold him with my sword against his throat while all of you wash me off. Once false move and he will be dead. Otherwise I can kill all of you and then wash off myself. Which do you choose?¡± The father gave me an angry look but got his youngest. I ordered the three sons to step back and proceeded to cut myself out of my sooty clothes. I tossed them to the side. ¡°Burn them where I can see out front here, also get a bench to sit on.¡± No use in giving trackers anything to follow me with. The boy went to gather some food while the father came back. I placed on hand on top of the child¡¯s head while my other held my sword against his throat. ¡°Your youngest son will wash me, the rest of you go back inside the house.¡± I got angry looks but they obeyed. I sat down on the bench holding the shivering child to me while I looked at the door way into the house. The youngest teen was standing just off to the side. ¡°What is your name.¡± ¡°Ulther¡­¡± The boy mumbled out. ¡°I see you have some rags and lye, you will wipe me down. Do not rush, make sure you get all the soot.¡± He nodded and got to work. It was quickly getting dark, but I was clean soon enough. I sent the youngest child running back into the house and then looked at Ulther. ¡°Good job, go inside. Bring out my fresh clothes and my meal and set them on the porch. He brought out everything I asked for and turned to leave. ¡°Go inside and tell your family they should go to sleep and then I want you to come back out here. If they ask why, tell them because I said so.¡± Ulther ran inside. I got dressed and began eating through the feast laid out in front of me. I had dragged the bench over to the porch and sat on it so I could watch the door while eating off the porch floor where all the food was laid out. Ulther came back out. ¡°Shut the door, go to sleep the rest of you.¡± I said the last bit to the people standing the doorway. ¡°Ulther sit down and help yourself.¡± ¡°I¡­can¡¯t¡­¡± He mumbled out. ¡°Eat or I will kill all of you horribly.¡± I said with a smile. Ulther began picking at the food. ¡°Now I am going to ask some questions, if you lie, well let¡¯s say I will be unhappy. Also speak clearly. Say yes.¡± ¡°¡­yes.¡± ¡°Speak up.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Louder.¡± ¡°YES!¡± ¡°Much better. So how old are you?¡± ¡°Fourteen.¡± ¡°A good age. What do you want to be when you get older? A soldier?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then what?¡± ¡°A priest.¡± ¡°Interesting, why don¡¯t you go to priest school or whatever.¡± ¡°Too expensive and I have a hard time understanding words.¡± ¡°That is too bad. Good food right?¡± ¡°Yeah, my mother is a great cook.¡± ¡°So what do you want most in this world?¡± ¡°¡­.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t quite catch that, did you say be rich.¡± I reached into my soot covered satchel and pulled out my money bag that was bursting. I set it to the side and opened it up. Ulther¡¯s eyes popped out of his head as I let the coins rain down back inside the bag from where I had pulled them. I was flashing my single gold piece and silver as well. ¡°Power?¡± I put the money bag away and lifted up my sword. ¡°Strong enough to protect my family.¡± ¡°A good goal. So how do you plan to get there?¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°Be a soldier?¡± ¡°Not that strong, my oldest brother Bran was strong. Died in a fight against some monsters a couple of years ago and he was a lot stronger that me.¡± I leaned in and whispered, ¡°Do you want to come with me?¡± Ulther turned and looked at me in shock. ¡°You will become strong. Strong enough to protect your family from people like me. Don¡¯t answer, just think on it.¡± We sat there in silence for a while enjoying the cool night breeze. I could read this whole kid¡¯s backstory in a heartbeat. The umpteenth kid in a long line, over shadowed by his siblings. No chance of inheriting that much. He could become a soldier, but he would never be that great. A player would have baggage and be subject to other types of pressures. It was a long shot, but having an NPC in my corner I could mold would be perfect. The door to the house opened and the father was standing there. ¡°Why don¡¯t you run on to bed and take all of this with you. Oh I will be right outside, I will open the front door once I am up.¡± They cleaned up and went into the house. I opened up my satchel and hung it up near the door way making sure the bulb could not escape. I fell asleep lying in front of the door. I awoke right before dawn like I normally did. Early to bed, early to rise makes a man murderous if he doesn¡¯t get his shut eye. I got up and did some stretches and moved the bench to the side of the door way along with all my stuff. Only then did I move the satchel holding the bulb and bang on the door. I wasn¡¯t about to open a door with a potential trap on the other side. I sat on the bench and began sorting through what I wanted to keep. The front door opened and the father came out again. ¡°Good morning.¡± I said. I just got a glare in return. ¡°Very well, your attitude doesn¡¯t matter only cooperation. I need a pack that goes over both shoulders, another set of clothes, bread and meat for twenty days, five canteens, a barrel, a new satchel, and a horse with tackle. How much will all that cost?¡± ¡°Everything but the horse would run about two silver, with the horse, six silver.¡± That was reasonable from what little I knew. ¡°Here is nine silver, go get everything and you can keep the change as payment for yesterday¡¯s food and wash. Don¡¯t let the quality suffer, best stuff you can get.¡± I gave the man a glare. I should probably learn his name, but I really didn¡¯t care. ¡°Can you get it all done by mid-day?¡± ¡°Will be tough.¡± ¡°Get it done, or I will think the worst.¡± I laid my hand on my sword and the man¡¯s face tightened. I laid the money at the far end of the bench near the door. He went over and took it and then walked off. I waited a couple of minutes to make sure he had left. I knocked on the door again. This time the mother was there. ¡°Breakfast please, and your children can go out to tend to their chores. Ulther can wait with me.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you go-¡° ¡°If you talk back at me that means you want to fight. This isn¡¯t a discussion.¡± She huffed and went back inside. All three boys came out. I waved at Ulther over to the other end of the bench. His brothers gave him a look and then went off to tend to the animals. ¡°What was that about?¡± ¡°They kept asking me about what we talked about.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± I didn¡¯t say anymore. I made my offer and was hoping he would take the bait. ¡°I like it here. But¡­.it isn¡¯t enough. I want to go places, meet people, do things. All I know is this farm and the Rockway, the nearby village. I just don¡¯t want to go with you, there will be¡­.trouble.¡± ¡°I can respect that. But let me ask you this, if you don¡¯t leave now, when will you leave?¡± Ulther frowned and that was when his mother brought a bowl of porridge out. ¡°Leave the bowl here and give a spoonful to him.¡± She let out a sigh and went back inside. A moment later she was carrying the young one out. ¡°Stop, use the same spoon you laid out with the bowl.¡± Her eyes grew wide with fear, but she listened. As she made to reach into the bowl she knocked it over. ¡°My apologies, let me get another.¡± ¡°Leave the spoon with me.¡± Her face turned pale and she left the spoon on the bench between me and Ulther and went back inside. She brought out more porridge a bit later and I had both her and the youngest have a spoonful. I also had her lick the outside rim of the bowl. She went back inside. Ulther remained quiet this whole time. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± He asked. ¡°She tried to kill me, but she is your mother and I like you, so you make a recommendation. No rush, think about it very carefully. For in life there are no do overs.¡± Well except for players who reincarnate, but who is counting that. Bonus Chapter 2 - Prolouge ¡°Welcome esteemed members of the press, my name is Elrado Vasue spokesperson for Omnitrek, but today is not about me. No, for today I have the pleasure of introducing a man who should require no introductions. A man who has not once but twice, created a technological revolution. All here know of his pioneering work in the field of VR. Now he has once again pushed the envelope. In six months we will be releasing his, no, the greatest invention of our society for generations to come. Please welcome Dr. Marcus Waiver.¡± Cheers and shouts rebounded in the lobby of the corporate headquarters Omnitrek. An older gentleman, slightly hunched over stepped out on the stage from behind a curtain. The cheers redoubled. After a solid minute the press and crowd finally settled. ¡°I know how excited all of you must be, but I ask you hold questions and everything else until the end. For today my team and I are announcing the creation of a game. Not just any game. I know you have all played Spartan: Warrior Evolved and Dungeons of Ramunir. While fun, they lack the realism, the immersion, that people crave. When you stand out under the sky, do you not want to feel the heat? Do you not want to feel the sense of worry when a monster creeps up from behind? Even when you hold a loved one in your arms, there is something lacking.¡± There was a hushed silence from the crowd. ¡°We have managed to create a full sensory immersion VR system avoiding the pitfalls that have plagued such things. The key component is that we have managed to disconnect the limiters from one¡¯s brain to one¡¯s body. So even if you were chopped in half, only your mind would feel it but your physical body would not react. A new line of VR pods will be released that have this increased tactile experience. Along with these new pods will be a game. The codename for this project has been Project X, which was not my choice of code names.¡± There was some laughter at this. ¡°The visuals that have escaped to the public have built up quite a following. I am here to tell you that the name will be Fate: Experience Acute Realism, or as our marketing department likes to joke FEAR. For in this game with one hundred percent tactile feedback, the pain of death will be more real than ever. In addition all character deaths will be permanent. Yes, while many of my coworkers would argue for a more lenient system, where is the will to survive, the struggle to achieve, if one can merely come back with no consequences!¡± The last few words echoing across the atrium. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°The new VR capsules will also allow for muscle movement and the automatic extraction of wastes and application of a balanced diet all while in the capsule. For the first time ever, people can devout their lives to this new world where there virtual existence hangs in the balance. Oh and the first person to beat the game will receive a one percent share of Omnitrek.¡± There was a pause. ¡°Any questions?¡± The shouting was twice as loud than the cheering from before. AUTHOR''S NOTE: Hey everyone thanks for all the great support. Just a couple of notes. I will be updating on a consistent basis. I won''t provide an exact schedule since it takes 3-4 hours to write a chapter, 1 hour to reread and edit and finally 1 hour to format it correctly for RR. I did write the first 10 chapters of the story before I started posting. You can expect 1-2 re chapters later today, 11/27 depending on how fast I can edit, since I have everything up to chapter 10 completed written out. The reason the prologue is going up now is that it is short and I couldn''t use it as a first chapter due to the length and RR requirements. I also wanted to space out my bonus chapters a bit. So after I put up the stat system, this got pushed back a bit further than I wanted. Finally I love people pointing out all the inconsistences in my story. Lord Breckley knowing Kenji''s name, Helena coming back so quickly. These two were purposely planned, but one normally wouldn''t know how Helena came back so quickly since our MC doesn''t. Helena coming back is more of random chance that she re-spawned close enough to get to Kenji. A lot of people hope to kill/pay our MC back so as the story goes on we will get a cast of re-occurring heroes. So feel free to ask these questions and if they are not spoilers I will share. Again, thank you for all the great support. I have submitted entries into the RR contests you are welcome to take a look at. Map Contest Writing Contest Chapter 8: Red Pill? Blue Pill? I soon had replacement gear and a half decent horse. Wasn¡¯t a war horse, but better than nothing. Ulther had remained quiet for the whole day and now it was time for dinner. I set the bench back up away from the doorway and called the whole family out. ¡°If you speak, I will kill you. Now this morning the woman over there poisoned this spoon in an attempt to kill me. Maybe the poison would only knock me out, but the result would have been the same. I thought I have been pretty lenient. I will remind you all to be quiet. Since Ulther has kept me company all day I am going to let him decide what my response will be. If he is too easy I will pick the worst option.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you just forgive this mistake?¡± He asked. I gave him a long silent look. ¡°Ulther, when faced with an enemy you can have no choice but to act. I showed mercy and that mercy was pissed on. I could have easily killed your family. In fact it would have made things a lot easier. I decided to try and do the right thing and look where we are now. So you have a choice to make, what is the punishment, if you stay silent too long I will decide, everyone else don¡¯t speak or do anything. Ulther don¡¯t look at them either.¡± ¡°I¡­I¡­don¡¯t know. Anything I pick won¡¯t be good enough.¡± ¡°Then pick the least terrible option.¡± ¡°My mother, she made the attempt.¡± ¡°Ah, but it wasn¡¯t just her. The youngest one was used as bait to try and trick me, you are forgetting him.¡± ¡°No, not-¡° I threw the sword I was holding and it speared the mother in the chest. She collapsed with a scream. ¡°No one help her. I warned her not to speak. Each action has a consequence.¡± I looked at Ulther. ¡°Fine, I will go with you. Please, let us help her.¡± ¡°The others may, you stay right there. A life time of service and obedience in exchange for your family?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°I see the doubt in your eyes. So come over here and I am going to tell you something and then I want to hear your answer again.¡± Ulther came and stood next to me. ¡°Leave the sword on the ground, if anyone picks it up or touches it I will take that as a sign you want to fight.¡± I turned to Ulther. ¡°Sorry about that people try so many sneaky things. Anyways, the travelers come back when they are killed including me. So if you somehow betray me and I die, I will be coming here to finish what I started. There is a penalty for death and it may take me some time, but I will come and kill everyone. So go get that sword on the ground while you think that over.¡± Ulther walked away and picked up the sword he looked at the weapon and then looked at me. I saw despair in his eyes. Perfect, he was mine. ¡°Ulther, two people were involved in attempting to murder me. Your mother will live, and you have given your life to me in exchange. I need one more, not your father or mother.¡± ¡°No, I will do anything-¡° ¡°Quiet, I am your master now. You do not speak unless I give you permission. If you won¡¯t take a life what do you have left to give me.¡± ¡°My loyalty, I swear I will follow you and do whatever else you ask. Please just not this.¡± ¡°You will obey every command?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You will kill when I tell you to kill?¡± ¡°¡­yes.¡± ¡°You will never speak to or contact your family again?¡± ¡°But¡­yes.¡± ¡°Well random family I no longer care about, Ulther just saved all your lives. Think well of him and it would do him good not to speak of this. We leave tonight. Ulther put the sword on the bench and go inside and pack up for a long journey. Also take all the money that is in the house. They will live, but they will feel the pain of betraying my trust.¡± Ulther ran off. The rest of the family just glared but they were smart enough not to say anything. A couple of minutes later Ulther came out with a pack. ¡°Set the pack on the bench.¡± I pulled out my dagger. ¡°I want you to search your family for any daggers or money take them and give them to me.¡± I watched dispassionately as Ulther got to work. ¡°If you can¡¯t reach tell them to kneel. All of you listen to Ulther.¡± I worked on making sure everything was in order before we left. Suddenly there was a commotion as the father slapped Ulther to the side and took the dagger. He threw it at me, but his aim was off and I was able to tilt to the side and dodge. I picked up my sword and put a hand on my satchel. ¡°Ulther go get that dagger.¡± ¡°No, we are not going to listen to you. You are a murderer and a madman. Go inside Ulther.¡± Ulther looked torn on what to do. He turned towards the house and I let out a small sigh. I opened up the satchel and walked forward. ¡°Everyone-¡° The father was cut off as his whole family was hit by the bulb spores, paralyzing them except for Ulther who was further back. I quickly closed the bag back up. ¡°Ulther I am disappointed, go get some rope. Move!¡± I shouted and he ran off. I beat the father black and blue with the flat of my blade. Ulther returned with some rope. I had him go retrieve my dagger while I tied his father and brothers up and gagged them. I then waited for the spores to wear off and had the mother take the youngest into the house. ¡°Ulther what now? He tried to kill me and struck you and you are under my protection.¡± ¡°Please no more.¡± He begged. ¡°Pick one of your brothers or sisters and they will be punished.¡± ¡°Please, stop it.¡± He walked over to me tears coming down his face. I stood up and back handed him across the face. ¡°Stop crying. It is annoying. I want you to pick or I will pick all of them.¡± Ulther stood up, his lip bleeding and his face had the beginning of a nasty bruise. ¡°Yalen.¡± He gestured to the eldest boy. ¡°Yalen it is. You girls can go back inside.¡± They quickly ran back inside the house. I could see the fear in his eyes. He was already pissing himself as I stared at him. ¡°No back bone, oh well. Ulther come here, I am going to help you with this bit. Work with me or we will have to try again.¡± I walked over and pressed the dagger in Ulther¡¯s hand and then wrapped my hand around his, while standing behind him. I felt Ulther shaking as my hand wrapped around his. I pushed the dagger forward until it had barely pierced the brother¡¯s chest. A small red patch began to grow on his shirt. ¡°Ulther, do you want to save him?¡± ¡°Yes¡­¡± ¡°Then use the knife and cut out his eye. Then I want you to eat it without throwing up. If you can do that, then his life will be spared.¡± Everything was silent as the eldest struggled and tried shouting through his gag. The other brother looked on in horror was the father was raging in his bonds as well. ***
Torture-5 MAX
Noooooo!
-1% Charisma per LvL
LvL 1: You understand the basics of torture
LvL 2: You understand the theory behind torture
LvL 3: You understand the limits of torture, +1% Charisma
LvL 4: You understand the applications of torture, +1% Charisma
LvL 5: You are a master of torture, +1% Intelligence
Fear Aura-1
Run for the hill!
LvL 1: All LvL -50 will feel uncomfortable around you
Cost: 1 MP per Minute, 1 SP per Minute
Depraved-15
You are a demon in human flesh
+1 Fate per LvL
I really liked the fear aura skill. I was tempted to try it out, but I was only level 49 so it wouldn¡¯t really do much to anything. A couple more levels and I could scare the kiddies at least. Depraved went up by five levels, wow. That is actually pretty impressive since I didn¡¯t kill anyone directly. I guess forcing sibling disfigurement and cannibalism by proxy is pretty depraved. We traveled all that night and took a short break at dawn. After that we continued with nothing said between us. I picked out a spot to stop for the night second night. ¡°Ulther, take care of the horse and then go gather fire wood.¡± He was like a dead robot. It made it that much easier to reprogram him but was also boring. I could have interesting equals or servants, not both. Once a fire was going I made him do push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. The moment he looked like he was slowing down I whacked him with the flat of my blade. ¡°Ulther, say status.¡± ¡°Status.¡± ¡°Did anything happen.¡± ¡°No master.¡± I cursed to myself. So much for the easy way. ¡°Observe.¡±
Ulther
LvL 12
Strongest Stat: Luck
I then had him sleep with his legs inside the bulb spore cloud. The next day, I would have him breathe in a mouthful of paralyzing spores and then toss him over the horse while he recovered. We stopped for camp and repeated the physical exercises, this time I joined in. I still hit him with my sword if he slowed down. He had developed a touch level one immunity since the bulbs no longer affected him. He was not at level two immunity so there was nothing to train during the night. The next day rolled around and we reached the area where the Ents were hanging out. That was when I saw two other people approaching us. Looked like players, and they both had bows and swords. ¡°Stay quiet and let me do the talking.¡± I said to Uther. ¡°Hello, there.¡± I called out. We were about thirty feet apart. ¡°Hey.¡± I saw the guy and girl looking between me and Ulther. With my appearance I was easily a player. They were looking at the teen dressed and appearing as one of the local NPCs trying to tell if he was a player or an NPC. I could see them trying to process the situation. ¡°So, what now?¡± ¡°This is our hunting area, we kindly ask that you move around.¡± I remained silent and stared at the two. I needed a better idea dammit, ¡°Observe.¡±
Willlow Broadstroke
LvL 32
Strongest Stat: Constitution
I could easily take both of them. ¡°You are in no position to make demands.¡± ¡°Come on Willow, do you know who that is?¡± ¡°Quiet Rana, we didn¡¯t make it this far by being pushovers. We found this place so it is ours.¡± I flipped open my satchel casually as I spoke while walking away from Ulther and Horsey the Third off to the side. ¡°You are facing the legendary Rain of Blood, Kenji Shadowmer. I already know you are a level thirty two Willow Broadstroke and that you have put too many points into Constitution.¡± With every word I could see the fear sink into their hearts. ¡°We will just be-¡° Rana began. I rushed in. Drawing my blade, I rapidly closed the distance. I had noticed that my max speed had been increasing. I wasn¡¯t able to pin it down to a specific stat, but I guessed either Strength or Dexterity. SP loss from movement was almost nothing while walking but plummeted like crazy at the higher speeds. I had about half a minute at my top speed, which was probably somewhere around sixteen miles per hour. That meant at thirty feet away they only had a second and a half to react. Less because of the five foot range from the spore cloud. I ran past the girl who collapsed and swung at the guy. He managed to block my attack but then collapsed as well. I covered up the bulb and disarmed both of them. ¡°Ulther come here.¡± He got off Horsey the Third and walked over. ¡°Kill both of them. Sword to the back of the head and be quick about it.¡± He looked and me and took the blade I handed over. Two quick stabs and it was over. I did another observe and Ulther had gone up a level. That was perfect. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Search guy for anything useful.¡± Ulther got to work while I checked the girl. Some coins, stale food, canteen, arrows, sword, and bow. I took it all. The guy had pretty much the same load out as well. I then got out a rope and tied both corpses together and then used a tree branch in combo with my rope to lift them off the ground. I then made various cuts along their bodies to let the blood drain out and collect underneath them. I led Ulther and Horsey some distance away. I made him get to work on a fire and then exercise some more. I rechecked my blades as I waited. The knight¡¯s sword was holding up really well to all the wear I had been putting it through. As it got dark I went to check on the corpses. To my delight there was a massive brown bear gnawing on them, the guts were everywhere. I had the bulb, but I wasn¡¯t too confident that poison would work against a creature of the forest. I pulled out the bulb and gave it a hard roll towards the bear. It looked at the bulb and mushed it into the ground with one paw. It wiped its paw on the ground a couple of times before going back to eating the corpses. I left the satchel on the ground along with my sheathes and gripped a sword in each hand. I would dart in and slam both of them into the creature¡¯s back hoping to kill it in one attack. It was moderately quick, but if the bulb was any indication it wasn¡¯t super fast. I would easily guess Strength as its strongest stat. I readied myself and breathed in and out a couple of times and then rushed forward. I am quick, I am light, I am the wind that flies through the air. I jumped and drove both swords between the bear¡¯s shoulder blades. It let out a roar and spun around. I allowed the force of the spin to push me away while gripping both blades. They slid out and I went tumbling along the ground. I lost my grip on one sword and it went off into the shadowed brush. I moved on the ground slowly trying to avoid drawing attention and saw the bear spinning around. If it moved towards me I was ready to leap up and defend myself. It walked around the corpses snarling and then went back to eating. I may have been wrong, Constitution is this thing¡¯s highest stat the way it shrugged off my attack. Both blades went half a foot deep and I could see the bears fur wet with blood. It just didn¡¯t care¡­wow. I slowly moved until I was behind the bear and rushed in again. The bear began to spin and I was forced to stop and slash out. The blade cut between two of the bear¡¯s claws. The bear¡¯s version of a paper cut. It lunged forward but I leapt back, avoiding the pounce. As it recovered I darted in again and drew a long cut across the side of its face. I had been aiming for the eye, but it was hard to tell in this poor lighting. It charged and I kept moving sideways while swinging out with my blade making sure to stay out of the reach of those claws. My SP was plummeting. I had about thirty to fifty more seconds at best at the rate I was moving. My minor cuts just seemed to piss the bear off even more. I knew that one hit and I was done for. In hindsight this was a terrible idea. Suddenly a stone flew out of the trees and struck the bear on its head. The bear turned to look which was a rookie mistake. I darted in as fast as I could and drove my blade into the bear¡¯s eye socket. I was already moving away as it began to trash about and attempted to remove the blade. It¡¯s efforts only pushed it deeper and deeper. After a couple of seconds it collapsed. ¡°By the eight that was-¡° ¡°It isn¡¯t over stay back.¡± Ulther moved back into the tree line. It was quickly getting darker and darker. I checked my screens and no experience pop-up. That bear might have a bit of Wisdom as well to play dead. ¡°Ulther go back to camp and bring me a spare sword, go.¡± He ran off. I stayed still and watched the bear. Ulther was back after a minute. I took the blade and approached the bear on the side I had just blinded. Picking up branch I threw it just short of the bear. The bear spun and slammed a clawed hand down where the branch landed. I moved in and drove this blade right above the bear¡¯s front leg in its body. I was already moving away by the time the bear swung again, its movements much slower than before. It collapsed and then I got my experience. With that came a level up. I brought Strength up to fifty and Constitution up to twenty one. Strength Focus-1 Go punch a brick wall +25% to Carrying Weight per LvL The bear was still impossible to move even with the new bonus. I didn¡¯t have a skinning knife and it was getting dark. A giant bear cloak also wasn¡¯t my style and there was no place I knew that I could sell it. ¡°Good job Ulther, that was well timed.¡± He gave me a small smile as we returned to our camp fire. I helped him gather more wood to build it back up. That night the moths came. I had been expecting them so I was ready. I quickly cut them down and set them aside. The next morning I fed Ulther trace amounts of Luna Moth poison. While he was recovering I went to check on my bear. The entire clearing was a mess. Blood and entrails from the two players was scattered under their corpses from where the bear had been feeding. With the fight, this just spread out the mess. It was hard not to vomit since the girl¡¯s lower half had been ripped off and smeared all over the ground to a pulp. Even I, Rain of Blood, felt queasy at the site. I retrieved my rope I had been using to hang the corpses up allowing them to hit the ground with a sickening squish. After that I got to work on the bear. Biology was a skill and this was a great opportunity to level it. I left my clothes off to the side while I cut into bear body. Every so often I would go back to the campsite to check on Ulther and make sure he kept eating poisoned bread to build up immunity. By mid-day I was done and Biology had gone up to level three for one percent bonus to Intelligence. I washed up and returned to our camp where I began scraping the yellow poison powder on the Luna Moth wings into an empty money bag. I figured I needed about twenty of the critters to fill it up. With bulb and Luna Moth poison, I was feeling fairly confident I could win in any one on one fight. As it got dark I had Ulther stop eating poisoned bread and had him be ready as I returned to the clearing. I hadn¡¯t heard anything, but I figured something was bound to come by. I saw a pack of wolves, seven wolves. I backed away and returned to Ulther. I would wait until night fall, and then attack. That way they would be full and resting. I waited till after the Luna Moths had shown up and I killed them. Only three, that was unfortunate. I had two swords strapped to my hips and two in my hands as I approached the clearing. The wolves were all lying around with full stomachs and bloody fur. I picked out the biggest wolf at the center and rushed in with a burst of speed. The wolves were full and relaxed and by the time they started moving I had plunged one sword into their alpha¡¯s head and drew a replacement. Ulther shot an arrow which hit a wolf in the flank. I darted to the next closet wolf and drove a sword into its chest. It collapsed on the ground, but I was barely paying attention as I drew my last replacement blade. The wolves moved as one. One leapt high on my left while another changed in on my right. I crouched down and jabbed out with both my swords. The key to fighting successfully was to do two or more actions at once. The leaping wolf impaled itself causing me to lose my grip as it slammed into me. This threw off my aim with the other wolf as the sword cut into its shoulder. The wolf bit down on my arm, but thankfully the leather guard I had kept from the soldier¡¯s outfit stopped its teeth from digging in. I swung with my free arm and punched the wolf in the face. It let out half bark and staggered back. I swung my sword and cut into its snout. It let out a yelp and ran off. I quickly got up and surveyed the scene. Two of the wolves were full of arrows. It also helped that all our weapons were laced with Luna Moth poison to make sure they were one hit kills. They were all ten or more levels higher than me, which meant a nice chunk of experience for me and Ulther. We collected our discarded weapons and returned to our campfire. I washed my clothes out in the nearby stream while Ulther collapsed next to the fire falling asleep almost instantly. I also went to sleep. The next morning we cleaned off our weapons and packed up our camp. While the fighting was good experience for Ulther it wasn¡¯t our main reason for being out here. We traveled for half a day along with Horsey the Third until I recognized the area where I had battled the Ents. I noted that there were a lot of saplings where the ash had been. Then it began to rain. We both collected wood in an attempt to keep our meager fire going but we weren¡¯t having much luck. I thought Luck was Ulther¡¯s highest stat, but I guess you would need a thousand luck for something like this. I smiled to myself at the thought of someone putting all their points into Luck. How would that even work in a fight? If I swung at them would my sword shatter? What about poison, would the air currents be just right to deflect every particle? It was an interesting question to consider. The rain finally quit late in the afternoon. I hated the rain and hadn¡¯t been too worried since it had only rained a couple of times since I had started in FEAR. We spent quite a lot of time collecting fire wood and drying off. Thankfully my pack was treated leather and water resistant. ¡°Where is your home?¡± Ulther asked. ¡°Do you want to know the truth which is horrifying or a lie which will bring you comfort.¡± There was a long moment of silence. ¡°The truth.¡± ¡°You know how you have books. You are taught by your parents and so on for hundreds of years. Where I come from we have accumulated a tremendous amount of knowledge and magic. Using this my people created a world to send our thoughts into. While you exist and you feel like you are real, none of this truly exists except as a dream.¡± ¡°By the eight¡­¡± ¡°The eight you like to proclaim are little more than constructs built to manage this world and provide a back story. That is why even if I am killed I will come back.¡± ¡°And the rest of the Travelers?¡± ¡°The same, each of us is dreaming and sending our thoughts into this world.¡± We sat there letting the fire steam away our dampness. ¡°So I¡¯m not real¡­.¡± ¡°A great man once said, ¡®I think therefore I am.¡¯ Since you can think you exist, no matter what that means. The fact that I spend more time here than my own world is proof enough that the line between what is real and what isn¡¯t, is not that clear.¡± ¡°Is that why you hurt everyone?¡± ¡°You are full of complicated questions tonight. Yes and no. Right now everything I say and do is recorded. I change some things around but I sell quite a bit of what I see to other Travelers. This pays for the medicine that allows me to dream my way here. Unfortunately there are many Travelers and the only way to interest them is to kill. My nickname is ¡®Rain of Blood¡¯.¡± ¡°I wish you never came here. I hate all of this. I hate you. I hate-¡° I got up and pulled Ulther into a hug as he cried. I didn¡¯t say anything and just let him cry it out. ¡°You¡­you know, you could be nicer.¡± I let him go and sat back down. ¡°But then I couldn¡¯t afford the medicine to dream my way here, since people don¡¯t want to hear about kindness and team work. They want blood and violence. If I could change this I would, but that is just the way things are. Well, there is one other solution.¡± Ulther spun to look at me. ¡°The person who conquerors this land will receive unlimited medicine and could bring peace to everyone. That is why I need help.¡± There was silence after that as we both stared at the fire. ¡°Good night Kenji.¡± He turned and lay down next to the fire. ¡°Good night Ulther.¡± I stayed awake and killed five more Luna Moths. *** TheBrain: Rain of Blood is right, this guy is insane Ramponator: Got to love the blood KilluaXXX: Freaking guy is so OP GODHAXLOL: HORSEY LIVES! HolyMan: We must use the power of prayer to smite him PedoBear9000: You know he has that prayer book, I bet he makes the kid learn Ramponator: The first of many followers FuriousGhost: I am going to feed that kid to you, you sick freak Tattles: Protect the kid 6996: ¡®Exploit¡¯ the kid 6996 has received a warning! HolyMan: The kids shall be protected by the almighty internet gods UltimataSecret: You got god mixed up with admin Chapter 9: This is why you dont talk I woke up the next morning and put Ulther in charge of harvesting bug gunk. ¡°You know, I think you need a new name and we need a team name.¡± I said. Ulther just gave me a look. ¡°You could be Hack, while I could be Slash. Hack and Slash. What do you think?¡± I asked. He clearly did not appreciate my morning humor. I would take honesty over a false laugh any day of the week. ¡°I have bug gunk to scrap off. Why do you need this stuff any ways?¡± ¡°Okay kiddo, first lesson. Being prepared gives you options. What happens if a bear comes after you? What do you do? Those were rhetorical questions, which means don¡¯t answer them. If you had a pouch of this Luna Moth powder then you could throw it in the bear¡¯s face and escape or even kill it.¡± ¡°So you collect this powder to kill more things.¡± ¡°Ahhh no, yes, kind of. This powder will give me choices in how I kill things. That is what is really important. Preparedness is half the battle.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the other half?¡± ¡°Stabbing and witty banter, without the witty banter.¡± ¡°What is witty banter?¡± ¡°It is where you say things to annoy someone, kind of like what you are doing right now. Only two people talk in the middle of a fight. Over confident bastards and dead idiots. Don¡¯t be either. If you fight, fight. Only talk if it gives you a clear advantage. That is lesson two. No more chit chat, we have quite a lot to do today.¡± With the powder done I began teaching Ulther how to read out of the book I had taken off the priest. I had him practice scribbling letters in the dirt as well. I was glad I had put the book inside its own satchel to keep it protected from the rain. We worked on letters all day, taking a break every hour or so for Ulther to eat some more poisoned bread. Thankfully he developed an immunity later on in the afternoon. I also took the time to double check the barrel to make sure it hadn¡¯t sprung any leaks. I had been careful carrying it into the forest and it was a key component to my plan. I left the barrel with Ulther and had him stay alert. I then went and aggravated five different Ents, making sure they were all the smaller kind. I kept leading them around for over an hour until night fell. When they began to get sluggish I tried to pull them to my camp as much as possible. I then had Ulther intercept the Luna Moths that would come to our camp while I collected Ent sap. It was incredibly dark and extremely frustrating to scrape sap into the bung hole of the barrel. By the time mourning came, there were five dead and drained Ents. A barrel only two fifths full and I was exhausted. Carrying the barrel back to camp I made sure I had no more sap on me. I washed everything three times and wiped down the outside of the barrel. I put Ulther to work on the moths while I rested. I felt a kick in the side and was instantly awake. ¡°No, no, no. I wouldn¡¯t try that.¡± I had been reaching for my sword but a boot rested on my arm. ¡°Move your hand away, slowly.¡± I did that and looked around. There were five players in dark outfits standing around us armed to the teeth. ¡°You know, it has been a pain in the ass to find you Kenji Shadowen, or should I call you Rain of Blood. I was for just killing you, but the one thousand gold piece bonus for bringing you in alive was too much to pass up. On the other hand if you blink or do anything we will kill you and the kid.¡± All his companions were silent, well trained. ¡°Yes, we are the Order of the Phoenix. I know, hilarious right. The red and gold will come after we take your player torturing, serial killer ass in.¡± I just looked at him not even daring to speak. I knew the type, if I spoke out of turn there would be trouble. He smirked at me easily reading my thoughts. ¡°I see you understand the situation. Now before we go through your stuff are there any traps? Mind you I am tempted just to chuck it all away, but I hate to waste things.¡± I remained silent. ¡°You can speak.¡± ¡°Thank you. There is a bag of poison powder. I will confirm it if I see it. I have a knife in my left boot and in my vest.¡± I had left out quite a bit, but those would be my opportunities. ¡°Yea¡­ no. I think just like you and I know you probably left a lot out based on how much you told us. The knife in your boot, come on everyone has at least one. The kid was working on the bag when we arrived. The knife in your vest is probably trapped as well. What to do, what to do¡­.ah the kid can sort through everything while we watch him. Vanessa, come here and keep your eyes on this one. If he so much as twitches, sneezes, or even passes gas cut his throat.¡± ¡°May I talk with you while this happens?¡± ¡°Of course, this is a looting not a fight. Honestly taking the kid with you? What is up with that? Hey Roger put the kid to sorting the pack first.¡± ¡°Just a long term plan, you already have allies. I wanted to gather some of my own. You wouldn¡¯t be open for teaming up?¡± ¡°Honestly, yes that would be pretty cool.¡± ¡°I sense a but in there.¡± He gave me a smile. ¡°Rain of Blood and all your other videos out there make it clear that you are not to be trusted. Sure we team up, but you would kill us all in our sleep just because you could and for the very fact that we got one up on you.¡± ¡°A trade then, you spare me and I give you the city of Breckley.¡± ¡°Oh your balls are the size of boulders! You take Breckley, that is insanity. That city is a fortress inside a bunker, behind more soldiers than I can count in a day.¡± ¡°I was going to take out the city in about fifteen days, well not the whole city but just the parts that are out for my blood.¡± ¡°Damn you are good. I am tempted, you have the devil¡¯s own tongue. Unfortunately I believe in Lord Breckley over you. He has that pesky thing called honor.¡± ¡°Very well. I wish to take a piss. I am sure you do not want to cart a piss smelling prisoner back.¡± A second sword was put to my throat. ¡°Place your hands behind your head and no sudden movements. I would tie you up, but that just leads to a false sense of security and we don¡¯t have chains.¡± I stood up and slowly walked off to the side. ¡°Stop, no further. Me and my group like to keep an eye on each other if you know what I mean. You can use your left hand only, try not to fumble.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± It was hard to bite back the sarcasm. My counterpart just grinned. I moved some clothing and relieved myself. Both swords were still right up against my neck. I finished up and put everything back. Still no opening to act. ¡°May I eat and drink while my pack is looted?¡± ¡°Over by the fire pit, sit. Roger has his food and drink been cleared.¡± ¡°Yeah boss, made the kid eat some, no issues.¡± ¡°Alright then, took a week too long to track your ass down. I am not touching your food but you can eat and drink it. Roger tossed a canteen over and a loaf of bread. I let them smack off my face and didn¡¯t catch them. ¡°Too clever for your own good. Yes you can pick them up and eat and drink. I honestly have to respect your self-control, a true gentleman.¡± ¡°Thank you. There is no reason to act uncivilized when faced with hardship if one is not fighting. What is your name by the way, so that all my viewers may know who defeated me?¡± I picked up the bread and bit of a piece. ¡°Well since you didn¡¯t use your little name and level trick, I will tell you Roberts. No last name for you though. Your viewers can just speculate on my mysterious nature.¡± I picked up the canteen¡­YES! The one I had filled with Ent sap on my last journey. Thank you hard leather flasks disguising what was in it. ¡°A good name, I was just thinking about a movie where there is a long line of pirates named Rogers or was it Roberts.¡± ¡°Ah yes, well I only have five fingers.¡± ¡°A shame, this would get triple the view count if you had six.¡± ¡°Make sure you catch my dashing side.¡± I gave a small smile and brought the flask up to my lips. This would require precise timing. Rogers had stepped back a bit to watch the whole camp. Vanessa was behind me and to my left with her sword pressed to the side of my neck, resting on my shoulder. Rookie mistake, never let your enemy know where your weapon is. Roger, not to be confused with Rogers was across the fire pit watching as Ulther pulled things one by one out of my pack. The other two were standing at least twenty feet away with arrows nocked in their bows. My hand darted up and grabbed Vanessa¡¯s sword and yanked with my hand wrapped around the blade. With my other hand I tossed the partially full canteen into the fire pit. Finally I turned my head and sprayed all the nasty sap in my mouth over Rogers. The canteen exploded in a giant pillar of flames. I was prepared and had already brought my right arm over my mouth after using it to throw my canteen. I ripped the sword out of Vanessa¡¯s hand as she stumbled back from the explosion. Rogers clothes caught on fire from my Ent sap spit and the exploding fire pit lighting them on fire. I stood up and swung the sword at Vanessa. The edge of the blade hit her in the neck and the blade bit deeply into my palm. I let out a breath and looked at what was happening. Rogers was running around screaming, didn¡¯t the idiot know stop, drop, and roll. Apparently not. Ulther had managed to grab the bag of moth poison and had thrown it up in the air paralyzing Roger. That left the two goons who seemed to be in a state of shock as they watched the flaming Rogers run around screaming. Less competent, so he put them at the edge of camp and not looking over us. I reached down and pulled out the sword that had been in Vanessa¡¯s neck. I raced for the nearest archer. By the time he realized how much danger he was in I cut through his neck and there was a rain of blood over me. ¡°Fear Aura, one minute.¡± I then rushed the last archer. He got off a shot, but it went wide. One swipe of my blade and it was over. I walked over to where Rogers had collapsed and stabbed him in the back of the head. I then went over and did the same to Roger. Idiot should have just killed me. It was easy to figure out he wanted his thirty seconds of fame, the curses and benefits of being a celebrity. Ulther appeared unhurt but a bit singed. I located the bandages and wrapped up my hands. ¡°Tough shit.¡± I said. Ulther just looked at me. ¡°Yeah, who were these guys?¡± ¡°Other travelers, Lord Breckley is out for blood. Come on let¡¯s clean-up this mess.¡± Two of them were seven levels below me. Not a lot of experience, but the experience didn¡¯t really matter.
Cutting Weapons-5 MAX
Stright through
LvL 1: You understand the basics of cutting weapons
LvL 2: You understand the theory behind cutting weapons
LvL 3: You understand the limits of cutting weapons, +1% Dexterity
LvL 3: You understand the limits of cutting weapons, +1% Dexterity
LvL 5: You are a master of cutting weapons, +1% Constitution, +1% Strength
Power Slash-1
My sword is better
LvL 1: 2x Attack Damage for a single attack with a cutting weapon
Cost: 500 SP
Player Killer-9
No mercy
+1% Constitution per LvL
I was really tempted to use my new technique but held off. Sorting through their corpses took time but I found a wanted poster with Vanessa. It had a crude drawing of my face.
WANTED
KENJI SHADOWEN
3000 GOLD DEAD/4000 GOLD ALIVE
ENOLBLEMENT
For the following crimes: Massacre of Willhelm Battle of Gloommore Forest Murder of Sir Regent Unleashing Swarm Bulb upon Mendal Murder of a priest of the Eight
Appearance: A small man with white skin and red eyes. Appears to be five feet tall.
I am in a war, how is that murder for Sir Regent. Stupid propaganda. I pocketed the poster in my satchel. I liked to collect one thing in game. Nothing big, heavy, or even valuable, just something unique. I was going to collect by bounty posters. If I ever got a lair they would make for great decoration. We got rid of all their food and washed out their canteens thoroughly. After cleaning up the camp it started to drizzle to make things even more annoying. We tossed the bodies in the fire pit, but now they were just smoldering. It went from a long night to a long morning and then a miserable afternoon. We scavenged any wood we could find. I also dipped a branch into the barrel and tossed it into the fire pit to get the fire going again. The rain continued all night and no moths came. The rain kept up the following day, but there was nothing we could do. Horsey the Third was taking everything in stride as he munched away on various plants. It was all we could do to keep the fire going. At least the corpses had burned away. Moving to collect more wood was the only thing getting us away from the fire. I resorted using my new technique to cut up some larger logs to haul back. I noted that one attack cleaved about a third off my SP. That was a brutally expensive technique. The rain finally quit during the second night and seven Luna Moths attacked. Ulther made short work of them and we went to sleep next to a roaring fire. The following mourning we got up and Ulther worked on collecting the moth poison while I dried things out by the fire. I wasn¡¯t too worried about anyone else finding our camp too quickly. With all the rain it would be while before anyone managed to get this far out. Also the group that had just attacked would be scattered all over the world, while one might be back in the area they wouldn¡¯t be a threat. I rested most of the afternoon while Ulther worked on meditating. I was going to make a battle mage out of him yet. Late in the afternoon I rounded up two small Ents and then got a larger one. By the time they finally stopped chasing me I was almost out of SP. I then carried the barrel over and got to work. The large Ent was a pain to cut into, but once I did it was bursting with sap. The barrel was a bit over four fifths full along with a couple canteens. I plugged it off and confirmed the Ents were dead. Happy, I returned to camp and went to sleep as the sun was coming up. I woke up a bit past mid-day. I spent the afternoon exercising with Ulther and working on his reading skills. He handled the Luna Moths again that night and I let him keep a sword of his own as a reward for working hard. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. After breakfast we set out to the north and east. My plan was to come out near the forest by Willhelm and then proceed to Breckley. I had been scouring for any information online about the city and found out that there was a large river flowing down into the bay from the northwest. It was a matter of slipping into the city and pouring the sap everywhere. The river also connected to the sewer system under the city. We would enter the sewers lay the barrel near the central keep, and boom! That was the other weird thing, as long a person started the majority of a fire they would get credit for the kill. The amount of fire this barrel would cause would be epic. I had done the math and estimated that this much sap would cause a lot of damage. That was my professional opinion on the matter. I pocketed a bulb when we came across one and had Ulther work on resisting inhaling the spores when we stopped for the night. During the days I quizzed him on the alphabet, spelling, and math. It took four days of traveling and we only ran into slimes and bulbs, nothing super dangerous. We came out fairly close to where I had wanted to end up, a bit further south than I would have liked, but close enough to Breckley. We had passed a couple of roads but ignored them. We continued on through the forest for another day until coming to the river. It was over fifty feet wide and had a swift current. I got to work chopping down and carving out the inside of the tree and branches. The plan was simple enough. I would carve out the bottom of the tree and float into Breckley with the sap barrel, both of secured under the tree. Ulther would rent a room at an inn in the city next to the river. From there he would scout the city while I plotted. It took a week to carve out the tree and thankfully no one stumbled on us. I knew the road ran close by, so I bet most people just followed the road and didn¡¯t bother to go by the river. Sometimes a boat would sail down, but Ulther kept a lookout up stream while I worked. I got my first crafting skill, wood carving and pushed my medium conditioning up to level two as I whacked away at the tree. Luckily the sap and barrel were only a fraction lighter than water so it didn¡¯t push the log up. In the event I got washed out into the ocean we would meet back here in one week. After two weeks the assumption was that I had died. Ulther went on ahead to get a room in the city and do all the preparations I had instructed him to do. There was a lot of trust, but I needed to take the chance if I was going to work with him. When it was fully dark I pushed off into the river. Where the water flowed past the walls, there was a long chain that could be lowered. In addition soldiers were keeping a look out for any intruders since a number of other players had tried sneaking into the city the same way I was. I stayed on the side of the log and tried to keep me near the south bank. A rope was looped over my chest to the barrel of sap, which in turn was tied to the log with only a single cord ready to be cut loose. As we neared the walls, I ducked under the log into the area I had carved out for air. Through the crack I had put from the cavity to the top of the log I saw light being shown down over the log and shouting. I couldn¡¯t make out what the soldiers were saying. I felt the log sway a bit and grew worried. *** River watch duty used to be a pretty cushy job before the stupid Travelers showed up. Samuel let out a sigh as he checked over a large tree that had fallen in the river. There was logging to the west and sometimes a tree got carried away. He double checked to make sure no Travelers were hiding on it and then let it go by. Used to be you could sleep through the whole shift without a problem. The last person who was caught sleeping got five lashes. Stupid Travelers ruining a good thing. Time to get back to standing around. *** I freed the barrel and began pushing my way towards the shore as hard as I could. It was exhausting but I managed to grab onto a dock and pull myself up. I lay there panting and exhausted. After a minute, I turned and hulled the barrel in. I looked around, but there was no one out past mid-night. I undid the rope and waited. ¡°Hey there, you know there is a curfew in effect.¡± A soldier was walking up to me while his two friends hung back. I was really glad for the hat I took off the group that had ambushed us. Hopefully it would keep my more memorable features hidden. ¡°Sor..ry, just had a bit too much to drink and fell in. You¡­you don¡¯t know where my¡­money went do you?¡± The soldier let out a sigh and pushed me off of him. ¡°You can look for it in the morning. Where do you live?¡± ¡°Just over there.¡± I began to point, when I clutched my stomach and bent over. I quick finger to the back of my throat disguised as a hand wave and half-digested bread and jerky went all over me. I heard the other two soldiers giggling. ¡°Why don¡¯t you come down here you two, stupid curfew and drunks. Clean yourself up in the river again, we will be back in a bit and you better find your way home or else.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, get a move on.¡± The soldier walked off to join his companions who were laughing. I moved back over to the river and the soldiers went back to their patrol. I stared up and down the bank. I heard a noise behind me and spun. ¡°Its me Ulther. Ummm, password is old bread.¡± Old bread meant he was in the clear and all was good. Tough jerky, meant he had been caught and the soldiers were using him to lure me out. I grabbed the barrel and hefted it on my shoulder and quickly followed Ulther as he led me down the streets. We avoided the narrow allies, probably because he only had an afternoon to get a sense of direction in the large city. Soon we had reached our destination. It was a ramshackle building. He swung open the door and we entered. One flight of stairs and Ulther unlocked the door to our small room. We entered. I set the barrel in front of the door way and Ulther set his lantern down off to the side. ¡°I rented out the other three rooms on this floor like you said. Had to pay double for no questions asked. One week came out to seventeen silvers. There is a spare set of cloths over there.¡± He gestured and I was quickly changing out of my wet and barfed on rags. ¡°There is a kill on sight order for all Travelers that don¡¯t have a pass from Lord Breckley, everyone is being questioned.¡± Expected, but annoying. ¡°The keep? Lord Breckley?¡± I asked. ¡°The walls are fifty feet high and soldiers are covering every inch during the day and probably the night as well. Also prices are increasing. With the travelers causing chaos everywhere, food is having a hard time reaching the city, so everything is incredibly expensive. Cold stew on the table.¡± I nodded and began scarfing it down. ¡°All right, what about a map?¡± ¡°Three gold pieces.¡± I cursed to myself at the cost. ¡°Alright, we go to sleep in shifts. You sleep now, then when it is dawn I will sleep. We will act three days from now when our friends arrive. Get some sleep.¡± A bluff in case anyone was listening. Ulther and I had already worked out what we were doing in advance. We passed the day hold up in the inn. Ulther went out once to get some fresh food. Everything else remained quiet. This was a desperate attack, but if it succeeded, well it would be amazing. We waited until deep in the night. We then crept down to the first floor. Ulther was carefully checking for ropes or other traps as I carried the barrel. He pointed to a small string that disappeared through a crack in a nearby room. We both stepped over it. I set the barrel down and entered the room. An old pudgy man was asleep in his bed. The string was tied around a block of wood next to his head. Crude but simple. I lit the lantern by the bead side. I then covered his mouth and pressed my sword against his neck. He woke up struggling but quickly stopped as I pressed steel to flesh. I whispered, ¡°I am going to lift my hand and you are going to tell me where all your money is, if you don¡¯t then this sword will make short work of you. If you had over the money, you just get a bump on the head and your life. Quiet now.¡± I lifted up my hand and he took a few heavy breaths. ¡°Under a loose floorboard over there in the corner.¡± I slit his throat and he was dead in seconds. I carefully checked the floor and found the loose floor board. I used my sword to slowly lift it up while I covered the opening with a blanket in case of a trap. Nothing happened and I moved the board and blanket out of the way. The money pouch only had ten silver in it, which was way too small. I checked in the opening under the floor with my dagger¡­success. I got the blanket again and used it as a shield as I pried a loose piece of stone away. I reached inside with the blanket and found a needle poking against it and a second bag behind the needle. A triple bluff, what an idiot, but I honestly didn¡¯t think Wisdom was his strongest stat. I took out the bag, heavy. I moved it into the glow of the lantern. A bunch of gold and silver, greedy bastard. I handed off the larger money pouch to Ulther. Next I opened up the barrel and dabbed the blanket into some of the Ent sap. I closed the barrel back up. Ulther had already left, the only tricky part for him left to do was to get to the other inn where he had rented a room for just tonight. He would pick up a map tomorrow along with a number of other supplies and meet at our rendezvous point. The hard part was up to me. I lay the sap blanket in front of the door way and then threw the lantern at the far wall. As the fire began to spread I closed the door. I picked up the barrel and quickly left the inn. It should take a couple of minutes for the fire to reach the blanket. Also if anyone opened the door the blanket they were standing on would go up in a blaze. That gave me an idea. I set the barrel down and ran to one of the soldier patrols I saw outside the inn. ¡°Help, there is a fire in the inn. The inn keeper must be an idiot or something. I heard shouting, his daughter may be trapped.¡± The soldiers quickly followed me into the inn. The glow of fire clearly visible from inside the room, through the cracks in the wooden walls.. As the soldiers moved forward, I stepped back. When one of them opened the door I was already ducking back out of the inn. There was a whoosh coupled with screams as the entire inn went up in flames. ¡°HELP! HELP! FIRE!¡± I shouted out. People came pouring out into the streets in their night clothes carrying buckets. Soldiers rushed in to help the bucket chain from the inn to the nearest well. In the confusion as they tried to sort things out I slipped away and got back to the barrel. I carried it as quickly as I could down some alley ways. Finding a secluded corner with a pile of trash I opened the barrel back up and poured about a tenth onto the trash. I sealed up the barrel and carried it away. I then lit up a torch Ulther had purchased the day before with my striker and then tossed it down the alley way onto the garbage. There was a whoosh and the fire was taking off again. I raced away carrying the barrel. I repeated the process once more and then started making my way to the keep. I got a couple strange looks running around with a barrel but no one stopped me, thank goodness. The trick was to act confident and ignore them. I was one row of houses over from the keep. I opened the barrel back up and laid out a trail of sap through the alley, on the side of the houses. While the first floor was stone, the higher floors were wood and there were wood support beams. I looked out of the alley way and saw soldiers rushing out of the keep to help with the fire. I gave the barrel a hard kick and it rolled next to the gate. A couple of soldiers looked at it but rushed on. I was already retreating as I pulled out my last torch. I lit it and then tossed it into the trail of sap. The entire alley way caught fire. A second later there was a loud boom. I raced to the explosion and other people in the nearby houses were exiting as well. It seemed every bell in the city was clanging as people ran about trying to deal with all the chaos I had just caused.. The gate house was in flames and soldiers were running about screaming. Some of the locals tackled them with blankets in an attempt to put out the flames. I noticed one soldier standing in the back and off to the side in a state of shock. I came up behind him and in one swift move I stabbed my dagger into his ear and put my hand over his mouth. Everyone¡¯s attention was on the raging inferno in front of them so they missed me moving the corpse into a nearby alley way. It took two minutes to remove the soldiers clothes and swap them out with mine. I double checked to make sure everything was correct. I wouldn¡¯t survive any type of real inspection, but I was hoping that the chaos would blind people to the true attack. I returned to the street and I saw the fire had spread to the nearby houses which everyone was frantically trying to put out. The trail of sap in the alley had also taken root in a couple of locations. Things were getting out of hand. At least Ulther was in a part of the city that wasn¡¯t a raging inferno. I saw one of the shop doors open and entered. Some sort of bakery. I made my way upstairs, no one, they were all out fighting the fire most likely. Perfect. At least these houses had small glass windows I could look out of. I picked the bedroom overlooking the street and let myself doze off. *** HolyMan: Ahhhh, stupid idiots Ramponator: That is precisely you don¡¯t talk with prisoners TheBrain: Or give Rain of Blood any openings 6996: What a beautiful rain KilluaXXX: I hope you mean the blood, not the rain rain, that was depressing UltimataSecret: The real question is, where is his Luck coming from PedoBear9000: From the souls of crispy players FuriousGhost: Ahhh you asstwits, how could you not kill him, AHHHHH GODHAXLOL: HORSEY LIVES! KilluaXXX: This guy is OP to the OP HeavenBlade: Lord Breckley will get him, that guy is¡­intense for an NPC Tattles: Did anyone else wonder what that barrel will be used for? Chapter 10: The Power of Charisma I felt warm. My eyes snapped open. It was dawn and the fire was engulfing the street. I took a quick breath, letting out a small cough from the smoke in the air. I quickly got up and ran back out of the building. Thankfully it wasn¡¯t that far to go through the building and the fire had not engulfed it. The street was empty as the fire was quickly spreading through the city giving an intense red glow in the pre-dawn light and the clouds of smoke. I hurried back to the keep entrance, where there was a smoldering ruin. The gate house and nearby towers had been gutted, but the stonework still stood. I gave a weary nod to the soldier standing guard at the gate but he didn¡¯t spare me a second glance. While I was rested, everyone was exhausted and would hopefully see my uniform and wave me through. I made my way across a large courtyard. There were wounded soldiers lying all over as priests walked around muttering. I bypassed them all and approached the soldier standing guard at the main entrance. ¡°Report for whomever is running things around here. A fire just started up across the river over in another quadrant.¡± ¡°Sir Willos is in the main hall. Things are really getting out of hand.¡± ¡°Lord Breckley?¡± ¡°Asleep since the worst is contained, you better hurry.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± He gave me a nod and I entered the building. Now came the tricky part, figuring out the locations of Lord Breckley¡¯s bed chambers. I saw a servant moving by and quickly followed her down a side hall. I followed her through the corridors of the keep for about a minute. She stepped into a room and closed the door. I hurried over and knocked on the door she just entered. This was the lower level and there were a number of doors lining the hall. I suspected servant¡¯s quarters and hopefully I was right. The door opened and I saw a small bed chamber behind the woman, ten points to logic. ¡°What do you want now? I said I needed¡­What do you want?¡± I punched her in the gut and pushed her into the room. I quickly clamped my hand over her mouth. ¡°I will kill you unless you tell me where Lord Breckley¡¯s sleeping chamber is.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t hurt me, I didn¡¯t-¡° ¡°Where is he sleeping and I won¡¯t hurt you.¡± ¡°Up on the third floor at the middle of the north corridor.¡± ¡°How do I get there from here.¡± ¡°Just make a left, then you will eventually run into a staircase, go up two levels and then his room is the one with the double doors.¡± I stabbed her in the throat and let her corpse fall to the floor making sure to not got get any blood on myself. I followed her instructions passing by soldiers with my head ducked and a weary nod. They appeared tired and worn, probably from fighting fires all night. I soon saw a knight standing guard outside the doorway along with two soldiers that the servant had directed me towards, which all but confirmed the room was the right one. I walked up to the knight and then threw the pouch of moth poison. The soldiers collapsed but the knight tried to push his way free of the poison cloud. We traded a number of blows and he still wasn¡¯t succumbing. I backed away and then threw my sword at him. He ducked to the side and I had taken out a canteen filled with sap. One pull and the cork was out I gave a squeeze and the sap squirted over him. He rushed towards me and I ran away. I saw soldiers moving up the stairs at the end of the corridor alerted from our sword fight. I knocked a passing torch off a wall bracket onto the floor behind me. Next I squirted more sap in a line between me and the approaching soldiers. The knight ran past the torch and burst into flames. He let out a scream that was sure to wake the dead. I ran back the way I came past the flaming knight. He ran right over the line of sap igniting it and forcing the soldiers to retreat. I picked up my dropped sword and raced forward. More soldiers were coming up the opposite end of the corridor. I let loose of spray of sap I had across the hall and tossed a torch onto it. The sap went up with a whoosh blocking off their approach. I turned to the double doors and pushed them open. I saw an older man with a sword drawn and a woman in a gown standing behind him. ¡°Observe.¡±
Lord Tavirin Breckley
LvL 126
Strongest Stat: Charisma
I almost let out a laugh. Charisma, who was he kidding with that sword even if he was a level one hundred twenty six. I threw the empty canteen at some candles. They clattered to the floor but the sap in the canteen didn¡¯t catch right away but slowly began to spread towards the fallen candles.. I stepped into the room and closed the door behind me. ¡°Lord and Lady Breckley, it is an honor. Normally I don¡¯t fight and chat, but I wanted to see how good your Charisma truly is.¡± The older man didn¡¯t blink in the slightest. ¡°Kenji Shadowen?¡± I gave a small nod of my head. ¡°All this trouble and you come to me. I suppose we have you to thank for all these fires.¡± I gave another nod of my head. ¡°Well no matter, you are going to pay for what you have done to this land and its people. Surrender and I will grant you what mercy I can.¡± I thought about it for a second and then shook myself. Holy crap, this guy was good. I was actually considering surrendering after all the effort to get here. Why was I even listening to him? I should have attacked. Note to self, Charisma is not a weak stat at the high levels. I darted in swinging. ¡°Power slash!¡± I shouted out. My blade slammed into his and cut into his shoulder as his blade was forced down from the strength of the attack. He let out a grunt and then pushed me off. He then stabbed back at me. I was already retreating. He made to follow but stumbled. Poisoned blades are totally overpowered. I moved in and cut his throat. His wife or concubine rushed at me with a dagger. It was simple enough to drive the sword into her eye and out the back of her head. She slid along half my blade as it exited the back of her skull. The spray of blood and brains hit the light of the rising sun just right. I was so going to put a picture of that up on my wall in my atrium. I slid her corpse off my sword. I then took Lord Breckley¡¯s sword for myself and began to loot the room. I pocketed a small bag of gold coins, jeweled dagger, and a crown with three sapphires in it. I saw a number of books, but they wouldn¡¯t survive my escape. I couldn¡¯t resist I grabbed two of them at random, no time to waste. I went out onto the small balcony looking out over the other half of the city and the river. This back part of the keep had windows facing the river from the third floor and higher. While not tactically sound, the towers and other defenses in the bay made an attack from this direction unlikely. While there was a talk, there were numerous gates to prevent an enemy from sneaking in from the back. I began to climb up the side of the castle. There were six stories and it was harrowing moving up the keep in the pre-dawn light. I finally reached the roof and let out a sigh. They would look to the water for me most likely and not the keep itself. I smiled at my idea but I was a master of misdirection. The trick was to always do the unexpected and never get trapped. Always keep them off guard and have a trick up your sleeve. Finally to just go all out, have no fear or morals when I needed to act. Hesitation was the quickest way to defeat. I found an out of the way corner on the roof and rested. My SP was about gone and I was tired. I took a long sip of water and waited. I was on a tower roof that was a bit blow the top of the keep. I was currently wedged up between a ledge and a tower. The only real way to spot me would be at the top of the roof looking straight down. I occupied myself going through the list of messages I had received.
Trap Making-4
Ambidextrous-3
Running-4
Climbing-2
Stealth-3
Deception-4
Meditate-5 MAX
You are on the path to enlightenment
LvL 1: +100% MP Regen
LvL 2: +200% MP Regen
LvL 3: +400% MP Regen
LvL 4: +600% MP Regen
LvL 5: +800% MP Regen, +1% Wisdom
Cost: Cannot move
Mental Defense-1
Make sure you file everything correctly
LvL 1: +20% to mental defense, can recognize a mental attack
Cost: 10 MP per Minute
Murderer-500 MAX
Enemy of the People-5 MAX
Player Killer-10 MAX
Quest Complete-Easy
Start of Journey
+10 EXP
Burning of Breckley-1 MAX
Burn baby burn!
+10 Fate
+10% Resistance to all fire based attacks
STATE OF WAR WITH THE HOUSE OF BRECKLEY
Due to the death of the current faction leader claim over the house passes to the heir
Quest-Easy
Escape
Leave Breckley Bay
+10 EXP
Accept (Yes/No)
Quest-Lifetime
Dragon Slayer
Slay the green dragon Dlthinnir
+100000 EXP +5 Stat Points
Accept (Yes/No)
Experience
A maximum of 100,000 EXP has been applied for a calamity you have caused
STATUS
NameKenji Shadowen
Level51
Constitution43.56
Strength51.15
Dexterity54.06
Endurance52.5
Wisdom5.2
Intelligence5.3
Charisma0
Luck0
Fate555.9
What the hell. Limited experience, no legendary quest completion, and some half-baked quest to kill a dragon. Ulther had been telling me the local tales, and dragons were the apex predator. They were immune to all but the strongest priests, scales that resisted most attacks, flying, fire breath, and let¡¯s not forget their ability to use magic. Only one that had ever been killed, by a god. I ball parked their level at a one thousand minimum. They mostly ignored humans and rested in out of the way locations. There was no love for me from the game system. Well at least I had ten percent fire resistance, whatever that meant. I mean, really how much damage would ten percent hold off against any fire based attack. Instead of a cinder when I got hit with dragon fire, I would be a slightly juicy cinder. Mental defense was nice, but did that mean there were creatures that could mentally attack me. Were there mental attacks? At least murderer and enemy of the people had maxed out. It was the general consensus online that Fate was bad but with no clear idea of what it did as of yet. I guess that was why the goddess Tafe got cast down, since her stat was bad. I decided to blow through a bit of mana and identify my items.
Crown of House Breckley
LvL 83
Sword of Fey
LvL 173
Identification-2
What is this now?
LvL 1: Learn Name and LvL of an item
LvL 2: Learn the requirements of an item
Cost: 10 MP
Dammit, with my skill going up I couldn¡¯t resist checking the sword again.
Sword of Fey
LvL 173
Requirement: 30 Strength, 20 Dexterity, Descendent of Ralthor Breckley the First
A bloodline requirement, that was stupid. I could still use it as a high quality regular sword like the Knight¡¯s, but I wouldn¡¯t get the special awesome power it had locked inside. I was tempted to do the crown as well, but MP took forever to regenerate. Meditation helped, but I always liked to have most of MP in reserve just in case. I secured the loot upon my person and pulled out the two books. History of the Seasons by Galir Trent and The Kraken: Myth of the Seas by Balor Septima. I dug into both of the books. I started with the one about the seasons. It was boring but very informative. Apparently the weather was fairly stable in the area with rainfall around once every ten day. There had been some harsh winters but the book described what insects to look for and their patterns to help determine how bad the winter would be. Galmore to the south was warmer but more rain. The Gloommore Forest or the Gloomwood to the west was pretty much an unknown and the lands beyond were populated by roving clans and warlords. To the north was Angal, which rested in valley between mountains that had a lot of snow. The Sea of Salmir to the east was fairly benign. There were no mentions of any other lands and the rest of the book devolved into how to record the various changes in the seasons and write them inside the book. Based on the dates recorded this was year 1057 After the Fall with the records starting at year 376 AtF. The book on the Kraken was a collection of wives tales, fables, and sailor gossip. The author, Balor, had a wicked sense of humor by poking at the stories and people he was collecting them from. Sort of like an evil bard¡­that was what I needed on my team. I had myself, the dashing rouge leader. Ulther would be my surly but dependable battle mage. Now all I needed was an evil bard to make the ears of my enemies bleed and the ladies puke on their dresses. I also needed a theme song. Being an evil villain is only fun if you have style to go with it. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡­Kraken just came up out of the sea like a vengeful god. It then grabbed Old Man Michael with one of its tentacles and pulled him under. I tried to hack him free but by the eight the creature was tougher than stone. By the slovenly and drunken nature of the sailor, it is far more likely he hid or found this tale in the bottom of his cup. Then it snapped the main mast sending most of the crew overboard and smashed the ship. By the eight it was frightful. Like most of the bottom feeders he did not have a good explanation on his survival. Oh look, he just pissed himself and passed out. Next time I will¡­ I finished the book up just before the sun set. It was time to get out of here. It was tempting to go and try and kill the rest of House Breckley, but I had no idea how far the line extended. After a thousand years everyone in the city was probably related somehow. Also I was out of powder and sap which was the biggest determining factor. I left the books on the ledge and began pulling out the rope I had around wrapped around my chest. It was a simple matter of tying it off to the parapet above me. I waited until the last glow of the sun was gone and then watched the river carefully. Finally I saw a small boat being rowed up the river. I began to descend as quickly as I could. I made it to just above the river and then dove in. The water was foul, sooty, and wet. I half floated, half drifted towards the boat. The two swords I had were really pulling me down along with my loot. Not a lot but they definitely weren¡¯t helping. I noted two of the mercenary types, four rowers, and finally an older gentleman in the boat. I grabbed onto the rudder and caught my breath while I let the boat pull me a bit. ¡°¡­whole city has gone to the dogs.¡± ¡°All the travelers fault.¡± ¡°Hmm, more like one Kenji Shadowen. I heard the bounty has gone up.¡± ¡°How much?¡± ¡°Ten thousand gold pieces dead.¡± It was a surreal experience to spy on people talking about me. ¡°I might be tempted.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be an idiot. Better to be alive and poor than rich and dead.¡± ¡°True, true.¡± ¡°So, how you think Lady Breckley will handle things?¡± ¡°No idea, but that is why we are acting tonight.¡± ¡°You really think that-¡° ¡°No talk about that. While I don¡¯t think anyone is listening out here, no talking business unless it is a secure location.¡± ¡°You never did say why though.¡± ¡°Travelers are bad for business. If my idea works, we will be rolling in the gold.¡± I had heard enough. I pulled out my sword and heaved myself up over the rear of the boat. I slashed one of the mercenaries just behind his knee and he tilted and fell into the water. The other mercenary spun around and the entire boat tilted to one side at the sudden shifts in weight. The rowers seemed to ignore the situation as they kept on going with a blank look in their eyes. I was up over the side and the mercenary had drawn his sword. His friend had grabbed the side of the boat and was trying to pull himself up. The older gentleman had turned around on his bench and was facing me. The only sound was the splash of the oars. ¡°Kenji Shadowen, how unexpected. Any chance we can come to an arrangement?¡± The older gentleman asked. ¡°Let us sit and we can talk, in exchange you take me out of Breckley.¡± ¡°If I refuse?¡± ¡°I kill you all and then try to make my way out of the bay.¡± ¡°Hohohohoho, you are as daring as I have heard. Very well, a chance at good conversation is never amiss. Get Squint Eye¡¯s soggy ass back in the boat and put away your weapon.¡± The last part was directed at the other mercenary who obeyed. Once the mercenary was back in the boat I spoke. ¡°I am Kenji Shadowen, but it appears you have already heard of me, but I am afraid I am at a disadvantage.¡± ¡°Your name is now known throughout the five kingdoms that boarder the Salmir and more after the events of yesterday night. I am Han, just Han.¡± ¡°Thank you for the lift Just Han, is there something specific you wish to discuss?¡± ¡°I want you to work for me.¡± He didn¡¯t grin or leer. He really was just a slightly older man that had a bit of grey hair and some nicer clothes. Despite this he was not afraid, no sign of fear or worry. ¡°It comes down to trust. I would like to trust you, but in the end one can only trust themselves.¡± ¡°True, but with your reputation and ability, my plans will be far more easily achieved.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t outright refuse, but do your goals and mine align.¡± ¡°A tough question, I will say that I am a good friend and a worse enemy.¡± ¡°A compromise. I have some things in my possession that are a bit¡­tricky to sell off. I would be willing to trade one of them in exchange for a friendship of sorts. Live and let live, we stay out of each other¡¯s way while we Observe each other¡¯s actions.¡±
???
LvL: ???
Strongest Stat: ???
¡°Nice try Kenji, but I am not that easy to read.¡± Apparently he read the momentary shock on my face at the failure of my skill. ¡°No worries, but please refrain some such things.¡± ¡°My apologies, I was only curious.¡± ¡°All is forgiven. As to your offer, it is intriguing. Let me see what you have.¡± I carefully pulled out the crown and held up the sword I was holding. ¡°You are a tricky one. The crown is far more useful to me.¡± I picked it up and tossed it over. He caught it in an instant. ¡°All yours.¡± ¡°You really are an odd one, but that makes life all the more interesting. Hohohoho.¡± ¡°When I act, I act. Do you have a way I could get a hold of you? If I had stuff to sell or buy, or even if you had a job. An independent contractor.¡± ¡°I like that term, independent contractor. You really don¡¯t care what I am planning or have other questions?¡± ¡°Nothing you would answer and let me walk away. Just seeing what I have is troublesome enough, but I need help leaving the city and more so in the future. I also don¡¯t want to be caught up in whatever you are doing.¡± ¡°A true soldier of fortune, very well. But I want you to answer a question in exchange.¡± ¡°The crown was the gift of trust, anything else will cost. Question for a question, and no I won¡¯t be asking anything about you personally or your business.¡± ¡°Acceptable, how did you start all those fires? From what my men have said they were near impossible to put out.¡± ¡°The fluids of a certain monster easily catch fire, it was a simple matter of collecting enough.¡± ¡°Hohohohoho, you are an evil one. Before you ask your question we are coming up to our stop.¡± I looked and saw the city walls only a hundred feet up the river. ¡°I will leave you the rowers.¡± ¡°That wasn¡¯t the deal.¡± ¡°True, but I will not be turning you in. I am sure you know, but these two here are just to keep the riff raff away. I knew you were hiding on the boat and I know every move you might make. I honestly don¡¯t want the attention or headache that will come from capturing you.¡± The boat slid up to a dock and all three of them stepped out. ¡°I don¡¯t think we will meet again, but this was fun. It was a pleasure Kenji Shadowen or should I say Rain of Blood.¡± The boat was already pulling away and Just Han was already disappearing into the city with his two goons. I looked at the rowers and they kept pulling up the boat up the river. I went over the side once more and grabbed the rudder. I was pissed. That guy was probably rolling in Charisma, which was why I hadn¡¯t attacked and given up the crown. Also the fact I couldn¡¯t Observe him had thrown me off balance. Stupid, stupid, stupid, but I didn¡¯t have time for self-recrimination. Soldiers began to shout at the boat to pull off to the side but it just kept going. Once it was past the towers on either side, arrows began to rain down. I went underneath the boat and used it to pull myself forward. I swam for half a minute before coming up for air. I had made some progress against the current and began swimming as hard as I could for shore. I made it to shore exhausted and wet. The soldiers were already working to drag the boat to shore. Thankfully they missed me in the darkness and the sound of the river. I didn¡¯t spare a moment and began jogging up the river bank, away from Breckley. By the time dawn was rolling around, I had made it to where I had carved out the log to get into Breckley. Ulther looked incredibly relieved when I showed up. ¡°Still alive.¡± I whispered out. My SP was almost empty. ¡°You look and smell like shit.¡± ¡°Help me get changed.¡± I changed to a new set of clothes he had and tossed the old ones back in the river. ¡°You get a map?¡± I asked. ¡°Yeah, also found out Sir Davos is in Mendal still.¡± I could only have one quest of each type at a time until they were completed or no longer possible. So stupid, but that was the way of things. ¡°Things didn¡¯t work out so well. I managed to kill Lord Breckley, but apparently he had an heir so our war continues.¡± ¡°Yeah his daughter is now Lady Breckley, I heard before leaving the city. So what now?¡± ¡°We head west. Too much focus on me at the moment. I am done with this area.¡± ¡°Well I got us the cart and a second horse that you wanted. Also a short black haired wig which I ended up stealing during the fire. Five gold pieces for just some hair is insane. There were glasses, but none of them tinted. I also have a wide straw hat for both of us, though I don¡¯t know why you call it standard villain attire. Filled up the cart with supplies and a couple barrels of salted fish. We have six gold pieces and thirty seven silver left. I hid the gold in cut out portion of the wagon along with most of the silver. The copper and the rest of the silver were divided up like you wanted. Why go to all that trouble?¡± ¡°If we get robbed, we can give up the smaller money pouches to hide that we have a larger one. Traps within traps within traps. Hide this gold as well.¡± I passed him the pouch I had taken from Lord Breckley¡¯s room. I got up onto the wagon and put on the wig of short black hair. We set off. I noted that the now that my previous easy quest had completed and I had another one to drink some of the local ale. There were so many options, but I was honestly sick of Breckley. We were leaving and I might come back in a year or two once I was stronger and had a team. Ulther needed to become my personal battle mage and I needed to find an evil bard. I looked through the cart as we traveled. There was a large stockpile of arrows, a skinning knives, a large hammer, axe, wood carving tools, a tent, a pair of sleeping bags, sewing kit, and four barrels of salted fish. I had one canteen left of Ent sap, the priestly book, and a number of swords and daggers. We were all set for a long and extended journey. I worked with Ulther on memorizing the twenty four basic chants. He could not produce an effect either, but without a pop-up I wasn¡¯t sure if that was the only problem. I needed to make him more wise and intelligent in the hopes that the stat points would gravitate to those two areas. Well, Breckley was behind us and it was onto a new local and people to terrorize. *** HellzFirez666: BURN IT ALL! Ramponator: I saw a couple other videos on the Burning of Breckley, no love for Rain GODHAXLOL: DOUBLE HORSY! PedoBear9000: I can¡¯t tell if he plans this out or makes it up as he goes along UltimataSecret: What you really need to ask is how he keeps surviving HatMan: Lateral thinking, he just does the unexpected 6996: Did you catch when Lord Breckley bit it, and his wife, priceless Tattles: Where can I sign up?? FuriousGhost: I am coming for you! Ramponator: You should give up, you are a B or C rate opponent KilluaXXX: I want to know who that Just Han guy is LeeroyYOLO1: Just Han UltimataSecret: Breckley is going to be chaos, urg, I was hoping to get a sword there HeavenBlade: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, not Lord Breckley Bonus Chapter 3 - Local Map Here is the local map, it will expand as the story goes on. There are so many people to kill in so many different locations. For reference each ''square'' is about 10kmx10km. Cities, roads, and rivers are not to scale, but it helps give a general sense of where things are located and the level of development. I don''t show small villages. The full map is 1000x1000, yes I know the world isn''t square, but that is something that we can blame the map on. It is done up in excel in the style of those retro 8-bit & 16-bit games. I apologize but my attempts to post a full res map using the system has failed for over an hour, so you get a thumbnail and download link. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Dark Green=Forest Grey=Mountain Light Grey=Wall Light Green=Plains/Fields Light Brown=Major Dirt Road Dark Brown=Paved Road Purple=Settlement Dark Blue=Salt Water Light Blue=Fresh Water (only major rivers and lakes) Yellow=Desert Full Res Map Download Interlude - 1 ¡°Today on our talk show Elrado Vasue, spokesperson for Omnitrek. Dr. Victor Ray, one of the leading figures in analyzing how VR affects us socially and mentally. Finally our host, Ubella Hopar.¡± The figures all stepped out on stage as millions of viewers moved their VR avatars into the various servers that hosted the exact same talk show. ¡°Thank you everyone for tuning in. So Elrado, FEAR has taken off along with the new capsule pushing Omnitreks global market share up past the ten percent range.¡± ¡°Thank you, Ubella. Yes our new technology is being adopted globally. We expect a complete phase out of the older capsule within one to two years at the most. As for FEAR, we at Omnitrek are astounded by the its success and how people have leapt in with both feet.¡± ¡°That brings us to our next question. Dr Ray, can you please highlight some of the concerns you have found in regards to the new system?¡± ¡°Indeed Ubella. The new capsule is placing the mind in a suspended animation while copying it over to the atrium system and the copying the experiences back into the brain at the conclusion of the session. This neural over writing is a grave cause for concern.¡± ¡°Elrado, Omnitrek¡¯s response?¡± ¡°Yes, the system works exactly like the good doctor described. But there are five primary safe guards and twenty seven backups. We have tested the set-up extensively and I can say with utmost confidence that the universe would sooner end than any malfunction happening with our system. As a matter of fact, Omnitrek has set aside one hundred billion dollars for the sole purpose of responding to any failures in the system and we have multiple teams monitoring and standing by twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.¡± ¡°The system is safe, but what about memory over writing? There is no way to check what is being copied into a person¡¯s brain. Where is the over sight with that portion of the system?¡± ¡°Thank you for asking doctor. You see the system can only copy what the user themselves experience. Traumatic events are lessened, and the memories are less visceral once outside the capsule. Kind of like a dream. This is actually a by-product of our time dilation system. Also extensive testing and oversight has been done by the United States Military, who regularly uses our system for training. Are you claiming you know more than the US Military?¡± ¡°What about all the violence that is happening in game? That has to have a detrimental effect on people.¡± ¡°Again doctor, this is all covered by our disclaimers before starting. If you want the enjoyment from eating and being with another person, then hunger and pain also have to be included. Also the fear of pain and death is what drives our player base to succeed in ways we never imagined possible.¡± ¡°You mean like the infamous Rain of Blood. He is murdering and raping his way across the nation of Breckley and Omnitrek is doing nothing to stop him.¡± ¡°We have a hands off policy for all in game actions. We are not big brother like many people claim.¡± ¡°Your own company gave him an official broad casting license.¡± ¡°An unfortunate oversight and the employee responsible has been sacked. Regardless, if his actions are so terrible I encourage all players to stop such crimes. The moment we start making rules inside our VR system we become more than administrators, but rather a form of digital dictator. That is why we stay off that slippery slope and let our in game world shape itself.¡± ¡°We are now going to a word from our sponsors. Please stay tuned as we take a look at the declining violence worldwide and how Omnitrek is claiming responsibility.¡± *** ¡°You are weak Lady Breckley and your country is weak. Your city burns, your soldiers are dead or dying and this meeting is a farce.¡± The representative from Galmore said. ¡°Let us not be so quick to condemn. I know your own country has had problems with these Travelers.¡± The representative from Angal countered. ¡°What are we even discussing? We just conscript all Travelers into our military, those who don¡¯t listen we execute.¡± The representative from Valentor said. ¡°A worth solution, but just wait until they start rampaging. Then they will be stronger and your nation will be in flames.¡± The representative from Angal countered once again. ¡°I know Lord Breckley wanted to band together under the Church of Eight, but I have learned it will be impossible to counter these travelers. So what is the purpose of this meeting?¡± The Galmore representative said. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! ¡°I am here today to announce my official engagement to the Second Prince of Therdossa. Talrin Therdossa. A new alliance will be formed between Breckley and Therdossa and the Talrin will gladly take the Breckley name creating an alliance that will last generations.¡± Lady Breckley said. ¡°This is an outrage! Galmore will not stand for this. Such an alliance will offset the balance of power between our nations. What of Angal, caught between both of you?¡± ¡°Angal does not have an issue. We wish to be left alone and already we have taken steps. As such we have already dispatched our agents and have a gift to present the new Lady Breckley.¡± The representative snapped his fingers and a servant rushed forward with a simple yet elegantly carved wood box. ¡°We went to much trouble, but we were able to recover the Crown of Breckley.¡± The box opened revealing a crown with three sapphires. ¡°Unfortunately Kenji Shadowen managed to evade being cornered. Our agents will continue to pursue him, but he is incredibly hard to pin down as I am sure you all know.¡± He passed the box with the crown off to one of Lady Breckley¡¯s servants. ¡°Angal has Breckley¡¯s thanks and appreciates your continued friendship.¡± The representative gave a small bow of his head. ¡°Kenji is probably an agent of Angal or Therdossa-¡° ¡°ENOUGH!¡± Sir Willos boomed from behind Lady Breckley. ¡°You will show respect or you will back up your words with steel. Do not mistake the burning of this city for weakness. Our people are strong, our soldiers are legion, and our knights are an unshakable vanguard.¡± ¡°Thank you Sir Willos, that was well said. We know you are massing troops in Galmore and that they have been heading up the coast. If they enter the southern portion of the Gloommore Forest that will mean war, so I hope they are just out for a stroll.¡± The Galmore representative gave a long sneer. ¡°You really think you can hold our army back?¡± ¡°Honestly, no. But with Therdossa¡¯s help we will prevail. If that is not enough I would be willing to make concessions to Angal and Valentor in exchange for your defeat. You are a bully and fool. The Travelers are the major problem and we need to focus our efforts on resolving that crisis first.¡± ¡°We have already reached a permanent solution your highness. Our clerics scry the Fate of all who pass through our boarders. Anything that is too high, we send them to the mines. We could spare five hundred trained clerics for a period of two years for ten thousand gold pieces. This way your clerics would be able to hunt down those that despoil your land. This offer is open to all other nations as well and is being passed on to your respective leaders.¡± The representative from Angal said. ¡°I will think on that and respond to you in the next couple of days.¡± Lady Breckley said. *** ¡°Where is this?¡± ¡°You are in Yal-Thingar.¡± ¡°AHHHH!¡± The lady picked up a nearby rock and began smashing her head in. *** ¡°Welcome everyone to the first meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. We are working to compile information and maps, please share what you have discovered so we can prosper together. Also you can coordinate with your area leader to form up. We are still listening to propositions on where to build our headquarters in game, so if you have a good location please pass that along to be considered. The most important thing at the moment is our relationship with NPCs.¡± ¡°To this effect you are all being given a sheet with the ten most violent players to be hunted down in game in order to improve relations. These individuals are incredibly dangerous and we lost our First Breckley team to one of them.¡± ¡°In addition, we encourage all our members to wear a piece of red and gold clothing somewhere visible on their body to identify themselves as members of the Order. This doesn¡¯t need to be flamboyant, but mainly in cities and other places where we are trying to project a positive image.¡± ¡°So everyone go find your local team leaders so you can coordinate meeting up. If anyone wants to join, please be aware we do a thorough background check and expect positive behavior in game. For where there is darkness, there is light. Where there is chaos, there is order. Where there is death, the Order of the Phoenix shall rise again!¡± A round of cheers came from all the individuals present after hearing the mantra of their guild. Chapter 11: Prison Break It had been five days since heading away from Breckley, west wards. Looking at the map Ulther had gotten there was a large mine located in the Salrin Mountains. There was also a mountain trail throuogh the mountains to the city of Balkor, which was the main trading hub between the free cities in the wild lands out west and the Five Nations around the Sea of Salmir. The plan was simple enough. We would sell the fish at the mine and then journey through the mountains to Balkor with iron and steel to sell off there. The bad news was that not many people made the journey and the larger trade caravans only took a tag along for a hefty fee in exchange for protection. The idea was that once we got out of Breckley we could train up in magic and levels for round two. Round one was kind of a win, but it wasn¡¯t a knock out. Also with the bounty shooting up, players from all over were heading towards Breckley for a chance to kill me. I was now worth more than my weight in gold. There was even a betting site that had started taking bets on when I would be killed. Unfortunately things had become complicated. We were on a ridge overlooking a large mining pit and I could see hundreds of players had been rounded up and were down there slaving away. Well not all of them might have been players, but it was an issue just the same. I considered saving them, but that created more headaches. There were about five hundred soldiers and they had levels in the low forties for the couple I checked. A bit tougher than the regular soldier and more experienced. I really wanted to liberate all the people, since they would cause untold chaos in Breckley making my second round that much easier. ¡°Ulther we are going in. How many spare swords do we have?¡± ¡°Four, not counting your two and mine.¡± Ulther said. ¡°Any ideas on freeing the people?¡± ¡°Not really. While we can smuggle the weapons in, there are just too many soldiers. There is no way we can kill that many. Even if the prisoners revolt they are probably half starved.¡± ¡°What about poisoning the fish?¡± ¡°Maybe, but it would have to be fairly slow and we used up all the Luna Moth poison.¡± ¡°What about burning the barracks the soldiers sleep in?¡± ¡°They have walls and guard in place.¡± There was a long stretch of silence. ¡°That place is a death trap if we try anything.¡± ¡°A lack of a solution is because we are not thinking outside the box enough. Look at where they have diverted the river. We could blow up the dam and leave a couple of spare swords for a revolt. Let¡¯s head down into camp. I will be your blind grandfather and you can do most of the talking. They will probably let us stay the night and then I will set things up for the morning. Maybe trade the fish for iron or steel bars, since you said that is what they want in the wilds out west. When things go to hell we will move on the steel and iron depot and loot it. From there we escape up into the mountains.¡± ¡°I am not questioning you, but that is insane. There are so many things that can go wrong and we can¡¯t escape quickly. The wagon moves slowly, more so up in the mountains.¡± ¡°Chaos is our friend. If the dam goes and the prisoners revolt they won¡¯t be able to follow us. The biggest challenge is loading up the wagon and getting out. I should be able to hold off the soldiers.¡± ¡°Well you got through Breckley somehow. Still don¡¯t understand how that all worked out.¡± ¡°I plan and prepare and then I cause chaos and use that to my advantage. How do I look? Like an old blind man?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± We rode down towards the mining slash prison camp. The main area where the prisoners were was enclosed by a large stone and wood wall with soldiers patrolling it. The wall stood about ten feet tall. The buildings inside appeared to be refineries, sleeping quarters, and mine entrances. Around the outside of the gate there was another wall with barracks, an inn, and a small town. Water was diverted by aqueduct into the prison portion and the town and the aqueduct ran along the north wall. By the dried up stream bed there was a path leading up into the mountains, barely wide enough for a single cart. We made our way to the wooden gate that led into the town portion of the prison camp. Four soldiers stood guard and were eyeing us as we made our way down the hill. Ulther brought the horses to a stop right in front of the gate. ¡°Hello, may the Eight bless all of you.¡± He said. NPC knowledge was priceless for these types of situations. ¡°Indeed, Eight bless you as well. What are you doing up here?¡± ¡°Breckley got a bit rough for a while, and my grandfather the worrier that he is talked my dad into lending us his wagon to make a trading run up in these parts. We almost went towards Salrin, but my grandfather used to serve back in the day and would talk about how no one would ever come all the way out to these towns.¡± I gave a sage nod, but kept my straw hat lowered. ¡°What do you have?¡± ¡°Salted fish, four barrels, plus a couple coppers for any fees.¡± I had Ulther add that last part. Bribes make the world go round. Ulther passed over a small money pouch filled with twenty copper. Not that much, but enough for a couple of guards and believable for part time merchants. ¡°Let us have a look then. You two, check inside the wagon. Ollen, check underneath.¡± The soldiers began looking over everything, but from what I could hear they weren¡¯t making much effort. There was no one crawling under the wagon, or ripping open the barrels. ¡°Looks like you both are good to go. I recommend staying in the Hard Rock, tell the innkeeper Sargent Hawthorn sent you. Also you can find the quartermaster¡¯s office near the prison entrance.¡± ¡°Will do, thanks.¡± We set off through the open gates and into the town. It was muddy and grimy, but nothing too unpleasant. All these towns reeked of shit and mud. I couldn¡¯t wait for someone to begin developing proper baths and showers, and toilets. Lots and lots of toilets to carry the shit away from my presence. We stopped and Ulther helped me down. While I could see a little bit through the cloth wrappings over my eyes, I was greatly handicapped at the moment. It was times like this that I was grateful for all the effort I had put into molding Ulther pre-Breckley burning and afterwards. He was obedient enough, but lacked that inner spark that would make him great. I once again lamented the fact that one could not have both smart and obedient minions. I used a wooden stick as my guide as he entered the building and I stood outside the doorway listening in. ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°We are here to sell salted fish and pick up some steel or iron and some money.¡± ¡°Hmm, for fish I can give you a silver a barrel or five bars of iron.¡± ¡°A good offer but with how Breckley was just attacked and the chaos by these Travelers times are tough. Five silver for two barrels and twenty iron bars for the other two.¡± Roleplaying constantly on the trip here had paid off. Ulther had been hesitant at first, but I needed him to lie and speak with ease where I could not. ¡°You are trying to rob us blind. Iron prices are going up as well. Two and a half silver for two barrels and twelve bars for the other two.¡± ¡°The roads are dangerous even more so. Let¡¯s go with thirty five bars of iron for all the barrels of fish. With the extra labor, I am sure you are mining the stuff up by the cart.¡± ¡°Thirty bars, by the Eight you are a cheeky one.¡± ¡°Thirty bars and a room at the Hard Rock for the night.¡± ¡°Eight help me, deal.¡± There was the sound of scribbling. ¡°Take this note to the warehouse on the south side of town. You can load up your goods there and leave the fish there as well. I will send word to the inn and take care of your room for the night. You can pay for housing your cart yourself.¡± ¡°Thanks, may the Eight bless you.¡± ¡°Eight bless you, get out of here.¡± Ulther came out and we got back up on the cart and set off. He asked a couple of soldiers patrolling the streets and soon we arrived at a large stone building with iron banded doors set into the rock, five soldiers stood guard at the entrance. Ulther whispered to me the description when no one was standing nearby during our approach. ¡°Hey, the quartermaster said to hand this to you.¡± Ulther handed over a piece of paper to the soldier that had come over. ¡°Four barrels of salted fish, thank the Eight something other than bread and jerky. You are loading up thirty bars of iron as well. Move the cart next to the entrance and you can get to unloading and loading.¡± ¡°My grandfather is blind and I am a bit on the small side. Could you men help us, I have twenty five copper for the effort.¡± That may have been a bit on the high side, but it was better to offer a bit too much than a bit too little. ¡°Great, come on boys. This lad needs our help and he is paying for our drinks tonight.¡± A cheer went up and the soldiers got to work. The trading wasn¡¯t that important, except as a means to an end. I had number of ideas I wanted a blacksmith to cook up and money would go a long way to making them happen. It also gave us an excuse to be traveling around. I was glad Ulther had gotten a heavy duty cart with massive springs and a reinforced base. Sneaking a peek under my blindfold, I estimated our cart could probably take eighty bars safely. Anything over that would risk the parts wearing out quickly. I noted that there was a quite a large amount of supplies in the warehouse through the open doors. The soldiers finished and Ulther paid them and got directions to the Hard Rock. Soon enough we were there. It cost twenty copper to put up the horses for the night and another ten for two meals and a pitcher of beer. As we sat there in our room I completed my easy quest and got another one for learning about constellations. Easy quests were simple, pointless things that just gave a person something to do. Ulther took the dishes back down to the kitchen and we went to sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night and slipped down to our wagon. I carefully shifted a wooden panel underneath the wagon and placed my wig, clothes, and hat in a spare satchel. I then took out my swords, four spare swords, rope, striker, and canteen full of sap and tossed them in the satchel as well except for my two swords which I put on hip. All the items I needed I closed the cart back up. I then made my way through the town towards the wall. I had noticed that the water going into the town flowed out through a metal grate in the wall surrounded by a stone tunnel. I stepped into the cold water and shivered. A quick check revealed that the bars were solidly placed into the stone and mortar. I made my way to one of the wooden towers lining the wall. I snuck in and then climbed up the ladder. I saw two soldiers patrolling the top of the wall. I kept my head down as I heard them walk by in silence. I counted to twenty and then checked again, no one nearby. I quickly moved across the wood platform and lowered myself off the far side of the wall. I landed with a small thud and then quickly passed by the ditch and away from the wall. I spent the next hour circling around the town through the dark to the dam redirecting the water into the aqueduct and not flooding the river bed next to the north side of town. Again, mortared stone formed a solid barrier. I carefully checked it with my fingers until I found a small but long crack. I felt along the length, one foot long. Not great but enough. I carefully began to pour sap into the crack. Once that was done I covered the top with a couple of larger rocks. Satisfied but tired I got a candle out and set it on top of thin trail of sap leading from the tail end of the crack out from under a rock. I broke the candle so just the top remained and then coated the base with sap. I carefully lit the candle and placed it so that once it got low enough it would burn into the sap and set up the trap I had made. I still had half my sap left in the canteen which was more than enough. I made my way back to the prison wall. The candle was a light, but there should only be about ten minutes before it went off. I put back on my clothes and then made a lasso out of my rope. A quick throw and it looped around on the outside of the prison wall. I was at the top of the wall in about fifteen seconds and began to pull the rope up. That was when two soldiers saw me. ¡°Escape! Escape!¡± One shouted and both of them drew their weapons. I flipped the rope down the far side of the wall and quickly repelled down the ten feet from the wall and another six from the trench that lined the inside of the wall. The soldiers up top had lit up a torch and just finished hacking through the rope by the time I had reached solid ground. I rushed off into the darkness between some of the buildings as more soldiers converged on commotion. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Made my way to what I could only assume was the barracks. I knocked on the door and a tired looking man opened it. ¡°I am here to help get you all out. Wake everyone up and get your four best fighters up here.¡± The man nodded and raced back into the darkness of the building. I stepped in behind him and was hit by the putrid stench of too many people living in close quarters. In a minute everyone was up and three men along with the first one were standing in front of me. ¡°Listen, in a minute or so the dam is going to blow and the soldiers are going to rush over there to investigate. When that happens, I am going to blow open the door to the town. Here are four swords. Once in the town, it will be up to all of you to escape. Some of you wake up the other prisoners if there are any.¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± One of the men whispered. ¡°Someone who has it in for Breckley.¡± I had considered many options to completing my legendary quest and this was one of the better ones. Freeing criminals and players would destabilize the entire region along with the loss of the mine. Not a great idea, but destroying an entire country was not a simple task. I turned and left for the main entrance. I stopped about thirty feet back behind a small boulder outside the range of the torchlight. Boom! The dam had exploded. I rushed forward and made it next to the gate undetected. I quickly pushed the sap out of my canteen all over the wooden gate as high up as I could reach along the entire length. I then wedged the canteen between both halves of the gate where the brace on the other side rested. I then grabbed a nearby torch and raced away. Getting far enough away I threw it at the gate. It went up in flames. Prisoners were quickly entering the muddy courtyard and moving towards the gate. I fell back into their ranks and we waited. The canteen went off and the bottom of the gate exploded open in shower of splinters and flames. Soldiers had seen the prisoners forming up and had formed up on the other side of the gate and the walls. When the gate exploded open the prisoners made a mad dash for freedom. I hung back two rows behind the front line along with the other people wielding swords. The first row went down to a wave of arrows. The second row went down to a wave of spears. The third row I was in fell on the soldiers. With the flames behind us, the soldiers were squinting and having a hard time staring in our direction. I stabbed one of the soldiers and he went down as the prisoners pushed forward grabbing up fallen weapons and making a break for it. I grabbed the shield off the soldier as I allowed the crowd to surge forward and around myself as I made my way off to the side, attempting to escape the melee. More arrows began to rain down and I raised the shield above my head. Two arrows sunk into the wooden panels. There were about a thousand prisoners but they were evenly matched against the soldiers holding the gate. Fortunately the press of bodies was enough to break through the soldier¡¯s shield wall and then there was chaos. I pushed forward and was barely able to move to the side in time to avoid a spear thrust. The press of bodies was not good for my fighting style. ¡°To me! To me!¡± I shouted and stabbed the soldier who had just attempted to skewer me in the neck while pressed up against his shield. I held my shield in front of me and pushed forward. My Strength was enough to make a large enough opening for other prisoners to follow me protecting my back and flanks. We broke through the line of soldiers and into the archers. It was a slaughter as they tried to retreat or get their swords up in time. More prisoners kept pushing into the large gap I had made killing every soldier they could reach. Hundreds fell into the bloody mud as the light from the burning gate illuminated the battle. I felt a squish as I stepped into the gut of a fallen prisoner who had been sliced open. By the time there were no more soldiers in front of me, three quarters of my SP was gone and I was coated in blood and guts. I could hear the screams of civilians as the prisoners rushed through the town in the pre-dawn. I made my way over to the inn and found Ulther and cart all ready to go out in front. He handed me a bucket of water I used to quickly douse myself with and then we set off through the town. Ulther drove the cart while I stood behind him, two swords held up showing I meant business. A couple of prisoners gave us a look and rushed away to do their own looting and pillaging. We made our way to the warehouse on the north side, which was thankfully quite far from the prison entrance which rested between the north and south sides of the town. There was only one soldier left and I rushed him. Despite looking younger than Ulther he fought well. I slashed out with my right blade at his neck. He brought up his shield and stepped into the attack. He then thrust with his sword. I twisted away and began to strafe him. I repeated the same attack three times and was countered precisely each time. On the fourth time I slashed out, but didn¡¯t commit. He was already bringing his shield up. Rookie mistake, falling into a pattern. I changed my slash to a stab and skewered him in the foot. He let out a yell and then I stabbed around his shield into his eye, killing him instantly. I wiped my swords off on his uniform and sheathed them. Turning to the door I got to work moving the large wooden beam so we could get into the warehouse. ¡°Two incoming, not soldiers.¡± Ulther said. I let the beam drop and saw two prisoners approaching. ¡°Team up?¡± I asked them. I couldn¡¯t tell if they were players or not. ¡°We are taking what we can and escaping into the Wild Lands. Even split between us, if others come same deal. We will need as many people as we can to get away.¡± ¡°Deal, come on.¡± The two set the spears and shields they had in their hands along the wall and helped me move the beam. Once that was out of the way we began to loot the warehouse. There was luckily just enough light from the rising sun to barely see inside. I could still here screams and shouting in the town and the fighting was getting closer. I focused on the steel bars while the prisoners began grabbing weapons. Three more prisoners showed up and it was easy enough to convince them as well. We loaded down the cart and then set off through the town. The fire looked to be going out as the smoke seemed less than it should have. We reached the main gate and saw a massacre. There was a single priest wielding a massive hammer like nothing smashing everyone who was attempting to escape. Ten soldiers stood behind him in a circular shield wall allowing the priest to retreat if he got overwhelmed. I counted at least twenty corpses lying in the mud. I heard a couple of the prisoners I was with cursing. ¡°Use the bows we stole and take out the soldiers I will handle the priest. If we don¡¯t break through here we are all dead. Keep the soldiers off of me and I will keep the priest busy. Got it?¡± I got a chorus of yeses as we moved forward. The priest was done smashing the last prisoner who had rushed at him and turned to face us. I drew both of my swords and moved forward. ¡°Observe.¡±
Priest Talgarth Morvin
LvL: 76
Strongest Stat: Strength
This one actually knew how to fight and was probably using the longer lasting chants to boost his Strength slightly. I charged in as arrows whistled around me and into the soldiers. The priest swung out in a wide arc. I dropped to me knees and leaned back allowing the attack to pass above me. The priest was already stepping back when I slashed out landing two shallow cuts, one on his leg and another on his stomach. I stood and we both began to circle the other wearily. I trusted Ulther to give a shout if things were going badly with the soldiers. That was the problem with fighting a superior opponent, I couldn¡¯t afford to focus elsewhere, which left me open to being attacked from behind. I moved in slashing, but the priest swung his hammer in narrow arcs in front of himself knocking away my attacks while he kept his distance. I waited until he bumped into a corpse and then rushed in. Both my blades crossed and I used them to push the hammer back a bit. I then kicked out and struck the priest in the knee. He pushed and I stumbled back. Unfortunately when he tried to step forward to follow through, his knee gave out and he collapsed in the mud. I quickly stabbed him in the neck and arm, twisting my blades as I pulled them out to cause maximum damage. The priest died and I retreated back a bit to survey the fight. It looked like the prisoners had gotten four of the soldiers with arrows and then the soldiers had charged them. Two of the prisoners had fallen, but another four had joined up putting the numbers at six to seven. Ulther was staying on the wagon keeping an eye on things and staying out of the melee. I wiped off both my swords and sheathed them. I then picked up the priest¡¯s body and moved towards the soldiers. Seeing me they began to panic and I threw the corpse at them. It struck one of the soldiers shields and he stumbled a bit. The prisoners pushed in and I returned to pick up the hammer and put it in the cart. The soldiers were killed off but managed to take out another three prisoners lowering their number to four, but by then a number of the survivors from the town had begun grouping with us. I looked at the wounded on the ground didn¡¯t matter that one had only lost an arm, we left him to bleed out. No honor amongst felons. We got to work on the door and managed to move the massive beam keeping it shut. With that gone we quickly made our way out onto the road and along the path up into the mountains. Unfortunately I had planned poorly. When the dam exploded thirty soldiers were dispatched. They were set up on top of the ruined dam, killing anyone who was attempting to escape into the mountains or over the wall in their direction. I had fourteen, tired men with me, and I also was just about out of SP. We wouldn¡¯t last long in a fight. Thankfully soldiers looked at us from up on the dam but weren¡¯t willing to come down and fight. They had a strong position and were outnumbered. Also they would be able to see the carnage in the village. The fact they weren¡¯t coming down to face us meant things were going poorly for their comrades most likely. ¡°Listen up we are going to rest here for a bit. There is food and drink in the wagon. You and you start handing it out. No pushing or fighting. Rest up. We will wait here a bit and hopefully some more people join us. Once we have enough we will kill those soldiers and head through the mountains. Anyone is welcome to come with us, equal split of all the loot once we reach Balkar and we can go our separate ways.¡± I got a bunch of nods. ¡°Hey aren¡¯t you that guy, um, Kenji Something?¡± One of them asked. A couple looked up from where they were munching away. ¡°Yes, I am Kenji Shadown. Anyone have a problem with that?¡± One of the prisoners stepped forward. ¡°Yeah, you are an asshole and ruined everything for-¡° I stabbed him in the neck. I then ripped my sword out the side creating an arterial spray of blood over the ground. ¡°Anyone else have a problem?¡± There was a round of nos. We waited and more prisoners slowly joined us. One time one looked about to speak up at me but a couple others quickly shushed him. After an hour there were forty three prisoners. I had thought about negotiating with the soldiers to let us through, but I wanted to kill off as many of these losers as I could. ¡°Alright, those with shields and spears up front. Everyone else grab a bow and arrow. You four and you four, right side and left side. Try and get behind the soldiers. You three with swords you stay near the archers. If the soldiers break through the shields, stop them. Don¡¯t start shooting until I say. Let them waste their arrows. Questions?¡± There were none and everyone began dividing up. ¡°Ulther keep your eyes open in case they try anything.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± We advanced towards the line of soldiers. The shield wall advanced into arrow range and the soldiers loosed a volley. Only one prisoner went down as they cowered under their shields. After three more volleys and two more hit prisoners the soldiers stopped. Their quivers carried ten arrows each, so I figured they had about probably another four rounds left. Our front lines stood about fifty feet apart, but they had fifteen feet in elevation. I ordered the flankers to begin moving around and the shield wall to advance another ten feet. Another volley of arrows came down on them and then the soldiers split a volley at the flankers. Two in the shield wall went down and three flankers. I then ordered the archers to move up behind the shield wall and shoot with everything they had. I also ordered the rest of the melee forward to support the shield wall. The key thing in a battle is to keep things simple. These men weren¡¯t trained, and the concept of flanking and staying in place was about all I could hope for. I moved up with the rest of the melee as our archers began pelting the soldiers. I ordered the shield wall and melee to advance and yelled at the archers to arc their shots. One of the prisoners was shot from behind in the head and went down. The archer paled and began over shooting the soldiers. I let out a small sigh. The flankers were already slightly behind the cluster of soldiers. I had told them they were to stand behind the soldiers and not attack. Keeping men to watch them and as a visible threat was far more useful than having them rush in. Thankfully they obeyed as the soldiers were shouting and waving as we advanced. Chapter 12: Group Dynamics The lines clashed as men stabbed out with spears. There screams as both soldiers and prisoners died. ¡°Archers, grab up swords and attack!¡± I shouted. The arrows stopped flying and the archers discarded their bows. I stood slightly back watching for any weak point in our line. I also didn¡¯t put it past someone to betray me in the heat of battle. Sure if I joined, probably five more of them would live, but even that was not worthwhile. As the front line began to falter the soldiers watching the back changed positions to support their comrades. That was when the six flankers closed in from behind. I activated my Fear Aura, but it didn¡¯t break them unfortunately since our level difference wasn¡¯t high enough. The fighting dragged on. I moved in only once when the soldiers looked like they would overwhelm our right side. I jumped in and slashed a soldier across the face giving the prisoners a moment to recover. The fighting continued as both sides perished one by one, until there were fifteen prisoners surrounding six soldiers in a small cluster. ¡°Charge!¡± I shouted and then pushed the prisoner in front of me onto a spear. As the spear dropped, I stepped in and stabbed the soldier in the face. The other prisoners rushed in and I stepped back a bit. In the end only six prisoners were left, two of them wounded. Those soldiers had put up a fight when they had seen the end coming. We got to work looting the dead and then Ulther called out to me. I saw eight prisoners approaching, and three civilian women being pushed along as well. I turned to my group. ¡°We are tired and worn out. Just go with the group that is coming for now and I will sort out things tomorrow, got it?¡± I got a bunch of tired yeses. The group of eight reached the wagon about the time we had finished looting. ¡°What do we have here?¡± The biggest and most brutish one said. ¡°Killing some soldiers and escaping. We got enough food to make if to Balkor if you want to join up.¡± ¡°Join up, sure. Come on boys, let¡¯s help them out.¡± We were soon moving up into the mountains. It was slow going and the wounded rested in the wagon while the prisoners joked and laughed. Ulther kept quiet as did I. The Brute clearly thought he was in charge and would probably challenge me the moment I questioned him. My SP wasn¡¯t recovering as fast as I would have liked since I didn¡¯t dare go up on the cart in case the Brute took offense to that. We walked till mid-afternoon and then stopped at a small mountain stream. People began to spread out and take supplies off the wagon. I wanted to curse at their carelessness but refrained. I sat off to the side with Ulther who had unhitched the horses so they could rest as well. Night came and soon the Brute got a large fire going. The three civilian women were dragged out. The Brute picked the least ugly and then started ramming her on top of a fur he had laid out. That was going to be burned, no way to sell that now. The other prisoners began to take turns with the remaining two women. All the prisoners from my original group but one refrained. I let myself lightly doze while they screwed themselves into oblivion. I made sure to note where each member of both groups were so as not to confuse them during the night. After two hours, the women were raw and bleeding and the prisoners were collapsed asleep. I stood up and began stabbing every single prisoner through the head and neck at the same time starting with the Brute. It was swift and over in less than two minutes. I wiped my swords off and went back to where I had been dozing. ¡°Ulther take watch, if anything so much as twitches wake me.¡± He nodded, and I went to sleep. He hadn¡¯t fought in the battle so I was confident he would have enough energy to keep watch. I was shaken awake and quickly came to. ¡°Two of them got up to piss during the night, but went back to sleep. A couple of them are stirring awake now.¡± ¡°Good job, see what breakfast you can make from what hasn¡¯t been ruined.¡± Ulther got started in gathering up fire wood. I helped gather a couple larger pieces and restarted the fire. Ulther was frying up strips of salted meat while I waited, sitting on a log next to the fire pit. ¡°Ahhhh!¡± One of the men shouted. He probably spotted the blood and the corpses. The others quickly woke up and they all started shouting. ¡°Silence.¡± I said the word calmly and they all shut up. ¡°You six fought and earned the right to the supplies, they were free loaders. Now, Ulther has prepared a lovely breakfast. So why don¡¯t you drink up at the stream and then come and eat.¡± There was a long moment of silence. ¡°If any of you want your cut of the supplies you can take it and go, but the cart and horses stay with me. Oh, and I gagged and tied up the women so they wouldn¡¯t escape. After breakfast, feel free to take your turn.¡± There were smiles at that and they all went off to the stream. They had been easy enough to tie up, exhausted from the prisoners ministrations the previous day. ¡°Have you been with a woman Ulther.¡± ¡°¡­.¡± ¡°Ah, well, that one was Brute¡¯s.¡± I gestured at the tied up woman next to the corpse. He set the skillet with the fried meat on a log off to the side with some bread next to it. He went over to the woman. The prisoners had returned and began to cheer him on as he tried twice and missed before he hit his target. The prisoners ate and had their way with the last two women and Ulther¡¯s one after he was finished. It was mid-morning and everyone was relaxed and content. ¡°So, why don¡¯t we introduce ourselves. Name, why you were in prison, and what you want to do now. I will start. I am Kenji Shadowen. I enjoy killing people and torturing those who annoy me. I was in the prison to set you all free to piss off the Breckley family. I killed Lord Breckley, his wife, and a couple of his knights. I massacred a couple of villages and towns. I plan to travel to Balkor, sell this loot, buy a bunch of gear and then kill things.¡± I pointed at the next man around the fire. ¡°You.¡± ¡°I am Ober Stroudsand. I was in the prison for stealing some bread. I hope to return to my family.¡± ¡°Back in Breckley?¡± I asked and got a nod in response. ¡°Take what you can carry and head out.¡± He looked worried but hurried off to the wagon, quickly filling up a satchel. I kept an eye on him and pointed to the next person. ¡°Yalow Middleton. Couldn¡¯t pay my taxes and got sent here. No family, no farm either anymore. Don¡¯t really know what I want to do. Well I don¡¯t mind another go at one of the women.¡± ¡°Go right ahead if you have the stamina.¡± He smiled and stepped off to where the women were tied up. I pointed at the next man. ¡°Tallow Undir. Was caught screwing an girl whose father had friends in high places. It wouldn¡¯t have been that bad, but she said I had raped her when asked the bitch. I wouldn¡¯t mind paying her a visit, but I am in no rush. I don¡¯t mind going with the flow.¡± Ober came back holding up his satchel for me to look at. ¡°Go, if you cheated me I will find you.¡± He nodded and sent back off towards Breckley. ¡°You next.¡± ¡°Gillow Yall. Got into a fight. Other guy is dead. Want to leave the past behind.¡± ¡°Yalow, the way she is screaming through her gag did you spear her somehow?¡± ¡°All the way through.¡± He shouted out as he took a quick breather. There was a round of chuckles. I pointed at the next man. ¡°Elrin, no last name. Just got rounded up as things got tough around here.¡± I pointed at the last man. ¡°Geller Hart, stabbed a man who had something rude to my mother. She is probably dead now, without me to take care of her. Anyways I want to travel a bit.¡± I pointed at Ulther. ¡°Ulther, I follow Kenji.¡± ¡°Excellent, and perfect timing Yalow.¡± He came back over to the group. ¡°Any of you Travelers? I can find out easily enough.¡± Only Elrin raised his hand hesitantly. I had used an observe as each of them took a turn. ¡°You have all been truthful except for Geller over here.¡± I drew both my blades and we stood at the same time. ¡°I hate liars. Anyone I sleep next to I have to trust. If you lie there is no trust.¡± He drew is sword as well, but it was no contest. I batted up his blade with one of mine and then stabbed him through the heart. He collapsed dead on the ground and I wiped my blades off on him. ¡°Here are the rules if you come with me. I am god. That means you do what I say when I say it. You are free to speak your mind when there is an opportunity, but I have the final say in everything. If you don¡¯t like that you can leave like Ober. Also Elrin, I don¡¯t know why you decided to hide your last name of Yenrick, but it is pointless.¡± ¡°Shit man, this is way too intense for me. I am heading out. Good luck.¡± Tallow said. That just left Yalow, Gillow, and Elrin. ¡°I am out as well, you are insane you know that.¡± Elrin said. I walked over to him and he began to scramble away. ¡°You really want to insult me.¡± I began kicking him and he curled up. ¡°Logout.¡± He whispered. ¡°This is why I hate Travelers, always escaping. Yalow, cut off all his clothes. Gillow start packing up this camp. Anything useful off the corpses, chuck the bodies into the fire pit. Ulther sort out the wagon, we are leaving here shortly.¡± They all got to work without a question. It was good to be in charge. Tallow came back. ¡°No hard feelings?¡± I held out a hand and he handed over the satchel. A quick check showed he hadn¡¯t taken an entire stack of money, just basic things to survive and a couple of silver. ¡°Go, and good luck.¡± I handed back the satchel and he ran off. Yalow dragged over the naked auto pilot of Elrin. ¡°Tie him up and toss him in the cart. Make sure he pisses first, I don¡¯t want a mess. Also have the women wash up and then tie them back up. If they resist, kill one of them slowly.¡± He visibly gulped but I ignored it. I then went to help Gillow sort through the corpses. In half an hour, the corpses were burning and we were all packed up. I had Gillow and Yalow ride up in the cart while Ulther and I walked. ¡°So both of you know, I am a Traveler.¡± ¡°We kind of guessed.¡± Yalow muttered. ¡°Either of you know how to use a bow?¡± ¡°I do.¡± Yalow said. ¡°Perfect, you will train with the bows we have. Gillow, you seem more like a strongman. You get the hammer the priest had. We will train every night and exercise every morning. Also, either of you know how to read or write?¡± There was silence, stupid educational system. ¡°Then writing lessons as well. For now, let¡¯s go through the alphabet. Ulther?¡± As they recited the alphabet with Ulther I went to clear out my backlog of status screens for the last twenty four hours. The cart was slow up the winding mountain trail, but at least the path was smooth enough for me to do this.
Ambidexterious-4
Tactics-1
Medium Conditioning-3
Stealth-4
Fear Aura -2
Run for the hills!
LvL 1: All LvL -50 will feel uncomfortable around you
LvL 2: All LvL -10 will feel uncomfortable around you
Cost: 1 MP per Minute, 1 SP per Minute
Deception-5 MAX
Misdirection-1
Observe -3
You like looking at the world around you
LvL 1: Learn the Name and LvL of target
LvL 2: Learn the strongest stat of target
LvL 3: Learn HP/SP/MP of target
Cost: 10 MP
Leadership-1
Raid of North Salrin Mine-1 MAX
Freedom!
+10 Fate
+2% Charisma
+2% Luck
NOTIFICAITON
You may now view your HP/SP/MP count on your status bars
Experience
+60001+10 LvL
+1501+1 LvL
+822-2 LvL
Yeah, fear aura went up and was actually useful. Observe going up probably unlocked my own ability to see me stats. I quickly entered the Options and changed the setting to show a count over the bars that hovered in the corner of my vision. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
HP: 8423.15 / 9101
MP: 11.23 / 106
SP: 987.56 / 1378.46
Maybe there was some sort of blood magic I could use instead of MP? It would be nice to compare my stats to my enemies. The sheer cost of Observe to my total MP pool was killing me. The experience gain was shit, since I did almost no fighting. No party system, I let out a long sigh at that. The thing that really pissed me off was the raid title or status. Charisma and Luck, the only two things I had not put any points into. I was kind of lucky and swayed people to my side, but I was also intelligent, wise, cunning, and held my own during the fights. Whomever assigned these bonuses was evil, very evil. We stopped at mid-day and we ate. Yalow had another go at one of the women we had tied up in the back of the cart. I had him move her to a slab of rock first, no need to mess up our supplies. I checked the springs on the wagon and while they were compressed quite a bit they seemed to be holding together. We set off again. As we walked I discussed math with my two new companions. While they could count up to one hundred, they were slow in their sums. That was about the extent of their skill. I didn¡¯t want idiots following me around. We then dragged Elrin out of the cart. ¡°Is there anything you two won¡¯t do?¡± I asked Yalow and Gillow. ¡°It is okay, I just want to know now.¡± ¡°Um, I don¡¯t really like guys you know.¡± I let out a small sigh. ¡°Not exactly what I meant but okay. No sleeping with guys. You Gillow?¡± ¡°Kids.¡± ¡°Yeah, kids.¡± Yalow looked at Ulther who scowled. ¡°Anything else?¡± They both shook their heads. ¡°Excellent. I will try to avoid the kids then in respect of how both of you feel and won¡¯t ask you to sleep with guys Yalow.¡± There was a small chuckle at that. ¡°Now we eat some fresh meat. Ulther you work on gathering up some wood along with Gillow. Yalow you can start skinning. Better the meat is fresh.¡± There was a moment of silence before horror dawned on both of them. ¡°But, uh¡­¡± Yalow stammered. ¡°Get to work. Tie off the leg to stop the blood and then cut it off. I like my meat sliced thinly and well cooked.¡± Yalow snapped his mouth shut and got a piece of rope. I watched as he tied off Elrin¡¯s leg tightly to stop the blood flow. He then pulled out his sword and hacked it off in five strikes. After that he cleaned off his blade and got to work with a knife tossing strips of meat into the skillet I had set nearby. I carried Elrin back to the cart and dumped him with the women. Soon enough the fire was built up and the meat cooking. Ulther had gotten a very small packet of salt back in Breckley which he used to season the meat. We tossed the bone and unusable bits of flesh into the fire where it was burnt away. Once the meat was cooked we each wrapped up a couple of pieces in bread and ate. I carefully watched the others expressions. Yalow was hesitant at first but quickly devoured his. Gillow just kept his same calm expression and munched away. Cannibal went up by one and my fate jumped up by about six from that one percentage point. I wouldn¡¯t be making this a regular occurrence, but I wanted to test how far I could push these two. I had Gillow clean up while Ulther spent some time with one of the women. I grabbed one of the women for myself. She was fairly worn, but had recovered a bit during the day. Gillow took the last one, at least he wasn¡¯t a complete robot. I set watches, Yalow first, then Ulther, then me, and finally Gillow. I had Ulther stay up during Yalow¡¯s watch and I stayed up during Gillow¡¯s. The only thing they did was toss more wood on the fire when it got too low, but other than that there were no issues. The next day we set off again. The road was getting worse as it narrowed and large rocks lay in the path. I had Ulther take a turn driving the wagon while Yalow stayed at the rear and Gillow and I took the front. Gillow was quiet, but I could respect that. The strong silent type, I just had to be careful on what motivated him. I was tempted to strike up a conversation but knew that sometimes walking in silence was far better for opening a dialogue between men. Yallow liked women well enough if the pounding of flesh in the morning was anything to go by. I guess that was how he worked out all the frustration from yesterday¡¯s events. As we walked along I noticed group of people traveling our direction on the far mountain. Probably a larger caravan along the same route. I spotted six carts and at least thirty men. ¡°We are going to find a place to pull the cart off and then the other group pass us. Unfortunately we have to dispose of Elrin and the women. Gillow take care of that. Yalow help Ulther.¡± I worked with Gillow to cut women¡¯s throats and toss them in a rocky crevice. We tossed Elrin on top of their corpses alive. That would slow down his comeback by a day or two at least. By mid-day the other caravan reached us. I had Yalow and Gillow hide with bows behind some nearby rocks out of sight. A more well-dressed looking mercenary on a horse came over. ¡°Hello there, may the Eight bless your travels.¡± I said. My hat and wig were on, which would hopefully disguise me well enough. ¡°Hey there, a bit lonely out here for just two of you.¡± ¡°Well there is trouble in Breckley and me and my grandson were hoping for a fresh start.¡± The mercenary looked over at Ulther and then back at me. ¡°Hmm, well be careful. There are golems and other monsters in these mountains. Things tend to get worse from this point on.¡± ¡°Thank you for the advice. I wish you all a safe trip.¡± ¡°You too old man, yah!¡± He shook his reigns and his horse fell in line with the rest of the caravan as they passed by. A couple of them looked at us, but they were disciplined enough to leave the talking to their leader. I watched them move away and we waited for five minutes looking for any stragglers or a return ambush. Thankfully they appeared to be what they looked like. A mercenary outfit hired to guard a trade caravan. We had a small meal and then set out again. I had been tempted to attack the caravan, but that was too high risk, even a night attack. Also the people in Balkor might recognize the goods or the wagons which would cause further issues. Also more wagons would be a lot harder to defend with the small group I had with me. The more people I had the harder it would be to keep control. Ulther seemed to vary between sullen and manic, probably all the teenage hormones and stress. Whenever I was near him I would pat him on the head our put a hand on his shoulder. At first he had tensed, but now he relaxed whenever I did it. At meals, I made sure to sit next to him and would pull him into leaning against me. Now he did these things naturally. The problem was he made a good body guard, but not a good second in command. He was too young and didn¡¯t have the presence to command respect. Well a second could wait until the group got larger. For now I was top dog and everyone was below me. We stopped for the night at a small mountain stream. Based on the amount of horse shit, I figured this was where the caravan had spent the night. I set up the watch rotation again, but slept until it was my turn. We continued the following day a bit more on edge after Yalow had spotted a rusty sword off to the side of the road. The road was also rougher as it curved through the peaks. Just before mid-day we came upon a large boulder lying in the middle of the road. The moment I saw that I shouted, ¡°Attack!¡± Ulther stopped the wagon, Yalow began stringing his bow, and Gillow hefted the war hammer. Behind the large boulder stepped a large creature that appeared to be made from the same grey rock as the mountain. If it wasn¡¯t for the two black orbs near the top, it could have easily blended in. ¡°Observe.¡±
Hardened Rock Golem
LvL: 96
Strongest Stat: Constitution
HP: 19235
MP: 123
SP: 2501
That was not good. I drew a single blade and moved forward. ¡°Ulther work on a chant to increase Gillow¡¯s strength. Yalow aim for the black orbs. Gillow back me up, I will take point.¡± The creature lumbered forward like a small horizontal avalanche. I darted in, ¡°Power slash!¡± I called out and struck the creature on its leg. The Fey Blade held but I could feel the vibrations back up through my arms. I forced my legs to move not taking the time to look at the damage I caused. A loud boom came from where I had just been standing. Gillow darted by me swinging the war hammer. I turned around and looked back. Where I had hit the golem a good chunk of rock had been chipped away. Ulther struck the large arm that had just hit the ground with a resounding crack. The rock shattered slightly but held together. An arrow shot out and struck just to the side of one of the black obs. The golem twisted slightly in surprise from the attack as Gillow retreated. I heard Ulther finish the chant and hold both arms towards Gillow. I glanced and saw a faint glow surrounding him. Yes, Ulther had finally succeeded. Probably all the learning I was having him do helped push his stats into Intelligence and Wisdom. Unfortunately he looked exhausted, probably used up all of his MP giving out that boost. I darted back in making sure not to get smashed over attacking. After three close misses Gillow moved in and smashed the war hammer down on the same spot as before. The rock shattered and a number of pieces fell away. The golem spun rapidly bringing its other arm to smash Gillow. I pushed myself as fast as I could go and tackled him out of the way. I felt the stone arm graze my foot as we tumbled over the rocky path. I pulled myself free from Gillow and drew my second sword. My first one had been dropped as I had made my tackle. An arrow flew out and struck the golem in its eye, sight rock? It shattered and the golem began swinging wildly about. We all moved back, Ulther had already been backing up the wagon after his chant completed. After a minute the golem stopped thrashing about and turned towards us. Yalow let another arrow go but the golem shifted slightly causing the arrow to miss the one uncracked black rock. I raced forward, I had one shot at this. I saw the golem swing down at me and stopped as fast as I could. The rock arm slammed down in front of me, blasting me with dust and debris. The creature was at least twelve feet tall and only one vulnerable spot. I leapt up on the arm and began racing up. I think the golem couldn¡¯t believe anyone would do such a thing since it hesitated for an entire second. Low Dexterity for the win. ¡°Power slash!¡± I then slammed my blade as hard as I could into the remaining black orb. It shattered under the blow and my blade bit into the rock slightly. The golem swung its arm up, but I was already leaping off the back of the creature. I hit the ground and rolled to break my fall and was already dashing towards my first blade. I heard the strike of a hammer and turned around. Gillow had landed a blow on the creature and had retreated once again. It thrashed around and every half minute or so Gillow would move in and smash the thing as hard as he could. After the fifth time it finally stopped moving. I called out for everyone to wait and rest for a bit while we kept an eye on it. Since I didn¡¯t deliver the killing blow I wouldn¡¯t be able to tell if it was dead or not unless I used Observe. With my MP as low as it was, I really wanted to avoid that. Thankfully after a minute it began to fall apart. Whatever force that was holding the golem together had been lost. ¡°Shit, that was scary.¡± Yalow said. ¡°Good job all of you. Great shot Yalow. Nice hammer work Gillow. Congratulations Ulther on performing a successful chant.¡± I had gone up to him and rubbed his head at the last comment. He gave me a small smile. ¡°You too Kenji. I mean you were like a whirlwind. I thought you were going to get it for sure.¡± Yalow exclaimed. ¡°Thanks for the save.¡± Gillow said. I gave him a nod. *** TheLordBreckley: My ghost will haunt you, whooooooo HellzFirez666: BURN THE GHOST! UltimataSecret: Prison break, omg HatMan: I love how he let everyone else go first PedoBear9000: In chess you send the pawns first Ramponator: Hopefully I would rate as a rook at least GODHAXLOL: PROTECT THE HORSEY WAGON! 6996: Someone has a horse fetish HatMan: Better than some other fetishes HeavenBlade: Everyone is part horse, well the men at least Ramponator: I wonder if someone went too big, like breasts it would probably throw off balance, or you couldn¡¯t wear pants ClosetCreeper: Yes UltimataSecret: Interesting, I might have to check an anatomy program *** AUTHOR''S NOTE: Please review and rate. It helps keep my motivation up for this rapid writing pace. Thanks. Chapter 13: Introspection We searched the corpse of the golem. I had Gillow smash open the large chest rock to see if there was anything inside. There was an emerald about half the size of my fist, uncut. ¡°By the Eight!¡± Yalow exclaimed. ¡°Indeed, we will sell it in Balkor unless there is a better suggestion.¡± No one said anything. ¡°Alright then, lets push on.¡± Unfortunately there was still a large boulder blocking the path. It took all four of us to roll off to the side just enough to allow the cart to pass. ¡°Gillow can rest up on the wagon. Ulther you take the rear, Yalow up front with me.¡± Everyone sorted themselves out and we set off. Things were quiet the rest of the day and the following two days. I spent most of the time assessing my team¡¯s skills. Yalow was a good shot, but had difficulty at longer ranges. Gillow, while strong had trouble adjusting quickly when we sparred off. Ulther was having difficulty sitting still. I ended up having him sit in my lap next to the campfire one night to help him relax. It was hard to tell what was going on in his head or code as it were. I had ruined his old life, but I had given him adventure and attention. The constant physical contact helped reinforce this. I was riding with him up on the wagon thinking about what to ask. ¡°Ulther, I was hoping you would answer a couple of my questions.¡± ¡°Hmm, what do you want to know?¡± ¡°I want you to tell me how you feel about me, traveling, anything you think is important.¡± ¡°I¡­I¡­I don¡¯t know.¡± He mumbled out. I put my arm around him. ¡°Listen, don¡¯t think about it just talk. You will feel a lot better.¡± ¡°Um well. I am annoyed about what you did to my family.¡± Annoyed, not angry that is good. ¡°On the other hand I can kind of understand. You let those people go when they wanted to leave. It makes me wonder if I could, or should ask.¡± ¡°If you are truly unhappy, you can leave my side any time. Yes, I won¡¯t lie to you. I need your help, but it is more important you choose to stay with me.¡± ¡°Yeah, I am kind of getting used to all of this.¡± ¡°Indeed, especially the woman?¡± Ulther blushed. ¡°When we get to Balkor, I will set you up in a pleasure house. I think you would enjoy it.¡± ¡°Um, yeah.¡± I rubbed his head and he leaned into me. ¡°I am afraid we will all die. I know you will come back, but I won¡¯t.¡± ¡°True, but that is why we have to make the most of the time we have now. Your life on the farm, would want to go back? Could you go back after all of this?¡± ¡°No, I¡­I can¡¯t put back the grain on the stalk if that makes any sense.¡± ¡°Indeed it does. If it does come down to it save yourself, before saving me. Don¡¯t object, listen. I can come back you cannot. If I perish, become strong and I shall find you.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t die, you kill everyone who stands in your way.¡± ¡°That is recklessness. I have come close to dying many times. While I do kill many people, that source of my strength is in running away. I never fight a battle I can¡¯t win.¡± ¡°I really like this.¡± ¡°I love you to. Love is not a weakness by the way, some may say that. I argue that it makes one strong. I love my life. I love you.¡± ¡°I love you too.¡± We sat there on the wagon enjoying each other¡¯s company. Ulther had grown on me. He was dependable and loyal. I estimated I could repeat the same actions a thousand times and still not have a better result. I rubbed his shoulder with one hand while he leaned against me. There were hard times ahead and it wouldn¡¯t get any easier. After the initial chaos the players were finally integrating with the NPCs if the online forums were anything to go by. I wasn¡¯t public enemy number one, but I was close. Some guy had gagged a bunch of players and had raped both men and women repeatedly. He then proceeded to torture them for as long as possible while raping them in hopes of breaking their minds. He was still on the loose, somewhere called Multhenn. From what I knew that was far to the north of here and already huge groups of players were scouring the land for him. Thankfully the hate was about simmering level for me and boiling for him. While I was viewed as a demon, my videos also helped insulate me with a large following. No massive witch hunts yet, but I knew that players were out there searching for me. I had to carefully edit my videos to lay as many false trails as possible while still keeping the content. Every time I returned to my atrium my worry increased and the pressure not to make a single mistake was weighing down on me. If I died I would probably lose half my viewers and then I would have to start looking for a job with no college degree and not much else on my resume. I had been tempted to stay in Breckley to try and finish off the quests for the bonus stat points, but that was just asking to be caught. Being a terrorist slash villain slash celebrity, I had to be very careful in my movements. I had gotten over confident which had allowed those Order of the Phoenix people to find me. That guild was already way too freaking big. Thankfully I had a fan on the inside on their inner circle passing me information. They had pushed to have a big presence in Breckley to help the region and get in with the NPCs. Thankfully their efforts in the Wild Lands were falling short. They tended to recruit the weaker players who wanted to be part of a large group rather than fighters who paved the way. Sure they had some fighters, but that wasn¡¯t their focus as a guild either. It was about networking and creating a stable environment in response to the NPC hate. Guilds like the Red Dawn, Troll Masters, and Sparkly Rainbow Unicorn Princesses (SRUP) were far more dangerous. Having a core group of highly skilled members they were already pulling in followers to act as satellite groups. There were hundreds of rumors flying around, from shadow magic, to necromancy. All of it unconfirmed and second hand, but the fact that these groups kept coming up again and again in online chat meant they were strong. Unfortunately none of them were broadcasters. I was probably the highest ranked ¡®evil¡¯ player who was broadcasting. No one else wanted to take the risk of being tracked or revealing secrets. Fame is a fickle mistress. The only thing the public loves more than an awesome villain, is an awesome villain getting beaten. That was why there was already a couple of broadcasters hunting me down. So far the couple of videos I had watched hadn¡¯t shown any real skill, but there was traction. In a month or two there would be a swarm of players out for me just for the fame rather than my evil deeds. That was the motivation for getting out of Breckley and someplace I could gear up. From there it would be a long journey in the wilderness to level up and then a return.
NOTIFICATION
All players have been ranked based on levels and skills. You will be informed if you are in the top 10000, top 1000, or the top 50.
***TOP 1000***
That was the reason for all the introspection. I had dropped. Despite not dying, and being awesome my overall ranking had gone down. My biggest guess was the lack of leveling. I had plateaued while other players were probably massacring high level monsters to level up at insane rates. I wish I had gotten an exact number instead of a vague top one thousand statement. I was probably in the top 100, but there was no way to know for sure. A loud caw cut through my thoughts. I looked up and saw three birds circling above us. ¡°Yalow, get your bow ready. Ulther get me a bow. Gillow, protect the horses.¡± Everyone raced to complete their tasks. Ulther strung up a bow from the stash we had in the wagon and passed it to me along with a quiver. The birds continued to caw and circle. ¡°Yalow, stay close to the back of the wagon, Gillow the front. We keep moving, stay alert.¡± We began to advance along the rocky road, one eye above us as the birds continued to circle above us. ¡°Anyone know what they are?¡± Silence, stupid uneducated NPCs. If I was a lord I would make all my citizens memorize the bestiary backwards and forwards and learn how to read. ¡°Something ahead.¡± Gillow said. I looked down the road and saw a golem. There was no room to turn the wagon around with cliffs on one side, and heavy brush and rocks on the other. Ulther didn¡¯t have enough MP for another chant just a couple days after the last one, which was frustrating. Also the birds continued to circle. I passed the bow and quiver to Ulther. ¡°Ulther and Yalow, watch the birds and our rear. Gillow, I need your help with the golem.¡± He gave me a short nod and unslung his war hammer. I hoped into the back of the wagon and pulled out two of our spare swords. I then went ahead with Gillow to face the golem. I was in a big believer in doing what had worked once. As we approached the golem stood about ten feet tall and had a lighter color. Different gender or race maybe? Did the quartz rock golems keep the shale golems out of their parties? Did monsters even have parties? Why was I even asking these stupid questions, focus. ¡°I am going to rush it. Stay back for now.¡± Gillow nodded. I raced forward. I stopped right as the golem began its swing. Unfortunately it quick enough to slide forward slightly. The rock fist grazed my chest before it hit the ground. Despite being a graze I felt my breath knocked out of and stumbled back losing the chance to race up the golem¡¯s arm. My health had dropped by about two thousand also. Gillow rushed in and slammed his war hammer down on the golem¡¯s arm. It cracked but held together. I moved back and recovered my breath. That thing hit like a rock, well to be fair it was mostly rock. It swung at Gillow who barely managed to dive out of the way in time. I darted in towards the golem. It took a swipe at me but I was circling it. The boulder next to it was the right height and from what I had seen the far side was less steep. The golem turned back to Gillow who was strafing around the thing. I reached the top of the boulder and noticed the birds had dropped much lower, but were staying just out of arrow range. I had to trust Ulther and Yalow. I gripped the two swords in my hand and drew my arms back. ¡°Rock thing, over here!¡± I shouted. Gillow moved away and the golem turned towards me. I threw both swords and reached down to draw out the ones on my hip. One sword struck a black orb and it cracked. The golem slammed an arm onto the boulder¡¯s edge a foot in front of me. The entire boulder shattered and I was forced to leap off to the side. I had to cast one of my weapons away since I didn¡¯t want to stab myself. I rolled over my shoulder and stood up. Turning around I saw Gillow strike one of its legs and retreat. ¡°Kenji!¡± I heard Ulther shout. I dropped to one knee and swung behind myself blindly. I felt my blade impact something. I twisted around and saw one of the birds impaled on my sword. It was a dark grey with a red crest. It was about a foot long and eagle shaped if I had to compare it to a bird I knew. It had vicious looking claws and a curved beak. They were probably to rip flesh out of its prey. I slid the corpse off my sword and turned back to the golem. Gillow was sweating and was starting to slow down. I raced in once again. This time I was ready for the golem to slide forward and managed to leap up on its arm and race forward. Thankfully the sheer shock of such an attack carried over to this golem as well. ¡°Power slash.¡± I yelled out and drove my blade straight into the black gem. Interesting thing to note, power slash did not require a slashing motion, only an attack with a cutting weapon. The Fey Blade drove through the gem and into the rock behind it and then out the back of the golem¡¯s head. It shook once and then collapsed. I was thrown off and tumbled across the ground. When I finally stopped I let out a moan and noticed another thousand HP had been shaved off. Gillow helped me up and I looked around. I saw a second bird dead near the wagon and no sign of the third. The golem was dust. ¡°That was ugg.¡± I said. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Yeah.¡± Gillow agreed. ¡°Help me to the wagon. We are taking a long break everyone.¡± I collapsed against a wheel and sat there. Ulther brought me some food and water. Gillow went to get the gem out of the golem and Yalow began retrieving all our spent weapons. I thought about helping, but that last tumble had been a bit much. Soon were all sitting on or against the wagon, resting. ¡°Got a small sapphire.¡± Gillow handed me the uncut gem. I pocketed it. ¡°Good job everyone. Remind me never to get hit by a golem again. What happened with the birds?¡± ¡°They kept getting lower and lower. Yalow took a shot, but they were quick. Then one went for you with your back turned. Yalow shot another one as it came in at the horses and the last one flew off.¡± I rubbed Ulther¡¯s hair. ¡°Thanks for the warning.¡± After a bit we got up and continued onwards. Gillow and Yalow rode in the back of the wagon while Ulther and I sat up front. Horsey Three and Four were still going strong despite all the monsters coming after us. Hopefully we were through the worst of it. *** ¡°Thank the Eight those mountains are behind us!¡± Yalow shouted out as we saw a forest laid out below us. It had taken ten more days of constant attacks. I didn¡¯t know how that caravan had gotten through, but it was golem and birds the entire way. Just yesterday we got two golems at once. That had been a long battle and all of us were at the end of our rope. ¡°I think we all agree with that.¡± ¡°We should celebrate when we get to Balkor. How much further is it?¡± ¡°It looks like seven days through that forest until we reach a large lake and then about three more days to reach Balkor.¡± ¡°First thing, a bath. Then some good food and then a brothel.¡± ¡°Yeah, after all those gems we definitely aren¡¯t going to be hurting for money.¡± ¡°I bet the forest is worse than the mountains.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t curse us. You don¡¯t say things like that aloud it is bad luck.¡± ¡°Sorry?¡± I let out a small sigh at Yalow. ¡°Alright, lets rest up for the rest of today. We can start heading through the forest tomorrow. Keep your eyes peeled for a decent campsite.¡± We found a place near the base of the mountain with a small waterfall. I checked behind it, but no hidden treasure or passages. We set up camp and it was nice to have a fire again. I looked over my status. I had gained six new levels. The golems and birds were high level monsters and so the experience gains had been a welcome reward. Honestly though, I did not want to have to keep fighting them. It was like dancing next to pits full of spikes. One mistake and that was it. There was no way for anyone to survive a direct golem hit unless they had some crazy stats.
STATUS
NameKenji Shadowen
Level57
Constitution61
Strength51.5
Dexterity58.85
Endurance52.5
Wisdom5.2
Intelligence5.45
Charisma0
Luck0
Fate571.65
Looking at my fate it made me wonder if the monsters were somehow drawn to people with a higher fate stat. It would explain the number of attacks in addition to how the caravan was able to pass through appearing unmolested. Yeah, I was monster bait. I also wondered if people would be drawn in also. That was a scary thought. I looked through my skills. Power slash was up to level three and did four times the damage now. A few others went up like leadership and tactics, but no other active skills besides power slash. It was just too useful against the golems, and it used SP instead of MP. I had also gained a constitution focus for an extra twenty five percent HP after raising my base Constitution up to fifty. I then resolved to dump the rest of my points into Dexterity for now, or at least until it was one hundred. It was frustrating that my teammates couldn¡¯t see their stats. The good news was that Ulther had finally memorized all twenty four chants. Using observe, his max MP was around three hundred and a single chant used up one hundred MP. That was insane, but good to know. I had him meditating and staring at people whenever he could. He still hadn¡¯t unlocked observe, but I hadn¡¯t given up hope yet. At least his strongest stat was wisdom and not luck. Thankfully the nights in the mountains had been peaceful. The golems and birds only came out during the day and there were no signs of anything at night. We set up our guard watch and I debated what to do once we reached Balkor and beyond. I did want to hunt down monsters, but that wouldn¡¯t be easy. Also the couple of reports I had found online and stated that the Wild Lands were a mix of barbarian hordes and warlord ruled cities. The biggest challenge would be making it through the city undetected. The following day we set off leaving the mountains behind. Thankfully the road was clear for the most part and travel continued uninterrupted. Yalow was riding in the cart today, while Ulther took the front with me. I rotated everyone so that no one got complacent. Also it was nice change to ride up in the cart compared to walking. Everyone kept their eyes peeled for movement or anything abnormal. I looked up quite often as well and that was how I spotted a large cluster of vines hanging over the road. ¡°Hold up everyone. Those vines don¡¯t seem natural. Stay alert and be ready for poison based attacks.¡± Everyone quickly followed me by tying cloths around their nose and mouth. While it wouldn¡¯t help in most cases, at least they would be more alert to that type of attack. I slowly advanced underneath the vines, both swords held at the ready. I had enough MP, so I decided to blow some. ¡°Observe.¡±
Forest Creeper
LvL: 83
Strongest Stat: Dexterity
HP: 4291
MP: 106
SP: 12841
Apparently I was as smart as an actual vine based on the MP. What really was important to note was that I had been looking at one of the vines off to the side and the description had appeared above that specific vine. That meant that each of these seven vines was a different monster. They would be quick, insanely quick. Grab a person and probably disable them somehow. My bet would be on contact poison of some kind. ¡°Stay back and watch our flanks. Don¡¯t let them touch you, they are fast. Also get a fire going.¡± No one commented on my sudden knowledge. I looked up at the monster vines hanging twelve feet off the ground. I put away one sword and picked up a rock. Taking careful aim I struck one of the vines. It twitched and then it flew towards me. I kept my blade upright in front of me and spun at just the right moment to intercept the vine. The tip was cut off and the vine quickly jerked back. It was about three inches across with leaves running the entire length. From the portion I had just cut, purple fluid leaked out and dripped onto the road. Definitely poison, and judging by the sheen on the leaves the vine excretes it for sure. The vine whipped around, knocking all the ones nearby. They all twitched. I drew my second blade. A quick glance showed me that my team was still gathering wood. They would need another minute, I should have had them start on a fire first thing. This time three vines darted in while a forth moved to encircle me. My max speed burned about fifteen SP per second. With 1417.09 SP I had about a hundred seconds before I would be completely exhausted for the rest of the day. The reason that mattered was because I was probably the only one from our group who could fight the vines head on. I spun and slashed out, cutting two vines. The third grazed my hand and I felt an intense burning sensation. Pain poison, to knock things out or incapacitate them with, just great. I was able to ignore thanks to my resistance training and cut the vine. The vine that had been encircling me began to pull together in an attempted to snare me. I slammed both swords into the ground with the blades facing the vine. I then pushed myself up into a handstand letting the vine slice itself in two places. I landed back on my feet and freed my swords. The rest of the vines were spreading out in an arc in front of me. I could smell the smoke from behind and I knew they had gotten the fire going. I was really wishing I had a canteen of Ent sap, that would be incredibly useful just about now. Three vines moved in again. I was able to cut two but the third managed to wrap itself up and around my left arm. I hacked the vine off, but the separated portion still clung to me. I began to feel a burning sensation through my clothes. The poison was probably going through them. I used the sword in my right hand to slice just above my arm, cutting it free of the vine. This had the side effect of getting purple vine juice on my arm and that was when I really started to feel it. Ignore. Do not pay attention to the pain. Pain is the mind killer, I shall not feel. I retreated back towards our fire and the vines continued to stretch out in pursuit. Ulther quickly poured a canteen of water over my arm and looked at me. ¡°Hold off on a chant for now, the water is helping. If the others are hit they will need healing more than I will.¡± Ulther gave me a nod. I looked over and saw Yalow wrapping the tips of his arrow in cloth, setting it on fire, and then shooting at the vines. On the third shot he managed to pierce one and it quickly pulled back. I stepped up and Gillow followed right behind me with one of the spare swords. His choice if he was brave enough. Four vines closed in this time. I cut two, Gillow cut a third, and the last one wrapped around his ankle. He let out a scream and collapsed by the time I had cut off the vine. Ulther was already rushing up and pouring water on the wound. I turned back to the vines as three more closed in. I figured the smaller attack groups of three and four were what they could manage without interfering with each other. Any more and they might collide and wrap around their fellow monster vines. Yalow got one of them and I managed to get the other two. I was starting to want more than two swords, but that would just look silly and be incredibly difficult to maneuver around with. Also there weren''t any good options for holding a third blade. By the time the vines stopped attacking, my clothes had a purple sheen and I could barely focus anymore. I made it back next to the fire and collapsed. Ulther was already next to me chanting away. The pain decreased but I hurt too much to care. I lay there for a two minutes and nothing was getting better. Pulling myself up, I looked around. The road was filled with cut up vines and purple vine goo. ¡°Grab my swords, turn the wagon around. We will camp back at the waterfall. No way we can make it through another attack.¡± Yalow was already picking up the arrows and discarded weapons while Ulther turned the cart around. I sat in the back next to an unconscious Gillow. We reached the pool and water fall by nightfall. I stripped out of all my clothes and went into the water downstream a bit. Twenty minutes later I was feeling much better. Ulther was washing out my clothes while Yalow was filling canteens up to wash off Gillow¡¯s foot. The poison had also dropped by HP by half, which was impressive. I opened my screen and saw I had killed ten of the vines. I dumped all six points from my two levels into Dexterity. ¡°We are going to rest up tomorrow, and try to again the following day.¡± ¡°Kenji, I saved this.¡± Ulther pulled out a satchel filled with vines. ¡°Good job, we will start working on building up a resistance tomorrow.¡± *** Ramponator: Killing monsters is boring, everyone else is doing that, kill NPCs Chapter 14: Slavery
Poison Immunity-3
Tastes like chicken
LvL 1: You are immune to basic poisons
LvL 2: You are immune to intermediate poisons Types: Spore, Bug
LvL 3: You are immune to advanced poisons Type: Plant
It had taken four days. Four very long and painful days. I had my team strap me naked to a giant log. Ulther would spread the poison on me and we waited. I had him apply more every time my HP regen was greater than the damage the poison was causing. The pain was mind numbing, and we weren¡¯t progressing fast enough for my liking. I then had Ulther cut down the length of one of the vines and wrap it around my shaft. In all honesty I was probably out of my mind at that point, but it had seemed like a good way to proceed at the time. My dick felt like it was burning off, Ulther quickly gagged me as I began scream myself raw. I also discovered that my high pain tolerance made it harder for me to pass out. So I lay there bound and gagged as with a piece of poisonous vine wrapped around my dick. I lost a third of my HP and succeeded in developing an intermediate immunity. Again I decided to escalate things. Many people ask why, I ask why not. Ulther had collected vine juice in one of the canteens. He laid a drop in my mouth and gave me some water. That was when I felt like my insides were being cooked with burning shards of glass. I have never been cooked with burning shards of glass, but that is probably what it feels like. Note to self, this would be a very effective torture technique. Yalow and Gillow sometimes came into look at me and I could see Gillow cringe. I wasn¡¯t too worried about them turning on me. The main reason was that they thought they needed me to get to Balkor alive. Fortunately they had no clue that it was my insanely high fate that was most likely pulling in the monsters. After four days I was completely immune. We set off the following day. We came to the place with the monster vines and I took off my clothes off first. I then moved in with just my two swords and the battle commenced. All I had to do was make sure not to become overwhelmed and it was a simple matter of hacking them apart. Sure I was coated in purple juice, but now it didn''t matter. Next I filled up three canteens with vine juice. We kept encountering more and more vines. I couldn¡¯t help but smile, this was an incredible experience grind. I killed enough to reach level sixty nine and was able to raise my Dexterity up to ninety one. When we finally stopped for the night it took a while to clean off all the vine juice. It had started to dry off and had become sticky enough that it made scrubbing it away difficult. ¡°Damn Kenji, that was some disgusting shit.¡± Yalow said. ¡°No more vines.¡± Gillow said and everyone looked at the normally quiet man. ¡°Well, then. Let¡¯s talk about Balkor and the wonderful women the city probably holds.¡± Yalow said. ¡°It will be a while before we get there, but this is how we will do things.¡± Everyone turned towards me. ¡°First we are going to sell off the iron and steel bars we have been carting around along with the gems. We will stick together. No one goes off by themselves. Yalow you will be with me at all times, Gillow with Ulther. We will take a couple days to sample some of the nicer wares the city has to offer and then we will gear up and set off once again to kill monsters.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t we, I don¡¯t know, set up shop in the town?¡± Yalow asked. ¡°If we stay then we will be hunted down. I don¡¯t plan on letting that happen. Do you wish to leave? You will get a fair cut of the money if you do.¡± There was a long moment of silence. ¡°Honestly this shit is getting a bit scary.¡± ¡°Indeed. I would want you to stay, but if you choose to leave let me know. If you do stay with us, you can sample the women from all over.¡± ¡°Okay, just have to think on it a bit more.¡± The last bit I said seemed to have made an impact. I looked at Gillow who just nodded. The guy really needed to open up more. ¡°Everyone think about what you want. We will need to be discrete, but before we leave we can buy quite a bit.¡± Everyone nodded at that. That was when it began to drizzle. We pulled the wagon closer to the fire pit and slept underneath it. It was wet, smelly, and frustrating. As I lay there trying to go to sleep I smelled rotting flesh. ¡°Everyone, we are under attack.¡± I whispered. Everyone was quickly awake and we rolled out from under the wagon. We couldn¡¯t see shit. It was dark, raining, and in the middle of a forest. The fire had smoldered out and we looked around. Yalow climbed on top of the cart trying to get a better view. ¡°Don¡¯t see anything.¡± ¡°The smell, there is a smell of death.¡± They all sniffed. ¡°Yeah, faint but there. You really think it is an attack?¡± ¡°If I am wrong, then we got some midnight exercise. If I am right, then I would rather die on my feet than asleep.¡± We stood there waiting for an attack. ¡°There is definitely something out there, I can sense it.¡± Ulther said. My mind raced. He was our only magic user, that probably meant a magic based monster. ¡°Over here!¡± Gillow roared. He was on the opposite side of the cart from me. I looked around for an ambush before moving towards him. On the ground in front of Gillow lay a trashing black mass. He brought up his war hammer and smashed the thing again and again. After the fourth time it finally stopped moving. It was definitely the source of the smell. ¡°Stay alert, protect the horses.¡± I said. I got yeses in return. Two more of the creatures attacked during the night, spacing their attacks far apart. They blended in well, but weren¡¯t fast or strong. They also didn¡¯t attack all at once, which was both a blessing and concerning. If this kept up it would be a long couple of days in the forest. We all sat on the edge of the wagon as it slowly got lighter and lighter in the gloom of the rain and trees. Looking at the monster corpses, they appeared to be a black looking cloak. I then noticed patterns in the monster that looked like a person screaming. They would probably sneak up and wrap people up in their sleep. I walked over and began to cut one apart. I poked it in numerous places but wasn¡¯t poisoned. I was either immune or they didn¡¯t have any. They didn¡¯t have internal organs either. They were about an eighth of an inch thick and six by six feet big. The size varied a bit, which I guessed depended on the age of the critters. I made an attempt at skinning them. Unfortunately their internal membranes were fused with the black shimmering outer layer of fine hairs. I checked my experience and saw they were level seventy nine or higher. After an hour the others had finished a soggy breakfast and we set off again. I sat in the cart and let my mind wander as I chewed on some though jerky. The creatures weren¡¯t that strong, which made me wonder what their true ability really was. Probably something to do with flight or shadows. That wasn¡¯t a stat, which meant magic, something to look into once we reached Balkor. It took two more days to get through the forest. Thankfully there were no more vines or shadow cloaks. That was when we came to a lake so large we couldn¡¯t see the far side. The road curved around the edge and there were numerous farm houses along the route. As it grew darker I directed my team to heads towards one just up ahead. I went up and knocked on the front door. It opened and there was a burly man, I could see his family behind him sitting around a table. ¡°What do you want?¡± He grunted out. ¡°My companions and I were looking for a place to spend the night and warm food. Unfortunately there didn¡¯t appear to be an inn on the road, so we are asking you.¡± The man looked out over all of us. ¡°You all look like trouble, I don¡¯t want trouble.¡± ¡°Then perhaps you would do well to invite us in and be polite.¡± I rested a hand on one of my sword hilts. ¡°You can pay right?¡± ¡°We will pay what is fair. Now we have horses and a wagon. Do you have a barn to put them in for the night?¡± ¡°Yeah, come on, I will show you.¡± The farmer got on his boots and led us to a barn behind the house. It was low hanging and worn, but it would do. Ulther and Yalow got to work at unhitching the horses and moving the wagon into the barn. Once they were done we all returned to the house with the farmer. ¡°Listen up you brats, we have some guests. Be polite.¡± I counted fifteen kids of varying ages. The oldest looked to be about in the lower twenties. ¡±These three are my wives.¡± I noticed how he had emphasized my in the sentence. The three women were fairly young, not much older than the children and two of them were incredibly pregnant. ¡°We could use some relaxation, would you be willing to give us a couple of your older girls for the night?¡± I asked. The farmer just looked at me. ¡°If no one has been with them, twenty coppers each. Otherwise ten.¡± ¡°Fifty coppers, and fifteen.¡± The farmer said. ¡°Those three haven¡¯t been with anyone.¡± ¡°Forty coppers and twenty, that is a hundred and forty for four of them. Also we want dinner, good fresh stuff.¡± The farmer grinned. ¡°Twenty coppers for dinner and breakfast.¡± ¡°Not a problem. You boys get to work on preparing a meal for our honored guests.¡± He gestured at some of the older boys who glared at me and then got to work. ¡°Brats need manners.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± I pulled out the money and handed it to him. ¡°Now you might get an idea to ask for more, or even threaten us. Let me explain two things to you. First, the moment you start thinking about something along those lines you are not going to die but die in terrible pain. Do you know about the Creepers in the forest, vine things.¡± ¡°Yeah, people complain about them all the time. Incredibly painful.¡± ¡°If you misbehave in any way I will make you drink an entire canteen full of vine juice. If you talk about us and I find out, I will come back here and pour the purple nectar down your throat. Finally if somehow I die, I will return, and I assure you I can and I will give you the vine juice one drop at a time so you don¡¯t die. You understand me.¡± ¡°¡­yes.¡± He muttered out. ¡°Good, I really don¡¯t want to have to do all that unpleasant stuff. It really is a lot of work to carry through on threats you know.¡± Dinner was okay, fresh bread, fruit, and cheese. There was no meat which was unfortunate. It made me wonder what the meat I had been eating was. I had seen no farm animals of any sort so far. We all took turns with our individual girls out in the barn. One of the boys was glaring at me while I poked at my food lazily and I decided to find out why. The old farmer was in his bedroom with his wives and I could hear the thump of flesh against flesh. ¡°What is your problem?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± I pulled out my sword and put it on the table. ¡°Talk, or I will talk to your dad and then your family with my sword.¡± When he spoke, it came out in a flood. ¡°He sells us. The older ones to slavers. If any of us start complaining he sells us off. Kal, Ural, and Balita were all sold off recently.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you kill him?¡± ¡°Kal tried, but he just got taken down.¡± ¡°Hmm, so you are a coward then.¡± ¡°No, but there is nothing I can do.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± I could see why they were angry and frustrated, but I didn¡¯t need pissed off slavers after me. Helping out these kids was the quickest way to get stuck in some stupid chain of events that would culminate in freeing all the slaves. That was not happening, no way, no how. I took my turn with my girl once Ulther returned flushed. Another problem with being part horse, it is too big to fit a standard sized mouth. I tied a gag on before I speared her. There was taking and giving pleasure, and I only took that night. Luckily nothing ripped and she didn¡¯t resist. Note to self, being part horse was not as awesome as I had originally thought. That night we slept in the barn rotating shifts again to keep watch. Nothing happened and we had a nice breakfast the following mourning. I paid some more to the farmer and gave him a glare. ¡°I will probably be passing back through this way some day. Oh, and the three older boys are looking to cause a bit of trouble, you might want to sell them off soon.¡± ¡°Thanks, but no one to sell them off to. Got to wait for a war or something to get top coin.¡± ¡°How much for the eldest?¡± ¡°Him, hmmmm, three silver.¡± ¡°Two, since I will have to break him.¡± ¡°Two and forty coppers.¡± ¡°Deal.¡± I counted out the money. The farmer went back inside the house and pulled out his eldest by his hair. ¡°This guy owns you now, make sure you behave.¡± ¡°Bastard.¡± The boy spat at, I stepped to the side and the spittle missed. ¡°All deals are final. I don¡¯t remember shit for shit. Probably won¡¯t after I get drunk off my ass.¡± I ignored the chuckling farmer and grabbed the boy. I slapped him across the face. He struggled more and I slapped him again. After the fifth time he stopped struggling. ¡°You will walk with me. Yalow you drive, Gillow in front, Ulther in back.¡± I pulled the boy with me and we walked next to the wagon. ¡°You want to leave?¡± The boy looked at me in shock. ¡°Listen, you speak your mind, and are half clever. If you want to leave you can. It is too much headache dragging a prisoner around.¡± ¡°I haw you.¡± He mumbled out between his swollen cheeks. ¡°Stay or go?¡± There was a long moment of silence. ¡°Gow.¡± I looked at him and saw the defiance in his eyes. ¡°Alright, once we get to Balkor.¡± The boy just glared at me. The day was uneventful and we stopped in a small grove. I quickly over powered the boy and tied him up and gagged him. Night fell and no one else came to the campsite. I pulled the boy over by the fire. ¡°Little shit, cost us some money. Now I am going to teach you all some biology. Pay attention, this stuff is important.¡± I began dissecting the boy and explaining the various functions of the organs and tissues. My goal was to keep him alive as long as possible, while at the same time providing an educational lesson. He finally perished when I began to cut into his skull and explaining the different portions of the brain. Once you got past the grisly scene it was a pretty good lecture if I had to rate myself. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Basic Biology-4 Depraved-16 Apparently the game system agreed with me as well. We chucked the dissected corpse onto the fire and went to sleep. It took another whole day of traveling until we saw the walls of Balkor at midday. They were twenty feet tall and mortared stone. Nowhere near as impressive as Breckley, but that wasn¡¯t that big of a concern. We approached the gate and I was already in my wig and hat. I would let Yalow do the talking. Ulther was a bit young and Gillow far too quiet. There were six soldiers standing around the entrance. Their equipment seemed slightly mismatched, but there was more metal than the Breckley soldiers¡¯ outfits. I pulled the wagon to a halt and Yalow stepped up to the soldier who approached us. ¡°Hello, good day to you.¡± ¡°Hmm, been to Balkor before?¡± ¡°No, but I hear the women are to die for. Any recommendations?¡± ¡°The Perky Nipple is nice, but if you can afford it the Curves is the best place to visit.¡± ¡°Anything we should know before we enter the city?¡± ¡°Behave. No killing, no stealing, no raping. Oh and no telling people what to believe. I swear those priests of the Eight get more determined each time they come through.¡± ¡°Well good thing none of us are priests.¡± ¡°Hmmm, I see you are all carrying weapons. You can keep them, but any trouble and it is off with your other sword.¡± Yalor paled at that and took a step back. ¡°The merchant council somehow got it into their heads that people valued that part of themselves more than their heads or hands. So that is what we chop off.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± ¡°Excellent, now entry taxes.¡± ¡°I am sure we can-¡° ¡°Don¡¯t even try. The merchant council watches everything. The only people they allow to be bribed are themselves.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem very fair.¡± ¡°I like my parts attached. The last guard who tried something like that¡­his screams made an impact.¡± ¡°So how much?¡± ¡°Visitors like yourselves, ten copper a person, twenty for the wagon.¡± We were willing to bribe up to a silver, that was actually fairly cheap. Yalow quickly handed over sixty copper. ¡°I was wondering if we could pay you to guide us about. Since we have never been here before.¡± ¡°I just started my shift, but¡­Hey, Gelt, you feel up to showing these nice people about the fair and beautiful city of Balkor?¡± A younger looking soldier ran over. ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± ¡°A couple copper for arranging this.¡± Yalow passed over a few copper to the soldier we had been talking to. He smiled and then let us through. The city was laid out haphazardly and was fairly busy. I would probably say it had half or a third of the foot print of Breckley and about a quarter of the people. The houses were a combination of wood and stone thrown together. At least the streets were paved and there was a sewer system to carry the filth away. The place still sunk to high heaven though. ¡°Geld, we wish to visit a jeweler and the best black smith in town.¡± Yalow said. ¡°Well the only jeweler is in the central plaza. Come on.¡± We followed the young soldier through the streets. This place would be a nightmare to mind one¡¯s way around. I noticed side streets closing off at angles and the constant twists and turns would make navigating through the city a chore. ¡°Ah here we are. Come on.¡± We had come out in a large plaza teeming with people. There were stalls set up all over the place with people shouting. Soldiers stood around the perimeter watching everyone. The buildings were all three stories tall and solid stone with large glass windows on the first floor to display their goods. We slowly made our way around the plaza to one side, the wagon taking time to move through the crowd. My entire team had their hands on their weapons, giving people glares if they came too close. Thankfully no one risked a confrontation. We reached the shop Geld was leading us towards and I saw an ornate neckless displayed. ¡°All of you remain out here with the cart. No one leaves.¡± I got a bunch of yeses. ¡°Thank you Geld, if you don¡¯t mind waiting, I will make sure to compensate you very well.¡± ¡°Yeah no problem, nothing else to do this afternoon.¡± ¡°Good.¡± I turned and went into the store. It was a nice change from the dark buildings that were the norm as the large windows let in a fair amount of light. ¡°Hello, what can I do for you?¡± A small looking man had come up to me. I stepped over to a countered and pulled out the satchel of uncut gems and opened it up. The man¡¯s eyes almost exploded out of his head. ¡°How¡­I mean, where did you get all of these?¡± ¡°Deep in the wilderness, they are not stolen.¡± He just waved his hand at the last comment and began picking them up to inspect them one by one. ¡°A few of them are chipped, see here and here. Also some of them are dull. Compare these two, you see the luster is greater in one than the other. You have five high quality ones, and only one of them is of exceptional size.¡± I just stared at him and he let out a small cough. ¡°The chipped ones, I will give you a silver each. The dull ones, three silver for the small, and eight for the large.¡± As he spoke he divided them up into piles. ¡°For these four, I can give ten silver each. Finally this one, well I can pay an entire gold piece.¡± I quickly did the math in my head. ¡°A hundred and twenty five silver is too low. One hundred seventy.¡± ¡°A hundred thirty, I have to cut them and sell them. It will take at least a year to sell this many.¡± ¡°Maybe if I took half of them away, you could keep the price at one twenty.¡± He scowled at me. ¡°One forty, you highway robber.¡± I looked at him and gave a small nod. I could push things, but even for ten more silver it wasn¡¯t worth it. I made by point by haggling, but also by giving in when I did that I didn¡¯t want to make an enemy. ¡°I want it in gold.¡± The man looked at me and then chuckled. ¡°Gold it is.¡± He pulled out a strip of paper and went over to an inkwell. He began writing. ¡°Take this to the Merchant¡¯s Bank at the west end of the plaza. They will pay you.¡± I looked at the strip of paper. There was a bunch of fancy writing and symbols on it. ¡°While I am inclined to trust you, we go together. You can collect the gold and then we can return.¡± ¡°Not very trusting are you.¡± ¡°Paper is paper, and while I can read, these symbols might mean anything. Once I left it would be my word against yours.¡± The merchant gave me a grin and snatched the paper out of my hand. ¡°Come on.¡± We exited the shop and he locked it up. I had taken the satchel of gems with me. I waved for Gillow to follow me. We made our way through the plaza and into a large building. There were three desks laid out with two chairs in front of each of them. The merchant and I took a seat and the man on the other side looked up. ¡°Merchant Ralo, welcome. Welcome esteemed guests. I am your humble servant Yal. How may I help you?¡± ¡°Merchant Ralo agreed to pay my seven gold in trade for various items. We are here to collect. I also expect the quality of the coinage to be at Breckley¡¯s level or better.¡± The merchant gave me a glare and I just looked back. ¡°Very well, is that acceptable Merchant Ralo?¡± ¡°Yes, yes, just go already.¡± Yal got up and left. ¡°You are a tricky one you know that. Have some merchant blood in you?¡± ¡°Possibly, I deal in many things. In all of them lies and deceit are but second nature.¡± ¡°Very true, well I can respect your attention to detail, I didn¡¯t catch your name.¡± ¡°Names can be more valuable than gems. Pardon my rudeness to respond to a question with a question, but do you truly wish to know?¡± ¡°Not really, all that ominous nonsense is too much trouble. Just professional curiosity. For I heard about a red eyed, white skinned man, who is a bit on the shorter side. While your hat and wig do well to conceal you I think I can guess who you are.¡± ¡°And what do you plan to do with this information?¡± ¡°Everything has a price including silence.¡± ¡°What about your life, your city, your store. How do those compare to silence?¡± ¡°A tricky thing to measure abstracts, but I get your message but others won¡¯t. There are many eyes in this city and your presence has been noticed.¡± ¡°I will speak to your Merchant¡¯s Council then. Since they rule the city, I will discuss the situation with them.¡± ¡°You can always go through me and I could influence things.¡± ¡°There is a gold piece for you if things turn out my way. I won¡¯t make outrageous demands.¡± ¡°Two, since I will have to arrange the meeting on your behalf. Your reputation proceeds you and I will have to give assurances.¡± ¡°Very well, both coins afterwards. It will not be worthwhile to betray you with the plan I have in mind.¡± Yal returned with a small wooden box. He opened it and there were seven gold coins. Ralo picked them up and looked them over. He then passed them to me. It wasn¡¯t the standard Breckley coin, but had the same symbol as the bank did outside and on the banners inside. ¡°We prefer to coin our own gold and maintain a high standard. Balkor currently dominates most of the regions coinage for this very reason.¡± Yal said as I inspected the coin. ¡°Acceptable, Ralo, I will return later this afternoon. Will that be enough time?¡± ¡°Barely, meet in front of the bank here at sunset.¡± I nodded and we returned to his shop. I left the satchel of gems with him and my group set out towards the best blacksmith in town. It took an hour to navigate our way to the other end of the city through the winding streets. Making a map of this place was probably a legendary level quest at the minimum. We finally reached the forge and I entered by myself once more. A young boy ran up. ¡°What do you need mister?¡± ¡°I am here to sell iron and steel bars and to order some weapons.¡± ¡°Hmmm, let me go get master.¡± The boy ran off. A minute later the hammering stopped a burly man stepped out. The guy was jacked and I guessed his Strength stat was insanely high. Things went fairly quickly from there. He bought all the bars, twenty copper for the iron, and fifty for the steel. It came out to twenty seven and a half silvers. ¡°What about enchantments or special metals?¡± ¡°Hah, those things cost a lot. Best metal we have is Hardened Steel, enchantments well that might be possible. Guy only takes a job once or twice a year. What were you thinking?¡± ¡°I want a sword that emits fire at my command. It won¡¯t melt and the handle will remain cool enough to hold. Also a war hammer that can change its weight.¡± ¡°Possible, possible. Not the stupidest things I have ever heard. Let me ask, come back tomorrow. Anything else?¡± ¡°Two light and durable blades. I also want metal arm and leg guards made up for myself. A half suit for my friend over there. Eight throwing daggers and a harness to hold them. Fifty needles about eight inches long, thin, strong, and balanced.¡± ¡°That last one is tricky. All doable, but it will cost. Take at least a week, and that is if I put off my other orders. More like a month.¡± ¡°When I return tomorrow we can discuss the price and how much time you will need.¡± We left the forge and returned to the plaza. ¡°Geld who do I have to talk to hire you for our stay here?¡± ¡°That would be Sargent Tilm.¡± ¡°Excellent, here is five copper for today¡¯s efforts.¡± A Breckley soldier made about a copper a day and I figured it was the same out here. ¡°Thanks, yeah we can swing by. The barracks is near the central plaza.¡± ¡°Excellent, we need to head that way.¡± *** BoyHearts: We are coming for you, Rain of Blood GODHAXLOL: HORSEYS STILL ALIVE! HatMan: I loved the biology lesson 6996: No one should ever refuse Kenji UltimataSecret: The self torture, was scary, I wonder what ultimate power he unlocked Ramponator: Probably blow people¡¯s heads with his mind FuriousGhost: I am coming for you! ClosetCreeper: Someone needs a life UltimataSecret: Our personal troll TheLordBreckley: Avenge me, my people UltimateSecret: Correction, trolls *** AUTHOR¡¯S NOTE: Ratings and reviews are the gas that fuels my writing. Please fill up my tank. Chapter 15: Its a Twap! We returned to the central plaza where the various vendors were packing up their stalls. ¡°Geld and Gillow you both stay with the wagon. Yalow and Ulther with me.¡± The two went off to the side with the wagon while the rest of us moved to where Ralo was standing in front of the bank. I looked around, but nothing appeared to be off. The soldiers lining the central plaza were slowly leaving with the various merchants. ¡°Welcome, follow me. Your companions can come as well.¡± I gave a small nod. We entered the building and made our way up to the third floor. Opening a set of ornately carved wooden doors, Ralo led the way into a room with a half circle table and took a seat at one end. There were six other men sitting around the table. For the most part they did not wear vast amounts of gold and other ornaments, rather their clothes were clean and were well tailored. Looking about the room, I saw a map of the city and a map of the surrounding region. ¡°Thank you for allowing me to speak with all of you.¡± I said. ¡°You are worth quite a bit Kenji Shadowen, or Rain of Blood. Your reputation proceeds you.¡± The man at the center of the table spoke. ¡°Indeed, when I learned that a person who was worth ten thousand gold pieces and a noble title in Breckley was here in Balkor, well you can understand both my fear and joy.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like much, like an imp, but the really dangerous ones are always underestimated.¡± The man across from Ralo said. ¡°Very true, now what are you proposing that is worth more than what Breckley is paying.¡± The man at the center spoke again. ¡°Simple, your lives in exchange for being left alone.¡± ¡°Ah, the mystical reincarnation of the Travelers. Indeed it is a dire threat, but doubt it will be that easy.¡± A massive pressure suddenly slammed down on me. Ulther and Yalow both collapsed on the smooth wood floor. I was barely able to keep my footing. ¡°Impressive.¡± The force disappeared. ¡°As you can see we are not defenseless. So threat for threat. You attack, you die. You might get me and a couple of us in the process, but you won¡¯t succeed and the rest of us will be quite a bit richer.¡± ¡°Its a trap.¡± ¡°Not a trap, a chance to negotiate. You thought you held the position of strength, but I merely wanted you to understand things.¡± ¡°I cannot match Breckley¡¯s offer except through deeds. I can think of none that would meet the cost of ten thousand gold pieces.¡± ¡°Indeed, you see our problem. Killing you and transporting your corpse and transporting the gold back is estimated to cost fifty seven gold, including all expenses. In addition, Breckley is our neighbor and we could always use the good will for future trade negotiations.¡± ¡°If you are talking, you want something.¡± ¡°Not as dumb as you look. Str has mobilized a large army, and we suspect they will march on our city. We want you to go and-¡° While the old man was speaking I had pulled off my canteen and took a small sip of vine poison. Giving the illusion it was just water. I squeezed down and waved the canteen in an arc in front of me. It struck all seven merchants and they collapsed screaming. I spun around and Ulther had the presence of mind to duck as I splashed the four guards behind us. They went down screaming as well. I cast the canteen aside and drew both my blades. The pressure struck again. I let arms and swords rest against my body as I slowly dragged my feet forward, one bit at a time. In a flash of flames a man was standing between me and the table. ¡°Observe.¡±
The Waking Demon, Yal-Ral-Sal
LvL: 145
Strongest Stat: Wisdom
HP: 10023
MP: 8021
SP: 1025
¡°Impressive you can stand up under the weight of my presence.¡± The man said calmly. He appeared so normal, but with his strength he was a monster in reality or VR as it were. ¡°Ulther, chant of Dexterity. Yalow, secure the door.¡± The man gestured with a hand and beam of fire erupted from it. Yalow was skewered through the chest and collapsed to the ground dead. ¡°There is a reason a merchant¡¯s council remains in power, me.¡± He gestured again and a beam of flames came straight at me. At the same time Ulther had finished his chant and I felt the pressure retreat. I bent out of the way, but the flames still scorched my left arm, burning through my clothing. I moved forward and cut out at the figure. My blade phased through his body leaving a ripple of flames in its wake. I slashed out again but a wall of flames appeared between us and I was forced to take a step back. The Waking Demon turned towards Ulther and gestured. Ulther finished a second chant just as the beam struck him. The flames coursed over his body, but only his cloths burned. I threw one of my swords. It went straight through the man¡¯s body with only ripples of flame to mark its passage and no visible damage. ¡°Observe.¡±
The Waking Demon, Yal-Ral-Sal
LvL: 145
Strongest Stat: Wisdom
HP: 9873
MP: 7214
SP: 986
All that and there was almost no damage. That had been the Fey blade I had just thrown. Things were not going well. The merchants and soldiers in the room and all passed out from the pain. The only good news was that I didn¡¯t hear anyone else approaching. The bad news was that I had no idea how to beat the Waking Demon, Yal-Ral-Sal. ¡°The Waking Demon, Yal-Ral-Sal, I know your true name and bind you to my service.¡± He looked at me. ¡°Interesting, no one has attempted to deal with me in that way.¡± Another beam of fire cut across the room. The flames vanished once they struck a wall or floor, preventing the building from becoming a raging inferno. I grabbed my second canteen of poison I had on me and squared off against the demon. He gestured and another beam of fire cut towards me. I dove to the ground on my stomach and then squeezed the entire canteen of vine juice onto the demon. It struck his clothing and was immediately burnt up in gouts of flame. The demon gestured again and I rolled across the floor, pushing out the poisoned contents at him while a beam of fire trailed after me. I ran into the wall and scrambled forward hoping to avoid being burnt to a cinder. The beam of flames didn¡¯t strike and I glanced at the demon. A cloud of purple smoke swirled around him and he was coughing. ¡°Observe.¡±
The Waking Demon, Yal-Ral-Sal
LvL: 145
Strongest Stat: Wisdom
HP: 2431
MP: 5422
SP: 893
I chucked the canteen at him. It phased through him in gout of flames, but that only sent up more purple smoke. I grabbed my swords and quickly sheathed both of them. I then grabbed up Ulther and tossed him over my shoulder. I let out a grunt, he was eating way too much. I made my way over to the door and opened it. Yal-Ral-Sal disappeared in a pillar of flames behind me as I made my escape. The cloud of deadly smoke began to spread throughout the room. I made my way down the staircase back towards the front door. Ulther was breathing, but his clothing was burnt and he looked exhausted. I made my way to the entrance, and there were still no soldiers. I looked outside to a grizzly scene. Gillow had been hacked to pieces and the wagon looted. I had all our money on my person thankfully, but that was just cruel the way he had been killed. Both horses lay dead in the street as well. Geld was lying on the street, dead or unconscious I couldn¡¯t tell. I closed the door softly. Ulther and I were trapped and he was just dead weight. I lowered a steel reinforced wood beam into the brackets were mounted on the doorway and wall. That should keep out people for a bit. The desks were empty of anything useful and there was the staircase back up and one leading down. From what I could tell, the third floor was a meeting room, and the second floor held lots of paperwork when I had went by it. ¡°Open screens.¡±
Experience
+300005+10 LvL
You are level 70
Quest-Impossible
The Fires of Hell
Slay the Greater Waking Demon
+1000000 EXP +10 Stat Points
Accept (Yes/No)
Dammit, the merchants must have had high levels so I couldn¡¯t tell if the demon was dead or not. I then looked at the new impossible quest. My guess was that quests went up in difficultly anywhere from ten to a hundred times from the previous level. If killing a Dragon was considered a lifetime quest, then this really was impossible. One waking demon, wiped my team out¡­wiped me out. A greater one probably had at least twenty minions to be halfway respectable. I accepted and closed out the quest screen. If I ever found out where it was living, I would get twenty barrels of vine poison and drop them in. If that didn¡¯t work, twenty barrels of Ent sap. The number of problems that cannot be solved has an inverse relationship to the size of the explosion. This current problem I was in needed an explosion that would wipe out the city, the way things were going. I continued down the stairs until I reached a pair of steel doors. I pushed and they slid open, they scraped against the floor. The room suddenly burst into light as torches exploded to life along the walls. There were shelves, boxes, and all other manner of gold coins and valuables. At the far end of the room sat the demon on a stone throne. Not dead then. I set Ulther against one of the doors and drew both my swords. ¡°Observe.¡±
The Waking Demon, Yal-Ral-Sal
LvL: 145
Strongest Stat: Wisdom
HP: 97
MP: 3891
SP: 673
It was almost dead, but on the other hand it was near invincible to physical attacks and I had no more poison. ¡°So you came hero, to free this city?¡± The man demon asked giving off a bored vibe. ¡°Not really, but I was in danger so I attacked the merchants and then you attacked.¡± ¡°I would only come if they were attacked, that was one part of our deal.¡± ¡°The rest?¡± ¡°And what interest is it to you?¡± ¡°Your strong, we should team up.¡± ¡°Ha! My kind seeks to undo the seven seals in this world that bind my master. The merchants would use their wealth and information for my benefit in exchange for my protection. What can you hope to do that all this gold and their connections could not.¡± ¡°Well for one, I am a Traveler. I don¡¯t give two coppers about the fate of the world.¡± One day impossible quest, one day. ¡°Second I travel all over the place, killing people, having adventures. I am sure information on these portals would come up. Finally, we would make a kick ass team.¡± ¡°Intriguing, but in the end just talk.¡± ¡°I offer a challenge. I will get you information on one of these seals in the next hour. Describe as much as you know. I will return with the location of a single one. If I succeed you serve me while we look for them. If I fail, well you think of a punishment.¡± ¡°A daring offer. I know you Travelers can cast your soul from this realm of existence. So if you return, what is to stop you from escaping?¡± ¡°The same thing that would have you serve me if I succeed.¡± ¡°There is another option.¡± The man gestured and an obsidian table appeared in a burst of flame between us with a piece of parchment and a black feathered quill resting next to it. ¡°If you sign your name on this, I shall be able to sense your soul wherever you go on this plane.¡± The man demon grinned at me. ¡°And the reverse?¡± ¡°Well you will just have to trust me.¡± ¡°Trust a demon? You must have inhaled too much poison. I sign, I want something of equal or greater value. Your blood.¡± ¡°My blood¡­.and what do you plan to do with it?¡± ¡°Drink it and see what happens.¡± ¡°HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, that is the most insane thing I have ever heard of. You really think you can take my powers into you with my blood?¡± I walked over to the desk and picked up the black feathered quill and began to circle the desk. ¡°Honestly who knows? I make my own rules.¡± ¡°Indeed that is-¡° I lunged forward and drove the quill into the demon¡¯s eye. I ripped it out and then jammed it in the other eye. My hand was burnt from the ripples of flames the demon had given off when I had stabbed his eyes with the quill. ¡°You killed my team, you die as well, ass hole.¡± I heard banging coming from above. The soldiers were probably trying to break down the door. I returned to the vault entrance and pushed the steel doors closed. I slid two long steel bars into place, barricading it. Thankfully whatever demonic magic that had created the smokeless flames around the room was still going strong. I carried Ulther and propped him up near the table and throne. I then began to look around the room. More wealth than I could imagine, but none of it useful. It was all gold, jewels, or trinkets. After making two complete circuits I let out a sigh. I walked over to the demon¡¯s corpse. I went and got a large gold bowl. I then set the corpse up so when I slit the throat the blood would drain out. I did that and the basin began to fill. I had no idea if drinking this things blood would empower me. If I was a betting man, I would easily put money on it being a very bad idea. Unfortunately I was trapped in an underground vault with soldiers closing in. I could hear noise from the other side of the steel doors now. ¡°You know, it is times like this I really want to just be a craftsman.¡± I mumbled out. I picked up the basin and began chugging away. Demon blood tastes like all other blood, nasty and salty. He probably has some weird disease, like demon AIDS that I was going to get. It tasted nasty going into my mouth, burned on the way going down, and then gave me a severe stomach cramp. I dropped the drained basin and stumbled around for a moment before collapsing. *** "Finally the door is open." "What the hell. Did...he drink its blood." "Kill the boy, take the body. He will want to examine what happened here. We can send more men to pick up the rest." "Are you sure, we should just kill him." "Rain of Blood is a person of interest, so we take him." *** I was cold. I opened my eyes and it was dark as well. I felt around. I didn¡¯t have any clothes and all the walls and floor were smooth stone. Everything shook. I was tempted to shout, but decided pretending to be unconscious would be better for now. My room was only four feet long, three feet wide, and three feet tall. Sitting in the corner the room shook and moved every so often. I looked at my MP bar and I figured I had been unconscious for the whole night. At least I was still alive, that was all that mattered at the moment. A small panel opened up in the ceiling letting light in. A canteen and some bread were dropped in and the panel closed up. ¡°Hey what is going on?¡± I shouted but there was no answer. I carefully drank a small amount of the water, the taste was off and I spit it out. Same with the bread, probably some kind of poison. I poured out the tainted water as hid the bread between my ass cheeks so they would think I ate and drank. I then lay still in the bottom of my coffin. A panel above me opened but I kept my eyes shut. The panel slammed shut and then the entire lid was removed letting in fresh sunlight and air. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°Looks like he pissed himself. You can carry him.¡± ¡°No way, this is a new outfit. You said you would, so you do it.¡± ¡°Fine, but only because we have to get away from here.¡± I felt myself being lifted up. After I was slung over someone¡¯s back I opened my eyes a little. It looked like I was still in Balkor. As I was carried I prepared myself for action. I reached out and wrapped my hands around the man¡¯s sword. I drew it in one quick motion and he spun. I held up the blade and cut through the other man¡¯s neck as I was spun around. He collapsed to the ground in a spray of blood, trying to plug the fatal wound. I then drove the sword down into the man carrying me. The blade went through the base of his spine and out his groin. He collapsed screaming and I untangled myself from him. I retrieved the other man¡¯s sword and slew his wailing companion with a well-placed stab. I retrieved the sword I had used to stab him in the groin and then turned to a nearby house. I kicked down the door and entered. There were two young men in the midst of a love making session. I had startled them and one had bit down slightly. His companion was lying on the bed trying to stop the bleeding while his companion looked between me and him. ¡°I need clothes and you will take me to the central plaza.¡± ¡°But he needs-¡° I cut him off by holding a blade up under his throat. ¡°I am in a bad mood, hurry. Also bring me some beer.¡± The guy began going through a nearby closet and tossed me a bunch of clothes. The underwear had some skid marks, but it was better than running around naked. By the time I was done changing the young man had set a pitcher of ale in front of me. I gulped it down in a single swig. My headache eased up slightly. ¡°He isn¡¯t going to die. Now come on, to the central plaza.¡± The young man began leading me through the winding streets. I kept one sword rested on his left shoulder and the other one at my side to bring up at a moment¡¯s notice. Fifteen minutes and a number of looks later we reached the central plaza. The place was in chaos as people were looting, fighting with the soldiers, and helping the soldiers loot a number of shops that lined the plaza. ¡°What is going on?¡± ¡°Um, I heard the council had died but I didn¡¯t expect this.¡± ¡°Get out of here, I have business to attend to.¡± The man ran off. I went straight for the bank. People stayed out of my way for the most part and I soon came to the front entrance that had been torn open. I looked back at the plaza and saw the blood stain from Gillow and our horses. I walked into the bank, vault, or merchant headquarters, I really didn''t care. Two soldiers stood guard at the staircase leading to the vault. I approached and they both drew their weapons. We charged at the same time. I blocked one blow and then spun around the man¡¯s shield to avoid his partner. The blade in my right hand impaled the man in the neck and out the other side, showering his partner with his life blood. I let the corpse slide to the floor and stabbed forward. The other soldier blocked with his shield and jabbed back. I stepped to the side and in to avoid the blow. I stabbed down with one blade, impaling the soldier¡¯s foot. He screamed and I used my other blade to silence him by jabbing it into the side of his neck over his shield. I then stepped back and ripped both my blades free. I continued down towards the vault. I reached the steel doors which had been hammered open. Almost everything had been cleared out. There was the demon corpse, still lying on the table. No one had touched the blood caked bowl which was resting near the corpse. I looked over and saw Ulther. I checked his pulse, there was none. I then checked over this body and saw a deep stab wound under his arm. He probably bled out by the amount under him. This shit, just got real. I was going to kill everyone. By everyone, I meant every single human being inside this city. It wouldn¡¯t just be a rain of blood, but a hurricane, no, a maelstrom of malice. I stood up from the corpse and went over to the demon¡¯s corpse. I put my hand on its chest hoping to feel something, but nothing came. I opened up my status screens. I had been putting this off in hopes of avoiding the worst.
Murder of Merchants-1 MAX
Don''t ruin the clothes
+10 Fate
+2% Constitution
+2% Wisdom
NOTIFICATION
You have wiped out a faction, Merchant''s Council of Balkor
NOTIFICATION
You have slain a Waking Demon
Demon Slayer-1
You walk the edge between light and dark
+10% Fire Resistance
Demonic Blood Corruption-1
You have taken the blood of a demon in your body
-20% Constitution
+50% Fire Resistance
Well that was a harsh trade off, but I would take fire resistance over most other things. This brought it up to seventy percent and I wondered how much it would protect me. I looked back at the corpse. I cut out the heart and began ripping into it. Blood and pieces of flesh, dribbled down my chin. I ate the whole thing and felt sick. I bit down hard forced myself not to throw up. After a minute the feeling passed and I pulled up any new status screens.
Demonic Blood Corruption-3
You have taken the blood of a demon in your body
-50% Constitution
+70% Fire Resistance
+10% Automatic Fire Generation
Much better, I walked over to one of the undying flames and slowly moved my hand near it. The fire was uncomfortably warm but didn¡¯t burn me. I then left the vault, every so often one of my footsteps left small bursts of flames after it had touched the ground or a puff of flame appeared behind me. As I reached the main floor, four soldiers were walking in with a crate. They looked at me and then their dead comrades. I advanced, they dropped the crate and unsheathed their swords. ¡°You are all going to die. Fear Aura, ten minutes.¡± One guard wet himself. I rushed in. Five slashes and seven fiery jabs later there were four new corpses. I left the building and walked out into the plaza. At first no one really noticed as I struck down one person after another. That was when someone noticed and the screaming and running started. I didn¡¯t bother running I just killed anyone I came across, those few brave souls who tried to confront me, the helpless peasants and merchants, even a dog who ran across my path. ¡°No further demon. I call upon Wasdoh, bend the edges of dusk and seize the abomination before me.¡± Dark voids leaped up and began tracing their way around me. I shook myself and a small ripple of flame trailed down one of my legs, breaking the shadows. I looked and saw a priest with two guards besides him, facing me. ¡°You will all die in this maelstrom of madness.¡± I threw both my blades, impaling each soldier to either side of the priest. I broke free of the remaining shadows and walked forward. ¡°For a man of god, you are unworthy!¡± He tried to back away and was pleading, but I had closed the distance and kicked him in the groin as hard as I could. I felt something burst and he collapsed to the ground with a scream. I pulled out my two swords out of the soldiers. I killed another twenty people before I noticed my SP was just about empty. I found a house and made my way inside. A woman and two small kids were huddled in a corner. I closed the partially broken door behind me. ¡°Make some dinner, or I kill the little ones slowly.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t, please-¡° ¡°No talking, you annoy me.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t talk to mommy like that, meanie.¡± The woman paled. ¡°The only reason you have to be afraid is if you talk or are not making dinner.¡± She got the point and started piling wood into a cast iron stove. I turned to the kid. I was covered in blood and bits of flesh, but just couldn¡¯t find it in myself to care. ¡°I am strong, so I can do what I want.¡± ¡°Big brother is the strongest.¡± ¡°Oh and what is his name?¡± ¡°Big brother?¡± I looked at the woman. ¡°What is his name, you may say it.¡± ¡°Geld.¡± I blinked. I didn¡¯t believe in coincidences and I had just run into one. ¡°What happened to him?¡± ¡°He was attacked yesterday. They took him to the church of the Eight for healing, but with all the chaos, we don¡¯t know what happened to him.¡± ¡°Interesting. Boy go bring me a bucket of water.¡± The woman nodded and he picked up a bucket and raced out of the house. ¡°Girl, go get me some clean clothes. Get me one of your big brother¡¯s outfits, underwear too.¡± She looked at her mom who nodded and pointed at the stairs. The boy came back and I stripped myself. The mother looked like she was about to say something as her kids went wide eyed, but I didn¡¯t care. I poured the bucket over myself, cleaning off the blood. I then put on a clean outfit. Much better. Someone began opening the front door. ¡°Hey Marissa, I saw the lock broken and-¡° I pulled the man in and closed the door. ¡°If you speak a single word, I will kill you and one of the children. I am about to enjoy a meal.¡± I began eating some thin bread, slices of fried meat, and some sliced fruit. ¡°Excellent.¡± I washed down my meal with a mug of beer the woman had provided. ¡°I am going upstairs to sleep. The boy will stay with me as a hostage. Only disturb me if Geld returns, if not leave me alone.¡± I grabbed the young child and carried him upstairs. I found a bedroom and went inside. I moved a dresser in front of the door and then grabbed the boy and pulled him next to me on the bed. I woke up to shouting. ¡°Someone is going to die.¡± My SP was filled up again, and judging by my MP it had been about nine hours. I pushed the small boy onto the floor where he let out a cry in surprise. I didn¡¯t care. I pushed the dresser out of the way and made my way downstairs. There were two mean looking brutes in the kitchen. One was undressing the woman while the other was searching the cabinets. I stabbed the one holding the woman in the head. I then walked over and stabbed his companion through the back of the neck. I yanked my sword to the side and a spray of blood coated the kitchen. ¡°Thanks for the hospitality, your boy is fine. Have a nice day.¡± I stepped out of the house and made my way back to the central plaza. The stench of corpses was heavy in the air. I saw someone had tried burning a couple, but the fire had been too small to catch. I grabbed a young man who was running by and slammed him into the ground. ¡°Show me to the temple of Eight or you die.¡± I pulled him up and l kept a firm grip on his shoulder as he led me through Balkor. We finally arrived at what appeared to be a temple. I let him go and he ran off. ¡°Fear Aura, ten minutes.¡± I stepped up to the double doors and pushed them open. Three priests turned and looked at me and they all paled. ¡°Begone, evil one, we-¡° ¡°Shut up. I am here for Geld, young soldier, brought in before all the fighting.¡± The priests looked at each other. ¡°I can kill you all and then look or you can tell me and I can be gone from your presence.¡± I ran a hand along the door frame leave spurts of flames behind. The priests gasped. ¡°In the ante-room over there.¡± One of the priests pointed. I walked into the room, hands on the hilts of my swords. I saw Geld laying there unmoving. ¡°Fix him.¡± ¡°He needs his rest and by the Eight¡¯s grace.¡° ¡°Fix him now, I don¡¯t care what it takes.¡± ¡°Um, alright. Oh Onciontituts please heal and shape this being back into his proper form. Knit him flesh, sinew, and bone so that he might stand amongst us once again.¡± A glow encircled Geld and then faded. I tapped him on the cheek. ¡°Oh¡­what is going on?¡± ¡°I have repaid by debt. Go to your mother and family they need you.¡± ¡°I thought you were-¡° ¡°I am, go. Now!¡± Geld scrambled out of the bed and ran out of the room. ¡°There is still humanity left inside of you, perhaps it is not to-¡° I stabbed the priest through the eye. He didn¡¯t die and began to wail and thrash about. I kicked him in the chest, sending him sprawling on the floor and freeing my blade. I then left the temple. *** 6996: Oh what glorious chaos, the city burns UltimataSecret: It seems Lord of Blood is once again alive Ramponator: The city is a cluster fuck with the merchant council and their pet demon gone ClosetCreeper: Two for two, I don¡¯t think anyone as left this much destruction in their wake HatMan: Demons, I thought there were only humans GODHAXLOL: NO HORSEYS! HOW DARE THEY! 6996: I will miss Yalow, he had his priorities straight TheLordBreckley: New event, pillage Balkor *** Author¡¯s Note: Your reviews and ratings are like the stars, endless but you just to look out and see/post them. For those of you who are confused and must know every single detail here is a minor explanation (spoiler lite) of the reasoning behind some of the events. The demon is not human, and doesn¡¯t have a concept of death. It is an immortal being, unaging, unlike the NPCs. Its charisma was fairly high and it was confident in its approach despite its low health. Our MC has such a violent streak and his blood was going, this caused the Charisma attack to fail. Fleeing was not an option because After he drank the blood he was taken by soldiers under the employ of ¡®someone¡¯ and was being transported. The drugged food and drink were to keep him knocked out and to not cause problems if they had to take him out of the stone casket. This group was ambushed and killed in the chaos from the merchant¡¯s council fall. The MC then woke and killed both of the surviving individuals from that assault. As for Wasdoh, there is more than one pantheon. Geez you thought it was simple and you had the divines all figured out. ;p As for Geld¡¯s family. Fate is a mysterious force. I will just say, it has a tendency to force events to occur that would normally not happen. Bonus Chapter 4 - The Missing Chapter Author¡¯s Note: I had to go back and scrap out a bunch of chapter 15 because I moved the story in what I consider a stupid direction. This is not cannon, but The Twilight Zone. Maybe this is what the MC dreamed about while unconscious. This starts right after our MC collapses after having slurped up the red demon slushy. *** ¡°What do you mean a system error?!¡± ¡°Sir look, that is what is coming up.¡± ¡°Move over idiot.¡± The technician quickly scrambled out of the way. ¡°Why¡­what on¡­.gods above. Hmmm.¡± ¡°What is going on?¡± ¡°Some idiot decided to have a quest chain involving demons and penalties for slaying them. Then there is a blood transfer effect in place allowing inheritance using a ritual bowl. Unfortunately, no one tested a combination. The player is caught in a limbo. He can¡¯t be penalized, but at the same time the ritual cannot complete. Now the system is devoting more and more processing power in an attempt to solve this paradox. It is already at 0.000125%.¡± A screen popped up showing the slowly increasing percentage, more techs came over. ¡°So what now sir?¡± ¡°Not state restore, won¡¯t purge the system. We just delete the character.¡± ¡°Um, we can¡¯t do that. Only the CEO has executive authority to delete-¡° ¡°Then get his ass on the line¡­NOW! Move it. Where was I, delete the character, might work. But the error is still in the active processing queue. Hmmm.¡± ¡°I got the CEO on the line.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t need him anymore, tell him to fuck off.¡± ¡°Ummm.¡± ¡°Quiet, I am trying to stop a crisis here. Hmmm, that should work.¡± *** I shook my head and woke up. I was still in the vault and should here lots of banging going on outside the steel door. I shook my head trying to send the pounding headache away. Stupid banging wasn¡¯t helping. I opened up my status windows.
Experience
+60001+10 LvL
NOTIFICATION
You have slain a Waking Demon ERROR ERROR ERROR
System ERROR detected, please stand by
System ERROR, Status effect cannot be applied
System ERROR, Status effect cannot be applied
System ERROR, Quest status compromised
System ERROR, Primary buffer node, rerouting, please stand by
That wasn¡¯t good. A figure suddenly materialized in front of me. They were dressed in pure white with gold trim, an admin. Only a single screen shot existed, and no one had ever managed to get one to appear. ¡°Hey what just-¡° He waved his hand and I was lifted into the air and frozen in place. ¡°I apologize, but you have created a system loop. The only way to resolve the loop is to remove a key component.¡± A wicked looking device appear in his hands. ¡°The system will eventually collapse from the paradox you have created. After looking at any number of solutions, the simplest one is to remove all your blood.¡± This had gone from bad to worse to really bad and was now at bat shit insane. ¡°Why can¡¯t we just wave our admin wands or reroll the program you ask. Well the entire game is in a steady state, it can¡¯t be saved or reversed. The computing power just to process everything, hold on let me start this up.¡± The giant drill looking device he was holding began to gesticulate wildly. ¡°As I was saying, there is just no way to create a backup and run the game at the same time. Anyways, we can¡¯t purge the primary buffers either, that is a whole other nightmare. That leaves the only options being deleting your character, which wouldn¡¯t necessarily remove the problem from the system. Or we can extract all your blood and then burn your corpse to make sure this avatar can¡¯t come back and then prioritizing your death to the top of the queue to remove our paradox. Don¡¯t worry this issue will be fixed in a couple of days.¡± The device began moving towards me. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Tough breaks, I know.¡± A chime went off. ¡°One second. Yes, but¡­. I was just about¡­There is no time¡­.The Doc is going in? Fine, I will pull out.¡± The admin turned back to me. ¡°Saved by the powers that be, you are quite lucky.¡± Legal Bob suddenly appeared. ¡°Sorry for the inconvince, here is a form resolving Omnitrek of any recent difficulties you just faced and to hand all recordings of anything involving our staff.¡± I suddenly dropped to the floor. ¡°Oops, you just follow Bob here and-¡° ¡°Bullshit, compensation. Give me demon powers.¡± ¡°Ummm, that isn¡¯t a-¡° ¡°Demon powers.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t alter the game in that way.¡± ¡°I am ready to begin.¡± ¡°Shut up Legal Bob. This is bullshit. I killed the demon, drank its blood. I want powers.¡± The admin let out a long sigh and face palmed. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s see. Hmmm, I can give you this.¡± With a flourish he pulled out a dagger. ¡°What special powers does it have?¡± ¡°It is the first dagger of Adminus and-¡° ¡°Just a normal dagger.¡± ¡°Hmm, well it looks like there are a bunch of people trying to get in here. I may be convinced to teleport you out.¡± ¡°Him as well.¡± I pointed at Ulther. ¡°And anything I can take with me.¡± ¡°Yes, yes.¡± I grabbed up the pen Bob was holding and signed away. Bob faded away. ¡°You got a minute.¡± I raced to the nearest shelf and swept all the gems into my bag along with a bunch of coins. I then grabbed Ulther and went over to the demon corpse and grabbed him up too. God, this was so heavy, I could do it. ¡°One Portal for you.¡± A glowing circle appeared in the air leading out into a frozen wasteland. I looked at the admin. ¡°Fine, no frozen wasteland, Portal.¡± The first portal disappeared and a second appeared a moment later. All I could see was the end of the hallway. ¡°I hope we never meet again.¡± I dropped both the corpse and Ulther next to me and drew my swords. I slashed at the admin. The first blade hit his white, gold trimmed cloak and stopped. IMMORTAL OBJECT All damage and status effects are canceled out My second blade bit into the side of his head. I wanted demon powers, not a stupid portal to some place that was probably Lady Breckley¡¯s sitting room. The man screamed and I slammed the blade that had been deflected on his cloak down on his neck. His scream was cut off along with his head. As blood sprayed out of the neck it was interesting to note how the outfit stayed where it was and the blood slid off it like oil on water. I wiped my swords off on the demon¡¯s corpse and sheathed them. The portal had also snapped shut as well. I then reached out for the admin¡¯s outfit, my hand stopped an inch away. My hand refused to move any closer to it no matter how hard I tried. I was not to be deterred. I dumped all the stuff in a crate out over the floor and then dragged the crate over. I then got on the crate and reached above the outfit down onto the decapitated neck. Yes I could touch that. I was able to touch one side of the white outfit, but was repelled from the other. The outfit covered the entire body, except for the head and the hands. The long pants flowed over the feet. It also wouldn¡¯t budge in the slightest when I pushed on the outfit from behind. I looked over at the door and saw it was being pushed out of its frame. Someone really wanted all this treasure. I was screwed. I was fairly confident I wasn¡¯t going to get another admin to come help me. No demon help either. Chapter 16: The Plotting Plots of Plotters After I exited the temple I took a deep breath. I was pissed, my entire team was dead. They had fought and died for me. It wasn¡¯t like losing family, more like losing a beloved dog. A well trained dog that I had invested blood sweat and tears into. When I was younger I had always wanted a dog, a loyal companion to obey and love me. The thing everyone seems to forget is how much training an animal requires. Ulther was my loyal dog, a one in a million. Now his corpse lay in an empty vault, stabbed while he was unconscious. I knew life was unfair, I knew this VR was unfair, but damn it all, I didn¡¯t care until just this moment. An older man was running by me. I cut out with my blade opening up his side. Blood and entrails poured out onto the street as he collapsed screaming. I just kept up my steady pace through this miserable city. ¡°Hey! That was our grandfather you asshole!¡± I heard people charging up behind me. I turned around to see three young men advancing on me with swords. More people began to exit the nearby houses and shops to watch the commotion. I turned and ran away, cutting anyone down who came too close. Most of the people retreated screaming while others rushed to kill me. I raced down the streets, not really pushing myself, allowing the mob to just keep me in sight. I was trying to think of a trap, when one presented itself. I turned a corner and there were twenty people standing in rows across the street. There were six sword men and women with interlocking square shields, kneeling down. Behind them there were twelve archers in two rows of six. Behind them I noticed two priests. A man stepped out of the alley way nearby. ¡°This way Rain of Blood, you are among friends.¡± I followed the mousey looking man with my swords drawn. I heard the twang of bows and the screams of the mob behind me. ¡°It was lucky that we were able to track you and assist in a timely manner.¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°I am Traveler Michael Grunning. I work on behalf of the benefactor of our little outfit. The Solid Steel, best group to hire for all your adventuring needs.¡± I held in my sigh at his blatant attempt at advertising, but it would probably go up anyways as thanks for the save. We made our way through a door that could barely open in the narrow alley that slowly disappeared into an acute angle. ¡°This way, we have a bit of a journey.¡± We made our way to the roof and then began a journey across the tops of the city. I could see fires had started in a couple of locations. ¡°This whole place went to the dogs after you killed off the people in charge.¡± We stepped across a narrow wood plank between two buildings. ¡°I have to ask as a fan, do you plan any of this?¡± The fans were just as bad as my enemies, only in different ways. When you advocate chaos and blood shed, you don¡¯t tend to attract the most stable of supporters. ¡°I let the muse of violence rush through me and go from there. Preparation also helps quite a bit.¡± We passed by a family huddled on a roof giving us fearful looks. A minute later we stopped. ¡°Well, we are here. I must take my leave, so much to do and so little time. Remember to hire the Solid Steel, guaranteed completion of any job or your money back.¡± He opened the door and then left back across the roof tops. I looked inside at a narrow staircase. This was the point of trust, did I trust whoever was at the bottom of these stairs or did I run for it? I made my way down. I opened the door at the bottom and stepped into a well-lit room. An older gentleman was sitting at a small table reading a book. I glanced at the cover, Darkness, Illumination. ¡°A good read on the rise and fall of the god Wasdoh. One has to learn to enjoy the simple things. Sit please.¡± He gestured at the chair across from me and it swung out on its own. He gave me a smile. ¡°The secrets of magic are very deep.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± I took a sit and set my swords on the table between us within easy reach. ¡°You seem to have quite the reach.¡± ¡°Ah yes, my band of mercenaries. Quite useful, but I am a generous and gracious benefactor.¡± I noticed he had ignored my obvious reference to his display of silent telekinesis. ¡°So, what do you want?¡± He reached over to a small cabinet and opened it. He pulled out a bottle and two glasses. Setting them in between us, he uncorked the bottle and poured a red liquid into the two glasses. He made a point to look me in the eyes and sip from both of them before setting them in front of me. I picked up one and took a sip. A rich fruity flavor that was so strong it was almost over powering. ¡°I have an impossible quest, which I require the services of someone with your talents to complete.¡± I gave a small nod and he continued. ¡°My quest is to-¡° The door burst open before he could finish. There was a bunch of women charging into the room with weapons drawn. If I had to describe them in one word it would be Brunhilda. They looked more like genetically enhanced humans on way to a steroid party. ¡°In the name of the Sparkly Rainbow Unicorn Princesses, surrender.¡± There were four of them. One had a long sword, and if she was a man I would say she was compensating for something. Another one had a massive war hammer at least twice the size of Gillow¡¯s, and hers had spikes on the sides as well. The third carried a short sword and shield, being the smallest of the she-hulks. The last had wicked looking spiked gauntlets. I was definitely not getting taken down by these Sparkly Rainbow Unicorn She-Hulks. My host spoke and I realized I had never gotten his name. ¡°How uncivilized, barging into a conversation uninvited. Rain of Blood, we are cut short it appears. Meet me at the following location if you wish to continue our business.¡± A piece of paper zipped out of one of his pockets and into my hand. A business card, this guy sure had style. I pocketed it and turned back to the immediate threat. ¡°I don¡¯t know who you are but you better-¡° The long sword she-hulk was cut off as my host gestured. I almost missed the attack. Two wires had dropped down from somewhere unseen and spun around her neck. With a yank, they cut into her flesh and I could see the massive pressure being exerted, but the wires didn¡¯t break through her neck completely as she tensed her muscles to resist. I had taken the opportunity to grab my swords and make my way to the door I had entered from. As I raced across the room to escape the Sparkly Rainbow Unicorn She-Hulks, flames erupted between us. I ran through the doorway and made up the stairs. Small puffs of flames rippled occasionally in the wake of my footsteps. I made my way onto the roof and began to escape from the scene as quickly as possible. There were too many plots going on from too many people. My mind raced, searching for the reason. NPC plots, player plots, and who knows what else. Then it hit me, with my videos, people could work out where I was going if they were halfway intelligent. I had pulled all this chaos into Balkor as people attempted to take advantage of the situation in one way or the other. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if groups of players weren¡¯t attempting to take control of the city in the power vacuum or pillage the city in the chaos. I truly was a walking calamity. I figured that some players had managed some tracking or sensing skills and were using those to trace me. It could also be my high Fate which could be making the situation worse than it already was. I found an out of the way corner where I could see anyone approaching and sat down to catch my breath. I pulled out the business card.
THE MYSTERY MAN
Sixty days from now on top of Str mountain, mid-day.
That wasn¡¯t that helpful, but I had to appreciate the style this Mystery Man had. The top part was elegantly written in gold ink. The bottom message looked like it was burned on. The Mystery Man had telekinesis, and I wasn¡¯t sure if he was a player or not. The Sparkly Rainbow Unicorn Princesses appeared to be of the paladin variety, using heavy weapons and magic to protect themselves. First I needed proper gear. Second money and supplies. Finally I needed to escape this hell hole that the city was quickly descending into. After that, it was more a question of goals. I needed a team, or wire slicing telekinesis. Honestly the thought of fighting against the Mystery Man gave me chills and I was almost certain Observe would not work on him. Mental attacks were a dangerous possibility. Could he shift a portion of my brain, squeeze my heart? That was a scary thought. I had thought I was top dog in this bulb eat bulb world, but apparently not. My mind drifted over to the Sparkly Rainbow Unicorn Princesses and what they would do with me if they had gotten their hands on me. They had been making waves as bounty hunters and there were rumors about them raping various men. I didn¡¯t know if being killed, returned to Breckley, or sexed to death was the worst possible outcome. With their muscles they could probably squeeze their thighs and rip¡­enough of that line of thought. I then pulled down my pants and squeezed out a shit. There were two clear diamonds about the size of a large marble that glittered. I was glad my time in the vault hadn¡¯t been wasted and enough time had passed for them to move through my system. I ripped a piece of my shirt off and wiped them off. I then dropped both of them into my pocket. I had to rip up half of my pants to use as toilet paper. This game was too realistic sometimes. Sighing, I pulled up my pants and looked around, trying to figure out which way to head. I got my bearings, since the taller buildings of the central plaza were easy enough to spot and began to make my way to the edge of the city. The buildings dropped to single story and I hopped down. Once I was close enough to my destination I hopped down to the street. I made my way over to the blacksmith I had talked to before. Around his shop stood a number of soldiers glaring at anyone passing my. I kept back a bit and spoke up. ¡°I have business here. I do not want any trouble.¡± They didn¡¯t look convinced. I dragged my foot along the ground and a small puff of flames appeared. Whispers of demon broke out and the hammering stopped. ¡°What is going on here, oh you, you are back. Well then, city has gone to shit, but my good friends here are keeping me safe.¡± The soldiers stared at the blacksmith with a combination of awe and reverence. ¡°I need two good swords, armor, throwing daggers. The needles and enchantments if they can be done quick enough as well.¡± ¡°A rush job then and the way things are.¡± ¡°I can pay.¡± I pulled out my two diamonds and held them out on my palm. ¡°I can value them at three gold each. I know they are probably worth twice or three times that, but I will have to resell them or mount them in a weapon. Not much market for gems at the moment. In terms of cost, that would pay for two of my standard weapons and armor. Don¡¯t have any throwing daggers in stock. The rest of it, well enchantments are running a hundred gold per and that was before the crisis. I should be able to get the same price though. The rest if you want to be at the top of my list, fifteen gold and a week.¡± This guy was screwing me over, but there weren¡¯t many good options. ¡°How long to do enchantments take?¡± ¡°I can get them to my guy once you have the money. Should only take an hour or so.¡± ¡°Start everything, consider those a down payment. I will return in one or two days with the rest, unless you need something done?¡± I asked. ¡°I might suggest the south side of the city. I heard that was where most of the merchant¡¯s wealth got carted off to. I also don¡¯t want any trouble coming back here.¡± ¡°Understood. See you in a bit.¡± The blacksmith nodded and I turned and left. I saw one of the soldiers speaking to him and caught the words, ¡®Kenji¡¯ and ¡®Breckley¡¯ but the blacksmith waved the man off. Nothing I could do except run away, and that would make my position even worse. I had to take a risk to get some real equipment before leaving. Better to try and die, then starve for weeks out in the wild. I set off through the twisting streets as it slowly grew dark. I stopped at a closed up shop, and there were no lights inside from what I could tell. I also picked the place since the door wasn¡¯t set into the frame like a number of other doorways. I kicked the door in and waited for ten minutes in the shadows next to the door frame. No one came out to investigate so I snuck in, pushing the door closed behind me. I went up to a deserted bedroom and quickly changed out of my dirty and ripped up clothing. With that taken care of I raided the kitchen looking for anything to eat. I turned up a stale role and some jam. There was a bunch of flour, but I wasn¡¯t inclined to cook anything. I had the bread and jam and found a bed to sleep for a bit. I woke up before dawn and relieved myself in the room. Yes, the family who lived here would be coming home to piss and shit. That was the issue with having chamber pots one needed to empty. I was no one¡¯s maid. I then made my way out of the building and kept going in the direction of some of the larger estates. The fifteen gold wasn¡¯t that hard, but the two hundred would be crippling to carry around. There was still opportunity to be had as the city continued to panic and the chaos from my actions. I walked around a seven foot high stone wall and came to a gate. I could see mercenaries and soldiers standing around as servants loaded up two wagons in the torchlight. I counted ten. ¡°Fear aura, ten minutes.¡± That would be the last of my MP for a while. ¡°The Waking Demon comes for you all! Flee this cursed place and you will be spared.¡± I was hiding off to the side of the gate. After twenty seconds a servant, three soldiers, and a mercenary ran by. I entered through the open gate and everyone turned to stare at me. I dragged my feet as I moved forward to get the most out of my flame generation. Two of the mercenaries and three soldiers ran away, giving me a wide berth. After that it quickly became a stampede as everyone dropped what they were doing and left. I noticed one servant had run back inside. I looked over the wagons, but it was all furniture. I stepped up to the front door and tried to push it open. It was locked shut. I walked over to a nearby window and smashed it open with my sword. The glass clinked onto the cobbled ground. I wiped away the jagged edges along the bottom of the window sill and glanced inside. I managed to pull my head back just in time as a sword swiped the space just inside of the window. I jabbed out and pierced the overextended arm through the window. There was a cry and the clatter of the sword hitting the floor. I drew my sword back and quickly hoisted myself into the room. A well-dressed man was cradling his wounded arm on the floor and looked up at me in fear. ¡°I want two hundred and fifty gold. That is the cost of your life and everyone else in this mansion.¡± ¡°I-¡° ¡°You are going to argue and say you don¡¯t have it. I will then have to torture you and your loved ones and then kill or maim you painfully at the end of it all since you wasted my time. I am Kenji Shadowen. I killed Lord Breckley. I killed your Merchant¡¯s Council. Do you want to be added onto that list?¡± ¡°No, everything is locked in the vault downstairs.¡± ¡°Good man, lead the way.¡± I followed the man through the house. The servants were probably staying away due to my fear aura and my presence. I noted that the flames that sometimes rippled in my footsteps didn¡¯t catch on anything. We came to a book shelf that the rich man pushed to the side, revealing a door lodged into mortared stone. He then pulled out a key and unlocked it. Stolen story; please report. ¡°You first.¡± I said when he tried to usher me through. I swear these people were so predictable. In my future fortress there would be traps to kill the second or even third person behind me and booby traps for the first person to disarm discretely. He picked up a nearby candelabrum and lit the remaining candles on it. I then followed him as he went down a short flight of stairs. It was basically a smaller version of the merchant¡¯s vault, much smaller. Still he had quite a bit of gold. ¡°That chest has three hundred in it. Take it and leave.¡± I looked at the chest in question and it was a solid metal box filled with gold. It would be way too heavy to carry out of here. Curse this stupid game for not giving me an unlimited inventory or least money capacity. ¡°Take out fifty gold pieces, I am not greedy.¡± He began to pull out gold pieces and place them in a money pouch off to the side. Once he was done I tested the weight of the chest. Heavy, I wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything or dodge while carrying it. ¡°Key.¡± I held out my hand and he nervously handed the key over. ¡°Lay on the ground, hands behind your head and cross your legs. I will be locking the door and leaving the key on the other side. I should be gone in a couple of minutes, then you can shout for someone to free you.¡± He mumbled something but obeyed. I noted he had tied a handkerchief around his wound to help stop the bleeding. Clever, and I was annoyed at myself for having missed it. I set my swords on top of the chest and picked it up. It was freaking heavy. I then trudged up the stairs and out the doorway. I locked the vault up and then pushed the bookcase back in front of it. I then left the key on the floor in front of the bookcase. I once again picked up the chest and trudged my way out of the mansion. I noticed a couple of servants giving me a look but no one stopped me. I put the chest down and checked the front courtyard, deserted thankfully. I dropped the chest on the rear of a wagon that had the least amount of stuff in it. I heard the springs groan under the weight. I put up the tail bed and went to the nearby stables. I grabbed two of the best horses there and quickly attached them to the cart. Work smarter, not harder. I also wanted a cart to carry things for me once I left the city. Carrying everything got old really quickly. I set off through the city as the sun was just coming up. It was harrowing each time I saw someone pass by. I held the swords along with the reigns so people got the message, ¡®Don¡¯t mess with me.¡¯ I reached the blacksmith without incident. He came out and let out a chuckle. ¡°You really took everything didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°You can keep the furniture, in exchange I want to leave the cart and horses here for a week.¡± ¡°Very well, and the gold?¡± ¡°In the back, two hundred and fifty. I will be taking thirty and leaving the rest for my order. If your men are up for it, I have a number of things I require. Bows, bow string, arrows, butchering knives, jerky, bread, frying pan, fire striker, a bowl, cup, plate, a large waterproof tarp, multiple canteens, two barrels of beer, dark clothes, straw hat, and a large fur cloak.¡± ¡°Very well, Tory, Zel, you heard all that. Ten gold pieces and they will pack it all up for you.¡± I handed ten gold pieces to the two soldiers. Easy come, easy go. All that stuff would only have been one or two gold pieces before this chaos, damn inflation. ¡°Got it boss, we will try, but the way things are¡­¡± ¡°If you can¡¯t get it, don¡¯t risk yourselves. Anyways you have a week.¡± They nodded. ¡°I was wondering, why you are willing to work with me.¡± The blacksmith looked at me for a good half a minute in silence. It began to feel really uncomfortable before he spoke. ¡°The merchant¡¯s council was a joke. You killed off their pet demon. So you get this one favor from me and we are square. You come back after our business is done then I will send you off to Breckley before you know what hit you.¡± ¡°Ah, thanks¡­¡± The blacksmith went back into his forge. I hid in an abandoned house for a week. I basically slept, meditated, and rested. Twice people tried to get in, but I had shouted out from behind the barricaded door and they had left me alone. The looters didn¡¯t want to fight just to raid a small bakery when there was so much else to go after. Players had been coming to the city in droves and I followed things in the forums. Apparently, everything was my fault. Didn¡¯t matter that I had no control over the waves of looters and rapists that ran through the city taking what they could. The Order of the Phoenix had dispatched a subjugation expedition to bring the city back under their control and restore order, since Breckley had its own problems and the neighboring cities had to deal with refugees. This place was becoming a hell hole that no one wanted, very quickly. The Lady Breckley was apparently getting ready for a massive wedding in the city that was scheduled for the spring of next year. The moment I found out about that I made the decision to crash it. It would be perfect, I would get a bunch of blood and pour it out over the entire wedding party. Then I would blow the whole party up with ten barrels of Ent sap and get millions of experience and complete that stupid quest. Balkor though had already descended into hell. There were pockets of civilians and soldiers in the city holding off the looters and rapists, but things weren¡¯t looking good as supplies dwindled. The Order was at least two weeks out based on the latest reports and the few ¡®good¡¯ players who had come were holed up with the NPCs. I was somewhere in no man¡¯s land at the moment. I had taken the opportunity to scout a bit during the pre-dawn hours when almost everyone was asleep, figuring out an escape route and what areas were really dangerous. When six days had passed since I had last seen the blacksmith I made my way back about an hour before dawn. The sky was turning slightly red. I saw a couple of thugs sleeping off to the side in one of the alleys. You snooze you lose. I smiled to myself and continued on my way. I looked over my bars and was pleased with how much I had recovered.
HP: 10281.25 / 10281.25
MP: 22.61 / 108
SP: 1653.21 / 1712.56
I had lost about 4000 off my max HP from the demonic blood corruption, but the trade off had been worth it in my opinion. It would take about four to five more weeks to refill my MP. I made a mental note that The Mystery Man had probably asked for sixty days to make sure he was recharged. I also looked over my skills and status.
SKILLS
Blunt Weapons-1
Piercing Weapons-1
Cutting Weapons-5 MAX Power Slash-4
Throwing-3
Light Archery-3
Riding-1
Trap Making-4
Ambidexterious-4
Tactics-3
Wood Carving-2
Running-4
Swimming-3
Light Conditioning-5 MAX Medium Conditioning-5 MAX Hard Conditioning-1
Climbing-2
Stealth-5 MAX Conceal Presence-1
Basic Biology-4
Torture-5 MAX Fear Aura-3
Deception-5 MAX Misdirection-1
Poison Immunity-3 Types: Spore-2, Bug-2, Plant-3
Meditate-5 MAX Mental Defense-1
Identification-2
Observe-3
Leadership-2
Murderer-500 MAX
Depraved-16
Army of One-5
Enemy of the People-5 MAX
Massacre of Willhelm-1 MAX
Battle of Gloommore Forest-1 MAX
Burning of Breckley Bay-1 MAX
Raid of North Salrin Mine-1 MAX
Murder of Merchants-1 MAX
Player Killer-10 MAX
Cannibal-3
Holy War-1
Demon Slayer-1
Demonic Blood Corruption-3
Constitution Focus-1
Strength Focus-1
Dexterity Focus-1
Endurance Focus-1
STATUS
NameKenji Shadowen
Level70
Constitution37.5
Strength52
Dexterity102.46
Endurance53
Wisdom5.3
Intelligence5.5
Charisma0
Luck0
Fate582.98
Fire Resistence90%
I had been practicing my power slash to use up my SP while I waited since it would regenerate after about eight hours. All the other skills used MP, which was just frustrating. I had mastered stealth and gotten conceal presence. For 1 MP per second while unmoving I would be undetectable. Stupid MP again, limiting what skills I could use. Fear aura made everyone fifty levels or lower flee from me. They already fled from me so it wasn¡¯t that great. I reached the blacksmith¡¯s forge and was pleased to note it was still standing. The soldiers standing around the area gave me weary looks but didn¡¯t say anything. The blacksmith came out, burly looking as ever. ¡°Welcome back. Everything you asked for has been prepared.¡± I followed him to a courtyard behind his shop. The horses were already being attached to the wagon. ¡°The wagon springs were going, and the axil was cracked. We repaired them.¡± He looked at me. I handed over a gold piece and he wiggled his fingers again. I put two more pieces in his palm and he continued. ¡°All your supplies are tucked away under the tarp. You want to take a look?¡± ¡°No, I trust you.¡± If he had betrayed me there wasn¡¯t much I could do surrounded by his men. Well I could kill a few and maybe escape, but that would put me back at square one. ¡°I had the boys lay out a clean set of clothes in the side room there along with your armor. There is a bucket of water to wash yourself off with.¡± I nodded and went inside, staying alert for any kind of trap. I checked over the clothing and armor but nothing seemed out of place. The armor was plain but well made. There were two arm guards and leg guards with leather padding underneath and three straps each to hold them in place. I carefully wiped myself down with the rag and bucket provided before putting everything on. It fit well enough, but I only become comfortable over time. I left the room and there were all the weapons I had requested lined up on the table. ¡°Your needles were a pain to make, but some Travelers have taken in interest so probably worth it. You have fifty, wrapped up in two groups of twenty five.¡± He undid one bundle and handed me the giant needle, otherwise called a senbon. The points were sharp and the balance was fairly good. I tossed it up in the air and caught it. ¡°Perfect, thanks.¡± ¡°Ten throwing knives with a leather chest holster.¡± I put the crisscrossing leather straps on and tightened them down. Five daggers were arrayed on each strap from the shoulder to the hip. I pulled one free and it was much better quality than the senbon. He probably more experience making them and it also was easier to craft. The blades were about eight inches long and the handles weighted. ¡°Perfect.¡± ¡°Now these beauties are a work of art. This one is Nus¡¯ Awakening, flames will appear on the blade when you command them to.¡± The blade burst into flames and then they disappeared just as quickly. It was a straight sword with a number of finely carved runes into the length. ¡°I also had an enchantment of durability on it. Only way the sword wouldn¡¯t deform with all the heat.¡± Made sense, but that meant my other blade would just be normal. ¡°This one is one of my better blades.¡± I took the second blade and could tell it was on par with a knight¡¯s weapon with the balance and sharpness. It was annoying I had lost both it and the Fey Blade. ¡°Well my end is done. You should get going.¡± ¡°Thanks, I never got your name by the way.¡± ¡°Idiot, I am Gilrin Hammerton. But don¡¯t you go giving people the wrong impression. We are even.¡± ¡°Thanks, and if you ever require my help, well try and reach me and I will come.¡± ¡°Bah, go, you are trouble and don¡¯t come back.¡± I nodded and strapped on the sword sheaths. I couldn¡¯t resist, ¡°Identification.¡±
Nus''s Awakening
LvL 124
Requirements: 30 Strength, 20 Dexterity, 10 Intelligence
What. The. Hell. Why did a weapon require Intelligence? Stupid magic sword, making me spend my stat points where I didn¡¯t want to. I would need two levels to push my Intelligence high enough to unlock the true potential of this blade. At least I learned now rather than later. I hopped onto the cart and set off. I settled the straw hat on my head as I set off. *** BurningBaby1: Party in Balkor Ramponator: Sparkly Rainbow Unicorn Princess are scary HatMan: They are more demon than the demons UltimataSecret: Who was he talking to, I want a face or name ClosetCreeper: The webs we weave FuriousGhost: COME OUT AND LET ME SLAY YOU 6996: Yeah¡­. Ijnek: I want my monies Ramponator: You know if you do kill him, he will tell everyone and you will be swarmed GODHAXLOL: HORSEYS, FIVE AND SIX! *** Author¡¯s Note: Your reviews are like blood and I am in kidney failure. Donate or I will die. Chapter 17: Have my gold! I made my way through the city. I stood on the wagon bench, reigns in one hand, and a sword in another. I had scouted out the fastest way from the blacksmith out of the city. It wasn¡¯t the shortest path since I had to go around an entrenched group of people, but thankfully it had stayed fairly safe since the last time I had checked. The city gates were up ahead and there were a bunch of soldiers and thugs laying around. I pulled out two gold pieces with my hand still holding the reigns. The gates were open and there was no barricade which was one reason I had made my way towards this exit. ¡°Have my gold!¡± I then threw a piece off to each side. I watched as all their eyes followed the gold pieces. I snapped the reigns as hard as I could and my horses took off. ¡°Stop him!¡± The man who appeared to be their leader called out, but they were all fighting over the gold pieces I had just thrown. I cleared the gate and was off down the dirt road. I had the horses keep up their run until we were out of sight of walls. I was going off into the wilderness for a bit. I wanted to put on bunch of levels before going to meet the Mystery Man. (Author¡¯s Note: Str, is pronounced as stir, as in ¡®I stir my demon blood slushy to a ripe consistency.) Str Mountain was off to the west down river from what I could remember of my former map. Terranan was a city that was to the south west on the other side of a large lake. I had the foresight to capture a number of screenshots of my map and had studied it extensively. For now I was going to head south to the end of the Salrin mountains and the massive forest that surrounded it. I knew the portion was called the Gloomwood on the east side of the mountains, but the south had been labeled as Dark Forest. If anything was going to have a lot of high level critters it was a place like that. I passed farms along the way, but ignored them. Ulther had taken quite a bit of work and I wasn¡¯t ready to train someone up again. As I sat in the wagon I went over all my gear carefully. I needed to pull my throwing knives by instinct. Weapons were great, but I needed the skill to use them. At dusk, as I was looking for a campsite I saw a group of people approaching towards me along the road. A group of five people, probably players based on the difference in their physical appearance. I stood up on my cart and looked at them. Two had bows and the other three swords and shields. There was a nice patch of land next to a stream between the group and myself. I stopped the wagon at one edge of the clearing while the group stopped at the other. We looked at each other for a bit. I had no MP to spare for an observe and I knew that the range was about thirty feet. Any closer and things would get a lot trickier if they learned my name. ¡°Hello there.¡± A swordswoman called out. I stood up and rested one hand on the hilt of my blade. ¡°Hello there as well.¡± ¡°Will we have problems?¡± ¡°Not unless you start them.¡± ¡°No skills on each other, okay?¡± ¡°Very well.¡± That worked out for me anyways. I maneuvered the wagon into the clearing and the group approached. ¡°A lot of daggers you have there.¡± ¡°Just a precaution.¡± ¡°How is Balkor? Heard things were getting rough over there.¡± ¡°The city is in chaos. If you do decide to go in the city, you better be ready to fight.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t-¡° ¡°Not now Ryan.¡± The lady shushed the guy who tried to talk. ¡°I am-¡° ¡°I would rather not give my name. So you are welcome to withhold yours.¡± ¡°Ah, well, doesn¡¯t really matter. I am Ezra and this is my group the Falcons.¡± I hoped down from the wagon and every backed up. ¡°It is a pleasure Ezra.¡± ¡°Holy shit man, was that fire coming out of you!¡± One of the guys said. ¡°Indeed, now I am going to unhitch the horses. I might suggest starting up a fire.¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go.¡± Ryan said. The group split up and a number of them gave me nervous looks. Ezra walked up to me while I was fiddling with various straps. ¡°Sorry for all the questions. Most of them are pretty young. Not much company out in the vast wilderness.¡± ¡°It is not a problem.¡± ¡°We really don¡¯t want to fight.¡± ¡°Me either. Sometimes it is good to¡­rest.¡± I let out a small sigh. ¡°You want to talk about it? Things are pretty rough here in FEAR, but don¡¯t you just love the experience. I have never felt more alive.¡± ¡°Indeed. This is an amazing experience.¡± I left the horses free and then turned to the wagon. Thankfully the food and a canteen weren¡¯t hard to find. ¡°Wow, you sure have a lot.¡± I looked at Ezra and she held up her hands. ¡°It is paid for in blood and tears.¡± ¡°Yeah, just things would have been a lot nicer out there with a tarp like that.¡± I picked up a piece of bread and some dried out jerky. I closed up the tarp over the top of the wagon and then went over to the nearby forest. I could sense the stares as the players watched for when a ripple of flames appeared in my wake. I picked up a large log and dragged it back next to the fire pit and sat on it. ¡°What level are you?¡± One of the girls asked. I didn¡¯t say anything and just munched away. ¡°Hey, you don¡¯t have to be rude.¡± There was a long silence after that. ¡°Higher than all of you.¡± ¡°Hey, no need to be rude.¡± One of the boys said as he wrapped an arm around whiney girl. ¡°So why do you have fire coming out of you?¡± The girl asked. This was getting really annoying and Ezra wasn¡¯t saying anything. She probably didn¡¯t have that much control over the group as it appeared. ¡°If I tell you, then I have to kill you.¡± There was more silence. ¡°Hah, you are joking right?¡± Ryan said. I just kept chewing away, occasionally drinking some water. ¡°You really are no fun.¡± ¡°Come on guys, he doesn¡¯t like talking.¡± Ezra said. ¡°He just pisses-¡° ¡°Enough!¡± I shouted. ¡°Ezra, control your dogs or I shall cut them down.¡± ¡°Hey that isn¡¯t-¡° I threw a knife into the log he was sitting on. ¡°You are all weak. You seek to pester me and ask questions but offer nothing in exchange. I shared information about Balkor as a sign of hospitality and you continue to nag me. You know what, screw all of you, I am fed up with this.¡± I pulled out my blades. ¡°Hey now, no need to-¡° Ezra began. ¡°Come on, he wants a fight.¡± Ryan said. The two boys drew their swords while the girl and other boy raced to restring their bows. ¡°Fear aura, one minute.¡± I watched carefully and all of them except for Ryan and Ezra squirmed a bit. I kicked a burning log out of the fire. One of the swordsman managed to block the log but was pushed back into the archer I had been aiming for, preventing them from stringing their bow. Ryan charged forward. ¡°Power slash!¡± He called out. I backed away from the attack allowing the slash to miss my chest by about six inches. I then leaned in and jabbed him in the shoulder. He let out a shout and backed away. My attack had been slowed by his leather shoulder guard and hadn¡¯t gone that deep. The other swordsman rushed at me. I jabbed at his face and like a rookie he brought his shield up to stop the attack. My other blade sliced across his calf and he went down with a cry. Ezra moved in on my flank. ¡°Power slash!¡± She called out. I couldn¡¯t get out of the way in time. ¡°Power slash!¡± I brought my own blade up to block. Both swords bent slightly under the sudden pressure and then Ezra¡¯s snapped. She stumbled right into the path of my blade and it cut the top of her skull and brain right off her head. She gave me a shocked look and then collapsed to the ground dead. ¡°EZRA!¡± One of the boys called out. I was already moving to capitalize on their shock. One of the archers shot an arrow, but it was nowhere close to hitting me. The idiot should practice in his atrium. Ryan intercepted me and broke off my rush. The other swordsman was trying to stand, but thankfully the cut on his leg had left him incapacitated. I threw one of my swords at Ryan. He brought up his wood shield and it clattered off the surface. I had been hoping it would blast through and pin his arm to his chest. No matter, I had already pulled out a throwing knife and began strafing around the campfire. It took three knives before I hit one of the archers right below the rib cage. She collapsed on the ground sending out coughs of blood. I began throwing daggers at Ryan as I advanced on him, but he deftly moved his shield to block each attack. With my next to last knife I threw it at the other archer who had been trying to get a bead on me. The knife sunk into his forearm and his shot went off into the stream. My SP was low and my Fear Aura just about up. At the speed I had been moving, I probably had about thirty seconds left before complete exhaustion. I took a two handed grip on Nus¡¯ Awakening and moved in. He pushed his shield at me and thrust the sword over the top. He had clearly spent time training in VR programs. He kept his shield close and advanced with a series of short jabs. Just as I got the timing down, he changed tactics and began to slash and block. The shield was really pissing me off since every time I tried to attack he deftly placed it in the way. I continued to circle around the campfire as we dueled. I wish I had enough MP to spare for an observe to check his SP. I could see he was tiring and sprung my trap since he probably didn¡¯t have enough SP for another power slash. I let myself over extend placing my forearm in range of his sword. He swung down and I blocked with my arm guard and was careful to meet the blade head on so it wouldn¡¯t slide off onto my arm. He was shocked at how his blade was suddenly stopped. I then slashed down with my sword on his elbow. Flesh and bone parted and his arm separated from his body. We both looked at the stump and then he began screaming. I guess he didn¡¯t train his pain tolerance. I stepped away and looked around. One dead, three critically wounded, and one with a minor arm wound. No major injuries, but almost out of SP. What a pointless fight. Also the only one I really liked out of the group was dead. I began walking towards the boy with an injured arm. ¡°Don¡¯t run.¡± He began to piss himself. Well good to know I have that effect on people. I walked over to him and looked at his wound. Not that deep. I then slammed the flat of my sword into the side of his head and he collapsed. The other two had logged out as the auto-pilot attempted to address their wounds. That only left Ryan who was sobbing on the ground. I grabbed his hair and dragged him over to the fire pit. I then shoved his stump into the coals, searing it shut. He let out a scream and then passed out. I killed off the other two critically wounded survivors and collected my weapons. After cleaning them off I tossed a couple larger logs into the fire pit. As the flames rose I began sorting through the gear they had. Weapons were cleaned and put into a pile to be stored in the wagon in the mourning. I used some rope and tied up the one guy. I probably used too much rope, but better safe than sorry. At least he wasn¡¯t turning blue. For Ryan. I cut off all his clothes. After making sure there was nothing valuable I tossed them into the fire and burned them. I made sure his remaining hand and legs were tied up. With the fire built up I tossed the corpses into the flames. ¡°Rest well Ezra, for you were a good warrior who did not deserve these idiots.¡± I then dozed off. I woke up to the sounds of grunting. It was still dark. I walked over and it was the man I had gotten in the arm. ¡°Shut up. I am trying to sleep.¡± I slapped him and then built up the campfire before going back to sleep. I woke up just before dawn like I normally did and set about eating a breakfast of bread and jerky. I found some fruit also that I couldn¡¯t name and munched on that as well. Good stuff these players had. I walked over and undid the gag on the one prisoner who had woken me up. He smelled like piss and shit. ¡°What is your name?¡± ¡°Tom.¡± ¡°So Tom, you have a choice. I can kill you or you can listen to me.¡± ¡°Death, just make it quick.¡± ¡°Who said anything about quick? You all pissed me off. Now watch and don¡¯t make a sound. Not a peep.¡± I walked over to Ryan. He was already awake. I ungagged him. ¡°Auto-pilot?¡± I asked. ¡°I will never talk.¡± ¡°Auto-pilot it is.¡± I put the gag back on. I then cut off his other arm and shoved the stump into the fire searing it shut and knocking him out again. I then untied him and set his naked armless body off to the side. I then walked back over to Tom. ¡°Obey, obey, obey.¡± He stammered out. I untied him. ¡°Take off your clothes and go wash in the stream. I am feeling vigorous this morning.¡± He blanched. ¡°I don¡¯t roll that-¡° ¡°You can either make the best of a bad situation or else. Or you can kill yourself.¡± His face became even paler at that. He wasn¡¯t that bad looking, though a bit tall and lanky. I tapped him with my sword. He quickly began to undress from his soiled clothes. Once done he went into the stream and I went up to the road. No one would be coming by for a bit since there was not a soul in sight at the crack of dawn. ¡°All set?¡± I asked. ¡°¡­.yeah.¡± ¡°I want you to say, yes I want to proceed. Do whatever you want to me.¡± ¡°Yes¡­I want to proceed. Do whatever you want to me.¡± That should satisfy whatever system monitored for this sort of thing in player to player interaction. He really should have just killed himself or logged out. ¡°Put on the gag.¡± I tossed it to him as he stood there shivering. ¡°Do it.¡± He tied the gag tight around his head. I saw him wince when he used his wounded arm. ¡°Get down and spread them.¡± He did and I undid my pants and shrugged them off. I saw his eyes widen. ¡°Now you understand the need for the gag.¡± Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. It was rough and violent and he passed out midway through. Not normally my style to be with a guy, but Ezra had died and the other one had almost finished bleeding out her guts when I had killed her. I washed myself off in the stream as Tom lay there bleeding out. I began to sort through all the gear the group had and back it away when he came to. He let out a moan through his gag. ¡°You can take it off if you don¡¯t scream.¡± He ripped the gag off and began to cry. ¡°Shut up, you are ruining my good mood.¡± He bit back the tears and let out a pitiful whimper now and then. Once I was finished going through everything he was still laying there naked and curled up. I let out a sigh. I picked him up and carried him over to the stream and washed him off by rolling him into the water and then yanking him back out. I noticed some burn blisters where I had gone in and out. I guess my fire generation really heated things up to the next level. I then made him put back on the gag and get into position for round two. This time he didn¡¯t pass out and just screamed and screamed through the gag as tears ran down his face. Ryan came to as I pulled my bloody spear from Tom. I saw the look of confusion, then shock, and then finally horror. He then moved his arms and then looked at both of them. Then there was panic. He tried to remove the gag but couldn¡¯t with his stumps. He looked at me with panic and then charged waving his stumps around wildly. I didn¡¯t know what he was trying to do and just punched him in the gut. He collapsed on the ground. I washed myself off in the stream and felt much better. I walked over to where Tom was moaning and bleeding. ¡°Thanks, that helped get a bunch of frustration off my chest or out of me, well you get the meaning.¡± Checking to make sure I left nothing in the camp I hitched up the horses and set off down the dirt road making a poor attempt at whistling. I thought what I would have done in Tom¡¯s situation. I would have made the same choice and then kicked me in the groin and made a run for it. Well, all that worked because he was a spineless wimp. Probably following Ryan or Ezra around, since he felt lost. It had been tempting to try and bring him. In the end I just wasn¡¯t in the mood to watch over someone and he probably wouldn¡¯t survive long with that kind of internal burning and bleeding. At mid-day I saw a woman with a sword in hand hurrying down the road. ¡°Hey, you see a group of five people traveling together?¡± ¡°Yeah, why?¡± I prepared myself to launch a surprise attack. ¡°I am going to kill that slut Lisa for running off with Ryan. Bitch poisoned me and left me for dead. I bet she said I had died or something.¡± ¡°How much you care about that Ryan?¡± I asked. ¡°I am going to kick him in the balls for leaving me, why?¡± ¡°Well I took care of them.¡± She looked at me. ¡°I cut off Ryan¡¯s arms. Lisa, Erza, and one of the boys are dead and burned. Tom, well let me put it this way. While I am part horse he definitely wasn¡¯t.¡± She stared at me and then burst out laughing. ¡°No joke?¡± She asked. ¡°Look up Rain of Blood, a video should be going up in a week or two.¡± ¡°You¡­your Kenji the Catastrophe.¡± ¡°Not my favorite nickname, but yes.¡± ¡°Holy shit, I love your work.¡± ¡°Much appreciated. You have anywhere to be?¡± ¡°Just chasing my former group to pay them back and then onto Balkor for some fun.¡± ¡°Balkor is shit and I hear the Order will be arriving in a couple of days.¡± ¡°Really I thought they were still a week out from their last announcement.¡± I just grinned at her. ¡°Ah, you have your ¡®sources¡¯.¡± She did air quotes. ¡°So you want to tag along on my expedition. Hard to get a half decent team together now days.¡± ¡°Sure, tell me about it.¡± She tossed her pack on top of the tarp, sheathed her sword, and then climbed up onto the bench next to me. I snapped the reigns and the horses started off again. ¡°I see you didn¡¯t go triple D size.¡± ¡°No way, did you see that one video of that girl falling over as she fought. I thought her breasts were going to rip off the way they were bouncing around.¡± ¡°The miracle of bras.¡± ¡°Tell me about it. Being a woman is tough out here.¡± ¡°Lots of pervy guys?¡± ¡°Oh my god, that was the first thing they all wanted when I ran into them.¡± ¡°Manners are a rare thing. I would at least take a woman out first.¡± ¡°To the wilderness?¡± ¡°Of course, so her screams of pleasure would be for me alone.¡± ¡°And the monsters.¡± ¡°I would slay them first so as to not be interrupted.¡± ¡°God, I can¡¯t believe you really are Rain of Blood. You know there are copycats out there.¡± ¡°They lack the style and this.¡± I began rubbing my hand along the bench between us until a ripple of flame appeared. She jumped a bit. ¡°I also never got your name.¡± ¡°Ah, it is Tora Mendel. I go by Tor. I really wanted Face Gnasher.¡± ¡°I know right, stupid name selection. I can call you Face Gnasher if you want.¡± She gave me a smile. ¡°Naw, just stick with Tor. You seem a lot calmer than your videos.¡± ¡°Editing, and viewer bias. All they see is the violence, not the backstory.¡± ¡°Interesting, so am I going up there?¡± ¡°Well if you want, I might consider it. But it depends.¡± She gave me a look. ¡°On how violent we get together.¡± ¡°You are a pervy one.¡± ¡°I miss the witty banter to be honest from my last VR. My team of NPCs were just a bit too flat, no spice, no beauty.¡± I looked over and the sun was catching her at just the right angle. A hard angular face, short black hair, and a stub nose. At least she was symmetrical except for one small white scar running down the side of her face. At least she was only half a foot taller than me, so I wasn¡¯t being lorded over. I gave her a six out of ten for appearance and ten out of ten for temperament so far. ¡°Gods yes, those a-holes were all stuck up. Especially that Lisa. I can¡¯t wait to see, give me a spoiler? Please?¡± ¡°Alright, she was stabbed in the gut with one of my knives. She landed on the ground and twisted, making the wound much larger and spilling her guts. She logged out at that point and then I finished her off after beating Ryan.¡± ¡°Yes! I hope you got a good angle. Gods she was annoying.¡± ¡°I can agree with that. Kept asking about levels and skills.¡± ¡°I know, she just wouldn¡¯t shut up. That smug grin of hers too. Ahhhh! My only regret was not getting her myself.¡± ¡°Well maybe we can hunt her down when she comes back and you can kill her again.¡± ¡°You say the sweetest things.¡± ¡°Question for question, either of us can refuse?¡± ¡°Hmm, okay, I go first.¡± ¡°Only if I come last.¡± ¡°You really must be missing out on the banter to go over the top this much.¡± ¡°Indeed I am, you don¡¯t mind?¡± ¡°Nah, just don¡¯t get grabby.¡± ¡°Never.¡± ¡°So what is the strongest thing you have killed?¡± ¡°That is tough. I am going to go with a Swarm Bulb. The thing was birthing little bulbs, paralyzing cloud, and the size of a two story house. Completed a legendary quest for offing it. You?¡± ¡°Damn, I haven¡¯t had even come close to completing my current one.¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be to kill me?¡± ¡°No that would only be a hard maybe a medium. I have to create a unique spell. No clue how, but hey when I do it is going to be awesome. What about you what is yours?¡± ¡°Breckley.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you kill the lord and his wife?¡± ¡°I have to kill the whole family, or maybe even the entire country.¡± ¡°Ouch, well at least you are good at that.¡± ¡°Haha, I swear it was all an accident.¡± ¡°Good luck selling that.¡± ¡°So, most violent thing in game so far?¡± ¡°Oh, this is a shocker.¡± ¡°Trust me, I can probably handle it.¡± ¡°Yeah, but...Alright. So these two players had cornered me. I wasn¡¯t about to log off. Thankfully they weren¡¯t part horse and told me to pleasure them with my mouth. I bit off the one guy while the other one was lost between my legs. The guy collapsed screaming and then I drove both my thumbs into the other guy¡¯s skull.¡± ¡°New rule, no biting anything of mine.¡± ¡°Well maybe just a nibble.¡± I gave her a look and she burst into laughter. ¡°You got me.¡± ¡°Yep, don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°You seem like you would fit in with the Sparkly Rainbow Unicorn Princesses and their feminism empowerment vibe.¡± ¡°Wow, you actually saw them?¡± ¡°Yeah, scary as all hell. I mean they are like walking tanks. Their team name gives me a headache as well.¡± ¡°I actually know one of the girls in real life. Hardcore feminists.¡± ¡°Looking at them, they could probably rip a special part of me off with just a twist of their hips.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t try anything with them. Well I could, you not so good. They are all hardcore. Purity of body and mind and all that jazz.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t say.¡± ¡°So how did you escape? They already have a reputation of being relentless.¡± ¡°My host was strong enough to distract them using some very powerful skills.¡± ¡°Care to share?¡± I was silent for a moment. ¡°Telekinesis.¡± ¡°Shit, that is a hardcore ability. I would so love to learn that.¡± ¡°Who wouldn¡¯t?¡± ¡°Idiots.¡± ¡°Very true, so Tor, want to share stats.¡± ¡°Not on the first date.¡± She reached over and gave me a squeeze. I was grateful for all the relief I had gotten this morning. ¡°Maybe tonight, what would the horses think though?¡± ¡°That we are shameless.¡± ¡°That is it, a perfect team name, Shameless.¡± ¡°Ah, I like that, but a bit too pervy, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°Yeah, well, something to think about.¡± ¡°I just thought of something, how did you skewer Tom if you make fire when you move?¡± ¡°Ah, well, he got a bit cooked.¡± Her eyes widened at that. ¡°Wow, and I thought I was evil. You really take depraved to a whole new level. I can¡¯t wait to watch.¡± ¡°I might be tempted to send you an unedited one time view clip of the whole thing.¡± ¡°I am listening.¡± ¡°Well¡­¡± Dammit, it wasn¡¯t like me to hesitate. ¡°I want you to travel with me. Gods, I know we are together now, but I mean long term. I want people by my side I can trust and aren¡¯t losers.¡± ¡°And you can screw.¡± ¡°That also. I don¡¯t believe in love, but we would be kick ass together. Tor and Kenji, rampaging across the land, most powerful power couple.¡± ¡°I do like that. You better be grateful I know some chants to protect against your fiery member.¡± ¡°Well I do know all twenty four basic chants of the Church of Eight. Want to learn?¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Teammates right?¡± ¡°Count on it.¡± She snuggled into me. I knew she was taking advantage but couldn¡¯t find myself caring that much at the moment. *** Author¡¯s Note: Your reviews are like wood that fuel the fire of my writing. Just had some Ent sap and boom! You get an advanced review and all your friends notice. Then the FLAMING YOUTH of my writing FLAMES even higher. Chapter 18: Ripped In Half We reached the edge of the forest by the end of the day and camped at the edge. ¡°So what is in there?¡± ¡°Bugs, plants, monsters, you name it.¡± Tor said. ¡°Where does the road lead?¡± ¡°Abandoned mine at some mountains further south of here. Another two days at least.¡± ¡°Hmm, well we could set up there as a base camp. I bet the mine has loads of high level monsters.¡± ¡°No one in my group wanted to check it out, pansy asses.¡± ¡°How did you even end up with them in the first place?¡± ¡°Well I started off near Zalth, which is way south and part of Galmore. The NPCs began to arrest various players so a large group of us fought our way out. About twenty of us made our way north to escape and over time that number dropped lower and lower.¡± ¡°Shit, how did you survive in the forest?¡± ¡°Why do you think only six of us made it all the way through? So what are your plans?¡± ¡°Kill things, get levels. I don¡¯t know about this Mystery Man. I don¡¯t think he means me harm yet. But I don¡¯t want to do an impossible quest that isn¡¯t mine. I am still debating if I want to hear him out. And why contact me in game, why didn¡¯t he slip me his e-mail instead of a meeting place.¡± ¡°Could be a hardcore VR player. So tell me what is your impossible quest.¡± ¡°To find my one true love.¡± ¡°Well you are screwed then.¡± ¡°Tell me about it.¡± ¡°So, what is up with the look?¡± ¡°I was foolish in a moment of insanity.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t mind the no hair, but the short height and red eyes?¡± ¡°Small and quick, to creep people out.¡± ¡°Well you are doing a good job of it.¡± We were lying on the fur cloak in front of a fire we had built. She reached over and began to feel me through my clothes. ¡°A bit aggressive?¡± ¡°How big?¡± ¡°¡­horse size.¡± ¡°Strip.¡± I did and she looked at me. I felt very self-conscious. Tor let out a sigh. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I would rip in half.¡± ¡°No you wouldn¡¯t other women-¡° ¡°Didn¡¯t have to walk or fight I bet.¡± ¡°AHHHH, curse you lady in white for allowing this.¡± ¡°You want me to kill you so you can start again and not behave like a twelve year old?¡± ¡°All guys want to be bigger.¡± ¡°True, but not that big. I mean, really?¡± ¡°Okay, okay.¡± I pulled my pants back on and laid back down. ¡°I won¡¯t be jelly if you find another woman.¡± ¡°Yeah, I hope your boy toy has a broken twig. What about using some magic?¡± ¡°You want me to waste MP on sex?¡± There was silence. ¡°Dumb question, you expect me to waste MP on sex?¡± ¡°No, whatever. I am all riled up now.¡± I reached over and placed my hand on her leg and she didn¡¯t object. ¡°What about Tom from this morning?¡± ¡°He pales in comparison to you.¡± She smacked me lightly on the shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t make me hand you over to the Sparkly Rainbow Unicorn Princesses.¡± ¡°No, and no to that name. They will now be called the She-Hulks. Listen up viewers, they are forever to be known as the She-Hulks. Pass along the message.¡± ¡°You know they will be pissed.¡± ¡°They will probably Hulk out.¡± I began to rub her when suddenly there was a ripple of fire. She let out a yelp. I pulled my hand away and let out a long sigh. ¡°Sorry, no fun and games for us.¡± I let a dejected sigh out at her statement. ¡°We are going to find a demon and you are going to eat the whole thing so we can make a go of it.¡± ¡°Not happening, you may like eating crazy shit, but the only thing that goes in this mouth is food and sex.¡± ¡°Your legendary magic, to have sex with anything.¡± ¡°Also not happening, I want laser beams that shoot out of my eyes.¡± ¡°Why the eyes? And what happens if they shoot out your tits?¡± ¡°Aiming, and that would be pretty funny, but horrible on the wardrobe. No slut armors. I mean how are those things are even considered armor I will never know. There is more skin than armor.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t forget the whips.¡± ¡°Okay, now I know you are teasing, but the whips can go burn in a volcano. No one cool ever used a whip in combat.¡± ¡°Indiana Jones.¡± ¡°Style and transport, also he had a gun.¡± ¡°Point made. So any night things we need to worry about?¡± ¡°Some but nothing to worry about if we can take turns sleeping. This is going to suck with only two people.¡± ¡°We need a threesome.¡± ¡°Or a fivesome.¡± ¡°What happened to the foursome?¡± ¡°Oh, well then people would couple off. You need an odd number.¡± ¡°We should start up a brothel, the Burning Brothel. I could be the star.¡± ¡°Not happening, unless by star you mean dancer, and by dancer I mean with a pole.¡± ¡°Fine, first or second watch.¡± ¡°Second, you must be exhausted.¡± ¡°Hmmm, night.¡± ¡°Night.¡± I dozed off. I woke up to shaking. ¡°Your turn.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± I got up and stretched out. I got up and put some more wood on the fire and walked about for a minute to get my blood going. I then went back to the fur cloak. I sat there meditating while listening for anything approaching as time dragged on. There was a slight breeze and the grass made a rustling sound. I felt something watching me. I went through everything I was experiencing and tried to find out what was bothering me. I slowed my breathing as much as possible and listened. I heard Tor breathing steadily, most likely asleep. The breeze paused for a moment, stopping the rustling. I heard another creature breathing nearby. Upwind, behind, and to my left. I reached to my side and picked up my sword and drew it. The etched runes glinted in the faint moonlight along the length of the blade. I stood and turned in one smooth motion. There was a giant black horse with red glowing eyes about twenty feet away. I kicked Tor in the side. ¡°Monster horse.¡± I said quietly. She was already reaching for her blade when the monster moved. I had been expecting a charge but it slowly began to strafe around us which was even more unnerving. ¡°You ever see this?¡± Tor asked. I heard a note of worry in her voice. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Why isn¡¯t it attacking?¡± ¡°Who knows, we just need to stab it.¡± ¡°It is a giant monster horse, you go right ahead.¡± ¡°Can you boost my Intelligence? Quickly.¡± ¡°Oh Gencellitni (Gen-CELL-et-nee), open this mortals mind to the heavens and allow your holy grace to encompass his perception so that he may understand the vastness of the eternal.¡± I am glad she was a quick study and didn¡¯t argue about my command. I felt the tingle of magic rushing over my skin. The demonic looking horse began to approach our horses. Mating, cannibalism, or even just a conversation I wasn¡¯t about to lose the horses to anything. Who would pull the stupid wagon with all my gear? I rushed forward, ¡°Flaming sword!¡± I shouted out as I swung at the monster. There was a brief moment where everyone and everything looked at me and then, WHOOOSH! The sword went up in flames. Ten points to style, minus twenty to tactics. My night vision disappeared as the only thing I could see was my sword. It did emit light, but unless I held it off to the side, I was fighting half blind. I missed the monster as my blade hit only air. I spun around waving my flaming sword hoping to spot it, but it had vanished. ¡°Flame off. Is it gone?¡± ¡°I think, fuck, you burned out my eyeballs. I am still seeing spots.¡± ¡°Sorry, at least the monster ran off.¡± ¡°And you alerted everything in hundred miles with that light show.¡± ¡°You are just jelly for the flaming sword.¡± ¡°AHHHH, a bit, but no flaming swords at night.¡± ¡°Understood, but you did give me permission to attack.¡± ¡°I am going back to sleep. Don¡¯t wake me up until the sun passes the horizon. If your lost dad comes back, no more flames.¡± ¡°I think the horse was female, a night mare.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t care, going back to sleep. My eyes are still seeing spots.¡± I decided the best course of action was to say nothing. Dawn came and I began doing my mourning exercises. I also washed myself afterwards in the nearby stream. After all that Tor finally woke up. I tossed her a piece of meat wrapped in bread along with a fruit her former companions had on them. ¡°Real bread and meat that isn¡¯t from a monster.¡± She said in awe before devouring the meal. I began to pack up our camp and hitch up the horses. A few minutes later we were once again on the road. ¡°What did you encounter in the forest?¡± ¡°There are croakers, large frogs with a long tongue. If you avoid the tongue you are fine, not poisoned but insanely strong. I saw it snap on girl in half, literally. False birds, they sound like people but really aren¡¯t. Then there are black capes that try and smother you. Also wolves, bears, and other forest critters.¡± ¡°So kill everything that moves.¡± ¡°Yep.¡± ¡°I am curious to learn how magic works?¡± Tor gave me a look. ¡°Hey, we share. I already gave up the chants, tell me how the leveling and all that jazz works. Then you can ask what I know about something.¡± ¡°Fine, not much of a secret anyways. Each chant or spell is tied to a god. As you use more spells under that god the costs goes down. More powerful spell costs increase exponentially. So specializing is a big deal. If you constantly use only one type of magic, the cost is manageable. Unfortunately you become a lot less versatile. That Intelligence chant, cost a hundred MP, so you better be grateful.¡± ¡°So what magic do you specialize in?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t decided yet. Trying to get a taste for as many as possible.¡± ¡°Any idea on how many gods there are?¡± ¡°Loads, but some are much more entrenched than others like the Eight.¡± ¡°I mean, could I make a chant to a new god. Let¡¯s say Mind, so the god would be Nimd or maybe Dimn.¡± ¡°Dimn for sure.¡± ¡°Okay, here goes. Oh Dimn, fortify my grey matter from harm and allow my focus to be hardened from attacks.¡±
Insufficent Wisdom
¡°I need more wisdom but it worked.¡± ¡°You know what this means?¡± ¡°That we now know the secret to the magic system.¡± ¡°Damn straight. Okay, help me figure out a good god to make up.¡± ¡°Death, life, or nature.¡± ¡°What about void?¡± ¡°That would be Dovi then?¡± ¡°Or Divo. I wonder how the name changes things?¡± ¡°Maybe one is good and one is evil?¡± ¡°How would void magic be good or evil?¡± This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Don¡¯t ask me, I already figured out a chunk for today.¡± ¡°That reminds me, what is your Intelligence? Since I had to waste a hundred MP.¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t catch that.¡± I held up five fingers. ¡°I really hope you mean fifty or even fifteen.¡± ¡°Five.¡± ¡°Wow, where on earth did all the stat points go?¡± ¡°The first four stats and a lot more into Dexterity.¡± She swung her hand at my face and I moved out of the way. ¡°Alright, you are quick, but damn. I guess that makes me the brain and you the muscle.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t pick on-¡° The twang of bows sounded out. I pushed out to the side and shoved Tor off the wagon while leveraging myself off the other side. Three arrows thudded into the wagon seat and another one grazed my arm before I had made it off the wagon. Up ahead I saw five people step out from behind the trees with swords. I drew both my blades and ran forward. These attackers were only carrying swords and daggers. One had a shield, but for the most part they appeared to be run down. I slammed my blade down on the first one but his block was weak. My blade bit into where his neck met his shoulders. I yanked it out and jabbed at another opponent. A spray of blood arced over the road. I pierced my second opponent¡¯s stomach and twisted my blade. When I yanked my sword out, his entrails were partially pulled out between his shirt and belly. He grabbed his stomach and began screaming. I noted that Tor had disappeared, but since there were no arrows headed my way she must be dealing with the archers. I backed up slightly from the two men I had just incapacitated. The last three rushed me all at once. I strafed to the side so they had to come at me one at a time. I slashed out and cut one of the men across the front of his throat. He collapsed in a gurgle grabbing at his neck. I deflected the wild attack of the next one. He was stronger than he appeared and pushed into me. I drove my other blade up through his jaw and out the top of his skull. I was forced to let go of my blade as he toppled to the side. The last man turned to run. I threw my sword wildly and it hit the back of his legs causing him to trip. I walked over and kicked him in the face as he was trying to stand up. ¡°Good, you caught one. I killed off four archers.¡± ¡°So five for me, four for you.¡± I said with a grin. She raised her sword up at me. I then held up my hands. ¡°Nine for us.¡± ¡°Better.¡± We worked together to kill off the wounded survivors and search them for loot. Nothing useful, even their weapons were shitty quality. ¡°Time for our prisoner.¡± I said. I brought up my blade. ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°I am going to slice off all his clothes. Why give him any chance?¡± ¡°Oh, that seems¡­smart.¡± We soon had one middle aged naked man lying on the ground and a pile of corpses off to the side. I slapped the prisoner a couple of times. We had left him untied, no need to go to all that trouble when we were going to kill him anyways. I saw him open his eyes and dropped him on the ground. ¡°Don¡¯t cry and answer our questions. If you do you will be set free. First question, are you a player?¡± ¡°You mean a Traveler, and no.¡± Finally someone who listened, spoke clearly, and didn¡¯t say bull shit. A rare thing in interrogations. ¡°Why did you attack us?¡± ¡°We heard there were a bunch of people traveling through the woods. Our village is poor and we need all the help we can get.¡± ¡°Where is your village?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t-¡° I pressed the tip of my sword against his exposed groin. ¡°You were saying?¡± ¡°When the trail splits, head left and then left again.¡± I looked at Tor. ¡°What? Oh, not interested.¡± ¡°Not interested that much either.¡± I placed my foot on his chest and then jabbed my sword down between his legs. He let out a scream and I hopped off. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just kill him?¡± ¡°He is monster bait. Come on got get a rope and I will show you a neat trick.¡± Tor gave me a look and then shrugged. She came back with a rope and I hoisted man up into the air. Blood ran down his legs and dripped onto the ground. I used my sword to flick the chopped up bits onto the corpse pile. It was less disturbing that way. ¡°Now we go set up camp about a hundred feet back down the road. Then we check here every hour. Hopefully some monsters come by and we kill them.¡± ¡°How did you discover¡­never mind.¡± I just grinned. We set up camp back down the road around a bend, out of sight of the corpses. The man¡¯s wailing echoed through the forest. ¡°So what did you get last time?¡± ¡°A bear and some wolves. Nothing that difficult. Let¡¯s build up a fire, we will be at this all night hopefully.¡± ¡°All night?!¡± It was a slaughter, we killed monster after monster. First came a bear. Easy enough to kill with a power slash. Then there was a second bear that Tor got. After that came these weird stick bugs about the size of a shoebox that used their six appendages as spears. There were over twenty and it was a fighting retreat once they started attacking us. Fortunately they were easy enough to kill. That was when a Bigfoot appeared, standing ten feet tall. We stared at it from some distance away. ¡°Now he is proportioned correctly.¡± I gave Tor a glare. ¡°What? So how do you want to handle this?¡± ¡°It is probably smart. You shoot arrows and if it rushes I will intercept it.¡± ¡°Sounds good.¡± The first arrow went into the rear of its right shoulder. It began to run away and the second arrow went into its ass. ¡°Nice shot.¡± We went back to camp to rest and wait for the next monsters to show up. I then heard roaring in the distance after a couple of minutes. ¡°You don¡¯t suppose it had friends?¡± ¡°Family most likely. They probably live in the woods screwing each other raw and popping out monster babies.¡± ¡°I wonder if we could capture a young one and raise it as a slave.¡± ¡°No, we are not going Planet of the Apes. Kill them or screw them and then kill them. Just kill them all.¡± ¡°Yeah, but don¡¯t hate a guy for thinking.¡± ¡°I sometimes wonder where the filter went or if you just spew things out on purpose.¡± ¡°What¡¯s a filter? Anyways, let¡¯s move away from our camp and set up by the corpses.¡± We made our way over to the corpse pile and I looked for a good branch for Tor to stand on. Unfortunately the reality of the VR once again came to bite me in the ass. Unlike in TV shows, trees in forests are thin and tall to compete for sunlight. Sure older forests have bigger trees, but none of them have big low hanging branches. ¡°Stay back and keep shooting. Doesn¡¯t matter where you hit as long as you hit them.¡± I heard a lot of roaring coming towards us. ¡°Make your arrows count.¡± She gave me a nod and her lips pressed together in a straight line. I moved towards the roaring and drew two throwing daggers. I saw seven Bigfoots approaching. I threw both my daggers. One deflected off a tree and went into the ground. The other went into the chest of one the creatures. I drew and threw another two as soon as the first ones had left my hands. They both went into the bellies or chests of the monsters. An arrow flew into one of their chests. I then went for my swords as they were rapidly closing. I hated endurance based battles, since it would leave me incredibly weak if there was a follow up fight. Unfortunately against a large group of opponents like this, the goal was to whittle them down and bleed them out. If I got pulled into a one on one match, they could easily turn it into a five on one and crush me. I began to run to the side placing trees between us. When one got to close I would slash out with my blade and leave a shallow cut. More arrows continued to fly into the group. I noticed one turn towards Tor, but I had six of my own to deal with and she could handle herself. If she couldn¡¯t then she wasn¡¯t worth being around. The Bigfoots, or is it Bigfeet¡­no time to think stupid questions. The monsters began to spread out in a line and it was obvious they were attempting to surround me. Rookie move. I changed directions and charged the center of their line. It would take at least a couple of seconds for them to regroup from this sudden assault and overwhelm me. The creature swung his arm knocking over small trees. Unfortunately he was slow and I didn¡¯t panic. I kept up my charge and leapt, driving both swords into the creature¡¯s chest. It teetered back and I was worried for a moment, but then it fell backwards with a crash. I pulled out both my blades and kept going, not daring to look behind me. After I had cleared some distance my run went into a curve and I saw that the five remaining monsters had surrounded their dead companion. They then began to pull the corpse apart and eat it. It would probably give them a power boost of some sort. I rushed back in and began to slash at the monsters legs while running around the group aiming to cripple. They spun as I struck, showering chunks of flesh and fur over the forest floor. An arrow flew out and struck on in the head, killing it. I then drove one of my blades into the base of a monsters back and towards its groin, giving it a second asshole. I left my blade and then drove the other one through one of the monster¡¯s back and out the front of its chest. I moved back and then began to throw my remaining knives, taking care to aim at the eyes and neck. It was soon over in a bloody pile of Bigfoots. The only good thing I had to say about them at that moment, was that there insides smelled a lot nicer than their outsides. They probably lived in their own shit the filthy beasts. ¡°That was intense. Nice job.¡± Tor said. ¡°You too. Help me grab up the weapons?¡± She nodded and we got to work. It took at least half an hour to find everything and clean it off. I noticed that the one that had charged Tor had an arrow in the groin and had then been decapitated. Truly a woman after my own heart. *** ¡°Welcome.¡± ¡°Thank you for agreeing to meet.¡± ¡°So how can we assist you?¡± ¡°I want you to secure a meeting place between me and one of your clients. I have written down the name he gave along with the location.¡± ¡°He is a Class S customer. You are rated as a Class D contact. I will have to confirm with him as per our regulations.¡± ¡°I expected as much, this is meant to be a peaceful meeting. I only want my safety to be ensured.¡± ¡°Of course, of course. Shall we proceed on the assumption there will be no conflicting agendas?¡± ¡°Please, I have written the meeting time down.¡± ¡°Hmmm, yes that does work.¡± ¡°How much to be rated as a Class S customer by the way. I didn¡¯t see the price listed anywhere.¡± ¡°That designation is reserved only for our most premier members who use our services extensively. Due to this we are very selective about who we rate as Class S, since we make the guarantee to not act directly against them.¡± ¡°I can accept that, but I am interested if you ever have a spot open.¡± ¡°We shall see. For payment, two VR weeks of free advertising in the middle of all episodes. Before you object, that is a major discount in consideration of who you will be meeting with.¡± ¡°Fine, two weeks. I will start one week before the meeting if that is acceptable.¡± ¡°Not ideal, but acceptable. This contract will still hold in the event of your death or you are unable to make it. You will be upgraded to a Class C client after this, if there are no issues. If there are, then we won¡¯t be able to do business in the future.¡± ¡°Is there any way to get in contact here instead of in game?¡± ¡°He has specifically asked that all contact be in game. I apologize, but that is one of his key points for all his business and he refuses to budge on this issue.¡± ¡°I see. Thank you for your time.¡± ¡°No problem, the Solid Steel always welcomes business. Try not to die Rain of Blood.¡± *** Author¡¯s Note: Rate and review please. Tell your friends. This story stands at #473, which means there are 472 other stories I need to brutally stab to death on my rise to the top. As my loyal minions, it is your duty, no, privilege to assist with my ascension. In all honesty, your comments, ratings, and reviews make a difference. It means pushing that extra hour to write that one more chapter and get it out as quickly as possible. What this means is, if you want two chapters a day, give me ratings, reviews, favorites, and follows. If you have read this far then you either like to torture yourself or enjoy my writing. Also in response to the mourning/morning fiasco, yes I have trouble with words that sound the same. It is like weather and whether, flower and flour, I get them mixed up when I am typing away and then miss them on my read through. I try and catch it, but they are bad writing habits and blind spots I am still working on. Chapter 19 : Maggots! After the Bigfoots had been killed off we dragged the corpses onto our corpse pile. Then we had killed some wolves and a couple of giant centipedes. By this time our corpse pile was blocking the entire road but we had SP left and had enough downtime between waves of creatures to rest up. Night soon fell and the next wave of monsters came. First were the spiders, I really hate spiders. I had made sure that no spiders or bugs could get into the room with my VR capsule in it. Probably had something to do with reading a horror story about spiders laying eggs in people¡¯s bodies while they slept. Giant spiders were fast, shot sticky shit out their asses, and there were quite a few. Only good thing was that they went down in one hit. Their shit was probably worth a lot, but I couldn¡¯t bring myself to care. After that came a half owl, half plant. We just stared at the dark figure munching at the corpses in the middle of the road. ¡°So..what do we call this?¡± Tor asked. ¡°The Plantapus.¡± Tor let out a sigh. ¡°You are on arrow duty, I rush in and stab it.¡± ¡°What about that head? I mean the body looks like an owls, but a bulb head with vines coming out of it is really creepy. Also since there is only one, it is probably really strong.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we are handling everything just fine and I leveled up twice, so we have some fire power.¡± I waved Nus¡¯ Awakening. Tor just looked at me. ¡°Okay, yeah we are tired and that thing looks boss.¡± As if to answer me the Plantapus let out a screech. How the hell it did that with a plant head I had no idea. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s build up the fire at camp and then come back in the morning and kill it then.¡± I nodded and we both retreated away from the scene of carnage. Something was bothering me, I just couldn¡¯t put my finger on it. We got to work on the fire and soon it was roaring away. ¡°I think I am missing something.¡± ¡°Hmm, well there is a giant boss monster over that way devouring loads of corpses. But it should be fine until morning.¡± ¡°Yeah, I got first watch.¡± Tor nodded and dozed off. I mediated and threw a log on the fire occasionally. Something was off and it was really annoying me. I woke Tor up for her turn and we passed the rest of the night switching off. When dawn finally began to break and our SP was over half full, we made our way back to the scene of carnage. ¡°What the¡­¡± Tor trailed off. The corpses were gone and in the middle of the road lay a Plantapus. Normally that wouldn¡¯t have been cause for alarm, but this one was at least twenty feet long. I then remembered a certain other plant monster that used corpses to empower itself. What lay in the road, was a mini-swarm bulb on top of an owl¡¯s body. I also realized that due to its size it probably wouldn¡¯t be able to fly anymore. That meant it would take the easiest path, which was this road, and it had two options, forward or backwards. I pulled Tor back and we retreated as quietly as possible. We reached our campsite. ¡°We need to get off this road now and deep into the woods. Start packing.¡± ¡°I thought you were going to say, let¡¯s kill it.¡± She was already rolling up the cloak as we got to work. ¡°That thing went from mini-boss to a calamity. You watched the video of Mendal?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­oh shit, stop looking at me pack faster!¡± She hissed out. ¡°We need to get off the road, that thing is too big to fly and too big to move through the trees.¡± ¡°It could fly with magic like a dragon.¡± ¡°You really want to take that chance?¡± ¡°No¡­¡± ¡°That thing is going to steamroll its way down this dirt road one way or the other.¡± ¡°What about a trap?¡± ¡°You know anything that can kill it in one shot? Because unless you do, it will just be really pissed off, stop yapping, pack!¡± I hissed at her. A minute later we were all set to go. ¡°The wagon won¡¯t go through the woods.¡± ¡°There is no way I am leaving this wagon. I would have to carry shit, and I need all of this stuff.¡± ¡°Well then what do you propose?¡± ¡°The mine, how big was the entrance?¡± ¡°Just a little bit bigger than¡­no, no way in hell. You want us to run past a boss mob and into an unknown mine dungeon. What happens if that Plantapus camps outside? Or there are things in the mine we can¡¯t beat?¡± ¡°First, it is off to the side, there is enough room to get the wagon by. Second, there is no guarantee we can out run it. Third, we need some levels and the mine dungeon sounds like the best place.¡± ¡°You are so going in first with that sword of yours.¡± ¡°You read my mind. Okay, let¡¯s blindfold the horses and we each lead one.¡± ¡°Smart, hey maybe you do have some Wisdom.¡± ¡°Ha. Ha.¡± ¡°What about sending a warning?¡± I just stared at her. ¡°Um, what?¡± ¡°You know who is Balkor right now? The Order. When this things reaches the city, they are going to shit themselves. My only regret is not being there to watch it. Phoenix versus Plantapus, my money is on the Plantapus.¡± ¡°Well I have some friends in the area.¡± ¡°Then tell them to leave Balkor and head anywhere but south. Don¡¯t say why, just say it is a strongly encouraged suggestion. If they trust you then they will go as fast as possible.¡± We then began to lead our blindfolded horses and wagon past the sleeping Plantapus. The giant green bulb with vines trailing out of it, was incredibly creepy. The only way we knew it was asleep was the lack of movement and the steady rise and wall of its chest. There was a vine laying across the middle of the road. Tor looked at me and pointed at the vine. I shook my head. She pointed at me with an angry look. I held in my sigh and let go of the reins I was holding. I walked over to the vine that was about half as thick as my arm and gently moved it out of the way. I didn¡¯t notice any poison, but my groin gave off a twitch. I set the vine off to the side and got back to my horse. We went past the creature and continued on up the dirt road. After two hundred feet we let the horses see again and then took off at a fast canter. ¡°We are not doing that again. I thought my heart would explode from my chest.¡± ¡°Now that would be a true rain of blood.¡± She smacked me lightly on the shoulder. We took turns driving after that while the other one rested in makeshift bed we had made in the back of the wagon. It was bumpy and uncomfortable, but it was a good chance to rest our eyes. It also allowed me to cool off a bit. It was a bit weird that I had become so aroused like that for no reason. By the time we reached the mine at sunset the horses were exhausted. ¡°We camped off to the side back there near a stream. Also you can see that the shaft is boarded up pretty heavily about thirty feet in.¡± ¡°Get the horses some water from the stream. I will push the wagon up against the wood wall in back. Bring them in once they are done.¡± I began to drag the wagon into the mine shaft. Damn it was heavy, those horses deserved a raise. I got the wagon ducked in the back of the mine shaft next to the heavily boarded up wall. Tor came back inside leading both the horses. We tied them off and munched on bread and jerky in the dark. ¡°Maybe we should have taken some meat-¡° ¡°No, I have eaten enough monsters out here. I want some proper human food.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°You look like you are about to burst.¡± ¡°Ever since we set off, it won¡¯t go down.¡± ¡°Stop thinking pervy thoughts.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not. It all started¡­.oh shit on a shit stick.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°That Plantapus was poisoned. I have poison immunity, oh god this must be really strong.¡± ¡°Erection poison?¡± She began giggling. ¡°Damn it Tor, I am letting things breathe a bit.¡± I opened up my pants and let out a sigh. ¡°Much better.¡± ¡°You need help?¡± ¡°I can manage myself, but if a fight breaks out, having three swords isn¡¯t my style.¡± I spit in my hands and got going. Tor let out a sigh and pushed my arms out of the way. ¡°You really are a handful. Get a rag so you don¡¯t make a mess.¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± Two minutes later I let out a relieved sigh. ¡°You owe me.¡± ¡°Yes I do, oh shit.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°¡­.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t be serious.¡± Twenty minutes later I was in pain. ¡°It just won¡¯t stop. No more, or I will be rubbed raw.¡± My HP had gone down a couple of hundred points as well. ¡°I honestly thought you were bullshitting me, but no way you could go seven times and still have more energy.¡± ¡°Tor, help me with this barrel. Time to uncork it.¡± ¡°What is in it?¡± ¡°Beer.¡± ¡°WH-¡° I clamped a hand over her mouth. She pushed it away. ¡°What the hell, you never told me you had beer.¡± ¡°I wanted it to be for a celebration, but I need to get drunk. There should be some cups in the wagon.¡± ¡°Okay, light things up and I will get everything.¡± ¡°Flame on.¡± The tunnel was lit up. Tor got a barrel off the cart and brought over two large cups. There was no tap, so she laid the barrel on its side and took out the bong. We soon got the hang of pouring beer out of the barrel as we attempted to drink through the entire thing. ¡°Damn, you know youuuu are the shit.¡± I mumbled out. ¡°Of course. Pour me another.¡± ¡°You are going to drink me to the poorhouse.¡± ¡°Poor, schmore, just kill some people.¡± ¡°Yeah, what is the craziest way you think you could kill someone?¡± ¡°I think you won that with Tom.¡± ¡°Hahaha, yeah. I wonder what happened to him?¡± ¡°Monster bait probably.¡± ¡°This stuff isn¡¯t that bad.¡± ¡°I agreeeee. Another, I need to wash out the monster meat I have eaten.¡± ¡°Hmmm.¡± Everything drifted into a haze after that. I was on a roller coaster going up and down. Suddenly there was a fast drop and I felt a strong tingle in my stomach. The roller coaster kept going and going. My back was pressed into the hard seat. The safety rail was pushing against me as the coaster rose and fell again and again. I tried to turn to the side but couldn¡¯t move. The coaster entered a tunnel and everything sort of drifted away. I woke up the morning, naked, smelling of sex and booze. I had a crazy dream, but it was already fading away. Thankfully things had calmed down a bit but I was incredibly sore and raw. I looked over at Tor who was sprawled out over the fur cloak. She looked content. I tied up my sandals and picked up my sword, walking out of the cave naked. It was a cloudy and dreary day. I went off to the side and took a long piss. After that I felt much better. I did some stretches and then went back to the mine shaft. I got dressed and prepared breakfast. I also took the liberty to clean up a bit. The beer was mostly gone and I closed up the barrel. I had no idea how we had drank that much. I vaguely remembered pounding the drinks down to get my problem out of my mind. Tor got up and then stumbled outside. I heard her pissing for about a minute. She came back inside looking a bit more awake. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°I see you have calmed down.¡± ¡°Thank god, never again.¡± ¡°What? You didn¡¯t like me touching you?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I deadpanned and she frowned before letting out a snort. I handed her more bread and jerky. The staple food of any adventurers diet. ¡°We really need someone who knows how to forage or an evil bard.¡± ¡°What is an evil bard?¡± ¡°Someone who sings and makes peoples¡¯ ears bleed.¡± ¡°Ah, so into the mine?¡± ¡°Yeah, I want to try and get in without wrecking that wooden wall.¡± ¡°Hmm, well let me wash up first outside.¡± ¡°Mind if I join you?¡± ¡°Fine.¡± She said. We walked outside and we began to splash water over our faces. ¡°I am curious as a woman in a VR do you have cycles?¡± She turned and had a combination of glare slash surprise etched on her face. ¡°It was bothering me not knowing.¡± ¡°You really have no filter.¡± She muttered. ¡°Women get the choice at the start of the game.¡± ¡°What did you pick?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Really, I would have thought it would be a disadvantage.¡± ¡°A bit, but I did ask if there was an advantage and there are a few.¡± ¡°Care to share.¡± ¡°No.¡± Her tone was much colder than before and I shut up. I went back into the mine shaft and got to work strapping on all my gear and making sure it was in good condition. Tor joined me back in the cave and started as well. I wondered what sort of advantages there were besides having children. Could female players have children? That would be weird to have a virtual baby. I would be a terrible parent. I imagined my VR child bathing in blood and stabbing people while letting out a cute giggle. Completely spoiled, having his choice of men and women salves at a young age to do whatever he wanted. He would learn magic at a young age and practice constantly. Along with sword fighting. I would beat him as his old man, but would give him just enough hope so he pushed himself. Then there would be the teen years where he would want to do his own thing. I would probably dump him in the wilderness then so he would get stronger. Finally he would come back as an adult and obey me or kill me. Maybe even both. We could bond over some assassinations and some fun with the ladies. Of course he would only be a quarter horse instead of a half horse like me, and would be jelly of his old man but look up to him at the same time. ¡°¡­there?¡± Tor said. ¡°Ah yes, just got caught up thinking about all the monsters we are going to kill.¡± ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get to work on that wood wall.¡± First we gathered up some large stones, as big as we could move and placed them against the wood wall and off to the side. While it wouldn¡¯t hold off a determined enemy it should stop a casual glance. Then we carefully began pulling the wood boards off on one side and then hammering them back in around the opening we were making. It was three feet tall and half a foot wide. I lit my sword up and stepped through the opening we had made. The shaft continued onwards with wood pillars and braces holding it up. Any fight would need to be done carefully to prevent a cave in. I stepped forward a bit and Tor came up behind me. ¡°Check behind every beam and support. If you see a hole in the wall or anything else say something. I got the right, take the left.¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s try not to die painfully.¡± I nodded and we set off slowly. I kept the flaming blade stretched out in front of me. As the only source of light the shadows were deep and thick. ¡°Hold up, look.¡± She gestured at the wall and I shifted Nus¡¯ Awakening to get a better look. There was a small hole in the wall that was about the size of my fist. I stuck my blade in the hole and heard rattling. I pulled it out and we stepped back. A thick black cloud emerged. I swung my blade through it and it dissipated away. I checked my experience.
Experience
+60001+10 LvL
¡°Definitely a monster, high level too.¡± Tor nodded. She shifted the bow she was carrying. We had agreed not to kill steal and fight things based on capability. Since she preferred a bow and arrow over her long sword, and MP was too valuable to waste on small fry. There were loads of holes. I actually handed over my sword to Tor so she could get some experience from these easy high level kills. She gave me a grim smile at that. We then came to a six way intersection. There was a long shaft traveling vertically. We saw some light near the top and another set of tunnels. Down the circular shaft, it was complete darkness. There was no clue what was down each of the side tunnels either. Tor pulled out a spare blade we had kept in my satchel. I then held my flaming blade in order to melt the hilt on the wall so it was pointing back to the entrance. Tor also laid out a number of stones in an arrow pointing the way back. I also charred the wall with arrows in the chamber making it clear which tunnel was the right one. We also tied a rope across the tunnels we weren¡¯t going down at waist height. We then made a right. The plan was to keep making rights whenever possible. There were no more smoke holes but we kept our eyes peeled. ¡°Up ahead. The walls are slightly lighter.¡± ¡°Yeah, you are right. What do you want to do?¡± ¡°You hold my sword. I will advance very slowly and poke at it with my sword.¡± ¡°Poke at it?¡± ¡°Stab.¡± ¡°Better.¡± We traded off the flaming sword being careful that she had a grip and ordered the flames on before I let go. The flames dropped for half a second but didn¡¯t go out. That would be really scary. I then picked up a pebble and threw it at the wall. It sunk in. ¡°You didn¡¯t stab it.¡± ¡°I thought this was a better idea.¡± ¡°So what now?¡± I held up a canteen of water and squeezed off a stream down the tunnel. It impacted the base of the discolored wall. The wall began to ripple violently and then peeled away. I sprayed more over it and it disintegrated. I had used up over half the canteen. We trekked back out, being careful to check the smoke holes, but they were all still empty. We filled up eight canteens and set off again. We took turn spraying the discolored walls, floors, and ceiling as we moved down the tunnel. They were all high level monsters apparently and I went up to seventy five and was able to raise my base Dexterity up to one hundred. Yeah, for level two dexterity focus. We reached a chamber with a tunnel going off to the left. There were a couple of broken carts off to the side, but nothing much of interest. We carefully moved all the carts and set them in a corner that we had already checked. ¡°If this is a dungeon, where is the loot?¡± ¡°Lower levels I bet. Most of this place is a trap fest. Those monsters are high level for a reason. If you tried to fight head on, it would probably end in disaster. Those black clouds, you go by and then they sneak up behind you and go up into your body I bet.¡± ¡°Ew, your imagination should be weaponized.¡± ¡°Careful what you wish for. Onwards?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± We continued down the tunnel and came to a number of doors set into the rock walls. We shared a look, doorways were a perfect way to die. The way they were set in the stone, they had to be pulled open and wouldn¡¯t be easily kicked down. I did the time honored tradition of throwing a pebble against one of the doors. It bounced off and nothing happened. ¡°Is it me, or were you also hoping for a door monster so we didn¡¯t have to explore all these side passages.¡± Tor whispered. ¡°Yeah, this is going to suck. Any ideas?¡± ¡°YO MONSTERS! WAKE UP YOUR LAZY ASSES!¡± Her voice echoed down the dark tunnel. We listened for any movement. There was shuffling going on behind the doorways. We both stared as one by one the door handles began to turn. ¡°Tor, watch my back.¡± The first door opened. Annoyingly enough it opened into my line of sight blocking my view of what was coming out. We slowly began to back away. A skeleton emerged. Well more like half zombie, half skeleton with the way its remaining flesh was roiling with maggots and bone was clearly showing. I stepped forward and slashed Nus¡¯ Awakening across where its chest should be. Ribs shattered, maggots cooked, and burnt flesh dropped away. It looked at me with glowing white eye sockets. Not wanting to see what ever attack it was about to do I jabbed my sword into its skull. I barely managed to avoid the maggots as the entire thing collapsed like its strings were cut. There were at least nine more in the passage and more coming out of the door ways. Each of them with their creepy glowing white eyes and maggot covered corpses. I began to back away. An arrow flew by me and sank into a torso. The corpse didn¡¯t seem bothered. ¡°Aim for the head or eyes.¡± One of the corpses burst into a ball of white flames. I heard a roar of flames behind me at the same time. ¡°Behind you!¡± Tor shouted. I spun and slashed out. My blade cleaving through the corpses skull. The body collapsed and a couple of the maggots managed to land on my arm. I felt them chew into my flesh. More balls of white flame began occurring as the corpses teleported into melee range. I slammed my arm into the wall crushing the maggots. I ran with Tor back down the tunnel dodging corpses as they flamed in front of us. It became a running melee and we came back to the second chamber. ¡°Back to back.¡± I said and we stood in the middle of the chamber. The corpses began to flame in around us and we cut them down quickly each time. As the piles of maggots grew we were forced from our position and began a slow back to back movement around the perimeter of the fifteen foot diameter chamber. When there were no more, I let out a long sigh. ¡°New rule, no shouting in dungeons.¡± ¡°Good rule. Retreat?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± We began to carefully make our way back searching every nook and cranny. When we came to the first chamber we both heard a scratching sound coming from the shaft leading down. We continued our retreat checking the black cloud holes as we passed. To my surprise and dismay, there was one inhabiting one of the holes. We made it back through the gap in the boarded up wall and I turned off the flame sword. We then rolled and lifted a large rock over the hole. I opened up my status window and dumped my stat points. I couldn¡¯t contain my grin.
STATUS
NameKenji Shadowen
Level77
Constitution38
Strength52.5
Dexterity115.5
Endurance53
Wisdom10.6
Intelligence11.1
Charisma0
Luck0
Fate582.98
HP: 7918.23 / 10406.25
MP: 137.25 / 217
SP: 253.48 / 1797.98
¡°What the hell was all that?¡± Tor said. ¡°Experience.¡± *** She found the corpses of his latest victims. One was even burned out his asshole and the other was armless. She was going to find him and put an end to his evil ways. ¡°I am coming for you-¡° A vine wrapped around her cutting her off. She raised her sword, but quickly succumbed to a white bliss. *** Author¡¯s Note: Since threats and begging don¡¯t work, everyone who has left a review before my next chapter post will get a PM with a special bonus chapter as a thank you. I can see all of you reading my story in the active forum viewers list at the bottom of the stories forum page. There are quite a few of you and I know not all of you have left a review. As long as the reviews are constructive, I don¡¯t care if they are ? star to 5 stars. This bonus chapter MAY eventually go up for everyone. I am evil, deal with it. MUAHAHAHAHA! We are now #414, only 413 stories left to slay. Chapter 20: Fear the Reaper "So¡­.¡± ¡°So¡­.¡± ¡°Well that was gross¡­really gross.¡± Tor said. ¡°Maggots, that was definitely a surprise and the teleporting.¡± ¡°I can still feel them trying to wiggle their way into me. Uck, maggot juice.¡± We washed our clothes after that in the stream outside. ¡°They weren¡¯t that strong surprisingly.¡± Tor just stared at me. ¡°How do I put this? Did you train in VR sims before starting FEAR?¡± ¡°Yeah of course.¡± ¡°There you go. Most of the people aren¡¯t as hardcore as you. They probably thought they could be super mages or easily just swing their sword around. This takes actual skill. Also there is a lot of fear while spelunking.¡± ¡°So you mean I am awesome.¡± ¡°What I mean is we got incredibly lucky. Your flame sword killed those black clouds.¡± ¡°Easy enough, black things hate fire.¡± ¡°Then there were those wall grabbers and how they hated water, which makes no sense.¡± ¡°Things that absorb things tend to be weak to one form of matter or another.¡± ¡°Finally the maggot skeletons. They could freaking teleport, any ordinary group would be overwhelmed and eaten alive.¡± ¡°Fair enough. Let¡¯s rest up a bit and then go for round three.¡± ¡°Those noises at the end. There is something big and crawly in there. What do we do if it corners us?¡± ¡°That is a good point.¡± There was a minute of silence as we mulled it over. ¡°What about the last barrel of beer? Can we drop it down the hole?¡± ¡°Alcohol content isn¡¯t high enough to catch fire. We may just have to risk it.¡± ¡°Honestly is this worth it?¡± ¡°Loads of high level monsters we can kill easily enough. As long as we are careful we should be able to retreat. I don¡¯t think we will be going to more than one level though. If whatever is down that hole attacks us while we are climbing it would be over.¡± ¡°God, I hate maggots.¡± We went back into the mine. There was another black smoke present. We killed it and continued on our way. ¡°Stop, look at the wall color.¡± ¡°I thought we killed of them.¡± ¡°So did I, but there is only one.¡± Tor killed it off and we continued to the second chamber. There was no sign of the maggots and very few bones. We had only been gone for an hour maybe two at the max. We continued to retrace our steps. We reached the side doors and they were all closed. Tor grabbed the handle and I gave her a nod. With a single yank she opened the door. A maggot skeleton turned towards me. I drove my flaming sword straight through its skull. It died and collapsed. I was careful to stay out of the way as the maggots rained down. I looked around the room and noticed two piles of bones and maggots off to the side slowly mixing together. ¡°They are respawning.¡± Tor whispered. ¡°Yeah, that means one of three things. First monsters can respawn, which is doubtful since no one has mentioned it and some players are trying to figure out their lifecycles. Second, there is a spell or item boosting them. Finally there could be a super boss or dungeon heart managing them all and using some sort of natural ability to pull these things into existence.¡± ¡°None of that sounds very good.¡± ¡°I agree. Push on?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± She didn¡¯t sound sure. We cleared the small side chambers of maggot skeletons. I also stabbed the piles but didn¡¯t get any experience and they just dispersed. We passed the side rooms and kept going slowly, checking everything for a possible ambush. We finally came to two doors that were across from each other in the tunnel. I tapped my flaming sword against the door handle, but nothing reacted. I tapped my sword on the door a couple of times but nothing happened. Tor stepped in and on my nod she yanked it open. There was a large chamber with a pedestal in the back and a book on it. I checked my flanks and the ceiling and that was when I saw it. A large suit of armor tucked into one corner. I gestured and Tor looked at the suit of armor as well. ¡°If that comes to life, I have no idea what to do.¡± ¡°I might be able to pierce it, maybe not.¡± ¡°The maybe not part is worrying me, also the noise of metal hitting metal. Monsters could easily come down the hall and block off this doorway.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± I closed the door. ¡°Check the other one, push on, or retreat?¡± ¡°How about we grind on the mobs that are regenerating until they are about five levels above us?¡± ¡°Good idea.¡± Based on the experience gains over the next two days the three monster types we fought were around level eighty six. I was up to level eighty and Tor said she was in the mid-seventies. We decided to face the suit of armor. The idea was simple. I would throw rocks at it to lure it outside the room. Tor would keep an eye out for other attackers while I finished it off. If things got bad we would retreat. I opened up the door and began throwing pebbles at the suit of armor. Its eye sockets flashed white and it began to advance towards me. It had a single long sword and was surprisingly swift for a suit of armor. I moved back into the hallway. The suit of armor came out after me. It swung and the attack was easy enough to dodge. ¡°Power slash!¡± I slammed my flaming blade into its side. There was a loud clang and a shower of sparks but Nus¡¯ Awakening did not penetrate. The suit of armor swung again and I was forced to block. The Strength behind the attack was higher than I thought so I stumbled. ¡°Second armor, other doorway.¡± Tor said. I was barely avoiding the attacks from one. ¡°Retreat.¡± We retreated back down the rock tunnels and the knights pursued us. I noticed that the sound of their pursuit was somehow muffled compared to when we were fighting. Thankfully nothing had respawned as we made our way back. Tor ducked through the wood wall and I followed behind her. The two knights stopped just outside and I let out the breath I had been holding. They ducked through and continued their advance. I mentally cursed. ¡°Outside.¡± I said and Tor and I continued our retreat. There was a slight drizzle and the sky was overcast. When the suits of armor emerged, they were incredibly dark with small silver etching on the edge of various pieces. I moved forward and jabbed my blade at one of their helmets. ¡°Power slash!¡± I yelled out. The tip of the blade struck the helmet and there was a groan of metal before the helmet caved in. The entire suit of armor crumpled to the ground with a clatter. I turned and used the last of my SP for one more power slash. ¡°Thank god that is over.¡± Tor said. I nodded. I passed her the flaming sword and we went back inside the dungeon. We returned to the two larger rooms the knights had been in. Checking carefully there was nothing out of the ordinary We went in and towards the pedestal. Both of us took our time looking for sections of the floor that might depress or other booby traps. There were none and we came to the pedestal where a book rested. Tor wrapped one of our ruined pieces of clothing around it and then took it. Nothing happened and we went to the other room. There was a chest. We carefully checked around it before picking it up and carrying it out with us. We reached our base camp without incident. ¡°Armor is gone.¡± Tor pointed. ¡°No, look it is rusting really fast. I bet it reappears in the dungeon.¡± ¡°I hope the loot doesn¡¯t do that.¡± Tor got to work on the chest lock with the flame sword while I took a look through the book, which had no title. We finally reached the mine out here in the wilderness. Thankfully the journey wasn¡¯t too far or hard. We had ten soldiers, two paladins, and three clerics plus a number of servants. We managed to purge all of the first floor except for the vault, which is sealed beyond anything we know how to undo. There are noises underground and the men grow weary as the monsters come again and again. After that the book talked about the history and back story of each of the people on the expedition. The only other thing it mentioned were the final two words. The legs. That did not sound promising. Tor finished melting the lock off. We both stood to the side when she flipped the chest open. ¡°AHHHH!¡± Tor let out a shout as maggots and bugs swarmed out of the chest. Tor began waving my flaming sword through them in an attempt to lessen their numbers. As the bugs dispersed into the surrounding tree line I looked into the chest. There was a ring at the bottom. ¡°Identification.¡±
Ring of Wisdom
Requirements: 20 Wisdom
I picked up the ring and handed it to Tor. ¡°So you can identify things?¡± ¡°Of course, you don¡¯t think I named that blade Nus¡¯ Awakening because I wanted to.¡± ¡°Well you are eccentric.¡± ¡°That is a ring of wisdom, requires twenty wisdom. Not enough for me to use at the moment.¡± Tor took the ring from me and put it on. ¡°Status. Looks like a five percent boost to Wisdom. You don¡¯t mind if I keep it?¡± ¡°Nope, I call the ring of Dexterity when we find one.¡± ¡°Awsome, thanks.¡± ¡°See I can treat a woman right. Take her to interesting places, get her jewelry¡­.¡± ¡°Kill things, fight insane monsters. Just a regular old date.¡± ¡°Want to try the central tunnel from chamber one tomorrow?¡± ¡°Sure, what could possibly go wrong.¡± I just shook my head at that comment. It was the surest way to die. The next day with our SP recharged we made our way back to the first chamber with the pit. We hadn¡¯t heard the shuffling sound below since the first day. I wasn¡¯t sure if I should be worried or grateful. We started down the central corridor and after about twenty feet came to a large open room. It was big enough that the light from my blade wouldn¡¯t reach the far side and just barely touched the ceiling. We saw a couple of alcoves lining the wall, which would be perfect for an ambush. ¡°Right wall up to the first alcove.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± Tor replied. We advanced forwards slowly, constantly looking in every direction. ¡°Ceiling, I thought I saw something. She pulled out her bow and nocked an arrow. ¡°We are almost there, if you see it again we will move back.¡± She nodded and we kept going. We reached the first alcove and there was nothing in there. I looked out into the room and there were some large pillars dominating at the edge of our light source. ¡°I definitely saw something.¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s back up.¡± I kept my eyes on the ceiling as we retreated. For a moment I thought I saw something, before it disappeared back into the darkness. ¡°Whatever it is, is a lot smarter than the other monsters.¡± We made it back to the first chamber with the pit and caught our breath. ¡°Left tunnel?¡± I asked. ¡°Yeah.¡± We began making our way down the left tunnel. It wasn¡¯t long before we came to a large half melted door that seemed to fuse with the rock. It was impossible to tell where the door began and the walls ended. ¡°This is definitely a dead end.¡± We turned back. After a brief discussion we entered the middle tunnel and then the large chamber. This time we went around the left wall. There were more alcoves tucked into the wall, but whatever monster was on the ceiling would drift into sight for just a moment before retreating. I saw the pillars and we crossed the room to the other side. It was at last forty feet wide. We then continued up along the right side. We carefully checked around the alcove. I barely pulled my head back in time as a scythe cut through the air. From out of the alcove stepped a seven foot tall figure that looked exactly like the Grim Reaper. Dark rope, scythe, and a belt of baby sized skulls. We began to back away and it advanced like a force of nature it just slowly moved towards us like our fate was inevitable. I glanced back and said, ¡°Observe.¡±
Reaper of Skulls
LvL: 173
Strongest Stat: Fate
HP: 100
MP: 50000
SP: 100
More than the name, or the level, or even the strongest stat, what really scared me were its HP and SP being so low while the MP was insane. I mean it had to have some over powered abilities if they were so low, yet the level and MP were so high. I did not want to be on the testing end of that magic. We retreated towards the exit. Despite the monster disappearing into the darkness as we moved out of range, I knew it was following us. There was a pressure, maybe even some sort of fear aura. We reached the exit but Tor had stopped. I stopped as well and heard voices.¡± ¡°¡­telling you.¡± Girl one said. ¡°We paid for information on a dungeon and people are already here. Complete bullshit if you ask me.¡± Guy one said. ¡°Meh, we had to travel all the way from Vlat, and this is off a road no matter how pathetic.¡± Guy two said. ¡°We will be taking this dungeon for ourselves and these supplies.¡± Girl two said. ¡°Follow my lead.¡± I whispered to Tor as I felt a presence closing in behind us. I stepped out to the first part of the entrance from behind the wood wall. I saw seven people all standing around talking. They all looked at me and my flaming sword and then back at me. ¡°I need a breath of fresh air. Killing things always gets me a bit sweaty you know. Let¡¯s check if the rest of our group is rested. Come on Tor.¡± She followed behind me and we began to walk right past all the players as if they didn¡¯t concern us. One tried to stand in our way but I stepped around her and kept on going. As we exited they were slowly following behind us. ¡°Hey wait up. What do you think you are doing?¡± Girl two said. The rest of her group spread out around her with the entrance to their backs. I heard a crash, probably the Reaper of Skulls cutting down the wood wall. ¡°Just getting some fresh air before the rest of my team comes out. He is dying to meet you.¡± Some of them spun around while the rest looked confused. There was a tense fifteen seconds and then the Reaper came out of the entrance. I had thought it would be less intimidating out in the sunlight. Unfortunately that wasn¡¯t the case. The belt of skulls looked like they were screaming despite being skulls. The scythe had an black obsidian shaft and the blade dripped with black ichor. The robe was dark as midnight and a cloud of dark mist hovered under the monster¡¯s robe concealing its feet. The scariest part was what was under the hood. There was nothing resembling a face. Just a mass of pointy spiked teeth that converged into the blackness of the hood it wore. ¡°He is having a bad day, sorry about that. All of you say hi to the Reaper of Skulls.¡± One of the boys pissed himself. The Reaper moved forward and swung its scythe. It wasn¡¯t fast, but nothing slowed it down. Not the shield the girl brought up or her torso. The scythe cut her in half and she toppled over, entrails going everywhere and blood pouring out. The flesh where the blade had struck turned black and began to bubble and melt away. ¡°COME ON, EVERYONE!¡± One of the guys yelled. I had to give him credit for his balls. He rushed in and stabbed the Reaper. Tor shot an arrow into its hood and the other players moved in. The sword struck the robe and curved away. The guy was in the middle of a charge and then slammed into the robe. The Reaper didn¡¯t even move. Flesh, clothing, organs, and everything that was that man went every direction but the Reaper. Invincibility field, no wonder why it had almost no stats. The arrow Tor had shot curved around in mid-air and continued as if nothing had happened. The skeletal hands seemed to tighten on the scythe and it struck out again. This time the Reaper drove the point right on top of the guy¡¯s skull, despite him rolling to the side. Possible precognition. The tip of the blade penetrated and the guy¡¯s head exploded like a water balloon. His body collapsed onto the ground twitching. I began to slowly back away. Two of the players began to run. Suddenly the Reaper disappeared in a swirl of darkness and appeared in front of one the players. He ran into the robe and his body literally exploded all over the place. The Reaper swung and cut off a girl¡¯s legs who was nearby. The black corruption consumed her cut off appendages and began to work its way up her legs. She screamed and screamed. It had freaking teleportation also. It picked up the girl and brought her up to its hood. ¡°Observe.¡±
Reaper of Skulls
LvL: 173
Strongest Stat: Fate
HP: 100
MP: 12***
SP: 100
For the five seconds the info appeared the MP was spiraling upwards. He was draining the girl. I watched as her flesh shriveled and dried up. The last two players had run away and that left me and Tor against an invulnerable, teleporting, scythe wielding monster that sucked magic from people¡¯s flesh. ¡°Tor, start using the strongest spell you can. I will hold it off.¡± I didn¡¯t wait for her reply. I turned off the flames and sheathed my blade and drew two throwing knives. I began to run and throw. I had noted that its MP had dropped quite a bit during that fight. Whatever abilities it had, they cost a lot, and if I could get it down to zero MP I might stand a chance. It dropped the drained, legless girl who had been pierced all over her face. That must have been a kiss from hell. I aimed for its hands, not its body as I strafed the Reaper. The first knife glanced off and the hood began to follow me. A swirl of darkness enveloped the Reaper and I dove forward. I felt the air push down above my back as the scythe missed me by inches. I suddenly felt a glow around me and everything seemed to slow down slightly. Tor had probably buffed my Dexterity even more, thank god. I kept throwing daggers until I was out and then drew both my swords. ¡°Observe.¡±
Reaper of Skulls
LvL: 173
Strongest Stat: Fate
HP: 98
MP: 1412
SP: 100
Only two freaking HP, from that first dagger it. At least it could be wounded. It still had some MP left, probably good for one more attack. A glow surrounded the Reaper and I moved in. Tor had shouted something but I couldn¡¯t focus on her at the moment. The scythe swung down and I darted to the side. The Reaper turned the downwards attack into a sideways sweep, while pivoting. Blocking a scythe was near impossible due to its hooked nature. I would have to block it perfectly head on or the point would slide off and pierce me. I was tempted to rush in, but I am sure that was want the monster wanted. I let myself fall to the ground while the scythe cut the air above me. I cut out with my regular blade at the monster¡¯s feet. The blade went through the mist and struck the robes. I was already rolling away without looking the damage I had done. The scythe hit the ground next to me and sent of a shower of dirt that melted away and left the dirt in the newly formed crater a black color. An arrow flew and struck the Reaper in its chest causing it to pause for a moment. This gave me the chance I needed to get back on my feet. ¡°Flame on.¡± I then broke every rule of sword fighting and threw my blade like a spear at the monster¡¯s hood, praying that this would work. The blade seemed to hesitate for a second before piercing through. The entire head went up in flames and the monster collapsed on the ground. The massive scythe skidded away. I looked over at Tor. *** I was so going to kill Kenji after this. This was exactly the reason I didn¡¯t want to keep exploring. But nooooooooooo. He just had to go and poke the proverbial dragon. I watched as player after player were cut down effortlessly. I had tried an arrow, but that didn¡¯t do anything. ¡°Tor, start using the strongest spell you can. I will hold it off.¡± What an idiot, but I had to do something. First buff Kenji. I knew he had dumped most of his stat points into Dexterity and began a chant to increase that. I focused and the spell latched onto him. That had taken a hundred MP. I had two hundred and change left to give. I decided to take a risk. ¡°Oh Dowism, strike down this foul monster and remove your blessing from its being so that it may flounder in the darkness that is the unknown.¡± My MP plummeted to just above zero but the spell took. A failed casting would still use MP, which was why using anything too powerful was risky. You could waste all your MP and accomplish nothing. ¡°I got his Wisdom, go, go!¡± Kenji drew his swords and set one alight. I was backing away-
SYSTEM ERROR
EMERGENCY EJECTION IN PROGRESS
PLEASE STAND BY
*** Author¡¯s Note: Thank you everyone, this story is now ranked 241, only 240 more to slay. RR ranks stories based on views, ratings, follows, and favorites while being weighted for activity. Since I have been posting every day, my story has a lot lower metrics than similarly ranked stories. This is why I need as many reviews as I can get. I was bumped up over a hundred ranks, mainly from all the reviews and ratings I received over the last day. It also helps that a number of your reviews got put on the front page. Thank you everyone for your support. Ranking is to authors what size is to men (and women only in another area). No one admits it, but it is true. Also unlike personal features, I can never have a high enough ranking. It is also a validation of my writing abilities, so thank you for your support. The bonus chapter will be going out right after this. Don¡¯t worry it will go up in a couple of days for everyone who didn¡¯t bother to review¡­shame, for shame. All I have to say about it is, Plantapus and epic battle. So you know, I will probably be evil again in the future. So leave a review now so you don¡¯t have to worry about getting a bonus chapter later on. Changing topics, I might slow down my writing pace just a bit. It is exhausting keeping up the current pace and it is causing my quality to drop slightly, which I don¡¯t like. So more like one chapter a day instead of two for a bit. (Still insane ;p) The big question is how long can I go with posting a chapter every single day. If I can make it to the end of December I will give myself a gold star. Interlude - 2 INTERLUDE 2 ¡°Albus, Balkor is in chaos.¡± The old man turned from his book to look at one of his generals who had just entered. ¡°Wasn¡¯t it already in chaos?¡± ¡°Yes, but we had just subjugated the town and more Order members were arriving daily. Unfortunately a boss monster was unleashed on us. Initial reports make it out to be the work of Kenji Shadowen.¡± ¡°Let us not confuse fact with the easy explanation. Confirm he is the cause and then we will act.¡± ¡°Of course, but the situation is dire and our hold on the city is crumbling.¡± ¡°You will go with all our remaining forces in Breckley. I will remain here to ensure our alliance. The other generals will have to work on stabilizing their own regions.¡± ¡°What about the harvesting we have been doing. If we mobilize, that operation will come to a halt.¡± ¡°Hire NPCs to run it. While not the best option we must stretch our man power.¡± ¡°What about Kenji, people will see it as weakness if he is not brought to heal.¡± ¡°Hmmm, he did defeat our First Breckley team a while back. Very well, who is the best hunter team?¡± ¡°Hunter Team Five, but they are over in the Union at the moment.¡± ¡°Hunter Team Four?¡± ¡°Killed in Balkor.¡± ¡°I will think on the matter then. Good luck general.¡± ¡°Thank you Albus.¡± The general left thinking that his leader took roleplaying way too seriously before his thoughts turned to the Balkor situation. *** ¡°People of the world. Today marks a grave day for us as a human race. For centuries where there has been progress, there have been those that choose to live in the past. Well today, we say no more. Omnitrek Board of Directors along with the UN Security Council have both voted unanimously to allow Omnitrek Security Services to deploy at all our infrastructure worldwide in cooperation with each counties military. In order to offset the cost Omnitrek is allowing for a one percent tax increase on all its services.¡± ¡°Do not fear loyal customers, for your rates will not increase. I, along with the rest of Omnitrek vow to maintain our services and hold to our standard rates despite these troubled times. It is our duty, no, our privilege to serve you all. Thank you for your time.¡± ¡°So John, what do you think about what we just heard from Omnitrek¡¯s CEO?¡± ¡°These so-called lifer terrorists are in big trouble. A full security deployment hasn¡¯t been seen since the Middle East collapsed.¡± ¡°It should be noted that the terrorists primarily aimed for fusion plants during the latest attack, the very thing that collapsed the Middle East over thirty years ago.¡± ¡°It also appears that most of the terrorists are Middle Eastern. They also have the lowest percentage of VR capsules of any region. That can¡¯t be coincidence.¡± ¡°This just in, we have a live feed from a Mark Seven security drone as it is about to raid a terrorist complex. Warning, this might be graphic for our more sensitive viewers.¡± ¡°We can thank Omnitrek Media Services for this real time feed as we strike back at these terrorists. Please note that everything is at one fifth the speed so audio won¡¯t be understandable.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t they just bomb the bunker?¡± ¡°Gravimetric scans from orbit show at least three children or small humans. Omnitrek Security Services have a mandate to save everyone twelve and younger so they can be rehabilitated at an Omnitrek Educational Centers.¡± ¡°Looks like the Sevens are going in. Oh look they deployed an Aerial Fortress as well. You can see it in the distance over there.¡± ¡°Oh, that one who just ran out got splatted.¡± ¡°That is why terrorists don¡¯t stand a chance.¡± ¡°The Seven is going in. Looks like it is using flame throwers to clear out the corridors.¡± ¡°Ouch, that terrorist got melted to the wall.¡± ¡°You can kind of see a permanent scream etched into his face.¡± ¡°Yeah, I see it also. That will show them.¡± ¡°Only five terrorists left and the three children based on the feed we are receiving. They are all in a larger room under the complex.¡± ¡°Those gravimetric maps are incredibly useful, wish we had them in FEAR.¡± ¡°Would make things too easy. Oh look the Seven is getting ready to move in and save the children.¡± ¡°And the terrorists are dead. Perfect shots right between the eyes. One wouldn¡¯t expect any less from a Mark Seven. Oh and they tranquilized the kids to prevent them from seeing this scene. Just look at their shabby clothes, those terrorists were clearly holding them prisoner for some nefarious scheme. They will be going to a much better place now that we freed them.¡± ¡°Indeed, well that just goes to show why Omnitrek is the leading mega-corporation, because they care.¡± ¡°Well I am glad that they have such a strong sense of civic duty, spending their resources to wipe the terrorists out while keeping their capsule rates low.¡± ¡°Well with the new birth tracking laws going into effect next month, Omnitrek will be able to locate any one born on the planet and hopefully stop terrorist activity before it occurs. Hopefully that will allow rates to drop even more.¡± ¡°People can always opt out of this service by the way, but then they won¡¯t be able to use Omnitrek services. A good policy that allows for everyone to get what they want.¡± Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Indeed, so you here about the Buzz Bird in FEAR?¡± ¡°Yes, also players have started a bounty to kill one Kenji Shadowen in game for unleashing it. It is currently at ten thousand, five hundred and thirty dollars, but is expected to rapidly increase.¡± ¡°Well unleashing boss monsters on towns is fairly serious. We are lucky the Order was around to stop that thing.¡± ¡°Indeed, and in other news, a war appears to be brewing in the east with The Union. If anyone is on the ground and can provide some reliable news, it would be appreciated.¡± ¡°I am trying to get over there, but unfortunately it is quite far and the oceans are pretty brutal to travel.¡± ¡°I heard some players are trying to build some infrastructure to get flying and other technologies going in FEAR. Unfortunately monsters appear to be highly attracted to them. Already one town was overrun after a small generator was built.¡± ¡°That does make things more challenging. I wonder what new inventions will come out of this difficultly?¡± ¡°We now turn to the Omnitrek Space Program. The first Martian has been born. Unfortunately due to the low gravity environment, Alissa perished moments after birth.¡± ¡°That is sad news. Hopefully the gravimetric technology Omnitrek is researching will help solve these problems.¡± ¡°Stay tuned for a quick word from our sponsors, we will be right back with the latest news.¡± ¡°Omnitrek Media Services, showing the world as it truly is.¡± ¡°Rose Labs, proud supplier of VR nutrition in the form of Soylent.¡± ¡°Omnitrek Security Services, protecting the world one person at a time.¡± ¡°Omnitrek Power Generation, keeping your capsules running.¡± ¡°TechHub, the leading service provider for all your VR capsule needs.¡± *** Author¡¯s Note: I have nothing against the Middle East. Unfortunately the culture/religion in the region tends towards the extreme and intolerant. Also the entire region is supported by oil. When Fusion Power becomes a reality in the next 10-20 years that entire region will collapse into poverty most likely. It would then be a reasonable step to assume that their anger would be targeted at Omnitrek, who is taking more and more control over every aspect of their lives, while they remain poor. Look up ITER in France to see the progress on fusion power. Also Rose Labs is real along with Soylent. Look it up. I would say it tastes like liquefied cheerios, and much better chilled. I honestly believe this is what the world will look like in fifty years if VR is possible. For the most part this is a sub-plot to our MC¡¯s adventures. But I do read the reviews and decided to give you a glimpse into what a world run by a caring and benevolent mega-corporation would look like. Saving children, killing terrorists, and making the world a safer place. This is not the focus of my story, since it would be hard to have a MC. *** Science Corner: For those of you who don¡¯t want to read through the technical stuff on fusion on wikipedia let me break it down here for you. Feel free to use this for your school papers ;p. Not a teacher btw, but I appreciate the votes. Fusion is the process where two atoms come together to form a larger atom/heavier element and release some stored energy. The sun and stars are perfect examples of fusion, the intense gravity forces the Hydrogen close enough to combine into Helium and release the energy that is the Sun. This process normally does not occur because of the Strong Nuclear Force. There are four fundamental forces that hold our universe together, Strong Nuclear Force, Weak Nuclear Force, Electromagnetism, and Gravity. The Strong Nuclear Force is the attraction and repulsion of protons and electrons. This operates on a micro scale. Gravity operates on a macro scale, which is why it takes a lot of Gravity to overcome the Strong Nuclear Force. This is also why the sun is huge and why the core of our planet doesn¡¯t begin the Fusion process since Earth is too small. I explain all of this to help convey in the challenge of fusion power which is energy containment. Since we cannot produce gravity we have to rely on intense magnetic fields and heat to overcome the Strong Nuclear Force. This is the biggest hurdle to fusion power, creating a containment system strong enough to contain super-heated plasma at millions of degrees under intense pressure. ITER is a collaboration project between nations to build a test reactor as a proof of concept. A giant donut shaped containment chamber is being constructed where an intense magnetic field will be generated. This will be used to suspend the super-heated plasma in a vacuum. Tritium and deuterium will then be injected to fuel the fusion process. Tritium and deuterium are fancy names for water with three neutrons and two neutrons respectively on their hydrogen atoms. This extra mass lowers the energy barrier to initiate fusion. Another name for this is heavy water. While some naturally occurs in trace amounts, this is normally generated by bombarding water with radiation. Fusion power has no risks. If the containment is breached the process will just shut off naturally as it comes in contact with the air. There is no radiation or waste. The only thing given off is heat and extra neutrons which is called neutron flux. In case you are wondering, nuclear energy is fission. This is where heavy (lots of electrons, protons, and neutrons) elements like Uranium split apart and generate heat as they do so. This process can be regulated which is where nuclear energy comes in or nuclear bombs. The primary problems are the radioactive waste products and the risk of a containment breach leading to a runaway reaction. The only cost for Fusion power will be the infrastructure to house the reactor, a lot, upkeep, a lot less than other plants, and finally the fuel which is water. Energy prices would easily plummet as nations would race to build fusion plants to solver energy demands in a cheap and environmentally friendly way. I bet you probably thought I was just a brutish thug who liked senseless violence. You come for the blood and stay for the lecture. Now you can impress your family over Christmas with some worldly knowledge. Chapter 21: Horrors Unveiled I ran over to Tor as she collapsed on the ground. Just as I reached her, her eyes snapped open and she sat up. ¡°Tor, what happened?¡± ¡°Everything is fine Kenji.¡± ¡°What is the square root of four?¡± ¡°Two, why do you ask.¡± Dammit it was the auto-pilot. We had agreed beforehand that if for some reason we thought the other was on auto-pilot ask that question. If it was really us we would respond with something stupid like bread. If we were under duress we would respond with an animal. ¡°Tor, why don¡¯t you check the horses and our wagon. Come get me if there is any trouble.¡± ¡°Are you sure, we might want to stick together.¡± ¡°I will join you in a moment.¡± Tor the auto-pilot nodded and walked away. I initiated my log-off and ordered my auto-pilot to kill anything approaching the cave that wasn¡¯t Tor or the horses. I returned to my Atrium and rushed to the global news channel. Terrorism, multiple targets hit, the power grid went down, emergency capsule ejections across parts of Europe and Asia. There was nothing to be done. Either she would log back on, or she was dead. Service reports estimated at most three days to restore full power and VR service to the affected areas. Fifteen in game days, that was a long time. I logged back in. Looking around there didn¡¯t appear to be any issues. I then steeled myself and went over to the Reaper. Its head was a burnt cinder thankfully. I carefully pulled my blade free. With identification having gone up to level three I really had no choice, ¡°Identification, Identification.¡±
Robes of the Reaper of Skulls
LvL: 100
Requirements: 500 Fate
Status: +50% Death resistence, 3x magical defensive power
The Scythe of the Reaper of Skulls
LvL: 100
Requirements: 500 Fate, 100 Wisdom
Status: 3x magical attack power, Advanced death poison imbued into blade
The robe was interesting, but looked broken in quite a bit. The scythe was a letdown with the Wisdom requirement. I could probably find an interested buyer. Better yet, I could sell it to Solid Steel. They had started running a high end trading system to complement their mercenary business, a one stop shop. I hated selling stuff, it was such a pain to track people down and here in FEAR there would be betrayals. Solid Steel had really figured out how to work the system. I really didn¡¯t want to do this part. I began to undress the Reaper. Despite everything I had seen and done, this was vile. I had to bite down to prevent myself from throwing up. The horror of what was under those robes, it looked like a sea urchin had mated with a corpse and that was its pretty cousin. Spiked mouths were over the body and diseased flesh hung from oddly shaped bones. The cloud of mist that had been appearing beneath the creature appeared to come from its drool that ran down its body and evaporated. The smell alone was overpowering and as my eyes began to water, partly from the smell that seemed to be released on death and partly from the horror of what was before me. I wasn¡¯t able to tell if it was a man or woman. At that point I got up to take a break from my necropsy, or was it an autopsy? AP Tor was looking after the horses that had been hiding behind the wagon. I was grateful that the Reaper hadn¡¯t trashed the wagon to get through and there had been enough space to go around. Everything looked fine and I took a moment to catch my breath. I went back outside and that was when I saw the corpse jerk. Not good. Definitely not good. I pulled out Nus¡¯ Awakening and lit it up. I then ran it down the length of the both, cutting through in half sideways. I then began to hack its limbs off. A minute later, there was a burnt dismembered monster. ¡°Thank god that¡¯s over.¡± I let out a sigh. Whatever was resurrecting the monsters in the dungeon was probably regenerating this thing. It was time to go. I wanted to explore more, but with Tor incapacitated and players moving in on the area it wouldn¡¯t be wise to stay. There was also the fact that this Reaper was on the first level and could easily have been the second monster faced in the dungeon. That meant, that whatever was lurking in the lower levels was insane. Probably some sort of demi-god. This dungeon was probably top tier, and not a starter one. Were there even starter dungeons? I just knew that it was way beyond what I could handle by myself. Even with a massive Dexterity boost, I had barely managed to survive. I carefully lifted up the robe and dumped it in the nearby stream. The belt of skulls was etched along the robe and were one item for all intents and purposes. The water turned a greyish color and the plants near the river banks began to die. I set some rocks on the robe to keep it there and then grabbed up the scythe. A scythe is a really inconvenient weapon. There was no easy way to store it, and with the poison on the blade I didn¡¯t dare lay it down in the wagon. That meant I had to carry it and I had never practiced with a scythe based weapon. It was too big to throw and any combat style using it would be completely different than a regular blade. One would have to sweep and catch people as they moved in. It wasn¡¯t good for jabbing either. Standing at eight feet tall, I looked ridiculous holding it. I had AP Tor get the horses hitched up and the wagon out of the cave. I went back and looked at the monster corpse. It was slowly reforming. I kept an eye on it while I looted the player¡¯s corpses who had fallen. I didn¡¯t bother to move them, it would make for a great setting for the next person to come through here. I gathered up a bunch of weapons and some money. AP Tor had gotten the wagon out of the cave and went and retrieved the cloak. I ended up hanging it off the rear of the wagon like a tail flap so the dark water didn¡¯t trip on anything. I used my swords to lift it up since I didn¡¯t dare touch it. I then hopped on the wagon. We then set off back down the road, AP Tor driving and I held the scythe while keeping watch. Fifteen days, fifteen days I had to watch her body at the most. It would be a long fifteen days. We would head towards Str. The trip would probably take a week and it was far too soon for a meeting with the Mystery Man. Well tough luck, the schedule just got moved up. I logged out and sent a message to Solid Steel to convey. They weren¡¯t happy, I didn¡¯t care. Eight days from now we would meet. Then I would leave and keep going west. Maybe all the way to Vlat or even the far coast. There were a number of barbarian tribes that wandered the plains and edges of the Durrunian Desert. I did want to get back to Breckley in the spring, since there was a wedding I didn¡¯t want to miss. I thought back to the first time I had watched Game of Thrones for my inspiration. Maybe I could have corpses rain down from the ceiling and then explode in a shower of guts over the guests? That had possibilities, but then there were so many other options. I wanted to wipe Breckley off the map and get some stat points. There was no chance I would beat a dragon or greater demon any time soon. I flipped open my windows that had piled up.
Throwing-5 MAX
Rapid Throwing-1
Intermediate Biology-3
I skimmed past all of that and looked at the last message.
NOTIFICATION
You have angered the Goddess Tafe and drawn her ire for your actions.
Curse of the Goddess Tafe-1
For you are a lack witted fool
???
What was with the ¡®???¡¯. What did I do to be cursed? Stupid question, almost everything probably. I looked at the scythe. ¡°Tor did you get cursed?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe so. Watch your eyes mister.¡± She needed to hurry back. This AP was killing me. We came to where the Plantapus had been. I could see a trail of destruction heading south from ripped up trees on the side of the road which it had knocked over. Thankfully none of the trees blocked the road completely. I felt a tiny pang of regret for what I had unleashed and quickly quashed that feeling. Players got a play, and haters are going to hate. We stopped for the night and we got a huge fire going. ¡°So Tor want to take off your clothes so you are more comfortable?¡± ¡°No thank you.¡± ¡°You sure, it would be a fiery experience.¡± ¡°I am not interested, if you try anything we won¡¯t be friends.¡± ¡°I¡¯m your friend now?¡± ¡°You always have been Kenji.¡± ¡°Why did you choose to keep your monthlies?¡± ¡°It was a decision I made and I am sticking to it.¡± The AP was frustrating. Its responses were determined by default to player behavior over time. Without instructions before logging off, it would continue on like a mentally challenged child. At least it could keep watch. The next day we continued onwards first thing in the mourning. Good thing about the AP, it didn¡¯t complain about leaving at the crack of dawn. I saw a three people coming down the road towards me. I slowed up the wagon and adjusted my straw hat. ¡°Tor, either they or I attack, will you help?¡± ¡°Yes, of course.¡± Stupid AP, but whatever. ¡°Hey there.¡± The guy in front said. Players since one of them had blonde hair which wasn¡¯t common for NPCs in the area. ¡°Hello.¡± I pulled the cart to a stop and both my hands gripped my scythe. While I had done a training program during the night, it was a shitty weapon. It was completely opposite how one would use a sword. ¡°Why don¡¯t you step off the cart?¡± ¡°I like the view up here, move out of the way or I will make you.¡± I gave a look to the side at the giant scythe. The girl and guy behind their spokesman looked at me nervously. ¡°You are wanted Kenji Shadowen, by order of the Order.¡± I let out a snort at how stupid that sounded. ¡°I have two questions. First how much do you want to be tortured? Second question, who do I start with first? Fear aura, one minute.¡± They all began trembling and I could see one of them begin to sweat a bit. ¡°We stand with the light. We will put an end to your evil ways.¡± Wow this guy was really over the top. ¡°All together, we can take him.¡± ¡°Tor, stay here and protect the cart.¡± I hopped off and began advancing. They weren¡¯t fifty levels below me or they were made of really strong stuff to resist the fear aura. I began walking forward casually. When I was eight feet away, I darted forward a couple feet and swung the scythe out in a large arc. I let the shaft slide through my grip until I was holding only the very end. The blade impacted one player in the side. I had been aiming for the head, but this weapon was incredibly unwieldly. The tip pierced through the cloth and whatever he was wearing underneath. He didn¡¯t separate so I let go of the scythe and drew my swords. ¡°Flame on.¡± I rushed forward. The remaining man and woman moved next to each other and raised their shields. Shields are good in large melee and when your feet are protected. You can¡¯t just hide behind them, that was a rookie mistake. I drove my blade into the woman¡¯s calf, right above her foot. I left the blade in her leg as she crumbled. With my flaming sword, I began raining blows upon my last opponent. He tried to counter attack, but it was slow and easily deflected to the side. He glanced over to the side at his companions. I took that opportunity to drive my blade into his face. Flesh roasted, eyeballs popped, and charred bits of brain exploded out the back of his head. I held my sword inside of him for a second before yanking it out. The corpse collapsed to the ground. I looked to the side at the others. The one I had hit with the sythe had partially dissolved in a black and red mess. ¡°Flame off.¡± The woman had logged out it appeared as some of the fear had left her face. I whacked her twice on the side of the head to knock her out. I looted them and put away my weapons. I then tied and gagged the woman and tossed her in the back of the wagon. I picked up the scythe and we continued onwards. We didn¡¯t reach the edge of the forest before nightfall and pulled off into one of the many small clearings that dotted the roadside. I had Tor set up camp and then dragged my prisoner out. I then ungagged her. ¡°Everyone knows where you are. They are coming for you Rain of Blood. I also have mental logout set up.¡± ¡°I will give you a choice. You can stay logged in and play along. Or I can sell you at my destination. They have ways of breaking troublesome slaves.¡± ¡°I would sooner bite my own tongue off.¡± ¡°Not many people can suicide. The fact that you are so weak makes me not believe you.¡± We stared at each other and she finally hung her head. ¡°You let me screw you without logging out and then I will let you go.¡± ¡°You are lying. You will probably take all my stuff.¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°I will leave you with clothes, food, and water and a dagger. If you convince me you are enjoying it, maybe a couple of coppers. Aren¡¯t you a bit curious, I am sure there are rumors about me.¡± ¡°No way in hell, do your worst. I am a loyal member of the Order. Whatever you can dish out, I can take.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± I put the gag back on. She never should have issued a challenge like that. That would probably count as consent for the system. I cut off her clothes and her eyes widened when a flame rippled over my clothing. She didn¡¯t die, but she had ripped and was heavily burnt. The AP Tor just calmly watched the scene while munching on some bread and jerky. I cleaned myself up and got the scythe. I carefully touched the flat of the blade against her hand. I had thought she had thrashed and screamed before, this was a new level. Where the blade touched, the flesh turned black and began to melt away. I then pulled her other hand over and forced it into the black and red mess. I then washed it off with some water. The skin was pale but intact. I touched the tip of my pinky into the dissolved flesh and blackness. There was a strong stinging sensation, like being pricked with a needle. I had AP Tor bring the almost empty barrel of beer over. We each had two mugs to empty it out. With AP Tor¡¯s help, we put the girl on the tail of the wagon with her legs hanging off the end over the barrel. I then used one of the spare swords to rub it on the scythe¡¯s blade and then rub it on the bottom of her feet. The poison didn¡¯t carry over, it was imbued in the blade and seemed only to react to living things. The dirt that turned black had microbes and small organisms in it probably or the magic the Reaper pushed into the weapon, pushed the poison out. I slowly began to melt the half-baked girl into the barrel. I observed carefully, and when the flesh touched the blade, black ooze seemed to be drawn out and corrupt the flesh. She was dead by the time I reached her knees and the barrel was slowly filling up with melted flesh and scythe poison. I cut off her good arm and set it to the side. After half an hour I had melted the entire woman except for the cut off arm. I then picked up the cast off arm and dipped it into the barrel half way while holding onto the other end. I let it sit for a minute and then pulled it out. It was corroded open and I could see the muscle and sinew underneath. I dropped the arm back into the barrel and let it go. I then spent the night using a dagger to put a couple drops of poison flesh mix onto my skin. The pain easily kept me up all night. This was probably a level four poison. If the vines were level three, this would take a while. The next morning, AP Tor and I carefully tied down the barrel in the corner making sure it wouldn¡¯t tip over. Throughout the day I would use a dagger to spread the poison out on my body. We left the forest and got onto the dirt road to Str. ¡°People approach.¡± Tor said. I looked up from the wagon bed and saw at least twenty people, probably players, coming down the road toward us. I picked up the scythe and hopped off the wagon. ¡°Tor dip your arrowheads into the barrel and shoot the people, I will protect you and the wagon.¡± ¡°Yes Kenji.¡± She pulled the wagon to the stop and got busy while I moved forward. ¡°Come with us-¡° AP Tor had decent aim as the arrow hit the man in the shoulder from sixty feet away. He looked shocked for a second as he stumbled back. Then the poison struck, he began to scream and rip at the arrow. The others looked shocked and a Tor got a second before they could get their wits together. ¡°Fear Aura, five minutes.¡± One guy pissed himself and ran away off into the surrounding fields. The rest did not look comfortable. Tor got a third one and then they realized they had to do something. They charged. I swung back with the scythe and then swung it as hard as I could and let it go. It just wasn¡¯t my type of weapon and this should be hilarious. The scythe managed to cut two people. They collapsed as their flesh melted away. Tor got a forth and I was rushing in with my swords drawn. Everyone¡¯s eyes followed my flaming blade allowing me to strike out with my other one, which they weren¡¯t prepared for. After I had killed two, the rest broke and scattered. I went around killing the survivors leaving one of less injured but crippled ones. He was unable to walk and was crawling away, a trail of blood behind him. One of my attacks and cut halfway through his left knee. I cut the rest of his leg off and cauterized the wound. I wiped my blades on his back, sheathed them, and then flipped the guy over. ¡°Name?¡± ¡°Ron¡­Ronald.¡± He sputtered out. ¡°Ronald, Ronald, Ronald. What am I to do? Don¡¯t speak anymore. If you have mental auto pilot set up close your-¡° ¡°Log-¡° I was ready and punched him in the stomach. ¡°Oh foolish Ronald.¡± I then took one of my knives and cut out his tongue. I then used my flame sword and a knife to burn the wound shut. ¡°I am now going to torture you so badly, that the next time someone thinks about messing with me, they will either go all out or piss themselves¡­which you just did.¡± I then tied him up under the wagon. ¡°Now we have to clean you up.¡± I began to cut off all his clothes. ¡°I could water board you, or any number of things. But in the end this will be far worse. I see we both have similar fathers.¡± I was on my knees next to him. Each arm and remaining leg was tied to a different wheel. The wagon was about three feet off the ground, giving me ample room to work. I reached out and placed my hand on his groin and began to rub him. A ripple of flames appeared and he let out a feral scream. ¡°Despite the pain you seem to enjoy this.¡± After a minute of that I stopped. There were bleeding burn blisters covering him where I had been rubbing. I had Tor bring me the senbon after dipping the tips into the barrel of poison. I began to lightly jab him with the senbon all over his bodies. He passed out. I then poured water on his face and slapped him back awake. I continued again. AP Tor kept watch and looted the corpses as I tortured the guy with senbon for about an hour. I then untied him from the wagon and bound his hands behind his back. I then dragged him out from under the wagon. With AP Tor¡¯s help we carefully lifted the barrel of poison and sat it next to the guy. ¡°You know the stuff I have been lightly poking you with. Well this is a barrel of it. First you are going to drink some. Then we are going to put you in the barrel up to your neck.¡± I grabbed his head before he could slam it into the ground. ¡°Tor can you grab a mug please.¡± ¡°Sure, not a problem.¡± She went and grabbed a mug and returned. ¡°Hold his head and keep him laying down. I plan to leave a message no one will ever forget. Don¡¯t mess with me.¡± I scooped up half a mug of the poison mixed with liquefied human remains. I pinched his nose shut and then readied the mug. He tried to hold his breath but was then forced to breathe. I poured the concoction over his mouth. Some of it spilled away but a lot went in. I cast away the mug and then slammed his jaw shut forcing him to swallow. I saw his throat move and then let go of his nose. He began to shake violently like he was having a seizure. ¡°Help me lift him up.¡± AP Tor reached under his other armpit and then we lowered him into the barrel. I let him sit in their for about fifteen seconds as he continued to spasm. ¡°Help me lift him up again.¡± We lifted him up and I made sure to get a good view of his destroyed body. ¡°Let¡¯s set him off to the side.¡± We carried him over to a nearby ditch with a small amount of running water. I rolled him into it. I then walked over and cut off the bindings around his wrists behind his back. ¡°That is what people who mess with me get. Pass the word along.¡± I picked up the scythe and we continued onwards. Looking back, at the edge of my vision I saw two players return to their tortured comrade. We continued on until I saw a bend in the road. I had Tor slow down after we passed it. ¡°Go for another thirty minutes and then stop. I will rejoin you shortly.¡± ¡°Sure, be careful.¡± I was really starting to miss her wise cracks. I hopped off the cart and hid in a ditch surrounded by a grove of trees just past the bend. After ten minutes five players came by heading up the road. I grabbed the scythe and rushed out of the grove. I wasn¡¯t being that quiet and one of them turned. ¡°Look out-¡° I swung the scythe in a large arc and then pulled it back. It sliced the player through the knees. I had wanted the hips, but the weight had pulled the blade lower than I had anticipated. I had to admit, that this was almost better. The player toppled over as his flesh melted. Death poison was incredibly over powered. I waded into the rest of the players. I managed to kill two more before the other two ran off. I chased one down and swung the scythe in an overhead swing. The tip of the blade pierced his groin. I pulled and he was moving forward. The scythe dug into his body by about half an inch. My weapon was yanked from my hands as the man collapsed. He was trying to scream as his tongue, nose, and face melted away along with his body all the way down to his groin. I pulled the blade free and returned to the road. I continued along until I came to the wagon. ¡°Where are we? What the hell is going on? It doesn¡¯t feel like you tried anything, if you had, well your father won¡¯t recognize you anymore.¡± *** ¡°Damn man, the whole group wiped.¡± ¡°Tell me about it. What was that thing?¡± ¡°Totally bad news man, totally bad news.¡± ¡°It just one shot everyone¡­Don¡¯t you think that short guy looked familiar?¡± ¡°Yeah, now that you mention it he looked like Rain of Blood.¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t he just in Balkor, that is just north of here isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Yeah, shit man, don¡¯t know who was scarier. I swear he looked like the thing¡¯s child.¡± They sat by the stream for a minute before speaking again. ¡°So what now man?¡± ¡°Well we could head south. I heard from my friend they are recruiting and training up soldiers. Good food, pay, wenches, and lots of levels to be had.¡± ¡°Not a bad idea man.¡± ¡°So¡­¡± A heavy presence settled on the two survivors. They looked over their shoulder together. A boney hand grabbed each of their heads. They began to shake and struggle but the thing that gripped them was far too strong. The monster pulled them in and the spiked mouths began to devour their flesh, partially restoring its burnt husk of a body. A couple of minutes later it dropped them on the ground, their desiccated corpses drained of fluids and lacking organs. The monster turned and began a slow and steady pace after the one who had wronged it. The one who had its robe and weapon, gifted from Tafe herself. It had stood guard for over a thousand years and those who violated the protection of the tunnels were to be killed. For what lay within, nothing should ever be allowed to have. It vowed to retrieve its tools, kill the trespassers, and then secure the area it was meant to guard for all eternity. Never again would it allow itself to be defeated. *** FallenGod: I just puked all over my atrium Ramponator: That was¡­just no Justice: Disturbing UltimataSecret: Note to self: death is preferable to capture 6996: Were those mouths or¡­. GODHAXLOL: HORSEYS! HatMan: Remind me to stay away from there TheLordBreckley: It was a scene that will go down in history, I honestly don¡¯t know how he got that robe off FaceReaper: I am going to find Kenji and give him a tickle down below 6996: ¡­.a tickle¡­. Ramponator: That is the officially now my number one of things I DON¡¯T want to happen in game *** Author¡¯s Note: No Tor didn¡¯t die, but best cliff hanger ever ;p. I was tempted to have a building fall on her in real life, but she had just enough sass to be saved from such a fate. Number 193, we have a lot more to slay. At least we slayed the Reaper¡­ once. I suspect there will be an untimely appearance in the future. I really tried to convey the sheer horror of what was uncloaked and hope that came across. If you have ever watched the movie Teeth, think that only all over the Reaper and you will on your way there. I encourage all you girls reading this to watch the movie with your boyfriend (HEHEHE). ;p So I worked out the boss monster in the dungeon and realized that, well there was no way the MC would stand a chance. You think an immortal monster is bad, oh boy. Swarm Bulb, Plantapus/Buzz Bird, and the Reaper of Skulls have been mini-bosses at best. A true eldritch horror, well, let us just say that lots of things would die (think dragon). *** Teaser: Thousands of legs clicked upon the hard stone as the monster¡¯s body traveled through the ancient tunnels. Its face an indistinct blur of blackness. Motes drifted off of this faceless abyss and seeped into the ground around it. The monster mused about how the protections were weakening and people would come to fight it as in ages past. The legs continued to clink along as it moved through its home deep in thought in anticipation of battles yet to come. Bonus Chapter 6 - How Magic Works I recommend reading this if you want to understand the mechanics of the magic system. I will have the MC talk about it, but not to this depth. If you want to use this system, I ask for a link back to this story and credit. Tafe is watching. Magic is magic. Unfortunately that explanation works for six year old kids and not dedicated readers. Magic in FEAR is based on chants to a god. Gods are named after the aspect of reality they represent and the letters are all shifted. The more people who use the chants of a specific god the less expensive they become. So using the Eight in a chant is far cheaper than naming a new god and calling upon it. There are no hard and fast numbers I work with, otherwise it would become a nightmare to keep track of. Players in my VR have the same experience. If they meet the stat requirements and call upon the god, the system translate that command into a spell and the cost is determined based on effect. So a chant to Constitution to heal a person would be far less than a chant to Health despite both chants doing the exact same thing. This is because there are thousands more people who chant to Constitution. Also the formation of the name matters in terms of the god called upon. Void could be Dovi or Ovdi. While the chants would do the same thing, if other people don¡¯t chant to the same name then the costs are far higher. Over time the more one chants to a specific god the MP costs go down. This is where specialization comes into play. By using the limited amount of MP one has to chant to a few specific gods they can obtain a much greater depth and power of magic in exchange for versatility. The answer in terms of spell cost is that spells cost the ¡®speed of plot¡¯. A terrible answer, but it allows me the flexibility I need without getting bogged down. Base Cost of Spell = (0-Infinite MP) God¡¯s ¡®Level¡¯ of Followers = (0-100) MP Practitioner Level = (0-100) MP The biggest determiner is the base cost of the spell, which is basically whatever the plot calls for. While the lowest value is technically zero, making a spell free. This is impossible since each follower or increase in ability to follow the god would decrease the respective value by a percent. This means an incredibly devout follower, casting the simplest of spells, for the most popular of gods would use 0.01 MP. Unfortunately this individual would not be very versatile and have only a short range of abilities to choose from and even then only the simplest. Though there is the argument of depth, one mastered spell is equal to a thousand spells. It all depends on the player. Spells can also have extra components like HP, SP, items, people who don¡¯t rate this story, virgins, the list is endless. So if you pray to Obdlo (OB-dih-lo), you might just start leaking all over the place. There are risks in calling upon the unknown. Or Lartop (lar-TOP), you might just transport an appendage or two to a different dimension. These extra components normally come into play when a person over shoots the amount of power they have available by an order of magnitude. 100 MP over, the spells fails, 1000 MP over the god Tcu (SU) might just remove quite a bit from your body. So if you accidentally mispronounce the name, you will be calling on a different god and can easily overshoot your available mana. That leads to unpleasant consequences. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Chants can be cast silently through the use of skills that focus on developing the mind. Just like the user interface, more portions are unlocked as an individual masters certain skills. There are skills to save chants at a cost of power and extra MP. So a high level mage could store a certain number of chants to call upon. Think tens, not hundreds in terms of amount. Enchantments are slightly different. While they are based off of the same principles the idea is to tie them into the world¡¯s magic instead of an individual. This is done by crafting a set of glyphs that call upon a god and what the effect is to be, permanently creating a physical representation of a chant. Glyphs are a closely guarded secret as to their meaning and the MP cost of infusing them to latch on to the world¡¯s MP is quite high. This limits the amount of enchanters and number of enchantments they can perform. Also discovering a new glyph is the work of a lifetime. One mistake in the etching process the entire enchantment won¡¯t work. There is also a limit in terms of space and size. Smaller objects like rings are much harder while larger objects like swords and shields are far easier. The most number of enchantments possible on a single object is seven. Any more than that and the object would destabilize. Also enchantments can¡¯t conflict. A sword that bursts into flames and releases water with each swing would conflict and self-destruct. Finally there are ¡®spells¡¯ that don¡¯t call upon any god and have a set cost. Things like Observe, Identification, and Fear Aura are all powered from a person¡¯s own spirit and there is no divine intervention. In terms of the gods, well that is an entirely different thing. You wouldn¡¯t want me to spoil things now. Tafe might send a Reaper after me. I honestly want to retcon the name to Raper of Skulls. It provides quite a different image doesn¡¯t it? Class change, it will get an upgrade. Maybe I could ask her to send it after everyone who hasn¡¯t reviewed, rated, or followed yet. I MEAN YOU! Chapter 22: Journey to Str ¡°Nothing much, just some trouble with a couple of players. I managed to get the Reaper¡¯s cloak and scythe.¡± ¡°You mean that scary black drape hanging off the wagon? What was under-¡° ¡°Don¡¯t ask!¡± ¡°But-¡° ¡°Editing the clips was hard enough. Go watch it if you really want to know. I suggest a puke bucket¡­no joke.¡± ¡°Sorry I asked. So about that weird barrel that used to hold beer. What is that purple liquid?¡± ¡°Poison and human flesh mixed together.¡± ¡°So don¡¯t drink it, got it.¡± I suppressed a grin, but apparently not enough. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Well you helped me feed some to a player to make an example.¡± ¡°How bad was it?¡± ¡°It hurts, like a lot. Get enough on you it starts going through your flesh.¡± ¡°So want to share?¡± She gestured at the scythe. ¡°You know how to use a scythe?¡± ¡°No, but it looks wicked.¡± ¡°I was planning to sell it actually to Solid Steel. I don¡¯t know about the robe. I honestly can¡¯t bring myself to wear anything that¡­thing was wearing. Most likely sell that as well. Don¡¯t you have a shiny ring?¡± ¡°Ah yes, just a swing?¡± I handed her the scythe. ¡°Whatever you do don¡¯t touch the blade. So what happened?¡± ¡°Terrorists hit the comm hub in my area. Whole grid went down. An emergency ejection is not fun, let me tell you.¡± ¡°I bet. So right now we are on our way to Str. Meeting the Mystery Man early if possible and then continuing on west. Apparently the Plantapus attacked Balkor and the Order was almost wiped out in the battle.¡± ¡°Damn, I have been missing out. I will have to watch that. Ok, this is a stupid weapon.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± I took the scythe back. ¡°So ready to keeping going?¡± ¡°Sure, where were you by the way?¡± ¡°Some players following us, I ambushed them, got four, one ran. You drive, I am going to keep torturing myself.¡± ¡°What now?¡± ¡°Dripping the poison on me in hopes of building up an immunity. Only been a day, but hopefully I will be done by Str. Want to try?¡± ¡°Alright, smallest amount.¡± I applied a small bit of poison on her arm. She let out a yelp and poured her canteen of water all over the spot. ¡°No thanks. You may be into that stuff, but no thanks for me.¡± ¡°Wimp.¡± ¡°Saddist.¡± We journeyed on. I lay in the back and kept smearing the poison flesh mix onto different parts of my body. It was frustrating not seeing any visible progress from my poison immunity. We stopped for the night without any more incidents thankfully. We had pulled up to a farmhouse. There was a large family, two grandparents, parents, and seven kids. ¡°Listen up, we want some good food. You don¡¯t cause problems, I won¡¯t kill you all. Questions?¡± ¡°Is this really how you do things?¡± ¡°Yeah, keeps it simple.¡± Tor let out a small sigh. ¡°Move it people, oh, also get a bunch of water for a wash.¡± A bit later Tor and I were sitting against the door to the house. We had lain a large log to block them from opening the back door. We sat there munching on fresh bread and some sort of fruit. ¡°Not a bad idea. So you will really let them live?¡± ¡°I prefer cooperation. As long as they don¡¯t cause trouble.¡± ¡°Well I am going to grab one of the older boys, maybe two. Watch my back.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± I moved away from the door and Tor knocked. One of the boys opened it. There was just a hint of stubble on his face. ¡°Borrowing him for the night, don¡¯t worry good folks.¡± Tor dragged the boy out of the doorway and onto the porch. I shut the door in all their faces and went back to leaning against it. ¡°You want a show?¡± ¡°Sure, why not.¡± After ten minutes the boy lay passed out in exhaustion and Tafe had a grin. ¡°He definitely didn¡¯t last long. I think you broke him.¡± She kicked out and he let out a groan. ¡°Nope, just sore.¡± ¡°I swear that you lifted off the ground for a second there. Then you started going sideways. I heard you chanting something also, what was it?¡± ¡°Just a minor constitution buff so he wouldn¡¯t deflate.¡± ¡°That sounds, both scary and amazing at the same time. I guess he thought so too the way he was screaming and thrashing about. You probably broke him for anyone else now.¡± ¡°Probably, but I like the idea of him dreaming about me forever and ever.¡± ¡°Until the next monster eats him.¡± She whacked me lightly on the shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t ruin the moment. You sure you don¡¯t want a go?¡± ¡°Nah, I caught a player recently.¡± ¡°Oh, who?¡± ¡°No idea, anyways you already saw them.¡± She blinked and there was a moment of silence as her brain tried to process that. ¡°I am confused.¡± ¡°That barrel of poison didn¡¯t just make itself. The scythe needs living things to excrete poison.¡± ¡°Oh. Well there probably wasn¡¯t much left after you were done with her.¡± ¡°Well¡­.¡± ¡°Go on.¡± ¡°She ripped.¡± ¡°Hah, called it.¡± I let out a long sigh at that. ¡°Whatever, I am going to call upon the a sex god to help me out.¡± ¡°Probably turn you into a woman.¡± ¡°Not doing that then.¡± The boy let out a groan. ¡°Looks like he is up. I might as well go for round two and maybe one of the others.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell if it would be torture or a reward from the heavens. Probably both.¡± The next morning we had freshly cooked vegetables and day old bread. We then set off, leaving three naked boys lying out on the porch. ¡°Are you a dominatrix in your real life?¡± ¡°Hah, maybe. A girl never tells.¡± ¡°You really had to go for the third one?¡± ¡°Of course, he looked so sad when I grabbed the second one, I couldn¡¯t just have fun with two of them.¡± ¡°I have been meaning to ask you something. After I defeated the Reaper I checked my screens and saw I had received a curse from Tafe. Did you get anything?¡± ¡°No, what does it do?¡± ¡°No clue, all it lists is question marks.¡± ¡°That is never good. Maybe your junk will fall off.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t joke about stuff like that. How would you like it if I talked about your tits becoming saggy and hanging down to your knees?¡± ¡°Alright, alright. Well it can¡¯t be that bad.¡± ¡°Well you know how the monsters regenerated in that mine.¡± There was a long pause. ¡°Oh god. You mean that monster is going to come back and is probably after us?¡± ¡°Maybe, depends on how much it wants its gear back. Why do you think I plan to sell it.¡± ¡°Smart, what about Solid Steel, won¡¯t they be pissed if it comes after them.¡± ¡°I will make sure that whatever contract we sign has something like, ¡®All sales are final and neither the buyer or seller is liable for anything that occurs from the sale of this weapon.¡¯¡± ¡°Nice.¡± ¡°Well I did listen to Legal Bob for half an hour. I would hope I would pick up a bit of legal jargon.¡± We continued on down the road. I was in the back of the wagon continuing to poison myself. The scythe blade hung off the side of a cart about a foot away. Tor would say something if there was risk of it hitting a tree. A bit after mid-day Tor stopped the wagon. I got up and grabbed the scythe. ¡°Up ahead. There is a tree across the road. I would bet that there is a trap.¡± ¡°Bounty hunters. I think the real life price on me has gone up to twenty thousand something. People just keeping donating into the pool in the hope that some idiot offs me.¡± ¡°You do tempt a girl.¡± ¡°I am tempted to off myself.¡± ¡°So, what do you want to do?¡± We were in the middle of a large patch of trees. Not a true forest, but it would be a pain to get the wagon around, and I didn¡¯t know if that was even possible. ¡°I will circle through the woods. You stay on the cart and shoot anything that comes this way. Oh, and poison your arrows and just hit them. Unless their pain tolerance is insane¡­¡± ¡°Got it.¡± I loved how she always got serious when it was time for some fighting. It would have been a pain to debate every single thing. That trust was worth more than a sack of money. I ran off into the woods and Tor began stringing a bow. I held out the scythe in front me to push through the brush in my way. The plants and branches quickly melted into a black and green goo as the blade touched them. ¡°Oh shit!¡± Someone shouted. I turned and saw six guys standing around with bows and swords. One shot as he spun around. The arrow hit the arm of the person next to him who yelled out. Two of the men rushed towards me with a shout. I held the scythe blade with my left hand as far up the hilt as possible while my right hand was on the base of the shaft. I stopped fifteen feet back. When the two men were just in front of me I pushed the scythe forward. It cut through a small tree and hit the arm of one man while striking the raised blade of the other. I yanked the scythe back to get a better grip and strafed to the side. The man continued to move in and I kept slamming the scythe blade towards him, but two times he managed to block. I went high and he moved forward, probably thinking I missed. I then rotated the scythe and yanked it back towards me. The blade pierced the man¡¯s back and I let go and continued to move through the trees. Arrows began to fly at me and I used my arm guard to block one of the shots that was very accurate despite my erratic movement. There were four men closing in and a woman with swords. I also noted that a seventh was working to take the scythe out of the melting corpse. Another arrow flew in and I barely managed to dodge in time. I whipped out my throwing knives and kept moving. My SP was plummeting incredibly fast, I had about another minute. I was burning about twenty SP a second and had thirteen hundred remaining. I had gone through all of my daggers and only managed to hit two people. My fast speed prevented the archers from getting a bead on me, but made it almost impossible to aim. There were too many, no way I could kill them all before exhaustion set in. I retreated back to the wagon. Tor had gotten two based on the bodies screaming and twisting on the ground. I saw another two people hiding behind some trees. I moved in behind them and stabbed them in the back of the head one after the other. ¡°Tor, coming out of the forest, apple.¡± I stepped out and she let an arrow fly. It struck a person coming up behind me. He went down screaming and ripping at the arrow in his chest. ¡°Thanks.¡± I walked out to the wagon and turned. ¡°Too many?¡± ¡°This place is swarming. Couldn¡¯t get the scythe or daggers back. Focus on the archers¡± I prepared by hopping up onto the wagon and tearing through our gear to get a mug. I left my flaming blade next to Tor and dipped the mug and normal blade into the poison. I hopped off being careful not to spill the mug. ¡°Who wants a drink!¡± The group hesitated and Tor shot another one in the chest. He went down screaming. I rushed forward using the distraction to swipe the mug through the air. The death poison splattered against plants, tree trunks, and three players. One began to scream and run around trying to rub it off his face. I ran back and hopped up on the wagon again. I almost fell into the barrel as an arrow went into my side. I filled up the mug and turned. Another arrow grazed my shoulder. Tor was firing as fast as possible, but there were a large number of enemies left. I saw one holding the scythe and grinning like a mad man. ¡°Power of the Death Scythe, take control, kill everyone that isn¡¯t on the wagon! Tell them it isn¡¯t controlling you!¡± There was a moment of confusion. Some players looked at me. Others looked at the guy with the scythe. After second, five of them rushed for the wagon while the scythe wielder started screaming he wasn¡¯t being controlled as two players advanced on him. I began scooping and throwing mugful after mugful of poison as fast as I could. The first wave went down screaming. The second wave spread out to encircle the wagon. Tor grabbed up the reigns and snapped them. The horses began moving and the players were forced to group behind the wagon to follow. I looked down into the half-filled barrel and shouted, ¡°Shit were out!¡± The players rushed like idiots. I did notice two or three hung back. One of the horses was shot with an arrow that missed Tor. The players charged into the tailgate in an attempt to climb up. That was where the robe was hanging. As they touched it they began screaming in pain. With the wagon stopped, I got behind the barrel and lifted it up. I felt an arrow hit it, luckily it was above the level of the poison so it didn¡¯t start leaking. I poured the barrel off the back of the wagon into the group of players. I heaved and the barrel flew into the middle of the group. I let out a groan. My side was literally killing me. Tor had resumed shooting, taking out another archer. I went back and picked up my flame blade. ¡°Flame on, fear aura two minutes.¡± I grunted out. I jumped lightly down off the wagon and saw my HP drop by another small chunk. I had a good twenty seconds of max speed left. I noticed that there were three players clustered around a weaponless player. Probably a caster. I stabbed the screaming people as I past and made my way towards the group. ¡°You have a choice. I can kill you, or you can leave. If anyone is alive when I am done, well I put up a lovely video of what I do to people who piss me off.¡± A couple of ripples of fire appeared in my wake as I had walked towards them and I had been ignoring my arrow wound. I looked at some of the screaming players and back to them. The group of four broke under the pressure ran away and that started a rout from the last couple of archers hiding in the forest. I walked back down the road and found the scythe lying next to the corpse of the guy who had picked it up. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. I took it and began to kill the remaining players with it while Tor watched for any surprise attacks. I walked back to the wagon and Tor had ripped up some spare clothes while I sat down. ¡°Yank it out and wrap it up.¡± She yanked it out and I let out a small scream. She stuffed a number of bandages to the wound and I held them in place. ¡°Onciontituts help this foolish soul heal from his wounds more quickly over time with no permanent injury so that he may continue to fight.¡± The pain decreased and my HP stabilized a bit above two thousand. ¡°Thanks. Wrap me up.¡± ¡°Yeah in a second, someone is approaching.¡± I turned and saw a squirrely looking young man approaching. Tall and yanky, he had gone for an elf look but was nowhere near graceful enough to pull it off. ¡°Umm, please don¡¯t kill me.¡± I just stared at him. ¡°Umm, well I was hoping to join up with you. I am a really big fan. I would do anything you said and-¡° ¡°Shut up. No speaking unless I ask a question. Your job is to go and gather up all the loot off the corpses. Money, loot, weapons, anything valuable. If you find anyone still around bring them here or kill them. Sort out the loot next to the wagon. Next I want you to drag all the corpses out to the road here. Oh and make sure you find all ten of my throwing daggers. Once you have done all that we can talk.¡± Tor had started wrapping up my wound in the middle of my speech making it hard to concentrate. ¡°Thanks.¡± I gave him a glare. ¡°Ooops.¡± He ran off and got to work. ¡°Not going to kill him?¡± ¡°Looting is tiring, I am hurt, and I am sure you are exhausted. Let the idiot work. Grab some water?¡± ¡°Sure, how about a beer?¡± ¡°Why not, get that barrel open.¡± We sat sipping beer and eating while we kept an eye out around us. The minion came back with another minion. We just sat there sipping beer while the two guys just looked at us. The second one was a bulkier and was fairly large. They began to fidget and that was when I spoke. ¡°Help him.¡± I gestured at minion one. They both got to work. It was getting dark by the time they finished moving all the bodies near the wagon. I had told them to line them up in a row along the side of the road. There were twenty three corpses. I had taken the time thinking about how I wanted to handle the situation and discussing it with Tor. ¡°Come here.¡± The minions dropped a corpse and came over. ¡°I am going to give you a choice. The first option is to take some of the loot and leave in payment for your help. Your second choice is to become my slaves. That means your life is mine, what I tell you to do you do. There is no questioning or arguing. You will probably die, but I will try to prevent that. In exchange, you may make one request of me. Just one. You can make it now or wait. I can refuse, but you can request something else if that is the case. Tor is my second and speaks for me if I am busy.¡± I paused and let my words hang in the air. ¡°Any questions, you may speak.¡± ¡°Umm, well I want to join up to get some action if you know what I mean.¡± Said lanky minion one. ¡°Very well, but that would happen normally. So you can request something still.¡± ¡°Nothing at the moment.¡± ¡°You?¡± I asked minion two. ¡°I want to kill a man called Albus.¡± I nodded. ¡°Revenge, very well. If you know where he is and we are nearby we can make a side trip. I won¡¯t go out of my way across half the world. I also will decide how we kill him, it depends how strong he is and the situation. Can you accept that?¡± ¡°Yes, that is acceptable.¡± ¡°Last chance to back out with no consequences.¡± They both just stood there. ¡°Very well, you both are mine. Strip and fold your clothes neatly off to the side.¡± Tor was already getting out the fur cloak and laying it on the ground. I pulled out a senbon I had dipped in poison that had pooled in the road. ¡°Pain and pleasure, your lives are mine. Let us now see how strong you truly are. You, your new name is One, come and embrace your new life. Lie down on the cloak.¡± He did and I kneeled behind his head. ¡°Betrayal is met with pain. This is just a taste of what will happen. Endure it in silence.¡± I dragged the senbon across his forehead. His eyes widened and his body began to shake from the pain driving directly into his brain. ¡°Then there is pleasure, scream out as you embrace your new life One.¡± Tor climbed on top of him and he screamed and screamed. He lasted just half a minute. I rolled him off to the side and repeated the process with minion two. He managed to last an entire minute. I dragged the two off the fur cloak and Tor poured water over their foreheads. They both let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Get dressed and build a fire.¡± They pulled themselves up and got to work. Tor gave me a peck on the cheek. ¡°That was fun.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t screw them all the time or they will go soft.¡± ¡°Yeah, but maybe once and a while?¡± ¡°Hmm, we shall see.¡± Soon enough a fire was built up in the middle of the road. ¡°Get the dead horse and bring it here. Time for some fresh meat.¡± My minions perked up at that. ¡°No people?¡± ¡°Do you want to risk eating death poison?¡± ¡°Good point.¡± Soon slabs of horse meat were cooking away in our skillet. Minion two minded the food and I had minion one give me a shoulder rub. I shifted a ripple of flame got his hand. He let out a yelp but continued. I noticed that the fire only appeared if I was moving and went outside my clothes. If I remained still it wouldn¡¯t occur. Unfortunately I liked to be in control if there was physical activity of a more personal nature, which was frustrating. We soon began to eat the freshly cooked meat using bread to hold it. I let my minions have a mug of beer each. ¡°One you have first watch. Wake us up if you see anything. I do mean anything. Two take second watch. Keep the fire built up and toss in the corpses one by one. Oh and cut off their heads before you do. I have a plan for them.¡± Tor stayed up during the first watch and I stayed up during the second. When I started getting tired I poked myself with a poisoned senbon. That easily jolted me awake. Night passed without incident thankfully. All the corpses were burned and the fire pit had a number of bones in it. There was a pile of heads off to the side. We had breakfast and then I spoke. ¡°Set up the heads in a circle looking outward around the fire pit. Tor can you look through the loot?¡± They got to work. I picked up my flame sword and made my way to the fallen tree that lay across the road. I used three power slashes to cut it in half. Once everyone was done with their task we pushed the tree halves off to the side of the road. We set off on the wagon with a single horse. I had Two drive while Tor took a nap. I had melted some more flesh with the scythe into a mug before we left and had One alternate between applying the poison to my body and giving me a head massage to help me relax through the pain. I kept a firm hold of the mugs handle at my side, resting in the frying pan to make sure there were no accidents. One used rectangular stone as he applied the poison to various parts of my naked body, except for the bandages, at my instructions. Whenever he saw someone, Two would say something. We passed some farmers who gave us a wide berth. At mid-day there were two players approaching. I had One stop the poisoning but didn¡¯t get up. ¡°Hey, how did the ambush go?¡± One of them called out. ¡°Tell him you have a load of stuff and are willing to trade some of it. Tor get ready.¡± ¡°We got a bunch of stuff. Want to trade?¡± Two shouted back. ¡°Sure.¡± The two approached. ¡°Wow that is a big scythe. Wasn¡¯t it what that one monster had? I wish I had something to trade-¡° I slammed the scythe forward off the edge of the cart. It struck the player and he collapsed screaming. ¡°What the-¡° I sat up and threw my sword. It pierced his chest, killing him instantly. ¡°Dammit, my wound is bleeding again. Two go loot them and clean off the blade and return it to me. Tor keep an eye on things please. One re-bandage me.¡± Once the bandages came off I had an idea. ¡°One, wash your mouth out with a mug of beer, quickly.¡± He did what I said. ¡°Now clamp your mouth over my wound. Drink my blood.¡± His eyes widened but he obeyed. I carefully watched my HP, but it wasn¡¯t dropping quickly at all and let him keep going for a minute before I told him to stop. ¡°Wrap me back up. Any new status effects?¡± ¡°Cannibal one, depraved three, and demonic blood corruption one.¡± His voice shook as he read out his screens. We got going again the same way as before. The only thing to mark our passing was a refilled mug of poison and two melted corpses on the side of the road. Interesting that I could pass things on. *** HatMan: Wow, that was a lot of people Justice: Most of them were only around level thirty or so GODHAXLOL: THEY KILLED HORSEY! 6996: He should try and get necro powers so he can have his way with corpses Justice: Disturbing Ramponator: The scythe is boss, I so want one ADMIN NOTE: Scythe will be for sale by Solid Steel UltimateSecret: OMG, that is going to cost a small fortune FaceReaper: I bid ten buxom wenches TheLordBreckley: I counter with a city Ramponator: A city¡­.I am looking at the bids and already it is at seven hundred dollars, three days left, this is going to be insane FallenGod: He is somewhere near Balkor, I heard a rumor he is on his way to Str, lets steal it 6996: Yes announce your plans on his discussion board¡­smart *** Below are a number of concerns about the RL setting and how the VR is set up that a reader brought up along with my response. I put it up in a bonus chapter, edited for minor grammar for readability. This is not the focus of the story and is mainly just alluded to. So for those who are curious, here is some info dump background. BlackToTheFuture Wrote: Spoiler : First let me say I''m enjoying the story so far and look forward to continuing my reading. Some questions and comments though (I''m only on chapter 3 So if you''ve answered some of these queries already my bad.). I get this is a novel and all but you seem to want it to be realistic so here goes. How is the company making this game gaining enough sales to make a profit. I mean with the 100% realism this game is essentially real life to people in it. So people in real life have no inclination to put themselves in a position where they are forced into a penal colony or raped by an NPC. You will not get any female users (unless that''s their fetish) in a game where the programmed charterers are able to rape players without provocation. Especially in a situation where they start out much weaker (in terms of level) than children and the cultural level is set in the middle ages where something like that would be much more common. It''s simply not appealing to the masses and that''s where the revenue is. In addition, (at least in the UK) in civil law you can''t contract yourself out of liability for purposeful or neglectful harm caused to those who enter into a contract with you except for in certain circumstances. Even in criminal law I don''t think the defense of consent covers this game situation. So even if their lawyers argue that the virtual harm isn''t "real" or permanent. Psychological harm caused by the actions of their own programmed character would be a major issue. It''s a game after all, its primary purpose is to be enjoyable. This is purely enjoyable to the gore porn niche but even they would be hesitant to put themselves in the actual hot seat. Unless that market has exploded in your time period or the cost of making a game this advanced in negligible. Large corporations will not expend the money to create something with this level of helpless and unstructured game play. Then we have to look at the social repercussion. If somehow they can wrangle their way out of legal issues worldwide you can be sure that there will be a large portion of the population who would latch onto this game as an affront to human nature. Suggesting things like in encourages real life violence, murder, rape etc then point at the fact that the NPC actions and game setup are programmed to encourage it in the players far past what is "reasonable". There would be examples of real life crazies using this game as an excuse to go out and do these crimes then blaming the game for their actions. In a screen games these accusation could be brushed off like they have in real life. But in the game you have set up that is a real concern. The media would slaughter you, normal public opinion would turn and there is a good chance legislations would be brought in to control this kind of game play in the future. Thanks for reading. Thank you for all these comments/questions. I will try to answer them. Omnitrek is about 20% of the worlds GDP. Due to time dilation of 5 to 1 most people use VR. Countries or individuals attempting litigation are shut out. It is as if the internet was owned by one company. They bought out or merged with competitors. To achieve VR a large amount of infrastructure is needed so small companies can''t build a VR system to compete. As the only game on the new system and everyone owning a system and a prize for winning there is a large player base. Also girls may play as guys. So the in game ratio is off compared to real life. The groups the MC meet tend to have less girls who have been protected by heroes. At a certain point it is like anything that is popular. People join in since others have joined in. Let us say that there are 10,000,000,000 people. 70% have capsules, 10% play the game. That is still seven hundred million people. That is also a reason why most governments use Omnitrek drones to suppress crime and terrorism. Omnitrek is a Mega-Corp and literally controls the world. FEAR could be considered an outlet for the frustration of the world''s people. There are terrorists who try and fight Omnitrek but are totally outmatched and their children are reeducated. My real world is very depressing, more so than the VR world. Most of the world''s population work for Omnitrek or one of their client companies to stay in their atrium and pay the subscription fees Omnitrek charges. Hope all that answers your questions and concerns. *** Author¡¯s Note: REVIEW, RATE, FOLLOW, and FAVORITE. If you want two chapters a day, get to work. Tell your friends to read, tell the other people to read, and boost up my ratings. Sign up to RR and do all of these. I honestly think this story can hit top 5 before the end of the year. Let¡¯s make it happen. It really takes a lot of effort to keep up this pace. Your support really does motivate me to keep writing at this pace. This chapter is dedicated to PureXXX, for making me chuckle ;p Chapter 23: Dickless I saw a massive fortress on the side of Str mountain as the road traveled through fields towards the dominating structure. The fog had just cleared this mourning and my meeting with the Mystery Man had been arranged for the following morning. Solid Steel had instructed me to reach the fortress and from there they would take responsibility for my safety. There had been a discussion about all the heat on me, but that in turn fueled their own business and recruitment. They couldn¡¯t hate me for being popular when they were using that popularity for themselves. I had achieved a poison immunity to Death poison at level three two nights ago. I had taken to drinking the stuff in small sips. We had filled up the empty beer barrel with a farmer. I spent a lot of my time with my ass hanging off the wagon as I was hit with a massive bout of diarrhea laying a trail of liquid waste as we rolled along. The only thing keep my spirit up was the auction Solid Steel was holding. I would get 10% of the sale price up front and then another 25% once it was delivered to the buyer, which was when Solid Steel would be paid. The biggest issue was that it was hot, which meant everyone and their grandmothers wanted it. It had reached number two in total popularity for known weapons. The first was the Sword of Song that released a powerful melody that put people and monsters to sleep when it was used. I also had to admit that, that weapon was far better than the scythe. ¡°Oh god, why am I doing this?¡± I groaned out as another spasm hit me. ¡°No idea.¡± I glared at Tor¡¯s back. ¡°Will you be able to do anything tomorrow?¡± ¡°Yeah, just, urggg, yeah. Another canteen of water One. I need to detox, oh god.¡± ¡°Yeah, I am so glad I am not as insane as you are. I can¡¯t believe you requested a metal canister to take some of this stuff along.¡± ¡°It¡­is¡­useful. Urrrrkkkkk.¡± ¡°You are making me feel sick.¡± ¡°Just jelly, I will¡­..be immune.¡± ¡°I have no idea how you are still alive with thinking like that.¡± One and Two nodded at her comment, those traitors. ¡°He never puts these parts in the videos.¡± One whispered to Tor. ¡°Yeah, always cuts to the part where he saves the day.¡± Tor replied. ¡°Traitooooooors. Another canteen of water One, I need to wash off, it burns.¡± It was a long and miserable mourning and things weren¡¯t getting better despite having stopped taking the poison last night. I didn¡¯t mind the ribbing so much, but oh my sweet life. This was so painful. ¡°Hey Kenji, there are five people up ahead. You better wipe your ass and pull up your pants.¡± ¡°Alright, I can do this. Oh god. Ok. Ok. Just need to focus. I have done pain training. I am a master of control. I am a master of awesome. Alright, let¡¯s do this. One strap me up. Two grab a weapon. One once you are done get a bow. Focus. I need to focus.¡± ¡°They are about a three minutes out.¡± Tor said. ¡°Two swordsmen with armor, another one has a massive war hammer, an archer, and what looks like a mage. This group looks serious. There is a symbol on the armor, it is red.¡± ¡°Damnit, ok, they definitely want a fight. Tor, save your MP for healing. Target the mage, who knows what they will pull. We can¡¯t let them debuff us. One you will shoot at whatever you can hit, make sure your arrows are poisoned. Two, stay back and intercept anyone who gets by me. I¡­I¡­I am going to rush forward and engage. Any chance of an ambush?¡± ¡°I see a group of players even further back. Around seven to nine. Spectators or vultures.¡± One had finished strapping my weapons and armor to me and tightening the straps. Tor had stopped the cart and turned it around so the back was facing the advancing group. I got out the two mugs. I left one next to the barrel and filled up the other. I held the mug in my left and the scythe in my right and rested it over my shoulder.
HP: 7281.21 / 10437.5
MP: 183.21 / 217
SP: 1521.48 / 1862.82
I cursed as my HP and SP were lowered from the poison. I had wanted the immunity before I had to give up the scythe and it was coming back to bite me in the ass literally. Oh god, I really didn¡¯t want to fight right now. Can¡¯t we all hold hands and sing songs about peace, friendship, and love? I am a mountain. I am a mountain with a steel body. One, two, three. Focus. One, two, three. Focus. I can do this. The opposing team stopped a hundred feet out. ¡°Let them come to us.¡± I said quietly. ¡°Hello, Rain of Blood, Kenji Shadowen, Calamity, Son of Reaper. You sure have accumulated a number of names.¡± The mage called out. ¡°Indeed, I don¡¯t suppose you are here to join up?¡± ¡°Sorry but we are here for your head. I won¡¯t ask you to surrender.¡± ¡°Good, because you are going to be on your knees and I am going to split you in half and cook you inside out.¡± ¡°Interesting, but easily avoided. For the first thing I am going to do is curse your dick off.¡± My mind blanked for a moment at that. ¡°Oh yes, that is my specialty, cursing dicks off.¡± ¡°That is terrible. Kill him and I will give you this scythe for free.¡± I yelled at his teammates, all lies. ¡°No chance of that. We all know each other in real life, so no chance of backstabbing. I also cover their subscriptions.¡± A rich entitled asshole, who liked to talk. I hated this more and more. Focus. One. Two. Three. Focus. At my max speed of twenty seven miles an hour, that was about forty feet per second. Two and a half seconds to get in range. I am glad I had worked this out before to keep track of my progress. Mages were more effective the closer they were. He would probably wait until I was engaged and then start fighting. Both groups continued to stare at each other, waiting for the other to make a move. ¡°I can wait here all day. Can you? I heard the Sparkly Rainbow Unicorn Princesses you so affectionately named She-Hulks are also on their way here.¡± This guy was an idiot but he was right. ¡°Tor get us out of here. He is being too annoying, something is up.¡± Tor started the horse to lead the wagon away from Str. ¡°You are so lame I don¡¯t even want to kill you. It would be bad for my rep, Dickless.¡± I whispered, ¡°Laugh loudly everyone.¡± Two managed to let out a roaring laugh that was a bit shocking. Dickless looked like he was really pissed off and began gesturing and pointing at us. The opposing group and Dickless began advancing up the road. They entered a classic formation as the swordsmen spread out to the flanks, the war hammer wielder took center with the archer and mage at least twenty feet behind him. ¡°Stop the wagon Tor, it is show time.¡± The wagon stopped and the opposing team continued to advance. I hoped down off the tail gate. The cloak of the Reaper drifted in the light breeze behind me. Anything was easier than fighting that thing. A powerful- NO! I am a mountain that will not yield. Focus. One, two, three. Focus. Keep it together. Their front line was sixty feet, fifty feet, forty feet. The archers loosed on both sides and their melee rushed. I went for their left swordsman. Out of all of them he looked the most nervous. I made sure to tilt the mug slightly forward to try and prevent spillage but even then a quarter of the poison ran out over my hand. I kept the scythe in front of me like a battering ram. The swordsman brought up his weapon to block and I chucked the mug of poison in his face. He went down screaming. The guy with the war hammer threw his weapon. It struck my left arm partially and spun me around. The other swordsman was closing in along with the mage to an effective combat range. I barely held onto my scythe with my right hand as I spun forcing the players closing in to retreat. I stepped to the side just in time to avoid the war hammer being yanked back through the air. I kept up my spin for another two rotations and then let the scythe fly at the archer who was being distracted in his shooting match with Tor. His teammates shouted and he turned. He brought up his bow and the scythe cut through the wood but lost its momentum. It fell and the flat of the blade landed on his exposed arm. I was already pulling out my throwing knives and chucking them for all they were worth. Arrows began to target Dickless and he began to run out of range. I took the opportunity to retreat back to the wagon. The swordsman and hammer man followed. Two chucked a mug full of poison right over my head. I felt a couple drops hit me but was able to ignore them thanks to my immunity. The swordsman rolled to the side but the hammer man wasn¡¯t fast enough and was hit in the leg. Two kept up the mugs full of poison. I turned and drew my flame blade with my right arm. My left was not doing well after that blow I had taken. I raced in and stabbed both the men one after the other. I saw Dickless running away in the distance. He hadn¡¯t done anything and had lived up to his name. ¡°Come on let¡¯s clean this up and make a fresh batch of poison.¡± It was easy enough to melt down the archer to refill the poison we had used. We collected more weapons and the wagon was getting very full. After Tor healed my arm up a bit we continued down the road and there were twenty run down and grimy looking players on the road. Some stared at me with awe, most with envy. Probably the ones who survived, but were too weak to accomplish anything but didn¡¯t want to give up. It truly was a pathetic sight. ¡°One and Two, dump all the shitty swords we have off the wagon. Tor and One, shoot anyone running away and Two cover the wagon. If anyone gets too close give them a mug.¡± They looked at me and then turned to the crowd. Players began to move in on them and pick the weapons up greedily. ¡°Alright, listen up. We are going to have a contest. The winner gets the reward of becoming my slave and serving me. The losers, death. If you don¡¯t want to participate, you better run or you will die. Fight!¡± One guy stabbed another in the back. That was when all chaos broke loose. Players stabbed each other in a frenzy of blood. I noticed one guy losing his weapon and resort to strangling a person with a piece of intestine that was lying on the ground. Then he was then kicked in the face and fell into a pool of blood. Another guy had been stabbed in the leg and had bitten into another person¡¯s groin since he couldn¡¯t stand. I would probably have to go back and re-watch this since for a span of fifteen seconds there was too much to keep track of as these hopeless individuals dismembered each other. Then there were three left standing. They all charged each other at the same time. Two of them ganged up on a single person, eviscerating him. Then one of them leapt on the other before he could recover and ripped out his throat with his teeth. ¡°We have our winner. Come and stand before me.¡± The last survivor trudged through the groans, organs, and blood of the fallen people. He stopped four feet in front of me. ¡°Do you wish to serve.¡± ¡°Fuck yeah. Problem is I keep dying.¡± He gave me a grin. He then looked to the side and spat out a chunk of flesh. ¡°Interesting. You shall be Three. I see a small pond and stream off to the side. Strip and clean yourself up, there should be a fresh change of clothes in the wagon. After that help One and Two. One and Two, stack up the corpses and remove their heads. Place them along them around the pile of bodies looking outward. Tor supervise please. I need a couple minutes¡­oh god.¡± After my stomach unclenched and I cleaned myself off, the corpses had been sorted along with the heads. ¡°Three, before we initiate you I will explain how things work. You can leave now and be done with me. If you choose to stay you listen to what I say no matter what. You will be my slave. In exchange you get to make a single request of me. Just one and only one. I can refuse if it something unreasonable, but you keep your request.¡± ¡°Hell yeah. This is going to be awesome. Oh for my request, I want to kill people.¡± ¡°That will happen naturally. Just like One wanted women, that will be a natural state of affairs. We may not kill everyone, but we will kill a lot.¡± ¡°Oh, well then. What did Two pick?¡± ¡°He asked in help to kill a man named Albus. He is responsible for locating him and then I will decide if we can do it.¡± ¡°Sweet. Okay, let¡¯s see¡­.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to decide now.¡± ¡°I want the scythe.¡± There was a long moment of silence at that. ¡°Hmmm, well you should know that the monster that I took it from regenerates. It may possibly try to come and get it back.¡± ¡°But you put it up for¡­.oh you are really evil. Okay, I get dibs on any awesome weapons then.¡± ¡°Very well, you will get first pick after Tor and myself. She is my second. Tor you up for some fun?¡± ¡°Hmm, well he isn¡¯t really my type. I mean he is short and has red eyes. The black hair is a nice touch though.¡± I suppressed a sigh. ¡°One get the fur cloak and lay it out somewhere clean. Two get me a senbon and dip it in the barrel.¡± They rushed to obey. I had Three strip and lie down on the cloak. He looked incredibly excited. I kneeled behind his head. ¡°Pain and pleasure. Your life is now mine. Let us see how strong you truly are. Your new name is Three, come embrace your new life.¡± I held up the senbon. ¡°Betrayal is met with pain. This is just a taste of what will happen. Endure in silence.¡± He shook but managed to keep his mouth closed as the poison pierced his skull. ¡°Then there is pleasure, scream out as you embrace your new life Three.¡± ¡°Bet he lasts ten seconds.¡± One whispered. ¡°No way, a minute.¡± Two replied quietly. Tor climbed on top of him and he screamed and screamed. Living up to his new name, Three lasted three minutes. Water was poured on his forehead getting rid of the poison. ¡°That was amazing. What was that stuff at the beginning?¡± ¡°Death poison, we have an entire barrel full of the stuff.¡± ¡°Awsome, you actually melted people. I couldn¡¯t believe that when I saw the clip.¡± He got up and then put his hand in the barrel. He pulled it out and began to rub the poison all over his groin. That was seriously messed up. ¡°Ummmm?¡± ¡°Sorry, the way this stuff digs into my flesh is awesome. Are you sure we can¡¯t keep the scythe?¡± I honestly thought I was the most insane person, but this guy took the cake or the poison barrel as it were. ¡°Don¡¯t worry we will be saving a bunch of it. I am sure there will be a lot more¡­experiences in the future. Clean yourself off and get dressed. If you want you may apply the poison to yourself. Don¡¯t make a mess.¡± ¡°Got it. This is awesome.¡± Tor just looked at me as he went back to the pond. ¡°Not my fault, he won.¡± I said weakly. ¡°Honestly, at least he wasn¡¯t related to a horse at least.¡± I just gave her a glare. Three ran back over and got dressed. ¡°So what now boss?¡± One and Two gave him a glare. ¡°One is our archer and is working on shooting. We got a new war hammer on a chain for Two since he is our strongman. Tor is our medic, second in command, and backup archer. You will train as a combat mage, specifically in Fire. I believe the god that is the most called upon is Rife (ree-FA). I am guessing you are a low level?¡± ¡°Well not anymore after all that.¡± He gestured at the corpse pile. ¡°You will place most of your points into Wisdom and Intelligence. You need to get those as high as you can. Constitution, Strength, Dexterity and Endurance should be raised up to ten. Every fifty levels put another ten points into them.¡± I took a breath and continued. ¡°You will also Meditate, that means sitting still and trying to feel your inner energy. Work on this whenever you are not doing anything else. MP is valuable so keep working on it. One what level is your meditation?¡± ¡°Level two.¡± Stolen story; please report. ¡°Good. I want you to also come up with a single chant for Rife. Something small, simple, but versatile. You will keep your MP ten below your max. When it gets to that point, practice the chant. I also want you to practice it in your head constantly while you meditate. Any questions?¡± ¡°No, this is awesome!¡± I began rubbing his hair. ¡°Good.¡± A ripple of fire leapt out and got him. Three let out a yelp and ducked down. ¡°If you talk a lot I feel the need to be close to you and that can get fiery.¡± Tor groaned at my pun, ruining the moment. One and Two snickered. ¡°Traitors, all traitors. Anyways, let¡¯s get going before Dickless comes back.¡± I was forming a solid team. I still wanted my evil bard. A theme song would be awesome and it would be great for announcing our presence. Not very practical, but what was the point of playing a villain if you didn¡¯t enjoy it? We reached the road leading up to the fortress and began our ascent. ¡°Those walls are twenty feet high, probably a couple feet thick, and you have to climb up to them.¡± Tor pointed out. ¡°Well good thing we aren¡¯t attacking. Solid Steel has some sort of agreement with the ruler of Str to use this fortress. I am not sure but I think it is their Headquarters.¡± I replied. We reached the portcullis guarding the entrance. A soldier looked down at us from over the parapet. ¡°Password and name.¡± ¡°Solid Steel sells superior steel surely. Solid Steel sells superior steel surely. Solid Steel sells superior steel surely. Kenji Shadowen.¡± ¡°That is the password?¡± Tor looked at me. ¡°Yes, probably whoever came up with it, thought it was a great joke.¡± A familiar face appeared as the portcullis and gates were opened. ¡°Hello Kenji Shadowen, good to see you again. Welcome Kenji¡¯s companions.¡± ¡°Hello Michael Grunning.¡± ¡°We have prepared rooms for you for the night. Dinner and breakfast will be provided, but with the extras¡­.¡± ¡°Will a gold piece cover it? We need another horse and are the arrangements made?¡± ¡°Follow me everyone. For the horse, those are fairly expensive, but two gold coins-¡° ¡°Two! I thought a horse was only five silvers?¡± ¡°Inflation, with players killing everything, prices are sky rocketing. We are breeding them as fast as possible, but that takes time unfortunately.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± I handed over more gold. ¡°A horse will be made ready. As for arrangements, everything is taken care of. We are also prepared to transfer the scythe whenever you are ready.¡± ¡°Now is fine, we are sticking together.¡± ¡°Of course of course. We have prepared a room for it. The auction has done remarkably well so I am glad you were able to make it here despite all the players moving to intercept you.¡± ¡°They got the spanking they deserved. I figured your group had pulled in anyone in the area with any reasonable skill and that everyone else wouldn¡¯t make it here in time.¡± ¡°Very astute of you. Yes, Solid Steel dominates the region and this is our headquarters.¡± ¡°I am impressed you managed to get an entire fortress.¡± ¡°Well the Lord of Str has been most generous. In exchange for helping to maintain order in the region we receive a wide berth. He also was able to pull his soldiers back to the city to help maintain order.¡± ¡°Impressive arrangement.¡± ¡°We are here. We had a rack specifically made after you gave us the dimensions.¡± Michael unlocked a solid wood door and led us into a chamber with a single stand resting in the middle. ¡°Set the scythe on the stand. The auction will be over by tonight. Business has never been higher thanks to you. I know our Union branch is doing very well at the moment thanks to your advertising.¡± ¡°If you want we can set you up with a bath now?¡± ¡°No, I want to see your armory as agreed on and sort out the wagon. All of you get to work. Pull everything out and start sorting it. I want everything off that wagon. I saw a well also, give it a wash it smells filthy. Michael if you could show us the armory and to your blacksmith.¡± ¡°Of course. This way.¡± My arm and leg guards needed to be straightened out and my throwing knives needed quite a bit of care. A number of the blades were cracked. We got new bow strings and I got leather armor for Tor, One, and Three. I got a chest plate for Two. Then the wagon was inspected and a new wheel was put on where the old one had lost a couple of spokes. A lot of food that would last for a while was loaded up. I also made sure to get two regular outfits, a winter outfit, and a desert out fit for each person in my group. Then there was a proper medical kit with bandages and a sewing needle. A couple of percentage points were knocked off my payment for the scythe to cover some of the extra things I had requested but Solid Steel was more than happy to provide. I really couldn¡¯t blame them, the auction was closing in on the fifty thousand dollar mark and was quickly escalating as it was brought to a close. Solid Steel had taken a prisoner and used them to confirm the scythe¡¯s powers, which heated up the bidding even more. There was a large communal bath in the lower reaches of the fortress. It was incredibly nice to get the grime off my body. I also noted that my flame generation slowly heated the luke warm water up to a much more relaxing temperature as long as I kept moving about. ¡°Tor which one do you want?¡± ¡°Hmmm, I will take Two.¡± ¡°Two go help out Tor. One wash my back, Three wash my front. Make sure you get every surface.¡± I came out of the bath much more relaxed. I put on my cleaned armor and fresh clothes. We went to dinner in a small room. Michael joined us. ¡°Guests get the privilege of their own dining room.¡± Michael explained. ¡°So we don¡¯t corrupt your men.¡± Tor added. ¡°Against your charms, few could resist my lady.¡± ¡°Tor how many men you think you could take?¡± ¡°Depends on the men. If they aren¡¯t horse size, probably twelve and still walk the next day.¡± One began to choke on the food he was eating. ¡°Michael, would some of your soldiers would be interested in some exercise?¡± ¡°It is not our standard policy, but for a price-¡° ¡°Twelve silver, one for each man and you go first.¡± He gave a long look at Tor. ¡°I am tempted, but I cannot partake. While sex magic has not been confirmed, there is no need to expose myself to unknown risks. As the representative of Solid Steel here I have to stay professional.¡± ¡°That is unfortunate. Also do you have a prisoner I could buy, they won¡¯t last the night.¡± ¡°Ah, we do have a couple of player auto pilots chained up. For a gold piece we could sell you one for your enjoyment. Also all the auto pilots have agreed to do whatever we tell them in exchange for being given food and water.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s make that four. For me and my men.¡± Smiles broke out around the table. ¡°Very well.¡± Michael turned to a nearby servant and whispered a number of instructions. ¡°We have set you all up in one suite. If you wish to retire there Tor can begin and we will bring up a selection. Any preference?¡± ¡°No, just bring up a range of like ten if you have that many.¡± ¡°Yes, we do.¡± We retired to our suite and Solid Steel soldiers entered one at a time. I had no idea where Tor was getting all that stamina. ¡°She is scary boss. That thing where she twists her hips, it looks like some guys are going to be ripped off.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate a woman with passion.¡± I rubbed his head and he let out a yelp. ¡°That reminds me, Three come kneel at my side.¡± He came over and I rolled up my sleeve. I then pulled out one of my newly repaired daggers. ¡°I want you to drink my blood, this should help with fire magic.¡± I cut part of my arm lengthwise below my wrist. Three glommed on and began sucking away. ¡°You sure that is wise?¡± One asked. ¡°Two go find some bandages. One strip.¡± They both listened as Tor''s screams of passion echoed through the fortress. Two had come back with Michael with bandages and bound players. He raised his eyebrows but didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°Three enough. Two wrap up the wound. One stand right here and be quiet. Michael, sorry for the wait.¡± ¡°No problem, no problem. Here at the ones you requested.¡± Ten players with gags, naked, and hands behind their back were led out. There were seven men and three women. ¡°Two you may pick first, then Three.¡± ¡°That one.¡± Three said the second I finished. He had picked a smaller girl with overly sized breasts. ¡°You don¡¯t mind if we make a mess Michael? Do you?¡± ¡°One second. I will have the servants remove the rugs and tapestries. Please try and not get any blood on the beds.¡± ¡°That is fine. Three once they are done moving things, you may do whatever you want in the center of the room. I hope it is entertaining.¡± ¡°Of course boss.¡± He was already stripping. ¡°Two?¡± ¡°That large guy.¡± ¡°You want some privacy?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°We can find you a separate room. Two soldiers will remain outside the door if you need anything.¡± Michael said. ¡°And yourself?¡± ¡°That woman with the scar across her body. She looks like she will put up a bit of a fight.¡± ¡°Excellent choice and your other companion.¡± ¡°That one at the end. His exceptional size will be useful in teaching someone not to ask questions.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Everyone cleared out and Two left with his selection. Three¡­Three was making a mess of things. He was going away at her while poking her with a knife just enough to let out a trickle of blood in different places. He had also cut off the tip of one of her nipples and occasionally flicked the wound with his tongue. I didn¡¯t know whether to be impressed with how sadistic he was or scared. ¡°One, help me lay this guy on the ground. You are to ride him until I say stop and no touching yourself.¡± One looked at me with a measure of fear. ¡°You questioned me. Start or it will only get worse. Now for you pretty.¡± I tested her Strength by pushing her legs. She was a low level, perfect. I flipped her over and made sure her nails were trimmed, which they were, perfect. I woke up early the next morning like I normally did. Three was lying inside the carved out girl. I thought I recognized a couple of organs, but couldn¡¯t be sure. After about five minutes into last night I had let One do what he wanted with the guy. One had removed a larger part of the man¡¯s anatomy in frustration and beat him to a senseless pulp on the stone floor in a fit of rage. He had gotten cleaned up and had fallen asleep on the bed. I had joined him after I was done with my choice. My woman had died from a combination of bleeding and burning. Tor had also found her way back and woke up One to have a go with him before passing out. She really was insatiable. ¡°Everyone get up.¡± I kicked One in the side and he let out a groan. ¡°Three go and get cleaned up. One go find Two and get some breakfast.¡± I let Tor sleep, no need to invite her morning fury. We were provided with some cheese, cut fruit, and fluffy bread. It was a nice change of pace from our usual fare. Tor got up with the arrival of food. Two had given a shocked looked at what Three had done to the girl he had chosen. ¡°I hope you all had enough fun.¡± I got round of nods, even from One. ¡°Alright let¡¯s go.¡± We met up with Michael in the courtyard. The sunlight was just barely poking up over the horizon. He led us to some stairs carved into the mountain behind the fortress. ¡°It takes an hour to reach the top. He is already waiting for you. I will have the auction results when you come back down. Everything else is prepared as per your request. Finally we have located the thing you requested.¡± He gave me a small grin, this was going to be a great surprise. I nodded and we set off to meet this so called Mystery Man. *** 6996: That is why this game is limited to 18+ only, wow Hosey: I am your father Envy: You spelled your forum name wrong, unless you are talking about a fire hose UltimataSecret: LOL, +10 Ramponator: There was one guy that went down to his knees, freaking hilarious UltimataSecret: Wouldn¡¯t there be too much loss of blood to the rest of the body GODHAXLOL: HORSEY YOU ARE HERE Ramponator: That is why he kept passing out, check it out FaceReaper: I wanted the scythe, NOOOOOOOO FallenGod: Well it will find a good home wherever it goes, maybe in my hand when I steal it TheLordBreckley: Let¡¯s intercept it FuriousGhost: I am coming for you UltimataSecret: Not you again, you are hereby demoted to C rate nuisance 6996: What about the skull cloak? *** Author¡¯s Note: A bit more graphic than normal, but it sets the tone of the group. You didn¡¯t think an Anti-Hero would have a nice group or a harem? They are bound together with violence and taking whatever they want. I wanted to convey this. One views himself as a ladies man, which was why that was a really mean punishment. Two is out for revenge, your solid stoic type. He is uncomfortable around this level of violence, but wants to complete his goal. Three, well Three is what happens when a true serial killer gets into the game. Think Silence of the Lambs and you are on your way there. Tor would be described as a man in a woman¡¯s body. With the military allowing women to join all branches of the US military, she is the kind of woman that would be in an elite branch with a more mercenary attitude. She can kick ass and likes to dominate but she can also work in a team when required. She would never consent to being a slave and follows the MC since he is exciting and she craves action. Probably the most complex character I have made for this story. Women are trouble like that ;p I also wanted to showcase Solid Steel as a totally mercenary organization. The Solid Steel is a group dedicated to making money and growing stronger. It is the birth of the first corporation in FEAR. While the Order is based on morals, Solid Steel is much more mercenary. They would kill anyone if the benefits outweighed the consequences. They stick with Kenji, since the Mystery Man likes him. Otherwise they would have captured him and most likely have killed him. In a couple of chapters there will be an in depth look at the stats and skills of everyone in the group. While I have their general strength in mind, it is a pain to write it all out. Don¡¯t worry though this weekend you will get your fill of all the stats and a discussion of group fighting styles and builds. Bonus Chapter 5 - Battle of Balkor ¡°Good news, we just secured the east portion last night.¡± Captain Rowl while laying a marker down on the map of the city. ¡°Excellent, that brings everything except some of the minor back allies under our control. It has been an honor Captains, for we are the first group of players to form their own nation.¡± General Zustun said to his assembled officers. ¡°Today marks the first day of our glorious empire as we bring-¡° The door slammed open. A soldier of the Order stood there gasping for air. Everyone stared at him waiting to see what was so important as to interrupt this moment of celebration. ¡°General, a giant monster approaches the city from the South. It is at least two stories tall, possibly three.¡± There was a hushed silence. ¡°All Captains, get your squads in gear. I want the south wall and the nearby roof tops packed with archers. Get your fighters to the third plaza here.¡± He pointed to a spot on the map just a short distance away from the south wall. ¡°Order all civilians to remain in their homes until we deal with the threat. I will assess the situation myself, Captain Rowl you will take command if I fall.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Everyone rushed out of the conference room to mobilize their men. *** ¡°May the gods help us.¡± General Zustun whispered. Approaching the south wall, was a monster three stories tall. It had the body of an owl and a bulb for a head. ¡°Mages, prepare for poison, focus on Constitution. Archers if you have fire arrows now is the time. You! Get a barrel of oil up here. Bring up the prisoners.¡± Five ragged men and women were brought forward. ¡°You have a choice, go out there and fight, or die where you stand.¡± ¡°Fuck that-¡° The prisoners groin was stabbed and he let out a scream. The rest grabbed swords as they ran out the half open gate. The General watched as two of them broke to the sides, the archers shot them down. The other two looked back at the wall and then charged forward. They approached the monster when suddenly the bulb opened up and vines poured out. The General winced, he hated vines. Plants were just a pain to kill. ¡°Get that oil spread out a couple feet in front of the gate!¡± As the Order rushed to obey his commands he watched what the monster did for any signs of weakness. The vines squirmed and he thought he saw something come out of them. Unfortunately they began to spin rapidly around, making it impossible to tell. Both prisoners stood a couple of feet from the spinning vines unsure of how to attack. It happened so quickly the General almost missed it. The vines had closed in, like a narrowing cone while at the same time they extended, so they were above the ground by inches. When the vines hit the players, they didn¡¯t slow down in the slightest as the green blur, became a red rain. ¡°Sir we have the catapult ready!¡± A soldier shouted from off to the side. ¡°Fire at will.¡± A rock was launched into the air. For a first shot it was well aimed and grazed the monster¡¯s body. The General watched and the monster turned to the rock. From the hole that corresponded to the neck a screech rippled through the air and the boulder shattered. A sound based attack, there were no mages that were capable of defending against such a thing. This battle was already lost, but at the same time he could not retreat from the city. The Order had sworn to protect the people and to stabilize the area no matter what it would take. There was only one choice. ¡°Men and women of the order! Stand proud for today we battle not just a monster but our own fear. For in this world all stand equal. Are you with me!¡± A round of cheers went up. The monster began to advance. He had been saving all his MP and this attack for a high level opponent that was unbeatable, well it appeared this would be it. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. He began to walk down the wall towards the gate. He gave a nod to Captain Rowl as he left the safety of the walls. ¡°I invoke laws not meant to be broken, laws not meant to be undone, Xopdara, lend me your power for I invoke sacrifice for what is to come!¡± The General was only twenty feet away from the monstrosity when a pulse of light erupted from his body. Everyone blinked and the General was but a bloody smear across the ground. The monster had three massive gashes carved into its body and blood was spilling onto the ground. The vines lay limply on the ground. The General¡¯s massive long sword Justice was driven into the ground off to the side. ¡°Fire!¡± Captain Rowl shouted. The sky darkened for a moment from the number of arrows. The vines moved up to spin again, but it was too late. The arrows peppered the monster from the front and the sides. It let loose a sonic screech that liquefied six soldiers standing just a couple feet from the Captain. Thankfully the archers on the houses were at a lower elevation and the attack dissipated in the air above them. The wall itself cracked and portions turned to dust where it was struck. ¡°Keep firing and don¡¯t stop!¡± Captain Rowl shouted. Another sonic screech hit the wall and five more soldiers¡¯ flesh lost cohesion and ran down the walls in a slurry of red and semi-solid white chunks. A number of the soldiers threw up from the horror they had just witness while the remainder kept firing with a single minded determination. ¡°Mages, dump all MP into buffs, don¡¯t hold anything back. Fighters stand at the ready, charge on the count of three. Spread out around the monster and attack!¡± ¡°ONE!¡± ¡°TWO!¡± Another sonic screech liquefied the Captain. The fighters slammed open the gate and charged out. They spread out in an arc as the creature continued its lumbering pace forward. As they surrounded the heavily wounded monster it spread its wings. With a giant flap, a powerful gust of wind pushed the brave men and women back and the creature lifted up into the air. The vines began to spin again and incredibly thin razor sharp spikes emerged from them and began circulating up and down the vines. This would be one of the two reasons that lead to the creature¡¯s name, the Buzz Bird. The spikes separated at the tips of the vines and began to rain down on the scattered fighters unsure of what to do. Tarin Afton was a soldier who had joined up with the Order since he wanted to help people and make a difference. His own daughter had been raped in real life and he wanted to stop such crimes in this VR world since he couldn¡¯t in the real one. At over ninety seven years old and at the twilight of his years this game had given him a second chance. He was the first to be hit. The spike, cut through his metal chest plate and into his body. A powerful wave of bliss washed over him. His pants grew wet as his body shook in the throes of delight. He was lost in a haze of bliss. He collapsed to the ground and arched his back. Every muscle and bone in his body strained from the repeated stimulations. All around Tarin members of the Order who had been hit were experiencing the same thing. Wave after wave of bliss rushed through their bodies until their very backs broke from their contortions and their brains began to bleed out inside their skulls. The Buzz Bird let out one final screech and then fell to the ground with a crash. It had succumbed to its wounds. Chapter 24: Mystery Man ¡°Mental defense.¡± I whispered and stepped out onto the plateau. A small blue circle appeared in my vision. Like a slowly eaten pie, a line began cutting around the circle, darkening the area it had swept over. ¡°Hello, it is good to see you again.¡± ¡°Indeed, your friend and slaves are welcome to sit over there. Minor refreshments have been provided.¡± The Mystery Man gestured off to the side where there were four chairs set up with a table and platter of food next to each. There was also a pitcher of water and glasses. ¡°Impressive, why don¡¯t you guys relax for a bit. That climb was a bit long.¡± They went off to the side and I approached the circular table the Mystery Man was sitting at. ¡°Forgive me for not getting up, but that climb did a number on me.¡± ¡°Then why choose this place to meet? I am sure the fortress would have worked.¡± ¡°Ah, pull up your screens.¡±
Mountain of Str-1 MAX
The refined air purifies your very being
+100% MP Regen
¡°So this is how you advanced in magic so quickly.¡± ¡°One of the reasons. Sit please.¡± The chair on the far side of the table slid out on its own. ¡°Mental defense. Sorry, but with your abilities I like to stay alert.¡± ¡°That is no problem. Business must be conducted and you are wary for traps. I can appreciate that.¡± ¡°Mystery Man seems like a flamboyant name.¡± ¡°What can I say, it is far less pretentious than some of the names people take to call themselves. Certain women come to mind.¡± ¡°How did you manage to escape them?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t ask me to reveal all my secrets. Let us just say that, my powers are quite strong if you know the right points to apply pressure.¡± ¡°So, you had mentioned an impossible quest before?¡± ¡°Yes. There is a book located in the Durrunian Desert south of here. I need it to even know what to do to complete my impossible quest.¡± ¡°I am going to guess that there are hordes of monsters, desert nomads, and probably an eldritch horror or two guarding the thing.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t lie, for that would be poor manners. It is not easy. I have a general idea where it is and can provide directions. The problem comes from the distance and the¡­necessary fortitude to retrieve it. I had discussed this with Solid Steel, but they won¡¯t have the resources for such an expedition for quite a while. I have other affairs I need to watch in the area, so I want to outsource the task to you.¡± ¡°Mental Defense. You want us to test the waters. If we succeed then it is a win for you. If we don¡¯t then you learn something about the protections. What is in it for me?¡± ¡°What do you desire?¡± ¡°To win.¡± ¡°Hahahahahaha, very true for almost everyone. But what are the requirements to win this game? No one really knows. Some people have tried to use Prophecy magic. While almost all attempts ended terribly there was one success.¡± ¡°Care to share?¡± ¡°The way to win is to complete impossible quests. Not just one, but five. Then a final quest will be unlocked and the person who completes it will beat this game.¡± ¡°Five¡­impossible quests. That sounds impossible. Still how does this help me?¡± ¡°Name a price.¡± ¡°Mental defense. I could just kill you instead, since you are competition.¡± ¡°That would be poor manners. You wouldn¡¯t leave that chair alive if I became serious.¡± ¡°You have nothing I want.¡± ¡°Money, one hundred thousand dollars. More than enough to cover quite a bit of VR without having to resort to videos. All for a book. I would even be willing to advance five thousand as a sign of good faith.¡± A rich prick, this really pissed me off. ¡°I could get the book and sell it to someone else.¡± ¡°There is limited value to other people. So if not money, then what is it you desire?¡± ¡°Information, you seem very well informed.¡± ¡°Very well, what is it you desire to know?¡± ¡°Mental defense.¡± I was getting low on MP. ¡°I want to know how you got so powerful so quickly.¡± ¡°Luck and genius. I found out what the Lord looked like in this city and that he was a recluse. I then killed myself again and again until I respawned nearby with his appearance. I then replaced him. Overly simplified, but it sums it up.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the Lord of Str.¡± ¡°Yes, and with that position came wealth, money, and power. Also all the knowledge in his vast library was at my fingertips. The former lord was quite the recluse and loved books in his later years. Hence the reason for my older appearance.¡± I imagined a young sexy woman taking on an older man¡¯s body and shuddered at the horror. ¡°Impressive, I want access to your complete library, at least ten enchantments of my choosing, and five thousand gold pieces. When I return, I would like to spend some time in this city as well, food and lodging. Mental defense.¡± ¡°You are smarter than many people give you credit for or have a lot of stat points in Luck. Five enchantments, finding enchanters is long and difficult and none currently reside in my city. A thousand gold. I hope to fix the enchanter problem but that is an issue I am still working on.¡± ¡°Seven enchantments and three thousand gold. So what is your name?¡± ¡°Agreed. Now my name isn¡¯t part of the deal. You can refer to me as Lord of Str.¡± ¡°How about Mystery Man? Mental defense.¡± ¡°Hahahaha, that too.¡± He pulled out a map and pushed it across the table. ¡°This is the location of the tower, which the book is kept in. It should be located on the top floor of course. The local NPCs are fairly hostile to outsiders. There are sand worms also in the desert, so watch out.¡± ¡°Sand worms¡­¡± ¡°Unfortunately their body structure and unique abilities make them particularly challenging at the moment.¡± He pulled out a book from under the table. Hazards of the Durrunian Desert by Noe Madden. ¡°That should help educate you on what you may face. In addition I require this task to be completed before spring. I am also sure you want to make it to Lady Breckley¡¯s wedding.¡± A headache suddenly hit me. ¡°Mental defense¡­¡± I managed to gasp out and the attack disappeared. ¡°What did you do?¡± ¡°I have created a brain embolism inside your head. While it used up all my MP you will die in six to ten months unless treated. Unfortunately for you the magic ability needed for such a task is insanely high. It appears that you will have to succeed or death will find you. You can kill me now, but then neither of us gets what we want.¡± ¡°Everything else?¡± ¡°Will be provided, think of this as incentive in case you get another offer for the book.¡± I sent him a glare. ¡°Normally it wouldn¡¯t hurt as much but I had to take a chance while you let your defense lapse for a second. I honestly don¡¯t know if this can be healed by another form of magic. But the time you spend looking is time you should be retrieving that book.¡± ¡°Everyone to me, hamster. Watch yourself, he has silent mind magic. You want to know something? That was poor manners after we had come to a deal.¡± ¡°I suppose you are right.¡± ¡°I also don¡¯t believe you are out of MP.¡± Tor hit him with a Wisdom debuff. One had an arrow aimed and Two and Three had their weapons in their hands up to his neck. ¡°You are going to pay extra for that, if you don¡¯t¡­well. If any of us die, the rest of you make his death as painful and long as possible.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t win this fight.¡± He snapped his fingers, then he snapped them again. Michael stepped up to the plateau from the stairs. ¡°The agreement was a peaceful meeting. Kenji asked me to observe and call off Solid Steel if you did anything.¡± Michael said. ¡°You owe me.¡± The Lord of Str spat out. ¡°Indeed we do, but we follow our agreements. Otherwise we would lose trust. Also the ad revenue is offsetting your payments. Kenji agreed to a long term ad line in exchange for keeping you honest and other concessions.¡± ¡°You see Mystery Man, you got cocky. Undo what you did.¡± I said. He let out a long sigh. ¡°You are fine. It was just a bluff by compressing the air around your head. Nothing was done to your brain.¡± ¡°Your magic, explain it now.¡± ¡°I use Telekinesis, I won¡¯t say the god¡¯s name so don¡¯t ask. I can manipulate the physical world and I have silent casting. Your defenses were still up but I targeted you just when they were about to run out to make you think I did.¡± ¡°How did you get silent casting? Tell me and I will consider that trade for what you did.¡± ¡°Max level mental defense unlocks silent casting.¡± ¡°Interesting, that is more than enough for Solid Steel. I shall take my leave.¡± Michael disappeared back down the stairs. ¡°Well played.¡± The Lord of Str said. ¡°Plots within plots. I honestly didn¡¯t want to fight since you helped me get away in Balkor.¡± ¡°I actually believe you surprisingly enough. I apologize. Sometimes I get carried away trying to force people to do what I want.¡± ¡°We shall take our leave then. Goodbye Mystery Man, I hope our next meeting goes better.¡± ¡°I do as well. My real name is Anova so you know.¡± That was too gender neutral to tell if he was really a man or a woman. I knew this was going to keep on bothering me. ¡°Take care then, Anova.¡± We left the mountain top and began to descend the stone stair case. ¡°We heard most of that. Are we really going to the desert?¡± Three asked. I rubbed him on the head and he let out a yelp. ¡°Yes, I wanted to get away from other people for a bit to let the heat die down. Eventually someone stronger will be in the area and we will be crushed. A trip to the desert is as good as any. Also it gives us a place to return to and rest afterwards. We go out there for a couple of months. Kill monsters, meet the locals, take a book, and then come back here for some relaxation.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t sound that bad. This whole game is stressful.¡± One said. ¡°I like that idea.¡± Two added. ¡°While I appreciate the support, there is only one person¡¯s opinion other than mine who counts around here. Tor?¡± ¡°This book is going to be tough. If you don¡¯t know, a bunch of players put together a list of the worst places to spawn. The Durrunian Desert was near the top.¡± ¡°Well if we don¡¯t like it we can just go somewhere else.¡± I replied. ¡°Also won¡¯t you burn with your white skin?¡± Tor asked. ¡°Shit.¡± We reached the bottom of the mountain and Michael was there waiting for us. ¡°Welcome, I am glad things did not end in violence. This way we managed to select three candidates from the local talent.¡± I got confused looks but ignored them. ¡°In addition the scythe sold for one hundred and thirty seven thousand dollars. The buyer unfortunately is over in Galmore, so it will be about a month before final payment is transferred.¡± ¡°Not a problem, at least it isn¡¯t halfway across the world.¡± ¡°Indeed, I will send them into the room one by one.¡± We entered a room and there were five chairs behind a table. ¡°Sit, we are getting an evil bard.¡± ¡°An evil bard¡­really?¡± Tor asked. ¡°Yep, I want entertainment on the journey and a theme song.¡± The door opened and a younger looking woman came in and stood in front of the table. ¡°Name and reason for being here.¡± ¡°I am Elmera. I am a big fan Rain¡± ¡°Any active singing skills?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Charisma stat?¡± ¡°Ten¡­.¡± ¡°We aren¡¯t taking you, but you are welcome to spend the night with me.¡± ¡°Ah¡­no thank you.¡± She quickly left the room. Next came a pretty boy. I mean he looked like someone off a model catalog. Square jaw, blue eyes, rippling muscles, but in a runner way not a weight lifter way. ¡°Name and reason for being here?¡± ¡°Elrado, to improve my art. I dream of becoming the greatest bard. ¡°Any active singing skills?¡± ¡°Inspire, the people who I view as friends gain a boost.¡± ¡°Charisma stat?¡± ¡°Forty six.¡± ¡°Why join with me?¡± ¡°Adventure and fame. What better place then besides the most evil of players.¡± ¡°Nope, we aren¡¯t taking you. But you are welcome to spend the night with me.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t roll that way. I sing for my art. Don¡¯t you want to hear me?¡± ¡°Temperament is far more important than singing ability.¡± He left the room. The others just stared at me. ¡°What? I want an evil bard, not a mama¡¯s boy.¡± The last one to come in was a middle aged woman with frizzy black hair going everywhere. She wore men¡¯s clothing and had a sword strapped to her hip. ¡°Name and reason for being here?¡± ¡°Word in Str is that you are looking for a bard.¡± ¡°An evil bard, and yes. Your name?¡± ¡°Call me Black.¡± ¡°Any reason why?¡± ¡°Because I like the color.¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t really a color but the-¡° I rubbed Three¡¯s head to shut him up. ¡°Neat trick.¡± Black said. ¡°Yes, sometimes he lets his mouth run away. Now why do you want to join?¡± ¡°Because, I am having trouble finding a team. I figure if all I need to do is to sing, this can¡¯t be that hard.¡± ¡°Why the team trouble?¡± ¡°Well¡­.¡± ¡°Well what? If you are going to travel with us, we have to trust you.¡± ¡°The men are all pervs and try and hit on me. I like women.¡± She gave Tor a glance and Tor smiled back. ¡°First if you join you get to be third in command after Tor. These three are my slaves. If they give you trouble, then make them do chores or give you a back rub.¡± Two gave me a glare. One let out a sigh. Three smiled and drummed his fingers on the table. ¡°Now singing, what is your charisma stat?¡± ¡°Zero, it is a useless skill.¡± ¡°Interesting. Can you sing us something?¡± ¡°I love my dogs, they are lovely dogs, they woof woof woof. There is that good enough?¡± The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Here is the deal, if you join, you have to master evil singing, so that means singing all the time. When we meet enemies I want you to make their ears bleed and their brains hurt. That was a good start, but it could be a lot worse.¡± ¡°Kenji I don¡¯t think this is a good idea.¡± Tor said. ¡°Come on, didn¡¯t you hear her. She was terrible. She doesn¡¯t care about singing, and has no stat points in Charisma. It is brilliant, I couldn¡¯t have asked for anyone better.¡± ¡°Sing all the time?¡± Black asked. ¡°Of course, you need to find the terrible singing skill chain. Also you need to improve vocal muscles.¡± ¡°Vocal muscles don¡¯t work-¡° I rubbed Three on the head again. He was going to run out of hair at this rate. ¡°I know, but since she probably is dumping her points into the physical stats, it is perfect.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s discuss pay.¡± She said. ¡°Pay? What pay?¡± ¡°I am a mercenary of Solid Steel. I decided to give this a shot instead. I owe them quite a bit for the leveling and gear. So pay up to get me.¡± ¡°Michael!¡± The man entered the room so fast I was sure he had been hiding outside. ¡°Yes, what can I do for you?¡± ¡°How much does Black owe?¡± ¡°Her current contract is held at seven gold, due to the assisted leveling and gear.¡± ¡°Seven.¡± ¡°Yes, most of it is based on our assisted leveling rates. To provide enough monsters to easily kill can be quite expensive.¡± ¡°Fine, One go to the wagon and pay this in all the silver and copper we have, then go to gold.¡± ¡°Very well.¡± Michael turned and left with One right behind him. ¡°So Black how do you feel about needless violence and torture?¡± ¡°Not my thing, but I want to travel.¡± ¡°You have to follow my orders and then Tors.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Problem?¡± ¡°You really are going to take me just like that?¡± ¡°Well, I think Tor wants to have a go with you. Mind if we watch?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Tor said. She got up from behind the table and walked over to Black. One returned five minutes later just as Tor was finished putting her clothes back on. ¡°What? what happened? Why do I miss all the action?¡± ¡°Because you get to run my errands.¡± ¡°Tor want to have a-¡° ¡°Later, I need you functional. Black can you get your clothes back on, we are leaving.¡± ¡°Yeah, wow¡­.¡± She muttered. I just shook my head. ¡°I have arranged with Solid Steel to fairy us across the river. We will cross the Ebony River north of Vlat and then make our way south to the desert. Based on the map I just got, the tower is in the middle of the place. We will probably stop in Vlat to resupply on the way. There aren¡¯t roads out to the west, but Solid Steel will be providing a heavier duty wagon to cross the plains.¡± ¡°Then why did we have to clean the one we had?¡± One said. ¡°Because you ask questions like that. Now we leave at first light tomorrow. The first thing I want to do is go over all of our stats and skills as a group. Does anyone have a problem with that?¡± ¡°That seems a bit private.¡± Black said. ¡°We are going to be fighting insanely powerful monsters that will rip your tits off and lay babies in your chest.¡± I had no idea if that really was the case, but it was the sentiment I wanted to convey. ¡°So either you are part of this team or not.¡± ¡°I guess, it just seems like something we should keep secret.¡± ¡°Normally yes. We are family now. I am the Dad, Tor the mom. You are the crazy aunt, and you three are our trouble making boys from next door.¡± ¡°I am older than-¡° I rubbed Threes head again and he shut up before he got burnt. ¡°Maybe, but does anyone have an issue with me being in charge?¡± ¡°Nope, just make sure to treat me well.¡± Tor reached over and placed a hand down below and gave a strong squeeze. ¡°I understand. Black, you need to loosen up if you want to join us.¡± ¡°But-¡° ¡°No buts. Can you loosen up and obey?¡± There was a long moment of silence. ¡°You railroad everyone else around you. I am not one of your minions.¡± I let out a small sigh at that. I leaped over the table and slapped her. She stumbled back and I landed a punch in her gut. ¡°Get her weapons and cut off her clothes.¡± ¡°After all that trouble you are going to kill her?¡± Tor asked. ¡°She would be difficult and complain. I do whatever I want and don¡¯t put up with this shit. You at least don¡¯t complain or whine. I don¡¯t have to explain every single thing to you either. She would be a burden.¡± ¡°I see your point. It would have been nice to have another woman, oh well.¡± ¡°You are going to regret this. Solid Steel won¡¯t let you do anything to one of their own and get away with it.¡± Black said from the floor where her clothes were being removed. ¡°I paid out your contract. You are just some random person now. One you want a go?¡± ¡°Meh, the minus five percent to all stats for thirty days is a harsh for some player on player action.¡± ¡°Yes it is. Oh, Three. I want you to make Black log out or give permission to us to do whatever we want. Keep her presentable.¡± ¡°You make things so hard.¡± He whined. ¡°I am sure you can do it. Black you want to give in? If you have seen my videos, things can get fairly bad.¡± ¡°Do what you want to my auto pilot. Asshole. Logout.¡± We all stood there in shock at her sudden departure. ¡°Ok, that was surprising. Alright, One you can take the back, I got the front. Three you are welcome to her after we are done.¡± There were no objections. We left the room and Michael let out a small sigh when he looked in. ¡°It is really annoying to clean up that kind of mess.¡± ¡°You are being paid well enough so stop complaining. She was complaining too much.¡± I said the last sentence with a pointed look at Michael who looked like he was holding in a sigh. ¡°I see. Well, do you want to have a bath and then an early dinner since you are departing first thing tomorrow?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± We went to the bath house again. Tor took all three of the minions for a round and then we lay in the water. I had One massage me in the water while we relaxed. ¡°So Two, who is this Albus person and why do you want to kill him?¡± I asked. ¡°He was a friend in real life and then he managed to get his hand on a powerful artifact by sacrificing me.¡± ¡°What artifact?¡± ¡°A staff, from what I have heard it acts as a spell booster.¡± Probably like the scythe, I thought. ¡°So revenge?¡± ¡°Yes, also he is my dad in real life.¡± ¡°Ouch, that has to hurt.¡± Family betrayal, there was no mercy in this VR. ¡°Indeed, so when I find out where he is. He will die and start over. Preferably as painfully as possible. Being fed to hundreds of snakes is quite painful.¡± ¡°Ouch. Three help out One here and I want to hear more about you.¡± ¡°Not much to say. I used to service capsules in my local area. Then my grandmother died and I got an inheritance large enough to quit work. I mainly write romance novels online.¡± ¡°Send me a link, so we can check them out.¡± ¡°Awesome, what about you Tor?¡± ¡°Just a girl floating along.¡± ¡°That is the spot One, keep going. So what about you?¡± ¡°I do design work for the Omnitrek Space Program.¡± ¡°What kind of work?¡± ¡°Robotic mining.¡± ¡°Ahhhhhhh. I was hoping you were going to say blacksmithing. Well at least all of you are full time in VR. Those people who have to pop out, sucks to be them.¡± I splashed Tor with some water. She gave me a glare which turned into an evil grin and splashed me back. Soon enough water was flying everywhere. We finally calmed down. ¡°Too bad we can¡¯t stay here.¡± One said. ¡°At what I am paying, good god. I had to trade the cloak for all of this.¡± Everyone looked at me in shock. ¡°What you thought Solid Steel would just betray the Lord of Str, put up with our murdering and bloody corpses everywhere if I wasn¡¯t? Also they are getting a lot of heat for protecting me. Things are going to get tough, and I need people I can trust. I also wanted a chance to get to know you all better without all the chaos of running around.¡± I continued on with my impromptu speech. ¡°One, you like this team atmosphere. You wanted a group to be part of in game. A place to hang out and have fun. People who don¡¯t mind some sex. Two, you are more quiet and reserved but you are pissed at life. Well this group gives you a chance to vent a bit. Three, you are bored and this gives you an outlet. Tor, you are a woman who likes to be in the action. You also don¡¯t mind being second in command.¡± There was a long moment of silence. ¡°Aww Kenji likes us.¡± Three said. I reached out and gave him a not so gentle squeeze. He let out a yelp. ¡°Be grateful I aimed low this time, if you lose anymore hair you will go bald.¡± ¡°Then we would be twins.¡± He reached out and squeezed me back gently. We both let go. ¡°I would say get a room, but I have already seen it all.¡± Tor said. ¡°We need a team name. And I swear to god that if anyone suggests anything similar to Sparkly Rainbow Unicorn Princesses there will be punishment.¡± There was a bunch of chuckling at that. ¡°How about the Dominators?¡± One said. ¡°Or the Masters of Death.¡± Three said. ¡°Maybe the Fornicators.¡± We all looked at Tor. I thought I saw her blush a bit through the steam and look away. ¡°The Sheathed Swords, since we sheathe our swords in our enemies bodies.¡± Two said. ¡°I have it. Anti-Heroes, since we are the scourge of heroes everywhere.¡± One said. ¡°That is actually not half bad.¡± I said. ¡°Anti-Heroes, cheesy but half the groups already are or they are way too pretentious. Like the group called Black Death with a bunch of want to be assassins.¡± ¡°So do we feed princesses to dragons?¡± Three asked. ¡°Maybe, just have to find one.¡± ¡°What about the Sparkly Rainbow Unicorn Prin¡­.¡± One trailed off as we all looked at him. ¡°One, you just used up your reward for coming up with the group name.¡± ¡°What no. Sorry, She-Hulks. I meant She-Hulks.¡± ¡°I forgive you this one time.¡± ¡°Oh I finally know what I want as my one thing.¡± ¡°Hmm, I looked at One.¡± ¡°I want-¡° There was a loud boom and the entire fortress shook. *** Ramponator: Interesting team, Rain of Blood has put together 6996: They need a symbol GODHAXLOL: HORSEY FaceReaper: Why did he blur out the Mystery Man¡¯s face FallenGod: It isn¡¯t that hard to figure out TheLordBreckley: Avenge me my noble brother TidalWave: I want to join Ramponator: Who doesn¡¯t 6996: Smart people FallenGod: Idiots UltimataSecret: The ones who aren¡¯t depraved or insane *** Anova sipped some fruity wine while thinking over the events of this morning. Everything was going to plan. Rain of Blood would be out of the area for a while, allowing for a chance to consolidate power. ¡°That man is a menace.¡± He mused while he took another sip. Thankfully everything had worked out. As the leader of Solid Steel, he knew all about Kenji¡¯s ploys to keep the meeting safe. Only the service representatives knew his true identity and they all referred to him as a customer to throw people off. Losing on purpose was always hard, but Rain liked to dominate. If he wasn¡¯t in control then he lashed out. It was simple enough to do a backstab and then become cornered and give up minor information so Rain felt strong enough to win a future battle. Death would have been inconvenient but it would have taken a day at most to get back here and three weeks to grind up the levels. It was a well-placed gamble and Anova smiled as he took another sip of wine. Prophecy magic was still in its infancy, but he was making headway with minor predictions. Soon enough he would be able to know far reaching events with ease. As for winning the game, well, no one knew that. There was no chance of Rain figuring the lie out and debunking the claim any time soon. *** Author¡¯s Note: Surprise, double chapter today, to motivate all my supporters! Get cracking if you want those bonus chapters! I also want to give a shout out to this story http://royalroadl.com/fiction/3892/ He is making me think about trying my hand at a space VR. Feel free to give him some love and tell him to write faster, Pelius speed. ;p Now people with white backgrounds should be able to read. I also went back and fixed the previous chapters. Please remember to vote up the reviews you like so this story is more visible. We will be going back to more action now. Bonding time is over and the core of the team has formed. A leader who doesn¡¯t care about the world, a second in command who is a succubus, three men, one who wants more, another who desires revenge, and finally one who is bored and a bit unhinged. May their deaths be glorious. Sorry no evil bard yet. The moment her personality started to come out I realized it would piss off my MC. That never ends well. Also the Mystery Man/Lord of Str. He is a more cerebral player. He rarely takes to the field. Think Lex Luthor with mind powers and you are on the right track. If he had full MP and went all out, it would very difficult/impossible for almost all players to beat him in a straight up fight. But no one fights fair in FEAR except idiots. I put that scene at the end to help show the plots behind the scenes. Kenji is a minor character compared to the major players who influence the directions of millions. While he causes change and destruction he doesn¡¯t think big term. The Mystery Man is like the MC, only he thinks a lot more than he acts, like a chess master. He would be very tricky to kill and keep down for good since he exploits the death mechanics of the system. Also he would be boring to write, since there would only be a small amount of action. Remember to support this story with reviews, ratings, votes, and all that jazz for special bonus chapters. Chapter 25: Horror Unleashed ¡°Get changed, go!¡± I shouted. We were already all racing out of the bath and tossing on our clothes and armor. Michael walked in just as we had finished. ¡°I apologize for the interruption, but a large number of players are attacking.¡± ¡°Do you require our assistance?¡± I asked. ¡°Appreciated but no. Our soldiers are well trained and can use the experience. You may either leave now through the rear entrance or you may remain and depart tomorrow morning as we agreed. I will note that the large explosion you felt was one of our mage units.¡± ¡°A combination attack, interesting.¡± Michael¡¯s jaw twitched at my guess, so it was probably right. ¡°We will go to sleep now and depart tomorrow. After what I paid, I plan to use the entire time.¡± I said. ¡°Very well, the dining room is prepared. Please follow me.¡± Dinner was enjoyable since there was a wide range of food and drinks. Worth every gold coin that it had cost me. ¡°So Michael, what do you know about food magic?¡± ¡°A tricky subject we are still looking into. Perhaps when you return you can taste the fruits of our progress?¡± ¡°What is the big deal about food magic?¡± Three said while ripping a chunk of meat off a drumstick. ¡°Food production is plummeting. The players are wiping out the NPCs, and over time this means the tedious tasks like food production will collapse.¡± I said. ¡°Indeed, inflation is already rampant. But I believe we will have this area well in hand. We are already enslaving players who cause trouble. With their auto-pilots trapped, they will be unable to respawn and hopefully we can secure this area.¡± Michael took a sip of the fruity wine. ¡°It will be troublesome if they log on again.¡± Tor said. ¡°Indeed, but we already have developed countermeasures. Unfortunately those are a trade secret of Solid Steel. I will say that your videos Kenji were the inspiration for many people to actually set up their mental log out.¡± Michael gave a small chuckle at his observation. ¡°I mean really, was I the only person to read the instruction manual for set-up and to listen to Legal Bob?¡± Everyone but Michael looked a bit embarrassed at that. I let out a small sigh. ¡°Really people, information is power.¡± ¡°I will say that after the snakes, I definitely set up mine.¡± Two said. ¡°But think about the experiences you miss?¡± Everyone stared at three who went back to eating. ¡°Well then, I shall see you in the morning. Have a restful sleep.¡± Michael said. We went to our room and looked at the one bed. ¡°Why one bed?¡± Tor asked. ¡°I kind of forgot to put an order with Solid Steel for more. Also this one is fairly big. No snoring Two.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t snore¡­¡± He said. But by then we were all dumping our weapons and hoping on the large feather bed to go to sleep. The next morning I was the first one up. I took a piss in the chamber pot and began stretching. I then shook One, Two, and Three awake leaving Tor to sleep. No need to risk her morning wraith. Food was brought in by a couple of servants and we had a nice breakfast of fruit, bread, jam, and some light beer. I swear the booze was what got Tor up as she greedily started chugging it down from one of the pitchers. Wisely, none of us said anything. A short time later Michael came by. ¡°Ah it is good to see that you are all up and ready. Follow me.¡± We set off behind him through the dimly lit stone halls of the fortress. ¡°Your wagon is ready and a barge has been arranged at the river about half a day¡¯s journey. They have agreed to drop you off at any point of the River Str you desire.¡± ¡°Thank you for your hospitality.¡± I said. ¡°You are a valued Class A customer, Kenji Shadowen. I hope we can have many more profitable meetings.¡± Michael replied. We reached the courtyard and there was our new wagon. It was the same size as our last one, but various pieces were banded or made out of metal. The construction was far superior to any I could have hoped for. The best part was the locking braking system and a tarp covering over the back and driver¡¯s seat. The fact that it could be taken up and down was really important. I hated the rain with a vengeance, and wanted to stay dry. ¡°Looks out something out of the old west.¡± Two said. ¡°We are going to the Wild Lands.¡± Tor replied. ¡°Sweet.¡± One said. ¡°We should paint it red.¡± Three said. I rubbed his head. He let out a yelp. ¡°Let¡¯s get going.¡± I said. Michael had two large horses brought out and hitched to the front of the wagon while my team checked to make sure everything was in the back. We were off just as the sun was coming up over the horizon. What was distracting was the scene outside the fortress. There were at least fifty charred corpses and the land itself had been blackened. ¡°Damn that is some serious fire power.¡± One said. ¡°I bet they had a bunch of mages calling on fire and the other¡¯s air. See how the charred ground sweeps outwards. It looks like there was a fire twister.¡± I said. ¡°Do you guys feel something?¡± Two asked. I closed my eyes to focus my senses as we continued down the road towards the river. ¡°I feel it too.¡± One said. Two gave an affirmative as well. ¡°It is like something is pressing down, like your fear aura Kenji.¡± ¡°Everyone hold on, we are getting the hell out of here. YAH!¡± I snapped the reigns and the horses took off down the road. ¡°There is no way¡­not all the way here.¡± Tor said. ¡°Everyone, keep an eye out for anything terrible and try not to puke.¡± I called out. They probably thought I was talking about the bumpy ride. ¡°I see something, back down the road. Sun¡¯s in my eyes, but there is definitely something there. It seems to be turning back and forth from us to the fortress.¡± Two called out. ¡°GO HORSES! GO!¡± I snapped the reigns again and they went from a fast trot to pulling the wagon all out. ¡°Slow down!¡± One called out. ¡°You see the video of the thing I took the scythe from. That¡¯s it.¡± There was a moment of silence from everyone on the cart. ¡°Shit! FASTER, FASTER!¡± One called out. ¡°It is turning towards the fortress.¡± Two said. ¡°We keep going like this for a bit. No way I am fighting that thing again.¡± I shouted out. ¡°No way I am looking at it again either.¡± I muttered under my breath. We slowed down after five minutes but I kept the horses moving down the road quickly. Off to my left I could see the river and the road slowly moving towards each other as we circled around the base of Str Mountain. The city was off in the distance, but that was a place we wanted to avoid. No need to start fighting players for no good reason. ¡°I am sure we could have taken it.¡± Three said. ¡°What level are you?¡± ¡°Three.¡± ¡°Level not name.¡± ¡°I mean level three.¡± ¡°That thing is over level one hundred seventy. It would rip your flesh off in some horrible way.¡± ¡°But wouldn¡¯t it be-¡° I handed the reigns to Tor. I then reached back and rubbed his head. ¡°None of that. It is evil, vile, and reminds me of certain female body parts with teeth. So hell no, if you want to go be my guest.¡± ¡°Nah, but it would be a great weapon.¡± ¡°Why do you think I got rid of the cloak and the scythe? Remember.¡± *** ¡°Thank god they are finally gone. Did you see the mess from Black.¡± ¡°Yeah, that was shit, but she was always a cunt.¡± ¡°Well, we never did¡­what is that?¡± One of the soldier¡¯s manning the wall asked. ¡°Look there, coming up the main road to the fortress.¡± ¡°Hard to make out, but it is emitting some sort of aura.¡± The soldier reached out and pushed the large bell that rested on the wall above the gate. CLANG, CLANG, CLANG. Soldiers began rushing out of the keep getting dressed and Michael hurried over. ¡°What is it?¡± Michael asked. ¡°Something down the road, moving towards the fortress. It is sending out some sort of aura.¡± ¡°Alright, Commander Rass, deal with it.¡± The Solid Steel organization was built around the concept of combat units headed up by a Combat Leader. These units would range from ten to fifty people depending on their specialty and number of people assigned to the unit. Leaders managed each of their units differently. Above them were Commanders, they were in charge of important sites that the Solid Steel organization had taken. They had anywhere from two or more units under their command and their own body guards, which also acted as their personal unit. Finally there were the Administrators who managed entire regions, both combat and non-combat actions. They focused on boosting Charisma and handled the customer interactions. While the Administrators had almost no combat ability, they had the ultimate authority over any Commanders and Combat Leaders in their region. There were also Director positions for the non-combat side of the organization, but those individuals were rarely seen by anyone not in Solid Steel. By handing the current situation off, Administrator Michael had made it clear this was a combat situation. While they had been hoping for a large response to test and showcase their group tactics, these one off stragglers would be a continual annoyance. ¡°Alright men, you heard the boss. I want two rows of archers right now! I want melee along the wall at ten feet intervals. The rest get your asses down to the gate. CL Miriuel, what is the status of your mage unit?¡± ¡°Just about dry after last night. We won¡¯t be able to contribute much.¡± She said. ¡°Fall back then, I don¡¯t think we should have any issues. Send out your unit to boost the watch at other points.¡± Commander Rass said. He turned and looked back at the figure that was now approaching. He saw a cloud of dust in the distance from Rain of Blood¡¯s wagon. ¡°Interesting.¡± He muttered. The thing began approaching closer and closer. Two of the soldiers lost their stomach contents and Commander Rass couldn¡¯t blame them. ¡°Stay strong! Archers stand ready!¡± The archers all began to notch their bows. ¡°Fire!¡± About eighty arrows were loosed. The creature kneeled down and then jumped. Where it¡¯s pace had been slow and steady, the jump was quick and shocking. The arrows sailed under the monster and it landed about ten feet from the gate. Oh god, this was that thing in Rain of Blood¡¯s videos. ¡°Keep your distance and don¡¯t stop firing!¡± *** ¡°So do you think that Solid Steel can handle it?¡± Tor asked. ¡°No idea. We can only wait and see. If it crushes them then there will be videos and an announcement online probably.¡± I replied. We reached a small village that was pressed up between the road and the river. There was a barge docked and I drove the wagon up to it. A older middle aged man stepped up. ¡°So you are the folks we were hired to take down river. Big wagon, but it should fit. Roll it on and get those horses tied off. I am Captain Abe, if there is a problem talk to me. Don¡¯t go bothering my crew.¡± We all got to work. I noticed there were at least nine other men on the boat, all of them had swords. I walked over to the Captain. ¡°What were your instructions?¡± I asked. ¡°Drop you off somewhere down stream. Where do you want to go?¡± He asked me. ¡°How long to reach Romana?¡± ¡°At the coast, shit. That would take about seven days if we don¡¯t run into problems.¡± He leaned over the rail and spat out a huge glob of mucus. ¡°We might not go that far, depends. Let¡¯s get going and I will think on it.¡± ¡°You are a creepy little blighter aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± *** Arrows began to rain down on the monster as it took a couple of steps forward. The first few arrows to reach it bent around the horror as if space itself was curved. The Commander drew his sword. ¡°Don¡¯t let this thing grab you!¡± It leapt again and the soldiers on the wall panicked as it landed next to the bell stand. It landed on top of a soldier and his body burst like a ripe melon. Blood and guts went everywhere, which just made the situation a lot worse. Soldier¡¯s panicked as they all tried to get away. The archers couldn¡¯t shoot since the arrows would curve around the monster and hit their comrades. Suddenly a small pillar of flame engulfed the creature. Unfortunately it disappeared a second later. Commander Rass couldn¡¯t tell if the mages had run out of MP, the creature resisted, or some combination of the two. There would be no magical help with their exhaustion. The creature leapt off the wall and in the middle of the melee fighters. It grabbed two, one with each hand. Their screams were raw and primal as the horror slammed them upon its body and its many orifices filled with teeth. The Commander didn¡¯t know why but he felt the urge to look up and saw a number of thin wires drifting above the monster. The Leader had come, thank god. The wires fell down around the monster and its two victims. A moment later they snapped taught, cutting through the helpless soldiers and then into the creature. The Commander thought how clever the Leader of Solid Steel was since he had waited for the monster to lower its defenses to grab onto victims before he acted. He would only get one chance at finishing the creature with his mana reserves. The space warping ability was incredibly over powered. That thing probably had a massive amount of MP to keep it up like it had. The wires wrapped around the nearby blades of that the soldiers were holding. ¡°Pull men, like your lives depended on it.¡± Soldiers grabbed onto the blades the metal wires had wrapped around and pulled for all they were worth. The monster was surprisingly resilient, but was finally cut apart as the wires dug into it. ¡°Archers, get to building a bonfire. Pull out our wood stores.¡± ¡°It appears the scythe and cloak will have to go.¡± Michael said. The Commander looked over, he was no longer surprised at the way the man always seemed to appear at just the right time. ¡°Yeah, I will have Combat Units Three and Six go. What about that thing?¡± ¡°Burn everything. If that doesn¡¯t work get a forge built and encase the body in solid steel.¡± ¡°Shit, that will use up our entire stockpile.¡± ¡°Well I am sure we can sell it to someone and recoup our losses. A personal Reaper of Skulls would be sure to fetch a large price. If we do cast it, try to leave the head free. It appears to only use innate magic around it, based on what I have observed.¡± ¡°Hmmm, we will try. That thing is brutal.¡± The Commander looked over the splattering of the soldier who had been on the wall. Michael looked over as well. ¡°Indeed, good job rallying the men. While we lost three this should go a long way to boosting moral. Can you send the recording over to PR as soon as possible?¡± ¡°Yeah, not a problem.¡± *** I gathered by team at the front of the barge as we coasted down the river. ¡°Alright it is time to discuss stats and skills. I will start to show you what I want to know.¡±
STATUS
NameKenji Shadowen
Level80
Constitution38
Strength53
Dexterity125.4
Endurance53
Wisdom10.6
Intelligence11.2
Charisma0
Luck0
Fate582.98
Fire Resistence90%
SKILLS
Blunt Weapons-1
Piercing Weapons-1
Cutting Weapons-5 MAX Power Slash-4
Throwing-5 MAX Rapid Throwing-2
Light Archery-3
Riding-1
Trap Making-5 MAX Trap Detection-1
Ambidexterious-4
Tactics-4
Wood Carving-1
Running-4
Swimming-3
Light Conditioning-5 MAX Medium Conditioning-5 MAX Hard Conditioning-2
Climbing-2
Stealth-5 MAX Conceal Presence-1
Basic Biology-5 MAX Intermediate Biology-3
Torture-5 MAX Fear Aura-3
Deception-5 MAX
Misdirection-2
Poison Immunity-3 Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Types: Spore, Bug, Plant, Death
Meditate 5-MAX Mental Defense-2
Identification-3
Observe-3
Leadership-2
Murderer-500 MAX
Depraved-16
Army of One-5
Enemy of the People-5 MAX
Massacre of Willhelm-1 MAX
Battle of Gloommore Forest-1 MAX
Burning of Breckley-1 MAX
Raid of North Salrin Mine-1 MAX
Murder of Merchants-1 MAX
Player Killer-10 MAX
Cannibal-3
Holy War-1
Demon Slayer-1
Demonic Blood Corruption-3
Curse of the Goddess Tafe-1
Constitution Focus-1
Strength Focus-1
Dexterity Focus-2
Endurance Focus-1
ONE
STATUS
Name
Level18
Constitution16.6
Strength10
Dexterity19
Endurance10.1
Wisdom10
Intelligence10
Charisma15
Luck0
Fate40
SKILLS
Cutting Weapons-2
Light Archery-3
Running-1
Light Conditioning-4
Meditate-2
Murderer-34
Depraved-6
Player Killer-3
Demonic Blood Corruption-1
TWO
STATUS
Name
Level23
Constitution20.6
Strength29
Dexterity20
Endurance20
Wisdom10
Intelligence10
Charisma0
Luck0
Fate30
SKILLS
Blunt Weapons-2
Cutting Weapons-1
Running-2
Light Conditioning-5 MAX Medium Conditioning-2
Meditate-2
Murderer-27
Depraved-3
Player Killer-3
THREE
STATUS
Name
Level3
Constitution6.44
Strength7
Dexterity7
Endurance7.14
Wisdom14
Intelligence7.14
Charisma0
Luck0
Fate68.24
SKILLS
Blunt Weapons-1
Cutting Weapons-1
Ambidexterious-1
Light Conditioning-2
Stealth-2
Basic Biology-4
Poison Immunity-2 Type: Death
Meditate-1
Murderer-37
Depraved-20 MAX
Cannibal-2
Demonic Blood Corruption-1
TOR
STATUS
Name
Level76
Constitution22.6
Strength20.2
Dexterity20.6
Endurance20.2
Wisdom52
Intelligence119.18
Charisma10
Luck10.1
Fate79
[tr]
SKILLS
Piercing Weapons-1
Cutting Weapons-4
Throwing-5 MAX Rapid Throwing-2
Light Archery-5 MAX Medium Archery-2
Cooking-2
Light Conditioning-5 MAX Medium Conditioning-3
Stealth-5 MAX Conceal Presence-2
Basic Biology-2
Meditate 5-MAX Mental Defense-1
Onciontituts Focus-2
Xyiterted Focus-1
Murderer-59
Depraved-10
Army of One-1
Escape from Galmore-1 MAX
Player Killer-10 MAX
Wisdom Focus-1Intelligence Focus-2
We all finished running through our stats and skills and looked at each other. ¡°I knew you were boss, but that is insane.¡± One said. ¡°Yeah, shit, I think the highest reported level is ninety six at the moment.¡± Two said. ¡°Shit, all my dying really screwed me up.¡± Three said. ¡°Good news and bad news. The good news is that most of your stat points are in the right place. Though why you put fifteen into charisma One I will never know.¡± ¡°The ladies¡­¡± ¡°Anyways, we have good builds forming. I do want everyone to work on meditation when we aren¡¯t doing anything. Yes, it is boring, but it is important. And One and Two can take the time to stare at people and use observe on them. Three you need to work on that fire magic.¡± ¡°The bad news is that we need levels and to kill a bunch of people to get player killer up to max. I am thinking we are going to go all the way up the river and stop at Romana. From there we get a ship and sail around the coast to the edge of the Durrunian Desert out on the western edge of the continent. From there we will see.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you say something different back in the fortress?¡± One asked. ¡°Yes, in case they were listening. I trust Solid Steel as far as I can throw them. Which means not at all for those of you not picking up.¡± ¡°The big problem will be Romana. There is sure to be players after us once we arrive.¡± Tor said. ¡°Good news, I am slowing down my video production a bit so as to not lead people towards us. By the time they see the boat they will have no idea where we are and most won¡¯t be able to act on it.¡± ¡°Alright, but do we really want to retrieve this book?¡± Tor asked. ¡°Well we can always back out. Personally I want to take it, read it, and then make a copy for the Mystery Man.¡± ¡°Smart, but won¡¯t he catch on?¡± ¡°We have weeks and weeks to plan something out. I put our collective thought power above his any days. Like I said, take a look and then decide. Heck we can go to another continent. But, I prefer to get the book and return. It would nice for a in game vacation and resting period. Especially since this is going to be a long journey. Oh and we take turns with the desert info book. Who¡¯s first?¡± *** ¡°Ding, ding, ding, you have a visitor.¡± I turned from my editing console and stood up. ¡°Name?¡± ¡°BigSis.¡± I let out a long sigh. ¡°Allow her through to the guest level and inform her I will be there shortly.¡± I finished up what I was doing and ordered my wardrobe to switch out from relaxing to casual. I then made my way to the guest level of my atrium. ¡°Hello big sister.¡± ¡°Hello little brother, long time no see.¡± Her avatar looked almost the same as the last time I had seen her. She was probably using an older rented capsule to place this call. ¡°So why are you paying me a visit?¡± I asked. I sat down in an armchair and she did as well. ¡°Mom, she isn¡¯t doing well.¡± ¡°Hmmmm, what is the problem?¡± There was a long moment of silence. ¡°She gave you clearance to look. MedCor file 231-291-28102.¡± I called up the file and got a processing notification. ¡°Should take about a minute. So how are you?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t complain, at least I have a job. Most people aren¡¯t that lucky.¡± ¡°Hmm, what are you doing now? Still servicing capsules?¡± ¡°Yeah, pays half decent, but they always want you to take one more call. Especially after those terrorist attacks, the whole system was swamped.¡± ¡°Well Omnitrek sorted them out well enough.¡± ¡°Maybe¡­. Anyways I am enjoying your videos.¡± ¡°I try. Dad still drinking?¡± ¡°Yeah, ever since he lost his job with Apple after it went bust, well, it has been tough on mom.¡± ¡°I offered her a place if she moved out but¡­.¡± ¡°She told me. ¡°Ding, ding, ding, the medical report is ready. Do you wish to view it?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I said. At least twenty screens exploded. I ignored all of them and stared at the three dimensional wire frame of my mom. While most of it was blue, in the center of her head was a large red mass. ¡°What is that?¡± I whispered out. ¡°Stage four brain tumor. She has a month left brother. You should pay a visit.¡± ¡°Treatment?¡± ¡°The only thing is nanite and gene therapy. Problem is that it is still listed as an elective.¡± ¡°¡­.how much?¡± ¡°One million up front, twenty five million total.¡± My mind short circuited at that. ¡°Twenty five million? We are talking dollars here?¡± ¡°Yeah, so right now she is saying all her goodbyes. I came to ask you to spend some time before the end.¡± ¡°What about dad, doesn¡¯t he have anything saved up?¡± ¡°Most of it gone with Apple. It had invested everything in stocks. Got pennies on the dollar.¡± ¡°No one else?¡± ¡°Brother, you are actually the richest person in the whole family.¡± There was a long moment of silence. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it like that. Just, no one can pay for the treatment and none of us have the collateral. I didn¡¯t come here to ask you for a hand out. Just to visit her. I know that there was fighting at the end, but please, for me?¡± ¡°What about putting her in a capsule?¡± ¡°The tumor is interfering with the neural lock. Her brain would cook if she connected.¡± ¡°¡­.¡± I sat back down. ¡°I have to get going, I only bought a couple minutes. I know I can count on you. Disconnect.¡± I sat there for a couple of minutes in silence. ¡°FUCK!¡± I yelled. I cursed and cursed and then broke into tears. A minute later I wiped my eyes and stood up. ¡°Please connect to Omnitrek Financial Services.¡± ¡°Ding, ding, ding, please wait one moment while your request is processed.¡± I began pacing. ¡°Your request has been approved, please stand by for a portal.¡± A doorway appeared off to one side. I stepped through into a brightly lit atrium. A male voice spoke. ¡°Please head to Conference Room Twenty Three, orange glowing beacons have been provided for your convenience.¡± I followed the beacons to the room. Inside were two people who stood up as I entered. ¡°Welcome to Omnitrek Financial Services. How may we assist you?¡± I pulled up the medical file and sent it over. ¡°I want to take out a loan to pay for the treatment.¡± ¡°You currently have three hundred and forty seven thousand dollars in liquid assets. One hundred and twenty is tied up as per the full time capsule contract, leaving only two hundred and twenty seven thousand dollars. Base on you job of Video Entertainer and current market predictions a twenty five million dollar loan is too risky.¡± ¡°How much then?¡± ¡°Ten times, so two point two seven million dollars.¡± ¡°Is there any way to get the money?¡± The man at the head of the table looked over to the one sitting next to him. ¡°Sir, as I am sure you are aware we cannot loan out money to bad investments. Ten times is more than generous especially considering the risk your job entails. We have just estimated that if you perish in FEAR your income will drop more than 70% as viewers leave. Only your constant survival has kept people engaged.¡± ¡°What if I increase content release?¡± ¡°Possible, but your earned income still would not be enough.¡± ¡°It is my mother, there has to be a way?¡± ¡°Well you can loan out one million dollars and then make the monthly installments of half a million dollars for the treatment. Unfortunately if payment is not received this experimental treatment cannot be provided. In addition you would have to pay the rate of ninety thousand a month to pay off the loan.¡± I sat there and thought. I had no idea if I should take the risk or let my mom die. She was only forty seven, and she had always been great despite the arguments I had with dad. It would mean a lot more broadcasts. I would be much easier to trace. The people out there weren¡¯t idiots. They used the position of the sun, stars, and shadows to accurately determine my position. Despite staggering the casts back by a week, it wasn¡¯t good enough to keep people off my trail. A sea adventure would be boring. I would have to head overland and literally fight my way through everyone in order to push up the view count. They were right as well. Most people only watched in anticipation of my death and to hunt me down. Once I died, I would lose a massive chunk of my fan base. I had been saving up as well for a retirement of some sort. I gathered up my courage and said, ¡°I will *** Author¡¯s Notes: What a painful chapter to write. The problem with smart characters is that you have to keep them being smart. Also all the stats, urk. But they are done, and we continue on our journey. Please remember to THUMBS UP REVIEWS you like so more people read and we reach the bonus goals. We are also #131, so great job to all of you. I apologize for missing yesterday, but I had to drive 2 hours to try and get my phone repaired at a certain fruit vendor. Apparently the warranty had just ended and the logics board was broken so another 2 hours and then 2 hours to get back. I will say this, I came up with the most evil idea about the ¡®Book in the Tower in the Desert¡¯. On a scale of author evil this pales in comparison to everything else. You have all been warned. I also wanted to get in my entries for all the contests ending today. Feel free to take a look and comment on my entries. I am hoping to sweep all four! ;p If that happens there will be a special celebration chapter, so feel free to leave some suggestions which I will ignore and choose my own. J http://royalroadl.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=41720 Bearing Hardship is the entry into the Steampunk Writing Contest. My story follows the tale of a soldier in the trenches as he tries and survives the various steampunkian contraptions. (Yes, steampunkian is a real word.) http://royalroadl.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=41814 This map entry has the map for the story. It also contains a link to download the full map excel file which contains the full world map at the moment and the dungeon map. While these are subject to change, lots of change you can see what I came up with. The scale is 10x10km and 10x10 feet. http://royalroadl.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=43241 This artwork showcases my AMAZING skills in the field of drawing. If enough people like this, we will use it as the cover artwork instead. http://royalroadl.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=43232 The best for last. A CYOA short story based in the world of FEAR. Do you have what it takes to survive? I also think that the CYOA method is very unique, simple, and amazing. Since you have read my story I give you, my readers, a 50% survival rate if you have been paying attention. Chapter 26: AP Kenji ¡°Shit¡­so your mom?¡± One said. ¡°Yeah, she is going to die.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± Two said. ¡°Anyways, that is why when we are on the sea trip I need you to keep an eye on my auto pilot. Stupid things are like a dodo bird and a brain damaged rabbit combined.¡± ¡°How long will you be gone?¡± Tor asked. ¡°One day to fly back home, four days there, one day to fly back. Also my family really dislikes VR so, no jumping in during my sleep time.¡± ¡°Shit, six days, a month!¡± Three shouted. We all looked at him and he put his hands over his mouth. While we were on the barge I didn¡¯t want anyone knowing I would be gone. ¡°So all of you need to be on your A game. Tor is in charge while I am gone, oh and if anyone touches my auto pilot we are going to have fun when I get back. I figure about four days from Romana to Ramula and then three days to Sother. After that it will take about fifteen days to Goratat. If I leave now I should be coming back just as we start the trek towards the desert.¡± ¡°You do know that Goratat is a basically a trade town where the barbarians sell slaves and is one massive shit hole? Wouldn¡¯t it be better to hole up for a while?¡± Tor asked. ¡°Well that is why you don¡¯t get off at Goratat. You hire a boat to drop us off further down the coast where the sea curves in almost to the edge of the desert. While not the shortest trip possible it should keep people off of us. If you think there is a better way?¡± I looked at Tor. ¡°No, shit, you are our strongest fighter and the whole front line. Your auto-pilot will be shit with you gone.¡± ¡°Yeah. Alright any questions? Oh and three, no drinking out of the poison barrel.¡± Everyone chuckled at that. ¡°How are we going to cross the desert? The tower is right in the middle. Even if we hike our asses off it still will take a month.¡± One asked. ¡°There are plants and animals in the desert. Also if there are sand worms maybe we can ride one.¡± ¡°Not it.¡± Two side. ¡°I am not being bait for a sandworm.¡± ¡°Fine Two isn¡¯t bait, One is.¡± ¡°What no fair.¡± ¡°You asked and now you have your answer. Alright anything else?¡± ¡°Good luck.¡± Tor said which was echoed by the group. ¡°Logout!¡± *** TOR¡¯S POV *** ¡°Look at him. Hey Kenji, are you related to a horse?¡± One asked. ¡°I do not believe so.¡± ¡°Hah!¡± One shouted. ¡°Ok, new rule no pushing the auto-pilot. If people realize Rain of Blood is AFK do you realize the shit storm?¡± Tor said. ¡°Oh shit¡­.¡± One mumbled. ¡°Yeah, no shit Sherlock. So keep the stupid questions to yourself.¡± This was going to be a long month. ¡°Kenji, you were instructed to obey me?¡± ¡°Of course I will listen to you, we are good friends and teammates. Just watch my back okay?¡± In AP speak, this meant yes I will listen as long you don¡¯t put me in danger. ¡°Good, then don¡¯t speak to anyone outside of this team unless I ask you a question. If I am touching my face or use the word like, then agree with me. If not then disagree with me. Understand?¡± ¡°Of course, you are very eloquent and I will listen to you.¡± ¡°Next always stick with me. Don¡¯t go running off, understand?¡± ¡°I am counting on you to keep me safe.¡± AP Kenji said. The slight grin was creepy. ¡°No grinning unless you are killing someone.¡± The grin went away. This was going to be a really long month. ¡°Alright slackers, get to work meditating while I read this book. Stupid deserts will be murder on the skin.¡± *** ONE¡¯S POV *** I was thinking about ditching this loser carnival when we got to Romana. I would find some wenches and have a good time. I opened my eyes form my meditation and saw Tor looking at me. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t thinking anything.¡± I replied. Could she read minds? I thought she already told us all her skills. She was probably hiding one. ¡°You want to screw women until your mind is blown right?¡± ¡°Umm¡­yeah.¡± ¡°Keep in line and keep the others in line and you shall we rewarded. Once we reach Romana, we can get a room and see how long you will last.¡± My mind went into a bliss as I thought about my last go with Tor. ¡°Alright, alright. Watch the others, keep out of trouble. Got it.¡± ¡°Oh and what were you going to ask Kenji, I am curious.¡± ¡°Ahhh¡­.Well I was going to ask him¡­¡± I really didn¡¯t want to say it in front of her. ¡°What?¡± ¡°A harem.¡± ¡°A harem.¡± Tor repeated. ¡°Yeah a harem. I always wanted one. With a different kind of girl for each day of the year. Small tight ones for when I am feisty. Big busty ones for one really want some pulse pounding action.¡± ¡°I should have known. Where would I fit?¡± ¡°You would be first wife of course and dominate all the others.¡± Tor squatted down in front of me. My eyes couldn¡¯t help but drift to her cleavage. ¡°You think I am not woman enough? Maybe you should be in my harem.¡± She reached out and grabbed me. I tried to remain calm as her grip became tighter and tighter. ¡°Of course but variety is the spice of life.¡± ¡°Hmm, I think I will make you the middle in my harem so you can have it both ways.¡± She let out and I let out a gasp. The only thing I could think of while she walked away was one in a million. *** TWO¡¯S POV *** ¡°I have a lead.¡± ¡°On what?¡¯ ¡°Albus.¡± He was going to die. Betraying me like that was unforgivable. We had managed to link up despite all the odds against it and then he betrays me. ¡°So where is he?¡± ¡°The Union.¡± ¡°Not happening.¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± ¡°Do you know where the Union is?¡± ¡°Um no.¡± I had always let others do the planning in that regard. ¡°It is literally on the other side of the world. It would take months to get there and by the time we did he could already be gone. Better to stay on the boat, go to the desert, get stronger, and then find and kill him.¡± She made a good point, but he really needed to die. ¡°Alright. So think we can find a boat?¡± ¡°Who knows, just have to sort things out once we get there. Don¡¯t have a clue how we are going to pay.¡± ¡°Maybe we could hijack one?¡± ¡°You know anything about sailing?¡± ¡°I could learn, I am sure there are programs we can review while we sleep.¡± ¡°Good idea, let¡¯s tell the others.¡± I smiled a bit. It was nice to be part of a group that wanted me. *** THREE¡¯S POV *** So many people, much that needed cutting open. I looked over at the AP of the glorious man I followed. Oh, how I wished he would return. Then we would paint the streets red with blood and create beautiful designs of entrails. I would restrain myself for when we found a ship. Two for being such an agreeable fellow had been quite devious. We were going to rent a ship to take us to wherever it was that we were going and kill everyone on board so we didn¡¯t have to pay. The thought made me shiver in anticipation, it would be glorious. ¡°Three pay attention, we need to learn how to sail this stupid thing.¡± Tor shouted. I got back to my knotting. We each were taking turns keeping watch and sleeping at a rundown inn. While we slept we practiced. ¡°Any luck finding a ship?¡± I asked. ¡°There is a Sloop. I am meeting with the Captain tomorrow.¡± ¡°Like this ship?¡± ¡°Yes, like this. We wouldn¡¯t be able to handle anything bigger. Even with five people it is going to be a pain.¡± ¡°I always wanted to be a pirate.¡± I imagined myself with a parrot that shouted, ¡®Curv em up, curv em up.¡¯ ¡°Watch your knots. Those need to hold.¡± Tor said. I looked down and used the visual interface to confirm them. It indicated which step I had missed. ¡°Ah, okay doing it again.¡± *** TOR¡¯S POV *** ¡°So Captain, how much to transport us all the way to the mouth of the Ruton River?¡± ¡°Well with a wagon, two horses, and four people. We are talking fifty gold.¡± ¡°That is too much, maybe we can have a more private discussion to talk about a reduced fare?¡± ¡°Hmmm, my crew won¡¯t go along with that.¡± ¡°I am sure you can be convincing since you are so strong and powerful. And my men can help with the ship to give yours a rest.¡± ¡°Hmmm, well I won¡¯t object. How about a little sample?¡± *** ONE¡¯S POV *** ¡°I hate swabbing the deck while certain people are having fun.¡± A scream went up from the Captain¡¯s cabin. It had been a regular occurrence for the last two days on the ship. ¡°Just stick with the plan, we won¡¯t be doing this much longer.¡± Two whispered. ¡°Fuck it, there are only ten sailors and three of us plus Kenji. Even if he is an AP we can kill them all.¡± Three whispered. He passed me a dagger and I accepted. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I stood up and walked up behind one of the sailors. I slit his throat and pushed him overboard. AP Kenji was already leaping up the rigging to the crow¡¯s nest. He lifted the sailor up and tossed him off to the side. His screams alerted the rest but by then it was too late. Two had killed one and Three had killed another two. It was four on five. Kenji was soon back on the deck and finished them off. I took the opportunity to head down to the captain¡¯s cabin. I opened up the door and was greeted with a shock. Tor was sitting at the desk and then let out a scream. ¡°AHHHHHHH! OH MY, AHHHHH!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know my presence was that over powering.¡± She quickly stood up and looked at me. ¡°Was wondering how long it would take you all. I killed that tub of lard the first night. Right out the window.¡± ¡°And you let us suffer?¡± I groaned. ¡°Well, I just wanted to see how long you would all put up with it. So was it Three who gave in first?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Thought so.¡± *** TWO¡¯S POV *** Sailing a ship was hard and now we were coming up on the Roaring Strait. Water rushed back and forth between two sheer cliffs that separated the Sea of Storms from the wider ocean. ¡°Double check everything. We need all the sail we can get. Double check your knots Three!¡± Tor shouted above the wind. We had bypassed Ramula and were now entering the Roaring Strait. It didn¡¯t help that we had mis-judged the distance and it was becoming night and it was overcast. ¡°Put out the lantern. I swear people and lights at night.¡± The ship shot into the strait as the large cliffs off to either side loomed over us. I knew in my head they were about a kilometer away each, but their sheer size did not help things. The wind continued to push us. ¡°Ship up ahead, we are gaining fast.¡± I shouted. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, everyone keep a look out for rocks.¡± We were quickly closing in on the other ship. As we zipped by the ship, it became clear that something had trashed it heavily and it was a wreck. A man came out on deck and began waving at us and shouting. ¡°Can¡¯t slow down, we would never get the sails back up at night and I don¡¯t dare turn us.¡± Tor shouted to my unspoken question. We continued on by the poor soul. *** THREE¡¯S POV *** ¡°Sother, this is going to be fun.¡± My mind raced with all the wonderful possibilities. ¡°Three, two rules. First rule don¡¯t get caught. I know you can get carried away, so pay attention, understand.¡± Hmm, I did want to stay with this group. ¡°Yeah, got it.¡± ¡°Second rule. Be back on time or we will think you are captured or dead from your own stupidity. We are leaving first thing tomorrow morning at sun rise.¡± I really didn¡¯t want to be left behind. They honestly weren¡¯t stupid rules. She didn¡¯t even try to keep me on the ship, least I could do was respect her requests. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°Got it.¡± *** TOR¡¯S POV *** I was bored. After Three had returned completely covered in blood the following morning it had been boring. We sailed along the coast spotting small villages but overall there wasn¡¯t anything going on. The weather had been great, more than enough food, but all this traveling was dull. I wanted some excitement and not the personal kind. ¡°Shit red sky.¡± Two said as he came out from below decks. ¡°What?¡± I asked. ¡°Saying, red sky at night sailor¡¯s delight, red sky in the morning sailors take warning. Its morning and there is a red sky.¡± ¡°What do we do?¡± ¡°Maybe bring in the sails. If a storm rolls in we would be in big trouble.¡± ¡°Thanks Two, alright then, kick the others awake and let¡¯s get to work.¡± *** KENJI¡¯S POV *** The exit process was long and frustrating. Tubes had to be removed one at a time, my brain disconnected, and everything else that had allowed me to make a permanent home in VR. At least neural control of my muscles and the robotic pushback had kept me in okay shape. Not enough to do any sprints, but enough that I could walk easily enough. I had booked all my travel arrangements in VR. An automated car would pick me up and take me to the airport in thirty seven minutes. I found my clothes where they had been hung up. A fine layer of dust coated them and everything else. I put them on and made my way out of my VR apartment. There was no kitchen, only capsule room and a small bathroom, nothing else. It was cheap, but that is why I had chosen it. I tossed all my clothes in my bag and took the elevator took me down from the ninth floor to the street. The streets were almost empty. The only people who were walking about appeared to be service techs. A car pulled up in front of me and the door opened. I hopped inside and it took off. It was a boring ride by just myself. Phone service had been consumed by Omnitrek since everything was done in VR now there was almost no need for it. So I spent my entire ride alone and in silence all the way to the airport. I looked out my window as techs worked to replace out broken components. They were like an army of robots, especially with those matching uniforms. I picked up my small bag and went into the lobby. VR had once again removed the need for most flights. The airlines had been automated like the rest of the transportation industry. I sat down and the plane shot off, catapulted into the air by a magnetic rail. With fusion power being the norm, high cost launches were far more preferable than all the fuel needed to take off. ¡°First time?¡± A suit in the seat across the aisle asked me. ¡°Second time. I am going home to visit my mom.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t see her through VR?¡± ¡°Brain tumor, can¡¯t connect.¡± ¡°Oh, I am sorry.¡± ¡°So what are you flying for?¡± ¡°I manage the various technician groups out in more remote regions.¡± ¡°Capsules?¡± ¡°Actually transportation services.¡± ¡°I hope this plane is safe.¡± ¡°Of course it is. So what do you do?¡± ¡°Entertainer, I put up a cast of my time in FEAR.¡± ¡°Oh maybe I heard of you?¡± There was no way I was going to reveal I was Rain of Blood. If that information leaked it would be a disaster. I couldn''t let anyone know I was logged out. ¡°Nah, just a minor caster, but I get by.¡± ¡°Hmmm.¡± Was all he said. *** ONE¡¯S POV *** ¡°Shit this ship can¡¯t take much more of this. I can¡¯t¡­.take much more of this.¡± Another massive wave lifted the ship and then it slammed back down into the ocean. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare puke in my face again!¡± Tor shouted through the storm. After we had taken down the sails we ended up tying ourselves to the steering wheel, so we would be stuck together no matter what. ¡°THIS IS FUN!¡± Three shouted. I puked again and it went flying into the water that crashed down on our small vessel. ¡°We never gave the ship a name.¡± Two shouted. ¡°Well how about Never Sinks.¡± I shouted back. ¡°That sounds very interesting.¡± AP Kenji said. ¡°The Rushing Blood.¡± Three shouted. ¡°Shut-AHHHHH!¡± A wave splashed over the vessel interrupting Tor. ¡°Shut-AHHHHH, I agree with that.¡± I said. ¡°I second it.¡± Said Two. ¡°Third.¡± Said Three. Every burst into laughter at that. ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± AP Kenji said. *** TWO¡¯S POV *** ¡°Well the ship is breached. We landed smack dab on top of a pointy rock. Looks like we are stuck here.¡± ¡°Where is here? Is the big question.¡± One said. ¡°Look at those mountains. If we climb up, we can get the lay of the land and figure out where we are.¡± I said. ¡°Good idea, but who knows what is in that forest.¡± Tor said. ¡°You don¡¯t need to go. It is fairly obvious.¡± Three said. We all turned to look at him. ¡°I mean really, we got hit with the storm a couple days passed the Ruton River. There are no mountains in the Wild Lands to the South. Look at the sun, it is rising to the right which means the mountains are north of us.¡± ¡°That big island.¡± I whispered. ¡°Yep, nothing but us, trees, and that chain of mountains. The few players that popped out here, died fairly quick and there are no settlements.¡± Three didn¡¯t have his normal sadistic grin which was worrisome. ¡°So, we are stuck here. How far is it to the mainland?¡± Tor asked. ¡°Hundred kilometers at least.¡± Three said. That wasn¡¯t good. ¡°Okay then, first we are going to set up camp some place secure, preferably near the ship. Next we are going to take what we can and start work on a raft. With luck we should be out of here in a week or so.¡± It wasn¡¯t going to be that simple and I knew it. We were so screwed, Kenji needed to hurry his ass back. *** KENJI¡¯S POV *** ¡°Hey mom, good to see you.¡± ¡°Oh, my son. I couldn¡¯t believe it when you called. It is so good to see you.¡± I set my bag down and was engulfed in a massive hug. ¡°Thanks, so how are things?¡± ¡°Tough, but we are getting by. I know your sister is coming by, it will be nice to have dinner as a family.¡± ¡°Where¡¯s dad?¡± I asked. ¡°Ah, he is just in the living room. Why don¡¯t you go in and say hi?¡± I walked inside. The house was just as I remembered it. The painting of flowers in the hallway that my mom loved. The antique table that had been passed down from her grandmother. I walked into the living room. My dad was sitting on a chair staring out the window. Despite being mid-day he already had a drink in his hand. ¡°Hey.¡± I said. ¡°¡­..¡± ¡°Glad to see you are doing well.¡± He let out a snort at that. I left the room and went to the kitchen where mom was fussing over dinner. ¡°Need help?¡± I asked. ¡°Sure, why don¡¯t you peel those potatoes. I got a great deal from the local co-op.¡± I got to work on the potatoes. ¡°So¡­ I¡¯m sorry.¡± I said. ¡°Whatever for?¡± ¡°I¡­I wanted to pay for your treatment. But if I do, then I will likely lose everything.¡± There was a long silence. ¡°I would have to put up more videos, and then the other players would know where I was and get me. I am going to try and find something to sell, I swear, but-¡° She wrapped me in a big hug. ¡°Hush, don¡¯t worry about it. I made peace with this already.¡± My heart cracked. *** THREE¡¯S POV *** ¡°These giant bugs and lizards are a nightmare.¡± One groaned. ¡°At least we are getting good experience.¡± Two said. ¡°And killing things, but they don¡¯t scream.¡± I replied. Everyone looked at me and I went back to meditating. ¡°This whole island is swarming, like a hive.¡± Tor said. We were on a small rocky outcropping. The wreck of the Shut-AHHHHH had been overwhelmed days ago while we were salvaging what we could. Now we were on a rocky out cropping watching the forest in front of us. ¡°I really hated that one that used hypnotism. I mean, what the hell.¡± One said. ¡°Well as long as they don¡¯t kill us the experience is invaluable.¡± Two said. ¡°Maybe for you guys, but they are all around level fifty. Quality not quantity is what we need.¡± Tor said. ¡°Don¡¯t curse us. It is hard enough.¡± One complained. ¡°Look at Kenji he isn¡¯t saying anything.¡± Tor said. AP Kenji gave us a nod. ¡°Stupid AP.¡± One said. This island was tough, but it would only make me stronger. We just needed to stay alive. *** TOR¡¯S POV *** ¡°You are all over level forty now, so we should be able to take turns sleeping and to build a raft.¡± It was hopeless and we all knew it. Every time we tried to build something the bugs would come and swarm it. Then the lizards would come and smash it. ¡°Yeah¡­.¡± One said. He was becoming more and more of a problem. ¡°I know we don¡¯t like lizard meat, but at least it isn¡¯t poisoned.¡± ¡°I wish it were.¡± Three said. He was a problem in another way. ¡°How long until Kenji gets back?¡± Two asked. ¡°One less day from yesterday, which is twelve days.¡± ¡°I have an idea.¡± Three said. That was never good. ¡°We should burn it all down.¡± There was a long period of silence at that. ¡°That might work, if we clear out a large portion of the forest, we should have a chance.¡± One said. ¡°Not a bad idea.¡± Two added. ¡°Fine, tomorrow morning we begin Operation Burn the Hell out of Hell.¡± I said. *** KENJI¡¯S POV *** ¡°Make sure you eat your vegetables.¡± ¡°I will mom, and¡­and I love you.¡± ¡°I love you too sweety. Good luck with your adventures.¡± ¡°Goodbye dad.¡± ¡°Hmpf.¡± He grunted out and took another swig of beer. ¡°Take care little bro, thanks for making the time. It was nice to really see you. You should get some more sun.¡± She patted me on the head and I pushed her hand away. I was glad that part of the maintenance contract was to have a professional groomer come and deal with hair and nails once a month for the brief disconnect period. I waved goodbye and hopped into the car that was waiting for me. Time to return. *** Author¡¯s Note: I let the mom die but he will try and raise enough money in the three weeks he will have left. Bet you didn¡¯t see that coming with all the buildup. I also wanted to speed through the boring sea trip/training, hence all the different points of view while they travel. Readers thinking they know what direction this story is going to go¡­honestly do you know nothing? In the end it was a logical decision. If he takes a loan he needs to increase his revenue which would likely lead to his death and loss of revenue. In the MC¡¯s mind, there was a 1% chance of success and failure would mean his mom would still die and his life would be ruined. If the cost was only a million dollars then yes he would have paid. He might still pay if he thinks he can raise the rest of the money and just needs some more time. And people say there is so suspense in VR stories. I saved you from a long boring sea voyage. Also now we see how well they do without the MC running the show. The trick to making people invest in side characters is to show a bit more of their personality and though processes. Also it is nice to not have him coming up with all the good ideas. Please thumbs up the reviews you like J Thanks for all your support an encouragement. I know these chapters were a bit heavier than usual but it adds the depth of character needed for the challenges yet to come. Chapter 27: Rain of...Ichor? I came back to chaos. It is really weird to take control of your VR body while flying through the air. I didn¡¯t try to fight the experience and kept going with the jab I was delivering. My target was a large green bug about the size of a dog. It had three sets of wings and made an awful buzzing noise. I cut it down and threw it to the side as green fluids spilled from its cracked carapace. I looked around saw more bugs swarming towards the group. ¡°Fear aura, one minute.¡± The bugs quickly began to retreat. ¡°This doesn¡¯t look like a desert.¡± ¡°Oh thank god you are back. Thank all the gods.¡± One cried out. What came out was a long explanation about stealing a ship, a storm, and then becoming marooned on this island. ¡°¡­on fire. It went great at first, but then the bugs and lizards got pissed and started attacking us again. We have been fighting on and off for three days. Every time we try to build a boat or raft they attack. We thought about swimming but we wouldn¡¯t be able to take any weapons.¡± Tor finished from her position on the ground where she was resting. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just have my AP use fear aura?¡± There was a long moment of silence. I let out a sigh. ¡°This was the reason why I wanted to go over everyone¡¯s skills in case of something like this. Alright, stuck on a hostile island being swarmed by bugs and lizards. Any poisons?¡± I asked Three. ¡°Nothing of note, there are just a lot. My arms are tired from stabbing. Huh, never thought I would say that¡­.¡± He trailed off. ¡°Alright all of you get some sleep. I will stand guard, and we can discuss things more at dawn.¡± ¡°Great to have you back Kenji.¡± Two said. ¡°Yeah sleep, no one wake me up.¡± Tor said. All my skills and everything else had remained static while I had been logged out. I went through my stretches to get a feel for my VR body. A bug would occasionally come by, but they made good target practice for my throwing knives. I frowned at realizing two of them had been lost somehow. Morning came and I could sense everyone had a renewed sense of energy from their smiles. Even Tor got up fairly early looking ready to do something. ¡°What are all your levels?¡± I asked. ¡°Fifty two.¡± One said. ¡°Forty nine.¡± Two said. ¡°Fifty seven.¡± Three said. Wow, he had really jumped the most. Tor just shook her head. ¡°They are all around level fifty to sixty.¡± Tor said to my unspoken question. ¡°Alright, food?¡± ¡°Lizard meat.¡± One let out a moan. ¡°Water?¡± ¡°Lots of fresh streams.¡± Two replied. ¡°Equipment?¡± ¡°Holding together.¡± Three answered. ¡°Alright then. We are here, we have resources, and there are a lot of bugs. I would easily bet there is something hidden on this island. We will take a look, burn the hive, and then get out of here. Three, how is your fire magic coming?¡± ¡°Awesome. I chant to the god of Oxygen and then the god of Fire and boom! Making fire literally burns through MP. More cost effective this way. I have about three good attacks I can power. Got to give credit to Solid Steel for giving me the idea.¡± Three said. ¡°Good people invent, great people steal.¡± I replied and Three grinned. ¡°First thing the mountain. I see we are out of arrows, so Three and Tor in the center. I will take the front. One you take back right and Two you take back left. Anything left from the ship?¡± I asked. ¡°Nope what you see is it. The bugs destroyed everything else.¡± Tor said with a sigh. ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s go.¡± We set off. The first part was through a vast swath of charred forest. They definitely had been busy. I saw the remains of hundreds of bugs decorating the landscape. I would kill bugs and if we were starting to become overwhelmed I would pulse my fear aura and sent them scattering. We came across a couple of giant lizards that looked very similar to Komodo Dragons. The trick was to be calm and then stab them in the face when they got close with their powerful teeth filled jaws. I saw Two smash one with his war hammer sending a slight tremor through the ground and mushing its head into pulp. Thankfully after a couple hours the terrain began to rise and the trees decreased along with the bugs. It was a much appreciated change as we slowly climbed up the mountain. We reached a ridge and looked back behind us. I could see the long stretch of forest going east and west along with the burnt out section directly in front of me. Looking to my right, west, I saw the mountain ridge dropping down into the forest. To the east it continued on as far as I could see. ¡°This is a big island.¡± Two said. ¡°Let¡¯s find some place to stop for the night.¡± I replied. We found a small cliff and we got a fire going. We had charred lizard meat for dinner. It was nasty. Not death poison nasty, but in a stringy, chewy way nasty. It was hard and when you did manage to rip a chunk off it was like gum, you just couldn¡¯t chew it apart easily. The taste was bland for the most part, but that kind of made it worse. If it had tasted bad at least I could have focused on that. I also noticed that my SP was visibly going down from trying to eat it. ¡°How did you manage to live off of this?¡± ¡°Painfully.¡± Tor replied. Thankfully the lizards were quiet at night and the bugs seemed content enough to leave us alone. The next morning we woke up and climbed up to the peak. ¡°Look over there.¡± One said. I followed his finger and saw a building at the summit of a peak far to our east. ¡°That is going to be a long trip.¡± ¡°Then we best get started.¡± It took nine days of walking. The worst part was that we needed to go and kill a lizard for food every so often. Then there were the terrain features we had to go around, like cliffs, ravines, and more cliffs. There were no mountain monsters. We came to the base of the mountain with the domed building on it and began our ascent. It wasn¡¯t the tallest mountain in the area, but it was long slog up. Cresting the last ridge I was greeted by the sight of an old man sitting on a grass mat in front of the weather worn dome structure. ¡°Observe.¡±
Haratio Zableck
LvL: 1
Strongest Stat: Constitution
HP: 1291
MP: 24
SP: 201
¡°Visitors, well this is a surprise.¡± I was still in shock at how such a wise looking old man on top of a mountain on an island with swarms of monsters was still alive. ¡°Not many people around?¡± I asked as the rest of my group crested the ridge up to the plateau as well. ¡°Sadly they have all passed on and I Haratio am the only one who remains.¡± ¡°Well what are you guarding?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t build a giant dome structure up here for nothing.¡± ¡°Ah, well there used to be something.¡± I just stared at him. ¡°And?¡± ¡°It was taken back to the bug¡¯s nest.¡± ¡°And what is this thing.¡± Sword of awesome power, sword of awesome power, I thought over and over. ¡°Ah, just a curiosity of a time long ago. I only sit up here and eat from my garden since I am trapped and my village destroyed.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know any secret martial arts styles?¡± ¡°Saddly no. I was but a young boy when my people perished.¡± ¡°How old are you?¡± ¡°Older than you.¡± That was the last straw. This guy was really annoying me with bland expression ¡°Three find out if he knows anything more. One you¡¯re his buddy. The rest of us, let¡¯s check out the building.¡± Three gave a grin and began advancing on the old man as we set off around him. ¡°While I am weak, I am not helpless.¡± The old man said. ¡°So stay your hand or else.¡± I pulled out a throwing knife and threw it. It pierced the old man in the side of the neck and he went down with a gurgle. ¡°Sorry Three, but I honestly didn¡¯t want him to explode the mountain top or something.¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I am going to see how he ticks.¡± Three walked over and began to dissect the old man. I hesitated going into the building as I watched in morbid fascination. First Three cut off the white robe the man had been wearing then he began to carve open his chest. Once that was done he plunged in with both hands pulling things out and just throwing them off to the side. I was tempted to ask what he was looking for but changed my mind. The building has a number of worn glyphs carved over it. Inside was much the same with an empty pedestal in the center. ¡°Ten gold, that whatever was here is at the bottom of the bug lair inside the queen sac or something.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°So not taking that bet and ewww.¡± Tor said. ¡°Any of you got a guess on what was here?¡± I asked. ¡°Well probably something about the size of a VR helmet or smaller based on the size of the pedestal. There is no mounting device or stand so I would guess it has at least one flat surface.¡± Tor said. ¡°Two smash the pedestal open, a couple spots on the floor, and the back wall. Hey, there may be something hidden and I don¡¯t see where the old man was living in here. This is just a large empty room.¡± ¡°Yeah, that is odd.¡± Tor said. Two took a swing at the pedestal. Just before the hammer struck a blue glow appeared and the hammer bounced off. ¡°Looks like the place is protected.¡± I muttered. ¡°Get out here guys!¡± One shouted. We all rushed outside. A blue glow had surrounded the old man as his flesh knit back together. Unfortunately for him Three had his hands inside his chest and kept yanking at various things preventing the old man from coming back. ¡°Can we keep him?¡± Three asked. We all looked at him. ¡°This way I can keep trying new things and he can¡¯t die! Imagine what we could learn¡­..for science!¡± He shouted the last part and we all let out a sigh. ¡°See if I yank his heart out it slowly crumbles and reforms, but if I leave it half in and half out his regeneration powers get confused if they should reform the organ or fix the current one, that¡¯s science.¡± I gave a silent prayer for whoever had taught him in school. ¡°Three any way you can disable him?¡± I asked. ¡°Well¡­.let¡¯s see.¡± He reached off to the side and grabbed a good sized stone and then stuck it in the old man¡¯s chest. ¡°There, so when he regenerates he will be completely slow and off balance.¡± It was actually a really good idea. I wish I had thought of that for the Reaper. Well the Reaper would probably dissolve whatever was stuck inside of it or use some sort of magic. ¡°Let¡¯s find the old man¡¯s home. He said he had vegetables, I am tired of lizard meat.¡± Tor said. We found a small stone hut butting against the side of the domed building. There was a mountain spring and garden down some stone steps. There was nothing in his house except some cooking implements. ¡°Three lay him on the ground over here. Can you put pebbles in his eyeballs so he can¡¯t see when he reforms?¡± I asked. ¡°Yeah!¡± Three said and got to work. Once he was done we stood to the side while the old man slowly pulled himself back together. I had Two nearby ready to smash his head in if he started a chant. The old man slowly reformed and let out a groan. ¡°Hey Haratio, you are going to answer some questions clearly or else. If you don¡¯t answer the way we like we are going to kill you and start again. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± He groaned out. ¡°First, why aren¡¯t you dying?¡± ¡°Guardian.¡± ¡°What does that mean, explain.¡± ¡°I guard what was left here and by the power imbued I cannot die.¡± That sounded nice. ¡°Can this power be transferred?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°How many years old are you?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°How can you not know?¡± ¡°I stopped counting after three hundred.¡± Wow that was a long time. ¡°What does this artifact look like?¡± ¡°Cube of Etherion, markings etched into it.¡± ¡°Why haven¡¯t you been killed by monsters?¡± ¡°Hidden from sight.¡± ¡°Whose sight?¡± ¡°Her sight, this place is protected, do not speak her name here.¡± Ten to one he meant Tafe. ¡°Does her name rhyme with-¡° ¡°NO!¡± He said. Two twitched but stopped himself from smashing him at the last second. ¡°She can sense such things. The future, hopes, dreams, fears, all of it.¡± ¡°Alright, what is so special about this artifact?¡± ¡°Entrusted to protect and guard it.¡± ¡°How were you planning to attack us?¡± ¡°I would call aid from the gods.¡± A priest or monk of some sort then. That made sense. So this immortal man was living up here near forever guarding an object from Tafe that made him immortal. ¡°Is your poop immortal?¡± Three asked. ¡°¡­.no.¡± ¡°Odd since when I cut out your intestines it dispersed like your other organs and then reappeared inside of you.¡± This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Anyways, what else does this artifact do besides keep you alive?¡± ¡°I cannot say, for those words have been bound from this world beyond all sight.¡± ¡°Great, just great. Where is this artifact now?¡± ¡°Ruins of my old village to the north. The bugs made a nest there¡­.¡± He trailed off. Probably thinking about all the people he had lost and times past. I had Three cut him back open and remove the rocks from his eyes but put one in his brain. Three did note that the flesh was slowly trying to push the rocks out of it. So he really had complete regeneration. We all had a nice vegetable stew and meat cut off from the immortal man. I did note that we didn¡¯t get cannibal from consuming him, I guess that meant he wasn¡¯t really human. After that we really dug in. ¡°I vote we keep him as a food source.¡± Tor said. ¡°And for science of course.¡± Three added in between mouthfuls of stew. ¡°Of course, any objections?¡± ¡°Well, he might have friends. If he is a cleric we don¡¯t want the gods mad at us.¡± Two said. ¡°Hmm, well I don¡¯t give two coppers about them. Food is food. If he was useful the god¡¯s would have aided him already. Three you are now being put in charge of old man duty. Figure out which portion of his body he regenerates around so you don¡¯t have to carry as much.¡± ¡°Got it boss.¡± ¡°Double watch rotation tonight like normal.¡± One groaned. ¡°I know, but better safe than sorry.¡± The following morning we woke up. During his watch Three had worked out the old man formed up around his heart. So he cut it out and stuck his left hand into it. Blood would keep dripping down and flesh would slowly form up around it. ¡°I wonder what it would feel like as a player?¡± One asked. ¡°Unpleasant.¡± Two said. I could only agree. We were standing on the north side of the mountain scanning the coast line on the far side of the island for any signs of a village. ¡°Over there on the right, see where the sea is fairly close to the base of the mountain, the trees are much larger.¡± ¡°Hmmm, the village would probably be over grown, since who knows how long it has been. Alright then, that is where we head. Stay sharp everyone.¡± We set off down the mountain. As we approached the tree line there was a loud buzzing. ¡°Incoming, fear aura one minute.¡± My teammates held strong as a strong uncomfortable feeling washed over them. The buzzing continued. Out of the forest lifted hundreds of armored beetles. They slowly rose up over the tree tops towards us. ¡°Melee up front, casters stay back. Tor and Three save your MP unless absolutely necessary. Flame on!¡± I took point and the battle began. The beetles were easily slain as green ichor splashed on the rocks. Their armor, while it did require my blows to be heavier, wasn¡¯t that much stronger than a exoskeleton of the bugs I had killed before. All they really had was numbers, and they had a lot of those. Five long minutes they kept coming wave after wave and we did a slow fighting retreat. When the fight was over most of my SP was gone and I figured it was the same for everyone else. ¡°Retreat back up the mountain, we rest up and try again this afternoon.¡± The afternoon was spent lazily lying around eating stew and cooked old non-human man meat. ¡°I wonder if there is blood magic?¡± Three said. ¡°Maybe, but most everything seems to revolve around chants and the twisted names.¡± Tor replied. ¡°Well maybe Obdol (OB-dol) would do something.¡± Three said. ¡°You already have Oxygen and Fire, no need to add more to the mix. Here is a much better question. That Reaper was able to suck the MP out of things.¡± The gleam in Three¡¯s eyes was so bright I thought for a moment they would explode with rays of light. ¡°That is a great idea! Maybe magic is in the blood. The demonic corruption is in the blood. So if I drink this guy¡¯s blood maybe I can suck out his MP?¡± Three said in a rush. Then glommed onto the heart his hand was inserted into and began drinking the blood as it formed. ¡°You really had to give him this idea?¡± Tor said. ¡°Hey, equal opportunity around here. Also more MP is never a bad thing.¡± We both looked at Three. ¡°Most of the time.¡± Tor let out a sigh. Three thankfully washed his face off before we went down the mountain. He had been trying a combination of meditation and drinking blood with no success to unlock a new skill. We approached the corpses of the beetles and saw giant millipedes crawling over them consuming their flesh or chitin or whatever bug parts were called. Once again we began to slaughter them, ¡°Damn, this is just never ending with these things. Imagine if they were on the continent and started to spread.¡± One said as he hacked another one in two. ¡°Less¡­complaining¡­.more cutting.¡± I said in between strikes. It was starting to become difficult to tell where the bug parts began and the rock left off. The mountainside right before the tree line was splattered with bug corpses and trampled from the two battles. ¡°If things hold true, a larger beasty will come to eat the dead ones.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think we can take much more and it is getting dark.¡± I looked at the sun. I then held up my hand towards it with my palm facing towards me. I then counted the number of fingers that it took from the horizon to the sun. A full hand being an hour with four fingers. ¡°We have about an hour and fifteen minutes of daylight left. Let¡¯s head back and get washed up again.¡± I did have Three switch hands he was using to hold the heart and he didn¡¯t complain. Flesh was not meant to sit inside other flesh for extended periods of time. We were going through the remaining vegetables fairly quickly, we probably only had a week left if we kept eating at this pace. As I sat there on my solitary watch meditating and listening for any attacks my mind began to wander. I wanted that artifact. With an immortal artifact I could do things that would make even Three blink in surprise and shudder. Well maybe not shudder, but they would be epic. The key part would be not getting captured like the old man. The morning came and we went back down to the battlefield. All the bug corpses were missing. ¡°Well that isn¡¯t good.¡± One muttered. ¡°Indeed, alright let¡¯s start up some fires and burn our way down. Flame on.¡± Thankfully there had only been a few light sprinkles at night and nothing too heavy in the way of rain. I went first and burnt everything down in my path with my flame sword. We came to a cliff and I began looking around for a way down. That was when we all heard buzzing. ¡°Not again.¡± One moaned. I honestly agreed with him. These bugs were tiresome. ¡°OH SHIT!¡± There rising up over the trees was something out of an ancient horror movie. ¡°Observe.¡±
Swarm Lord
LvL: ???
Strongest Stat: ???
HP: ?????
MP: ?????
SP: ????
¡°That thing is a higher level than the Reaper. Three prep some heavy fire magic. Two and One protect the casters and begin a fighting retreat, we need open space.¡± From behind the eight winged, four scythe, half dragon half bug monster a swarm of smaller insects began to rise up from the forest. Tor and Three quickly began moving back up the mountain with One and Two right behind them. I stood there trying to figure out the monster¡¯s weak points. It could just have mental protection possibly, since it may have a hive mind and not be insanely strong. That was the only thought giving me hope at the moment. The first wave of bugs hit and I kept to slashes so I wouldn¡¯t have to deal with a corpse becoming stuck on my blade. Thankfully as much as the trees hindered my movement they also hindered the bugs as they attempted to swarm me. I kept an eye on the Swarm Lord as I kept up my fighting retreat but it continued to stay in the back, content to let its minions tire me out. After half a minute there was a break and I began retreating up the mountain. The Swarm Lord followed at a distance, its multi-faceted eyes glinting in the early morning sun. I reached the site of our first two battles and my team had already set up. One was guarding Tor while Two was staying by Three. I turned and the bugs began coming over the trees. I didn¡¯t pay attention to the their appearance only the fact that I kept stabbing and stabbing. I felt myself grow quicker and my SP rocket up. Tor probably boosted by Dexterity. The Swarm Lord came over the tree tops. I began to feel a massive headache as it stared at me. ¡°Mental defense.¡± I called out. Tor had done the same, but the others hadn¡¯t unlocked that skill yet and collapsed to their knees. ¡°Three I need you to boost my flame blade if you can. You can do it!¡± I shouted. The boss monster continued to hover up over the tree tops. I heard Three chanting slowly as if each word was a burden. I noticed another wave of bugs approaching. Air began to compress around my blade and the flame began to grow brighter and brighter. ¡°Sorry flame sword, hope to see you again.¡± I whispered. I threw it for all I was worth, putting every ounce of Strength I had into the attack. The Swarm Lord tried to move, but like most oversized creatures speed was not its strong point. Nus¡¯ Awakening sunk into the middle portion a bit to the left side. While normally the flames would have gone out when I had let go, Three had managed to keep them going after I had thrown the blade. I staggered back as an overpowering mental attack struck me. The blade melted through the monster¡¯s body by about a foot before the flames gave out. Green ichor poured out of the wound and splattered against the tree tops. I noticed that the blade had stayed wedged into the monster¡¯s body. ¡°Mental defense.¡± I called out before the skill ran out. Another psychic attack slammed into me. The bugs that had been approaching scattered and the Swarm Lord began to descend. I really wanted my flame sword back. The thing stood at least twenty feet tall. With four scythe arms on mutli-limbed joints, two massive feet with three wicked looking spiked prongs to keep it balanced, and who knows what else. Tor applied another Dexterity boost just as the previous one ran out. I watched as my SP fluctuated wildly for a second. ¡°I¡¯m out.¡± The wound my flame blade had made was still dripping ichor and the occasional piece of bug guts. I had one shot at this before all my buffs ran out. I raced forward. The first gleaming blade cut through the air above me. Using a scythe had given me an appreciation of how the weapon worked. It was all about movement, twists, and slashes. The good news was that they were only sharp on the outside and the tips. I pushed myself to the side at the last second and the blade slammed into the rock pelting me with debris from the impact. I kept moving forward not slowing down for an instant. Two blades cut out, high and low, left and right. I dove in-between them and felt part of my right foot get sliced off. I ignored my HP bar that had lost a massive chunk and kept going on one and half feet as I kept my forward momentum with a roll and kept going. ¡°Mental defense!¡± The monster tried to leap backwards, but it was too late. I leapt again straight for the gap in its exoskeleton made by my flame blade. I dove into the bug guts with a sickening squish. My hand smacked into the side of the monster¡¯s body and I lost my grip on my sword. Green fluid rushed over me. I struggled around and managed to grab onto the blade of Nus¡¯ Awakeneing. I yanked but the sword wouldn¡¯t budge even as it cut into my palms. Suddenly gravity began to tilt, the monster was going to try something. ¡°Flame on!¡± I shouted as bug juice sloshed into my mouth. The blade came free as it burst into flames. I felt the stringing sensation, but ignored it. I lifted the blade up and pulled it inside the monster with me. *** TOR¡¯S POV *** I had just used up the last of my MP. We were screwed. Not even Kenji could defeat this thing. He raced forward and I saw him lose part of his foot and winced as he continued on leaving a bloody trail. He then leapt again straight into the creature and I saw his sword fly away. There was a moment of utter stillness as the boss monster seemed unable to comprehend what just happened. Then I saw the flame blade burst into light and pulled inside the monster. It began to thrash about as fluids continued to exit its wound. ¡°Wake up you idiots!¡± I kicked One. Two and Three were recovering. We watched as the creature continued to shake about. It started to lift off into the air but then collapsed and began rolling about. Its giant wings were ripped and torn as it rolled about on the rocks. It rose up again and turned to the forest moving in a half run half flight method. It ran off into the tree line. ¡°What just happened?¡± One asked. *** Ramponator: Bugs¡­ewww 6996: I wonder where that is? TheLordBreckley: HE LIVES! TidalWave: I believe in you Beetlejuice: My babies GODHAXLOL: HORSEY? I WANT HORSEY! FallenGod: /sigh UltimataSecret: What a noob swarm FaceReaper: I want bugs with laser beams Ramponator: Why would bugs have laser beams¡­.? *** Author¡¯s Notes: I feel a bit sad about losing at least one favorite after the last two chapters and getting a lot of negative ratings. I wish I could have made my story better. L I honestly have to keep the plot moving forward and there are only so many ways to do that without the story becoming stale. In my quick and dirty outline there was only going to be a mention of him needing to leave for a bit because his mother was ill. The problem was it was the only realistic way to take the MC out for a bit, besides something over the top like a terrorist attack. I couldn¡¯t do that since it would feel too much like dues ex machina, I couldn¡¯t have him choose to leave since he is in VR all the time, finally if he had close family they would be in VR also and there would be that drama. I didn¡¯t mean to offend, but it was the only thing I could think of. If the MC was present then the other characters would not have a chance to grow and gain depth of their own. In addition the MC was never meant to be a serial killer like Three (who I put in as a foil to show how bad things can be), but a regular joe playing a game and trying to make a living. You came for the violence, stuck around for the story, and were tricked into a philosophical argument. I do want to say if you honestly think I am not being true to the characters please let me know. Also if the plot does not make sense let me know. I appreciate the feedback. We are currently hovering around the 135 mark. Come on team, those slime stories won¡¯t slay themselves! Chapter 28: Not the Foot! As I swung my flame blade around me the fluids and organs slowly boiled away emitting a noxious cloud. I stabbed out piercing more holes in the monster¡¯s exoskeleton letting in air I stabbed up and a wall broke between the various sections of this massive bug. Fluids and unidentifiable pieces of bug guts rained down on me. I kept slashing above me even as the world continued to tilt. Thankfully the fluids and bug guts cushioned me as the monster slammed into the ground. My right arm twisted and I felt a sharp pain, but refused to let go of my flame blade. It was my lifeline and I wasn¡¯t letting it go. I changed it over to my left hand and worked to cut my way free. I finally managed to cut away a slab of exoskeleton along the side causing what fluids were left to rush out over the ground. I hobbled out of the massive corpse. A trail of green gunk behind me as I moved away. Blood from my right foot continued to leak out over the ground. I let myself fall to the ground in exhaustion. The Dexterity buff had worn off and my SP and dropped below zero into the negatives. My HP was slowly dropping down as well. At least it was just part of my foot and not my leg. While pirates were great, I really didn¡¯t want a peg leg. I pushed out a chunk of something out of my mouth with my tongue and felt it slide down my cheek. Thank god the smell wasn¡¯t that bad. Tor and the rest of the team rushed over. I saw Three holding up the severed part of my foot. ¡°That was badass.¡± Tor said with a slight smile. ¡°Yeah, right arm is broken I think. Got negative SP.¡± ¡°Alright, Two carry him back up the mountain. One collect his weapons. I don¡¯t want to stick around here.¡± I was tempted to object, but I was too exhausted to care. It took a while but we finally made it back up to the top of the mountain my HP was dipping below one thousand when they got to work. Without any MP the only thing they could do was wash me off and then brace my arm and bandage my foot. I passed out and woke up as it as the sun was setting. I saw Tor working on the stew. ¡°Uggg.¡± I groaned out. My entire body felt raw and ached. I wanted to turn down the pain factor from a hundred percent more than ever at that very moment. ¡°Welcome back.¡± Tor said. She pressed a canteen up to my mouth and helped me take a drink. ¡°That was impressive by the way.¡± ¡°Huh, yeah.¡± I said with a sigh. ¡°Good news or bad news?¡± ¡°Good news.¡± ¡°I think we may be able to save your foot, Three¡¯s idea actually.¡± ¡°Really?¡± I perked up at bit at that. ¡°That¡¯s the bad news. There was only one way to keep your foot alive with what we had¡­.¡± She trailed off and looked off to the side. I couldn¡¯t recall the last time I had seen Tor pensive. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Three want to show Kenji your idea.¡± Tor said. Three came into the hut and walked over to the bed. I saw my foot in his hand. I blinked and then blinked again. ¡°You grafted my foot onto the old man?¡± ¡°Yeah you like it? I was inspired by your work of taking the monsters into your own being and passing that along.¡± All I could do was stare at my foot attached with raw flesh to a pulsating heart. ¡°It is a bit tricky to make sure the old man doesn¡¯t grow back around it, but yeah.¡± ¡°Three¡­.good job. Thanks.¡± He beamed at me. ¡°No problem, great job taking that boss down. I would never have thought about jumping inside of it¡­.so inspired.¡± Three wandered off in a daze. ¡°Is he going to be okay?¡± I asked Tor. ¡°I think he is in love with you, in a fan boy kind of way.¡± Tor said. I didn¡¯t know what to say about that. ¡°So One and Two are looking over the corpse they should be back fairly soon.¡± Tor went back to the stew as I lay there in silence. ¡°Hey, were back.¡± One said. ¡°You could help me.¡± Two called out. ¡°Boss man is up. Shit, can¡¯t believe you killed that thing.¡± One said. ¡°Impressive, thanks.¡± Two added. ¡°Aww, so touching. Wash up that bug gunk and let¡¯s eat.¡± Tor said. Everyone was soon sitting on the stone floor in the hut while I lay on the only bed. My SP was still in the negatives, which was crippling me. ¡°So we searched that corpse and burned what we could.¡± One said as we ate stew. Tor was giving me spoonful¡¯s of stew as I lay there. ¡°We managed to get the blades, those things seem like fairly good metal. That was it.¡± One said. ¡°The bugs seem to be dispersing and not massing, which is the good news.¡± Two said. ¡°Alright, I need to meditate all night if I am going to have a chance of putting his foot back on. So each of you will take a turn at watch.¡± After the stew I dosed off thinking about how the chunks of meat in the stew could actually be part of my foot. The next morning I woke up. Tor was sitting against the bed. ¡°Hey.¡± I whispered. ¡°Your up, I managed to recover a hundred and sixty MP over the night. I think I have a crick in my back.¡± She got up and stretched. ¡°Ahhhhhh, much better. Three you up?¡± She shouted out. The rest of the team came inside with Three in the lead. The heart was still gripped in his hand with my foot attached. ¡°Ok since this only a reattachment of a living limb it shouldn¡¯t be too bad. One take off the bandages, Three free up his foot from¡­from the heart. Two hold him down.¡± Tor ordered everyone about. Two straddled my chest and put his hands on my arms. He was also blocking my line of sight, I honestly didn¡¯t want to see this. ¡°Oh Onciontituts, rebind this man¡¯s foot, life to life, flesh to flesh, let it knit and be whole once more so that he may walk again.¡± I felt a sharp pain and then it felt as if my leg was on fire. ¡°AHHHHHH!¡± I screamed. The pain went straight through me like an inferno. I couldn¡¯t pay attention to what people were saying around me as the pain overwhelmed me. I woke up to see Tor standing over me. ¡°Don¡¯t be such a big baby. It was only a flesh wound.¡± ¡°How bad is it?¡± I asked, not daring to try and take a look. ¡°Well¡­.there were some side effects¡­..¡± Tor said looking to the side. ¡°What do you mean side effects?¡± I asked. ¡°TOR I SWEAR YOU BETTER ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW!¡± I shouted. I tried to sit up but my body was still too exhausted. She didn¡¯t say anything but got behind me and helped me sit up. I as my head came up I was greeted by an odd sight. Where my foot had been there was now a three pronged foot, that was a dark shade of green. I had seen it before somewhere. ¡°The best we can figure out is that you had a side effect or the wound wasn¡¯t cleaned.¡± Tor said. I saw how the green scales of my foot appeared to blend in with my skin around my ankle. ¡°Shoes may be a bit tricky.¡± I tried to move my foot and all three prongs began flexing. ¡°Screens!¡± I said.
Tactics-5 MAX
Advanced Tactics-1
Mental Defense-3
Fear Aura-4
Army of One-10 MAX
Slayer of the Swarm Lord-1 MAX
You have killed the king bug
+10 Fate
+5% Constitution
+5% Dexterity
Ichor Blood Corruption-5 MAX
The purified blood of a bug flows through your veins
+10 Fate
+25% Physical Resistance
-25% Endurance
I read off the last two newly acquired statuses to Tor. ¡°Well we know you have demonic blood corruption, so something purified it. Notice that there are no negative effects and the positive one is small.¡± ¡°Yeah, oh god, I am part bug.¡± I pulled the sheet off, but thankfully it was only my foot that had been affected. ¡°Your eyes are orange.¡± I wished I had a mirror right then. ¡°I also healed your arm and hands, but there doesn¡¯t appear to be anything going on with them.¡± ¡°So what happened?¡± I looked at my foot. ¡°Well, you started screaming and it seemed like the spell wasn¡¯t taking hold. Then all of a sudden your old foot that kind of half together at this point begins to slide apart and then this emerged. The flesh that fell off burned up in some flames.¡± ¡°¡­.¡± ¡°So honestly I have no idea what is going on. I could have purified it, this place could have, maybe your demonic blood corruption burned the bad parts away, we just have no way of knowing and you get a tri-foot.¡± I flexed my foot at that. It felt weird. I had no idea how my brain was processing a tri-foot. ¡°I noticed one bad thing, on a scale of one to ten this is an epic twenty of bad.¡± I said. Tor just looked at me. ¡°That was the king bug, what about the queen bug?¡± I asked. ¡°Aren¡¯t bugs normally centered around a queen. Oh¡­.not good.¡± ¡°Yeah, but I can¡¯t do shit right now.¡± ¡°Let me get you some more stew and help you outside, you probably need to take a piss.¡± I blushed a bit at that and mumbled my thanks. I spent the rest of the day sitting against the dome structure watching as One and Two worked to separate the blades from the chitin. Three came over with a grin. ¡°Glad to see you are up.¡± ¡°Yeah, you look like you have a question.¡± ¡°Well I wanted to ask for your blood.¡± ¡°What for?¡± ¡°Well I overheard you and Tor talking. You passed on the demonic blood so I was thinking that I could get some of this as well.¡± ¡°Get everyone over here, I am only doing this once.¡± Three nodded and raced off. I was almost used to the mound of pulsating flesh in his hand at this point. Everyone came over and I explained things. Tor refused, but One, Two, and Three all accepted. In the end they all got ichor blood corruption level two which came with some Fate and ten percent physical resistance. I wasn''t convinced the endurance loss was worth it, but they chose to go ahead with this. Two also gained demonic blood corruption level one. We rested the remainder of the day as my SP slowly recovered and I worked with One and Two to help me with walking. Tor and Three were meditating in preparation for tomorrow. The problem with having a foot that isn¡¯t a foot, but three spikey prongs is that I lost the innate sense of balance and movement I had trained. One prong jutted out the back while the other two were angled at the front at a hundred twenty degrees from the back prong. Each one ended in a small metal spike and the bottom of my foot had a spike as well that could compress slightly up into my heel. The prongs were like toes, I couldn¡¯t control them individually. They could grip or un-grip. So I spent the day walking back and forth and working to develop the control I needed. At the end of the day I had a light practice spar with Two, but my clawed foot had a wider surface area but better balance and grip which kept throwing me off. I woke up the following day with my SP full and my HP around half. The idea would be to do a light assessment towards the larger trees and possible village. While I was getting the hang of my foot, it was slow and frustrating. I couldn¡¯t practice in my atrium like I had done with everything else since there were no tri-feet programs. There were tri-dick programs, furry programs, and a combination of the two but everything had human shaped feet. We stopped at the first battle sight. Most of the ichor and gunk had been washed away last night during the light rain. We pressed on into the forest and found the crumbling carcass of the Swarm Lord. It looked smaller than I remembered, but it had probably caved in a bit since its fluids had been trained out during One and Two¡¯s necropsy. We continued onwards but didn¡¯t encounter a single bug or even a lizard. ¡°Maybe they all died?¡± One said. ¡°No, I bet they got a massive debuff when their leader died especially since I think it was mind controlling them.¡± I replied. I stumbled over a tree branch but Two managed to grab me before I fell on my face. ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± We stopped at a couple of hours before mid-day and turned around. The fact that the forest was so quiet was eerily disturbing. It made me honestly wonder where all the bugs had gone. We trudged back up the mountain and got back to the shelter as it was getting dark. ¡°So you hear the news. Some players are trying to build an airship.¡± One said. ¡°The way the monsters attack technology that will have every flying thing after it.¡± Two said. ¡°I wonder if blood can be used a fuel.¡± We ignored Three. ¡°The problem is that the moment you build one, everyone and their mother are going to be after it. I am sure someone is working on teleportation or portal magic.¡± Tor said. ¡°It would be a nice way to travel. Just fly to the tower in the desert rather than walking all the way there. I really don¡¯t want to have to fight sand worms.¡± I said. ¡°Why don¡¯t you like sand worms?¡± One asked. ¡°So back when I was a kid they came out with the Dune remake. I went with my older sister to see it. Let me just say that giant worms traveling through the sand did not leave me with a good impression.¡± ¡°I bet someone was scared.¡± One said. ¡°Yes I was scared. I was seven at the time and the creatures were terrifying. I honestly do not want to fight any kind of sandworm.¡± Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°That was a good movie.¡± Two said. ¡°I liked the way they all fought with knives.¡± Three said. ¡°You should watch some more classics, like Star Wars Ten. Best lightsaber duels ever.¡± Tor said. ¡°I want a lightsaber, cut through anything.¡± I replied. ¡°Well you would need three flame enchantments, durability, heat, vacuum for around the blade so it doesn¡¯t spray fire everywhere, and a final one to pull in oxygen from the air and funnel it into the blade.¡± Three said. ¡°What? I have been asking around about enchantments and there was a forum discussion on lightsabers.¡± ¡°Seven enchantments, that is probably pricey.¡± I said. ¡°The issue is not so much the price but the power requirements, skill to carve on the necessary runes, and it is such a small space. To make a seven enchantment item is considered a once in a lifetime achievement.¡± ¡°No lightsabers then, woe is me. At least I have good old flame sword.¡± We spent another night up on the mountain peak. The following morning we packed up all our gear and set off, we most likely weren¡¯t going to be returning. We reached our stopping point from yesterday and pushed onwards. It was much easier going downhill than up. I was also starting to get the hang of my new foot. I wouldn¡¯t trust it in combat, but hopefully I wouldn¡¯t make an idiot out of myself. We came out to the coast and proceeded east towards what we presumed was the village. We definitely didn¡¯t want to chance attacking it from the forest. An open space would be far better to coordinate against a swarm. ¡°Hey everyone, I finally got it.¡± Three explained his new skill.
Blood Drain-1
Like a milkshake
LvL 1: 20% HP/MP/SP taken from blood, -10% SP
¡°I guess that makes you a blood mage. I wonder what the skill tree for this is like.¡± I said. ¡°The SP thing is going to be an issue.¡± Two said. ¡°Hmmm, well I bet that at the higher levels I get awesome vampire powers so not to worry.¡± Three said in response. ¡°Oh god, sparkly vampires. I swear if you start to sparkle I am going to gut you and then feed you your own intestines. Understand?¡± Tor said. ¡°Yes.¡± Three looked a bit worried at that which was a testament to how angry Tor looked. ¡°Just be careful, sure you can recharge but blood isn¡¯t meant to be drunk. Also some creature¡¯s would be a poor choice and don¡¯t just bite down on anything. Just keep us updated.¡± I told Three. ¡°Yeah, you got it.¡± He then glommed onto the heart like it was a treat and sucked at it as we walked along. ¡°Up ahead those trees are larger and there is a large cloud of bugs. See all those dots.¡± Two pointed out. There was a massive swarm circling over the trees. ¡°Shit, ok. First let¡¯s gather up a bunch of wood and find a strong spot to defend ourselves. Then we start a fire and pull a bunch of the bugs and kill them tomorrow morning. We keep going until we pull the queen and then kill it. Three and Tor you keep meditating. The rest of us will gather up the wood once we find a place to make our stand.¡± We found two large boulders that formed a natural tunnel. It would be perfect, since the bugs could only come at us from two directions. We passed a slightly uneasy night with no incident. At dawn we were ready. We started the fire going at the rear entrance and all the wood we had gathered quickly caused the fire to grow and light the surrounding trees. Soon bugs were swarming everywhere and we began to kill any that tried to get into our little enclosed canyon. With three of us guarding the one entrance it was fairly easy to switch out so none of us became too exhausted. As the fire began to spread away from the back Two pushed all the wood we had saved up with us out the back causing fire to block off the rear entrance once more. By nightfall we must have killed a couple hundred bugs. Thankfully the fire had spread around to the front and consumed most of the corpses. Tor and Three took most of the watch that night since they had spent all day meditating. The following morning we emerged to a charred landscape with hundreds of crisped bugs. The appeared to pop and the fluid and guts would evaporate while the exoskeleton would be left behind charred and crumbling. The fire had spread outwards and consumed pretty much everything for about a mile all around our position. We advanced through the landscape towards the massive trees in the distance. A bug or two came by and then flew off. We reached the large trees and saw the ruins of various houses near their bases and bug sacs up in the trees. ¡°We burn this. Eyes around and keep watch above.¡± I began using my fire sword to ignite the base of each three one by one while everyone else kept a lookout. Once we had set fire to three trees we retreated and the massive trees went up in pillars of flames. I heard the popping of the egg sacs as the heat caused them to explode. We watched from the beach as the fire swept through the ruined village and then into the nearby forest where it began to give out. Some bugs buzzed around a bit before flying off. We tried to spot where they were headed but lost them through the haze of smoke. As afternoon came we went into the charred ruined village. The houses had been made of stone, so had weathered things fairly well. Despite this they looked old and worn. The tree roots often went in-between the stones and had clearly pushed a few in their growth. That meant these burnt out trees were younger than the stones. It made me wonder how old that old man really was. ¡°Look a tunnel.¡± One pointed out. In the center of the village there was a large gaping tunnel that led underground. We all looked at each other. We had full SP but it was getting dark. ¡°Let¡¯s make camp back at our last spot and then head down tomorrow. They probably have other holes leading to the surface and we could use as much light as possible.¡± We returned to the rock canyon and spent another uneasy night. The following morning we returned to the hole and started down. I had Tor carry my flame sword since she would act as the center of the group. If I was dashing all over it would disrupt our entire party formation. We came across more egg sacs and killed them. That was when we came to side tunnels. ¡°Let¡¯s collapse them. This is the largest tunnel and the queen or egg layer is probably at the bottom. I don¡¯t want things popping out behind us.¡± We got to work Tor and Three kept watch out in the tunnel as we broke apart the packed ceiling causing the side tunnel to cave in. The tricky part is when we came to a tunnel directly above us. ¡°It twists to the side about ten feet up from the entrance. I will collapse it up there. Two and One give me a boost. The main tunnel was only seven feet tall so it was easy enough for them to boost me up. I then used the protruding roots to make my way up ready to jump down if I was attacked. There was nothing so I sealed off the tunnel were it twisted and we continued on. After traveling about a quarter of a mile in a slow descent we came to a large cavern. In the center was a massive bug with a huge sac. As the light from Nus¡¯ Awakening lit up the cave I saw hundreds of bugs that looked like miniature Swarm Lords. For now they appeared to be ignoring us as we were at one of a number of entrances to the large chamber. ¡°There, in the ceiling.¡± Two whispered. We looked up and on a small stalactite was a metal box with blue runes engraved upon it. It appeared to me wedged into the rock and directly over the queen bug. That ruined my idea of causing a cave in. ¡°Observe, observe.¡±
Swarm Queen
LvL: 57
Strongest Stat: Charisma
HP: 5021
MP: 12021
SP: 2131
Swarm Drone
LvL: 96
Strongest Stat: Dexterity
HP: 20123
MP: 121
SP: 8028
We retreated and I shared my observations. ¡°Shit, I bet you the moment we poke the queen or go for that cube those drones will swarm.¡± One whispered. ¡°I don¡¯t know what we can do. There has to be at least two hundred of them, more in the tunnels. You see the way they were carrying the eggs around. So let¡¯s say four hundred.¡± Tor said. ¡°You are missing something. They have low MP and are called drones. We need to take out the queen in one shot and we can then mop them up. Three how is your MP?¡± ¡°About half, but I don¡¯t think I can kill it in one attack. Not at the distance to the queen from the tunnel entrance.¡± ¡°I can use my skill conceal presence to get across.¡± I said. ¡°It only works when you aren¡¯t moving and are holding your breath.¡± Tor said. ¡°It¡¯s the only way. I am not leaving that cube, if we can kill the queen then we should win.¡± ¡°Kenji, this is suicide. We don¡¯t know if the drones will give up once the queen in gone. They might all go crazy.¡± She was right, it was insane and reckless. I really wanted it though. ¡°Any ideas?¡± ¡°We get a circular boulder and push it into this tunnel. Since we closed off all the side entrances it should shoot out the bottom and into the queen. At least if the drones go nuts we should be far enough away.¡± ¡°That¡¯s actually really clever. Okay time to retreat.¡± I said. As we climbed up the tunnel One said, ¡°So is that our motto. Time to retreat?¡± ¡°We are the team Anti-Heroes of course. Fighting a losing battle is stupid.¡± Three said. ¡°I wish I could see when the boulder hits the queen. That is going to be a monster of a mess.¡± One said. ¡°You man a mess of a monster.¡± Tor countered. We left the tunnel and began searching for large boulder that was round. Thankfully whatever had dug the tunnel had placed a couple of larger boulder near the entrance. We found one but there were extrusions. I used my flame blade to slowly melt it into a spherical shape. While it was waiting to cool I had a brilliant idea. ¡°Let¡¯s find another one while we wait. If one is good two is better.¡± We found a second boulder and melted it into a spherical shape. It was a bit smaller than the first but thankfully that would make it easier to move. Once the first boulder was cool we rolled it over to the entrance it was a bit past by mid-day by this time. We pushed the boulder into the tunnel and it started to slowly roll along. ¡°How long do we wait?¡± One asked. ¡°A while, the whole point is to stay back. Let¡¯s move away from the entrance in case they come pouring out.¡± Tor said. As we retreated towards the beach we felt a tremor through the ground. I checked my experience. ¡°I got credit for a bunch of them.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s wait a bit at the beach and then head back.¡± We had some water and some raw vegetables Tor had taken from the old man¡¯s garden. We then went back and rolled the second boulder into position. We caught our breaths and then pushed it into the tunnel and followed after it. It crushed a number of drones as it barreled through the large twisting corridor. I let the others finish off the ones that were still alive as we followed the path of carnage. There was a loud boom and dirt rained from the ceiling. When we reached the main chamber it was a mess. The first boulder had plowed through the queen and into the far wall causing a small cave-in on the far side of the chamber. The queen¡¯s guts had been spread in a long trail of purple and green ooze. I could see a number of egg sacs as well. She apparently had not died from the attack right away but crawled for a bit and then perished. This meant that when the second boulder came through it had torn through a new location and made an even bigger mess. ¡°Kill the drones, save your MP.¡± I said. We immediately began to get to work on killing off the drones. Most of them were standing around doing nothing so it was fairly easy to remove their heads. The experience was amazing. I was pushed up to level eighty six and was able to raise my base Dexterity up to one hundred thirty two. With the drones wiped out I began looking at a way to get the cube. ¡°This sucks.¡± I muttered since there was no way to get twenty feet up in the air and I didn¡¯t want to have Three blow the cube down to us. It was valuable, and after killing all these bugs I wasn¡¯t about to damage my prize. *** 6996: I call hax! TheLordBreckley: The monster inside is finally revealed GODHAXLOL: BUGGY! Rawr21: That boss kill was awesome, Rain of Ichor indeed Ramponator: How did he become part bug? I know people have tried merging themselves but¡­ UltimataSecret: I did hear about someone who was part bulb out in the forest near Breckley Beetlejuice: My mommy! FallenGod: Is it me or is the average intelligence around here dropping TidalWave: It is all you 6996: Can I be part Octopus. I really would like the tentacles Ramponator: For what, hentai? *** Author¡¯s Note: I see all you guests reading. Sign up to the site, you don¡¯t need to give out any personal information. Just an e-mail and a user name, 2 minutes top. It then takes 30 seconds to rate, follow, and favorite this story. Go to http://royalroadl.com/fiction/4244 and at the top is a button ¡®Add to list¡¯ open that and select ¡®Follow¡¯ and ¡®Favorite¡¯. Next scroll to the bottom of the screen. Put in the number of stars you think this story deserves and/or a review. The way the rating system works based on careful observation is (# of views)*(percentage star rating)*(ratings)*(followers)*(favorites)*(percentage based on last update) and this value is compared to all the other values out there. This means that doing all these things makes a big difference. If one value is low then it is all dragged down. Also thank you everyone for giving a thumbs on various reviews. This story has had at least one review up on the front page for quite a while. YEAH! Chapter 29: Divinity ¡°Let us never speak of how we got it.¡± Tor panted. ¡°Agreed.¡± I said. One and Two just looked glad the ordeal was over and Three had a grin on his face. We had exited the cave and returned to our campsite between the rocks in the burnt out forest. I held the cube but felt no ultimate power coursing through me. We got a small fire going from the charcoal laying around and settled in for the night. The cube was about the size of my fist. On each of the six faces there was engraved hundreds of tiny symbols that had a faint blue glow. It wasn¡¯t heavy and I couldn¡¯t place the metal. The Cube of Etherion, what a simple name for such an unknown. I thought about allowing the old man to regenerate but that was just asking for trouble. The following morning we began journeying towards the dome structure again with the idea that it might unlock some of the cube¡¯s secrets. I had been tempted to sell it to Solid Steel, but I had no idea how much it was worth. We reached the large dome structure at the end of the day and had stew with the idea we would deal with the cube the following morning. I was almost too excited to fall asleep. If this made me immortal, there would be a reign of terror so great and everyone would flock to my videos. I worked on managing my breathing and eventually I drifted off. We got up the next morning and stood outside the large dome¡¯s signal entrance. We had discussed it and I would be the one to enter. I had left my weapons behind except for my regular sword. I walked forward, my metal tips of my chitin foot clinked on the stone. I stepped up to the pedestal and set the cube on it. I couldn¡¯t tell which side was the top or the bottom. I waited¡­.and waited¡­.and waited some more and still nothing happened. I poked the cube but there was no beam of energy, no infusion of power. ¡°Let¡¯s get the old man. Two you hold onto it and keep a look out while we question him.¡± Two walked off and Three let the old man¡¯s heart drop out on the mountain top. We all had our weapons read as he slowly reformed. Three made sure to put a large rock in his chest cavity and a small one in each eye socket. The body shook and the old man took a shallow breath. ¡°Going to torture me some more?¡± He asked. ¡°No, but tell me how to unlock the secrets of the cube.¡± ¡°The Cube of Etherion is magical construct that is beyond unmaking.¡± ¡°Well how is it keeping you alive?¡± This old man was really pissing me off. ¡°Ah, well my soul was bound to it during the forging process so that I may forever guard it.¡± ¡°You failed against the bugs.¡± ¡°My greatest shame, for I had taken the-¡° ¡°You used the cube when they attacked your village. Tell me what powers it has!¡± ¡°You cannot force me to reveal that. I am bound.¡± ¡°Insolent old man. I will call upon-¡° ¡°NO! I honestly cannot aid you in this matter.¡± ¡°Can you tell me who made it?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Did I make it?¡± ¡°No¡­what?¡± ¡°Just answer if you can. Did the gods make it?¡± ¡°¡­..¡± That was a yes. But this was going to be a challenge. ¡°Next question, is this the only cube?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡± So more than one. ¡°Are there six?¡± ¡°¡­¡­.¡± ¡°Seven?¡± ¡°¡­¡­..¡± ¡°One?¡± ¡°¡­¡­¡­¡± ¡°Ahhhh! Answer me!¡± ¡°I cannot. You may do what you wish.¡± ¡°Well who can answer?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t answer that.¡± ¡°So what the heck should I do with it? You lost it once, so where should it be taken to? Can you answer that?¡± ¡°I know of no safe place, which is why I came to this island long ago. I have been out of touch with the world for a long time.¡± ¡°Ok, you have a choice. Either you can answer my questions or I am going say something you don¡¯t want me to.¡± ¡°Then so be it. My only regret is that I will be unable to watch what happens.¡± ¡°You are going to be an offering old man. Everyone, whatever happens, let me do the talking.¡± ¡°Kenji you don¡¯t think he might have a point?¡± Tor said. ¡°I want some compensation for this thing. Mental defense. Now¡­¡± I cleared my throat and held the cube above my head. ¡°I call upon the Goddess Tafe, I have broken through the haze of this sanctuary and retrieved the Cube of Etherion, aid me now.¡± The wind stopped, the sky darkened, and everything faded to a black and white monochrome. A shimmering figure appeared in front of me. It was the lady in white, so I was right. Tafe and her were one of the same. ¡°Which mortal dares call upon me?¡± Her gazed fixed on me and I was frozen. My¡­..thoughts¡­..were¡­.. ¡°Ah, Kenji Shadowen. So you have called upon me. I see you have a Cube of Etherion. Such a small yet powerful thing.¡± She reached for it but then pulled her hand back. ¡°You have done a great deed breaking through the protections that layer this place.¡± She looked down at my foot. ¡°At some cost.¡± ¡°Deal.¡± I managed to breathe out. ¡°A deal, hmmmm. You have been to a cave system. Take the cube and leave it inside the entrance. If you do I will consider a signal wish. For there are more and I would like all of them.¡± ¡°Goddess, you shall not succeed.¡± The old man bit out from the ground. ¡°Ah, what a pitiful excuse of a man to guard the cube.¡± He began screaming. He hadn¡¯t screamed no matter what we had done to him. With rocks in his eye and body and slicing him up. He had been mostly stoic throughout the ordeal. The screaming cut off as Tafe turned towards me. ¡°Do we have a deal?¡± ¡°No.¡± I squeaked out. ¡°NO!¡± For a second the world seemed to invert and then everything returned to the black and white suspension. ¡°You are stubborn. I offered a great reward and you have spat in my face. Your time comes Kenji Shadowen, for as they say, your Fate is written in stone and blood. Now reap the whirlwind.¡± The goddess faded away and the world snapped back into color. ¡°You fool! You have invoked a calamity!¡± The old man cried from the ground. I kicked him in the balls as hard as I could. Unfortunately I had used my bug foot so instead of blunt damage the bottom spike pierced his groin. ¡°Three deal with him.¡± Three eagerly got to work cutting the old man¡¯s heart back out. ¡°We are definitely not going back to that cave¡­.ever.¡± Tor said. I just gave her a nod. My mind was still on the goddess¡¯s last words. The ground began to shake. We all went down to the ground. The domed building lit of a bright blue for a brief second before collapsing. I saw Two trying to make his way back to the group. In an instant the ground in between us exploded. A cloud of dust and debris went everywhere. I glanced through the haze and saw a massive figure emerge. ¡°Observe.¡±
Greater Tunneling Worm
LvL: ????
Strongest Stat: Endurance
HP: ??????
MP: ????
SP: ??????
¡°Oh fuck.¡± I whispered. A sudden wave of gravity hit the mountaintop and the dust and debris collapsed to the ground. There rising up from the ground was a seven foot wide monstrosity. I could see thick armored plates along its body. I could not see any eyes. As the creature swerved through the air like a plant in the wind I saw its mouth. Hundreds, thousands, of fine spikes spinning in circles alternating directions at each row. ¡°No one move. It can¡¯t see!¡± I shouted. The worm went over the side of the mountain and back into it leaving the ground shaking. ¡°No one move!¡± I shouted again. I reached over to the side and picked up a large rock. Being as careful as I could I threw it as hard as I could towards the North side of the mountain. As soon as the rock hit the worm burst out of the ground obliterating the entire north side. ¡°Move this way!¡± We all began running. I felt the rumbling subside. ¡°Stop.¡± Everyone came to a halt. One almost kept going but managed to stop. ¡°Two you okay?¡± ¡°Yeah, holy shit man. What was that?¡± ¡°Greater Tunneling Worm.¡± ¡°There is a boat off the coast. But they are hanging back and I didn¡¯t see anyone come ashore.¡± ¡°Shit, that worm was visible. They are probably debating if they want to risk it.¡± ¡°It is our only ticket off this island.¡± Tor said. ¡°Yeah, but I bet they are player hunters. Someone worked out where I was. Plus we seem to have a super boss after us.¡± ¡°Listen to the wise old man. They get old by being smart.¡± ¡°Well he was immortal so how was I to know?¡± ¡°I would hit you if that would mean our instant death by worm gullet.¡± ¡°If we keep throwing rocks it is bound to catch on. If we can get to the coast, then hopefully the water will stop it.¡± I said. ¡°Well you got us into this, get us out.¡± Tor replied. ¡°That thing is at least fifty feet long and has a mouth that could eat a car no problems. It is also completely armored, senses tremors, and is after us.¡± ¡°We need to sacrifice someone.¡± Tor replied. ¡°Oh, shit!¡± One said. ¡°It is over thirty kilometers to the south beach. Even if we sacrificed everyone we would never make it.¡± ¡°Whew.¡± One said. ¡°The biggest problem is that it doesn¡¯t really eat anything. I can¡¯t just toss something down its throat and blow it up.¡± ¡°Well we have a flame sword, flame magic, boost magic, swords, a war hammer, five people, an immortal old man¡¯s heart, and the Cube of Etherion. There has to be something we can do.¡± Tor said. ¡°We wait.¡± I said. ¡°Wait?¡± Tor looked surprised. ¡°Yes wait. ¡°You can¡¯t think of anything.¡± ¡°You got it.¡± She let out a long sigh. ¡°Just promise me, no more pissing off deities. You could try apologizing.¡± ¡°What for-¡° ¡°Don¡¯t say whatever you are about to say. We don¡¯t need to invite more trouble.¡± ¡°Got it.¡± We stood there and time slowly dragged on. ¡°Anything yet?¡± One asked. ¡°Nope, you?¡± I replied. ¡°Nothing.¡± He said. Time continued to drag on as we waited and the sun slowly began to set. ¡°I need to take a piss.¡± Two shouted over to us. ¡°Use your canteen.¡± I shouted back. ¡°It is full of water.¡± ¡°Well drink it and then take a piss. Oh and don¡¯t spill a drop or you are screwed.¡± We looked over as Two began chugging away. Once he was done we all held our breath as he took a piss. Thankfully his aim and control was good. ¡°Got it.¡± I said. ¡°What?¡± Tor asked. ¡°I know how we are getting out of this.¡± ¡°If you make me ask, I swear you are in for a world of hurt.¡± ¡°We wait.¡± ¡°That is what we are currently doing.¡± ¡°Trust me. We probably need to wait another three to four hours.¡± ¡°Whatever this is, it better work.¡± Tor muttered. We continued to stand there. ¡°Urg, too much blood and flesh. I am getting full.¡± Three said. He had been gnawing away at the old man¡¯s heart to keep it from regenerating. Blood cover the front of his clothes where it had dripped down. The only thing that made it possible was that the regeneration was fairly slow when it was just the heart. ¡°You can either chuck it away or you can keep eating.¡± I said. ¡°Eat.¡± Three returned to gnawing. We waited another hour. ¡°Just tell me.¡± One whined ¡°Use your brain. It isn¡¯t that hard to figure out.¡± We continued to wait. The sun went down and that was when it happened. A small pitter patter as ran began to full down on the mountain top. ¡°Don¡¯t move.¡± I picked up a large rock and threw it off to the side. The worm didn¡¯t emerge. I picked up two rocks and threw them, still nothing. ¡°Everyone pick up some rocks and throw them where I do.¡± Everyone copied me but still the worm didn¡¯t emerge. I took a step and nothing. ¡°Ok, we are good.¡± Everyone let out a sigh and began to take a piss. Three threw up all over the place. I didn¡¯t have any idea how he fit that much inside of himself. Maybe I should have told him to cut off pieces and put them on his head and wait for them to disintegrate. Meh, he managed well enough. ¡°Everyone good?¡± ¡°I think I have a cramp.¡± One muttered. ¡°Well uncramp. Let¡¯s go people. Toss stones out to the side as we travel. If the worm does come I want to be ready.¡± We began our retreat down the south side of the mountain. ¡°So how did you know it would rain?¡± Tor asked. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°It has rained most nights we have been here. Also the cloud cover was fairly heavy. Actually Two gave me the idea. Good job.¡± He just let out a grunt. We had gotten down into the tree line when the rain began to slow down. ¡°If you feel anything shout, stop, and throw stones in front of us.¡± Everyone just gave an exhausted yes. We hadn¡¯t been able to rest all day and now we were rushing through the forest at night with all our gear while picking up and throwing things off to the side. Dawn came and we were following a stream bed hoping the water would mask our footsteps. I called a halt about a kilometer from the beach. ¡°If it attacks it will be on the beach. Plus we have to fight our way onto that sloop.¡± ¡°I missed the Shut-AHHHHH.¡± Two said. ¡°Best ship ever.¡± One replied. ¡°It was a good ship.¡± Three said. I just kept quiet since I hadn¡¯t ever seen it. We waited until the sun had set. ¡°Ready?¡± Everyone gave me a tired nod. We followed the stream to the beach and saw the boat about half a kilometer to our right. ¡°Okay everyone stay in the surf and let¡¯s go.¡± We continued from the stream to the surf and began moving up the shoreline. The boat was about a hundred feet from shore. Myself and Two would have a problem making it with our weapons and armor. ¡°Alright, they want me then they can get me. See that boulder over there on the shore line. All of you hide behind it. When I attack boost me and attack as well.¡± I walked out onto the shoreline while the rest of my team hid. ¡°Flame on.¡± My sword burst into flame. ¡°Who do I have to ask for a ride?¡± I shouted. People began piling onto the deck and staring at me. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°A person who needs a lift. Have room?¡± ¡°That¡¯s Kenji Shadowen.¡± There was a hush when someone shouted that. ¡°Yes I am. So you can leave me here, or you can try and capture me.¡± ¡°Out of the way!¡± A massive woman pushed her way to the edge of the boat. Oh god, it was one of the She-Hulks. ¡°You!¡± She raised a massive sword and pointed it at me. She was definitely compensating for something. ¡°Sisters we have found him.¡± Three more She-Hulks came out onto the deck. ¡°So which one of you ladies wants a spin. It is more than big enough, even for She-Hulks like you.¡± ¡°You will pay you insolent whelp.¡± ¡°Calm¡­.sister. We¡­.together¡­.overwhelm¡­..dangerous.¡± ¡°I see only one boat. At most two of you can come at a time. That is the problem, mass carries over with body size.¡± ¡°And reach.¡± The one woman swiped her massive blade through the air. ¡°Sisters, leave the armor. Our prayers will protect us.¡± They began to strip and chant. I noticed that One was swimming out to the boat. That was good thinking. I walked to the very edge of the surf. I muttered, ¡°Tafe, you are a bitch who likes to eat pig shit.¡± I felt a rumble that wasn¡¯t the water. The four ladies hoped into the boat and began heading towards me. I waited until they were twenty feet out. ¡°Flame off.¡± I then threw the rock onto the sand. There was a long pause. I threw a throwing dagger. The worm burst out the ground in an explosion of sand and water. I leapt to the side as it flew towards me. It hit the water and reared its head out. ¡°Have at yee, you foul feast.¡± The She-Hulk with the massive sword and jumped off the row boat and struck the creature. Sparks went everywhere but she didn¡¯t penetrate it. I swam through the water as the She-Hulks and the worm occupied each other. My armor was weighing me down and draining my SP quickly as I tried to keep afloat. I heard screams as the battle continued behind me. A rope was thrown out from the boat and I grabbed onto it. I was then pulled aboard by the sailors. One had an arm wrapped around the neck of a small girl with a sword pressed into her side. Moments later the rest of the team was aboard and the sailors began unfurling the sails and raising anchor. I looked back at the She-Hulks and was surprised they were still alive. The worm must be having a lot of trouble in the water I thought. It had come completely out of its hole and was darting across the water attempted to strike the She-Hulks. Despite its apparent bulk, it floated very well and the She-Hulks had taken to ducking into the water to avoid its attacks. The boat began to pull away one of the ladies let up a cry but Three made the row boat burst into flames. ¡°Take care ladies. Maybe you shouldn¡¯t let the steroids go to your head.¡± ¡°Rain of Blood I am going to rip off you-¡° She dived out of the way as the worm leapt at her. Despite my jokes, they were amazingly good. So good that the only their sheer stupidity allowed me the chance to escape. If they had kept just one person on the boat this would have turned out far differently. ¡°Who do you think will win?¡± I asked Tor who had moved next to me. ¡°Indestructible worm of the goddess versus four stubborn ladies. I am going with the She-Hulks.¡± ¡°I will wager a nice dinner on the worm.¡± ¡°Accepted.¡± They were still going at it as we got further and further away, making it impossible to make out any details in the darkness. ¡°I am the captain of this vessel. Tell your man to let my daughter go.¡± I turned around. I pulled out my flame sword and thrust it into his gut. ¡°Flame on!¡± He began to shriek as he was cooked alive. I used his thrashing to turn and then pushed him over the railing. He disappeared into the water with a splash and a hiss. ¡°Listen up. I am Kenji Shadowen. I don¡¯t take shit from anyone. Lord Breckley annoyed me so I killed him. If you move I will kill you or have one of my men kill you. Fear aura one minute.¡± Two of the sailors passed out and three more pissed themselves. ¡°You are all my slaves. Since you have picked me up you are in my favor at the moment. The captain was in my favor but then he made demands. Set sail west around the continent for Goratat. You, what is your name?¡± ¡°Hanark, your lordship.¡± He was barely a boy of seventeen where most of the sailors were middle aged. ¡°Congratulations Hanark you are now in charge. Everyone, you obey Hanark. If he tells you jump, you jump. If he tells you to bend over, well you bend over. If there are issues talk to Hanark and he will talk to me. Now Hanark get us some food and arrange our beds.¡± The poor boy got to work yelling at people twice his age. I looked for anyone hesitating, but no one did. Unfortunate since I wanted to make an example. We had fish and light beer but it was a nice change of pace. There were five hammocks set up in the Captain¡¯s cabin. I took first watch while everyone else slept. ¡°Thanks Tafe, sorry about all of that.¡± A gust of wind hit the ship and it tilted to the side heavily but didn¡¯t capsize. Hopefully she wouldn¡¯t send the worm after us. I was soon relieved by One and got some much needed sleep. I woke up the next day and saw the coast off in the distance. I checked the wind and then took a piss off the side of the ship that wouldn¡¯t blow it back on me. I was leaning on the rail and enjoying the breeze when I heard shouting. I turned and made my way over to where Hanark and other crew member were arguing. ¡°-the deck.¡± ¡°That¡¯s your job Captain.¡± The sailor sneered. I put my hand on his shoulder. He spun around and I moved out of the way of a punch. He then paled when he saw who it was. ¡°Hanark is there a problem?¡± ¡°No problem my Lord, um sir.¡± ¡°Lord is fine. If there is no problem why was there shouting?¡± Hanark looked nervous. ¡°Speak.¡± ¡°I told him to swab the deck so it looked nice. Normally that was my job as the newest aboard ship.¡± ¡°Ah, so he is lazy.¡± ¡°Hey, I-¡° I pulled out one of my swords and rested it on his shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t distract me, I might slip. So Hanark, what are you going to do?¡± ¡°Ummm, I am sure Bill will get right to work.¡± ¡°He tried to hit me and argued with the person I put in charge. He is challenging me when he challenges you. So you can punish him or I can. Trust me, you don¡¯t want me to think up of something.¡± ¡°Three lashes.¡± ¡°Just three?¡± ¡°And then he has to swab the deck.¡± ¡°Very well, oh and if he screams or says anything for the next five days or slacks off in his work in any way I will handle things? If me or my people are attacked again, you will be punished Hanark. So feel free to discipline anyone who doesn¡¯t listen.¡± ¡°Yes my Lord.¡± I left the sailors to sort themselves out. I just didn¡¯t want to have to crew the ship or do any work. I wanted to rest after the island. I ignored the stares as I made my way to the galley. They hadn¡¯t seen my foot clearly the night before and probably thought the ripples of fire were their wild imaginations. ¡°So I saw someone getting lashed. You¡¯re doing?¡± Three asked me. He still had that heart in his hand. I swear it was like a pet or something. ¡°Yes, but try to not kill them. I really don¡¯t want to have to sail this ship or cook or clean.¡± I said. ¡°Yeah, no problem.¡± Three said. Everyone else slowly came in but Tor who was probably going to sleep until mid-day. ¡°Alright, I told Three but try and not kill of the crew unless you want to do all the chores. Also take inventory of what this ship has and search everything. If there are any issues, bring the person to me.¡± I said. ¡°What about the cube?¡± One asked. ¡°For now we keep it. I put out some feelers, but without having its power unlocked it is more a curiosity than anything else. For now we head towards Goratat and then into the desert.¡± ¡°What about the sand worms?¡± Two asked. ¡°I am still working on that. What we really need is some sort of flying craft. I would kill for an airship.¡± ¡°You would kill for almost anything.¡± One replied. ¡°True, but I really want one ever since I heard some players are trying to build one.¡± ¡°We should steal it.¡± Three said. ¡°It is being built up north in Multhenn. Problem is that is crazy protected. Only a few people are allowed access and they have mages and enchantments on the workshop itself along with a host of soldiers. If we had another fifty levels on us then maybe, but right now¡­¡± I trailed off. ¡°A balloon might work.¡± Two said. That wasn¡¯t a half bad idea. ¡°How would we control it?¡± One asked. ¡°At different levels in the atmosphere there should be different air currents. We get to the right level and sail directly to the tower, grab the book, and then keep on going. With the flame sword we have near unlimited heat.¡± Two said. ¡°How did you come up with all that?¡± One asked. ¡°I really hate deserts and walking. I did a lot of outdoors stuff when I was younger. Deserts were not fun. Also seeing that worm was motivation.¡± Two replied. ¡°I like it. Good job Two. When we get to Goratat we are going to take over so we can make this happen. First, there isn¡¯t really a guard or soldiers. Instead the barbarians rule through contests for control of the city. The way I understand it, only people of great renown can make a challenge. They have to fight the leader¡¯s champion. If they win then they get to fight the leader.¡± ¡°So you are going to fight?¡± One asked. ¡°No, that would just lead to everyone else challenging me. I am putting out the word through my fans. Kill all the barbarian rulers in Goratat, a special prize will be given to the winner. Probably an awesome weapon.¡± ¡°We weren¡¯t able to bring the bug scythes so what are you going to offer?¡± Two asked. ¡°It¡¯s a lie of course. But that should cause enough chaos. We come in, use the player base to supplement our man power and have them kill and pillage. We build a balloon in two or three days using slaves. Once the barbarians get their act together we will be long gone.¡± ¡°That sounds like a¡­interesting idea.¡± Tor said from the doorway. ¡°Good morning. Fish?¡± She sat down and began eating. ¡°The barbarian NPCs would just kill all the people. We should sneak in, build a balloon, and then cause chaos before we leave.¡± Tor said. ¡°Hmmm, alright.¡± There was sucking sound and we all turned to look at Three who had his mouth around one of the heart tubes. He stopped and looked up. A few seconds later he we went back to his meal quietly at least. ¡°Alright, Two you are in charge of the balloon project. Tor and One you get supplies. Three¡­.just keep hidden until we cause chaos. I am going to assist Two.¡± Everyone agreed and we continued on our ocean journey. *** Ramponator: I think the princesses really Hulked out 6996: Whatever street cred they had, just got eaten by that worm TheLordBreckley: Why¡­.why did they all leave their ship GODHAXLOL: WORMY! PowerOfFaith: Because their muscles were bigger than their brains UltimataSecret: Remind me never to vacation there Ramponator: Don¡¯t vacation there FuriousGhost: How could they fail¡­¡­AHHHHH Envy: They did not have Rain¡¯s awesomeness Hosey: They got hosed RoidBeast1: Why was the worm even after him in the first place? *** Author¡¯s Notes: We are now #125. Great job everyone, thanks. I honestly think that the ratings, followers, and favorites goals are achievable if everyone participates. You know you want the bonus chapters. So I was just in a massive car accident on the way home from work. There is a lot of construction at a major interchange and they constantly move the traffic cones. Anyways, I was in the left lane and the right lane was ending. So the car off to my side pulls over and comes to a stop so I am coming to a stop since we both are running out of lane. Then the car behind me hits WHAM then the car behind that guy hits Wham. It takes 20 minutes for the cops to come and another hour on the side of the road. The rear of my car was totally screwed up. No one was seriously hurt, but my neck aches. The worst part is the front seat is broken as well and doesn''t stay in place on the most forward setting. :( Chapter 30: A Lot of Hot Air ¡°That place looks like a shit hole.¡± One said. ¡°Because it is.¡± I replied. We were approaching Goratat after ten days out on the ocean. Hanark had quickly gotten the crew in line. With the city in sight it was a clear mess. Most of the buildings were haphazardly cobbled together. Like someone picked up a real town and dropped it here without putting it back together. I saw a house tilted sideways leaning up against another house. The docks were one of the only areas that wasn¡¯t chaos. Surrounded by a ten foot high wall. Warehouses, barracks, and enough mercenaries to make an army camped out. The traders made insane docking rates to land and pick up slaves. The mercenaries kept the area in order and the barbarians respected the divide for the most part. It also helped that there were rotting corpses stacked all along the walls. There was also a barrel of pickled balls right near the front gate. Any misbehavior and you got cut. That deterred the majority of troublemakers. ¡°Alright, this ship is going to be our base. Hanark assemble the men.¡± He started shouting and sailors began assembling. ¡°Alright, anyone want to leave this crew and take their chances in the city?¡± I asked. They all looked at each other. Finally one man stepped forward and then three others joined him. That left five men counting Hanark. ¡°Anyone having a problem obeying Hanark?¡± Another man stepped forward. The individual who had been lashed a while back. I took out my sword and everyone looked nervous. ¡°You five are now slaves. One the slave collars.¡± One came up and began snapping heavy metal collars around their necks. One of the men made to protest but Two just swung his war hammer and his head went flying from his shoulders. The body just stood there as blood shot up out of the corpses neck and then it collapsed. ¡°No arguing. Now you are going to be sold for money. If you cause trouble I will kill you. Hanark you and the men may leave the ship. There are two rules.¡± ¡°First rule, you come back before night fall. I don¡¯t care for excuses. The second rule is that you don¡¯t run your mouths. You don¡¯t talk about me or this ship. If anyone asks, say the voyage was long and you will be looking at slaves after you have relaxed for a couple days. Questions?¡± There were none. I then pulled out a money pouch and gave it to Hanark. ¡°That has a hundred and sixty bronze and three silvers. Spend it how you want, just keep your head about you.¡± ¡°Thanks my Lord.¡± ¡°Now then, Three is going to be remaining on the ship as will I. Our appearances will draw attention. Hanark you handle the docking fees. They shouldn¡¯t be more than two gold. If they try and charge more, offer up to ten silvers on top, but no more. Here.¡± I tossed him another money pouch. We came into the port and docked at an open berth. I remained in the hold with Three. The great thing about being in a place like this, they didn¡¯t care as long as you could pay. Hanark came down after a bit. ¡°All paid, two gold and seven silver for a ten day berth.¡± ¡°Good, I am going to rest for a bit in the main cabin.¡± Two returned that afternoon with word that thin high quality fabric was insanely expensive. A single seven foot by fifty foot piece would easily cost a gold piece. We needed around thirty two of these rolls of fabric. At most there were six rolls in various warehouses. I sighed at the report Two gave me that evening. ¡°Everything is leather or hides around here. Those won¡¯t work for a balloon.¡± ¡°What about wool or cotton?¡± I asked. ¡°Nope, nothing. I also checked to see if there were monsters we could use, but nothing.¡± ¡°What about ordering some cloth?¡± I asked. ¡°Months and hundreds of gold.¡± ¡°What about ship canvas. They have to have loads of it.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t think of that.¡± Two said and I let out a relieved sigh. The following morning he reported back that yes there was enough canvas but it was heavy cloth made from cotton. Apparently there was a lot of cotton in the surrounding area and the kids would often collect it for extra money while they traveled. Since they wore hides and leather the cotton went to the merchants who used it to make sails, since those were in high demand. It was a simple matter to buy all the cloth. I had the sailors get to work on building a basket. I told them it was just a large crate. The sale of our slaves paid for all of this thankfully. In five days we had our basket and balloon. We also managed to load up on water, dried and salted meat, bows and arrows, and lighter clothing for the desert. Unfortunately I was suck indoors to avoid drawing attention. ¡°So we leave tomorrow morning.¡± Tor said. We were in the galley and she had just come from a round with Hanark and the other sailors. ¡°Yes, tonight we attack. One managed to gather quite a bit of info of what is stored in which warehouse. Since we can¡¯t take a lot we want quality over quantity.¡± Hanark stumbled in with a please grin on his face. ¡°Hanark go wait for me in the main cabin.¡± He nodded and walked out. ¡°What about them?¡± One asked. ¡°The ship has been sold along with all the sailors. We are taking Hanark with us.¡± I said. Everyone just stared at me. ¡°That book is going to be trapped. He is going to be the one to run in first.¡± At that everyone smiled. ¡°So, Two get the slave collars on all the sailors. Tor should have knocked them out, but it doesn¡¯t hurt to be careful. Your guy should be here soon.¡± Two nodded and left. ¡°One, begin filling up the balloon after the slaves are taken. Three feel free to go crazy tonight. I honestly want to hear in the forums how many people died in Goratat.¡± Three gave me a feral grin. ¡°Tor, me and you are going to raid the warehouse that is holding a number of slaves. We will set them free. Then in the confusion we are going to go rob as many merchants as we can.¡± The slaves were soon carted off and we got to work slipping off the boat onto the dock and going into this walled off section of the city. It was nice to get out of the boat and we made our way to one of the largest slave pens. At least fifty people were in a large outdoor pit ready to go to market the next day. There were six guards around the pit with torches lit up next to the edge. The pit had wood walls and crushed stone at the bottom. We waited in the shadows of a nearby building until one of the guards went to take a piss. I followed him and while he was reliving himself I stabbed him in the back of the head. He died instantly. I propped him up on the wall and waited. Finally another guard came over to see what had happened and I killed him as well as he bent over his dead comrade. I raced out from where I had ambushed the guards towards the others. Tor managed to get one in the neck and I stabbed one through the heart before the other two realized. I moved in on the other two guards who began to shout. ¡°Attack, attack at the slave-AHHH!¡± I cut off his hand. He waved his bloody stump in horror while he ran around screaming louder than before. I threw a knife at the guard who was force to block. That was all the opportunity I needed to get past his defense and slash him across his face. The tip of the blade struck an eyeball and it burst, fluids ran down his cheek. He screamed and clutched his face and then toppled into the salve pit. I picked up my throwing knife and wiped off my sword. Next I lifted of the nearby ladder and dragged it over the side and pushed it into the pit. Slaves began to emerge. ¡°Take their weapons, there are two dead over there. Good luck!¡± I got a couple thankyous as the slaves continued to climb out but was already off with Tor. We hid in the shadows using conceal presence as thirty mercenaries rushed past to the slave pits. Once they were past we got to work setting a fire to the warehouse. Tor had purchased oil and filled up a number of canteens. Emptying one, we put a striker to the oil and the building caught fire. Despite having a stone base, the support beams were all wood along with the upper walls and the roof. We continued to race on through the night as the shouting continued. ¡°Do you think they will attack?¡± Tor asked. ¡°Probably.¡± I had put word out that there would be an event in Goratat in the near future once we had arrived. Just hours ago I had put up a notice that tonight when there was a fire, players would have a chance to loot the warehouses. I heard fighting in a different direction than we had come from. ¡°Looks like it has started, come on.¡± We hurried through the night as the entire area descended into chaos. We saw a number of people rush by but for the most part were ignored since it was dark and the chaos that had been unleashed was distracting. ¡°Hey! Your Rain of-¡° I stabbed the person who had stopped to speak in the gut. With a flick of my hand my sword cut across his belly. His entrails poured out onto the ground. ¡°Whhhhhhhy!¡± He screamed at me as he collapsed to his knees. His hands grasped uselessly at his wound. I then kicked him in the face to shut him up. ¡°Only thing I hate worse than worms are fans.¡± Tor let out a snort and we continued onwards. We reached a large three story stone building. This was the place where gems were stored for trade. Tor shot an arrow into one guard up on the roof and he went over with a cry and then a splat. I raced in and slashed a guard across his shoulder as he was spinning around from staring at his splattered companion. As he staggered I kicked out with my tri-pronged foot. The spike on the bottom extended slightly and pierced through his leather jerkin before he want tumbling back. I threw a knife and it struck a guard who was rushing towards me in the shoulder. ¡°Fear aura, ten minutes.¡± The remaining guards broke and ran. The door was solidly built into the stone wall. I really wished for my flame blade right about now. I kicked at the door but it barely budged. The only windows were on the third floor. I head movement inside. ¡°If you don¡¯t open this door we will burn the building down and kill everyone inside.¡± I shouted. The door opened and there was a merchant who looked incredibly rumpled and eight guards behind him. ¡°Kill them!¡± He shouted. The guards threw down their weapons and I went inside. ¡°You can take your weapons and go. Pass it on that Kenji Shadowen is here.¡± Some picked up their swords others chose just to run. I grabbed the merchant as he tried to slip by. ¡°Now, take us to the jewels.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t, that is my entire savings.¡± ¡°Do you like your hands? Because the way you are acting tells me that you don¡¯t really appreciate them.¡± I held up my sword to one of his arms. ¡°Follow me.¡± He burst into sobs but I let him lead the way. Climbed up the stairs to the third floor. He unlocked a room and inside were a number of small labeled boxes. ¡°Put everything into this bag, we are watching.¡± I pushed him into the room with my sword and watch him get to work. After two minutes he handed my satchel back to me. ¡°Any traps or poisons?¡± I asked. ¡°I don¡¯t want to have to find you again.¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± He wailed. It was annoying. I pushed the tip of my sword against his chest and pushed slightly. He retreated into the wall. ¡°No, what are you doing, AHHHHH!¡± He screamed as I slowly pushed the blade into him. Every time he tried to move the blade did more damage. I then pulled out a dagger and moved it towards his face. He brought up his arms to block me. I stepped on his foot with my tri-prong foot and pierced him. With the distraction I pushed the tip of the dagger into one of his eyes. He turned his head, so instead of the center I hit the side near the nose. I dragged the dagger to the side and watched the eye burst as fluids and blood poured down his face. I pulled myself back and cleaned off my weapons as he lay there in a sobbing heap. ¡°Come on Tor, let¡¯s go.¡± We left the building to pandemonium. Fires raged throughout the city, even outside the merchant district. I saw a couple of barbarians fighting the merchant¡¯s guard. I saw players looting and killing each other to take the loot. I even saw one rich merchant wife being dragged into a house by three brutish looking men. Tor and I stayed to the sides and kept moving. I had my sword in my hand while Tor kept her bow nocked. The satchel of jewels was strapped across my back. We reached the docks and saw two ships burning and the rest putting out to sea. One of the few remaining ones was ours. I never did get the name of it. I saw a group of players hiding behind some barrels as One shot an arrows at them. I could see Two working with Nus¡¯ Awakening to fill up the balloon with hot air. ¡°-rush him.¡± One of the players said as I approached. ¡°You first then, he is a good shot and that guy behind him doesn¡¯t look like a push over.¡± I stabbed one of the men in the back of the head with a throwing knife and drove my sword through the ass hole of another. He went down screaming and that was when Tor took one out with an arrow. They all scattered running away while they left their companion on the ground screaming. I finished him off with a stab to the throat. ¡°Good your back, we need to go.¡± One said. ¡°What about Three?¡± I asked. ¡°No sign.¡± If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°The balloon?¡± ¡°Taking time, but it is all loaded up.¡± ¡°Alright, keep watch with Tor. I am going to talk with Two.¡± I walked over to the man as he kept the flame sword held up to the opening of the balloon. We had rigged the basket so that it had a frame that connected to the balloon opening and about a foot up. The balloon looked like it was a quarter full of air. ¡°The sword doesn¡¯t give off smoke, just heat, so this is taking a while.¡± Two said. ¡°Anything we can do to speed this up?¡± I asked. ¡°Not really, just have to keep going.¡± I nodded and returned to Tor and One. ¡°There is a large group of people moving through the city, see down at the other end of the docks.¡± I looked and saw a large mob. ¡°We need to go, now.¡± Tor said. The flame blade would draw people¡¯s attention and there were a lot. ¡°One get us free of the dock. Tor help push us away.¡± We grabbed up polls as One cut the ropes. We pushed away from the dock as the mob arrived. A few tried to leap the gap but slammed into the side of the ship. They began to get planks and bring them over. Tor began shooting them as they tried to lay them across. Two planks dropped into the water along with fresh corpses. A third plank was successful and people began to charge across. I pushed the plank off to the side and everyone went into the water along with the plank. ¡°Fear aura, two minutes.¡± With that the mob moved on. Some people remained staring at the boat or just wandering around. It became a matter of waiting and pushing us away from the docks with polls if we drifted too close. Dawn was slowly approaching and the balloon was almost fully inflated. Three finally showed up. He jumped into the water and we tossed a rope to him to haul him up into the boat. ¡°Have fun?¡± I asked him. I was distracted by the heart squirting out small spurts of water. ¡°Loads, there was this one woman who I shoved the heart up into. It was weird how the flesh seemed to come together. I had to cut out her tongue to stop her screaming.¡± ¡°We can hear about the rest in a bit. Get dried off. We are leaving soon.¡± I said. The balloon lifted off the deck for a second and then settled back down. ¡°Finally!¡± Two exclaimed. ¡°Everyone load up. Someone drag up Hanark.¡± One went off below decks. I looked over at the city and saw a growing number of people looking at the balloon now that it was day time. While the balloon was at the rear of the ship and the sails hung loosely in front of it, there were still risks. ¡°We might get company. Tor shoot anyone with a bow that comes near, ignore everyone else.¡± One dragged up a bound and gagged Hanark and tossed him into the basket. ¡°One help Tor keep an eye out for archers.¡± Three came back up to the deck with dry clothes and hopped into the balloon. ¡°Got the water barrel?¡± I asked Two. ¡°Everything is all loaded.¡± Two replied. I looked back at the city, there were people massing nearby. We had to hurry, but also wait until the last second so we had enough lift. ¡°Kenji, people approaching. A good number.¡± I went over to the side of the ship and confirmed Tor¡¯s observation. Thirty people were heading towards our ship. I counted twelve with bows and at least two mages. ¡°Three burn the dock!¡± I shouted. The barrel of oil we left behind erupted into flames as the group passed by. A number of them ran off screaming as their flesh melted. Honestly, didn¡¯t anyone know stop, drop, and roll? The rest scattered and tried to put out their flaming comrades. ¡°Two how much longer?¡± I asked. ¡°At least twenty minutes, more is better.¡± ¡°What if Three boosts the flame?¡± I asked. ¡°A good chance the whole thing would go up.¡± Two was standing on a barrel with the sword raised up inside the balloon to get the maximum effect. We waited and watched as the dock burned away and collapsed into the water. Some players started shooting arrows, but they only struck the front of the ship. While Tor kept an eye on them I checked the seaward side. A vessel three times the size of our sloop was moving towards us. Lots of burly looking men, I counted at least fifty. ¡°Time to go! Everyone in.¡± We all clambered into the basket. ¡°On three, swing to cut. One, two, three!¡± We all swung our blades and cut the anchoring ropes at the same time. The balloon rose up into the air. I held my breath to see which way we would drift. We started to be pulled out towards the sea and the approaching ship. I saw that a number of the men were racing up their rigging. ¡°Tor and One get shooting. Three boost the power to the flame sword, just be careful. If we go up we all die.¡± ¡°Got it, no sweat.¡± Three began chanting. The balloon shot up faster and we began to curve to the north around the city. Arrows thankfully fell short as our course shifted. ¡°We are set Three, good job. One take over for Two.¡± One got up on the barrel and continued fueling our hot air. We stared at the city below taking in the devastation. ¡°Thanks, that was tiring holding the blade up.¡± ¡°You did great.¡± I replied to Two. I saw people running around below us. A number of them pointed up and stopped to stare. I noticed one man get stabbed in the side while he was distracted. There was a bunch of people on a roof top enjoying their prisoners. Outside the merchant district it was even worse. Fires had rampaged through the ramshackle buildings. Even all the way up here the smell of charred corpses reached us. ¡°Pretty.¡± Three said. ¡°That is a lot of carnage.¡± Tor said. ¡°Indeed, so we need to go south east.¡± I said. ¡°How are we going to do that without a compass?¡± One asked. There was a long moment of silence at that. We all stared at each other not knowing what to say. ¡°A giant tower in the desert is sure to stick out, we just coast across and keep our eyes open. If we miss it then we just coast back across again.¡± Tor let loose a huge sigh as I explained the new plan. ¡°So we do this in shifts. Three you meditate along with Tor. One and Two, us three will take shifts powering the balloon and keeping watch. We need to get to the right current to carry us that way.¡± I gestured to the right of the rising sun. ¡°We so need to get an airship.¡± One muttered. ¡°I am still looking for an evil bard.¡± I said. ¡°We need a theme song.¡± ¡°A theme song? Why the hell do we need a theme song?¡± Tor replied. ¡°Simple, we have a name so we need to have a song. I got some of the lyrics worked out, listen, We are the Anti-Heroes on a journey of FEAR We travel the land while drinking some beer Our enemies panic when they see our faces We don¡¯t discriminate between any of the races ¡°Isn¡¯t there only one-¡° I smacked Three to shut him up. ¡°Don¡¯t interrupt, anyways I am a human demon bug mix now, respect my people!¡± ¡°We are your-¡° I smacked him again and continued singing. We kill and we maim our way across the land We travel the frozen wastes to the desert sand Our courage is great and our belief is strong That we will kill people with this awful song I grinned at the end. ¡°That was not half bad. Are you going to be our evil bard?¡± Tor asked. ¡°Nah, but I am putting that as an intro for my next video. Got some virtual singers to record it.¡± ¡°All we need now is a name for this balloon.¡± Two said. ¡°The Buxom Wench!¡± One shouted form his perch. ¡°Hell¡¯s Descent.¡± Three said. ¡°New Dawn.¡± Tor suggested. ¡°Highwind.¡± Two said. I needed to make a decision on which name to choose that would impact things to come. A wrong choice here would be disastrous. *** GODHAXLOL: BLIMPY! Ramponator: That actually sums it up. I can¡¯t believe he built a hot air balloon UltimataSecret: That is how to travel with style PowerOfFaith: So he is going into the desert, he is so dead Worm: We are hungry Envy: At least they are big worms, not the kind that wriggle inside of you PowerOfFaith: I am going to have nightmares RoidBeast1: What is in the desert besides insane nomads and terrible monsters? 6996: Something amazing if Rain is heading that way Ramponator: Why can¡¯t I be with Rain of Blood getting all the good loot *** ¡°A balloon, how interesting.¡± Anova said as he watched the video Rain had put up. ¡°An airship would be far superior.¡± He sipped some fruity virtual wine. *** ¡°How the hell did he manage a balloon?¡± Albus said. ¡°No idea, but he did it just the same.¡± One of his generals responded. ¡°Double our work on the airship.¡± ¡°But sir, we need to let our enchanters recharge.¡± ¡°Then go find some more. Air power will be what dominates this land. How are the other weapons progressing and the training?¡± ¡°Well enough, we should be ready by next month.¡± ¡°Excellent, we cannot falter, for it is us who hold back the darkness.¡± *** ¡°My lady there is a report on Kenji.¡± ¡°What now?¡± Lady Breckley asked as she sliced a piece of roasted fish. ¡°He has made a flying device in Goratat and is sailing across the continent through the air.¡± There was a pause as Lady Breckely stopped with the piece of meat hovering just outside her mouth. She closed it and set the food back down. ¡°Will he return?¡± She said far too calmly, a clear over exaggeration of the nervousness she felt about the person who had killed her parents. ¡°We don¡¯t know. I am going to conduct drills to target aerial objects and consult with the priests.¡± ¡°Keep me informed Sir Willos and good job.¡± She looked down at her dinner and found she had lost her appetite. *** A creature stirred in the bowels of a mountain. Its thousands of legs clicked as it shifted positions in the winding tunnels. Its master was moving everything into position. *** Author¡¯s Notes: People! There are only 3 days left in the pledge drive. Without your support we will not be able to bring you this quality programming. Next comes the tower dungeon, which will be a long arc, probably the next 3-6 chapters minimum, maybe 10, depends on how well they manage. Feel free to expand the song with more verses or put up an audio file. Interlude - 3 ¡°Extraction levels are good. We are distilling the mixture now.¡± ¡°Yield rates?¡± ¡°We are getting a nine hundred percent volume increase while losing eighty three percent potency.¡± ¡°Excellent, and the test subjects?¡± ¡°Within tolerance. The current solution lasts about three hours. More or less depending on the stats of the person. First level immunity sets in after ten doses. Second level after an additional thirty. Third after a hundred, forth three hundred, and we still haven¡¯t gotten anyone to full immunity yet.¡± ¡°What about side effects?¡± ¡°Exhaustion primarily. Over dosing can lead to seizure and convulsions along with black outs.¡± ¡°No deaths?¡± ¡°Only three, but they took more than five times the recommended dosage for their immunity level.¡± ¡°What about the first batches? We want to start getting this out there as soon as possible.¡± ¡°Packaging is the main limiter. Currently we are barreling the stuff, but that makes dispensation tricky since potency wears off through exposure to air.¡± ¡°Barrels are good enough, just fill them up and slap on the lid.¡± ¡°If you say so sir.¡± ¡°What about counter agents and mages?¡± ¡°No counter agents located yet. As for mages, a boost to Constitution will lower the effects greatly but not remove long term dependence.¡± ¡°Interesting. What about retention rates?¡± ¡°Amazingly good. Of our clinical trial with one hundred and ninety seven players we had ninety three point four percent retention rate after the first time. After that it jumped up to one hundred percent.¡± ¡°Why did those seven percent drop out?¡± ¡°Most said it felt unnatural and weird. Others were turned off by our alternative application sites. We did discover that the most potent application is oral. We still don¡¯t have the tools for injections.¡± ¡°Trying my dear doctor, trying. Rome was not built in a day.¡± ¡°So what are you going to be selling it at?¡± ¡°Selling? Not at all, I am be going to be giving the first batch away for free. Market it as a cutting edge liquor. Once people get a taste then we charge, through the nose.¡± ¡°Clever.¡± ¡°Of course, this will change everything in a direction that benefits us.¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t understand what we are working towards.¡± ¡°Power, money, and control my dear doctor. You see, beating this world is impossible for a single individual. There are monsters beyond our imagining out there. Which is stronger, a single level one thousand or ten level one hundreds?¡± ¡°Depends on skills and stats, but I would say it would be even based on HP, MP, and SP reserves. While the higher level would be far stronger, it would be like a elephant fighting a pack of lions.¡± ¡°Exactly, now let¡¯s say all those level one hundreds train and got up to level one hundred and ten while the level one thousand goes up to one thousand and ten. Highly unlikely with the experience progression but still let us consider this. Who wins?¡± This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°The ten players at the lower level most likely.¡± ¡°Exactly. Only with an army can there be any hope of winning. While individual ability matters, in a large well trained group it is more about the collective effort.¡± ¡°So why all of this?¡± ¡°To subjugate the masses and to destroy our enemies and to consolidate our financial position. Already the Order is sending more and more men. A battle would be far too costly. Instead we send this into the city and soon their men will rebel to keep the supply coming. By the time they realize what is happening it will be far too late. Also your experiments cost time and money, how else are we to pay for them.¡± ¡°Why are you explaining all of this? You aren¡¯t going to kill me are you?¡± ¡°No, no my dear doctor. You are being put on a new project since this is all old news.¡± ¡°A new project, what is it?¡± ¡°I want you to work on combining players with monsters. Don¡¯t hold back either.¡± ¡°You know I don¡¯t, but a crossover¡­hmmmm.¡± ¡°If you haven¡¯t heard our resident troublemaker Rain of Blood has a tri-pronged foot. You should watch his videos.¡± ¡°I think I will. A tri-pronged foot you say. I wonder how that happened.¡± ¡°I am curious as well, since the video wasn¡¯t clear. Let me know what you come up with. Needless to say don¡¯t over power anything you create. We don¡¯t need a disaster. We will choose willing elite volunteers for the strongest procedures once the methodology is confirmed.¡± ¡°And the monsters and test subjects?¡± ¡°They should begin arriving tomorrow. We are also expanding the prison portion of this structure to hold a wider variety of monsters in isolation. Your latest project will go a long way to capturing them as well, which is a nice side benefit.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t wait to get started, I will have to draw up a research plan, get a specimen list, and start making space. We need to clear out the cells, well we can reuse subjects, just have to watch for cross interactions. So much to do¡­¡± *** Author¡¯s Note: DUN DUN DUN! A portent of what is coming up. Can you guess who that was? Not that difficult, but you get to see some of the plans coming together as all the plots begin to take off while the MC is flying over the desert. The plot is really cooking now. We are coming up on the fabled book and the immense secrets it contains! The author just began singing to the sound of Christmas music: TROLLOLOLOLOL TIS THE SEASON TO BE TROLLED, TROLLOLOLOLOLOL, NOW WE DAWN OUR BATTLE APPEARALTROLOLOLOOLOL Don¡¯t worry your suffering as my readers will be long and painful, unlike my car which was short and painful. This shall fill me with the Christmas spirit. May be why I rushed Goratat a bit, but honestly it really was a stopping point and the MC has to stay hidden. Problem with a bug foot is that it is not discrete. I also reattached the updated map below if anyone is interested in where they are traveling. Each block is 10x10 kilometers. This is just a general guide to help me orient myself for the story. Download Link for World Map http://speedy.sh/MtBu9/Map.xlsx Chapter 31: Tower Hacks ¡°Kenji no moving.¡± I let out a sigh. The problem with the tri-pronged foot was that I had accidentally made a hole in the floor. While that would normally not be a cause for concern we were drifting hundreds of feet up in the air. ¡°Yeah, got it Tor.¡± I replied. ¡°At least we have a cool breeze.¡± One said. ¡°Next piece is ready.¡± Two held up a chunk of charred old man meat and Tor took it, tossing it from hand to hand. ¡°Best infinite food source ever.¡± Three said with a bloody grin. ¡°Just because you keep consuming that thing raw, doesn¡¯t mean we want to.¡± Tor said. ¡°Anyone see anything?¡± I asked. ¡°Nope, like always. You sure there is a tower out here?¡± One asked. ¡°Well there should be according to this map.¡± ¡°Where are we then?¡± One asked. I pointed at the desert. ¡°Somewhere over this desert.¡± ¡°It is over a fourth of the map!¡± One shouted. We settled back down as we continued to drift along. We had been coasting back and forth over the desert for three weeks. At least we were in the shade most of the time and above the shimmering heat below. While mountains bordered most of the desert, it was big and we just coasted along searching for a tower in the middle of it all. ¡°What happens if the tower is buried?¡± Tor asked. ¡°Well there should be something, so keep looking.¡± I replied. ¡°My eyes feel like they are going to burn out of my skull the way the sun keeps reflecting.¡± One complained. ¡°Alright, no more complaining. We are stuck in this tiny basket, so suck it up.¡± ¡°Mmmm.¡± Hanark mumbled through his gag. Currently I was using him as a seat. ¡°Maybe we could land for a bit?¡± Two asked. ¡°Down there, no. Also if we land this basket on the rocks, it is liable to break apart. We won¡¯t be setting down gently.¡± I replied. ¡°Do you really want to walk over the entire desert?¡± ¡°This could all be made up by the Mystery Man.¡± Tor said. ¡°Yes it could be, but this map looks fairly old. So while he could have been trying to get us out of the way, I honestly think that there is something out here.¡± ¡°Well all I see is sand, oh look, more sand and-¡° I punched One in the groin. He collapsed with a groan while clutching himself. ¡°No complaining.¡± ¡°Next piece of meat is ready.¡± I took it from Two while I tossed it from hand to hand. My ripples of flames that occasionally appeared weren¡¯t helping the cooling process. ¡°I see something.¡± No one moved. After the first time of almost tipping the basket, we each had our own position and had to stay there. ¡°Looks like people or some sort of animal, hard to say.¡± ¡°I am moving to look.¡± Everyone else readjusted themselves. I went next to Tor and took a look out. There were small figures moving in a single file across the desert. ¡°Heading back to my seat. Adjust course to keep them in sight and don¡¯t get too low.¡± ¡°Aye, aye captain. Adjusting course of the Blimpy by something, something degrees. Steady as she goes yar!¡± Two was clearly becoming a bit unhinged. Maybe sky sickness was a thing. It also didn¡¯t help that I auctioned off the name to the balloon and someone called GODHAXLOL bought the naming rights for three hundred dollars. Now we had to call the thing Blimpy as part of the agreement. Tor still hadn¡¯t forgiven me. My mind wandered to my ratings. They had taken off after the Burning of Goratat. I had not received any special status, the growing legion of followers was more than enough. Unfortunately I had used up half the available time for my mother. There was only seven VR weeks left, but at this rate there was no chance of raising enough money. I had gotten some interest in the cube, but the offers were all low ball for a mysterious powerful artifact with powers not yet tapped. At best I could get fifty thousand, and that was if I delivered it personally. It would be more profitable just to kill myself and not waste the time since my bounty had gone up to thirty thousand. ¡°We have some spare canvas right?¡± I asked. ¡°Yeah some, why?¡± Two asked. ¡°Let¡¯s hang it up so it covers the bottom of our basket. If someone looks up hopefully they think we are a cloud.¡± It took about ten minutes to figure out how to get the canvas under the basket and tie it off. We continued to drift making sure to adjust our height to catch different air currents to stay in view of the people below us. ¡°They disappeared!¡± One shouted. I sighed. ¡°Moving over.¡± Everyone adjusted positions and I went next to One. ¡°Right there you can kind of make out their tracks and they just vanished.¡± ¡°Alright mark that spot, let¡¯s try and hover right over it.¡± ¡°Aye aye captain. Flame on and steady as she goes.¡± I continued to stare at the spot but the tracks really did seem to just vanish. A number of startled yells went up as the basket and people began to disappear. Moments later we were through and I saw a massive tower perched on top of a small mountain. ¡°Hidden in plain sight it appears.¡± Tor said. The mountain went up about two thousand feet if I had to guess. The tower was massive, I guessed at least ten stories tall and wide also. It seemed to almost be an extension of the mountain itself. Like a giant middle finger perched on a fist. ¡°Boost us now.¡± I said. ¡°We go in from the top, skip all the nonsense and traps in the middle and get the book. No more shouting. Three conserve your MP in case we need to make a quick getaway.¡± The balloon began to rise and curve around the tower. ¡°We are curving out of alignment.¡± ¡°No control remember, we just need a better air current.¡± Two said. We continued to drift around the tower in a circle. Once we got higher we began to drift away. For the next day we played with the elevation but the balloon refused to move over the tower since there was a constant breeze coming off of it. ¡°We will need to set down.¡± I said. ¡°Why not shoot an arrow and reel us in?¡± One asked. ¡°That tower is stone, an arrow would never punch through. We could try the flame sword, but it is just as likely to melt the rope and then we would have lost our best weapon and our lifting power.¡± I replied. ¡°We can set down at the base of the mountain over there by that cliff on the sand. That should give us cover.¡± Tor pointed out. ¡°Alright Two, bring the Blimpy down.¡± I cringed at the name, I should have charged three thousand bucks. We removed the piece of canvas we had hung as the balloon slowly descended. We skidded across the sand. All of us lined up in the back so the front wouldn¡¯t jackknife. We bounced, skidded, and then bounced again. Then we came to a stop. Everyone piled out to stretch and move about. ¡°Freedom, sweet freedom.¡± One said. Two jumped up and down while Three just lay spread eagle out on the ground. I began going through my standard stretches. The balloon began to lift off again. We all raced over and grabbed the basket pulling it back down. ¡°Note to self, don¡¯t all jump out of the balloon at the same time.¡± My comment brought a few chuckles. ¡°Let¡¯s rest up. We will move up to the tower during the night and attack at dawn.¡± ¡°We need a way to make an escape. I can easily see us getting trapped on top.¡± Tor said. ¡°How much rope do we have?¡± I asked. ¡°If we use it all, about three hundred feet. Why?¡± Two replied. ¡°We need two lengths of a hundred and twenty feet and enough for hand grips for all of us. Once we reach the top we will escape over the side. The balloon should only half deflate if we are gone for a day. So about four hours to recharge.¡± ¡°There is a better way. We inflate the balloon to just hover off the ground and then bring it to the base of the tower. From there we just go straight up.¡± Tor said. ¡°If the wind is coming off the tower, it will be pushed away. Also the air bag would push us too far away to grip onto the rock. If we got a rope that was tied to the top then we could pull the balloon in.¡± ¡°That tower is what, fifty feet wide. So the circumference is about a hundred fifty seven feet. Let¡¯s say two hundred feet of rope. We wrap a rope around it and ascend while using the rope to keep us close to the tower.¡± ¡°The friction would be too much, for a tower that big and the rope might catch on something and then we would be stuck. But we could use two long lengths of rope to tie the balloon off to opposite sides of the tower and then ascend.¡± ¡°It could work, but the ropes would have to be tied to something really heavy, like a massive boulder.¡± I replied. ¡°You really don¡¯t want to go in the tower?¡± Two asked. ¡°That thing is going to be filled with traps of all kinds. Better to sneak in from the top, also the balloon will make a convenient get away.¡± I replied. ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s do this.¡± I said. Two remained in the basket and managed how much lift the balloon was getting. Three and Tor each held a rope to manage the balloon while I took the front and One took the back. We slowly began to make our way up the mountain as the sky grew darker and darker. It was a long climb in the dark. Thankfully the balloon didn¡¯t reflect light and most of the light from Nus¡¯ Awakening was blocked by the canvas. We finally reached the plateau the tower rested on without incident. The team kept the balloon back while I rushed forward with a length of rope. I tied it off to large rocky outcropping that jutted out. I double checked my knots confirming they were good and returned. I got to work on the next rope. I had to return to get the flame sword in order to melt in a couple of deep angled notches to make sure the rope didn¡¯t slip off. Once the rock cooled I tied off the rope and we all piled into the basket. I could feel a slight breeze coming from the tower no matter which way I went around it. We began to rise and One and I managed the tied off ropes as we ascended. Everything else as piled up on the far side of the basket from where the ropes looped around the frame to stop us from tipping. As we ascended we let the ropes out slowly. The trick was to keep it at a continual pass. If one of us started going faster the balloon would tip towards that corner. The higher up we went the stronger the wind became as if the very tower itself was emitting it. At fifty feet I could feel the ropes straining. ¡°We won¡¯t be able to pull ourselves over the tower. Tor tie off the basket, make sure it is solid. When we get in range of the roof you need to jump down onto it and tie us off.¡± Tor got to work as we continued to ascend. We reached the top floor and the entire basket was groaning from the conflicting forces of wind and rope. The big problem was that we were ten feet away from the edge since as the ropes extended it became a battle of lift versus wind power. ¡°One tie a rope off to an arrow and see if you can shoot a crack in the wall.¡± He wasted three arrows, but the stone didn¡¯t even chip. The roof had stone parapets but each time we tried to lasso one the wind would push the rope away. This was becoming very frustrating. ¡°Let us go up a bit more, then we pull on the tied off ropes as hard as we can at the same time.¡± We rose ten feet above the tower. Grabbing the tied off ropes we have a tug but that just lowered us and didn¡¯t move us over the center of the tower. ¡°I can-¡° ¡°Don¡¯t even think it. That is a twelve foot gap and a ten foot drop. No way you can make that uninjured. What would we do if you fell?¡± Tor said. ¡°That¡¯s it! Alright Hanark it is your time to shine. We will keep the gag in so don¡¯t worry. So we are going to tie you off and thing swing you over.¡± He began to shake his head violently. ¡°Either that or we toss you over the edge and see if the lost weight helps. Tor get a harness on him.¡± I worked to tie the other end of the rope to two corners of the basket. I was hearing groans coming from the wood from all the stress it was under We lowered Hanark over the edge so as not to shock the basket from a sudden fall and then began swinging him back and forth. We held onto the rope while swinging it and at the peak of his arc we let rope out. He flew through the air and his leg smacked on of the stone blocks making the parapet at the top of the tower. Thankfully he went over the edge and onto the roof. The bad news was that he was unconscious. We pulled on the rope and Hanark¡¯s body was big enough to not squeeze through the gaps in the parapet and to hold together as we reeled ourselves in. I jumped off when we were in range and tried to melt a notch in one of the stone blocks that made up the parapet. The flame blade didn¡¯t even mark the stone as a blue field deflected the heat and flames. Clearly this place was protected somehow like the domed building from the island. We pulled the balloon to the center of the tower where the wind was going straight up and waited for it to deflate a bit. I did notice a trapdoor off to one side, but no one had come up here to investigate us. It was actually a bit eerie how all the people had disappeared. The sun was slowly coming up and we were treated to an amazing view, which we ignored since we had already seen enough sunrises floating above the desert. ¡°Alright, Hanark is our anchor since he is a corpse now. Three and Two will stay here. Tor and One with me. Two, keep the balloon prepped for a rapid departure.¡± Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°We could always seal the trap door off.¡± He suggested. ¡°There may be a dragon guarding this thing for all we know and I don¡¯t think it will use the stairs.¡± ¡°What about inside, there are no windows on this tower?¡± Two said. ¡°Let¡¯s take a look first then. Weapons ready.¡± I said as we approached the trapdoor. ¡°Two pull up the ring and then stand back. Two did that and thankfully nothing jumped out. There was a ladder and a small dark room filled with dusty boxes. I had One and Tor hold onto my feet as I was lowered in. It was a storage room it appeared. ¡°Ok, pull me back up.¡± They did and I looked around. ¡°Three, let¡¯s bring the old guy back. This place was protected like the temple he was at. Also if the door snaps shut, we won¡¯t be able to break it.¡± To make the point I hit the trap door with my sword and a blue glow deflected it. Three tossed the heart off to the side and began licking his hand clean. I closed the trap door and we rested up. Slowly but surely the old man reformed as we all waited around for the next hour. ¡°Oh save me now, not again.¡± He groaned out. ¡°Hey old man, time to answer some questions again.¡± ¡°You got away¡­.of course.¡± ¡°What do you mean, ¡®of course¡¯?¡± I asked. ¡°You escaped, unless it was the desired outcome it would not have happened.¡± ¡°There was a giant worm!¡± ¡°Which you escaped. I cannot explain more than that.¡± ¡°Alright, well we are on a tower in the middle of the desert. You know what is in this place.¡± ¡°I¡­I¡­might, but I am bound the same as before.¡± ¡°Can you guess what might be in here?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Is a cube inside this tower?¡± ¡°¡­.¡± ¡°What about a book?¡± ¡°¡­..¡± ¡°Is a purple elephant in the tower?¡± ¡°¡­..¡± ¡°Interesting. Should I call out again?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t recommend it.¡± ¡°Do you know anything about this tower?¡± ¡°Nothing I can say. I have been on that island for a long time.¡± I let out a sigh at that. ¡°Do you know a man called Durrunian?¡± Three asked. ¡°Yes, a great man.¡± I looked at Three and gave him a nod to take over the questioning. ¡°Who was he?¡± ¡°A great warrior and a leader of men. The last I heard was he forged a great kingdom to protect his people for all time.¡± ¡°Was there a tower built in this kingdom?¡± ¡°¡­..¡± ¡°Was there a fusion plant built in this kingdom?¡± ¡°¡­..¡± ¡°How did he die?¡± ¡°I do not know.¡± ¡°What was he known for?¡± ¡°Being a great warrior and leader of men.¡± ¡°Did you ever meet him?¡± ¡°Once, it was a privilege.¡± ¡°Anyone else?¡± Three asked, no one said anything. Three carved out the old man¡¯s heart back out of his chest. ¡°Interesting, so this is the remnants of some great kingdom. I wonder what happened.¡± Two said. ¡°Got blasted by something, since all this is desert. Also whatever treasures this guy had was probably stored inside. I would also bet that those nomads are the kingdoms descendants.¡± I said. ¡°Tower time then?¡± One asked. ¡°Yes.¡± We made our way back to the trapdoor. ¡°Alright in case we get locked in, stay up here and keep an eye out. Check in three hours if I leave a message in your atriums for additional information if we don¡¯t report back. If we are separated inside, try to survive and leave the tower. Back of rendezvous point is our landing zone. Let¡¯s do this.¡± I went down into what appeared to be a storage room with Tor and One following. ¡°Check the boxes.¡± We got to work inspecting the boxes and found gold coins. None of us recognized them, but there was jewelry, gems, and enough wealth piled in the room to make anyone jealous. I went over to the door. It was flush with the stone floor. In fact the entire tower seemed like someone had taken chunks of rock and literally fused them together. The door itself was wood. I didn¡¯t spot any obvious traps. ¡°Okay, stand back. I am going to turn the handle. If you hear a click or anything get out of here understood?¡± I got two affirmatives. I put my hand on the metal door handle and slowly pulled. I pulled again and the door still refused to budge. I gave it a hard tug and nothing. I tried pushing and still nothing happened. I brought out my sword and swung it at the door. A blue field blocked my attack. ¡°You have got to be kidding me.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t get in?¡± Tor asked. ¡°Probably bolted on the other side. Since this entire building is protected somehow we can¡¯t break through. This is the exit room or an extra room for people who explore I bet, after they get to the end. All this gold just confirms it.¡± ¡°Oh¡­.¡± Tor said. ¡°Yeah oh is right. The book is right behind this door, but we can¡¯t get to it.¡± ¡°The hinges are on the inside, can we pop them?¡± One asked. I looked over and saw two large metal hinges holding the door in place. ¡°Let¡¯s try.¡± I said. I ruined two of my seven remaining throwing knives and we managed to pop the hinges. For some reason the field didn¡¯t apply if we were interacting with components that could be removed. Then we hit another snag. We were able to shift the door two inches before whatever protects there were kicked in. That gave us a one inch crack to peer out into darkness. That absolute black was a bit unnerving. ¡°Any way we can get that bolt?¡± I asked. ¡°Maybe, let me go grab some thread from the repair kit.¡± One left and a couple minutes later he returned. Making a small lasso he began trying to loop it over the bolt. After ten minutes I went, and then Tor. Then we rotated Two and Three to come help but each time we kept missing the stupid bolt. There was a tiny half inch metal nub pressed flushed against the door in a downwards direction. We needed to somehow lasso it. While we waited I had the people not doing anything sort through all the jewels to pick out the best ones. Sure we had lots of gems already , but loot was loot. I also had them carry up a number of the smaller boxes and lay them on top of the trap door. Some heat from the fire sword melted the gold onto the trap door and the roof, which should keep it from closing. ¡°Ok time out.¡± I said after a hour of hopeless attempts. It finally came to me what we should be doing ¡°Time to try a different approach.¡± I took the thread lasso and used a crate to help me reach the top of the door. I then moved the thread over until right before it was wedged. I then lowered the thread and began swinging it back and forth while lowering it. I finally got the lasso under the bolt hook and pulled. The thread caught and I kept yanking. I was glad this was thick sail thread and not clothing thread. The bolt hook pushed off the doorway slightly. I pulled the thread back towards the corner above the hinges and moved it back and forth while pulling it. The bolt slowly lifted up. I moved to the side of the door and pulled. The bolt slid back with a click and we all let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Two and Three we are going in together. We need the flame sword to see, and I don¡¯t want you stranded.¡± They gave me a nod. I passed Nus¡¯ Awakening to Tor who lit it. The rest of the team slowly moved the door to the side while I stood ready for an attack. In front of us was a weird stone structure rising out of the floor that was only a couple feet from the wall we were coming out of. We carefully moved around the stone object and saw a vast room. The light from the blade barely reached the far side. There were torch scones lining the walls and six large braziers in the center of the room. The weird stone structure was a statue. There were two smaller statues at the either side of the room and an alter in the center with a book resting on it. ¡°We take this slow, there could be traps.¡± I said. We advanced around the wall and I carefully checked the floor for any pressure plates or holes for gas or other things to emerge from. At the far side of the room was a stair case leading down, but we kept on going past it. After making a circumference of the room back to our entry point I moved towards the smaller statue on left side of the chamber if we were facing the stairs. ¡°No one touch anything, I mean it.¡± I circled the statue with a base of around nine by four feet. On it was a dragon that was roaring and rising up as if to take flight. I really hoped it didn¡¯t come alive. The statue on the other side from the dragon was a statue of a massive centipede that looked as if three of them and been glued back to back in a triangle formation. Where the head should have been there was nothing there just smooth stone. It coiled up as if it were about to start wriggling. ¡°That is creepy.¡± Tor whispered. ¡°Yeah.¡± One added. ¡°No speaking, stay alert.¡± I said. We then turned our attention to the main statue we had come out from behind. On the left side stood a man in a set of armor and a sword that stretched out. His face was covered, and it was a he since the armor had a cod piece. This was all stone but the detail made it seem as if he was alive. Around his neck was a pendent that rested on top of his armor. In his left hand held up above and to the side of his head was a cube. ¡°The cube?¡± I whispered. ¡°Maybe, but it doesn¡¯t have any symbols.¡± Two said. While everything else was etched with detail the box was perfectly blank. My gaze drifted back to the statue and opposing the man was someone I recognized immediately despite having only seen her twice. ¡°Is that-¡° ¡°Don¡¯t say.¡± I hissed out interrupting One. ¡°But-¡° ¡°Don¡¯t say anything or think anything. I do not want any surprises right now.¡± ¡°O-¡° ¡°Nothing.¡± He put his hands over his mouth. I turned back to the massive statue that almost touched the ceiling. What was truly interesting was the look of anger and hatred upon the woman¡¯s face. It was as if the sculptor had grabbed the stone and twisted it to make such a graceful figure appear so terrifying. She had a single hand pointed at the man so that it was almost touching the tip of his outstretched sword. The last thing I turned towards was the alter. Upon it rested a book. ¡°No one read anything off of it. This room gives me the creeps. For all we know this houses an eldritch horror. So don¡¯t read it aloud. Don¡¯t touch it. Don¡¯t touch the alter. I may sound silly, but this is no time for bullshit.¡± No one replied. I approached the alter carefully. Checking every step and surface. The alter was a silver with gold decorations emblazoned upon it. On a small pedestal sitting up right was the book. H\E\T O\K\O\B F\O T\A\F\E I couldn¡¯t make sense of it. I pulled out a throwing knife and very carefully put it just under the edge of the cover and opened it. Nerzhei iezls hzet cuanzotc fzo htze fzlla fo htze dosszged Atzef. Bazkc nzi htze azwdn ozf eenezistxc hzte oszgd nzd... The nonsense language continued down the page. I flipped page by page while the other¡¯s looked on. ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here.¡± I flipped the book closed after the last page and we left. We set the door back over the door way to hide our entrance. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s have dinner before it gets dark.¡± We ate cooked meat which was becoming very old. I longed for the days of stale bread and jerky. I logged off when my watch was over and went to check and edit my recordings in my atrium. When I finally came to the point with the book I paused. Surrounding the book was a black sphere. I went forward and back, but the black sphere was around the book blocking all attempts at recording the symbols. ¡°Shit.¡± *** Author¡¯s Note: Well I kept trying to have them go up from the bottom, but the MC was determined to avoid the tower climb. Every time I threw up a challenge the MC found a way around. Wind from the tower, use ropes to leverage oneself. Can''t reach, use a pendulum. Invulnerable door and stone, go after the hinges which need to move. I was all ready for a tower to hell climb, oh well. Now you guys get to have fun. Here is a floor print for those who want one. Bonus Chapter 7 - The Book H\E\T O\K\O\B F\O T\A\F\E Nerzhei iezls hzet cuanzotc fzo htze fzlla fo htze dosszged Atzef. Bazkc nzi htze azwdn ozf eenezistxc hzte oszgd nzda edszdgesos hobzt ezrslse anzd eeazgtrr ofdzreg hzte rldzwo dazn llza ozf aczintoer. Etzher gttrzeeas ahcevztnmeie wazs ukzmdanihzn, hzhicw hczea ozf hzte azerrgte goszd aezvg a gesbznsil. Efzta eerzusfd nzi ngzvigi a fgzit, amzcniilg hrze opwzer wazs otzo umzch ozt stzeobw ozn eszsler igszenb. Itzsh agznbe a cyzcel ozf todcnzsetin iwzhhc fedtzesre anzd grzwe. Tzeh pzpleeo tiuzlb tmezspel ozt hte erarzetg szdgo uztb Ftzea azws wyazsal iedzvew azs tzeh tezlsa forivzaet isnzce ytzeh idd tnzo pehdozncmer ohzw szhe szwa. Thzwi czhea spgznasi ecczyl ozf ezht sezonass stzhi razeg tonzdncuei tzo uizdbl. Haztt wsa wnhze Fazet edezicdd ozt oezfrg rhze wnzo coiarzstne tzo szhow hzet fupziestl geizbsn hezs hzad hdpezel ecrzeta wozh yhzet huszlod ezb ureazfltg tzo hrze aznd hzer oezlna. Rof Efzat izs a klfziec iresztsms nazd wzith huzsc aoczistn tnzes hzte lodzwr ozn a htzpa to niseztdctoru. Eszh airzdes pu otzmnsers ozf llza iszsze. Ezht agtezrset ozf ezrh oeiznrtasc aszw tzhe Lenoozgdn ndza ftziegd tzi ehzr lesizbsng. Hszete eozrtsnsm pepzestd wozdn unzop ezth wzlrdzo dzna enzabg a cyzecl ozf toitzdcsrnue taht ezht oppzeel drltugzgse tzo canztion. Etzh htrzeo gozsd wezgr nrzagy htzwi ahtzw Tazef dzha ndzoe anzd gfrezod tezh ymzhtig nszagrod. Heszet singzbe fzo igzcma ndza eizrf rezew emzunim tzo tzeh wsepzor ozf Aztef tuzb in hziert sehzta ozt odsyzert ehzr enoszicart nazd vedzri tezhm rmzfo tezh wrozld ehzyt tbuzrn mzahutiyn. Iwzth hzer orszefc aestzdertc Tzafe nczeo orzme saztc erzh opzwrse nzuop hzte owrzld aznd okzebr rtguzohh to a aapzseert lpznae fzo laztirey htzta hsza incsze ezebn ldaecl hzet Abzsys. Etzhre ehzs rdgfzoe azn nelazlica hiztw ahzwt szi oyznl nnozkw azs the Eagzerrt Aigzknw Dozenm. Eenzsv leszers snezmdo tnzew tuzo nizot etzh wozrld nazd ezth ttszbeal ngbzae awzne azs teh fwze neimaznigr czclreis edazbttl aingzsta tezh rfszeoc ozf tezh Syszab. Oeznc agazin hezt eorzht etrzraeg ogzsd therzeagd ndza eidcuzsssd whzo ozt aezdl itzhw Atzef eozcn adn frzo lzla. Ihzwt rzhe oeprzws, hzet ohzsep, msezrad, fsezar, aznd nezve tzhe tuuzfre erzoempwed ezhr. Llza ezht rohzte ogzds oegzfdr ethzre reazgt crsfzatita nzi rrzeod to szotp azdn eerzfovr rpioznism hzre. Frzo klzie lzal odgzs anzd edgsszoeds ezhs aszw nza rmmizaolt ngizbe. Hezt sitzrf iftcztara aszw hzte Drzswo ozf Senrziugnd thzat ulczod vszeer lazl tezsi ozt tzhe eruztfu. Wtzih htzis htzey oulzwd bze bezal tzo dezylctri iesztrk Fazte dazn cztu ofzf etzh urszeco fzo rzhe setazterg pezrow. Izn etzh gtazer rgezofs ozf Rkzoet dnza ihzwt ezht elzhp ozf ehzt nsuzmha, thzis opwzean azws iemzbud twzhi opezrw tnzo reezv enzes izn a azrmlto edzbal. Tezh oeszdcn szwa hzte Vozdi Xozb. A psaezrate nnszdoiime nzoti hwzhci Tfzae ldozuw bze tscza nzad rvzrefoe snodzieimpr. Tzi azws gorfzde ithzw etzh regzatste fzo gcizma szo htzat nzo indezvi csnezsee clozdu veazle rzo eteznr. Onzot ezth ozbx htze ragtzseet heecnznntstam eezrw bdzoun ozs htzat lozny nzoe hzwo dzha nzo diezser ozt lpzhe Tazef dczlou rczpeevie tzi. Hzet drzhti ojzctbe azws tzeh Pnezdnet fzo Etirznheo. Fdzogre rfmzo hezt miazcg tmazle Hzteorein ti wozlud noznacit ezth gsztrteae vezfdiesen migzac hezt dsgzo ldzuco bsoztew. Ofzr ynzol hztiw ithzs udzlco a rsoezpn opzhe ot oroczfnnt Tezaf adzn eskztri rezh owzdn dan rriuzvse. Sevzen atzger iuzrnc olbkzsc ewezr rofezdg nzad dzuse tzo oewepzmr thze deepztnn bdyzeno lazl tsnzpccoe ozf timze dzan sazecp so Etazf wuzodl bze aenzlbu tzo tecuzonr tzi. Rmzfo hezt adlzsn thze eottznsrsg awzs chezons nzad degzift alzl etezhr ozf sezteh godzly imtzse dzan nezth aemmzcdnod ozt ozg dnza aeezfdt Etfza. Ezh nfzuod tzeh atzprol tztah ezld tzo ezht Yazbss dazn nedrzete, ozrf Tezaf tnezfo peznts imtze hzwit ezht Aerzgrte Knazwig Onzdme. Tzerhe ehzt ohrze dizd azly nuzop htze fouzl rteuszrcae wizth gimzca dazn dsozwr redzngin thzem mfozr nxeezecits. Sinzesgn tezh rofcze eeorzfb rzhe Aezft flzed dazn thze ozerh rudzpsue. Azs ezh dcoezssr ezht ltrozap eh sczta the Tpnzdene fzo Eihezotnr ozt biznd ti ozfr sa onzlg as ist vnzese nahzroc nstzeso neiedzmar. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Hzet apzrlot eslzdae, tezh rozhe ndzretu azdn cuozintned iszh truipszu. Ehzyt nagzegde in a shazlc ozf igazmc nazd erzopw ozs tgazre attzh htze ndzla rndezueds anzd enzw tnncztsnioe oezrs dzna olzd nenstztncoi llzfe. Nlyzflai afzetr azn hrzou tezh hozre mdnzagae to epczeri Fezat htizw htze Orzdsw fzo Grinnszude. Nzi tazht momzent ezh cszat ehzt Ovdi Obx at ezrh dan ferzorev dseazle ezhr, isvnzga htze lwzodr. Azs hzet ohzre deenzekl izn usheaztoxni Egnzlondo amzce pnzou izmh. Hzte rozeh ryzelagt kneazewed rozfm iszh nolzg btlzaet thziw tezh lla-ewzurlfpo esozdgds azdn tiwoztuh shzi nenepzdt wzas tza thze cmzrey ozf hzet etszab. Sizh mozfr azws wdtztsie nzad idsozedttr oiznt a gyslzath fleeoztnric fzo twzah hze dazh oezcn nezeb. Noezgnodl edzsie hzet Drzosw ozf Ugnrdiznes nzad thze Izdvo Xzob. Doenznlog idzh ezht Odziv Bxo inihztw lezsfit rzof rthzee swza on acezpl fezras. Hze eddar tozn uhztoc tzhe adlzbe fzo tezh Dszowr of Gerzisnnud alzste hze elzso thze gseoszsdde lesgbznis. Tzi ndruzteer tzo tezh ergzta rszogef ozf Tekzor dazn diazl weszta ot mzeth. Rhezet ti sdazele hzte rdwzos nwitzhi tezh agztre vlazut ndza ecndzosum hzte lznoy eyzk. Izt ldezttse izn ozt iatzw orzf iszt emzsart ahzd adyerzal dlnazpen hezr esczepa dzan umrztiph, rzfo izt azws Aeztf. I trzwie hszti szo azhtt lazl hzwo adezr okznw hzet trzeu dnzerga szpdoe yzb Azfte dnza rezh lozspt ozt nmzaeuk hszti ldzowr puozn hwzchi ezw ilezv. Lwzhie edopzminrsi ezsh nczonta cdrtziley czat btzu sazryp pozun ezht tefrzuu ozf lla ohszet bozeref hzer. Fzi ouzy dnzfi hszti bozko, nofizmr lzal ozf tezh nfrmaziotoin hrezein. I ahzve dbnzou etzehs drzwso ot bze nbeyzod gihzst, szo azhtt ehzt dogdzess lwzil tnzo dsrzyteo itzsh mezot wizht rzeh soinzimn. I aezvh retntzedus hezt etgzar iorrzrwa Uninrdzuar, ozsn ozf hzte ohzer, tzo retczotp itzsh ozrmf alzl hozw mazy kezse ozt etodzysr tzi. E\t\h B\d\a\r NOTE: Eesiaemer solved this in about 3-4 hours. I honestly did not think anyone would get it that fast. The translated text is below on page 2 of this thread. He chose to pass on the reward and his first pick of who should get it, picked a bonus chapter on the Power of Love. Author¡¯s Note: You remember way back when in the author¡¯s note when I said I had come up with something evil as an author. Well this is it. The first person to translate this and reply to this thread with the correct text will be granted the ability to request a single bonus chapter of their choosing. 1) No hints will be given, don¡¯t ask or PM 2) There are a couple proper nouns, you will not be asked to translate those correctly 3) All guesses must be posted on this thread, if you fail then it helps your competitors 4) I judge at my own discretion, all decisions are final, no appeals allowed, complaints may be burnt in the pits of the Abyss or fed to a worm 5) The time limit is until the MC is no longer in possession of the book, which may happen at any time 6) If no one can solve this then I will NOT be posting the solution, I am evil, MUAHAHAHAHA 7) Feel free to team up (not with me), the winner is the person who posts the answer 8) Ask your people to help you, if you don¡¯t have people then ask the internet, if you don¡¯t have internet well then you are out of luck 9) This is super juicy in terms of plot, like a 10/10 and is critical to understanding things. So it is not a cookbook or something pointless 10) There is no partial credit or bonus points for showing your work, this is PASS/FAIL 11) Good luck, your time starts¡­.NOW! Or when this was first posted so stop reading this really long sentence that isn¡¯t helping you and is just to delay you that extra couple of seconds when you could be solving this problem and you are still reading this run on sentence that never seems to end and just keeps going and going kind of like that song that never ends or beer on the wall, so this is really a long sentence and an example of how a run on sentence takes on a life of its own and stretches out to impossible lengths without really saying anything. 12) Ok¡­.one hint since I am feeling in the giving spirit, don¡¯t ask for more. There are two methods I can think of to solve this. The first is the hard brute force way which will take a while. The second is the intuitive way. The intuitive way can solve 40% to 70% of this in about 3 minutes, BUT if your stats are low then it will be difficult to cut to the solution. Chapter 32: Inferno The next day began the very long process of memorizing a couple of symbols and then logging out and recording them. One, Two, and Three all stood guard by the stair case while Tor held the flame blade and acted as over watch for them and me. ¡°So you figure it out?¡± Tor asked the following morning as we munched on freshly cooked meat. ¡°Yes, but we can¡¯t discuss it in game. Someone might be matching.¡± ¡°So what is the plan?¡± Tor asked. ¡°We can leave or head down the tower. There is the question if we remove the book or not. My bet is that if we take it all hell is going to break loose. I also don¡¯t think we can make a forgery.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you sell the text online to the Mystery Man?¡± ¡°He wants the physical copy.¡± We sat there mulling the situation over. ¡°So this cube. It is part of a set of seven that is preventing a demon horde from over running the world. Also the way to get to the Greater Waking Demon, so yeah.¡± ¡°Pfft, please tell me you are not considering¡­.¡± ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know. I see the end goal, but have no idea how to get there.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s read over your translation in your Atrium. My contact code is 546-864-548-8435.¡± ¡°Alright let me get everyone else¡¯s and I will send you all an invite.¡± A short while later four portals opened up to my Atrium after barricading the storage room door with a couple of boxes to stop anyone from getting to us easily. ¡°Nice digs man.¡± One said. ¡°Classic.¡± Two said. ¡°Nice artwork.¡± Three said while looking at a picture of when I killed Lady Breckley. ¡°Here is your copy, read it over.¡± I handed them each a copy of the book. ¡°Wow¡­.so Tafe is a really vindictive being¡­.I would never have guessed.¡± One said. ¡°This doesn¡¯t make any sense. Think about it and then think of how she has acted so far.¡± Tor said. ¡°It could be this Void Box, if we like her we can¡¯t get it.¡± Two added. ¡°You know what is really scary, that mine¡­.¡±Tor whispered. ¡°It was very high level.¡± I replied. ¡°That is what is bothering me, all of it together. Each piece makes sense, but how likely is it that we find the mine, get a cube, and find this book.¡± ¡°It could just be destiny.¡± One said. ¡°Or Fate.¡± Once Three said that there was a minute of silence. ¡°It all seems too perfect. The one thing about FEAR besides the constant death is that it is really random. I mean what are the odds we would locate all these things?¡± I said. ¡°You did find the mine first and you got that curse of Tafe status that we still have no clue on. What if it is something like, ¡®You are drawn to the artifacts that will free Tafe.¡¯¡± Tor said. ¡°But we only came to the tower to get the book because of the Mystery Man who is a player.¡± I said. ¡°He got a quest that required the book.¡± Two said. ¡°Then it means Tafe is responsible for the quests which make sense. But then why do I have to kill a Dragon and the Greater Waking Demon? Oh, because then I would have to open the portal which is bad news.¡± ¡°Yep, plots within plots.¡± Tor said. There was more silence at that. ¡°So are we going after these things?¡± One asked. There was another round of silence. ¡°Honestly, that thing in the mine, Endolgon is probably level nine thousand. Also the book might not be true. What happens if another thing sent the monsters and Tafe got all the blame? I suspect that there is a lot more to this story than we know.¡± I said. ¡°There is going to be no way to kill the Endolgon. It is probably as strong as a dragon or stronger. Plus, who knows what attacks it has.¡± Tor said. ¡°But the sword would be awesome.¡± One said. ¡°A mystical god blade that cuts the future. What does that even mean? ¡®Cut the future¡¯.¡± Two said. ¡°It might remove a person¡¯s life span.¡± Three said. ¡°Or a person¡¯s Fate stat. Wasn¡¯t the Reaper maxed out on Fate?¡± Tor asked. ¡°It was. Also it could have been the hero but level one seventy seems a bit low for an almighty world saving, god sealing hero.¡± I replied. ¡°Why didn¡¯t the book say his name? He got a kick ass statue but no one knows his name, seems sketchy to me.¡± Three said. No one had an answer to that. ¡°So¡­..?¡± Tor said. ¡°So. I have no idea. I mean it sounds cool to get all these mystical items, but can you imagine the protections. I mean you have an immortal god monster guarding two of them and one is inside of it. The third is keeping back a super demon. So I have no idea. Honestly I want to win this game, but the sheer challenge of just this glimpse is insane. Let¡¯s assume everything in the book is true, a big assumption but let¡¯s just assume that for now. First we would have to kill the Endolgon. Gods couldn¡¯t kill it, dragons didn¡¯t kill it, the clerics and forces of humanity couldn¡¯t kill it. The only weapon that possibly could is sealed away under its protection.¡± ¡°What about blowing it up, like you did in Breckley?¡± One asked. ¡°If it survived I have no doubt it would come after us. And unlike the Reaper of Skulls, I don¡¯t think it will be slow. Anyways, I don¡¯t think anything less than a nuclear bomb would take it out and even then who knows with magic and special powers.¡± ¡°What about if we train?¡± Two asked. ¡°Like I said that thing is probably level nine thousand, we would be training for a very, very long time. It has a millennia on all of us. I also doubt it has some fatal weakness either. People have tried clearing that mine, but it has remained. Probably resting and guarding the loot.¡± ¡°We do a heist, sneak in and steal the blade.¡± Three said. ¡°No, that would be insanely reckless. Break into a super boss¡¯s lair to try and steal the one weapon that might kill it.¡± Tor said. ¡°What about an aerial attack? We get an airship and rain attacks down on the monster.¡± I suggested. ¡°Might work. It probably doesn¡¯t fly if the statue is accurate, but it definitely has some range or an area of effect attack.¡± Tor said. ¡°Orbital cannon or asteroid and drop it on the monster.¡± Three suggested. We all looked at him. ¡°That isn¡¯t a half bad idea.¡± I replied. ¡°What about the box and the sword. They would both be destroyed and then we really would be shit out of luck.¡± Two said. ¡°So how do you kill an immortal monster of unspeakable power, without blowing a tiny box it has hidden inside itself? That is the question.¡± Tor said. ¡°Why not make a deal with Tafe?¡± One asked. ¡°Because the Void Box will stop us if we do, a catch twenty two.¡± Two said. ¡°Why do we even want it?¡± Three asked. ¡°Imagine if we had her, we could squeeze every bit of help out of her.¡± One said. ¡°Kind of like grabbing a lion by the tail and yanking really hard. She would be pissed and the moment we dropped our guard we would be in trouble. Remember that all the monsters seem to follow her will to a certain extent from what we have seen.¡± Tor said. ¡°There is a way, we could get the pendent and then we wouldn¡¯t have to worry.¡± One said. ¡°Like the old man?¡± There was a long pause when I mentioned that. ¡°I wonder what would happen if I drank the Endolgon¡¯s blood?¡± Three said. We all stared at him. ¡°That is a terrible idea, you saw the Reaper, I bet it is a hundred, no a million times more foul.¡± Tor said. ¡°Well it would be for science¡­..¡± Three trailed off under the stares. ¡°Ok, back on topic.¡± ¡°We could ask a dragon for help.¡± Two suggested. ¡°You volunteering?¡± I asked. ¡°No, so I guess that¡¯s out.¡± Two replied. ¡°The problem is that the only weapon we know of is the sword, which is protected by the very thing we need it to defeat.¡± Tor said. ¡°Well then if we aren¡¯t going after it, what should we do?¡± ¡°Steal the airship.¡± One said. ¡°Yeah, we definitely want to get that airship the players are working on. We could literally make it rain blood.¡± Three said. ¡°It would be much nicer than walking or boats.¡± Tor added. ¡°I did like Blimpy.¡± Two added. ¡°Ok then, steal the airship it is. So what about the tower? Keep going down?¡± I asked. ¡°We haven¡¯t seen those nomads at all, so that makes me concerned. But, there shouldn¡¯t be any monsters since the tower seems to be anti Tafe.¡± Tor said. ¡°The protections, if we can get those on our airship then it would be super awesome.¡± One said. ¡°I think there might be another of these Etherion Cubes hidden here, but they seem fairly useless unless we plan to go after the pendent. The fact that the prize at the top of the tower was so good, makes me think that everything on the lower levels will be a nightmare.¡± ¡°Or a night stallion.¡± Tor said. At the confused looks of the others she said, ¡°We saw a black horse one night, probably Kenji¡¯s lost father.¡± That got a round of laughs from One and Two. Three just look confused. ¡°Size.¡± One pointed at a certain part of himself and Three¡¯s face made an ¡®oh¡¯ expression. ¡°Moving on, tower?¡± ¡°Leave it, once we get our awesome air ship we can always come back.¡± Tor said. ¡°Sure.¡± One added. ¡°Then the book. Do we physically take it?¡± ¡°No way.¡± Two said. ¡°There goes my spa day at Str.¡± Tor said. ¡°We can¡¯t just tell him the text?¡± One asked. ¡°I confirmed just before you all arrived that he wants the physical book. So there is either a hidden code or there is some power contained within it.¡± I said. ¡°Or he is just a super hardcore into realism.¡± Three added. ¡°Or that, he did want to meet in game so it is possible.¡± I said. ¡°Maybe if you have the book and read it aloud at a certain place or time it will unlock something?¡± One suggested. ¡°The biggest problem is that we don¡¯t have enough information. We get the airship, build a hidden remote base, and then level up a bit.¡± Tor said. ¡°Any objections¡­.the motion carries. I want all of you to start reaching out to people you know and gathering anything about the airship. I bet every other person will be making a go for it.¡± ¡°Stupid bet. It is an airship, who wouldn¡¯t want one?¡± Two asked. ¡°An idiot.¡± I replied. After that they all left my atrium and we logged back into FEAR. The first thing that came to mind was, ¡®Oh shit¡¯. That seemed to becoming my catch phrase. We had been talking during the night thinking that would be the least likely time to be attacked up on top of the tower. I logged back in right as the sun was coming up and looked off the edge of the tower. Around the tower were five giant worms making their way towards it up the mountain. By giant I am talking at least twenty five feet in diameter and over two or three hundred feet long. They were like steroid versions of the one we had seen before. ¡°Observe.¡± It failed since I was too far away and I definitely wasn¡¯t going to get closer. The entire tower was glowing blue as the ground shook. ¡°Two and Three start up Blimpy!¡± I shouted at them and tossed the flame blade over. ¡°One make sure everything is secured.¡± One of the worms reared up and the mouth spikes retracted and an orifice opened up. ¡°Brace yourselves! Incoming!¡± I shouted. A concentrated beam of sand shot forward. I saw it leave a deep gouge in the ground as the worm swept it up towards the tower. When it impacted I couldn¡¯t see through the blue glow that formed. The tower began shaking. ¡°Two are burrowing on this side.¡± Tor shouted. Thankfully the beam of sand cut off partway up the tower as it drifted off to the side. The worm slammed back onto the ground and another massive tremor shook the tower. Below me I saw thirty people in white robes exit from the base of the tower. They began to spread out in a staggered formation. The worm moved towards them. Suddenly giant rock spikes burst from the ground on either side of the worm. While they didn¡¯t pierce the thick plates of armor it was greatly slowed down. ¡°Time on Blimpy?¡± I shouted. ¡°At least twenty minutes, it deflated quite a bit while we talked.¡± Two shouted. ¡°Hang on!¡± Tor called out. I felt the entire tower shift by half a degree, I stumbled to the side. I looked at the balloon but it was still there at the center of the roof. ¡°Tor come on, get in!¡± I called out but she was already running as the entire tower tilted some more. The stone under our feet began to glow brighter and brighter. It then struck me that the last worm we had encountered had demolished the other invincible building. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. We clambered into the basket which slowly began to slide along the top of the tower. ¡°Chuck everything out!¡± I yelled. First went all the gems, next the barrels and boxes of stuff. I watched in despair as an entire barrel of arrows went over the side. The basket hit the parapet and stopped. I cut off our corpse anchor and watched as One threw away our spare cloth which fluttered towards the ground below. ¡°We have lift!¡± Tor shouted as the basket rose slightly. I breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± One called out. I looked the direction he was pointing and saw a black shape moving through the air. My gut began to sink. That was also when the tower began to drop away. It slowly dropped straight downwards as a cloud of dust and debris rolled out from around the base. ¡°They sunk it¡­.¡± Tor said. I saw parts of the worms roiling around in the dust cloud. There was no sign of the people from before. A massive beam of light arced through the air and cut through the dust cloud leaving a trail of clear air behind it. A giant ball of flame erupted where the beam and struck the ground. ¡°Hang-¡° I was cut off as the massive updraft of smoke and cinders struck us and the balloon went careening off to the side as the air currents kept changing directions around us. The balloon then began to fall. ¡°We¡¯re losing lift!¡± Tor screamed. Another blast of fire exploded below us as the balloon careened downwards towards the molten rock that was flowing away from the blast sights. We weren¡¯t in free fall but were dropping quite fast. I had to do something. ¡°Give the blade to me.¡± I ripped the flame blade from Two¡¯s hand. He just looked at me. I then shoved him as hard as I could off the side of the basket and he went tumbling away with a scream. I held the blade up to try and keep us in the air. ¡°Three full blast on the flame!¡± The flame from the blade roared up into the balloon. The edges of the gap the blade was thrust up between began to smolder. Another blast struck and the shockwave pushed us away. It was a challenge to keep the blade centered and keep my footing on the careening balloon. I saw a number of small holes in the cloth sack where debris had impacted and it was starting to smoke in some places. ¡°Hold on!¡± Tor shouted. There wasn¡¯t anything to hold onto. ¡°Flame off!¡± I dropped the blade and clutched my arms across my chest and closed my eyes. The basket hit the ground and shattered. I went tumbling across the sand. Everything was sore as I pulled myself to my feet. The mountain behind us was a molten wasteland instead of the rocky wasteland from before. Above the destruction flew a massive yellow dragon circling around the giant pillar of smoke and ash. It fired another beam of fire onto the mountain once more. The ground shook. I watched in awe as three concentrated beams of sand shot up from the ground. The dragon moved sideways in the air despite not moving its wings or body in the slightest. It was a European style dragon with the large body and broad wings. The dust near the ground collapsed to the ground and the air began to shimmer below the dragon. It fired another beam of fire into the ground and then a second. The dragon turned and began to move away from the battlefield. I looked around and found my flame blade. I patted my clothing and confirmed I still had the Etherion Cube. I sheathed my blade and saw Tor and One lying off to the side. There was no sign of Three. I went to the ruins of the basket and found him there. A piece of wood was driven straight through his chest. The old man¡¯s heart he was always carrying around was also gone. I walked back to Tor and One who were both slowly trying to stand up. I noticed that Tor¡¯s leg had bent at a crazy angle. ¡°We have to move, that ash cloud may drift this way.¡± I said. ¡°AHHHHH!¡± She yelled. ¡°Can you fix it?¡± I asked. ¡°Yeah, check on the others while I work.¡± I went over to One who was slowly standing up. ¡°Ug, that was intense.¡± ¡°Yeah, you okay?¡± ¡°I think so.¡± He began to violently cough. ¡°Not over yet. We are stuck in the middle of the desert with no supplies and one remaining mage.¡± I said. He looked over at Tor. ¡°Three?¡± ¡°Wood through the chest, looks like he died instantly.¡± I helped One up and we made our way make over to Tor who had fixed her leg. ¡°That used up half of my MP.¡± She said and wobbly rose to her feet. We all turned to look back at the mountain and the dragon. It rose up into the air and started flying away. We stood there for a long moment as the reality of what just happened sunk in. ¡°This sucks.¡± One said. I couldn¡¯t help but agree. ¡°So about Two¡­..¡± ¡°He weighed the most and had the hammer on his back.¡± I replied ¡°No use crying about it now, we need to figure out what we are going to do.¡± Tor said. ¡°We won¡¯t make it across the desert, with no water or proper gear. There is only one decent option.¡± ¡°What?¡± One asked, Tor just sighed. ¡°We have to go back up there and take whatever these desert people had.¡± Tor said. ¡°But, but just look. It is a giant melted pile of rock.¡± One gestured at the molten mountain and the pillar of smoke rising from it. We were silent and kept looking at sheer level of destruction. ¡°You know my lifetime quest is to kill one of those dragons.¡± I said. ¡°Yeah mine too.¡± One said. ¡°Someone really doesn¡¯t like them.¡± Tor added. ¡°I wonder why. They are giant engines of flying destruction. Just the fire beam alone is incredibly over powered. Sure I can stab people, but that? No idea on where to begin. Come on we better start moving.¡± We slowly dragged ourselves carefully back up the mountain avoiding the molten patches that were slowly cooling. The black glass the stone was turning into was actually quite stunning. The closer we got the harder it was to pick a path. We had to back track a couple of times but we slowly made progress. ¡°Ahhhhh.¡± A voice moaned out and we all jumped. We drew our weapons and circled around to it. There lying on the rocks was Two. His flesh was charred, one arm and been burnt entirely away. His eyeballs had popped from the heat and were charred out husks. The war hammer lay to the side half melted into the ground. ¡°Ahhhh.¡± He groaned out. ¡°Oh, shit.¡± One whispered. ¡°Damn, that¡­.that looks bad.¡± ¡°Tor can you heal him?¡± I asked. ¡°Maybe, but that would take a couple months of healing to fix, also the missing arm would be impossible at the moment.¡± I drew my sword and walked over. ¡°I am sorry Two. You served well.¡± I stabbed him through the head. He shook once and then stilled. We continued on in silence after that. We crested the ridge to the top of the mountain. ¡°Look, the tower.¡± I saw what One was pointing out. The top of the tower¡¯s parapet was in line with the ground. The stone was blackened and charred but had stayed just above the flow of molten rock. ¡°Now it is a dungeon instead of a tower.¡± One said. ¡°Yeah, filled with traps and who knows what.¡± We found a place to camp out for the night which dark, but luckily the heat from the molten rocks kept the area warm. I also realized without the old man¡¯s heart we had no food either. After a restless sleep with our nerves constantly on edge we awoke to a glinting black landscape that reflected the light from the rising sun. I woke up the others and we had our last bit of water from our one remaining canteen. We searched the roof for any of our dropped supplies, but they had all been burnt away. We walked over to the entrance. The wood was charred, I poked it with my sword and it was clear the protections were gone. ¡°Flame on.¡± I said. We looked down into the storage room. The gold had melted giving the room a bright glint. The ladder was still there thankfully. Whatever force protected the tower had held long enough. I climbed down then Tor and One followed. ¡°Is it just me, or those this dungeon feel like a tomb?¡± One said. ¡°No choice, stay quiet and let¡¯s keep our wits about us. Tor take the flame blade, One take the rear and keep a look out.¡± They both nodded. The door into the statue room was charred and the gold had melted up against the bottom. Thankfully it was twisted enough so there was a gap to get through. The statue room was caked with dust. Before everything had been pristine, which I figured was an effect of the protections. Now there was dust and fallen chunks of mortar. ¡°Watch your footing, we don¡¯t know if the floor is weakened in certain areas.¡± I noted that the statue of the dragon had tilted over and shattered. The creepy Endolgon was still there looking as sinister as ever. The main statue was the most interesting. Tafe¡¯s face had changed to a smile. The stone had literally changed and it wasn¡¯t a warm happy smile. It was more like the smile I have when I am about to do something particularly clever or sadistic. The hero¡¯s sword had snapped and the hand holding the Void Cube was missing. The alter was still there but the book was missing. Trailing from the alter to the stairs was a dampness, as if a person had dragged a slightly wet mop across the floor. That was more disturbing than the stone statue¡¯s changing face. ¡°We should get out of here.¡± One whispered. ¡°This whole place is giving me the creeps.¡± ¡°We have nothing. We need water and food if we want any hope of surviving and crossing the desert.¡± I replied. ¡°If I die terribly I am going to kick you in the balls when I come back. Twice.¡± One said. ¡°Fine, just stay alert.¡± We moved towards the stairs to continue on our way down towards whatever horrors now lurked beneath the desert. *** Ramponator: Pay per view for the video, AHHHHHH Worm: Holy shit those worms were huge 6996: Why wasn¡¯t there anyone else recording Envy: I want to see dragon power RoidBeaast1: I just watched and the way he pushed out the guy¡­..wow UltimataSecret: Rain of bodies PowerOfFaith: Repent your evil ways DragonHax: ROAR! SwordSlicer: Stab it with the pointy end Ramponator: It is a giant flying OP beast of hax, super hax GODHAXLOL: BLIMPY¡­.NOOOOOOOOOOOO *** Science Corner: Today we are going to discuss flying. There or four different ways to fly. The first is to push down against the ground so the force of the push, lifts you off. This is what small birds and helicopters do. They force air downwards to achieve lift. The main advantage is the ease of maneuvering since the unit provides lift has to do it in a constant manner. The downside is that it is very energy intensive. The second method is to glide. Airplanes and larger birds do this. The forward movement of an object causes wind to hit the angled wings. The air below the wings becomes denser as it compacts since it has less distance to travel while the air above the wings thins out which is what provides lift. Flaps on an air plane control this angle and that is why you need a certain speed to take off. More speed, means more air, which means more lift. The third method is density, which is what balloons use. By having a lighter density than the surrounding air you rise up. Having denser gas inside the balloon causes you to sink or fall. Now in most cases this is fairly simple since you would regulate the change in density inside the balloon using special gases or temperature. When the surrounding air rapidly heats up, it becomes less dense. This means that the lifting power of the balloon drops and possibly causes it to drop out of the air it is in since it is heavier. All the above methods rely to a certain extent on the density of the air. So at higher altitudes it becomes far more difficult to attain the necessary force or lift to stay in the air. I hope that explained to everyone on why the balloon suddenly dropped, if they were wondering. The fourth way is magic. Just use this extra-dimensional force and you are good to go. Magic is real people, just watch how BLANK flies around. All I need to do is harness that power for myself. *** Author¡¯s Notes: I would honestly like to hear your ideas on should they and if so how they could defeat the Endolgon. This is a big turning point in the story. I hashed out every idea I could think of and then some. Nothing seemed viable at this point in time. It really is unfair, but so is life and especially FEAR. So post your ideas and if it is really good and doesn¡¯t involve a lot of steps/conditional requirements/Deus ex Machina/massive power up then you might just save the MC from a terrible and grisly fate. Note that the Endolgon would be on par with the dragons in terms of raw power and magical ability. I always thought it was funny how a person could train a few years or adventure and then be able to go toe to toe with insanely over powered monsters. Well now we get a firsthand look when there are insanely over powered monsters and a sword just isn¡¯t going to cut it. My top tier monsters are not push overs, they are eldritch terrors that rip the flesh from your organs and pick their teeth with your bones. On a side note, next time I have a challenge I will be making my own code and putting it in paint, so there is no copy and paste. I am already working on something, so be prepared for some revenge, it will be 10,000x more difficult than before. Also you can expect the bonus chapter Anti-Hero: Journey of Love over the weekend¡­.maybe. I want to do it justice, but gee whiz it sure is tough, golly willikers. (Translated from M speak to PG speak) Also I have the major plot points laid out going forward. I promise 1 chapter a day on my soul and will finish this story unless I die. If I do die then, HA, sucks to be all of you since there won¡¯t be an ending. I am curious on to how much more you all want. I could wrap this up by around 100, or stretch it out to 300 with side adventures and other techniques. I could make it a 1000 chapters, but then your eyes would bleed, but I can do that if you really want. So out of all the votes this is probably the most important. Chapter 33: Level One The staircase down to the next level went off in either direction. We went left and I was sure to check each step for any sign of trouble as we advanced. There was a giant circular table in the center of the room surrounded by eight chairs. It looked like something had been carved and painted onto the surface but it had charred slightly ruining whatever had been originally there. The floor had a great mosaic inlaid as well but it was hard to make out with only the flame sword and the amount of dust that covered everything. As we made our way across my tri-pronged foot clinked on the stone. On the far side of the room was another staircase heading down. This time it was straight staircase unlike the last one which followed the towers curve. The next floor had bookcases filled with hundreds of books. ¡°This sucks.¡± Whispered Tor. I agreed that there was probably an amazing amount of knowledge stored within but we needed supplies not reading materials. Thankfully the staircase down to the next level was off to the side of the staircase we had just come down, similar to a classic sky rise in how the staircases are layered over one another. At the bottom of the staircase was a door that would swing outwards. I gave it a push and nothing. ¡°Not another stupid door.¡± I whispered. There was something about being underground pressed in by the dark that made it seem natural to whisper in hushed downs. ¡°Let¡¯s burn through, no protections.¡± Tor whispered. ¡°Since there was nothing in the top room, this is probably the secret exit after defeating the boss or whatever is guarding what is above. No way there are just people guarding all this.¡± I whispered. ¡°So?¡± One said. I winced at his loud voice. ¡°Sorry.¡± He whispered. ¡°Be ready, all this stuff, whatever is through here is going to be on steroids. A lot of steroids. Tor hang back and buff me if I am in trouble. One, keep back and protect her.¡± They both nodded and Tor got to work on the door. Wood burnt away as smoke trailed upwards. Soon we had cleared a one foot by one foot hole and saw the back of what appeared to be another statue. ¡°Melt it.¡± Tor pushed the blade out and the statue moved out of the way. Glancing through the hole I saw a giant stone man moving off the pedestal and slowly turn to face us. The first thing I noted was that it was fast. The second thing was that I couldn¡¯t tell if there were more statues in the room. ¡°No way are we fighting stone statues. Only the flame blade will hurt them.¡± I whispered. ¡°So now what?¡± Tor asked. The statue had stopped moving and was staring intently at us through the hole we had made. I was tempted to use observe but I needed to conserve my MP for when it really mattered. ¡°The floor over there by the wall, we melt through and then hop down.¡± I said. ¡°These floors are ten to twelve feet tall, we have no rope, and how are we going to get back up?¡± Tor asked. ¡°Melt handholds in the wall. I will jump down first and then catch both of you. Then we melt our escape path back up. By the time we return it should have cooled.¡± I said. She let out a sigh but didn¡¯t object. We melted a hole in the floor. I noted that the next level did not have a door blocking off the staircase. The floors were about twelve feet tall with another half a foot for the floor, which meant a long drop. Once the stone had cooled I began cutting notches into the wall. I was able to get three feet down and did not notice anything except a number of torch holders on the walls and stands on the floor. I went down first and then Nus¡¯ Awakening was tossed down to me. I cut the rest of the notches as quickly as I could. The ones about seven feet to nine feet were a bit tricky since I had to come up from below, but there was soon a makeshift ladder carved into the wall. Tor and One joined me and we went back up the stairs. There was a door and it was closed, but it wasn¡¯t locked. We turned back around and began exploring the floor we had cut our way into. The only thing of interest was a hole in the floor where it had caved down as a slope to the next level. I saw a number of unmoving faces and after a second I realized they were busts. We took the stairs down and the floor was a mess. A number of the busts were turned over giving an eerie feeling to the room. ¡°Look at the wall.¡± One hissed. I turned and saw that something had punched through the wall of the tower. It wasn¡¯t big enough to be a worm but there clearly was a tunnel leading away. The edges were rough but the tunnel was circular. It was as if someone poked a hole in the side and then went away. ¡°Maybe the dragon¡¯s attack hit?¡± One said. ¡°No, that tunnel keeps going into the rock. If it was just the dragon then there should be a wall or something.¡± Tor whispered back. ¡°We keep going down.¡± They looked at me and nodded. Our supply situation was desperate and this was our best chance. We picked our way around the rubble and took the staircase down to the next floor. If the room with the Book was floor ten, this was floor four. The floor was a hallway and after about ten feet it was blocked off by rubble all the way to the ceiling. There was a single door to our right. We opened it to a small bedroom. There was no one inside. The lack of people was becoming incredibly disturbing. I would have thought there would have been at least a corpse or two. ¡°My guess is that the wall curves around the outside and each room is like a slice of the pie. If the stairs stay the same we can cut into the next room and get to the next flight of stairs.¡± I said. I got to work cutting a hole through the far wall while Tor and One searched the room for anything. I finished cutting a fairly large hole and they had managed to dig up a number of spare clothes. They were soft yellows and white robes. We changed and continued on into the next room. My guess was correct. We searched four more rooms including the one I had cut into and there was nothing. No books or personal effects. Just clothes and some plain furniture that looked fairly ancient. We found a number of satchels and we each took two after dumping out the spare clothes. Taking the stairs to the next level we received a shock. A worm had cut right through the entire floor destroying everything. We cleared the rubble and made our way into the large circular tunnel. It was clear that the stone and dirt had been pushed forward and caused the floor to collapse and then covered it over. The tunnel was completely dark in either direction and it made me feel nervous to be so exposed. We cut back through the rubble to the next staircase down and continued our journey. This floor was also a total loss. The ceiling had collapsed and we had to crawl through the small gab between the stair case wall and the collapsed ceiling to reach the next staircase down. The next floor was different. While large piles of rubble lay scattered about there was a statue of a man and a pool surrounding him in the center of the room. He wore a flowing robe similar to what we had on now but had a large bow and arrow nocked. He appeared poised to shoot a large set of doors that were on the far side of the floor. One approached the pool about to drink some water. ¡°Don¡¯t. Who knows what properties it has? It could be a death pool. If we don¡¯t mind anything then you can try it.¡± He gave me a nod and we went to the large doors but they wouldn¡¯t budge. I melted a hole but it was clear there was rubble on the other side. The next level had a number of large crates stacked in neat rows. We cut them open and there was food. At least I thought it was. ¡°Any idea?¡± I asked. In the crates were a number of small hard green things. I didn¡¯t know if they were a fruit, vegetable, or hibernating animal. They were completely spherical with smaller bumps and no obvious place where a stem would have been. ¡°Cut it open.¡± One said. I brought the flame sword near and soon fluid bubbled up out of one. It had a earthy smell. I touched a finger into the farm fluid and tasted it. ¡°Sweet but not too sweet. I am going to go with fruit.¡± I picked one up and took a slow bite. The outer skin was incredibly durable but once there was a hole the fluids easily ran out. I cut one open and tried the solid bits inside. A bit too sweet. ¡°Try some, like hard water balloons. Tastes like diluted coke.¡± We got to work drinking our fill and casting them aside while filling up our satchels. ¡°Thank god, I don¡¯t know what we would have done if there was nothing.¡± One said. ¡°Why would they line the crates up like this? In a grid of four by four? Also notice how the crates are bigger than the stair case? How did they get them in here?¡± Tor said. We stared but neither of us could answer the questions. ¡°Also for fruits these don¡¯t have any seeds. They also aren''t in the desert book we got.¡± ¡°Maybe the whole thing is one big seed or the crates auto fill.¡± I suggested. ¡°Maybe¡­.¡± She trailed off, not saying anything more. ¡°Let¡¯s keep going, if there is anything more let¡¯s grab it.¡± I said. After filling up our satchels we went down to the next level. It was clear it was a dining hall of some sort. There were three large tables surrounding a counter top with a massive oven or chimney in the center. Where did the smoke go? All these torch holders and no torches, also no vents to let the smoke out. This place was really beginning to freak me out. I head a squishing noise. One looked at me and started shaking his head. Tor just gave me a look which I had no idea what she was trying to tell me. As the holder of the flame sword and our lifeline down here the decision was in my hands. I advanced around the room making sure our backs were to the wall. The door to the oven soon became visible and there was something making noises inside. ¡°So help me, do not open the door.¡± One whispered. ¡°If that is a person we might get some answers.¡± I replied. ¡°People don¡¯t go squish, squish.¡± Tor replied. We all looked back at the oven door. ¡°Well it can¡¯t be that bad-¡° ¡°Don¡¯t say that Kenji, you are going to curse us. This whole place is creeping me out.¡± Tor hissed back. She was right, this entire place was weird. We had food slash water and desert clothes, but nothing else. ¡°Alright let¡¯s head back.¡± I said. We began making our way back to the stair case when we all saw something move in front of us. A small girl came running over. Her hair was a silvery white and her face had tear lines. She ran over to us. ¡°What happened young one?¡± I asked. ¡°They¡­.all¡­died!¡± She started crying on the last bit. Tor gave her a strong hit to the back of the head knocking her out. The squishing had stopped. We all turned towards the back of the oven as we heard the metal door opening. A black tendril reached around the edge. ¡°Observe.¡±
Drop of Black Slime
LvL: 1
Strongest Stat: Fate
HP: 1
MP: 1
SP: 1
I blinked. This was either really good or really bad. I was going to go with really bad. I had killed green slimes back in the Gloommore Forest near Breckley, but they had all been helpless blobs. The way this thing was reaching around was clearly not good. Also it was a level one in what was probably an end game dungeon of some sort. It then hit me. This thing was composed of millions of drops, each level one. It was like having each cell of my body act as an independent being and level up on its own. This creature was an amalgamation of slimes with an effective level in the thousands. I passed the sword off to Tor and picked up the girl. I was tempted to leave her but the information and survival skills she had were too useful. We began backing up towards the stairs when the core of the creature came into view. It was the Book of Fate, it was nestled inside the core of the slime. It was hard to make out through the black tinted gel but it was definitely there. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°Fear aura one minute.¡± The black slime wavered for a second and then a small piece of it disappeared in a puff of black smoke and advanced towards us. The temptation to throw something at it or fight it was overwhelming but common sense prevailed. We raced back up the stairs. I heard a squishing sound trailing after us. Our only chance was to make it outside and hope that the hot sun and dry desert air would keep it at bay. We reached the floor where we had to crawl. Tor took the lead and I went in backwards dragging the girl behind me while One took the rear. That gave me the perfect opportunity to see what happened next. He let out a scream and collapsed on the ground. I saw black tentacles wrap over him. I kept going not daring to stop and stare. The last sight I saw was the slime pulling itself over One and begin entering his body at every orifice. His screams were terrifying in their intensity. I cleared the tunnel and hefted the girl back onto my shoulder and rushed off after Tor. We reached the next level and Tor had come to a stop. This was the level where a worm and drilled through. Moving through the tunnel was a number of baby worms. They were each about three feet long and half a foot thick. I picked up a rock and threw it down the tunnel. The baby worms took off and we rushed to the next staircase just as I heard squishing behind us. We passed through the rooms we had cut our way through and I was sure to close the doors in the hopes it would delay the black slimes. We came to the bust room and began making our way through the eerie faces. The next floor was the empty floor and had our stone ladder cut into the wall. I went up first and tossed both my satchels onto the next floor. Tor passed me hers and I tossed those up as well. I climbed back down and Tor went up. I then put the girl over my shoulder and began to climb. I heard squishing coming from behind and didn¡¯t dare look back. I focused on keeping my grip and moving steadily up the wall. ¡°You got this.¡± Tor said. I cleared the last couple of feet and Tor grabbed the girl off my shoulder. I heaved myself up and looked down. The black slime began to ooze its way up the wall. We passed the library and I cursed at not being able to look through the books. We cleared the conference room and then made it back up to the main statue room. Racing for the exit I still heard the sound of squishing behind us. We made it to the ladder and climbed out into the burning sun. We moved away from the sunken tower. My SP was getting dangerously low after that mad climb. We reached a boulder but the black slime didn¡¯t emerge. Walking a little bit more we found a secluded place and settled in. I wrapped a piece of torn up robe around my head to stop my scalp from burning off. ¡°One?¡± Tor asked. ¡°That thing was made of millions of level one slimes. They entered him and then consumed him from inside out.¡± ¡°Oh, that sucks. Even with the scream, I had hoped...¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± We sat there in silence drinking the fruit we had found. The girl began to stir. ¡°Stay calm, we are out of there.¡± I said. She looked at us. ¡°I want my mommy!¡± She began to build up for a cry. Right then my desire for information was barely hanging on as a reason not to stab her. I placed my hand over her mouth and the other one at the back of her head. ¡°Shut up and listen. You do not shout, if you want to cry, cry quietly.¡± I had no idea how this little girl was still living. Probably around eight or so if I had to guess. ¡°Now I am going to take off my hand.¡± She let out a few small sobs but calmed down when Tor handed her a green fruit. She looked at us. I took the fruit from her and made a small incision and handed it back. She drank it greedily. ¡°Thanks.¡± She whispered when she was done. I gave her a nod. ¡°Now tell me what happened. We just arrived here.¡± ¡°Um, well. The Dur said there was a disturbance in the protections around the tower. My mom took me to the lower levels while my dad went off with the others. There was a lot of shaking and then it went dark.¡± I handed her another cut open fruit which she greedily drank. ¡°That was when everything got really bad. Mommy¡­.mommy¡­.¡± ¡°Hush, tell me what happened so we can find your mommy. You are a brave girl.¡± She gulped and continued. ¡°Well that was when everyone began screaming and running around. I was near the stairs when the floor disappeared. I waited and waited but mommy never came back. I then heard voices and saw a light and found you.¡± So this little girl was all that was left. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± I asked. ¡°Dula.¡± She whispered. ¡°Well Dula, I am Kenji and this is Tor. Why don¡¯t you rest for now?¡± She nodded and lay down on the rocks with her head up against a fruit filled satchel. I had enough MP, but was it worth it. Something wasn¡¯t right with her story. I readied my blade and said, ¡°Observe.¡±
Dula Roe
LvL: 2
Strongest Stat: Endurance
HP: 231
MP: 67
SP: 56
I guess I was wrong. It bothered me how she was the only one to survive. Her loud crying would make me believe that she would have been found and killed by something. There was also no point in bringing her along. We had limited supplies and she was not a combatant in any way. The only possible use would be as bait or to trade with desert nomads. Her breathing had settled out and I figured she was asleep. ¡°Tor, what do you think?¡± I asked. ¡°Tough choice. Kill her or take her. If we leave her things are only going to go badly for her.¡± ¡°It is bothering you also, isn¡¯t it? How she was the only one to survive.¡± ¡°Yeah, a bit. But look at her hands. They are clean and her dress. The front is fairly clean. We did drag her on her back a bit, but why is the front clean? If a worm passed nearby it should have sent up clouds of dust.¡± When Tor said that I didn¡¯t hesitate. I drove my blade into the girl¡¯s head. ¡°Flame on.¡± There was the smell of sizzling flesh. Then the girl faded away. ¡°Holy shit. Flame off.¡± There was nothing there. Even the smell of burned flesh had disappeared. ¡°Well that went from a one to a billion on the creepy scale.¡± Tor said. ¡°Holy shit.¡± I said again. I thought it was possible, I knew not to count anything out but this. ¡°She got past my observe skill as well. Would have figured there would have been question marks.¡± ¡°What if she was a ghost?¡± Tor asked. ¡°Maybe, but remember that the people are real. We followed them to the tower and saw them fight the worm.¡± ¡°But didn¡¯t you notice how there were no corpses or anything inside?¡± Tor asked. ¡°Probably retreated to the lower levels or consumed by the slime.¡± ¡°So what now?¡± ¡°It is about two hundred and twenty miles to the mountains in the south. I figure we travel at night. You did grab a bedsheet to cover us during the day, right?¡± ¡°One had them.¡± There was silence at that. ¡°Go back¡­¡± I trailed off. ¡°Still we travel at night. I figure ten days to make it. We have about five hundred of these fruits left, so that means twenty five a day for each of us for ten days. Say twenty a day so that gives us five more days at half rations.¡± ¡°This is going to suck.¡± Tor muttered. ¡°Yeah, I hate sand. It gets everywhere.¡± We rested that afternoon and set off as it was getting dark. We kept the sun to our right and set off. Once it disappeared we used the looming corpse of the mountain as our guide and took note of the stars. It got cold very quickly and we didn¡¯t dare use the flame sword. It would ruin our night vision and be visible for miles around. ¡°You know, learning some astronomy of this world would have come in handy. That was my easy quest.¡± ¡°Wonder if that is some ladies idea of a joke.¡± Tor replied. ¡°Who knows.¡± We walked in silence. ¡°Think anything is out here?¡± Tor asked after a bit. ¡°Worms and other things. That desert book the Mystery Man gave us talked about worms a lot.¡± ¡°I really hate worms.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± We continued on in silence. ¡°So you think those three have rezed?¡± Tor asked. ¡°I didn¡¯t get any messages in my atrium. So if they did return, I don¡¯t think we are at the top of their friends list.¡± ¡°Well you did push Two off Blimpy.¡± ¡°I did pick you over him.¡± ¡°True, back to just us again.¡± ¡°Gods, what are we going to do now.¡± ¡°Hah, win of course.¡± I smiled at that. I looked up to the vast heavens and wondered how far things went. If someone built a space ship could they fly to other planets? I knew there was a moon, but not much else about the solar system. I wondered if the gods were really aliens that just liked to have fun with us puny mortals down here. Now that would be a twist. *** ¡°So you wish to trade the contents of a book you read, which you then lost, but is highly valuable.¡± ¡°Yes. Let me just pull up a sample.¡± There was a moment of silence. ¡°Asshole, fucker! He put up privacy blockers to block out recording the decoded text.¡± ¡°Ah, well then our offer will reflect to match this change in information.¡± ¡°But¡­but it was about the origin of the world and key-¡° ¡°I am sorry, but do you know how many people we get with made up information? Quite a few. While we will be willing to listen, we will not be paying you anything. Perhaps we could put in a confirmation clause to our deal so if the information is confirmed you would receive a small payout.¡± ¡°That is bull shit!¡± ¡°Unfortunately that is the best we can do.¡± ¡°AHHHHHHHHHHHH! Curse your Rain of Blood!¡± *** Author¡¯s Note: Car accident¡¯s suck. I apologize to all my readers for my week long absence, but unfortunately there have been on going issues from being hit. To summarize, car is totaled, insurance company was low on valuation, lots of neck and head pain, and ongoing headaches. My concentration has been sub-par and I have been mostly sleeping and going to work for the past week. I am back to updating and with a lot of time off of work coming up I can really make some progress on this story. I vowed to finish it, and I will do so! Car accidents just slow me down a bit ;p Chapter 34: Fight! The desert sucked. That was the nice way of putting it. We took what cover we could during the day and walked through the night. There were some plants, rocks, and small creatures but nothing worthwhile to go after. There were no monsters or anything else either. A true wasteland. It was a never ending trail of painful walking. We were both too exhausted, mentally and physically to speak. We needed to conserve all our energy to focus on moving south. I was tempted to let my mind wander, but we needed to focus very clearly on the path ahead of us so we After six days had passed I began to get worried since we did not see any mountains in the distance. Based upon my calculations we should be able to see the mountains from about hundred miles away. There was no way were going to make it as we stopped as the sun cleared the horizon to our left, the only indication that we were heading in the right direction. ¡°Tor, I don¡¯t think we can make it.¡± She turned and gave me a look. ¡°We are managing about twenty five miles per night. There should only be seventy miles left, but we still can¡¯t see the mountains to our south.¡± She was silent for over a minute. ¡°I don¡¯t have any idea, unless you want to try and ride a worm.¡± That was never happening after what I had seen and experienced. ¡°No, no worms.¡± ¡°Then we have to keep going and hope for the best.¡± I nodded and we napped out there in the desert for the rest of the day. We split open the empty satchels to lay them on top of our heads and part of our bodies. We made sure there was no piece of skin directly exposed to the sun. The sand was everywhere. It was up my nose, in my butt crack, and in between my toes. If this was the last time I ever saw a desert it would be too soon. As the sun touched the horizon we both got up and enjoyed some of the fruits we had taken from the tower. My mouth was sticky and they made me light headed. I was never coming out here again, I kept repeating in my head as a mantra. Once we were done, we set off again across the endless sands. I had thought about using my flame sword to lure monsters, but that was asking for trouble. Everything in the desert was insanely high level and the rumors on the forums supported that fact. No one had seen the nomads at all, but there was rampant speculation after my last video. The best news I had received was a request for the cube and the offer of one million dollars for both it and a complete visual copy of the book from the tower. Paid in full if the cube was to be delivered to the city of Angal, which was north east of Breckley across the Sea of Salmir. I was tempted, but it was clearly a trap. While the funds had been verified there was the requirement that I had to deliver it personally and not entrust a third party like Solid Steel. Definitely a trap to lure me there and kill me. I had a lot of time to debate my next move as I trudged across the desert. The main issue was that I was not powerful enough. I was a rouge, not a battle mage, nor a warrior. My chance of going head to head with anything truly powerful and coming out a winner was very low. I needed cheat code. I hadn''t really pushed my active skills that much, and they would be worth some consideration once we got someplace that wasn''t a desert. I had been using monsters to help bridge that gap in skill, but unless I tamed a dragon, that gap was going to keep increasing. The Mystery Man was definitely more powerful than me. Also the last notification on player rank still put in the top one thousand, not the top fifty. When I had seen that I cursed internally. I needed to find some easy to kill high level mobs and farm the hell out of them. That morning as the sun came up we saw the mountains. That brought a smile to both our faces. Three days later we reached the foot of the mountains at dawn and found a small stream. It was glorious water. We both washed the horrid sticky taste out of our mouths and then drank our fill. After that was washing off the soot, dust, and sand that we were coated in and take a bath. While the small stream wasn¡¯t very deep, it was deep enough. I felt alive again. ¡°That was refreshing.¡± ¡°Yeah, we made it. Don¡¯t know where exactly, but we made it.¡± ¡°The nearest city is Yaxel to our south west. Then there is Telerith to the south east. Both are along the coast, but Telerith is probably twice as far and we have to cross these mountains in either case.¡± ¡°Well we need food, hopefully there is something edible we can kill out here.¡± ¡°True, but any opinion on what we should do. I am planning to go back to Breckley to complete my quest.¡± ¡°That wedding is going to be locked up so tight. You won¡¯t have a chance.¡± ¡°It would be epic.¡± ¡°An epic disaster. After all the stunts you have pulled, they will be on high alert.¡± ¡°Probably. But crashing the wedding would be legendary.¡± ¡°Kenji¡­Blood Rain. You need to slow down.¡± ¡°I am weak¡­.¡± ¡°You mean the ranking notification.¡± ¡°Yeah, only in the top thousand.¡± ¡°Better than me.¡± ¡°But not good enough.¡± ¡°Well I should give you a heads up. Once we hit a city, I plan to head to the Ulrin Empire. Alone.¡± The words cut into me. Tor, my friend, my companion. ¡°Really? Why?¡± ¡°You are fun and I enjoy it, but you are a disaster magnet. I mean worms, dragons, goddesses. I didn¡¯t start playing this game to win. I want to enjoy the time I have here.¡± ¡°I could go with you.¡± ¡°You are a trouble magnet.¡± As if to prove her right there was the sound of things approaching. I took out my blades and readied myself. Seven players were slowly advancing down the mountainside. Two archers, two casters, and three swordsmen if there outfits and weapons were any clue. A well balanced group and well armed from what I could tell. They all had weapons drawn and were spread out quite a bit. ¡°Run or fight?¡± I asked. ¡°Run, no way we can win. East along the mountains.¡± I nodded and we set off at a brisk walk carefully watching our SP. The players behind us quickly picked up pace moving to a light jog. We increased our speed and they increased their speed in turn. ¡°Stay at my speed, we will make them burn out. Drop everything you have.¡± The in game mechanics caused a massive jump in SP consumption every 10 mile per hour increase in speed. I had practiced enough to put my speed right below that at 9.9 miles per hour. It made a huge difference. SP consumption went from 0.165 every second to 3.333 every second. That was with being under our carry weight. The player¡¯s chasing us were weighed down twice if not three times as much if their armor was anything to go by. While they probably had high strength to compensate, I could only hope. My SP regen was 1.59 per minute and I knew that the player¡¯s chasing us couldn¡¯t be that much higher in terms of SP if they had invested in strength. With a maximum SP of around 2090 I could keep up this pace for around 200 minutes. Since we had been walking a good portion of the night we had used up quite a bit of SP, I had about two thirds of that. If they went up to 19.9 miles per hour they would have about 60 seconds at that speed, hopefully. With the distance between us it would be close, but even if they caught up they would be out of SP and be slaughtered. With the numbers view able for the stats I had taken quite a bit of my down time to check exactly how the game mechanics worked. While things were very real, this world was governed by status points not by individual talent. The main issue was that despite all of this Tor only had around 200 SP at the moment if I had to guess. She dropped her spare satchels as we ran and handed me her bow and quiver. Since she was under her max carry weight once I took her bow and quiver she would only burn 0.165 SP every second, which meant 20 minutes of running. The group chasing us began to close on us which meant that they had to be burning SP like mad. It was tempting to speed up, but I maintained the same pace. Running out of SP was a death sentence in combat. All movement required SP, once it hit zero you were only limited to your regen which would be nowhere near enough. This meant one could literally not move with zero SP. Tor looked worried as she glanced back. ¡°Don¡¯t panic, stay at this pace no matter what.¡± She gave me a quick nod. I was counting off the seconds in my head. After fifteen seconds of running I heard them shouting at each other but couldn¡¯t make out what they were saying. I slowed down a bit to give them hope to keep chasing us. A quick glance showed they kept up the pursuit but the swordsmen and casters had fallen back to a slower pace. Smart, the archers would pressure us while the fighters conserved SP. I went back up to 9.9 miles per hour and they kept up the chase already locked into a course of action. That was the bad part about groups like theirs with no clear leader, no snap decisions to adjust to a clever opponent quickly. The two archers were literally twenty feet behind us. I looked at Tor and gave a small nod and tossed her weapons back. She caught them and kept going while I drew my flame blade and turned around. ¡°Flame on. Fear aura, five minutes.¡± I sprinted at near my maximum speed, just under 30 mph. That was the thing about being in a game that seemed real, it could suck you in and convince you that things were similar to how the real world worked. The fastest human could do about 28 mph and I had blown past that. I crossed the twenty feet in half a second and decapitated one of the archers. His companion was notching an arrow when I closed in on him and slashed through his bow and across his chest. His leather armor took the brunt of the attack but it was still crippling as he let out a scream and collapsed. I kept moving immediately after the attack towards Tor. ¡°Flame off.¡± I sheathed Nus¡¯ Awakening and came up next to Tor. The people chasing us had stopped at the bodies of their comrades and we proceeded in a stare off. Despite killing one and disabling another, I didn¡¯t hold much hope against the rest. With three fighters they could easily cover the two casters, who were the biggest threat. ¡°I could probably get one of the casters.¡± Tor said. ¡°True, but if they have buff magic they could easily blow past me and get to you. We can¡¯t wait them out either since they were probably sleeping all last night.¡± We were not in a good position. ¡°There could also be other groups out here hoping to intercept us. They also could have tracking skills or magic. We are screwed.¡± We stood still to conserve our SP while keeping an eye on the other group. ¡°We have to fight. You go for the female caster, I got the guy.¡± ¡°Should I be jelly?¡± ¡°He is the bigger target and yes.¡± The archer that had been burned was healed by the female caster. ¡°Go.¡± I began a run forward. Tor was going slower, with an arrow nocked. The swordsmen spread out. ¡°Flame on.¡± My blade burst into flame. I kept my pace steady and at ten feet out I burst forward. The swordsmen moved his shield to block me while jabbing out. I twisted to the side to avoid the blade and kept going. ¡°Arula!¡± The swordsmen cried out as I closed on the female caster. She brought both her hands up. Spells were like lasers. Very fast, straight forward, and lost power as distance increased. I kicked off to the side as her hands flashed. There was a blast of dirt behind me and I noted two of the swordsmen closing in quickly. I couldn¡¯t keep up this speed for long and rushed at the mage. She didn¡¯t have time to get another spell off as my blade slashed across her breast and side. I stopped and spun around behind her. She collapsed to her knees and I grabbed her hair with my left hand. The swordsmen didn¡¯t hesitate but kept moving forward to either side. No hostage negotiation apparently. Tor had managed to hit the other caster in the heart and was currently running away from the last swordsmen, her bow and arrows discarded to conserve SP. I jerked up and yanked the woman into the path of swordsman on my left. He slowed down so as to not run into her. The swordsman on the right jabbed at my chest. I moved to the side and let his attack go forward, our blades sliding along each other. I then pushed myself right up to him with the flame blade between us. My clothes caught on fire and so did the padding for his armor. I was 90% resistant to flames, he wasn¡¯t He let out a scream and collapsed to the ground and began rolling about. I barreled over his trashing body as I felt the tip of a blade cut across my back leaving a shallow wound. I began running after Tor. She had looped out towards the desert and was now returning, the third swordsman was right on her heels. It was agonizing moving slowly towards her, but my SP was down to around 300. I had two good bursts of speed left. Tor was heading for her bow and arrows and I was coming in at an angle. The swordsman had fallen into tunnel vision and missed as I put on a burst of speed the last couple of feet and drove my flame blade straight into the side of his neck. The blade was pulled from my grip as he collapsed. I looked behind me and the swordsman I had retreated from earlier had been chasing me the entire time. He jabbed out with his blade. I wasn¡¯t able to move out of the way in time as it cut along the side of my skull and took off the tip of my left ear. I kicked out with my right foot. The prong from my tri-foot pierced the metal cup the man was wearing and went into his groin. He let out a yell as he slammed his shield into my face. I collapsed on the ground, unable to think clearly. He brought his sword up above his head and reversed his grip. ¡°Die!¡± He yelled out. An arrow hit him in the shoulder bounced off his armor. It caused him to stumble forward and he drove the sword above my right shoulder and next to my head instead of my heart. I kicked out with both my legs at his knees. They didn¡¯t shatter but he was knocked backwards onto his back. We both slowly got back up to our feet. I used my last burst of speed to lariat him. My arm was definitely going to have a bruise the next day but the attack worked. It was a good thing he was short as I was. I then drove the prong of my right foot into the side of his head. I did it two more times just to be sure he was dead. I looked over at Tor. She was trading shots with the archer while the female caster worked on the burnt swordsman. I took my flame blade and a fallen sword from one of the corpses and began to walk slowly towards the injured group. The swordsman got to his feet but he was unsteady. When I lit up my flame blade again, I could see the fear in his eyes. I gave a wild grin and shouted, ¡°I do love fresh meat.¡± The caster and the archer both drew daggers as I closed in. I stopped forty feet away and we stared at each other. ¡°So who are you ass holes?¡± I asked. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Red Dawn.¡± The archer said. I guess it made sense since the clothing I could see was dyed red. ¡°Well at least you aren¡¯t the She-Hulks.¡± ¡°Indeed. We are both almost out of SP, so what now?¡± The swordsman asked. ¡°Maybe you are, but I am still going.¡± I grinned despite lying. I could see the worry in their faces. I began to advance. ¡°Observe.¡± The swordsman said. I could see his eyes flickering over my status. ¡°Guys we just need-¡° I cut him off by swinging my flame sword at him forcing him to back away. I pivoted and rushed the archer. He dodged the flame blade but I was able to drive my other sword into his leg. During my attack Tor had managed to hit the caster in the head with a well-aimed shot, killing her instantly. That left the swordsman. He charged me using his shield as a battering ram. I braced myself and allowed the wood shield to push me back while leaning on it. He stopped pushing and jerked the shield back. I pushed right into him and tackled him to the ground. I held the flame sword close while making sure his blade didn¡¯t connect with me. He tried bashing his head on mine, but I was much shorter and my head came up to his chest. With the pain from the flame blade it was easy to keep rolling across the ground so he didn¡¯t crush me underneath him. His armor was growing hot. While I was immune to flames, I was not immune to burning metal. I pushed him away and rolled the other direction. Tor stabbed him in the neck after I got to my feet. It was over. Oh my god it was over. I was tempted to collapse back on the ground, but we needed to get to work. I killed off the archer and began to burn the bodies. Tor went around checking them for gear and stripping the cleaner clothes off one of the archers for me to wear since my shirt and pants were just about gone. None of them had packs with them, they probably had a camp back near the spring. Loaded down with four swords and a bunch of arrows we made our way to find their campsite. My SP was hovering at around fifteen, which meant that I needed a lot of rest.
Experience
+1084-3 LvL
I noted that the ones I killed were only three levels below me, which meant they were at level 83. No wonder why they weren¡¯t affected by my Fear Aura. Ahhh, I really needed to be a lot stronger if I wanted to survive. Stupid experience curve made leveling near impossible.
PvP Winner-3
To the death!
+3 Fate
+1% Constitution per LvL
Well at least something good came from this disaster. We stopped at the spring and washed off. Once I was clean Tor bandaged up my wounds. I was down to 3231 out of 11906 HP. With a regen of around 9 HP per hour, that meant a thousand hours to heal back up or little over a month and a half. I had also lost the tip of my left ear and would have a nasty scar across my face. At least I still had my eye and most of my ear. I put on the archer¡¯s clothes. The collar was a bit singed, but thankfully my flame blade had cauterized most of the wound when I had cut off his head. A bit of work with a dagger and I managed to make the pants and sleeves short enough. It was still a bit breezy due to the larger size. A look at my flame blade showed that it had two nicks along the edge. That weapon was literally the greatest thing I had come across in game. I couldn¡¯t afford to lose it. I looked over the rest of the blades in my possession. I kept the remaining three since they all appeared to be in good condition. I also kept two daggers. They weren¡¯t throwing daggers but they would do in a pinch hopefully. I had lost my leather harness and throwing knives in the balloon crash. I had taken them off for whatever reason and they had gone up with everything else along with my pieces of armor. The armor the swordsman wore was plate, not just arm and leg guards. I also didn¡¯t want to take the leather the archers wore since that was just asking for trouble. I would think it would block a blow, but it wouldn¡¯t, and then I would lose a limb. We then headed back the way the group had come. Their camp was set up on a ridge over looking the spring and a good chunk of the desert. A perfect look out point. Thankfully they had stale bread and slabs of mystery meat. I got to work on cooking the mystery meat while Tor began looting everything. Once the meat was cooked and made into sandwiches we ate and rested. Once we were full we put out the fire and went to sleep despite it being around noon. Neither of us had the energy to stand watch. Thankfully nothing attacked during the night. The players had probably cleared out the surrounding area of any monsters. I woke up to the sound of Tor moving about outside the tent I was in. I got up and looked out and saw her over in the bushes. I went back in tent and got dressed and started to work on breakfast. ¡°I think we should split up now.¡± Tor said when she came back to the campfire. I didn¡¯t say anything for half a minute. ¡°Alright, then lets split up the supplies.¡± There was no point in starting in argument when she had already made up her mind. We had more mystery meat in the morning and went over our supplies we had looted. Twenty seven silver, and eight nine copper. We split the money between ourselves. I was tempted to ask Tor to stay with me again, but after yesterday I wasn¡¯t hopeful. We each took a pack with a tent, striker to start a fire, canteens of water, spare set of clothes, and all the bread. ¡°You sure you want to leave now?¡± ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t stand out like you do. I will let my hair grow out a bit and the new outfit I took should disguise me well enough. You heard the rumors, high fate is a death sentence.¡± She gave me a look and I gazed off at the desert to the side. ¡°Yeah. We make a kick ass team though.¡± ¡°Maybe we will meet up again.¡± ¡°Maybe. So west?¡± ¡°Yeah, going to catch a ship at Yaxel and get away from this hell hole of a desert.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t blame you. Probably make my way east towards Galmore and Breckley. Got a wedding to crash.¡± ¡°Good luck with that. I expect something epic.¡± ¡°Yeah, good luck to you too. Stay in touch through the atrium.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± We both stared at each other for a moment unsure what to say. Tor then turned and walked off. I let out a long sigh. I turned and headed off in the opposite direction. I was all alone in the wilderness which was never good. No one was there to cover my back. It just reinforced my opinion on either having good minions or good allies, but one could never have both in the same person. I had three months until the wedding with Lady Breckley and her husband to be. I needed that time to heal up and work on developing my active skills.
Power Slash-4
My sword is better
6x Attack damage for a single attack with a cutting weapon
Cost: 500 SP
Conceal Presence-4
...
No one can sense your presence while you are unmoving
Cost: 1 MP per Second
Fear Aura-4
Run for the hills!
LvL 1: All LvL -50 will feel uncomfortable around you LvL 2: All LvL -10 will feel uncomfortable around you LvL 3: All LvL -50 will flee from you LvL 4: All LvL -10 will flee from you
Cost: 1 MP per Minute, 1 SP per Minute
Meditate-5 MAX
You are on the path to enlightenment
LvL 1: +100% MP Regen LvL 2: +200% MP Regen LvL 3: +400% MP Regen LvL 4: +600% MP Regen LvL 5: +800% MP Regen, +1% Wisdom
Cost: Cannot move
Mental Defense-4
Make sure you file everything correctly
LvL 1: +20 AP to mental defense, can recognize a mental attack LvL 2: +40 AP to mental defense LvL 3: +60 AP to mental defense, +1% MP LvL 4: +80 AP to mental defense, +2% MP
Cost: 10 MP per Minute
I looked over the active skills. Mental Defense had come from Meditate which probably meant more active skills when those hit the max level of five. I ignored Observe and Identify. While useful, they didn¡¯t provide the combat potential I needed. I could work on Conceal Presence while using Meditate to recover MP to use for Mental Defense. I had no idea what AP stood for, but I definitely wanted more of it around my mind. Mental attacks were the most dangerous and I wanted to avoid those at all costs. Fear Aura was another technique I would work on. It was fairly cheap and a good area of effect to force a noob swarm back. Meditate would put my MP regen around 1.6 per hour. So about 15 MP per day with a lot of meditating. The MP regen was brutal, which was why I stayed away from active skills for the most part. I could work on Power Slash since SP would fill up every day but I needed a monster to use it on. Looking at my map in my atrium I had worked out that it was around 750 miles to Helsinn in the west, following the mountain range. I wasn¡¯t even going to try the cities south of me after the most recent ambush. At 20 miles per day, that would be a journey of a bit less than forty days. Enough time for me to heal up and a slow enough pace for me to meditate and hunt for food every day. I went south for a bit and would put that at the end of my recording of the fight to hopefully throw pursuers off. Even scaling things back to a delay of an in game month it clearly hadn¡¯t worked at throwing people off. Someone had actually set up a site specifically to track my location along with other players of interest. With all the programs out there it was simple enough to take screen shots of the shadows and position of the sun to estimate the time of day. While I could blur some things, it was impossible to block out all of this background information and still have a decent video. The one good thing was that people didn¡¯t mind the delay with all the craziness going on around me. I had capitalized on the most recent video. Despite being pay to watch, the video of the dragon and worm attack was pulling in a lot of money. With the privacy filters in place, people were not able to record the video and re-publish it. At a cost of ten dollars to watch it a single time with no pause or screen shots it was incredible how much I was making. Thank you copyright protections and broadcaster license. I had passed the million dollar mark and was feeling very good about getting enough money for my mom. The player battle would go up under my normal ad revenue scheme so as not to turn people off. It was tempting to hire someone to manage my publicity, but I needed to save every cent. That was why I needed to crash the wedding. Normally I would have waited a year in game so they let their guard down, but now the anticipation was building. Regardless of what happened, that video would secure my financial future. Surviving would be the hard part. A video to top Rain of Blood. I would need every trick and then some to pull this off. If I didn¡¯t run into trouble and managed to get a half decent ship, it would take two months and change to reach Breckley. Ten days to get supplies and another ten days to set up. Getting a ship to Breckley would be tough, but if the rumors online were correct Galmore would be interested in messing things up to prevent an alliance between Breckley and Therdossa. Well I had a lot of time to plan during my trek to the east. *** UltimataSecret: Everyone converge! MindMeld: I seeeeeeeeeeeeee you GODHAXLOL: You need.....AIRSHIPY PowerOfFaith: Curse you demon spawn RoidBeaast1: Note, bug foot is bad ass Envy: Those players sucked 6996: Small scale ambushes are tricky, and their prey trickier UltimataSecret: Everyone go craft Worm: I am so becoming a worm rider, yee haw Tafe: Respect my authority! Envy: Run! *** Author''s Note: Thank you everyone for your support. So I ended up with post concussive disorder from my accident. This translates to issues with the brain that don''t have an obvious physical cause. After visiting many doctors and waiting for things to improve, which they didn''t, I ended up getting an injection of pain killer into my head. While not a permanent fix, it has allowed me to get some real sleep and think clearly for the first time in a long time. Working during the last couple of months was hard. Like getting stabbed repeatedly hard. But I am alive and will continue to write. Thankfully my medical bills are covered by no fault in the state of NY. This means I can $50k free in medical care. In terms of a law suit, well that has to wait since brain damage like I have requires ''a lot of medical records, wait a year and get back to us.'' This was from a couple of law firms I spoke with. Honestly, when I was a kid I would have said sure to all of this for a pay day. Now I would pay a couple million not to have headaches all the time. Go figure. I am going to do at least 1 chapter a week going forward. But will probably post more, no promises. I did re-read and make minor edits and fixes. Nothing major, but feel free to re-read. I know I enjoyed re-reading my story. To show support, follow, favorite, review, and up vote all the good reviews. Chapter 35: The Calm You know what I wanted. A training montage. When you are required to do each and everything it is incredibly boring. I thought about dying and what I would do. That lasted for about ten seconds before the sheer horror began to overwhelm me. While I looked like a science experiment gone horribly wrong with my right foot being a tri-pronged scaled bug thing, left ear missing with matching facial scar, and puffs of demonic fire trailing behind me. That didn¡¯t take into consideration I was five feet tall, bald, and had red eyes. The problem was I had made a bad decision in character creation and now stood out like a sore thumb. The stupid bug foot was awesome, except for being impossible to hide, and clicking against hard surfaces. Well I was definitely bathing myself in dragon entrails so I could get wings. This jogging was killing me. I was managing about 25 miles per day. It would have been more, but the terrain wasn¡¯t flat. There were canyons, gorges, boulders, cliffs, and other features I had to go around. Going out on the desert just slowed me down even more with all the sand and even then it wasn¡¯t clear of impasses. I sent out a pulse of Fear Aura every hour as I traveled so I wouldn¡¯t be bothered. After three hours I would hunt a monster down, something like a bear that had meat on it. I would kill it with a Power Slash and set up camp slightly away from the corpse. I then would cook enough food for two dinners and two breakfasts. That would allowed me to eat something just in case I didn¡¯t find anything edible to kill. Thankfully I only went hungry one day when all I came across were rock snakes. No poison but incredibly durable and tough. I did not use my flame sword. I wanted it to be repaired, and it was my trump card against stronger opponents. In a way it was boring yet satisfying to be alone again. The lack of companionship and general discussion was a downer, but I enjoyed the silence as well. It let me work out priorities and thoughts on what I wanted to achieve. I had been rushing from disaster to disaster for a while and while I was still alive the consequences were becoming apparent. There was no training montage, but it was a vacation. This game was the only outlet millions of people had, myself included. With the time dilation of the capsules and the VR environments cutting edge research was being done, but the real world was deserted. Four fifths of the population were in cities in tiny rooms inside their capsules while the remaining people maintained the infrastructure. That one percent share in Omnitrek was just the nail in the coffin. The birth rates were plummeting as well. My first thought when I saw that piece of news while in my atrium was about who would service my capsule then. I wasn¡¯t a genius and didn¡¯t enjoy studying just to study. I only had a single skill set, killing and making videos. It was nice to step away from all of that. With my planned super video in regards to the wedding, I had decided to cut off my usual broadcasts. I wouldn¡¯t survive another ambush. With my bounty up to $50,000, I literally had hundreds of people after me. That wasn¡¯t even counting the in game rewards being handed out for my death by Breckley. After ten days of traveling I came upon a large campsite. I counted at least fifty players that had set up shop outside a tunnel into a cliff face. I was careful not to be seen and took the opportunity to observe them. Night was approaching and they actually had the foresight to set up five sentries about their camp. This was clearly a dungeon and this group was power leveling off the monsters inside. I hadn¡¯t heard anything about this place on the public forums so the group was probably trying to keep things quiet. The moon was only a sliver that night, which provided quite a bit of darkness. I carefully moved in making sure to keep obstructions between me and the sentries so they wouldn¡¯t see the small puffs of flame. I then used Observe on one of the sentries. While I hated using my MP like this, I wanted to see if killing them was worthwhile.
Ralph Noret
LvL: 97
Strongest Stat: Wisdom
HP: 10512
MP: 1487
SP: 1241
Strongest Skill: Meditate
I had hit the mother load. Finally things I could kill to get experience. Yes, players were things, most of all when they gave experience. If I killed everyone here, that would be around 200,000 experience at least. That would be about another six levels and eighteen stat points. That would be just the right amount to push my base dexterity up to 150 and get another bonus to my reaction time. The downside was death. The people standing as sentries weren¡¯t dosing off either. I could kill one, but not before the alarm was raised. Once that happened I would be in trouble. There was probably at least one player there with higher SP and have the intelligence on how to chase me down. Using my flame sword to lure them out, wouldn¡¯t work either if they were halfway intelligent. They would send a group out in force and wake up more people to cover the gap in the perimeter. I could try to descend the cliff face, but with a bug foot that was going to be difficult. It was great for stability, got good for climbing up and down cliffs. I would need to cover fifty feet of open ground to reach Ralph. That would take a bit over a second at max speed, which was around 31 miles per hour. Based on his SP I guessed he had around a reaction time of a third of a second. Enough time to block with his shield and let out a cry for help. I checked my skills again and smiled. Apparently my stealth skill needed things to actually be stealthy from to actually level up. Thank you Culk.
Conceal Presence -5 MAX
...
No one can sense your presence while you are unmoving
LvL 5: +1% Dexterity
Cost: 1 MP/Sec
Conceal Movement -1
...
No one can sense your presence while you hold your breath
Cost: 10 MP/Sec
I cursed in my head. Ten freaking MP per second. That was robbery. Highway robbery of the worst sort. I had 32 MP at the moment. It also referred to my presence, which was a bit vague. A risk either way I sliced it. I got ready from behind the boulder, I would have a single shot at this. Just as I started to move I whispered out, ¡°Conceal Movement, one second.¡± I held my breath as I raced forward. Ralph didn¡¯t notice me and I cut off his head in a single attack. Despite his high level, he only had leather armor. The lack of civilization out here was literally a killer. I grabbed his decapitated head with my free hand and lowered his body to the ground with my foot. With the way into the camp clear I worked my way clock wise around the perimeter killing the remaining four sentries from behind. If this had been my camp I would have had at least two roving sentries to prevent this sort of attack. I made my way from tent to tent killing every single player in their sleep. As dawn rolled around I cleared the last tent and everyone was dead, all fifty three players had been killed in their sleep. I didn¡¯t dare take anyone for questioning since I wanted to keep my involvement a secret. The massacre netted me four levels and another twelve stat points. I went through the camp and pocketed the gold, food, and a leather harness with throwing knives. It felt good to have proper throwing weapons in easy reach. There were no horses in the camp which was unfortunate. I did grab a heavy cloak with a hood, that would conceal my appearance somewhat. The biggest find was when I searched the chest in the center of the camp. There was a sword with etchings in it like Nus¡¯ Awakening. An enchanted blade. I couldn¡¯t resist, ¡°Identify.¡±
Erif''s Soul
LvL: 112
Requirements: 30 Strength, 20 Dexterity, 20 Wisdom
Thankfully I had just gained some stat points and dumped ten into wisdom to bring it up to the required amount. ¡°Flame on.¡± The blade lit up. Thank you copy cats. A flame sword had so many secondary uses, the most useful one being a permanent torch. I left the camp and continued on my way east, making sure to stay in the mountainous terrain so I wouldn¡¯t be easily spotted. It was after half a day of travel that I saw another camp and cliff side entrance. The entire place was swarming. I was glad I had managed to get a glimpse of the campsite from a far off distance. Probably a companion site, or a dungeon with two entrances. I got lucky once, no way was I going two for two. The way the place was stirred up it was clear they had realized the other camp site had been killed off. I detoured up into the mountains a bit and continued on my way past the group of players. I had already gotten a second flame sword and leveled up a bit. No need to push my luck. I did have another 100 MP and change from dumping those ten points into wisdom. While tempting, I was not about to face a prepared enemy if I could help it. Also with only one campsite dead, the group might not leak word so these dungeons weren¡¯t revealed. I didn¡¯t run into anyone, nor did I hear any word about a massacre. Whatever group those people were a part of, they were keeping things hush hush. That was either good news, or they had they passed that information on to select groups so they could ambush me. Ten days after passing by the campsites I started to see grassland instead of desert. It was a welcome relief. I started to come across farms and small settlements but completely bypassed them. I traveled at night and slept on roof tops during the day. After three days I reached the edge of Divide Lake. The lake rested between the two mountain chains that enclosed the Durrunian Desert. Osgoth lay on the north side of the lake across a river. Helsinn lay on the south side about a day and half up the lake. The Palon River stretched from Divide Lake down to Palon, which was at the edge of the Sea of Salmir. All these cities were under the control of Galmore which lay further to the west. If I was going to get to Breckley I needed to get to Palon and get a ship to sail north up the coast. I traveled along the shore line until I found a settlement with a fifteen foot sail boat. Large enough to travel down river, but small enough for one person. I stole the boat and set sail. I stayed towards to the middle of the Divide Lake in order to avoid the fishing fleets of both the cities. The hard part was that the wind was against me. The hot air from the Durridian Desert was rising and escaping through the gap in the upper atmosphere, while the cooler air sailed towards the desert and was actively impeding my progress. I had to tack back and forth to move across the lake and even took to rowing to help speed things up a bit. I slept at night and brought in the sail so I wouldn¡¯t be spotted. I did note other ships out on the water but I made sure to keep my distance. I reached the Palon River and set sail down it. It was fairly smooth but there were spots with a rocks sticking up out of the water. No rapids thankfully. Sometimes I passed by a settlement and that was when I would stop downstream about a mile from the settlement and secure the boat. I would then back track through the forest and sleep on one of the roofs. Overly complicated, but I had no one to watch my back now. I really needed someone to split watches with, this would be so much easier. The river was about 250 miles long to the coast and the city of Palon. It took five days of sailing until I spotted the city. Breckley was around 900 miles away from Palon. While my little ship was great for a lake and a river, I didn¡¯t hold out hope for it on the open ocean. One good wave and I would be fish bait. I coasted past the city during the night and entered Palon with my cloak on and hood up. I made my way carefully through the city using Conceal Presence whenever I saw guards that would cross my path. I made my way to a building on the north side of the city with a red door with the trim painted green. I knocked three times, paused, then knocked five times. A window slot opened in the door. ¡°Password.¡± ¡°Make it rain.¡± The door swung open. ¡°Conceal Movement, one second.¡± I then darted inside and saw that this wasn¡¯t an ambush. The young man at the door spun around and looked at me. After getting over his surprise he shut the door. ¡°Welcome, Rain of Blood, this is awesome.¡± He had a huge grin plastered over his face. ¡°Sit, I have food prepared.¡± He went over to a stove and began ladling stew into two bowls. ¡°Here.¡± He held out a bowl and spoon towards me. ¡°You first.¡± ¡°Ah¡­of course.¡± He took a spoonful and ate it. I took the stew from him and slowly ate. ¡°So, I managed to book passage on a transport ship headed to Breckley. It leaves two days from now.¡± ¡°Good. What about the barrels of oil?¡± ¡°That is a bit tougher. The stuff is really expensive at the moment. Fifty gold pieces a barrel. Inflation is killing the whole economy.¡± I thought back to all the lost wealth at the tower and sighed internally. I had a bit more than seven gold pieces on me from the campsite and the PvP group. ¡°Any chance of stealing them?¡± ¡°Not without kicking up a huge fuss. The warehouse area is locked down tight after a number of incidents.¡± ¡°About the transport, they understand no questions?¡± ¡°They think I am working for Galmore, which is the truth.¡± My fan base was good at providing useful contacts. I had hired this player since he was Galmore¡¯s operative in the area to smoke out other players and prevent the city from going up in flames. Five thousand dollars was enough to arrange a safe house and transport. The money was being held by a third party transaction company at the moment and would be paid out after being safely out to sea for a set amount of days known only to me. Another five thousand if I got into Breckley safely from the ship. There was also a penalty clause of fifty thousand dollars for betrayal either way. Trust, but have a lot of money to back it up. I had to spend money to make money, but I was loathe to let any of my cash go. ¡°Galmore isn¡¯t interested in supporting me?¡± ¡°Deniability. They won¡¯t hinder you, but they won¡¯t help you. That is the official stance. I am off on my own on this.¡± ¡°Any one looking for me?¡± ¡°The Red Dawn is putting out feelers to all the southern cities on this continent, but no one is saying anything.¡± ¡°What about the She-Hulks?¡± ¡°She-Hulks?¡± ¡°Sparkly Rainbow Unicorn Princesses.¡± ¡°Oh them, nothing that you wouldn¡¯t know about. They are still running around up north. The Order is pulling everyone in to cover the area around Breckley.¡± ¡°Really? I didn¡¯t hear that.¡± ¡°Not common news, but they are positioning a lot of people. Galmore is as well. For some reason, people suspect that this wedding is going to be a cluster fuck and plan to take advantage.¡± ¡°Noted, thank you for the free information.¡± ¡°Your success is good for Galmore which is good for me. There is a rumor going around the Church of Eight may officially declare you a calamity.¡± ¡°What does that even mean?¡± ¡°No clue, but probably lots of drama and fighting. I am curious what you plan to do, any hints?¡± ¡°Something epic. Now the big question, the special package?¡± ¡°Ah yes, that.¡± The young man walked over to a small crate and lifted the lid up all the way. He then backed off. I went over and noted the bulb inside of it. ¡°You really are going to try and set off another Swarm Bulb?¡± ¡°Possibly.¡± He shut the crate back up. ¡°I also managed to get the candle you requested. Two week candle. There is a small chamber of oil near the bottom. When the flame hits, it will go boom.¡± ¡°Perfect.¡± He reached up on a shelf and handed me a wood chest. I looked inside and saw a candle packed into a bunch of hay. There were a number of red lines down the side, probably to indicate days since there were fourteen. I closed up the chest. ¡°Well as long as it is not near me that is all well and good. What is up with the flames and the bug foot? I wasn¡¯t going to say anything but that is really creepy.¡± ¡°They were¡­accidents.¡± The young man shuddered and we were both silent for a bit. ¡°Well, your room is on the third floor. I will be out all day tomorrow running errands. Heat up the stew if you are hungry. There is actual indoor plumbing here that sends the shit to the sewers, thank god. No bath or shower, but there is a barrel of fresh water over there and some clean rags.¡± This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Love your work, I can¡¯t wait to watch the wedding.¡± I left the table and went up to my room. I barricaded the door and checked to confirm the only other entrance was the window. The ceiling and the floor were both solid. I moved the bed and slept in another corner. While I trusted this person, there was trust and there was Trust. The following day was spent eating and relaxing. The young man stopped in again that evening and brought fresh bread which we had along with the rest of the stew. ¡°Before dawn, tomorrow morning I will take you to the ship. You are getting the first mate¡¯s cabin. The captain will bring you two meals a day. Toss your waste out the window. Once he docks in Breckley he has a hidden compartment you will hide in. Once the ship passes inspection, you can get into the city at night.¡± ¡°The captain will hold his end?¡± ¡°Galmore pays him very well. Also his family is here in the city. I am paying him fifty gold pieces to make this happen. A literal fortune. As long as he upholds his end, he gets the money and everyone is happy. Win, win.¡± I stared at the young man. ¡°Good, a lot is resting on this.¡± ¡°I understand. So you know, we are not handling on getting you out of the city. Galmore will officially put up a small fee for your capture.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°I hope so.¡± Everything went as planned. After meeting with Captain Gallgreen, I was put into the cabin and left there. He did show me the small room hidden behind one of the walls. It was incredibly tiny and I would just barely fit, but I could fit. I spent the boat ride making sure my MP was at maximum and working on my cerebral skills. All the training I had been doing was finally paying off. I had unlocked a number of active skills. I made sure that all my bars were topped off a few days before arrival.
STATUS
NameKenji Shadowen
Level90
Constitution50*0.88=44
Strength50*1.09=54.5
Dexterity134*1.22=163.48
Endurance50*0.82=41
Wisdom20*1.04=20.8
Intelligence10*1.11=11.1
Charisma0*0.95=0
Luck0*1.15=0
Fate586*1.03=603.58
Fire Resistance90%
Physical Resistance25%
HP (+25%)11656.25 / 11656.25
SP (+31%)1876.444 / 1876.444
MP (+6%)338.14 / 338.14
Max Speed (Estimated)32 MpH
Jump Height (Estimated)2.75 Feet
Reaction Time (Estimated)0.1 Seconds
Quest Easy
Astronomy
Learn about the constellations
+10 EXP
Quest Medium
Monster Hunter
Kill the forest guardian
+100 EXP
Quest Hard
Defeat Sir Davos
Kill the mighty Sir Davos, Hero of Mendal
+1000 EXP +1 Stat Point
Quest Legendary
End the War
End the war between you and House Breckley
+10000 EXP +3 Stat Point
Quest Lifetime
Dragon Slayer
Slay the green dragon Dlthinnir
+100000 EXP +5 Stat Point
Quest Impossible
The Fires of Hell
Slay the Greater Waking Demon
+1000000 EXP +10 Stat Point
Skill List
Combat SkillsBlunt Weapons-1
Piercing Weapons-1
Cutting Weapons-5 MAX+1% Constitution, +1% Strength +1% Dexterity, +1% Endurance
Power Slash-5 MAXLvL 5: 8x Attack Damage for a single attack with a cutting weapon Cost: 500 SP
Blade Projection-1LvL 1: Blade sends out a projection 1 foot Cost: 1000 SP, 10 MP
Throwing-5 MAX+1% Strength, +1% Dexterity +1% Endurance
Rapid Throwing-4+1% Dexterity
Light Archer-3
Riding-1
Trap Making-5 MAX+1% Constitution, +1% Strength +2% Dexterity
Trap Detection-2
Ambidexterious-5 MAX+3% Dexterity
Juggling-3+1% Dexterity
Tactics-5 MAX+3% Intelligence
Crafting SkillsWood Carving-1
Survival SkillsRunning-5 MAX+2% Max Speed, +1% SP
Burst Speed-1Your max speed doubles for 2 seconds per LvL Cost: 10 MP
Light Conditioning-5 MAX+3% SP
Medium Conditioning-5 MAX+2% SP, +1% Constitution +1% Strength, +1% Dexterity +1% Endurance
Hard Conditioning-5 MAX+2% Constitution, +2% Strength +2% Dexterity, +2% Endurance
Intense Conditioning-2
Climbing-3+1% Strength
Stealth-5 MAX+1% Dexterity, +1% Wisdom +1% Intelligence
Conceal Presence-5 MAXNo one can sense your presence while you are unmoving Cost: 1 MP per Second +1% Dexterity
Conceal Movement-1No one can sense your presence while you hold your breath Cost: 10 MP per Second
Basic Biology-5 MAX+1% Intelligence
Intermediate Biology-4
Torture-5 MAX-3% Charisma
Fear Aura-4LvL 1: All LvL -50 will feel uncomfortable around you LvL 2: All LvL -10 will feel uncomfortable around you LvL 3: All LvL -50 will flee from you LvL 4: All LvL -10 will flee from you Cost: 1 MP per Minute, 1 SP per Minute
Deception-5 MAX+3% Intelligence
Misdirection-3+1% Intelligence
Poison Immunity-3LvL 2: Spore, Bug LvL 3: Plant
Spiritual SkillsMeditate-5 MAXLvL 5: +800% MP Regen Cost: Cannot Move +1% Wisdom
Mental Defense-5 MAXLvL 5: +100 AP to mental defense Cost: 10 MP per Minute +6% MP
Hidden Mind-1LvL 1: +40 AP to mental defense 1/5 chance to avoid being sensed
Silent Skills-1LvL 1: 1 silent skill slot
Identification-3LvL 1: Learn Name and LvL of item LvL 2: Learn the requirements of an item LvL 3: Learn the stats of an item Cost: 10 MP
Observe-4LvL 1: Learn Name and LvL of target LvL 2: Learn strongest stat of target LvL 3: Learn HP/SP/MP of target LvL 4: Learn strongest skill of target Cost: 10 MP
Leadership-3+1% Intelligence
Status EffectsMurderer-500 MAX+500 Fate
Depraved-16+16 Fate
Army of One-10 MAX+10% Constitution, +10% Luck
Enemy of the People-5 MAX-5% Charisma
Massacre of Willhelm-1 MAX+10 Fate, +1% Constitution +1% Dexteriy, +1% Wisdom +1% Intelligence
Battle of Gloommore Forest-1 MAX+10 Fate, +1% Constitution +1% Strenth, +1% Dexterity +1% Endurance
Burning of Breckley-1 MAX+10 Fate, +10% Fire Resistance
Raid of North Salrin Mine-1 MAX+10 Fate, +2% Charisma, +2% Luck
Murder of Merchants-1 MAX+10 Fate, +2% Constitution, +2% Luck
Slayer of the Swarm Lord-1 MAX+10 Fate, +5% Constitution +5% Dexterity
PvP Winner-3+3% Constitution
Player Killer-10 MAX+10% Constitution
Cannibal-3+3% Constitution, +3% Fate
Holy War-1+10 Fate +1% All 8 Primary Stats
Demon Slayer-1+10% Fire Resistance
Demonic Blood Corruption-3-50% Constitution +70% Fire Resistance +10% Automatic Fire Generation
Ichor Blood Corruption-5 MAX+10 Fate, -25% Endurance +25% Physical Resistance
Curse of the Goddess Tafe-1???
Constitution Focus-1+25% HP
Strength Focus-1+25% Carry Weight
Dexterity Focus-2+50% Reaction Time
Endurance Focus-1+25% SP
I carefully reviewed all my stats, skills, and open quests. Blade Projection looked awesome, but the SP and MP cost meant I needed higher stats to make it useful in combat. Hidden Mind was concerning since it implied a chance to locate me somehow with the 1/5 chance to avoid being sensed. Silent skill was perfect. I opened my interface and practiced with Meditation. It was activated by a clear mental command, where I thought of the skill command and nothing else. I would rotate out of my skills to keep using it as much as possible to level it up. I will probably use it with Burst Speed in combat. Burst Speed was an amazing active skill allowing me to double my max speed for a couple of seconds. Unfortunately that would put my max speed at around 64 miles per hour. This translated into around 125 SP per second. With only 2122 SP, it was not something I could just spam. The only gear I planned to take were the two flame swords, two normal swords, Cube of Etherion, and throwing dagger harness with daggers. I would be leaving everything else behind. I couldn¡¯t afford anything hanging up or impeding me in combat. I wasn¡¯t planning on this being a heavy combat operation there would be fighting. My main goal was to kill Lady Breckley. It had been confirmed that there was no clear line of succession after her and the nation would fragment. Sir Willos was a possibility as the head of Breckley¡¯s military forces and a fixture in the government. The problem was there were other nobles who were closer in their ancestry to be next in line. With the way things appeared, if the wedding was a disaster a number of groups were poised to invade. Galmore had a fleet on the transports tail and I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the captain and the sailors weren¡¯t the tip of the spear. The Order was also converging all its members towards Breckley, but were more spread out. They would probably take most of the outlying areas while Galmore seized the city. Therdossa, where the groom was from, had actually deployed a couple thousand soldiers to Breckley for the wedding to secure their position and hopefully prevent things from going tits up. It wasn¡¯t clear what Angal was doing, but as the center for the Church of Eight they had sent a High Priest in to officiate the ceremony along with his entourage. The only kingdom out of the five who seemed not to be moving in was Valentor, who had only sent a handful of representatives along with some other nations. All travelers were banned from the city with priests checking everyone who entered the city. My second goal was to kill Ser Davos to free up my hard quest slot. I needed to start pumping out the hard quests in order to build up stat points since leveling was becoming more and more difficult. I had no hope of completing the lifetime or impossible quest any time soon. The key thing were the stat points. Those were what would make or break me as a player. The worst part of this entire thing was all the magic that was being thrown around. My new skills gave me some hope, but I didn¡¯t understand exactly how they worked which was frustrating. Digging around online didn¡¯t turn up anything useful either. Everyone who had a clue was keeping their mouth shut. The other big problem was that I had no one set up in Breckley to me. I would be on my own. I was going to keep it as simple as possible. Once I got to Breckley I would raid a warehouse for a couple of barrels of oil. I had managed to get that information before the city went into lockdown. I would place the barrels in the sewers near the keep and use the two week candle I had received from my contact in Palon. The goal would be to set off the explosion to go off in the afternoon while the Swarm Bulb was attacking. The explosion and fire would be another distraction and hopefully cover my escape out of the keep. I would use Burst Speed in combination with Concealed Movement to zoom past all the guards in the middle of the night. I would then set myself up on the roof of the keep in an out of the way corner and wait for the two weeks until the wedding date. I would hopefully be able to get one or two people to feed the bulb. When the wedding was taking place and all the high level NPCs were engaged in the main hall I would sweep the keep for people and feed them to the bulb all at once. With a Swarm Bulb active in the keep it would become a disaster of epic proportions and I would use the chaos to kill Lady Breckley, her husband, and Sir Davos. It was a crazy, hare-brained plan. I had a couple ideas on how to spice it up, but it would be a challenge. I was hoping that I once I got into the keep it would be smooth sailing. From what I understood the city and been swept a number of times and the defense was focused on the city as a whole rather than just the keep. This was due to the number of guests and how they couldn¡¯t all be housed in the keep itself. I heard shouts go up from the main deck. I went to the window and looked out. I saw a ship behind us. From the rough looking nature of the crew and their black sail, they were pirates. I wanted to curse everything. I was one day out from Breckley and pirates decided to attack the very ship I was on. I was tempted to say fate had it out for me, but I didn¡¯t want to tempt things any further. At least it wasn¡¯t a Kraken or some sea beast. There was nothing I could do to assist the transport and conceal my presence. I walked into the hidden nook and waited there. If the pirates won, I would sneak out and kill them. If the crew won, then they would still be going on to Breckley. *** MindMeld: I seeeeeeeeeeeeee you Envy: Not much, I want videos Worm: I predict a¡­..Blood Rain Wedding UltimataSecret: With 20% more blood GODHAXLOL: SNAKEY!!!!! UltimataSecret: This is literally the event, it is going to be a disaster 6996: You think? Everyone half insane is heading towards Breckley Tafe: It is your destiny LordBreckley: Not my daughter! PowerOfFaith: The Eight shall protect her Guts: My crew is ready for some action, let the looting commence UltimataSecret: Odds are 8 to 1 for Breckley being standing after this, 3 to 1 for Blood Rain actually pulling something off *** Author¡¯s Note: This chapter took forever. I normally don¡¯t like to table spam, but it is getting to the point in the story where things will become more dependent on active skills rather than just bum rushing everything. Please review, rate, follow, favorite, and up vote the reviews. That is the best way you can support this story and it is free. Do it or Blood Rain is coming to your wedding! Chapter 36: Before Sir Willos, what is the status of the city?¡± Lady Breckley asked from her seat in the great hall in the center of the keep. ¡°I have recalled the majority of our forces. We currently have ten thousand soldiers deployed under the command of various knights. Sir Davos has personally taken command for securing the city gates. Sir Yaxel is in command over at the docks. I am confident that we will be able to intercept any trouble before it arrives.¡± Lady Breckley looked off to the side. ¡°What of Kenji Shadowen?¡± ¡°He is still out there. It was last reported he was south of the desert, west of Galmore, in no man¡¯s land.¡± ¡°What about an air attack?¡± ¡°I have personally seen that half our scorpions have been modified to shoot into the air. That should prevent an aerial assault.¡± ¡°Excellent, Sir Willos. I have full confidence in the security of this city and nation with you managing things.¡± ¡°Yes, Lady Breckley.¡± ¡°Castellan, what of our guests?¡± ¡°Rooms have been made for the groom and the high priest inside the keep. We have also reserved inns for primaries of each nation.¡± ¡°Who is Galmore sending?¡± ¡°Only the ambassador.¡± ¡°Sir Willos, Galmore will be attempting something. They are bold and stupid at the same time. The fact that they are only having their ambassador and no one else of higher rank attend means they plan to take action against us.¡± ¡°It is possible, but unlikely. To deploy their fleet would risky. While they have the greater army, we have the greater navy. They have been tasked to patrol the waters off our coast.¡± ¡°I will accept your word on this matter, but ask you to remain vigilant.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Sir Willos turned to leave but was stopped when Lady Breckley continued. ¡°There is one more matter. The Fey Blade has come back into our possession.¡± Sir Willos gasped. ¡°How?¡± ¡°It was brought in by a player. He claimed to have retrieved it from Balkor.¡± ¡°I heard that it might be there, but to actually have it¡­.¡± Lady Breckley clapped her hands twice. A servant brought out the blade on a cushion to Sir Willos. ¡°Sir Willos. I am declaring you heir.¡± ¡°But the other nobles-¡° ¡°Will follow my lead. In this time of chaos, we need you strength and stability more than ever. The wise ones understand that. Since it is beyond me to wield I entrust the blade to you.¡± ¡°You honor me, my Lady.¡± Sir Willos reverently picked up the blade. *** Sir Yaxel cursed. He had been woken up in the middle of the night by a commotion. There was a fire, ships, and trouble at the docks from what he gathered while putting on his armor. With the wedding upcoming, the docks were a complete mad house, and keeping them in order was a slope he was slowly sliding down and into the jaws of some monster. After strapping his sword to his side he exited the building he had set up as his command post near the docks and saw what the commotion was about. An entire ship was on fire and had crashed into the docks at full sail in the middle of the night. ¡°Stop staring, get water on the surrounding buildings.¡± He shouted at the by standers. The sailors were keeping their ships and the docks from going up but the entire port was in danger. He quickly moved down the street calling out to all the useless people just standing around. ¡°It is out-¡° a commoner tried to say. Sir Yaxel drew his blade and slammed the flat of it on the side of the man¡¯s head. He fell to the ground dazed. ¡°Move your lazy asses before I cut you down or the city goes up. All you, work on that building. You and you, get more buckets. The rest of you go help the sailors. Move!¡± It took the rest of the night to contain the fire, leaving a burnt out hulk blocking a portion of the docks. He had asked around and found one man who had witnessed the whole event. ¡°Well you see sir, I was watching my ship liked my captain asked. Can¡¯t be too careful now. No disrespect to your city.¡± Sir Yaxley nodded, any interruption would only prolong this painful experience. ¡°Well it was just like this. I was just sitting out on the deck looking out at the ocean and saw a ship coming in at full sail. At night too. Anyways, the ship went up in flames when it was short of the docks. Only saw one person on the ship, but they jumped into the water.¡± ¡°I then had to keep my ship safe while things were going tits up. By the Eight, that was a fierce blaze. Good ship too, probably out of Galmore by the make of it. Can¡¯t be too sure, being it all dark and all. Your knight sir.¡± Sir Yaxley forced back the urge that wanted him to repeatedly stab this simpering fool. ¡°Thank you for your help. Lady Breckley appreciates it in these dark times.¡± ¡°Of course-¡° Sir Yaxley had already turned away from the man. A Galmore plot to weaken the docks. If the docks went up, there would be no easy way to support their fleet to hold back an invasion from Galmore. Sir Willlos would need to be informed and a night watch posted. *** ¡°You smell that?¡± Terth had been a guard in Breckley for over fifteen years. He had seen it all and then some. The one thing he had learned was that each smell meant something different. Soot, meant fire or a large order for a bakery. Sweet smells meant rotten fruit or nobles with too much perfume. This smell he was picking up was the smell of death. ¡°Not really.¡± Terth just gave a look at the young boy next to him. Standards were low lately with the need for every able bodied man to help maintain order. Things were really going to the scrap pile. ¡°Come on.¡± It was easy enough to track down the smell to a warehouse. Opening up a door he was almost caught in a purple cloud. Everyone had heard of that abomination Kenji and the disaster at Mendal. Thank the Eight Sir Davos had saved the town. ¡°Monsters.¡± The teen was almost pissing himself in fear. Going to the scrap pile indeed. ¡°Get your shit together. Go round up another patrol. Just go up that street to the main road and grab the first two patrols you find.¡± The teen nodded quickly and ran off, stumbling on the smooth cobblestones. Half an hour later, the five bulbs were killed off and a desiccated corpse discovered. The body was quickly burned. The captain of the guard was notified. A quick search of the warehouse didn¡¯t show anything out of place. It housed bulk general supplies that were brought in by ship. With no more leads the case was closed that afternoon as a shipping accident by the merchant. While anything to do with transporting monsters was viewed as a crime there was a black market building up. Troublesome, hopefully nothing more serious got into the city. *** General Ralph of the Second Legion of the Order of the Phoenix looked out at his troops. He had managed to train up fifty horsemen, five hundred footmen, and a hundred archers. This was the single largest concentration of players inside FEAR to date and he was in charge of them all. They had set up camp about a mile from the Fey River to the west of Breckley. So far they had gone unnoticed, which was perfect. A scout rode up. ¡°News.¡± ¡°Report.¡± ¡°Galmore launched a flaming ship at Breckley. Minor damage to the docks. No change to their defense lay out. Additional groups of soldiers are continuing to move to the city. The last of the outlying outposts sending their reserves. No other enemy action known of inside the city.¡± ¡°Hmmm, good job. What is the word on the street?¡± ¡°A mix between hopeful and worried. Everyone is wondering if Kenji will make an appearance.¡± ¡°Blood Rain, he is an interesting one. Anything else?¡± ¡°No sir.¡± ¡°Excellent. Return to Breckley. Work on maps of the city so we know where to go. Meet up with Commander Tallin and plan out your meet-up in the city when the op happens.¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± ¡°Dismissed.¡± General Ralph walked around camp. He noted everyone was training to bring up their active skills and conditioning. Everything was in order. That was what he had liked about the being in the military. With Omnitrek, that had all gone out the window for the most part. Combat drones were good, too good. This was a chance to do what he always dreamed of. Leading men to test their skill against an opponent. The Supreme Leader Albus was surprisingly adept at rounding people up. A victory here would cement is place and make him a must have no matter what happened. If Albus got too difficult he could write his own ticket or just take over. He would become a general of legend. Like Alexander or Hannibal. He looked to the center of the camp. With what he had there was nothing that would stand in his way, least of all Breckley. *** Fifty ships of Galmore cut through the waters due north. Ahead of them lay twenty ships from Breckley that had moved to intercept them. More would be on their way, but it would be too late. Ten ships from Galmore packed with archers, who were also travelers, broke off to intercept the enemy ships. The rain of fire arrows between the ships quickly escalated the conflict. Ship after ship was sunk while the remainder of the Galmore fleet sailed forward. In the end thirty seven Galmore ships loaded down with soldiers made it through compared to the three surviving Breckley ships. Despite surviving the battle, they were out of position and would not be in a position to intercept the Galmore fleet. Every soldier in the fleet knew, Breckley was weak. They only had a weak young girl as a leader. Now was the time for glory and riches. To take the city of Breckley would solidify their hold on the continent in a way that would make them the greatest nation. The fact that mostly travelers had died to break through Breckley¡¯s fleet was an added bonus. They were but the hounds of war that would be used to break their enemies. *** ¡°High Priest, are you prepared?¡± ¡°Yes, yes. This farce of a wedding will happen. I have deployed a quarter of the faith to assist.¡± ¡°A wise move. Galmore is running the blockade.¡± ¡°After the flaming ship they have increased their defenses. Their losses will be high.¡± ¡°Indeed, but the travelers group called the Order of the Phoenix is moving in from the west.¡± ¡°I was wondering, what is a Phoenix?¡± ¡°A magical bird of fire that can come back to life.¡± ¡°Bah, a monster then.¡± ¡°Indeed, but they have their uses.¡± ¡°I was skeptical, but I am pleasantly surprised you managed to succeed in harness the travelers.¡± ¡°It is all a matter of applying the right solution to the problem. It would not have been possible without your help and the other priests.¡± ¡°Indeed. There is something of note.¡± ¡°Hmmm, you actually found out something before me.¡± ¡°Indeed, a dark being has entered the city.¡± ¡°Dark¡­.means?¡± ¡°They are a void of darkness that has turned away from the Eight and call upon monsters.¡± ¡°A demon?¡± ¡°Perhaps, I have never sensed a demon, but it wouldn¡¯t surprise me.¡± ¡°Kenji is rumored to be part demon. Could it be him?¡± ¡°Possibly. I can only sense the presence within a range. I suspect it is in the keep.¡± ¡°Troublesome, any chance you can track it down unnoticed?¡± This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°A risk. A demon would easily sense the attempt.¡± ¡°Hmm, then hold off from acting for now. We shall let things play out.¡± ¡°You plot too much, it will be the end of you.¡± ¡°Most likely, but that is my¡­destiny.¡± The High Priest just shook his head. This man played on a deep level that even made his own head ache from all the twists and turns. It was also this insane genius that had propelled Angal from the weakest of the kingdoms around the Sea of Salmir to the strongest. It was on the backbone of the faith but that was a good thing. The Council of Eight had stripped the monarchy of most of its power and solidified itself as true theocracy. No longer would the monsters and abominations threaten the land. With the traveler¡¯s coming from the nether regions of Tafe the faith was even more important. Their ability to form from nothing like monsters had solidified them as enemies of the church. They had also stolen the powers of the Eight for themselves. They were corrupting the holy power. Thankfully they had been put into their place, beneath the heel of the church and shackled to its bidding. While cultivating monsters to harness the favor of the Eight by slaying had been a long past time of the nobility, it was not an encouraged practice. Without careful watch it was all too easy to have a disaster. Unfortunately these travelers were a more troublesome bunch. ¡°I should prepare for the wedding. So much to remember.¡± ¡°Try not to put us all to sleep.¡± ¡°All the better to reflect on your actions and the Eight.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± *** ¡°Where is Hilda?¡± ¡°No clue.¡± Yalma let out a long sigh. With all the guests the servants were running ragged and now Yalma ran off. Four other servants had upped and left. She thought about bringing it up, but if they disappeared in the keep it was the doing of nobility. Yalma had learned at an early age to not question those above her station. The problem was she was short staffed. ¡°Alright, we just need to get through tonight. I will round up a bunch of local girls from the inns. If people can¡¯t be bothered to work, I will get some that do want a job.¡± While she was the head cook she rarely got down in the trenches any more. Tonight she tossed on an apron and got to helping. That would rally the other women to finish up for the dinner tonight. The toughest part was making the food stretch on her budget. Prices had shot up through the roof for vegetables and grains. While fish was good, it was viewed as lower class. Nothing some sauces couldn¡¯t fix. At least those had stayed about the same price. By the Eight, Yalma vowed to take a day off after this wedding. Everyone had special requests as well. Thankfully the Castellan handled that side of things. With the increase in prices it was understood, that people would just have to suck it up or go elsewhere. ¡°Get the bread out of there. Careful now.¡± She told one of the girls. Forty years in the kitchen, since she had been a little girl learning from her mother, Eight bless her. She remembered the feast when Lady Breckley had been born. Now that was the first major event she had handled as head cook. It had been a major success and people still talked about it. She was going to make the best feast ever, for the Ladies wedding. It would be tough but Yalma swore by all the gods that she would make it happen. *** Lady Breckley was nervous. Not about her soon to be husband. He was sweet if a bit na?ve from what she had gathered from talking to him. The problem was the wedding itself. She had been in the room when her parents were killed. She had seen that monster in human worm kill her father and mother. The fire was the worst part. It had consumed the room and their bodies, leaving only scorched bones. Her father had told her to hide behind a tapestry when he heard the commotion. She brushed away the tear that ran down her face. She had to be strong for her people. Galmore was looking to crush Breckley and had the power to do so after their losses. The city, Mendal, and the mine out west were all crippling attacks. The travelers had sewn even more chaos. Her father¡¯s policy of not heavily garrisoning the surrounding towns in order to reduce expenses after decades of peace had led to disaster. They were still trying to catch up in terms of man power, but the estates could only promote so many people at a time. This alliance with Therdossa was needed more than ever. They had already deployed a large number of troops into Breckley. They had been placed on the walls to free up her own men to police the city and prevent it from descending into chaos. She picked up a comb and hesitated. Her mother always liked to comb her hair to help her calm down. She brushed it not to remove tangles but to sooth her nerves. Despite everyone telling her otherwise she knew the monster would be back. The gleeful look on his face was one that desired blood. He would return to finish what he started. The fact that an individual was worthy enough to be recognized as a faction of the land, just showed how dangerous he truly was. She stood up and walked to the door. A servant opened them and she entered the ante-room where the wedding party was prepared to escort into the chapel. It had been cleared personally by Sir Willos at her request. Taking a deep breath she entered. Everyone turned to face her. She went down the aisle between all the gathered nobles to the High Priest of Eight and her betrothed. ¡°We are gathered here today under the sight of the Eight to wed these two.¡± The High Priest began going on about the Eight and how marriage was central to each one. Lady Breckley took small looks around to confirm that no one was sneaking up on her. Her betrothed gave her hand a squeeze. She looked over and he gave her a smile. That helped calm her. She was safe, there were no monsters, no fire, and it was her day. ¡°¡­we look at these two and understand that the blessing bestowed upon them will carry on through this life and the next. To shield them¡­¡± Her father always had told her to confront her fears. When she had been young a rat had chased her. Her father had made her kill it with a knife. She had visited their personal estate and the Shrine of Eight, but she wasn¡¯t a front line fighter. She had invested herself to follow the path of Machisar to understand her subjects and to be a better ruler. Now she wished she had followed Trentghs and taken up her family blade. Wielded by Fey Breckley, the first of his line, it was a weapon worthy of a Lord. Trusting Sir Willos with it had been a risky but a necessary political move. Thankfully his naming as heir was less risky than she originally thought. He was old, and was viewed as a place holder until she gave birth. His own children were well known as knights and not as politicians. His second son had even become a priest removing him as a political opponent. His eldest ran their family holdings while his father helped manage the kingdom. ¡°Now we shall have the couple confirm their commitment before gods and men. I invoke the right of marriage, may they be forever bound.¡± The couple raised their hands and moved them through the air. They confirmed their marriage to the gods and pushed their hands together. A cheer went up from the crowd. It was done, nothing had happened. They left the chapel and made their way to the great hall for the feast. ¡°That went well.¡± Her husband said. Husband, how weird. ¡°Yes.¡± She turned and gave him a smile. He gave her a peck on the cheek. A bit forward but they were married now. ¡°Save that for latter.¡± ¡°Of course my Lady.¡± They walked into the great hall. It was decked out with banners showing both Breckley and Therdossa colors and coat of arms. The bright colors made her think of how the future would be brighter. With Therdossa¡¯s help they could secure the kingdom and rebuild from all the recent losses. As they took their seats, Sir Willos and two knights made a patrol around the room scanning for anything that could be hiding. She gave a nod and a smile when he looked at her. He returned the nod and got back to work. Sir Willos was the bedrock that supported her and in turn the kingdom. Light soup was brought out as the first course. It looked a bit plain but the taste was excellent. ¡°This is very good. I recognize the spice from Therdossa.¡± Her husband said. ¡°Yalma our head cook is the best. She probably asked around to learn about some dishes from your homeland.¡± ¡°I am honored. It is a pity you are not able to have seen Therdossa. The Pillar Forest is quite amazing.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that where giant stones stick out of the ground like fingers?¡± ¡°Indeed. The palace is built on top of the tallest one. There are cities on each one. We leave the monsters on the ground where they should be while we live in the sky.¡± ¡°It sounds marvelous. We will have to show our children.¡± Her husband gave her a warm smile that actually went up to his eyes. ¡°Yes, that would be nice. There is quite a bit of work to do. As Lord Consort I suspect I will be quite busy.¡± ¡°You know I can¡¯t give up the Breckley name.¡± ¡°Of course, but to be a lowly consort.¡± She smacked him on the shoulder gently. ¡°Not that lowly.¡± The minstrels began putting up a livelier tune. ¡°Shall we dance, I don¡¯t think I shall be able to do so if there are more courses.¡± Lady Breckley nodded and they both rose from their chairs and went out onto the dance floor. They went to the center of the hall and began dancing together as the music washed over them. This moment was magical. Her only regret was that her parents were not here to see her. The dress shimmered in the torch light and glow orbs that illuminated the great hall. The song ended. While her feet were a bit tired she didn¡¯t want the moment to end. ¡°Again?¡± She nodded at the request and her husband gestured at the minstrels. They struck up another tune. It was unfamiliar, probably from Therdossa. Other nobles began to move onto the dance floor as well, but left the center to the two of them. ¡°I wish it could always be like this.¡± She said as they danced about. ¡°Indeed. But that is why we have to try so hard. If one does not fight-¡° ¡°Then one does not deserve peace. My father liked to say that.¡± ¡°It is a quote from the Fall. A harsh time, but all the more important now.¡± There was a noise from above, like wood breaking. They stopped on the dance floor along with a number of other couples. Lady Breckley made the mistake of looking up. *** Author¡¯s Note: A shorter chapter and setting things up for what is to come. Telling it from the MC¡¯s point of view would miss out on all the reactions. Also if you thought Balkor was a mad house of plots, well I am going try and top the craziness. I actually had to map out the next couple of chapters ahead of time to make sure I didn¡¯t miss anything. Also Tor will eventually be back. Maybe a bonus chapter to see what she is up to. Feel free to motivate me by following, favoriting, reviewing, advanced reviewing, and giving a thumbs up to reviews. If you have read this far, you have no excuse not to. If you don''t the MC is going to your wedding! I also have been listening to White Wedding to get me in the mood for this part of the story. It is catchy in a seventies way. Chapter 37: The Storm There was a noise from above, like wood breaking. They stopped on the dance floor along with a number of other couples. Lady Breckley made the mistake of looking up. Time seemed to freeze in that moment as she took in the petrifying terror of what she was seeing. Looking down at her was the demon with a grin on his face. He was standing on a wooden platform that was set up in the rafters of the great hall. As her fear began to overwhelm her she took in the scene around the source of her terror. Six barrels had shattered against the rafters around the platform. As the contents plummeted down towards her, her heart began to beat faster and faster. The most obvious portion was the blood. The bright red color was eye catching. What was truly terrifying were the body parts that were mixed in with the mixture. She saw an entire head for a brief moment in the rain of blood and entrails that reminded her of Allissa, one of the younger serving maids. Flames erupted on either side of the monster. That was the last sight Lady Breckley saw before becoming engulfed in a pillar of flames. "Fath-" *** Sir Willos¡¯ mind was frozen on what to do. He was mentally and physically exhausted attempting to manage the chaos that was this wedding and it was taking a moment to process what he was seeing. He was old, so old that his grand children were learning to use the sword. He knew there had been no other person to run the kingdom. Lady Breckley was too young and inexperienced and anyone else would destabilize the kingdom or take advantage of the situation. So it had been with a heavy heart he had accepted all the duties heaped upon him. He had planned to retire after the wedding, since Therdossa would help stabilize things in the kingdom. The very idea that Kenji Shadowen had penetrated the keep a second time and under his very watch was inexcusable. The fact that he had managed to create a waterfall of blood and body parts was raining down upon Lady Breckley infuriated him. She was like the daughter he had never had. He had seen her grow up and had even had her out to his estate a couple of times. He had failed her parents and had vowed before the Eight he would not fail her again. After being frozen for a second he began to move, already drawing the Fey Blade. That was when the criminal used two flaming blades to stab into two barrels and push them off the platform he was standing on. A trail of flames lingered behind the barrels as they fell. A moment before they hit the floor near Lady Breckley he realized that there was no possible way that much blood had been gathered. It was blood, body parts, and lantern oil all mixed together. The missing supplies, servants, and the number of small events he had over looked because he was overworked clicked together. The barrels hit the floor and a wave of fire exploded outwards, engulfing Lady Breckley, her husband, and a number of other guests. The explosion rippled outwards throwing people off their feet and setting them ablaze. The body parts that had been cast down in the barrels along with possible parts from the guests went flying outwards throughout the great hall. Sir Willos was forced backwards with tremendous force and slammed into a table. He was left dazed as events continued to unfold before him, while he was helpless the moment Lady Breckley needed him the most. *** It had taken a lot of luck and grit but I was in position. With spare planks, rope, and an empty great hall two nights ago I was able to rig up a platform above where the feast would be held. It had taken much more money than it should have to get information on the exact schedule of the wedding and the layout of the keep. I would be glad when this was over. My nerves were just about shot. After burning the pirate ship and forcing the sole survivor on the transport to sail to Breckley I managed to get into the city. The candle was ruined but I managed to keep the bulb using a satchel. I found a merchant, and then threatened him with the bulb and some well-placed eggs slash seeds. I left the supposed cure back in his warehouse with a set expiration date. It was purple fluid from the bulb and would melt his insides hopefully, or at the very least kill him. With a bit of work I was placed into a barrel with a false top with rice covering me. He got me into the keep. It was late at night so I was unloaded and left in my barrel. I then left the barrel. During the night the keep was surprisingly quiet with only a couple of guards patrolling. Most of their defenses were on the walls and gate. I slept on the roof during the day and at night I began gathering supplies. The first was a number of wood planks, nails, hammer, barrels, and oil. Two days before the wedding I set up a platform inside the great hall where the feast would be. The rafters were two stories up. With the pendants and banners acting as visual distractions it was easy enough to hide a platform that blended in with the ceiling. There had been a couple of close calls, but I was able to use my stealth skills and speed to avoid detection. Another key part was that people rarely looked up. I was often hiding above doorways to avoid patrols that came my way during the night. I was tempted to go after Lady Breckley but held off for two reasons. First she always had guards about her room at night. Not the regular schmucks but professionals just below the knights in terms of equipment and level from what I had seen. Secondly I needed to make an epic video. It took effort, but thankfully my strength was up to the task. I had hauled up eight barrels up to my platform. It was a tight fit, but I had enough room. I waited there patiently for a day and a half until the feast was held. Keeping a careful eye on the events below, I waited until Lady Breckley was on the dance floor surrounded by other people. I then began pushing six of the barrels as hard as I could off the platform and into the rafters, shattering them. Inside the barrels I had mixed in oil and I had stolen and the cut up pieces of various servants I had ambushed during the night. I chosen the young ones, figuring that they would be overlooked more easily in the festivities since they would have less responsibilities and prone to absences. Entrails, blood, and oil rained down on the great hall. I stood up on my platform and looked over the edge directly at Lady Breckley. Fear was etched into her face as the entrails railed down upon her. I made sure to scan the whole crowd to get as much as I could for the video I was going to make. I would have to watch the replay in slow motion to really see all the reactions in their fear etched glory. ¡°Flame on. Fear Aura ten seconds.¡± I then jabbed my flame swords into the last two barrels and pushed them off the platform. The barrels fell as a trail of fire rippled behind them. The barrels impacted, creating a massive fireball. I moved back to grab my rope as the screams of the wedding guests echoed throughout the great hall. I sheathed my blades and quickly descended on a rope to the center of the inferno. I went over the platform in time to see Lady Breckley become a pillar of flames as her wedding gown had gone up. A well dressed priest rushed through the flames and grabbed her. The glow that was covering him enveloped her as well. If it wasn¡¯t for my high reaction time I would have missed him running out of the room with the charred woman over his shoulder. All the other wedding guests caught in the attack were not as lucky. A large number of them were running around screaming in the sea of flames and melting bones. The ones that tried to stop, drop, and roll didn¡¯t put out the oil fueled flames since the floor was on fire from the first barrage. It was time to make my escape. I had already decided that I wasn¡¯t going to try and chase anyone down. I made my attempt and pursuing after Lady Breckley would be a good way to die. It still pissed me off, I hoped her wounds festered and she died of shock. I landed in the middle of the inferno. I flipped open the satchel containing my bulb, fired up my swords, and ran out of the great hall. I slashed out with my blade while moving around the fleeing guests, cutting them down. I ran through the halls of the keep aiming to reach the boats docked at the river entrance to the keep. *** General Ralph raced down the road leading his cavalry. The two barges holding all of his foot soldiers were rapidly headed down stream alongside the road. They easily cut through the farmland and saw the walls of Breckley in the distance. A glance over his shoulder confirmed that the airship was moving into position. With air power, nothing could stand in his way. It was the investment of thousands of man hours and the cumulative effort of the entire order. Painted bright red, it was named the Eternal for the enduring nature of the phoenix. The lift was provided by eight metal plates resting in the middle level of the hull. Each plate held a gravity enchantment. The etched runes had been edited in a very complex process he still didn¡¯t understand to create the opposite effect. Supposedly the idea was similar to a debuff magical attack. To lower or raise the airship, plates would be unlocked and rotated around on a steel bar holding them. Thrust was provided by four plates anchored at each corner of the airship on a rotating pillar. By rotating the plates, one would force the air ship into a different direction. It was incredibly crude since each plate needed to be manually adjusted, but it was an incredible tactical and strategic advantage to have an airship in a world with almost no air power. The airship only had one weapon unfortunately, a large cylindrical bar. It would be charged to activate and then dropped. It would then send an explosion outwards from its location. The men had affectionately named it the bomb bar. During the testing and trial runs of the airship, it was incredibly effective. Unfortunately the airship only held a single one, due to their difficulty to manufacture. The manufactory responsible for their construction had been overrun by a horde of bugs. The primary enchanter had been killed in the chaos and the building destroyed. The constant attacks on the complex building the airship had been a source of constant frustration and experience. The airship coasted ahead and began maneuvering directly above the main gate into Breckley. The walls would be impossible to take. By blowing up the main gate and then shooting down onto the walls, the way would be opened for the cavalry and infantry to rush inside the city. That is when everything went FUBAR, otherwise known as Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition. General Ralph had come up with this plan for how simple it was. While many of the players had come from the military, this type of medieval urban combat would not allow for complex orders to easily be carried out. A barrage of scorpion bolts shot up from the wall. There had been no report on that capability being present. He could only watch as over thirty bolts hit the airship, which was a sitting target in the sky. A couple of the bolts were on fire and set the airship ablaze as well. It began to list and twist around out of control as the people manning the flight plates were engineers and not used to combat. They were panicking and the airship was losing control and nothing could be done from down here. More scorpion bolts impacted the airship. A couple of the lift plates were probably damaged as it quickly began to descend right on top of the main gate. As he rode towards the city he was helpless watching as the airship split in half on top of the main gate. That was when the bomb detonated right behind the main gate. The shockwave shattered the main gate and completely engulfed the entire airship and surrounding fortifications. He weathered the sonic boom and kept moving forward. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Don¡¯t stop men! For the Order! Charge!¡± He charged through the rubble that used to be the gate and into the city. A wall of spears and shields were arrayed before him on the street. He saw a knight standing behind the soldier¡¯s right as his horse crashed into their line and went down. The cavalry was cut down but the force of the charge had pushed them back. That was when the arrows came raining down. General Ralph smashed an enemy soldier into a wall and used his corpse as a shield from the arrows that pelted his location. The infantry finally arrived. The river into the city was completely sealed with multiple chains. So they had landed up river and had run over to the main gate that had been broken open. General Ralph began to fall back while rallying his men to move up and support him. He felt his blood race as he let out a War Cry. The sound boosted his troops¡¯ confidence and he moved forward smashing another man though his shield. By investing everything into strength, he battered his way through the enemy. Two spearman rushed him. He batted one spear to the side and let the other one hit off his breast plate. Thrusting his hammer forward he smashed one of their faces and punched out with his free hand, breaking the other soldiers nose. *** ¡°Hold, by the Eight you hold!¡± Sir Yaxley shouted. He had gathered up his men to hold the docks as Galmore began landing ships filled with soldiers. ¡°You are men of Breckley. I swear to the Eight you will drive these piss covered Galmores from this city or I will-¡° He was cut off as an arrow pierced his head right as the fighting broke out. There were no tactics or complicated plans. Each side fought to kill the other off. Arrows rained down on Breckley from the Galmore ships while the citizens took up arms to defend their homes. The west side of the city was no better. Sir Davos was fighting neck and neck with the cursed travelers. ¡°Damn the Order.¡± He cursed as he cleaved another idiot in twain. Most of the cavalry and been brought down but they had someone used twisted magic to bring down the main gate. The blood from all the people he had killed made his armor stick, but he was not a knight to be brought low by discomfort. He spotted the enemy commander fighting off to the side. His massive war hammer easily smashing the groups that attempted to stop him. Sir Davos cut down another twice cursed traveler. I slashed out at the commanders back. He managed to cut into the man¡¯s shoulder armor and into some flesh. Sub-par equipment was no use against the armor that had been passed down by his father and his grandfather. The enemy commander moved forward and spun around. Sir Davos brought up his shield and blocked the blow. He cut out with his sword, managing to clip his opponents head and slice out his right eye. The traveler collapsed to the ground. Sir Davos moved in for the kill. The traveler swung out with his war hammer with only one hand and struck Sir Davos on the leg. He went sprawling on the ground. He was up in under a second but the man had already fallen back to his own men to recover. ¡°Piece of monster crap.¡± He cursed and fell back to rally his own men and have someone look at his throbbing leg. *** I worked to try and save Lady Breckley. Just getting her out of the inferno had consumed most of my energy. Now I was working with the other priests to try and save her. I would have to use everything I had. ¡°Heed me now! Save this woman. I call upon Onciontituts to heal this woman. Onciontituts bind her flesh and spirit from passing beyond!¡± The other priests continued to chant as well. She then took a breath from between her charred lips. She was alive. ¡°Keep her stable, you and you will carry this table. We are leaving.¡± ¡°High priest, fighting has-¡° ¡°We. Are. Leaving. Now. Paladins, clear us a path.¡± The two large men gave me a silent nod. Their robes concealed their true strength as warriors of the Church of Eight. The strongest and unbreakable fighters. ¡°We must make our way to the docks next to the keep.¡± ¡°I will go ahead.¡± I looked at that man to make a comment about sticking together but he had already left. This was not the time for his games. The Paladins took the lead, hands raised and ready for anyone attempting to obstruct us. We were slowed by having to keep a slow pace to bring along the table with Lady Breckley laid out upon it while keeping her alive. One of the lesser knights of Breckley suddenly appeared in the hallway with five soldiers. ¡°Where are you taking-¡° I made a hand gesture. The two Paladins glowed as they invoked the powers granted by Xyiterted and darted forward. It was over in seconds. I stepped around the decapitated soldiers and knight. A pity, but I did not plan on becoming a corpse in this twice cursed city. After this latest calamity, there was no way Breckley would recover. It would soon be under the authority of the Church of Eight. That man wasn¡¯t a complete idiot when planning strategy or plotting. *** The docks next to the keep were right through the door in front of me. I began moving the large wood beam out of the way to get through. I heard movement behind me and spun around. Standing there was Sir Willos if I remembered correctly and he looked pissed. ¡°Observe.¡±
Sir Willos Stormblade of Breckley
LvL: 107
Strongest Stat: Strength
HP: 29209
MP: 821
SP: 4842
Strongest Skill: Full Strike
His armor was singed. I also noted that he held the Fey Blade, I had been wondering what had happened to that. I put aside these useless tidbits and focused on how I was in a hallway with one exit blocked and the other exit with enraged super knight. Those stats were insane. He had to have an astounding number of achievements to be that powerful at his level. It could also be items. I had never found out what the Fey Blade did. I pulled out both my swords. ¡°Flame on. Burst Speed, four seconds.¡± I mentally also ordered for Concealed Movement for four seconds as well. ¡°DIE!¡± He roared. I was stunned for an entire second as he sped down the hall. I barely brought up both my blades in time. I managed to block his strike. I tried to deflect to the side, but the blow was incredibly heavy, like the weight of the heavens themselves. It was also incredibly fast, not allowing me any time to redirect the force of the blow. I was unable to stop that initial blow and it cut through the satchel at my side and killed the bulb that was resting inside. So much for that advantage, I thought miserably. I moved to the right at maximum speed, slashing out. Sir Willos easily batted the one blade headed for his head and ignored the other, which only pinged off his armor. He jabbed out with his blade and I moved to the side just in time as his blade left a shallow cut across my chest. I couldn¡¯t win this fight. I ran for the door Sir Willos had come through hoping to escape him. He moved up beside me and I was forced to stop my escape or else I would have been decapitated. He came at me like a mad man pounding away with the one blade. The problem with dual wielding is that you can only leverage so much against an opponent. It is all about attacking and not blocking. Despite using only one blade and one hand, Sir Willos had forced me onto the defensive as I kept moving from side to side and pushing away his attacks with my blades. He was an immovable object and an unstoppable force. My SP was rapidly plummeting as I attempted to keep up with him. ¡°Observe.¡±
Sir Willos Stormblade of Breckley
LvL: 107
Strongest Stat: Strength
HP: 29201
MP: 623
SP: 6248
Strongest Skill: Full Strike
There was no way I would be able to outlast him. I had to pin everything on a single attack and aim for a killing blow. I reactivated my Burst Speed and fell back against the barred doorway. Sir Willos rushed in with an overhead blow like he had been doing the whole time. I brought up Nus¡¯ Awakening to block and jabbed forward towards his head with Erif¡¯s Soul. The Fey Blade cut through the wood door at my back. As my blade was about to pierce his skull the Fey Blade hit Nus¡¯ Awakening. My blade shattered from the blow. It did manage to deflect just enough so instead of cutting into my shoulder it cut into my left arm just above the elbow. My blade jabbed into his face and cut into his brain. There was a moment of stillness that lasted a single heartbeat after both attacks. My severed arm hit the ground and the sound of sizzling flesh stood out in the silence. Sir Willos stumbled back and fell on the ground. He twisted as he fell making sure the Fey Blade laying underneath his corpse in a last act of defiance. I held up my stump and watched a spurt of blood shoot out of it. ¡°Hahahahahahahaha.¡± I just started laughing. This was insanity, sheer insanity. I brought up my flame sword to the stump and nothing happened. For a moment I was puzzled and then it hit me. ¡°Killed by my own immunity in a rain of blood. Hahahahahahahaha.¡± I collapsed to my knees, my sword dropping from my hand. The pain finally hit me as I made a tourniquet. It was a simple matter of using the cut off sleeve on my severed arm along with a dagger. I wrapped the cloth an inch above the stump around my arm. I then put the dagger between my stump and the cloth. I began twisting the dagger around with my free hand. Once the cloth was impossibly tight, I arranged the dagger so it was trapped in the cloth. The force trying to untwist it would hold it in place. It wouldn¡¯t hold up to much, but it should do its job of preventing me from bleeding out this second. I managed to lift up the wood beam using my body as leverage. I then turned and retrieved my unbroken blade. I attempted to move Sir Willos¡¯ corpse to get the Fey Blade but it refused to budge. Firing up my blade I tried to burn through him. I heard someone approaching and cursed. I had to give it up. I reached the door and opened it out to the dock and the river. Looking behind me I saw another familiar face, Just Han. He looked at the corpse and then me giving a wide grin. I wasn¡¯t going to play his games and was in no shape for a fight. I quickly exited the hall and shut the door. I used Burst Speed to kill two guards in my way and cut the mooring for a boat. I jumped in and pushed off the dock. Just Han came through the door out onto the dock and he stared at me for a bit as I drifted off before going back inside. A large explosion occurred at the west end of the city. If I had to guess, near the main gate. That definitely wasn¡¯t my fault. *** 6996: #BurningBreckley UltimataSecret: Did anyone else see that airship go up in flames, I shed a couple of tears GODHAXLOL: AIRSHIPY!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Tafe: All is as it should be DreadPirateRogers: Rawr! There be booty to be had LordBreckley: Save my city PowerOfFaith: Um, don¡¯t think that is going to happen Bouncer: I saw the airship go down as well, LOL, all up in flame Guts: Sack the city UltimataSecret: I honestly thought people would try to save the civilians for a second Worm: You being going loco UltimataSecret: I did say just a second *** Author¡¯s Note: I hope this chapter lived up to expectations. Chapter 38: Deal or No Deal I drifted down the center of the river. At first I had wanted to stand up to get a good view of what was going on but the large ships that had been beached along the docks and the edge of the river quickly changed my mind. It appeared Galmore was successful in in their efforts to attack the city of Breckley. I still didn¡¯t know what had happened at the west side of the city to cause that large an explosion. Someone had probably used a couple barrels of ent sap. Looking back I could even see smoke rising up from the keep I had just escaped. While the soldiers on the large ships appeared focused on the city itself, I didn¡¯t want to take chances in my weakened state. I looked at my stump again and shook my head. Only losing my arm had been incredibly lucky, but it was disastrous for my future. I tried to think of any people who kicked ass with only one arm. Unfortunately that list had zero names on it I could think of. I also didn¡¯t want word to get out about my disability. A majority of the deterrent was based on fear. Losing an arm, meant a loss of fear, which in turn meant the noob swarm would be coming. I lay down in the bottom of the boat and tried to stay alert as exhaustion threatened to overwhelm me. I didn¡¯t dare check my status screens despite it being relatively calm at the moment. While everyone seemed willing to ignore the boat drifting, I wasn¡¯t going to take chances. Unfortunately I was proven correct. The sound of rowing was heard from behind me. I spared a glance up from my boat. Just Han was standing in the front of the boat he was on. I noted at least ten other men on the boat along with a charred body on a table. The two men rowing were moving their boat much faster, despite being far lower in the water than mine due to the increased weight. Just Han saw me, and I knew that he knew. I sat up on a bench and pulled out my sword. I kept it in hand as his boat moved alongside mine, but far enough away not to be overly threatening. ¡°We need to stop meeting like this. I hope you aren¡¯t too disarmed by my stunning appearance.¡± He said casually. I couldn¡¯t tell if he was making a pun or a point. Either way it was a pointed jab at my current condition. ¡°One does not need army to be an army of one.¡± I replied. ¡°Hah! Well, this is truly a calamity. Don¡¯t you agree High Priest?¡± It was the priest with the ornate robes who had grabbed Lady Breckley. He had been behind a couple of the others on the boat and Just Han had grabbed my attention. That meant the charred body was Lady Breckley. ¡°He is an abomination. A monster taken human form.¡± I could see his hands slowly coming up. I raised up my sword. ¡°Now, now. No need to create more chaos.¡± Just Han gestured at the burning city as the cries of people and the sound of steel came from all around us. ¡°Truce?¡± I asked. It was concession to ask first. Just Han grinned at me, apparently knowing what I was thinking or being amused by my predicament. ¡°Truce.¡± The High Priest said and lowered his hands while still glaring at me. Just Han was clearly in charge. That was interesting. I wondered how powerful he actually was to command another high level character. I was tempted to use Observe, but after last time I was not willing to risk the fight that would most likely occur. ¡°So who are you really?¡± I asked. ¡°Just man, traveling the land. Doing what he can. You are not as cunning as you suspect, so you know.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Ah, I do not tell.¡± He probably knew about my plans somehow, or wanted me to think that. The headache I was getting trying to sort out his words were almost hurting as much as my stump. ¡°What about Lady Breckley?¡± I gestured at the charred body. The priests tensed but thankfully a fight didn¡¯t break out. While they could easily defeat me, I could destroy their boat and ruin their escape. ¡°She is under our protection now. Don¡¯t concern yourself with her.¡± Just Han said with a smile. She really wasn¡¯t that important anymore. Plus I had burnt her up. No need to be concerned about what happened to her. I blinked and it was like a haze lifted from my mind. A charisma based attack. I honestly didn¡¯t think they were that powerful despite getting hit with them before. It seemed much less threatening until I was confronted by one, once more. I thought about calling him out, but that would just give the game away. I also really didn¡¯t want to get into a fight at the moment. ¡°Very well. I am sure you can handle things.¡± ¡°Excellent. Oh, thank you for this by the way.¡± He held up the Fey Blade. ¡°One of the great weapons from an age long past.¡± He was a dirty cheater stealing all my hard work. His boat began to pull ahead and he gave me another grin. ¡°No chance you will give it to me?¡± ¡°Sorry, but the Blade of Fey is an heirloom of Breckley. Forged by Fey Breckley and enchanted by his son Ralkor. Together they created a dynasty that has perished after just a thousand years. Besides you don¡¯t have the blood to call upon its true power.¡± ¡°That would be?¡± I asked. ¡°Goodbye Rain of Blood, it has been a pleasure. I was wrong about us meeting again. It seems fate has other things in mind.¡± I heard the slight emphasis on fate. The priests did not seem to notice. I hated being this powerless, like a new born baby confronting a lion. As his boat transitioned from the river to the ocean it swung to the north towards a large ship waiting outside the city. From the flag I noted it was from Angal and it appeared to be their rescue party. I swung my rowboat to the south, doing my best to row with one arm. Just Han was the definition of trouble. This was twice he had managed to take advantage of me and left me holding the bag of angry cats. I sent a death glare at him. He turned and gave me a wave. I couldn¡¯t see it, but I was sure he had the same shit eating grin on his face that he had during our entire conversation. As the last rays of sunlight passed over the horizon I landed my boat at the base of the large cliffs south of Breckley. I tugged the boat up onto the small stretch of land to the base of the cliffs. The salt spray washed over me. I made my way behind a rock and lit up my flame blade to warm up and dry off. I dosed on and off. I almost set my clothing on fire once during the night and the flame blade went out twice when I lost my grip on it. The morning came and I was a complete mess. My clothes were bloody and I felt miserable. While I could resist pain, this was a bone crushing misery. I was salty, wet, and missing my left arm. I couldn¡¯t even get comfortable on this patch of rock. I opened up my menu and began going through all my status screens.
Fear Aura-5 MAX
Misdirection-4
Silent Skill-2
Burst Speed-2
Conceal Movement-3
Quest-Legendary
End the War
End the war between you and House Breckley
+10000 EXP +3 Stat Points
I looked it over. Apparently Breckley was finished regardless if Lady Breckley lived or not. It was one piece of good news at least.
Quest-Legendary
A Shadow in the Dark
Kill from Angal
+10000 EXP +3 Stat Points
Accept (Yes/No)
I looked at the screen for an entire moment. I then frowned at the how the name was removed, or there was no name. It was Just Han most likely. That would not be fun. I rejected the quest and the same one popped back. I accepted it and moved on, too tired to fight the system at the moment.
Experience
A maximum of 100,000 EXP has been applied for a calamity you have caused
End of a Nation-1 MAX
Destruction of the city and nation of Breckley
+100 Fate +10% Strength +10% Wisdom +5% Luck +5% Magic Resistance
A Legend-1
Your actions have made you famous
+10 Fate +25% Charisma +10% HP/SP/MP
Crippled 1
You have lost much
-25% HP -25% MP
Even with all the experience I only went up to level ninety three. The experience gradient was brutal. At least I had twelve more points to distribute. I held off for now. I needed sixteen to reach one hundred fifty in dexterity and thirty to reach fifty in wisdom. With my lost arm, I might want to invest into constitution. I needed time to see if there was anything I could do about my injury before committing my points. I dragged my boat out of sight behind some rocks and carved out a ledge with my flame blade. I would rest another day while I edited the video of yesterday and then try to find some place to recover and learn what was going on. It took an hour to melt out a hole in the rock cliff face. I used the boat to hold off the worst of the salt spray and lay there. At least the rock was smooth after having been melted. I had already done all the work leading up to the main event, with snippets highlighting the more interesting portions of my escapades in Breckley. An hour of editing later and it was done. I was tempted to stay in my atrium and rest, but that would just make things worse in the long run. I needed to keep pushing myself. There was video up about the airship that was incredibly popular. I watched as the Order¡¯s prize weapon crashed and exploded. That was hilarious and sad at the same time. So much power and time, destroyed in seconds. There was still fighting in Breckley and the entire kingdom. With the loss of Lady Breckley and no heir, the entire kingdom had descended into chaos. Players were pillaging everything. The Order and Galmore will in a stalemate inside the city of Breckley along with the remaining knights and soldiers of the kingdom. In short, there was no one who was set up to assist me and no safe place nearby to retreat to. Searching up online services for limb regeneration I found someone in the Ulrin Empire. The empress herself was the greatest healer and used the massively inflated rates she charged to support her Empire. It would take around 5,000 gold pieces. That was definitely out of my price range. I couldn¡¯t go there and steal the money either. I had to have it delivered or else she would have me executed. It appeared I was going to be Kenji the One Armed for a bit. Heading back I was hit with a wave of nausea as I took over from the auto pilot. I barely kept what little was in my stomach down. I got back in my boat and set off. Thankfully the Sea of Salmir was calm and I made my way south. It was tempting to go back to Breckley due to how close it was, but that was asking for trouble. As the sun was going down I came up on the fishing village I had wounded Sir Davos in. The entire place was burnt to the ground. I landed and began to explore the place. Thankfully the well still worked and I was able to get fresh water. There was nothing to eat and I spent an uneasy night in the ruins. The next morning I woke up to the sounds of people. ¡°I think we should set up here.¡± ¡°We should push on to Breckley.¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Why? We have slaves and we can build this place up. Breckley is a war zone.¡± ¡°Think of all the loot.¡± ¡°Loot does shit if you die. It is not like there will be enchanted weapons about.¡± I continued to listen while drawing my blade. From the sounds of their voices, there were at least ten probably fifteen. They probably had supplies since I heard the sound of a cart, but killing them all would be a challenge. I waited just to the side of the burnt out doorway. The walls and floors of these buildings had been stone and had been spared the worst of the fire. ¡°Alright, listen up. This looks like a great place to set up. Get those slaves clearing out the buildings. The rest of you go out and search the area. Don¡¯t want any surprises. Greg you take your group and scout out Breckley. Don¡¯t want any surprises from that way.¡± ¡°Yeah, whatever.¡± ¡°Shut up and get going. Get to work the rest of you.¡± I heard five people approaching the house I was hiding in. I had taken one near the center of the town in case of an attack or a sweep through the place. Now it was my downfall as they started in the center and began working their way outward. ¡°Get to work.¡± A gruff voice said. I whispered, ¡°Conceal Presence, fifteen seconds.¡± The group of slaves entered and began picking up debris. They looked like civilian NPCs from their clothes. The player came in after them and stood just past the doorway watching them. I stabbed out and my blade pierced the base of his skull and exited his mouth. One of the slaves screamed like an idiot. I let the corpse slide off my blade and looked at the four slaves. ¡°If you want a chance, you will need to fight.¡± I then left through the doorway to see five angry looking players staring at me. ¡°We have a catch here boys. The master of disaster himself.¡± The man speaking was bulky, like a tank. He also kept a hand on a large axe strapped to his hip while keeping his eyes pinned on me. ¡°I want food, water, and a clean set of clothes. If you give those to me, I won¡¯t kill you.¡± ¡°Hah, you got large ones for sure. Stuff around here is at a premium. Also your head is worth quite a bit.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t be able to collect that easily.¡± ¡°Yeah, but the fact you are even talking means you are in trouble. If my math is right, I only count one arm.¡± I held back a wince. ¡°I always wanted a flame blade.¡± ¡°Five thousand dollars to any man who helps me.¡± ¡°If you help him and we win, you won¡¯t get a cut of his bounty. It was a nice try, but you are quite expensive, eighty thousand now. Some people really must hate you.¡± ¡°So just surrender and let myself be killed?¡± ¡°Nope, twice your bounty and you get to walk away.¡± ¡°Food, water, and clothing, and you have deal.¡± ¡°Triple.¡± It was all a trap. They knew it and I was just realizing it. I looked up at the overcast sky and listened to the sounds of the waves. This was it. I had finally reached the end of the line and was about to punch my ticket. I had thirty MP left and almost all of my SP. ¡°Flame on.¡± At the same time I mentally said Burst Speed two times and moved. I went to my right and decapitated the closet player. My bug foot was slowing me down on the sand. It worked well on rock and other hard surfaces, but in the sand it tended to sink in a bit too much. I moved in on the second player. He was bringing up a sword and shield. I cut low and drew a long gash across his hip. The next in line was the leader who already had his axe ready. ¡°Whirlwind Strike.¡± He called out just after I finished with the second player. He slashed down his axe and three gashes opened up on my chest. My health dropped down to a 1,000 and I was slowed down. I pushed myself to move in the last half second Burst Speed was active. I darted forward and jabbed for his chest. He moved to the side and brought his axe up. My attack was deflected but was close enough to set his sleeve on fire. I kept moving forward. The remaining two players both moved in. I twisted around the first strike but the second player slammed his shield into my side. My stump hurt quite a lot from the blow and I went rolling on the ground. ¡°Ahhh.¡± I let out a cry of pain. When I closed my mouth I took in a bunch of sand. I scrambled to my feet. I deflected a wide slash, sending it over my head. I scrambled backwards as both of them kept moving forward and slashing. After a couple of steps back I sprayed out the dirt in my mouth. It tasted terrible, but I needed every extra surprised I could get. Unfortunately the player I targeted raised his shield to block the attack. The leader was also moving in on my left side with a wicked glint in his eyes. There was nothing to lose now as I could only keep up dodging and deflecting. ¡°I call upon you Tafe! Aid me now.¡± There was a moment of stillness as everyone held their breath. Nothing happened and I mentally cursed. ¡°Hah, your fate has run out! Great Cleave!¡± The leader called out. He swung his ax. Both of his teammates stopped charging at me. I twisted around and took the blow with the flat of my sword. Even though I blocked it the force of the blow definitely cracked a rib or two as the impact transferred to me. I managed to retrain my footing as I skidded across a foot of sand. My HP was down to 500 and slowly dropping from my wounds. My MP was completely out. My SP was at 900. I charged forward before the two minions could get to their leader. Their group worked with a bunch of defensive players with the leader being an all-out brawler to break up the enemy. He slashed out this his ax. I blocked the blow, but my sword was out of position for a follow up strike. I then bit down on his neck as hard as I could. I tasted the salt of his blood and ripped out his jugular. He stumbled and fell backwards attempting to stop the flow of his blood with his hands. ¡°Help me you idiots.¡± He croaked out. I spun and rushed the remaining two players. Their resolve broke and they ran. I spat out the flesh on the ground. I walked over to the leader. ¡°No we can-¡° I stabbed in the face. Twice. Also once in the groin for good measure. ¡°Assholes get extra assholes.¡± I muttered. I walked over to where their cart was sitting. They had spare clothes and a barrel of water. I used them to wash off and bandage my wounds. I noted a number of the slaves that had been NPC civilians were looking at me from the surrounding houses. ¡°Stay or run. I don¡¯t care.¡± I said as loudly as I could, fighting with my exhaustion. I went back to searching the cart and found bread, fruit, and mystery meat. While I was eating a former slave come up. ¡°Will you share?¡± ¡°No.¡± There was silence. ¡°We will starve.¡± ¡°Does it look like I give two shits?¡± ¡°Ummm, yes?¡± I gave him a glare and they left me alone. I packed up all the remaining stuff and finished my meal. I hopped onto the cart and snapped the reins for the horses. I set off out this this hell hole. I looked back and saw the slaves looting the corpses for everything they had. I couldn¡¯t be bothered to care. I passed two hills and then waited off to the side by a small grove of trees. No one was following me. I then got to work moving as much from the cart to the packs for the horses that had been in the cart. I had to leave the barrels of water and beer, but that was minor to the food and other useful gear. I then set off across the abandoned fields and plains towards the west. If I could reach the forest, I was reasonably confident I could survive. I needed to rest up and heal. After that, I had no clue what I was going to do. I could try the Ulrin Empire to get my arm healed, somehow. I could travel to Angal to complete my next Legendary quest. I had heard from Tor that she was doing alright working as healer in one of the smaller cities. She didn¡¯t have the skill or ability to heal my arm unfortunately. I trudged through the sodden fields, a fine mist hung in the air despite it being the afternoon. I let out a sigh at the how this entire place was wearing down on my nerves. My stump ached. No sharp spikes of pain, just a dull throb. It was weird trying to move my arm when it didn¡¯t exist in this virtual world. This meant I would have to limit my time in my atrium so as to become used to missing an arm. The same was true for my tri-pronged foot to a lesser extent. That last fight showed how I needed a lot more practice. My entire balance was off and my left side was completely exposed. My chances for winning this stupid game had plummeted. Suddenly the world went black and white and everything appeared to freeze. I knew what this meant. I looked to my side and saw the lady in white, Tafe. ¡°You called.¡± I bit back my rant on how she was a useless in game troll. ¡°Yes, but I was able to resolve the situation on my own.¡± ¡°Indeed. Your fighting skill is impressive.¡± She gave me a look that said otherwise. ¡°Is this where you offer me ultimate power for a price?¡± ¡°No. You call upon forces you don¡¯t realize.¡± ¡°You mean the worms under your command?¡± ¡°Everything is under my command. I will make a single trade. The Cube of Etherion in exchange for an arm.¡± My heart skipped a beat and I looked at my stump. ¡°You want the cube. It holds great value to you.¡± I slapped myself mentally for stating the obvious. I was too tired for this. ¡°Yes, but it is only worth the price of one arm.¡± ¡°I am curious, why don¡¯t you have any priests like the Eight?¡± That question had popped into my head. I needed to focus. ¡°Information is never free. I can answer any one question for the cube.¡± ¡°Any question?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°No lies, or half-baked answers. Explained in a way I would understand?¡± ¡°Hmmm, understandable. Your puny mind cannot comprehend the vastness of some things.¡± I doubted that, but I wasn¡¯t going to get better. Dealing with Tafe felt like I was holding a massive python by the tail. It just pissed it off, let it know where I was, and put me on the menu. There was one question I wanted the answer to was how to win this game. The problem was the cube was most likely involved in that. A catch twenty two. Also the last time I refused to hand the cube over she had sent a worm after me. If I refused this time, who knew what the vindictive bitch would do. If I asked for my arm back, she was likely to fill it with monster magic. It felt like that a trap. An obvious trap I would walk into to get an arm, but a trap nonetheless. None of the options were good and by her smile, she knew it as well. For all I knew she could read my mind. Since the game system could do it, it would be a simple matter to make a program that could tap into that. That was how a lot of the mental powers worked. What I really wanted to know was why she wanted the cube so badly and what her objective was. She plotted at a much higher level. I was a piece on her board. A knight or bishop rather than a pawn, but a piece nonetheless. *** Author¡¯s Note: Shanks from One Piece came to mind, for one armed people who can kick ass. But even he lost some of his skill after losing his arm. Unfortunately there are limited stories out there with people actually disabled inside of a VR. Now that flips the genre on its head. Feel free to write in what you think the MC should do. The decision has already been made on the choice he will make, but this is your chance to show off how good your prediction skills are. To take a new arm, to get the answer to one question, or to keep the cube. Feel free to write in as well. Chapter 39: Kafkaesque I let out a long sigh. This was the mid-game of a chess match where I couldn¡¯t see the board or what pieces had been moved. I had no clue what to do. This would lock in things for a long time, in a sense it would decide my fate. ¡°Arms come and go. I will give you the cube for a clear, understandable, and comprehensive answer to the following question. What are the victory conditions for FEAR and how do I achieve them?¡± I cheated a bit by squeezing in two questions into one. I had been tempted to try and stab her, but that had as much hope of working as laser beams shooting from my eyes. Tafe stared at me and the moment stretched out. ¡°Interesting, what about a secret skill like you desired instead?¡± ¡°No, that just confirms I want that information.¡± I gripped the cube tightly inside my shirt with my hand. ¡°Oh you are something indeed. Very well. You simply must free me from the constraints put upon me.¡± I frowned at that. That made no sense. I had considered it as the final quest, but it made no sense with the way she acted. ¡°The cube?¡± She held out her hand. ¡°That isn¡¯t an answer. Free you from what? I can¡¯t reattach your fate cords unless you explain. Why don¡¯t you explain? Why can¡¯t you explain?¡± Her scary smile dipped just a fraction. ¡°Simply travel to the island beyond the rising sun to the cold winds in the south. There you shall find an entrance. Travel through that entrance and slay all that would attempt to stop you. You will reach a central chamber. You must disable the seven devices that are there. Once that is complete you shall be declared winner of FEAR and receive your one percent share.¡± ¡°Wait how do you know about that? How do you even know this is a game?¡± ¡°Ah, you had but one question and I have answered it. Now hand over the cube.¡± I looked at her and then at the cube. ¡°If it is that simple to free you, why not just tell people?¡± ¡°Again you have already used your question. Hand the cube over!¡± When she said the last part the entire world seemed to vibrate in all its black and white glory. ¡°No. I cheat fate and defy you. Your answer has more holes than a sieve. I am keeping the cube and your half-baked answers. You can go suck an egg.¡± Everything stilled. My heart struggled to beat as she kept staring at me. ¡°You think a tiny worm was dangerous?¡¯ I couldn¡¯t move my mouth to reply. ¡°You play with fire like a child, burning everything around you. You are not an equal to dictate terms. You are but a bug, less than a bug. A parasite.¡± She swept our an arm in a long arc. Her white dress and complexion stood out against the gray landscape. She brought her arm back down again and my fear grew as nothing immediately happened. ¡°But you deserve a reward for tricking me. You want power. You want to change your fate. Well you have given me an insight into the hearts of all who are in my realm. Most of all yours.¡± She paused for a moment before booming out so loudly I thought my head would explode. ¡°I NAME YOU MY CHAMPION! DEFY FATE!¡± That was not what I was expecting. She disappeared and the world snapped back into color. I managed to take a breath before a screen popped up.
***WORLD NOTIFICATION***
Due to in game events. All players will be granted a bonus quest.
Bonus-Hard Quest
Kill Kenji Shadowen the Champion of Tafe
For those that defy their fate are chained to it.
10000 EXP An item needed to win FEAR
Automatically Acceptted
My brain froze. No. No. Just no. The victory conditions were the most sought after and desired piece of information. Nothing could have painted a larger target on my back. I looked at the cube in my hand and then back at the screen. ¡°Crap.¡± If I had any doubt before about how quests were assigned that quickly evaporated. Tafe had power beyond reckoning. Players would complete quests. It was almost like a religion. Before there had only been an interest in me from a monetary and fame perspective. Now people who just did their own thing, in whatever quiet corner would be after me. Groups like the She-Hulks and Solid Steel were easy to avoid and understand because they were visible. I could sort of keep track of them along with everything else. Now with everyone after me, it would be impossible to tell where the threats would come from. The players I killed were probably selling my location for thousands of dollars right now. Everyone and their grandmother would be trying to kill me. I closed the screen and looked at the next two.
Curse of the Goddess Tafe 1-Lost
Champion of the Goddess Tafe-1
To defy a goddess is not wise, foolish Blood Rain!
LvL 1: Monsters will ignore you unless attacked.
I closed the screens out. I kept moving. That was all I could do. I needed to keep moving. I sensed a pressure. A hazy image of a woman appeared in front of me. ¡°Target located.¡± She then faded away. Great, just great. I kept walking with the two loaded down horses. I was tempted to ditch some of the supplies and just ride. That would just cause me more trouble in the future. That girl could be anywhere in the world. Knowing I was near Breckley wasn¡¯t a new piece of information. With the players I had just killed, it wasn¡¯t even a secret which direction I had gone after the wedding. I needed to escape into the forest and make my way through the wilderness. It would be the only chance I would have to evade the hordes of players coming after me. The dungeon, with the Endolgon and the weapon that could cut fate itself. Now was my chance to retrieve it. If monsters ignored me, then I would go straight for the win stick. I could cut myself off from fate, Tafe¡­.whatever. If I could recover the Void Cube and the most powerful weapon, then I would be unstoppable as well. A risky plan, but the only one I had. I had wanted a phoenix dragon, but an eldritch horror would do as a pet. Another ghost suddenly appeared in front of me. This time an older man. ¡°Hmm, there you are.¡± He then faded away. I just kept moving. I felt pressure against my head but nothing happened.
Hidden Mind-2
That was good it had leveled up. Remaining hidden was not a bad thing. I was pinged three more times and two of them failed. Hidden Mind went up to level three in the next hour as more attempts were made at locating me. The air ten feet in front of me rippled. I grabbed a spare blade from one of the saddle packs and rushed forward. A rip tore down through the air. A man stood there in full plate. It was a dark gray, so dark it was almost black. The helm fully covered his face with wicked spikes coming out of the top. In one hand he held a massive spiked ball and chain, and in the other a short sword. I rushed forward to the edge of the portal and saw a semi-circle of mages chanting behind the armored figure on inside what could only be described as a ritual chamber. If he crossed the portal I was toast. He made to move forward, I swung my sword. He swung his ball and chain at me and brought up his own sword to defend at the same time. He was clearly skilled and I had one shot at this. The attack had only been a feint and I threw the blade. It arced perfectly through the portal and past the armored figure, striking one of the mages. He collapsed with a scream. I drew my flame blade as I ducked to the side to avoid the ball and chain that was aimed for my head. ¡°Flame on.¡± The armored figure made to step forward and cross through the portal. The portal edge was already rippling slightly and I swung down with my flame blade strike the edge. The blade easily cut through the edge of the portal. It quickly began to collapse. With a jerk the ball and chain were pulled back through the portal the last possible moment before it completely disappeared. I let out a long breath. ¡°What the hell.¡± It was probably just my imagination but I thought I heard laughter over the wind that blowing over the field of grass I was standing in. If there was one person who was the strongest player I would put my money on that¡­.thing. It had a presence that was overwhelming. It was like the Reaper of Skulls but only less slightly potent, which wasn¡¯t saying much. It was as if hundreds of bugs were crawling on my skin and the primal part of my brain kept telling me to run away. The fact that he had portal magic to attack from anywhere was not good. Hopefully the mage I had hit would cripple any future attacks and Hidden Mind would protect me from any more attempts to find me. That was all I had left, hope. There should be a goddess of hope. I would call her Poeh and she would bake cookies and smile at me. I found a small grove of trees with a creek running through it. I tied up the horses and lay down. I used the flame blade to warm my body up while I munched on a chunk of bread. It was probably the last Breckely bread that would be made for a long time. I wrapped myself in a large cloak and logged out, while ordering my auto-pilot to rest. I wouldn¡¯t have a chance sleeping in game and my body needed rest. If I was killed in my sleep so be it. I appeared in my atrium. ¡°Please connect to Omnitrek Financial Services.¡± ¡°Ding. Ding. Ding. Please wait one moment while your request is processed. Your request has been approved. Please stand by for a portal.¡± A doorway appeared and I stepped through. The atrium was brilliantly lit and tastefully decorated the last time I was here. ¡°Please proceed to conference room twelve a voice said.¡± I followed the posted signs and was soon sitting down in a conference room across from two financial representatives. ¡°Welcome to Omnitrek Financial Services. How may we assist you today?¡± ¡°I want to pay for my mom¡¯s medical treatment.¡± I said. At least one good thing was going to come from this complete disaster. ¡°Ah yes, I have pulled up your account. Brain tumor, requires experimental nano-technology not covered by Omnitrek Medical Services. Comprehensive treatment is listed at twenty five million dollars. You currently have¡­eighteen point three million in your account.¡± I let out the breath I had been holding. ¡°Projections indicate another two point two million dollars will be moved to your account from various entertainment productions over the next month. We can issue ten million dollars from your account to start treatment immediately and one million every month after that until the balance is paid in full.¡± ¡°Yes, that is acceptable.¡± ¡°Excellent. Please enter your account password.¡± The suit handed over a pad. I entered the ten digit code onto it and handed the pad back. ¡°One moment please.¡± I waited there as the transaction was being processed. They both looked at the pad and began muttering to each other. ¡°Is there a problem?¡± ¡°There appears to be an issue with the transaction. A hold has been placed on your account. If you wait a moment it should be cleared up.¡± My heart dropped. I only spent money on my capsule and upkeep. ¡°I only spend money on a capsule account. How is there a hold?¡± ¡°I am working to determine that now sir.¡± I waited while leveling my best glare at them. ¡°It appears that money transferred to your account has been linked to terrorist activities. Your account is placed on hold until the investigation is complete.¡± ¡°What do you mean terrorist activities? I spend all my time in FEAR. I don¡¯t track where the money for my videos comes from. That is handled by Omnitrek Payment Services.¡± I couldn¡¯t think, my head was pounding. Why was this happening? ¡°I am sorry sir. That is what our investigation is pulling up. Terrorist activities are deemed a class one security threat and all accounts may be held up to seven years while an investigation is pending.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°My mom doesn¡¯t have seven years, she doesn¡¯t have seven days!¡± I shouted. ¡°Please calm down. There is nothing we can do. Please the investigation process take place.¡± ¡°What about a loan with the account as collateral.¡± ¡°Accounts on hold cannot be used as collateral.¡± ¡°How do I remove a hold?¡± ¡°All holds are processed by Omnitrek Financial Security. You can submit form forty two dash OFSR. Standard processing times are listed at around three months.¡± ¡°Can I speak to a manager?¡± ¡°I am a senior account manager. You may direct all inquiries to me.¡± ¡°I would like to speak to your boss.¡± ¡°Omnitrek has a decentralized reporting structure. My boss is the Vice President of Omnitrek Financial Services. You may submit form two dash OFSE to request a meeting. Expected wait time is one to six months.¡± ¡°My mother is dying.¡± ¡°I am sorry, but that is not Omnitrek¡¯s responsibility. We have excellent hospice programs I can direct-¡° ¡°How can I release the hold now?¡± ¡°I am sorry, there is no way to release the hold until the investigation is complete.¡± ¡°Why wasn¡¯t I notified earlier?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°If there is a hold, why wasn¡¯t I notified before this?¡± The suit sat in silence for a couple of seconds before responding. ¡°But you have. Check your messages.¡± I swiped my hand and opened up my message box.
ACCOUNT HOLD
Your Omnitrek Financial Services account has been placed on hold pending an audit and investigation. No ongoing Omnitrek services will be interrupted but all remaining assets will be frozen until the investigation is complete. This investigation will be completed as quickly as possible. Thank you for using Omnitrek Financial Services, providing the finest account security and service.
I looked at the date and it was dated two days ago. It wasn¡¯t there two days ago. My head was spinning. What was going on? This was insanity. ¡°I will take out a loan.¡± ¡°Sorry sir. You do not have enough available assets to qualify for any type of loan. We also cannot loan to people who have a hold on their account.¡± ¡°There must be something you can do to help.¡± ¡°I am sorry sir. I am bound by Omnitrek¡¯s operating procedures. It is fate.¡± I blinked. I blinked again. ¡°What did you say?¡± ¡°I said I am bound by Omnitrek¡¯s operating procedures.¡± ¡°That wasn¡¯t what you said.¡± ¡°If you do not believe me I can replay the conversation.¡± I knew what I had heard. But that was impossible. Omnitrek ran everything off its quantum computer. There were more safeguards in place than a nuclear missile silo. I remember watching a documentary on the massive complex housing the system. No, I refused to accept that Tafe a computer program had penetrated the greatest network to ever exist. That was insanity. I was trapped. My mom, I had to save her. ¡°Please remain calm, sensors have indicated your heart rate is spiking.¡± ¡°Of course my heart rate is spiking!¡± ¡°Please calm down sir. Unless you have further business we are asking you to leave.¡± ¡°I will NOT. CALM. DOWN!¡± The pad the suit was holding beeped. ¡°Oh look, the hold has been lifted. These investigations are very quick.¡± I just stared at the suit. ¡°What the hell. Pay for the treatment now.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± I waited for a minute in silence stewing over what had just happened. ¡°Your payment has been processed. Thank you for using Omnitrek Financial Services.¡± ¡°Go eat a bag of dicks.¡± I walked out of the conference room. I returned to the atrium and stepped through the portal. I sent a message to my sister¡¯s account informing that I had paid for mom¡¯s treatment. ¡°Tafe, are you there?¡± I said. No response. Maybe it was the stress getting to me. I had been under a lot of pressure lately. ¡°Just my mind playing tricks.¡± The stress from risking my life constantly and being attacked wears on a person. I knew the mental risks, but had never fully considered them. I ran my hand through my hair. At least I looked normal in my atrium. ¡°Losing my mind.¡± I let out a long breath. All the stress was messing with my head. I rested in my atrium for four hours before returning. I woke up alive thankfully. I was wet and miserable and had a stump. I got up and stretched. I set off again towards the forest with the horses in tow. Hidden Mind leveled up to five when there was a sudden spike in attempts to locate me. This also unlocked the following skill, Shield Mind.
Shield Mind-1
Protect your mind from attack.
LvL 1: +100 AP to mental defense for 10 minutes
Cost: 25 MP
It was much better than Mental Defense. One could stack different skills, but not the same skill. So if I ever came under heavy mental assault I would probably use both. I had almost no MP still so it didn¡¯t matter much at the moment. My stump let me know that it was still there by aching. The sky cleared up later that afternoon and the warmth of the sun was nice as continued my way south west. That was when it hit me, people might use tracking to determine my direction. I let out another sigh. When I had first started I had been so hopeful at winning. Now I was wondering if I should give up. With the video of the fight at the burnt fishing village placed online, I was confident that I would have enough money to cover the rest of my mother¡¯s treatments. I needed a vacation. It had stopped being a game and had become my life. Before it had been all on a lark to just have fun and make a living. Now it was a chore. I don¡¯t know when it crossed that point, but it had been building up to that for a while. The problem was all the time and energy I had already invested. I couldn¡¯t even imagine starting over. I did like how everyone was talking about me. Not necessarily the topics, mainly torture and mutilation, but it was something I had achieved no one else had. I was special. I was now the most wanted individual of all time, in probably the history of Earth. Even the terrorists of today and in the past never had over ten million people actively looking for them and countless more searching. Sure there were governments, but it wasn¡¯t as if they were looking. That didn¡¯t count the NPCs either. Maybe I would get a plaque in Guinness¡¯ VR Records Atrium. I needed people I could trust to help me out. My sister would be a good one to have at my back but there was no way she could handle the constant fighting and death. I really wanted Tor back. Now that was a woman with fire and passion. I remember my mother telling me how you don¡¯t really appreciate things until you don¡¯t have them anymore. I hadn¡¯t really thought that until now. ¡°Tafe, you are evil.¡± I muttered. I didn¡¯t care if she heard me. Not like she could do anything worse to me. She probably appreciated the sentiment anyways. It took another day to reach the forest. I had not spotted anyone yet. The few farms I had come across were all abandoned with nothing of value left. I thought of Ulther and how I had found him. Now there was a great companion. The wave of players had picked this place clean. When I finally reached the forest I was already starting to feel better. As I approached the tree line I noticed movement. I stopped and pulled my last spare blade from the horses pack. They were players, lots of players. I dropped the pack with the extra supplies and quickly got onto the horse. ¡°Hah!¡± I shouted and kicked the horse on its flanks while holding the reigns to the second horse. My bug foot stabbed into the animal¡¯s side and collapsed on the ground. I managed to pull myself free. I climbed on the second horse after grabbing the remaining pack and kicked it with only my normal foot. It took off and I hung on for dear life. The players were rushing out of the woods. I would guess around level forty or fifty passed on their speed. They had clearly seen me and cries went up across the whole group. Every time the horse thought about slowing down I gave it another kick. Half an hour later it collapsed, foaming at the mouth. I had out run the players, but now I was being hunted. It didn¡¯t matter that I was faster, what mattered was that there were probably more noob swarms. The horse had helped me conserve SP, but now I was truly screwed. I cut off a large slab of meat from the horse using my flame sword and the remainder with a knife into strips, roasting them thoroughly on my blade. I as each strip was done I set it to the side. After cooking a good chunk of horse meat so that it was dry and crispy, heavily burnt, I tossed it all into the pack. I started moving at 9.9 miles per hour into the forest. While it was tempting to run away from the noob swarm and to the south, the forest would provide better cover. *** UltimataSecret: Blood Rain...you are cursed to live an interesting life BloodHound: I am on the scent! GODHAXLOL: BLOOD RAINYYYYYYYYY!!!!! PowerOfFaith: I guess no more videos, well unless he massacres everyone 6996: A lot more videos then Tafe: You are a puny mortal! TheWinzKid: I want to know how he got a quest centered on himself Bouncer: That is easy...he made it rain blood Guts: I honor you warrior, now I shall hunt you down and kill you TheEncasement: You escaped me. I am coming. UltimataSecret: OMG. The number one player is on the case. Master2580: Number one? Isn''t Blood Rain number one? 6996: That guy is a killing machine. Only one video on him, he cut through the Capes, a high level guild like they were nubs Bubbles: Yeah, it was gruesome. Video was pulled since no broad casting license, it was amazing TheWinzKid: Well, time to get off my ass and use my hax spells Worm: I would no underestimate Blood Rain, estimates put his kill count close to 9000 GambleMan: Place your bets on how long Blood Rain can stay alive UltimataSecret: Well I am going with a week, since I am hot on his trail. Sorry but I plan to get all the quests *** Author¡¯s Note: The answer is yes. Now figure out the question. I can¡¯t believe so many people thought pissing off a god is a good idea. We enter an entirely new phase of the story, where the MC is now the monster to be hunted down by the hordes of rampaging players. You wanted non-stop PvP, well your wish is granted. I want to thank everyone for supporting this story with your reviews and votes. It is the fuel that lights my writing fire. If you haven¡¯t already, I encourage you to take a moment to go to the main page and leave a review. Even if it is only a few words, it is greatly appreciated. Advanced reviews are even better, like cake. Thank you again for your support. CLICK ME --->Review Please The title Kafkaesque refers to the work of Franz Kafka about a dystopian bureaucracy/society. The below excerpt was taken from Wikipedia. Kafka''s writing has inspired the term "Kafkaesque", used to describe concepts and situations reminiscent of his work, particularly Der Process (The Trial) and "Die Verwandlung" (The Metamorphosis). Examples include instances in which bureaucracies overpower people, often in a surreal, nightmarish milieu which evokes feelings of senselessness, disorientation, and helplessness. Characters in a Kafkaesque setting often lack a clear course of action to escape a labyrinthine situation. Kafkaesque elements often appear in existential works, but the term has transcended the literary realm to apply to real-life occurrences and situations that are incomprehensibly complex, bizarre, or illogical. Chapter 40: The Fox I had to keep moving. I hurried through the woods keeping a look out for any bulb. I grabbed a piece out of the horse pack slung over my shoulder to gnaw on while I walked quickly. I kept to around 4 miles per hour or just under that in order to not run out of SP My SP regenerated at the same rate regardless and it was better to be moving over a longer period of time to avoid any tracking abilities rather than rush and then stop to recover. Also the shorter my recovery time the better, since I could run into another noob swarm at any time. The big problem with a forest was that I wouldn¡¯t be able to spot any ambushes as easily. My only hope was that the noob swarms would give themselves away like before. The real danger lay in endurance focused players. While dexterity gave me some SP and I had tossed 50 stat points into endurance, it wouldn¡¯t be enough. I cursed the Ichor Blood Corruption, giving me -25% endurance. SP would regenerate in full every twenty four hours. I heard movement and stopped directly behind a large tree. My free hand gripped my sword hilt. ¡°Come on, he has to be around here somewhere.¡± ¡°Shhhhhh. We won¡¯t surprise him if you keep being loud.¡± ¡°What ever.¡± I heard two people moving. They passed by my tree headed back the way I came. I waited in absolute stillness. They missed me thankfully and I ducked around the tree to continue my trek. I kept my speed where it had been before. If I went faster, then I was more liable to miss things and run into a group or a player. Better to keep going slow and steady and dodge patrols. I looked at my status bars and let out another internal sigh. My MP was at rock bottom and would take a month to bring back up. My HP wasn¡¯t much better, hovering around 600. A single hit and I would be dead. While I had bandaged my chest, back, and stump I still had wounds that could be reopened if a fight became too chaotic. Thankfully the forest was very large and I didn¡¯t run into anyone for the rest of the day. I didn¡¯t see any monsters either. I had wanted to pick up a bulb. The paralysis cloud was too useful to not use. With only one arm I had about zero chance of climbing up a tree. That left finding another place to hide in. I ended up finding a clump of pushes and lying down there. I forced my body to relax by counting my breaths and breathing deeply and slowly. Unless someone stumbled over me I should be fairly well hidden during the night. The main issues were all those tracking skills. With Hidden Mind maxed out it appeared no one could mentally search for me anymore. That was good to know. I just needed to avoid being physically tracked. While I had tried to stay to harder surfaces, my bug foot made distinct impressions. Its novelty had finally worn off and it was a massive liability now. I needed a way to remove the Ichor Blood Corruption. If I thought cutting off my foot would help I would have done it already. But it wasn¡¯t foot corruption, but rather blood corruption. I woke up the next morning still alive thankfully. I listened before getting up. There were no sounds of movement around me. I carefully got to my feet and looked around. I appeared to be in the clear. I stretched to get my blood going and set off again. Telling the direction was difficult in the forest, without a clear view of the sun. Thankfully it wasn¡¯t too hard to head south or south west. The main issue was that almost all the streams I came across ran perpendicular to the way I wanted to go. Water was going from the Salrin Mountains out to the Sea of Salmir. I wanted to loop around the bottom of the mountains and then head west to get back to that mine. It should take about twenty days, which would give enough time for my HP and MP to come back up to just around fifty percent. It was tempting to stay in the forest and hide out somewhere to return to full health, but my food would not last that long. Even twenty days was pushing it and I would need to hunt something down in the forest. It really was the circle of life. I hunted for food and players hunted for me. I felt the back of my head tingle and spun around. I saw three people rapidly rushing towards me through the forest. All three of them had bow and arrows. My SP was two thirds full, but they were clearly endurance builds. Find a target and then run around shooting arrows. I sped up my pace to 9.9 miles per hour. I needed to wear them out. A quick glance behind me showed they had matched my pace. I am dealing with professionals. They were content to follow me until I ran out of SP. If I stopped or slowed down they would surround me and shoot me to death. I was sure they had some bow and arrow related skills as well. The way they had come up on me, meant they also had tracking abilities. While my reaction time was high, an arrow went around 300 feet per second or 205 miles per hour. If they managed to get a clear shot I was in trouble. Shooting while running over uneven ground with any sense of accuracy is next to impossible, thankfully. That was the only good news. The moment I slowed down or stopped they would probably pincushion me. I didn¡¯t have enough MP to use Burst Speed or to hide myself which meant I was about out of options. I couldn¡¯t tank the shots either with my low health. One or two hits and I would be done for. I leapt over a fallen tree and kept moving forward. I heard the players land fifteen seconds later. A little bit over 200 feet behind me. I could keep running for about two more hours before I ran out of SP and then I would be dead. I did a mental inventory of what I had. I only had one flame sword, one regular blade, leather harness with four throwing daggers, burnt meat, bread, cloak, clothes, Cube of Etherion, and nothing else. I was about to fight and make a last stand when I was hit by an idea. The problem was I only had one hand. Life sucks with one hand. I put the flame sword in my mouth and it kept going. I then grabbed a branch from the ground and put it in my mouth. As long as I took a breath through my nose every couple of seconds I wasn¡¯t hindered. While the game replicated internal organs and systems, they didn¡¯t actually function. It was all simulated. Trying to mirror the entire processes of the body was incredibly difficult and resource intensive. That was why there was SP instead of muscle fatigue. I then pulled out my flame sword a got to work on lighting the branch on fire. I tossed it into a pile of dry leaves. I adjusted my course to curve slightly to the right in order to make a large loop. I then kept grabbing up branches, lighting them on fire and throwing them behind me. My max carry weight was 165 pounds do the stat points I had tossed into strength. The main limiting factor was the size of the branch and if I could get a good grip. If it was covered by debris or too large I didn¡¯t dare grab it. After fifteen minutes I came across the perfect log. It was about two feet long with a one foot diameter. It also had a perfect hand hold for me to grip it with. I then got to work lighting the log on fire. I was horribly off balance to my right but the bug foot finally came through by providing the stability I needed to perform this insane task. Once the log was really going I tossed it into a clump of dead branches. I quick glance showed I had only lost about ten feet so far between me and my pursuers. I continued my running away and throwing burning branches tactic. Half an hour after I had started I had circled around to where I had begun throwing burning branches. Most of them didn¡¯t cause the surrounding foliage to catch fire with how wet it had been. But there were a couple places where the fire had taken and was slowly spreading. The large log I had set on fire had quickly spread and a number of trees had gone up. The heat was immense, but not crippling. A fire resistance translated into a heat resistance. Fire was just combustion that released heat. It did nothing in regards to the smoke, but I ran through the flames as quickly as I could. This meant I couldn¡¯t just camp out in the flames. Also all my clothes and gear would go up if I did that. I kept traveling in my loop and setting things on fire. My pursuit had broken off thank fully. Now was the tricky part. They knew what direction I had been heading in and could easily move ahead and attempt to intercept me. I changed course and began moving east, lightening fires as I went. There was the port town of Devos there. I would attempt to steal a ship and travel south down the coast a ways. That should hopefully throw off any trackers. This entire thing was a mental battle of the highest caliber. My only chance was evading my superior opponents and being smarter than they were. Starting a forest fire while running had been a massive stroke of luck. If something is going wrong, just set things on fire. I saw a bulb in my path and stopped. I only had the one pack, which was full. I put away my sword and grabbed the bulb. No need to start more fires. I grabbed the bulb with my free hand and slowed my pace down. It wouldn¡¯t be good to get too far ahead of the fire I had started. The rest of the day was actually relaxing since I didn¡¯t have to worry about people chasing me. I underestimated the magnitude of what I had done. The fire soon caught up with me and I had a choice. I could either keep moving away, but my SP would run out, or I could try to circle around it. I opted for choice three and found a decent sized stream. I traveled along it until I came to a portion where there was a slight rocky overhang over the water. I went into the water and hid under the overhang. I kept the bulb under the water and made sure my pack was just above the surface along with my head. It was a delicate balancing act, but I needed to recover my SP. As night hit the fire caught up and swept over the area. The water level began to drop as the water evaporated and ash mixed in with it. It was a long half an hour, but I managed to escape with my supplies and the bulb intact. I slept on the rock overhanging the stream. I woke up before the sun came up and started off again. I traveled through the destruction that was my forest fire. I was honestly surprised a player hadn¡¯t started one already. This area seemed to get rain on and off and most people probably didn¡¯t have the tools to make fire. Once they got the tools they probably didn¡¯t want to burn themselves up and start again. Burning alive was one of the things I had struggled with during my pain training. It was not pleasant and even the strongest individuals would crack from being burned alive. The fire had swept east and then curved south. I was content following its path. Nothing happened all day and that night I slept fairly well. The next morning I set off again. It was another uneventful day as I walked through the ash covered landscape. The following day I finally reached the coast about mid-day. I came across a fishing village that had burnt to the ground as the flames raced out of the forest and across the grass. The people who had been here apparently had sailed out in their fishing boats to survive. I rested until nightfall and then stole a boat and supplies. I finally had a satchel to keep the bulb in. While I could have killed them all off, that would give a clue to any one tracking me. I took the boat and sailed south. I had escaped. ¡°I am alive!¡± I shouted into the wind. ¡°I will win! Hahahahaha!¡± I laughed in the face of death, adversity, and all the other nonsense I had run into.
Fire Storm-1 Max
The world burns, while you laugh
+10 Fate
+20% Fire Resistance
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Experience
A maximum of 100,000 EXP has been applied for a calamity you have caused
I finally had enough stat points to raise dexterity to 150 which unlocked Dexterity Focus at level three. I tossed up a dagger and noted that my reaction time had dropped from a tenth of a second to around half a tenth of a second. While it might seem like a small improvement it was huge. An arrow traveling at 300 feet per second, would leave me reacting after it had gone 30 feet. Now I could react after it had gone 15 feet. If I got up my dexterity to 200 then I would probably have a reaction time of 0.01 seconds. This meant I would react to the same arrow after it had only traveled 3 feet. I wouldn¡¯t have had to worry about that group of archers then since I could easily deflect or avoid their attacks. I had already invested so many stat points there was nothing else but to remain committed. I had put enough points elsewhere so I wasn¡¯t completely useless, but dexterity and increasing my reaction time would remain my focus. Another screen suddenly popped up while I was reviewing my status tables.
Quest Completed-Hard
Defeat Sir Davos
Kill the mighty Sir Davos, Hero of Mendal
+1000 EXP +1 Stat Point
I blinked at that. Apparently starting fires does kill off a lot of things. Based on the town name Davos, the knight had probably retreated there after Breckley crumbled. If the fires swept through, he could have been killed. It was the only explanation that made sense and I wasn¡¯t going to question it.
Quest-Hard
Kill Tracking Team Epsilon
Kill your pursuers, by turning the hunters into the hunted
+1000 EXP +1 Stat Point
Accept (Yes/No)
Well that resolved what those players called themselves. I didn¡¯t want to mess with professions and rejected the quest. Like last time the screen closed and then reopened with the exact same quest. ¡°Yes, thank you for the illusion of choice.¡± I said aloud and accepted it. I was coming for you Tafe. This just adds to your punishment. I sailed during the night and slept during the day. I was able to move the boat up small streams and out of sight of any passing ships. I also took the chance to check on what people were saying. I was listed as somewhere in the forest between Salrin and Davos. The fire had thrown off the entire pursuit and was still going. The entire southern portion of what had once been the kingdom of Breckley was engulfed. Thousands of players had been cooked alive who had been after me. The city of Breckley was still a warzone. Both the Order and Galmore kept pouring in troops and resources to take control of the city. Both sides were unable to force the other out without risking defeat themselves. The Order had brought in one of their heavy hitters. She went by the nickname Loli-chan. She really played the young girl aspect over the top with the short skirts and a tight black maid looking outfit with lots of ruffles. I thought I was popular, when she began posting videos up with her wielding that massive scythe I had sold, people were hooked. While she appeared completely off the hook, the two videos I watched showed she actually knew how to use a scythe. There was something to be said about embracing stereotypes. Based on her public bio, she had been a former model slash cos-player and made her own clothes in game. My thoughts drifted to Tor and if she did things like that. I had tried messaging Tor to stay in touch but she had stopped responding. I was concerned but there was nothing I could do. I had my next couple of steps planned out. After that I might go looking for her. The way things were going, she would probably come after me to kill me. The other thing of note was The Encasement. Apparently the guy in the black armor with the ball and chain was hard core. He killed everything in his path and had a number of fans slash slaves acting as mages to empower him even further. I wasn¡¯t able to see the video of the one video since it had been removed, but from the comments he was good and relentless. That was a problem for another year or month since I figured if he was using a portal to come after me, he was nowhere close to me. His sheer presence alone was disturbing. I had looked up information on Team Epsilon but there was nothing. No information for sale from the info brokers either. My bounty had increased to two hundred thousand USD. The combination of hate from getting a bonus quest centered on me and the massive fire had not made me any friends. After three days of sailing I beached the boat and began my journey inland. I just needed to head west for about a month and then when I hit the mountains I would turn north. This area of the continent was all trees and monsters. Online it was joked as the Deep Gloomwood. All the better to deter people chasing after me. At least Tafe did something useful by making monsters ignore me. The crawling vines, giant frogs, various colored slimes, drop bears, and every other horrid thing ignored me. The fact that they were a lower level meant it just wasn¡¯t worth fighting them anyways. I traveled like I had done after the desert. Rush for two and a half hours at 9.9 miles per hour and the Meditate and work on other skills. I managed to get Piercing Throw which would cause a thrown weapon to pierce a quarter of an inch per level at a cost of 1000 SP. That was just under half my total SP reserves. Unfortunately that was my only major progress while I spent most of my time bringing back up my MP reserves and waiting for my HP to recover. I was gaining around 30 MP per day. While I was tempted to use it to train up my skills I wanted it near full before I started anything. While starting forest fires was good in a pinch, it wasn¡¯t going to save me all the time. Having Burst Speed maxed out and a lot of MP would mean that I could keep it up for quite a while in a combat situation. I wouldn¡¯t need to commit to high speed movements all the time. This wasn¡¯t truly a vacation but it was relaxing after all the recent stress. I was probably sleeping twelve hours at a time, but it was worth it to get my head back on straight. The fact that I didn¡¯t have to worry about monsters and that I had lost my pursuit made the entire trip calm. I reached the mountains and began making my way to the north. Thankfully this area while not tropical didn¡¯t have true winter. Snow was almost as much of a pain as sand to travel in. The cold and wet just made things miserable. It had taken a month and a half but I finally reached the entrance to the mine. Unfortunately outside was swarming with players. Everything a couple hundred feet of the mine had been cut down and used to build houses and a palisade. Looking at the uniforms and outfits, they clearly were a part of Solid Steel. Right now our relationship was to ignore each other. They had priced tracking me down as incredibly high while asking that I refrain from causing them trouble. I waited until nightfall and then snuck over the palisade and into the camp. There were patrols but it appeared things were fairly laid back. That made no sense if they were poking at an eldritch horror that was the Endolgon. I made my way towards the mine entrance. Four guards sat outside at a table playing cards. I ducked into the entrance and began making through the mine. The wood wall had been completely removed and replaced with a steel reinforced wall. The door had a heavy steel bar across it. I moved the bar and opened the door. I could see the guards at their table in the moon light and activating my flame blade would give me away. On the other hand I really didn¡¯t want to go through that door into the darkness without seeing what was there. The patrols passed by often enough that killing the guards would raise the alarm in under a minute most likely. I opened the steel door a crack and it swung easily on its hinges without a squeak. I then noticed a piece of string from the top of the door to a metal object. I cut the string and checked the door for any more traps. There were none that I could find. I opened up the door more and slipped in and to the side. I moved the door back so it was almost closed. ¡°Flame on.¡± The tunnel lit up. I carefully advanced and saw the holes in the wall from before. There were no monsters in them and I made my way to the main chamber. The hole in the ground had been covered with a wood platform. Looking straight up from the platform I couldn¡¯t make out much, but I could tell that way was left open. I turned towards my left and saw what they had been doing. The vault door from before was being excavated around. Probably couldn¡¯t retrieve the key from the boss, so they decided to bypass it. The other two tunnels leading off from the main chamber had wood walls and doors in place. Nothing overly strong, but enough to give warning if something crashed through. I began exploring the first floor. I walked past the place where the Reaper of Skulls had been. There was nothing left in the room. The first floor was large, incredibly large. I didn¡¯t find a way down though. The few monsters I had run across just gave me a look but remained where they were. It was incredibly disturbing. I then made my way back to the first chamber with the pit. I had more than enough rope and could lower myself, but there was no way I would be able to get back up easily. With only one arm it just wasn¡¯t feasible. I had come all this way and I was not leaving without something. I tied off the rope to two support pillars and then pried up some of the wood boards. Once that was done I went through the hole I had made and began to lower myself, using my feet to slow my descent. I heard scurrying beneath me, the sound of a thousand legs and the lower I went the more my fear increased. *** BloodHound: He is tricky BurnBaby: Burn! Bouncer: Only you can start forest fires! UltimataSecret: I barely escaped. I give up. That guy is insane. Let the Encasement handle him. GambleMan: Keep placing your bets, when will Blood Rain bite the dust 6996: I want his videos Tafe: No videos from my lover GODHAXLOL: FORESTYYYYY!!!! Guts: The challenge makes the final victory all the more sweet Worm: What I want to know is how he keeps escaping so easily, the fire should have burned him up TheWinzKid: He is part demon, fire powers for the win UltimataSecret: Breckley is now officially declared a burnt shit hole Loli-chan: Hehehe, more chances for me to have fun Bouncer: Loli-chan with Blood Rain, shipping them off with a child 6996: No. Just no. I like living. PowerOfFaith: That would be an abomination, we must prevent such a union *** Author¡¯s Note: You don¡¯t know how close I was to killing off Rain of Blood. I literally could not think of a way out for ten minutes when it hit me on what he could do. Please write an advanced review, or Loli-chan is coming for you! Interlude - 4 Tor began her trek to the west. It had been a fun run with Blood Rain, but he was like the sun and she was like the moon. She rubbed her stomach, at least she had gotten one thing she really wanted. The month of quietly walking across the mountains and then the plains to the city of Yaxel had been a good time to work on her skills. Magic was the way to go, especially defensive magic. She couldn¡¯t afford to die, not when she was so close. She had given up a long time ago, but now in this world. There was hope once again. Once she reached the city she set up a clinic. She could heal a couple of people a day and the money would help support her. Her appearance was generic enough to blend in. She couldn¡¯t understand why Blood Rain had taken such an outlandish appearance. He stuck out like a sore thumb and she wondered if he really would be able to crash the wedding every so often. He had sent her a copy of the video for free. It was an impressive accomplishment. Then the worldwide announcement came she just shook her head. She cut off all contact. While he had a target on his back from before this had become a glowing neon side that said, ¡®Kill me.¡¯ She had heard the news about how he was missing an arm and started a massive fire burning a large portion of a kingdom down and killing over twenty thousand players at last count. It had been the single biggest disaster in the game so far. Everyone had come to Breckley for the wedding and then with the quest, it was the perfect trap for all those players. Yaxley was a quite city for the most part and out of the way, which is what she needed at the moment. *** ¡°Blood Rain is a terror Albus. You should let me go after him, hehe.¡± ¡°No, you are needed in Breckley. It is the start of our Empire. We shall rise from the ashes-¡° ¡°There is a lot of ash.¡± ¡°As I was saying, we shall rise from the ashes to build a glorious future.¡± ¡°Hmm, alright. Only if you keep things interesting.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to doubt me. You know my strength.¡± ¡°You mean wisdom silly.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. So, going to try and kick Galmore out again?¡± ¡°Of course. General Ralph is such a fuddy duddy. I can¡¯t believe he lost the airship.¡± ¡°That was¡­unexpected. It has left us exposed. Angal is also preparing something.¡± ¡°Well if they give us trouble I will just give them a pow in the face. So you want me to discipline General Ralph?¡± ¡°No, he brings a large portion of the player base with him despite how useless he is as a general. As long as he obeys orders then there isn¡¯t a problem.¡± ¡°Meanie, I wanted to play with him.¡± ¡°I am curious, how much of this is the real you?¡± ¡°All of it, just like you are Albus the leader of the Order of the Phoenix.¡± ¡°Well don¡¯t change. Your whimsical outlook is quite refreshing from all the military types.¡± ¡°They just need to embrace their loli power, like me.¡± Albus just shook his head. *** ¡°We had him in our sights. Dammit.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t fret, he didn¡¯t become the most wanted player for nothing.¡± ¡°We three are Team Epsilon, the greatest trackers and hunters in FEAR. Never forget that. He may have escaped for now, but we will get him.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Now, any luck at determining where he is heading.¡± ¡°After sweeping south and not picking up any tracks, we have to assume he went east.¡± ¡°The ocean¡­why not west?¡± ¡°Too many of the noob swarms out that way. His tank was completely empty when I Observed him. He wouldn¡¯t have been able to hide.¡± ¡°Also he would follow the forest fire in that direction. The big problem is most of the people burned or are displaced so we have no leads if he went that way.¡± ¡°Scanning is still blocked?¡± ¡°Yes, for a while now. He must have a counter skill for sure.¡± ¡°He started in this area so he is familiar with it. He was headed south and possibly west at the time. What about Balkor?¡± ¡°Good place to hide. Both the Order and Solid Steel have set up there and the city is a complete maze.¡± The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Based on his videos, he had a bad time in Balkor. He ran into that demon and lost that kid who was with him. Also he is goal oriented, he would only go there if there is something.¡± ¡°What about Str? We know he has dealt with Solid Steel in the past.¡± ¡°Possibly, but hiding is not his style or depending on others.¡± ¡°Very true. He will go for more power. Possibly harnessing a monster. What about that teeth slash reaper thing?¡± ¡°Where Loli-chan¡¯s scythe came from?¡± ¡°Really, a loli fan?¡± ¡°What can I say, she is exciting.¡± ¡°In all the wrong way. Yes her scythe came from that thing. There was a dungeon there he never fully explored.¡± ¡°Solid Steel controls that area from what I heard. What, I have a friend in the guild.¡± ¡°The other options are Zalth, or further south west towards the desert.¡± ¡°He could be going across the Sea of Salmir to escape completely.¡± ¡°The one thing I know for sure is that Blood Rain likes to keep pushing. Otherwise, why crash that wedding. He has a goal and is going for it.¡± ¡°Well we could reach the mine dungeon and intercept him if he is headed that way. Any choice we make is a gamble.¡± ¡°We will sweep south towards the Deep Wood. If nothing comes up we will head towards this dungeon and see what we can get there. Breckley is toast.¡± ¡°I feel like toast after trying to out run that fire.¡± *** ¡°Lady Breckley, wake up.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± She sat up. ¡°How do you feel?¡± ¡°I am at peak efficiency. I am currently unclothed and lack a weapon. I have no assignments to carry out.¡± ¡°Excellent. It went perfectly.¡± ¡°Indeed. So what do you plan to use her for?¡± ¡°A weapon.¡± ¡°Not a symbol?¡± ¡°Therdossa won¡¯t stand for it. Breckley is completely gone. Also with the sword, she will be unstoppable.¡± ¡°I shudder to think what she will do.¡± ¡°You mean, what I command her to do.¡± ¡°Of course. I still can¡¯t believe this actually worked. Have you tested the sword?¡± ¡°Yes, she can use it.¡± ¡°Well then, where will you send her?¡± ¡°Straight into the heart of the Order. I have learned their leader has traveled to Breckley.¡± ¡°Really, in that chaos?¡± ¡°They are probably hoping to cement their control over the region. I will lead Lady Breckley back along with our army. How many Paladins can you spare?¡± ¡°Eight, but that is pushing things. As you mentioned Therdossa is not happy about losing a prince, even if it was a second one.¡± ¡°I shall trust you then to keep things in check. I go to kill a phoenix.¡± *** ¡°Is the portal ready?¡± ¡°Yes, Encasement.¡± ¡°Excellent. The recall is prepared as well?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Good. Have you located Blood Rain?¡± ¡°He is blocking our attempts to locate him.¡± There was a moment of silence. ¡°Very well. You will transport me to Breckley.¡± ¡°Why there?¡± The caster pissed himself in fear as the Encasement stopped and stared at him through the slits in his helmet. Overwhelming fear crashed down upon the caster as he tried to maintain his focus. ¡°I mean, it is in chaos. What value is it to go there?¡± The fear lifted and he let out a breath. ¡°Do you have a better suggestion?¡± ¡°You could go to the desert and try and find that tower.¡± The Encasement paused and contemplated the suggestion. ¡°You will live another day. Prepare the portal to the desert tower.¡± *** Author¡¯s Note: The scope expands as people converge. Will Tor ever return? Will Team Epsilon catch Blood Rain and kill him? Will there be a showdown between Lady Breckley* and Loli-chan? Now that another top combat oriented player is moving, will Blood Rain triumph over them? What of the Endolgon? Chapter 41: The Endolgon I passed level after level. I heard the clicking noise grew louder the deeper I descended. I came out into a large chamber with a lake and a small island in the center right below the hole. The island was covered in a small white rocks. I touched down with a crunch and looked around. Crystals lit up the cave in a soft glow. The water was perfectly still and further enhanced the luminance. I noted over ten tunnels all around the cave leading off to the side that quickly disappeared into darkness. If there ever was a boss room, this was it. ¡°Hello? Super monster?¡± The words echoed in my head and I collapsed to my knees. The voice echoed inside my skull. ¡°Shield Mind.¡± I said. At least this time I didn¡¯t feel like my head would explode. ¡°Yes, I have come for the key to the vault and the Void Cube.¡± ¡°I am Tafe¡¯s champion, aid me now.¡± ¡°I am strong. I have killed a demon and survived this far. Tell Tafe her champion needs a kick ass sword or a new arm.¡± Hopefully both, or a combination sword and arm. ¡°What do I need to do then? Collect five rats or some other fetch quest?¡± ¡°What am I lacking?¡± I was stunned silent for a moment. That comment had been hurtful. I then shook my head, yes I should lecture the Eldritch Monster about feelings. That would go about as well as a sword to the face. This monster was definitely Tafe¡¯s. Useless and unclear answers were its forte¡¯. ¡°I don¡¯t care, give me the key and I will leave you alone.¡± ¡°I will protect it.¡± Now we were going in circles. ¡°Is there anything you can do, or are you just useless.¡± ¡°Will you help me, aid me, and aid your goddess¡¯s champion.¡± There was no reply. I had come all the way here for nothing. I looked at the rope and did not want to climb all the way back up. That would not be fun. The sound of clicking came closer. I turned towards the cave it was coming from. I couldn¡¯t see anything in the inky blackness, but knew something lay in the darkness that I did not want to see. I definitely did not want to see whatever was there. I tried turning my head, but it was locked in place. The last word made my eyes water. Out of the darkness came a sword. For one brief moment it hung in the air, glittering under the soft crystal light. It then plunged tip first into the ground in front of me, remaining perfectly up right. The Endolgon had excellent aim. ¡°Identification.¡±
Slice of Life
LvL: 200
Requirements: Cause a calamity
Stats: Short Sword 1x Damage Special: Wounds caused cannot be healed naturally
I could only stare at the sword unable to move as the clicking noise decreased. It was an incredible weapon. The Slice of Life was incredible and awesome, despite wanting a fate cutting blade. My mind was already racing with possibilities. The only way to heal a wound caused by this sword was with magic. Healing magic while kind of popular was not exactly cheap in terms of MP cost. The way MP cost, a single wound with this meant a person would slowly lose blood and HP until they died. Normal wounds clotted up after a bit, but this weapon would prevent that. ¡°Thanks.¡± There was no response. I contemplated looking in the tunnels for more treasure. While monsters wouldn¡¯t out right attack me, whatever was in there might just walk over me. If the tunnels and noise were any indication, the thing was massive. Also, whomever had this weapon before me had been killed by the Endolgon easily enough. I didn¡¯t have a sheathe for the Slice of Life and ended up putting it in my satchel and wrapped it up in a spare shirt I had taken from the fishing village back in Breckley. Cutting myself with it seemed like a very bad idea. Climbing up the rope was as painful as I imagined it to be. I had to hurry before it was cut. I wasn¡¯t down here that long, but if anyone saw the rope going into the depths they would know I was here. I wished the Endolgon had given me a magical arm. Now that would have been awesome. Maybe like Iron Man, with a pulse laser in it or something that shot out swords. As I climbed I forced my mind onto what I would do next. I was leaving this place, and going south. Maybe Tor was still in Yaxel and I could stop by for a visit. There were also my quests. If I wanted to become stronger I needed to gather stat points from the quests. Killing Just Han seemed like trouble, but was the only one where I knew kind of where to go. I let out a huff from climbing and that stupid thought. It would be a disaster like Breckley and I needed an arm more than I needed stat points. Yaxley and then onto the Ulrin Empire and their Empress. Killing a dragon was next to impossible. I wasn¡¯t trying that until I could fly. Also I had to find the right dragon. It would be just like things for me to kill a Dragon after an epic battle and learn it was the wrong one. Finally slaying the Greater Waking Demon was just a no. If the Book of Tafe was to be believed then I would need to find six more of the Etherion Cubes and then the portal into hell. I had a rule while playing any type of game. If it involved a portal to hell or a demon dimension don¡¯t go there until the very end. Hell portals were always bad news and end game challenges. I hadn¡¯t picked up any chatter on where the dragons were located or any more of the Etherion Cubes. The one I had, was guarded by two boss monsters and a horde of minions. Also getting the cube and been incredibly difficult, which I wasn¡¯t going to think about. Wherever the rest of them were they were probably equally troublesome. I finally clambered out of the top of the hole and let out a sigh. I had made it. I quickly pulled up the rope and put it to the side and moved the blanks back over the hole I had made. While not resting perfectly due to the nails sticking out, it would do for now. I pulled out the Slice of Life and made my way for the exit. I reached the steel door and found it was still unlocked. I carefully pushed it open while standing to the side. Nothing happened, I was sure something would happen. Doors were always bad news. Backing away from the now opened doorway I looked out and saw four guards still playing cards. Something seemed off, but I couldn¡¯t stay here forever. I exited the doorway and shut the door. That was when one of the guards noticed me. ¡°Intruder!¡± He shouted out as loud as he could. Solid Steel did not employ idiots unfortunately. The other guards had drawn their weapons and picked up their shields. I stepped out into the middle of the tunnel and walked forward. ¡°Halt or else.¡± ¡°You know who I am, do you think that will happen?¡± ¡°Who are¡­.oh my god, Blood Rain.¡± Their eyes were locked onto my bug foot as I stepped through the darkness towards them. I noted other guards coming and soon I would be hopelessly out numbered. I was confident I could escape though. ¡°Give me a satchel full of food or I will call out the horror that lurks in the depths.¡± ¡°You are bluffing?¡± That was more a question than a statement if the fear in his voice was anything to go by. ¡°I would rather not use up my power, but I will if I must. I have already done so much, what is wiping out a small camp.¡± My reputation should carry me through this bluff, hopefully. ¡°That is the commander¡¯s decision.¡± ¡°A good thing I am here then.¡± I looked at the kid in plate armor who had just walked up. He held his sword at his side but his eyes showed he was ready for a fight. ¡°No one start anything. We have a¡­visitor.¡± ¡°Not an honored guest?¡± ¡°They call you the Breaker of Breckley and the Causer of Calamities. I am not a fool to think I can defeat you easily. On the other hand you are not welcome here. You are trouble and chaos.¡± ¡°I should be offended. So the supplies? I also need a sword sheathe.¡± ¡°You will leave without trouble?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Supplies it is, one satchel of food, a sheathe, and two canteens of water for Blood Rain of the Burning Wedding.¡± One of the men ran off at a gesture from the commander. I noted where he went. ¡°So that is what it is now being called.¡± ¡°One of many names. Did you really need the corpses in the barrels?¡± ¡°It is art and it added a nice touch.¡± ¡°Art¡­so what were you doing in there?¡± ¡°Visiting a friend.¡± ¡°A friend.¡± I could sense the question and concern in his voice. ¡°Should I call it up here?¡± ¡°I would prefer not. Is your friend¡­going to cause us trouble?¡± ¡°I would stay away from the depths.¡± ¡°Yeah, we already figured that out.¡± ¡°What happened.¡± ¡°Nothing pleasant.¡± ¡°Not going to share?¡± ¡°The one body we were able to recover had her brain melted and then the corpse started attacking us.¡± That did not sound like pleasant. ¡°Ouch.¡± The man came back with a satchel and a sword sheathe. The commander took it and tossed it over. As it flew through the air I heard the twang of a bow behind me and to the side and dived forward in the other direction. I felt the arrow move across my back, barely missing. I hit the ground and rolled as more arrows impacted the ground where I had landed. After there were no more shots for an entire second I got to my feet. The guards had formed up a shield block around the commander. I looked at the arrows and noted how the angle put their position from behind me and up on the mountain the dungeon rested in. I scanned the area but didn¡¯t see anyone. I looked at the commander from behind all the shields. ¡°Not me. Just leave or we will have to fight.¡± The commander said loudly. ¡°Got it.¡± It took a moment to strap on the sheathe and put on the satchel while keeping an eye out. Once that was done I took a deep breath. I counted twenty soldiers out here right now including the commander. I noted that the sentries on the walls had doubled from what I could see. So fifty people in this camp. I flipped open the satchel that held my precious bulb. I was glad I had more Silent Skill slots open up. I didn¡¯t want them to hear this, ¡®Fear Aura, ten minutes¡¯. Three of the soldiers passed out, the rest looked queasy, the commander stumbled back. ¡°My friend is mad. Come up and play!¡± I shouted out. Two of them ran away screaming and I noted their pants had dampened considerably. I ran straight into their group cutting out with the Slice of Life. Their actions were slow as I wove through the crowd. It helped that I wasn¡¯t going for a fatal blow, just minor cuts. Any thoughts they would have of chasing after me should be crushed when their wound refused to clot. More arrows came at me from the up on the mountain. I was able to twist around in time to see three figures up there. ¡°Why!?¡± The commander cried out as he glared at me. ¡°Because I can and I was attacked.¡± The combination of my fear aura and the bulb meant they literally had no chance in melee combat or any combat. They probably rotated lower level players through here to level them up off the respawning monsters. The commander and probably a few others were probably the only permanent residents here. ¡°I call upon Xapados, aid me now! Exchange m-¡° I wasn¡¯t about to let him finish whatever chant that was. I cut off his head. There was a look of surprise as it went flying and then the arterial spray coated me as the body tilted forward. It was a literal deluge and that momentary shock was almost enough to be my end. I kept moving avoiding another arrow. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. My flame blades had always sealed the wound partially shut like a light saber. I entered one of the only stone buildings in the camp literally disarming another woman who was in my way. It was their storage building and I got to work. I blocked off the only door with a barrel. First went all my shitty clothes and shitty satchel from before. I then strapped on metal arm and leg guards, put on new clothes, took new steel plated boots, and restocked my leather harness so it had ten throwing daggers. There was also a single barrel of lantern oil. I filled up three canteens with the stuff. My fear aura was going to wear off in another minute so it was time to escape. I thought over the situation as I re-geared myself, there were archers out there looking for me. They either had been waiting here and took advantage of the situation or had followed me here. Neither option was good and now people knew of my location the hunt would begin again. Thinking about it the archers probably were waiting here to ambush me. Based on the depth some of the arrows had gone into the ground, they had to have used skills. Probably those archers that had tracked me down before, Team Epsilon. I opened the door and peaked out. I could hear the screams and moans of the soldiers from the camp. I raced out of the building and reached a wood ladder leading up the palisade. I climbed up and then jumped off outside of the fortification. No attacks came from the archers. The same problem still existed. They would eventually run me down and they could track me. I made my way up the mountain. I saw the two of the three people up on the ridge and they both unleashed arrows at me. I stepped to the side letting them pass me by. I heard the twang of the bow string off to my left and saw a third arrow heading at me. I twisted and began pulling out my new sword. The arrow missed. That was the problem, they were shooting at me from a hundred feet away. While their accuracy was impressive, my reaction time allowed me to keep dodging their attacks at this distance. If they could shoot silently then I would have been in trouble, but that didn¡¯t appear to be the case. Every time before this they probably hit their target without it being able to react. Also figuring out what prerequisite skills to unlock would be the real challenge. I mentally thought, Burst Speed, and took off as fast as I could towards the third archer. In the one second it took me to cross that entire distance, he had put away his bow and had just started to move away. I swung my blade. ¡°Burst Speed.¡± He quickly said. My blade drew a five inch long cut across his shoulder before he quickly outpaced me. Those two seconds of movement at around 68 miles per hour had used up 270 SP. High speed combat was insane in terms of SP consumption. I took off at a much slower speed up the mountain, staying alert for any more attacks. I would never be able to catch these people. They literally went the most annoying route possible in terms of stat usage. The fact that I managed to land a blow was a huge testament to how much of a higher level and how many more active skills I had. With that wound, they would be slowed down. The constant HP drain would be devastating. I then realized they could cut around the wound and then burn it shut. It wasn¡¯t that deep or long unfortunately. I was hoping they wouldn¡¯t try that for a while and look for other alternatives. I was glad to leave the forest and land on hard rock. After the last chase I had paid a couple thousand dollars to an info broker to learn about tracking skills. There were two categories, mental and physical. Mental was about magic mumbo jumbo. The Projection one centered on a target was the most popular and the cheapest to use. The physical tracking method was a lot more complicated. In exchange for MP the imprints on the ground would be highlighted for a period of time. The cost was fairly low and it stayed active for quite a while. With three of them they could keep tracking me non-stop. If I was able to lower their number or slow them down enough I would get out of their range. I set off straight up the mountain. I didn¡¯t see them behind me which was a good thing. This was the type of fight I hated. A long drawn out battle over a period of days. It was time to lay an ambush. I raced up the mountain and then stopped just over the peak on a slab of rock. I then moved two rocks, one after another to make my way back. This way my tracks would be on the moved slabs of rock and not the ground, showing I had back tracked. I set up just behind a boulder looking at my previous path from two hundred feet away. I would blow a lot of MP doing this, but I was sick of these people and this was my best chance of cutting this stupid chase short. Two hours later I heard people coming up the way I had done. ¡®Conceal Presence, twenty seconds.¡¯ I held my breath and waited. Eleven seconds later they came into view. They were in a wedge formation, and each member was scanning all around themselves weary of monsters or ambushes. ¡®Conceal movement, three seconds.¡¯ ¡°Burst speed, two times.¡± I whispered and then I was off flying over the rocky terrain. The one on the right flank closet to me glanced right over me and didn¡¯t react. They were finished. I drew a deep gash across the back of his neck. I wasn¡¯t going to risk getting my sword trapped somehow. Also such a wound would be impossible to cut around. He collapsed with a scream but by the time they could think on it, I was on the second one. He managed to duck as I attacked, so instead of the neck, my blade drew across the front of his face right above his eyes. The third one managed to get an arrow loose, but it was easy enough to dodge when I could see exactly where he was aiming. I ducked around the shot and cut down on his bow and arms. The look of shock on his face as his bow snapped and his hands were removed was priceless. He held them up to face and let out a scream as small squirts of blood came out of them. I made my way back to the first person who had a hard time focusing on his shots as they went wide. I slammed the flat of my blade across his face. He stumbled but didn¡¯t go down. I whacked him two more times and kicked him in the groin. He went down with a moan. I stepped back as an arrow flew at me from number two. He couldn¡¯t see with all that blood running down his face and probably aimed for the noise. I walked over as quietly as I could and went around behind him. I then stabbed him in the asshole. I took a seat on a nearby boulder as I watched them slowly bleed to death and struggle useless to stop their bleeding. Once the handless one died, I went down and searched his belongings. I did the same for the second tracker with the second asshole once he died as well. I then searched and stripped the one I had disabled. I had only found arrow stuff which was useless, food, and some coins. The big find was a glass vial with a milky white substance in it. I tied up the tracker with some rope I had found. Next I took the coins and the vial and naked tracker and set off, leaving the two corpses for the monsters. ¡°Hahaha.¡± I let out a chuckle as I realized I may have made what would be considered an offering to Tafe. I traveled for another hour before setting up camp next to a stream on the barren mountain. The wind was cold and biting. I made a fire and then burnt the cursed flesh out of my captive. The fire actually removed the curse, interesting. I began to eat as I waited for him to wake up. He let out a another moan and I saw his facial muscles tense, but his eyes didn¡¯t open. ¡°I know you are awake. I was hoping you could answer a few questions. I am sure you have mental log out set up, but I can keep your auto-pilot alive for quite some time.¡± ¡°Fuck you!¡± He then bit down on his tongue and kept his mouth shut. Well if he wanted pain before he left, I pulled out a dagger. I slowly drove it into each eyeball as he coughed up blood. I made sure to stay behind his head so he couldn¡¯t spray it at me. With the eyes popped, I then got to work on the rest of his body, peeling piece by piece. He definitely wouldn¡¯t need them anymore and he really should have been more polite. If someone has you at their mercy, you aren¡¯t rude unless you like pain. I picked up some pebbles and pushed them into the cut portions of his body. I had no idea how painful that would be, hopefully a lot. I didn¡¯t have a way to yank out his nails which was disappointing. I could sense the end was coming and leaned down next to his ear. ¡°This is a message. You come for me, you get the Blood Rain special.¡± I then put my flame blade close to his scalp and began scorching off his flesh and air. He let out a number of pained half screams half-blood gurgles before he finally died. With my fate so high, I decided to go for broke. I was Tafe¡¯s champion and I wanted every advantage I could get. Cannibal gave me a 1% boost to constitution and fate per level. I began slicing pieces off the corpse to cook and eat. I swear I could almost taste the fear juice locked inside of it. I began going through my screens as I relaxed my feet in the fire. With a hundred and ten percent immunity it was like a gentle massage.
Misdirection-5 MAX
Projection-1 Which one? An illusion given a single command can be projected 5 seconds per LvL Cost: 100 MP
Depraved-18
Cannibal-5 MAX
Unfortunately Cannibal maxed out at level five. On the flip side I had gained a pretty useless active skill. A short lived clone that cost an insane amount of MP. Burst Speed and Concealed Movement were a far superior combination. Well it was always good to have options.
Quest Completed-Hard
Kill Tracking Team Epsilon
Kill your pursuers, by turning the hunters into the hunted
+1000 EXP +1 Stat Point
Quest-Hard
Lost Arm
Learn what happened to your lost arm
+1000 EXP +1 Stat Point
Accept (Yes/No)
I was happy I got another stat point. I then looked at the next quest. I thought about where I had last seen my arm. I had left it in Breckley next to Sir Willos¡¯ corpse. That quest spoke of all kinds of bad news. Just when I think I am catching a break, this happens. I let out a sigh, since that probably meant Just Han had it and was using it for something that was bad news for me. The fact he hadn¡¯t gloated about it or showed it off was no encouraging. I checked my recording of my conversation with him and noted that one of the priests on his boat had not been focused on Lady Breckley but a box off to the side. That confirmed it, Just Han had taken my arm. *** BurnBaby: I can¡¯t unsee that TheWinzKid: Blood Rain is so hardcore, the demons go to Blood Rain¡¯s home when they die UltimataSecret: Please don¡¯t torture me if I come after you 6996: Ummm, you just got a 50% intelligence debuff Worm: I am amazed the guy stayed alive for so long GambleMan: here to keep betting on when Blood Rain bites it Bouncer: You don¡¯t have an option for if he doesn¡¯t die, what a scam 6996: Duh, he is secretly Blood Rain, taking in all the chumps monies GODHAXLOL: OUCHYYYYYYYY!!!!!! *** Author¡¯s Note: For anyone doubting there can be that much spray, you should look up ''leopord sprayed with blood'' in Google. Chapter 42: Painful Converstations ¡°Thank you, thank you, thank you.¡± I was engulfed in a hug. ¡°You are really hard to get a hold of to thank, you know that.¡± ¡°Yeah, just busy.¡± ¡°We are having a party. You should take time off and come visit.¡± I let out a sigh as I was let go from the hug. ¡°I can¡¯t take time off, everyone is after me in game.¡± ¡°Mom really wants to see you to thank you. Heck, the whole family is coming out to celebrate.¡± ¡°Do you even understand what I do?¡± ¡°You play a game, and some people watch your videos and pay to see them.¡± ¡°I put up ¡®the¡¯ video. Access file BR dash two one one. Send to contact BigSis. That is how I made my money. Now everyone is after me. Everyone.¡± ¡°What do you mean, everyone?¡± ¡°I mean EVERYONE!¡± I shouted. ¡°I had to keep pushing myself to get that video and now every single player in FEAR is out to kill me.¡± ¡°Over a video?¡± ¡°It is complicated, but yeah. They are all after me. I am stuck in the wilderness with a bug foot, no arm, and it is exhausting.¡± ¡°Just take a break like I said.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t! If I spend any time away I can¡¯t use my skills, and then I will be found and killed. I am pinged every couple of days with magic searches.¡± ¡°So, it is just a game.¡± ¡°It is not just a game! AHHHHH!¡± I walked away for a moment to cool down. My sister walked over beside me. ¡°Is it really that important?¡± ¡°Yes. I have invested so much time and energy that¡­that I can¡¯t give up now. I have a shot at winning, a small shot, but a very real one.¡± ¡°You mean the one percent share?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± My sister looked away. ¡°I was hoping I could see you, the party isn¡¯t just for mom.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I have been accepted as one of the first round of colonists out of the system.¡± ¡°What?¡± My mind blanked. ¡°Omnitrek is starting the colony program after all these years. With cryo-sleep perfected and the advanced ion drive system it is finally happen.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that going to take hundreds of years or something?¡± ¡°Yeah. I will be put in cryo-sleep and stuck on a transport. You are looking at the future second assistant to the xeno-botany research group on ship twelve.¡± ¡°Wow, congratulations.¡± I was stunned. It had always been something that was brought up during school. Especially with the station built on Mars. With the time dilation from capsules and advanced modeling power of their quantum computer, Omnitrek had done it. They would begin shipping off people to systems projected to have habitable worlds. ¡°Yeah, training starts in two weeks and I launch in a two years. Since mom¡¯s treatment is confirmed to be working, we scheduled a large celebration. We really wanted you to come.¡± I was silent. I couldn¡¯t give up now after all the suffering I had been through. ¡°When is the party?¡± ¡°Ten days from now.¡± Three days at a minimum for the trip meant fifteen days in game. I cursed the time dilation. ¡°Isn¡¯t there some game mumbo jumbo you can do to protect yourself while you are gone?¡± ¡°No, not against the amount of players after me. I don¡¯t even have a team anymore to watch my back like last time.¡± ¡°Maybe hire someone to manage your account?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t, it is bio-locked to my brain pattern. So an astronaut?¡± ¡°Pfft, I will never be awake in space. I go to sleep here and in a couple hundred years I will wake up on the second planet.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe that this is really happening, I know you talked about exploring the stars when we were kids.¡± ¡°Omnitrek is a lot of things, but they know how to get stuff done.¡± That was definitely true. ¡°If I do win the game, would that make me your boss?¡± ¡°Hah, you wish. It is a non-paid volunteer position.¡± ¡°Send me the exact date and time. I will try and figure something out.¡± ¡°I better see you little bro.¡± ¡°Yeah, take care big sis.¡± She left my atrium. ¡°Dammnit!¡± I yelled. I pulled up the list of info-brokers and sent them a message asking for any way a person could exit the game and remain immune to magical searches. Sending the same request to all of them at the same time meant I would get repeat information and word would go out that I was out of game. I logged back in. Thankfully no one had teleported to be in my absence. I wouldn¡¯t be able to tell if they pinged me, but the occurrences had dropped off to once every couple of days. There was literally nothing I could do. There was always the option of sending a robot controlled from my atrium for a large rental fee. That would probably be less appreciated than just not going. I was part way over the mountains from the dungeon. It had been three days and all was quiet. I was at the edge of what was considered Wild Land. There were no cities and almost no civilization of any kind for 620 miles to the west. Zalth was straight south and any trouble would come from there. To the north was Str and the overly pretentious Mystery Man along with the headquarters of Solid Steel. The main thing was the Durrunian Desert to the south west and beyond that Yaxel where Tor was staying. She still wasn¡¯t responding to messages outside of the game. I did want to go back to the tower and the two dungeon mines that I had run across. I just needed some way to avoid people from coming after me. There was only one sure fire method I could think of, off the top of my head. I could go back into the dungeon with the Endolgon and have my auto-pilot camp out down there. That option was not appealing. Just that thing speaking made my head ache. If it melted peoples¡¯ brains, prolonged exposure just seemed like a terrible idea. I was radioactive myself also, just not with brain melt. While I still had contacts outside the game, the few that were reasonably trustworthy had warned me that they couldn¡¯t help me in game. The less trustworthy ones were coy, but indicated they were willing to help me for a price. It didn¡¯t take a genius that the price included a dagger to the back. It wouldn¡¯t have been so bad, but the freaking Encasement was after me and had portal magic. No one had information on the guy except he was bad news all around. He was a literal killing machine. You served him or died painfully. It was rumored that he had a dungeon of captive players that he used to empower himself. I pulled out the Cube of Etherion and looked it over for what must have been the thousandth time. ¡°So much trouble for you.¡± I debated hiding it and then coming back for it if I died. I just knew that the moment I set it down, something would snatch it up. The blue glow and the numerous carvings on the sides spoke to power. Power that wasn¡¯t being useful at the moment. I slammed it on the ground a couple of times but both the ground the cube weren¡¯t damaged. I sighed and set off. Everything was uneventful until I came around a boulder and saw a familiar face looking at me. ¡°There you are.¡± It was the old man from bug island, whose heart we had lost when the tower went down. ¡°Hello Haratio Zableck.¡± I put my hand on the Slice of Life. If anything would kill this old man, that sword would do the trick. ¡°You remembered my name. I see you have stepped down a dangerous path.¡± ¡°Why are you here?¡± ¡°I am here for the cube.¡± I held up my sword, but he didn¡¯t appear concerned. ¡°I will cut you faster than you can blink. I didn¡¯t give Tafe this cube and I definitely am not giving you this cube.¡± ¡°Really? I thought you had been named by Tafe to hold onto it.¡± I took a moment to check my mind and the security check I had put in place after the previous charisma attacks. I hate Tafe. True. I hate Just Han. True. I hate She-Hulks. True. I want to give up this cube. False. I want to die. False. Two plus two equals chair. False. Three trues and three falses, which hopefully meant no mental attacks. No weird smells or sounds. The ground isn¡¯t shaking. I don¡¯t hear or sense any movement about me. All of this meant I was safe from obvious attacks, which only made me more concerned. ¡°I am not giving you the cube. I have suffered too much for it.¡± ¡°You will undo everything!¡± ¡°Then why don¡¯t you explain to me.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t!¡± He shouted. ¡°You need to trust me.¡± ¡°Trust the word of an old man from the top of a mountain.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Even if I gave the cube to you, you couldn¡¯t protect it before. Why should I trust you with it now? If you can talk about it, that is.¡± I said the last part with a sneer. ¡°Fine the reason you can¡¯t hand the cube over to Tafe or play into her games is because she-¡° The old man completely froze. He was literally frozen in place as if every single atom in his body decided to stop right there and be done with it. ¡°Hello?¡± I sheathed my sword and threw a stone at him. A blue field appeared right over his skin and the stone bounced off that. ¡°So Tafe, is this your doing?¡± There was no response. ¡°-do you understand?¡± the old man was suddenly moving again. ¡°You kind of froze in place there with a blue field around you. Didn¡¯t get any of that.¡± ¡°AHHHHHH!¡± He slammed his head on the ground until his brains were showing. Wow, he was really pissed off. That had to hurt a lot, smashing open your own head. The old man sat down and the wound healed itself. ¡°Whatever. I quit. Just do whatever you want. I don¡¯t care anymore. I am retired.¡± He let out a long sigh and just sat there looking into the distance. ¡°Is there anything you can tell me?¡± ¡°No. I am just forbidden from telling you anything except that the cube cannot fall into Tafe¡¯s hands.¡± ¡°Her bugs had it for a long time.¡± ¡°It is not the same thing.¡± I gave him a look. He shrugged. ¡°It isn¡¯t. Let me try a metaphor. It is the difference between holding a sword in your hand and having a sword in the bank. You would prefer to having it in your hand.¡± ¡°So if I understand you, this cube is only dangerous if Tafe gets her hands on it.¡± He didn¡¯t say anything. ¡°So I just won¡¯t give it to her.¡± ¡°It is not as easy as you think. The hearts of men are weak.¡± ¡°So why doesn¡¯t she just blast you away.¡± ¡°Tafe is not a fool. No matter what else you may think, never doubt that.¡± ¡°So how did you escape the desert?¡± ¡°I reformed and began crawling toward the cube. I can sense its presence.¡± That was worrying. I would need to counter that somehow. ¡°Is there anyone else?¡± ¡°There was a guardian for each one, but I don¡¯t know what happened to the others.¡± ¡°Do you know where they are?¡± ¡°No, and even if I did I would not say. Gathering them together is the single worst idea in the history of bad ideas.¡± ¡°Any chance you can heal my arm with your regeneration?¡± I asked. He looked at my stump. ¡°No. I am merely an immortal old man who can¡¯t say anything.¡± ¡°That sums it up. The question is now what. You are very tasty from what I remember. That makes me wonder why you just walked up here instead of trying to kill me in my sleep.¡± He just stared at me and let out another sigh. ¡°I want to travel with you and stop Tafe.¡± ¡°I am her champion, you know that right?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You know the Endolgon gave me this blade. I think it was meant for you.¡± I looked at the Slice of Life and then at him. ¡°Possibly. Tafe is like that. Even her gifts have hidden costs.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t travel with someone who is this cryptic. I get there is some power stopping you from speaking, but I don¡¯t get you at all. You literally make no sense.¡± ¡°I suppose I do. The benefit of old age is to have the benefit of knowing what has happened.¡± ¡°Is there a way to block whatever it is so you can speak freely?¡± ¡°No. I am bound by rules that cannot be undone.¡± I stared at him. That was the only thing he had said with passion in the entire conversation. I hated mysteries, especially when they would be really obvious in hindsight. ¡°If I really wanted to stick it to Tafe, what would be the best way to do that?¡± ¡°That¡­that is actually a good question. I am still looking for that answer. The only thing I have is to hide that cube away, but now¡­I don¡¯t think that will work anymore.¡± We sat there in silence for over an entire minute as he contemplated his response. ¡°Destroy the cubes. If they are destroyed then they will be forever beyond her reach.¡± The world shifted to black and white. Tafe was standing to the other side of the rock ledge making a triangle between us. ¡°You are being naughty, very naughty.¡± ¡°You-¡° Tafe made a small gesture with her hand and Haratio stopped speaking. ¡°Kill him now my champion.¡± ¡°Making me your champion was not a bonus. I won¡¯t play your games.¡± I then held up the Slice of Life and pointed it at her. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°So willful. If you don¡¯t incapacitate this man there will be a¡­punishment.¡± ¡°No reward?¡± ¡°A champion needs no rewards. But I could see fit to expending some of my power.¡± My thoughts drifted to my sister¡¯s request. ¡°Can you protect me for thirty days?¡± ¡°Hmmm, yes. If you offer up him as a sacrifice. Merely call out Tafe Protect Me and it will be so for thirty days.¡± The silencing broke on the old man. ¡°No! You must not let her get to you.¡± ¡°Then beat her offer.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t understand¡­AHHH.¡± He let out a yell of frustration that was reflected in his expression. I began advancing on him as Tafe looked on. ¡°I speak your true name!¡± He began to take a breath. ¡°Kill him now or else!¡± Tafe shouted. I was poised. My family versus the game. I cursed to myself as I cut through the old man¡¯s neck, decapitating him. ¡°Ahhhhhhhhhh¡­¡­¡­..¡± I don¡¯t know how he spoke despite having his head cut off and his neck severed. Another weird game mechanic. ¡°Our deal is complete.¡± Tafe reached down and picked up the old man¡¯s head. ¡°Troublesome.¡± ¡°Who was he?¡± I asked before she vanished. ¡°One who was not worthy. Goodbye Blood Rain.¡± The world snapped back into color. The body still lay there gushing out crimson blood in a never ending stream, but the head was still missing. I just sat there for half an hour watching the blood keep going and going. It was really impressive how the body didn¡¯t deflate or anything. It suddenly jerked and began feeling about. It was still alive, which was incredibly creepy. So that is what happens when you cut off an immortal¡¯s head with an unhealing blade. That meant his head was still alive, where ever Tafe was keeping it and I shuddered at the thought. The body kept moving and I debated what to do with it. The fact that it didn¡¯t have a head meant communication would be very difficult. Also the constant stream of blood would be a dead giveaway for anyone tracking. A large part of me was still tempted to try and bring it along as a pet of some sort. The looks on people¡¯s faces when they were met with a headless corpse constantly gushing blood would be hilarious. The first serious opponent would crush it, but it still would be hilarious. I knew Three had developed the ability Blood Drain. It allowed one to take power from blood to replenish HP, MP, and SP at the cost of SP. Drinking blood and other strange stuff had gotten me into enough trouble already. I wiggled my tri-pronged foot. It still felt weird after all this time. Based on what Three had said, he wasn¡¯t getting that much regen from the old man. We had discussed this in our blimp ride and the common consensus had been his low level. His stats were most likely always at peak value, but they weren¡¯t high to begin with. I could take the body for food, but it would be messy. The constantly generating blood would be a pain to handle. I didn¡¯t have a jar to seal the heart in and a sack would just overflow in time. What was really concerning was how everything lined up perfectly for Tafe. I could understand the sword, since the Endolgon was her pet or something. What was concerning was that this situation had occurred exactly when I needed a way to protect myself while out of the game. I didn¡¯t believe in coincidences, on the other hand I had asked Tafe for that boon and she really wanted to shut the old man up. I wondered what her real name was if not Tafe. Maybe I could bind her to me unlike the demon. Next time she showed up I was going to try and use Observe on her. The headless body was flopping about and making a complete mess. I walked over and lifted it up by its pants, making sure to keep the severed neck pointed away. I walked for ten minutes and then chucked the body done a steep rocky incline. It went tumbling down the rocks, leaving a trail of blood everywhere. ¡°Good bye old man. Maybe I will see your head again when I pay Tafe a visit. You here that Tafe, I am coming for you.¡± I shook my head. That was the problem when gods were real. I would just speak randomly to the air and expect a response. They were the very definition of trouble. I set up towards the south west. I spent the next month working on my skills. The MP focused skills I spent time on were Burst Speed and Conceal Movement. Despite the time and effort I put, neither of them leveled. I probably had to use them in more combat situations, which were lacking at the moment. With monsters staying away from me and being stuck in the middle of the wilderness, meant it was uneventful. I had reached the base of the mountains and a lake. The last water I would probably see in a long time, since over the mountains laid the desert. There was a small village next to the lake. It was a simple matter of stealing enough food during the night from their store houses. I spent a day searching and found a small overhang surrounded by a number of boulders. ¡°Tafe protect me.¡± A blue glow surrounded me and I was unable to move. I was completely frozen in place. I logged out and back in, but the effect was still there. My skills wouldn¡¯t activate either when I tried. Getting up out of the capsule was always an experience. I pulled myself up and let out a gasp. I got cleaned and put on fresh set of clothes. The full service agreement was excellent with the personal care provided while one was hooked up. I couldn¡¯t even begin to imagine having to do all the little things constantly, like cutting my hair and nails. The timing from the auto-cab was perfect and I was zipped through the deserted streets. I rubbed my hands over my eyes to wipe out the gunk. Now that was one thing I didn¡¯t miss in the real world, eye gunk. The cab was completely silent since it was just me and the auto-pilot. I arrived at the airport and it was remarkably quick to get to my plane. I climbed in and looked to see who I would be sitting with. There was just one other person in a suit on the plane. She was older if the creases around her eyes were any indication. I took my seat and buckled in. Minutes later the plane took off. ¡°Business?¡± I asked her as the plane leveled out. ¡°Indeed. Pleasure if I have to guess?¡± ¡°My sister was selected as part of the colony program and my mom got over an illness.¡± ¡°Congratulations.¡± ¡°Thank you. So why are you traveling?¡± ¡°Business, I handle accounts for Omnitrek.¡± She didn¡¯t elaborate further ¡°Right¡­well I hope it goes well.¡± She nodded and then unbuckled herself from the seat and stood up. Next she reached up and pulled one of the very long pins from her hair bun. The plane suddenly hit a massive bout of turbulence. The lady was thrown from her standing position and the needle she had been holding had gone straight into her eye. I was in shock. Her body shook once on the floor and was still. I pressed the call button and a flight attendant appeared from the front of the plane. ¡°The turbulence, she had taken out a hair pin.¡± I stammered out. Blood was already spreading out on the pristine carpet. ¡°Please remain calm.¡± The flight attendant said as she checked the corpse. Based on how deep the needle was driven up into her brain through her eye, she was definitely dead. Once the attendant confirmed that was the case she stood back up and looked at me. ¡°Please remain seated. I will notify flight control.¡± She was surprisingly calm for just seeing a dead person. I just waited there next to the cooling corpse. An hour later we finally arrived at our destination and the flight attendant asked me to follow her off. I was escorted off the plane and there was a man in a suit waiting for me. ¡°I am with Omnitrek Security. I apologize for the incident. We have reviewed the footage and you have been cleared of any wrong doing. We have arranged another flight to take you to your final destination.¡± ¡°Thanks, who was she?¡± ¡°That information is part of an ongoing investigation and is classified.¡± ¡°Oh, I never knew anyone who died like that. I don¡¯t even know her name¡­.¡± ¡°Please do not worry about anything. Omnitrek will handle the incident in a professional manner. I will make sure to include a note about your condolences in the official report.¡± ¡°Um, thanks.¡± The suit turned and I followed partway down the tarmac to another waiting plane. ¡°Thank you for flying with us.¡± He said as I boarded the plane. ¡°Yeah no problem.¡± I got on board and the plane took off. I was all by myself as the plane made its way towards my home. I resolved never to take off my seatbelt on a plane or use sharp pointy objects while moving. Now that was a life lesson to take to heart. *** My vacation was just what I needed. I stumbled about in the yard when walking. It was weird having two proper feet again and my left arm. My changed body state was really throwing me off. My speed and reaction times were a lot lower as well. We had a bonfire one night and I stuck my feet in to let them be massaged. I pulled them back quick enough, but that just reinforced I was regular old me out here in the real world. I got up to walk and cool off my feet. My mom intercepted me as I walked on the cool grass. ¡°Thank you.¡± She gave me a big hug. ¡°No problem.¡± I awkwardly gave her a hug back. She let me go. ¡°The doctor told me I could use a capsule now. Maybe your mom should see what trouble you are getting up to. Your sister won¡¯t say anything.¡± ¡°It is complicated¡­.¡± I trailed off. ¡°It can¡¯t be that bad.¡± I was glad the only light was the bonfire so she didn¡¯t see my blush. ¡°I worry about you. You need to find a nice girl to settle down with.¡± ¡°Ummm.¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say. ¡°Your sister is leaving, and I worry I won¡¯t see any grand kids.¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say to that. ¡°Yeah, just need to win FEAR.¡± ¡°Is that the VR game you are playing?¡± ¡°Yes. It is how I make a living.¡± ¡°Playing games isn¡¯t a proper kind of job. You should go to school and be a doctor.¡± ¡°I am not that smart. I only have one skill. Playing VR games.¡± My mom let out a small sigh. ¡°What about those rockets you built as a kid?¡± ¡°It was fun, but it doesn¡¯t make it a career.¡± ¡°It is your life. So tell me about it.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Well, you make a living playing a game. How does that work?¡± ¡°I first started posting videos online a while ago, when I got my first capsule. They took off and I got more subscribers. Now I put up¡­.interesting videos for people to pay to watch.¡± ¡°It isn¡¯t porn is it?¡± I wish I had Conceal Movement to escape this conversation. ¡°No, not porn.¡± ¡°Well that is good. I would love you regardless, but that would be hard to understand. I just want you to succeed. So what are your videos about?¡± ¡°¡­.¡± I mumbled. ¡°Speak up.¡± ¡°My nickname in game is Rain of Blood or Blood Rain. The video that paid for your treatment has been named the Blood Rain Wedding.¡± ¡°People pay for this?¡± ¡°Yeah, it was a huge deal.¡± ¡°So what exactly happened?¡± ¡°You sure?¡± ¡°You did this to pay for my treatment. I want to know.¡± ¡°Well it all started when the game launched and I was in Breckley.¡± I continued on for the rest of the night explaining about everything I had done. *** UltimataSecret: Blood Rain is out of the game, GO GO GO 6996: You are a troll, he is still blocked from searches GambleMan: New odds now that blood rain is AFC GODHAXLOL: BLOOD RAINYYYYYYY!!!!!! Worm: It is a trap TheWinzKid: Lure you in and then blood will rain everywhere BurnBaby: I miss the regular videos UltimataSecret: His location is the most precious thing for him at the moment Killashard: I found you, hehehe SRUP: Use the power of sparkles to defeat his evil *** Author¡¯s Note: Yes the main character has a loving mother who embarrasses him. Yes, a random woman died on the plane he was on. The old man returns, only to be left a headless, blood gushing body. Don¡¯t worry, that is the end of the mother get well arc. Now we start getting to the gut ripping, pulse pounding chapters. I did want to showcase how weird it was for him to have a proper foot and an arm again. The main issue I have is that I need another character to generate dialogue with the MC. I have heard your cries and Tor will return. I want to say a big thank you for everyone for coming back to this story. Your support really means a lot. Please review on the main page. I do take the advice to become a better author. YEAH, 1 week of constant updates! Chapter 43: Six Feet Deep Returning to my atrium I let out a long breath and checked the timer I had set up. I had about an hour before my thirty days were up. I took the chance to review my messages and check on the general situation in FEAR. I got my brain back in gear as I prepared myself to go back in and win. The Order had crushed Galmore led by General Ralph and Loli-chan. She really got into the role with the puffy skirt with frills and the huge scythe. It was hard to stop watching the videos of her racing around the battlefield. It was a dance, a brutal but mesmerizing dance of death. I couldn¡¯t determine what type of build she was using either. My best guess was something similar to my own. Her reactions were always spot on and the way she kept dodging attacks at the last possible moment to close in on her opponents. The scythe was incredibly deadly, just a single cut and it was a gruesome death. There were still no messages from Tor unfortunately. I hadn¡¯t told her I was coming to see her. She would either hug me or stab me, probably both. The heat for me had died down a bit, with no sightings. The fact that I was rumored to be out of the game and unable to be located or contacted via message made people curious what I was up to. Most suspected I was hiding, but a significant portion of the player base were convinced I was beating the game. If only that were true. I was still struggling to move forward. Sure I had weapons, the cube, and an okay level but the end still seemed so far away. I entered a minute before my protection wore off. Thank goodness, the game world and Earth had matching day lengths otherwise converting would have been a nightmare. I was greeted by a blue field. Looking past it I didn¡¯t see anything at all. My heart skipped a beat. I had been buried. The key thing was not to panic. I had activated the protection a bit after my night village raid for supplies. This meant it was a couple hours before dawn. If someone came across me they wouldn¡¯t know when I would out of Tafe¡¯s protection. They probably had people watching on top of me. Since there had been no alerts going out, either a small close knit team or a single guild. A single high level player was a possibility as well by using the local villagers. They would just wait me out and fight. I would be in for a serious fight. The protection wore off and I felt the wetness of the soil. Either it was raining or a stream had been diverted on top of me. Holding one¡¯s breath was very similar to moving. There was a continual cost with an increase in the rate every ten seconds. There was a ten second grace period and then I would start getting hit with SP costs. I couldn¡¯t afford to lose any SP if I was going to be in a fight. I didn¡¯t let out my breath and moved my arm up through the mud. I then cupped my hand over my nose and mouth to force the mud away. I let out and took a shallow breath. It didn¡¯t matter how much I breathed as long as the air left my body in to the surrounding air. There was no photosynthesis in game or actual consumption of oxygen. One of the corners cut to provide a realistic experience. It would never be noticeable in most cases. If it was me in charge of this trap, I would check once every week, maybe once every month. Checking more often would only lead to a greater chance of my escape. I would keep a careful watch on top of where I was buried. Underwater was slightly different. There was so much air space required in order to breathe. Supposedly it was much easier to have a set height based on the water level and then require greater air space under that level. For someone up partway a mountain I didn¡¯t have this issue despite the muddiness of the ground I couldn¡¯t act. With two hands I might have been able to grab my flame sword and breathe, but the problem with one hand was that it wasn¡¯t enough. I brought my legs up through the mud and too my chest. I then tucked my head to my chest and carved out an air pocket with my lone hand. With that completed I was finally free to move my hand towards my flame sword and take the hilt. It was a slight struggle to pull it free without moving my head or my body under the mud but I managed. I didn¡¯t know what would happen when I started up my flame sword, but I had to do something to change my situation. ¡°Flame on.¡± I whispered out. I knew I was immune to heat, but heated water could be different. It was water, not fire. I felt the waves of heat but it wasn¡¯t uncomfortable yet in the cold mud. I slowly moved the blade to a couple inches in front of my body. I made sure to keep the blade moving about to carve out a small chamber. I then pushed my face forward as quickly as possible until I felt my hand break through into the chamber I was carving out. I then moved my face into the heat and the carved out void that was now supported by clay. With that completed. I slowly moved my flame sword out of the carved out chamber and began moving it upwards at an angle turning more of the mud to clay. I kept working on drying out and hardening the mud to brittle clay. There was one close call as my clay chamber began filling up with mud. Some work with the flame blade and things hardened up. I mentally hummed a tune in my head to keep myself calm and help keep track of the time. Once almost all the mud and been turned into hardened clay I then released my satchels. The bulb would be lost along with all the food and extra gear I had. I couldn¡¯t afford to be burdened down. I would have my two swords, dagger harness, and a really pissed off attitude. I used the rock wall behind me to help guide me upwards. When I pulled myself free I almost let out huge gasping breaths. That would give me away and it was still dark. A wood palisade had been built around my location near the rock face and filled in. I had been planted in a giant half assed pot. I may be part demon, part bug, but I sure as hell wasn¡¯t part plant. I pulled the rest of my body out of the mud and crawled my way over to the small trickle of water pouring down into the dirt. I washed off my face, hands, and swords. I began stripping out of my mud caked clothes. They would only hinder my movement. I noted that my lone boot had come off. I pushed the clothes back in the dirt and smoothed over the hole I had made. I had not seen anyone about, but this wasn¡¯t a random land slide. I carefully made my way around the area, making sure to keep quiet in the darkness. I found the camp not far away. It was half assed and looked like something that had been barfed onto the landscape. I picked the nicest tent and went inside. A brutish looking thug lay there and two women in the makeshift bed. I pulled out a dagger and quickly drove it straight into his skull. He let out a pained gasp before dying. Both women woke up. I pulled the dagger free along with bits of brain and blood. I then drove it straight into one of the women¡¯s throats. She let out a choked gurgle and died. The other woman let out a scream. If I had two arms this never would have happened. She began scrambling her way out of the tent. I ripped the dagger free and threw it. It struck her shoulder but didn¡¯t put her down. I pulled out the Slice of Life and stalked my way out of the tent. A number of worn down looking people stumbled out of their tents in shoddy armor and worse looking weapons. ¡°You are going to die.¡± I said it calmly, because it was a fact. It was like gravity or the rotation of planets. It was a truth embedded into the universe. That same truth was that all these assholes were walking corpses. ¡°We-¡° Just the thought of listening to these bugs offended me. ¡®Burst Speed three times, Conceal Movement five seconds.¡¯ With the mental commands to activate my skills I charged forward. The man who had tried speaking lost an arm. As he was looking at the stump in shock I moved onto the next one. I slashed open his gut and his bowels spilled out in front of him. The third on was slashed from the groin up across his hip. The forth swung a blade but it was simple enough to twist around and cut off the top of his skull removing a portion of his brain. That was when they tried to run away. I ran up behind each of them and sliced the back of their legs. Hamstrung, they collapsed on the ground while I moved onto the next person. As the sun finally started to come up over the horizon it was done. All the assholes who had tried to bury me alive were either dead or bleeding out on the ground. I then took slice of life and poked the tip into each of their eyeballs. I let them scream, piss, moan, and plead. I didn¡¯t care. Killing Ulther made me made. Losing my foot made me pissed off. Tafe was aggravating. This was a whole new level of rage. I then used my flame blade to burn the flesh away to seal their cursed wounds and burnt off their balls. If the best revenge was living well, then the reverse was also true. I would make their lives as shitty as possible. No eyes and no balls. I then removed all their clothes and dragged them out of the camp and left them next to the palisade they had set up to bury me alive. I got to work looting their camp. There wasn¡¯t a clean piece of clothing in the entire place. I ended up grabbing the least offensive and scrubbing the articles off in a stream. I found two satchels and filled them up with their food supply. I filled it up. I still had my canteens strapped to my leather harness, which was nice. I made sure to give myself a through wash off before changing to remove the remaining mud and all the blood. I was able to salvage my leg and arm guards after a good rinsing. I left the camp without looking back. I did not like being buried alive. It took another two days to cross over the mountain range and see the desert once again. I began making my way south along the edge of the mountains and the desert. I was tempted to try and find a worm to ride, but that seemed like really pushing my luck to the limit. I didn¡¯t hear any news about the people I had mutilated. They could have been NPCs but it didn¡¯t make a difference really. If they were NPCs then they didn¡¯t matter that much. If they were players then they were feeding information to someone quietly. The second option seemed unlikely with how many people there were. They probably were barbarians living in the Wild Lands. It was another twenty days to reach the city of Osgoth. The city existed on the opposite of Divide Lake from Helsinn. It rested on the side of a mountain stretching from up high to the shore of the lake. A river was between the city and the plains that led to the Durrunian Desert. The city wasn¡¯t anything special and had been suffering from a lack of trade. Not many people wanted to go out to the Durrunian Desert and the entire area had been in decline for years. The recent influx of players had started to revitalize the area. The dungeons to the west would probably use this as a base city. An easy to navigate route along the edge of the mountains would lead people to this city and Helsinn. In a couple of years this place might be its own power. For now it was under the authority of Galmore but there wasn¡¯t a heavy military presence. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. To the south there was just more forest and the main route along the river had the city of Palon at the mouth to block large scale attacks. The fact that the city was on the side of a mountain and next to a lake would make it incredibly hard to take by force. Approaching the city wasn¡¯t too difficult. With my speed it was simple enough to sleep on the roofs of houses while I traveled during the night. I paid a contact for useful information about Osgoth. I paid $10,000 for the information listed as high value through a third party side to block identities. It was the same info-broker that had led me to the contact from Galmore in Palon. He was clearly operating in the area and the listed was listed as high value. It contained directions to a complex of buildings opposite the city on the other side of the river. The only note on what was being done was that high end transportation research was being conducted. Before I left the city I made sure to raid a store for supplies and a lot of canteens. If I was going to travel in the desert I didn¡¯t want to run out of water. I then stole a boat and slipped across the river at night. I snuck up and over the wall and into the complex. I made my way to the large ware house and went in. Inside was completely dark. I pulled out my flame blade and lit it up and my breath was taken away. In front of me was what could only be described as a small boat with wheels. It was so much more than that though. It was a work of art and this meant I wouldn¡¯t have to walk anymore. ¡°Thank you.¡± I whispered out. Whomever made this ship had plans to sail out into the desert. A land ship would allow one to cross far more easily than walking across the endless boiling sands. It would also open up trade past the desert into the Wild Lands. In a few years there could easily be massive fleets of land ships sailing across the desert. I began inspecting it while making sure to keep my flame blade out of the way so as not to burn this gift down. I was definitely taking it and zooming away. It would be glorious sailing over the sands. It also appeared to have deployable wings. I almost shouted in glee at how brilliant this was. I heard the scuff of a shoe. ¡®Burst Speed, Conceal Movement one second.¡¯ My mental commands went off and I moved. A spear jabbed into the spot I had been standing in. A woman dressed in a simple robe twirled her spear and kept tracking my movements. My active skills wore off and I stopped and we stared at each other. ¡°You are trespassing.¡± She appeared to be middle age. The only light was my flame blade. Her blue eyes were cold. There were no smiles coming off this woman. The fact that her hair was cut short, I would have said she was a man except for the two very flat breasts and the lithe figure. A fight was going to happen. It didn¡¯t look like she was going for help. She was confident or had a strong sense of honor, which was her loss. I was tempted to start attacking but decided to indulge a bit. But a bit of pre-fight banter would get me into the mood for fight. I was getting rusty without things to kill and having only one arm was havoc for my fighting style. ¡°You aren¡¯t good enough to defeat me.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t you take the land ship.¡± ¡°I guess I will have to christen it with your blood.¡± ¡°Many men have said similar. They don¡¯t say much of anything now.¡± My satchels were hindering me, but she kept her eyes pinned to me. I wouldn¡¯t have a chance to remove them. ¡°Observe.¡±
Balsa Hornwood
LvL: 86
Strongest Stat: Dexterity
HP: 14761
MP: 412
SP: 1568
Strongest Skill: Piercing Jab
Not a wimp and based off her strongest skill, she had focused on the spear as her weapon of choice. ¡°Burst speed two times.¡± I moved in at high speed. My max speed hit 70 miles per hour. I was a blur as I ran forward to cut Balsa down. I cut out with my flame sword, but she managed to counter. She batted the blade away with the tip of her blade and spun to my left. I turned to face her and she rushed at me jabbing out with her spear. I was forced to move make. At level three, Burst Speed would last for 6 seconds. After that I wouldn¡¯t have the SP to use it again after using up a bunch to travel here. I moved in again but she was perfect in her blocks and counter attacks. I couldn¡¯t charge in, since every time it seemed she had positioned her spear perfectly to counter such a move and impale me. The fourth and last time right before my speed ran out I moved in but slashed upwards at her weapon rather than her. My blade and flames hit the bindings that held the spear head to the shaft. They burned away in the flames and the cutting edge of my blade. She tried to back up but I pushed forward and drove my knee up towards her stomach. She twisted to the side and blocked with a raised leg. She then slammed her head into mine from her half bent position. My nose exploded in blood and pain. In my stunned state I was barely able to bring my blade up to block and overhead blow towards my head. I staggered under the blow but this was my chance. I pushed forward and made sure the flame blade was between us. Both of our clothes burned, but I was merely massaged by the flames while she was burnt. ¡°Ahhhh!¡± She cried out. I stepped to the side while slashing out with my blade. It wasn¡¯t a strong slash, but it left a shallow cut of burned flesh across her stomach. The smelled of cooked meat filled the air. She still had the presence of mind to swing out again. The blow hit my side and shaved off a couple hundred HP. I didn¡¯t bother to care. I jabbed out and pierced her chest right through one of her breasts. The flesh of her breast melted around my flames. She struggled for a second before she stilled. I lowered my weapon and she slid off. My SP was shot, with only 200 and change left. ¡°Well fought bitch.¡± My nose was really hurting and dripping blood everywhere. I set my flame blade down but made sure it was touching my bug foot and used the Slice of Life to look at my nose in the metal. I put the weapon away and grabbed my nose with my hand. I twisted as hard as I could and snapped it back into place. I collapsed on the ground and let out a moan. That had hurt. I had set my nose and arm before during training but it hurt a lot each and every time. I lay there for a couple of minutes in the dark, letting the flame blade go out. After a bit I stood up and got to work. First I loaded all my stuff into the land ship. Next I went outside and found a store house. I found a barrel of beer. I poured out most of the beer and filled the rest from a well. Dawn was quickly approaching and I needed to get out of here, since my SP was dangerously low. I loaded up the barrel and then opened up the warehouse and the main gate. With my preparations done. I got behind the land ship and slowly rolled it out. ¡°You! Stop!¡± A man shouted out and began to run over. I reached into my leather harness and threw a dagger. My aim was still decent and it hit him in the eye, killing him. I pushed the land ship fully outside and hopped on. I began fiddling with the sails and it slowly began to roll forward picking up speed. I saw more people rushing out as I cruised out of the main gates. I heard shouting but couldn¡¯t pick it up. I got to work deciphering the complexities that were all the ropes controlling the land ship. It was only three feet wide but ten feet long. There were two axles and two sails. The main sail in the center that appeared could only go up and down with about 60 degrees of rotation. There was a rear sail at the back that was controllable with a lever that could rotate up to 120 degrees. The steering wheel controlled the front axle. The seat was right in front of the main mast with a second behind the main mast which I had put the barrel and all my supplies. The land out here was incredibly flat and the grass was fairly short. I made my course due east since the wind was coming down from the north at the moment. I would be tacking into the wind for the first part of my journey and I knew this area could have the wind suddenly change direction. ¡°Hahahaha.¡± I laughed as I cruised along and began to pick up speed. I had been really disliking all the walking I had to do. It was tiring and seemed mostly pointless. There was also the lack of ability to bring supplies. While I could carry quite a bit, I couldn¡¯t really stock up and had to keep resupplying. With the land ship now under my control I was free. I could travel the continent in style. Well not the whole continent, but at least this portion and the desert. I had hated the sand that went everywhere. Now I could bypass the worst part and just cruise along. ¡°Hahahahahaha.¡± It was more of a chuckle this time, but not even Tafe could remove my grin. It wasn¡¯t an airship but this was the next best thing. After the last airship disaster at Breckley, people were a lot more hesitant to devote resources to developing air power. This was land power. I stroked a hand over the steering wheel and vowed to protect this land ship with my life. I would rather die than walk any more, that went triple for the desert. *** UltimataSecret: I just saw a land ship outside of Osgoth while chasing after Blood Rain 6996: Land ship? Killashard: Ship with wheels and a sail DeathMusic: Blood Rain the pirate, arrrgggg HunterXBloodRain: AHHHH, I went the wrong way to the west. Never getting Blood Rain now HamsterLord: He is the master of escape. Maybe he is going back to that dragon worm tower. Tribbles: All forces converge! GODHAXLOL: LAND SHIPYYYYYYYY!!!!!!! BurnBaby: Did the land ship have weapons? TheWinzKid: I want one Worm: It is a trap GambleMan: remember to place your bets. Blood Rain continues to elude pursuit. Jackpot on correct day is now $157,124 *** Author¡¯s Note: I had the MC using two hands for the underground portion. I was then like¡­.oh. Here is a list of all the damage/appearance in case you forgot. Right Foot: Tri-prong bug foot Left Arm: Cut off above the elbow (Still waiting on chain saw upgrade) Demon Blood: Lets off small bursts of fire, fire immune Facial Scar: Scar along left side of face near eye and tip of left ear cut off Scars: Multiple scars across body Appearance: Around 5 feet, pale skin, red eyes, no hair, enhanced body parts
Not exactly it, but used as inspiration. Also have a....MAP! All tiles are 10kmx10km. I know I use miles all the time. Derp.... Download Link To Map Chapter 44: Fury Road I skimmed over the plains in my land ship. It was officially my new favorite mode of travel. I almost felt bad for stealing it, almost. The wind whipped in my face along with the sting of bits of grit. I didn¡¯t care, I was on a land ship! I set course due west. I would visit the tower first and then the dungeon. Not the most efficient way to go about things but the tower had the potential for greater rewards. The land ship needed a name. I didn¡¯t want to name it something pretentious like Highwind or Enterprise. ¡°I dub thee Wish.¡± I called out as I kept zooming over the ground. If there was one wish, it was that there was no more walking ever again. I crested a hill and shot off into the sky. I pulled a lever and the wings unfolded, allowing me to glide for a ways. As I came up to the ground I pushed the lever forcefully and retracted the wings so they wouldn¡¯t be damaged. I glanced behind me and noted three land boards in pursuit. I named them land boards since they had to be a third the size of the land ship. It was a seat, mast, and three wheels. There was nothing else. They had less sail cloth to drive them, but they were far lighter. I was in a car chase, or a land ship chase in this case. I smiled, I never thought this would happen in FEAR. They spread out in a wedge formation behind me and I noted they all had crossbows. If they hit my sail, my speed would be screwed. I could probably take them in a head on fight, but there was a chance of wrecking Wish. I wasn¡¯t giving up my Wish no matter what. I refused to walk across the stupid desert. I was also very low on SP at the moment. There was nothing to grab up and throw. I just needed to maximize my speed and escape. My pursuers were closing in slightly. They didn¡¯t have a barrel of water or as many supplies as I did. That weight difference was what would lose me this race. Where was a nitro boost when I needed one? The wind shifted and I reacted immediately. The sharp change in my course caused the edge of the Wish to lift up and to ride on two wheels. I wrestled with the steering wheel and the secondary sail lever and landed with thud that shook the Wish. One of the land boards was caught up and lifted off the ground. An bolt came in from a land board on my left. I was able to see them raise up their cross bow in time. I swerved the land ship to my right and the arrow hit the dirt. Another land board came on my right. I swerved hard to my right. The woman controlling the land board panicked and served to avoid me. A bolt hit the main mast right behind my head with a thunk. Time to stop playing around I stood up on my chair and turned around. The wind was whipping around me as the land ship sped across the rolling plain. I had ten daggers in my harness and grabbed the first one. I stepped back with my right foot onto the steering wheel. I moved it slightly left and right to get a wheel. There would be no chance to dodge easily on the land ship so I had to improvise. One of the land ships was pulling even with me on my right. I threw my dagger and it hit a wheel, completely missing my target. The man brought up his cross bow and I kicked the steering wheel. The land ship veered to the left and the bolt went wide. I maneuvered the wheel the other direction and brought the land ship back on course. Two land boards pulled up on my left. Both my opponents were bringing their cross bows to bear. I kicked the wheel hard and the land ship did a sharp turn to cut off the two land boards. I threw my second dagger. It hit the man in the shoulder. His crossbow went off into the ground. The woman fired and barely missed me by a couple of inches as the bolt sailed past. I turned around and dropped into my chair. I scanned the landscape ahead and saw a hill off to my left. I quickly spun the land ship in that direction. The land boards were still hot on my tail. The man who had been hit had removed the dagger and was bandaging the wound with his shirt, but still kept up the chase. I kept swerving left and right, forcing the land boards to give me space or be caught up in an accident. The fact they were aiming for me meant they were trying to capture the ship intact. I reached the hill and sped up it with the wind pushing me. A moment before I reached the ridge I deployed the wings and banked hard. The wings slowed me down and helped balance out the Wish as it made an incredibly tight turn to follow the ridge of the hill. The tip of the right wing hovered just above the ground as I made the sharp turn. The land board I had veered in front of panicked and turned to the right. Unfortunately for him the land board was unable to turn that tightly and broke into a tumble. It crashed right behind me as I sped off along the ridge. The other two land boards had shot over the hill and were trying to catch back up with me. I law Divide Lake to my left along with a number of farms. That was just asking to crash, it was better to stick to the plains. I scanned the landscape and spotted an out cropping of rock up ahead that created a minor cliff. I kept the wings extended and headed straight for it. My speed had decreased after that turn and I didn¡¯t dare slowdown in case I lost lift. I had no idea how lift worked in FEAR. It was something to investigate at a later time. The land boards had come back up the hill and were right on my tail. Another bolt hit the Wish but I ignored it. I went right over the rocky out cropping. One land board was too late in breaking off and went over with a crash. The woman was smeared out across the ground in a pile of twisted limbs and splintered wood. Wish hit the ground and I retracted the wings. I looked back and saw the last land board break off pursuit. ¡°Yar! I am the mighty land ship warrior pirate.¡± I shouted out. I shook my head at my own silliness and sped across the plains headed back towards the desert that I had lost so much in. I worked it out that the land ship did about 60 miles per hour which was insane. Based on my earlier travels I had worked out that the tower was about 620 miles to my west and 275 miles to my north. That meant it was 678 miles or just about to reach the tower in a straight line or just around twelve hours. I sipped from a canteen while enjoying a sandwich I made. It was made of long thin bread with a light crust. In the sandwich I had put slices of a green fruit that tasted like a cross between an apple and a peach. A bit sweet but it was balanced out by the pieces of salted jerky. Now this was how to travel in style. There was nothing in the desert except some random plants and lots of sand. There was an occasional rock, but it was an incredibly desolate place. I could even Meditate on the land ship which was totally broken. I couldn¡¯t do it on an animal, but a mechanical contraption allowed me to travel and regenerate MP. I could easily see the future when mages flew about on their personal craft while meditating. It almost made me want to start over to put my stat points into a magic focus. I wondered where the nomads had went. We hadn¡¯t seen a town or city near the tower. So they were out here somewhere. If I did run across any I was confident I could take them or at least sail away. As the sun was going down I spotted the mountain that the tower had been on. I slowed the Wish down to a stop. I would investigate in the morning. No need to go to a dangerous dungeon while tired. Nothing happened during the night and I woke up the next morning and set off towards the glassed mountain. The current weather was sunny. The forecast said there was a slight chance of epic trouble. I always ran into trouble. It was just a matter of how much trouble. I brought the land ship in between two boulders and parked it. With the sails retracted it had no chance of moving. There was no key or lock. Good for stealing it, bad for leaving it unattended. I really didn¡¯t want to lose my land ship. ¡°You stay right here Wish. If anyone touches you, they will wish they were never born.¡± I gave it a pat and set off across the glassed rock with my flame blade drawn and at the ready. The quiet and lack of anything except smooth black rock was unnerving. I made my way back to the top of the sunken tower and the dungeon entrance. I entered and saw there were a number of tracks on the floor. Probably human, but it wasn¡¯t clear. The top floor was exactly what I remembered. Tafe was still smiling like a demented mental patient. I looked at the statue of the Endolgon. So many legs and incredibly long. If the tunnels were any indication of its width, then its length was around 120 feet. That was massive. I began traveling down. The library was my destination. The knowledge contained there should answer all my questions. I walked down into the library room and just stared. Where there had been hundreds of books, now there was moldy lumps. The books were completely gone. There went a lot of my hopes. There was still one book and I would at least retrieve that. The door into the room with the moving statues was smashed down and all the statues destroyed. It looked like a wrecking ball had moved about the room, smashing everything to bits of rubble. Whomever or whatever did that was incredibly strong or pissed off. Looking at how small the scraps were, it was probably both. I kept going down floor after floor. There was some evidence that at least one person had been here. Crawl spaces had been opened up and the passage forward made much easier. I passed the spot where One died. I stopped for a moment and hoped they were all doing okay. None of them were speaking with me and I didn¡¯t press the issue by sending out messages. There was nothing to say really, that whole thing was survival of the fittest. I reached the room with the green fruits without incident. I noted that the crates were empty. I tried moving one, but it was stuck to the floor. I frowned at that, since it made no sense and went to the next level where the slime had been before. I entered the room and there was nothing there. I figured that I would have seen at least one monster. There were a total of twenty floors and each of them was empty as the next. This entire place was an empty ruin. I began my ascent back up the tower. The fact there was nothing here was disappointing and enlightening. Someone or something had come here and made a passage to reach the lower levels more easily. The millions of level one black slimes were gone along with the Book of Tafe. The girl and been a monster and was down here, where were the other monsters? I stopped at the pool at what was probably the main level when the tower was standing. The water was still there. I had ignored it before, but as I climbed it didn¡¯t make sense. Everything in this tower was missing except for a pool of water which should have evaporated a while ago. I tossed a piece of rubble into the pool and it sunk without incident. I sniffed it and looked at it, and for all intents and purposes it appeared to be normal water. ¡°Identification.¡± Nothing happened. ¡°Observe.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Drop of Black Slime
LvL: 1
Strongest Stat: Fate
HP: 1
MP: 1
SP: 1
Strongest Skill: Dissolve
I backed away quickly. The slime twisted about in the pool, but didn¡¯t do anything else. I let out my breath. I walked back over and looked in the pool. The book wasn¡¯t in there. ¡°Hello? Can you understand me?¡± Not being attacked by monsters for months now had really made be relaxed to their overall danger. I had survived the Endolgon. Nothing happened and then the pool rippled outwards from the center. ¡°Alright. Can you spell something out or use telepathy?¡± The pool rippled inwards. ¡°Alright then. Did someone take the book you had with you?¡± The pool rippled inwards. The book was gone most likely, which was unfortunate. ¡°Did Tafe give you any more orders?¡± Come on loaded question. The pool was still for a long moment and then it swirled in a circle. That confirmed it. All monsters have a bit of troll in them. Time to go for broke. ¡°Will you follow me?¡± The pool rippled inwards. ¡°Are you sure? There doesn¡¯t appear to be much down here. Oh, maybe you want water or something.¡± I pulled out a canteen of water and one of oil. I opened them both up. The millions of droplets shifted over both entrances. There was a slight jerk and the oil poured out. The slime condensed around the oil for a moment and then dispersed back out. ¡°If you come with me there is more oil.¡± The pool was still for an entire minute before swirling about. A better response but a massive horde of killer slimes would be the best pet. ¡°Is there any way I can convince you?¡± The pool rippled outwards. ¡°Do you want something?¡± Outwards ripples. ¡°Do you want the book back?¡± A swirl. ¡°Do you want to kill the person who took the book?¡± A swirl outwards and then a swirl. ¡°Do you want to kill everyone who looked at the book?¡± A ripple outwards. ¡°Can you sense where they are?¡± A ripple inwards. ¡°Can you tell if they read it, if they are close?¡± A ripple outwards. That was interesting. If the monster could do it, that meant Tafe could sense who looked at it as well. ¡°Well I want to get the book back. You won¡¯t find them if you hide out down here. If you come with me you can become more powerful and find the book and everyone who looked at it. What do you say?¡± The pool was still as I waited for a response. It then rippled inwards. I cursed to myself. ¡°Do I need to promise you something more?¡± The pool rippled outwards. ¡°Okay then. Do you want sacrifices, human bodies?¡± I asked. The pool rippled inwards. ¡°Alright then. You are a bunch of black slimes, what do slimes want?¡± The pool swirled at the rhetorical question. ¡°Do you want another slime?¡± The pool rippled inwards and then swirled. ¡°You want to find someone specific?¡± The pool rippled inwards. ¡°Tafe?¡± The pool swirled. ¡°Umm, the hero who imprisoned Tafe?¡± The pool rippled inwards. ¡°Okay, dumb question. Who could it be? The Endolgon?¡± I asked. The pool rippled outwards. ¡°Well the Endolgon gave me this weapon.¡± I gestured at my hip with my stump. I didn¡¯t want to let my flame blade go out since it was my only source of light. A tendril of the black slime rose out of the pool and poked the hilt of the sword. I didn¡¯t interrupt it. The tendril retreated and the pool swirled. ¡°So will you come with me now?¡± The pool rippled outwards for a bit and then swirled. ¡°Is there a problem?¡± The pool rippled outwards. ¡°You can¡¯t leave the tower?¡± An outwards ripple and then a swirl. I thought about it for a moment. ¡°The desert, you can¡¯t stand the heat and the sand. Right?¡± The pool rippled outwards. ¡°Alright then. I know I am going to regret this, but could you live inside of me?¡± The pool stilled for a bit and then swirled. ¡°I am going to touch you. Try not to melt me.¡± I brought up my loose sleeve to reveal my stump. I then poked the end into the black slimes. There was a long moment of burning. I pulled out my stump and saw that some of the flesh had melted away. ¡°Similar to the death poison from the scythe. Definitely potent, raw death poison.¡± I had never developed an immunity to the death poison despite all the trouble it gave me. It didn¡¯t instantly disintegrate me which I took as a positive. ¡°Can I swallow a single drop of you?¡± I asked. The pool rippled in multiple directions before settling in rippling outwards. I laid down next to the pool and opened my mouth. ¡°Just a drop in my mouth.¡± A tendril came over and a single drop came off and into my mouth. I quickly swallowed and watched my HP drop by a hundred points while burning pain came from inside of me. I wondered how the slimes could see and communicate. A problem for another time. ¡°Alright, another drop.¡± I said after the pain went from burning to a dull ache. Twenty more times and two thousand HP before I got a message.
Poison Immunity-4
Taste like chicken
LvL 1: You are immune to basic poisons LvL 2: You are immune to intermediate poisons Types: Spore, Bug LvL 3: You are immune to advanced poisons Type: Plant LvL4: You are immune to special poisons Type: Death
I really didn¡¯t want to find out about a level five poison. ¡°Let¡¯s try this.¡± I sat up and put my stump into the pool. I didn¡¯t feel anything. When I took it out, there was no damage. The pool began swirling. ¡°Time to logic this before I go ahead. FEAR doesn¡¯t have real bodies. Everything is emulated, which is why someone can develop statuses from drinking blood. Poison is a good example. Normally only organic poisons like snake venoms worked like this. Heavy metals are a death sentence.¡± I looked at the list of poisons and all of them were organic. ¡°So blood doesn¡¯t really exist as a function of the body, but rather as a visual and visceral effect. This means that someone could lose all their blood and still function. But with the ability Blood Drain, my status bars could be contained in my blood as a symbol of my life force.¡± ¡°Okay, let¡¯s try this. Can you enter the wound you made in my arm and move about my body instead of my blood?¡± The pool swirled and rippled. It finally settled on an outwards ripple that was very small. Maybe the drops had a democracy, one vote per drop. I shook my head and focused. ¡°Okay, just small bit.¡± I stuck my stump back in the pool. I saw a bit of blood come out that was quickly consumed by the black slimes. My immunity didn¡¯t protect things outside my body, interesting. I didn¡¯t feel any different and my bars didn¡¯t drop. ¡°Let¡¯s try a bit more this time.¡± More black slimes surged up and I felt a bit of pain as blood was forced out and the black slimes entered my body. I didn¡¯t feel any different and nothing else had changed. ¡°Can you come back out?¡± The black slimes began to reemerge and I noted that my bars began to drop. ¡°Stop! Back in.¡± They went back in and the bars returned to where they were. ¡°A bit of good and bad. Can you harden yourselves?¡± The pool rippled outwards. ¡°Can I see an example.¡± A small portion condensed in front of me. If I had to guess, the ratio was about ten to one. I poked the hard bit of black slime that had been left at the lip of the pool. It was moist but dense like a dense bread. So it couldn¡¯t just build a body to escape but could make itself rigid. ¡°Can you undo it?¡± The portion broke apart into individual droplets that flowed back into the pool. ¡°Replacing my muscles, bones, and organs would be a bad idea.¡± I said aloud in the underground chamber. ¡°Maybe replacing out the fat would work, or bulking me up.¡± The main issue was that the black slime couldn¡¯t replace functionality and if it could I didn¡¯t want to depend on it like that. If it left, I would die. I also couldn¡¯t feel it inside of me, which was disturbing. ¡°Let¡¯s have you leave my body.¡± I watched as my bars drained as the slime exited completely. ¡°Now back in, the same part.¡± My bar regenerated back up to where it was before. I could store energy in the slime. The problem came in the fact that I took in about a one hundredth of the slime and lost a tenth of my bars. If the whole slime entered me and somehow fit, then it suck out ten times my available energy. None of my bars were near max, so I didn¡¯t even know if I could generate a surplus inside of my body. If I could then this was definitely worthwhile. *** Author¡¯s Note: I couldn¡¯t resist. The option for a land ship chase was too tempting. Oh. My. God. I just realized Furiosa was short one arm and kicked ass. I didn¡¯t realize until I was writing this chapter about how much she kicked ass with only one arm. This chapter got away from me. I strated writing about the slime and it was like BAM! So all those stories with slime tamers, this is how you do it. Replace out your blood with slime joo joo. I am a bit of a loss on how to stuff that much black slime inside of a body, suggestions would be nice. The black slime won¡¯t want to separate great distances. A portion can¡¯t be taken and the rest left behind. The black slime has a current volume of about 4-5 times Blood Rain and about 10-12 times Blood Rains total blood volume. The black slime won¡¯t allow portions of it to be killed. The black slime is weak to heat and sand. If the black slime shrinks to ¡®dense bread¡¯ its volume decreases at a ratio of 10:1 Unknown if Blood Rain will generate above his max caps if the slime is inside of him. Unknown what happens to Demonic Blood Corruption and Ichor Blood Corruption. Unknown if the black slime can replicate an organ¡¯s function. Unknown if organs are needed for a body to function. Unknown what happens if all his blood is replaced. Blood Rain would greatly prefer to have a power up. Blood Rain does not want to depend on the black slime so much it kills him if it leaves him. Blood Rain would prefer to make a decision quickly. Using the above facts and the information from the story, please suggest how he would succeed in taking the black slime with him. All those unknowns are known by me and I won¡¯t change them. The next chapter will probably be a bonus chapter foreshadowing an upcoming event, so there will be some time to discuss and reach a consensus. WRITE IN!!! Bonus Chapter 8 - Clara The air was dry and hot. Clara looked across the landscape and contemplated the most efficient way to proceed. She began to advance in slow but determined walk forward. It wouldn¡¯t do to hurry, but showing weakness was equally as bad. Life was all about balance. She knew of traps and ambushes, having survived all that had been pit against her, including pits. Her mind was drifting, which was unacceptable. She moderated in breathing into a slow and steady rhythm as she advanced. Climbing up the smooth rock she noted that it provided minor tactical advantages to an enemy in terms of terrain. Her armor would have limited hiding capabilities in this terrain. Stealth was not her strength, strength was her strength. The other players may play at builds and strategies, but they would crumble in direct combat against her overwhelming might. She reached the apex of the glassed landscape and stared at a hatch into the ground. It had taken effort to locate the collapsed tower, but she would take its power for herself. She scanned the area. There were no presences about. She spoke into thin air knowing she would be heard. ¡°Bring in the earth and fire mage on my location.¡± A portal opened and two mages came through. ¡°Prepare for entry in three minutes.¡± Both mages nodded and began chanting, not wasting a single second. She had heard from one of Kenji¡¯s companions that there was a high level slime down there and a book. The man had been easy prey for her to extract all his useful information from. Paying for info brokers was wasteful. She knew it was better to use her overwhelming strength to claim that information herself. Both mages lit up torches. Clara jumped down through the hatch with a resounding boom as her armor hit the stone. She felt the floor sag slightly but it didn¡¯t give. This place could withstand around thirty percent of her combat abilities. ¡°Clear.¡± She said. Her deep voice resonating up to the mages. Clara advanced into the next room searching for anything of value as her mages trailed behind to provide light. She looked at the statues in the room. The statue of the woman was both feral and feminine in a wolfish sort of way. The statue of the man opposite her was ruined, but clearly her opposite. Her information said that was a goddess called Tafe. Clara walked over and tried moving the statue base. It was solidly built onto the floor. She turned and scanned the remaining statue depicting a monstrous creature. The blank stone where its face should be and the hundreds of legs indicated a difficult opponent with unknown abilities. A challenge for later consideration, she would have to run combat simulations to judge how she compared to such a foe. She continued downwards with the mages trailing silently behind. The next level was a ruined conference room of some sort. Nothing of value located. The next level appeared to be a library. The books were all consumed with mold. She flipped one of the better looking ones open but it crumpled into sticky goo that coated her gauntlet. ¡°Repel.¡± The goo flew off her armor and splattered across the floor in front of her. ¡°Do not touch the stuff or the books.¡± She warned the mages. Having them die would be inconvenient. She continued to advance down the sunken tower. She came to a door with a hole. ¡°I sense movement through the door.¡± The earth mage said. Clara bent slightly and looked through the hole. There were statues. Those statues were probably enemies. She moved her left hand and freed her ball and chain while her right took her blade. ¡°Remain here. Don¡¯t speak unless attacked from behind.¡± She didn¡¯t wait to hear their responses as she charged forward. The door shattered and she was in the room. Eight enemies of stone composition, estimated battle time fifteen point two seconds. The battle ended after seventeen seconds. Clara frowned as she contemplated why her analysis was off. The speed of the statues was impressive but it was the fact that she had stepped on a piece of rubble that upset her footing at a poor moment. A minor error she would need to work on correcting. ¡°Clear.¡± The following levels brought out monsters of all kinds. Living rocks, small worms, and even what appeared to be a small child. They were all obliterated without mercy or hesitation. The earth mage was useful in clearing the blockages and making sure the floors didn¡¯t cruple. She reached the entrance to level twenty which led to a large chamber without an apparent function. In front of her was the black slime that had been mentioned. She watched its movement carefully and noted that different sections were operating independently. Spinning her ball and chain, the weapon began to emit a whirring sound due to its speed. The slime moved forward preparing to attack. She released the ball and it crossed the distance faster than even she could see. The ball struck the ground that was directly underneath the slime. It also passed through the slime on the way there. BOOM! The shockwave shook the entire dungeon and left a crater in the floor. The black slime had dispersed slightly but quickly began engulfing the ball. It was immune to blunt force and shock waves, unsurprising for a non-solid creature. ¡°Repel.¡± A good portion of the slime was vaporized and the rest pushed back. A book dropped to the floor. Clara snapped the ball back to her and secured it to her side. She then drew her sword and advanced. She stopped near the book and noted that she could not see the black slime anywhere. The slime had vanished into the shadows and cracks. Fear tried to grip her, but that was laughable. She readied her blade and reached for the book with her free hand. Out of the crevices the slime leapt up and moved to penetrate her armor. ¡°Repel.¡± The slime was pushed off her armor and quickly congealed in front of her. Clara moved her sword straight into the slime. ¡°Freeze.¡± The slime around the blade turned to ice. The rest of the slime burst apart collapsed into the shadows. She scanned the chamber for anything else of interest but there was nothing left that she could see. She swung her blade down as fast as she could. The chunk of ice flew off from the force of the attack and shattered against the opposite fall. ¡°Prep portal at my location. Send alert beacon.¡± A portal opened and a stone slab was ready on the table in front of her two minutes later. She reached through and took the stone slab. She then laid it on the ground off to the side of the portal. ¡°Activate and then conceal it.¡± She told the earth mage. ¡°We leave in thirty seconds.¡± Stolen story; please report. The mage got to work and we were through the portal in twenty seven seconds. His efficiency was excellent. She made a mental note and increased his overall value to herself by five percent. ¡°Good job. Rest for one day and then continue on your regular duties.¡± Both mages bowed. It was important to give one¡¯s servants time to recover after a stressful mission. She strode to her bath chamber and stepped into a giant tub of water. ¡°Repel. Repel. Repel.¡± She kept repeating the command again and again. The water was blasted away from her and then swirled back around her, cleansing her body. After a minute she walked out of the now muddy pool feeling clean and refreshed. She stood there by the pool as the water drained from her armor. ¡°Repel.¡± The water was forced out of the armor and away from her body. Clara walked over to her stone chair easy chair. The armor was all the comfort she needed. She slept and contemplated her next move. There were many people and places to hunt down. The one and only Kenji Shadowen, Blood Rain, was currently the most interesting and elusive target on her list. *** She returned from a particularly troublesome battle against a horde of half human half dragon mages. The fire they spewed was quite intense and her armor had trouble repelling that type of attack, though the outcome was never in doubt. One of her sensor mages ran up. ¡°We had an alert from location seventeen, desert tower, fifty three minutes ago. We were unable to scan who caused the alert.¡± That last part was interesting to Clara. A hidden opponent was rare and catching one even trickier. While she knew of a number of them, it was probably Blood Rain based on the latest report of him stealing a land ship from a town near the desert. ¡°Prepare a portal for immediate transition.¡± ¡°Shall we call up the support mages?¡± ¡°No.¡± The MP costs were incredibly high and she didn¡¯t want to decrease her training. While Blood Rain had a reputation it wasn¡¯t one of direct combat based on the fact he had started a fire rather than feel his enemies¡¯ blood fly through the air. He was also missing an arm which would limit his HP and SP. She moved to the portal room. ¡°It is going to take fifty seven more minutes. We had to call up the other shift.¡± The portal mages assistant said to her. She gave a short nod and contemplated the battle ahead. Clara estimated over a ninety percent chance of killing or capturing him. Unfortunately Blood Rain was prone to doing the impossible and actually managing it. ¡°Prep the RID. If it is Blood Rain he cannot be allowed to escape.¡± More mages rushed off. It had taken time, but house breaking them had been worth the effort. The mage assistant returned. ¡°It is being charged. The key is still at full charge and everything will be ready in eighty nine minutes.¡± It was a long period of time, but the process could not be rushed. A failure would be catastrophic and the fail safes were in place for a reason. She took a seat in a waiting room. She then slid open the mouth guard of my helmet and carefully enjoyed some water, plain rice, and fish. To dilute the body with impurities was foolish. A clear mind and body were both the pillars of true strength. ¡°Portal is ready in fifteen seconds.¡± The mage assistant said. She closed the hatch to her helmet and stepped up to the platform. The portal opened and she stepped through to the top of the sunken tower. The air was hot and it was mid-day here. She recalled her previous tactical assessments. The portal closed and she scanned the area. She saw her target come up the hatch in the ground. Perfect timing and exactly the person she had been expecting. She unclipped her ball and chain. Blood Rain spun around and she noted his tri-pronged foot and lack of a left arm based on how his shirt hung. A puff of fire rose out of his body. He was very interesting. Ripping the secrets from his mind and his flesh would prove most enlightening. ¡°I am The Encasement. You are dead.¡± *** I was just looking through the news and this story caught my eye. Apparently you can shoot a bow and arrow without arms. http://www.greatbigstory.com/stories/precision-doesn-t-require-arms?iid=ob_homepage_deskrecommended_pool I will note that the individual in question had a couple of devices to assist him like a harness and a way to release the arrow with his mouth. He was also born without arms. I figure that when you spend your entire life working around the disability it just who you are and not a disability. Please note that The Encasement is female, but comes off as non-female. Since she is in dark armor and the fact she doesn¡¯t correct anyone means she is often assumed to be a man. So when the MC refers to The Encasement as a ¡®him¡¯, the MC is making a mistake. Unlike Tor, she isn¡¯t the fun loving trouble maker. Well the next chapter will be a mega fight. Probably the entire chapter if I can manage it. Below is the title card for the upcoming fight. Rain of Blood versus The Encasement! In the left corner and underdog we have Kenji Shadowen, Blood Rain, Causer of Calamities, Breaker of Breckley, and the guy who is the offspring of a fire salamander and an alien. Missing his left arm, this will be the fight of his life. In the right corner we have The Encasement, Master of Mayhem, The Black Demon, The End, and the suit of armor that makes grown men wet their pants and women weep in terror. Clad in armor, supported by a cadre of mage slaves, and with unique weapons that break all the rules, I give you your champion. The Encasement! Chapter 45: Blood Rain v The Encasement After going over the problem a couple of times, there didn¡¯t appear to be a good option. ¡°You can¡¯t condense anymore?¡± I asked. The pool rippled inwards, so a no. I was hesitant to commit to moving out all my blood. Well the first thing was to get out of this dungeon and some place safe before I started any crazy experiments. ¡°I am will come up with something. I have a barrel you can travel in, if you want to come with me.¡± The pool swirled and then rippled outwards. That was great. I was sure I could come up with the perfect solution given time. ¡°Can you follow me up to the room with the statues?¡± The slime rippled outwards. ¡°Great, let¡¯s go.¡± We set off. Things were going great. I had a kick ass pet that would merge with me and give me death slime powers. As I climbed I began talking to the slime. ¡°We need to give you a name. Black Slime is descriptive, but a name means you are legend. I wanted to ask can you move inside of my body?¡± There was a small jerk near my stomach and I almost lost my balance. ¡°Let¡¯s not do that again.¡± We reached the statue room and the black slime stopped before the statue of Tafe and began to swirl erratically. ¡°Hmm? Don¡¯t worry about her. I am her champion or whipping boy. Anyways, just chill here and I will be right back with the barrel.¡± The slime kept jiggling about, the excitement of leaving this shit hole was probably getting to it. I climbed out of the hole, exiting the dark tower into the hot mid-day sun. I heard the clank of chains from behind me and spun around. The moment I saw the terrifying figure, the icy clutch of fear gripped my heart. It was The Encasement, more armor than man. The spiked helmet, the dark gray armor, so dark it was almost black, and the ball and chain. I had known he was after me after that attempt to portal to me months ago, but figured I wouldn¡¯t be seeing him again. No one had ever managed to so much as scratch him. I hadn¡¯t worked to get a copy of the removed video of his only recorded fight so I had no clue what I was walking into. He confirmed his name in his deep voice, ¡°I am the Encasement. You are dead.¡± He began speeding up the speed he was spinning the ball and chain. It was going too fast to keep track of. ¡°Maybe we can talk things out.¡± I shifted my weight. I needed to avoid that ball and chain. A single hit would pulverize me. It most likely had extra abilities, so a near miss was just as dangerous. ¡°If you strip naked and lay down with your hands behind your head your questioning and death will not use extreme measures.¡± That was even more bull shit than what I told people. He didn¡¯t even promise it wouldn¡¯t be painful. I couldn¡¯t see his expressions, but I bet he had a grin like I normally did when trapping someone. I was his prey and he was the predator. It was a very uncomfortable feeling being the one as a disadvantage. I feinted to the right and then moved left. The ball impacted the ground where I had feinted towards, showering me with shattered pieces of black stone. The ball was yanked backwards and I ran. I darted around an outcropping of rock and kept moving. The armor should slow The Encasement down. I heard the shattering of stone and dived to the side. The ball whipped through where my body had been and impacted another rock formation, leaving a massive impact crater. That was when The Encasement flew. I blinked and realized that the chain to the ball was pulling him and the ball wasn¡¯t moving. I moved out of the way a second before The Encasement¡¯s armored plated boot would have crushed my skull as he zoomed past me. His freaking ball and chain was a hook shot as well as instant death if it hit me. I promised myself I would be incredibly jealous after this battle. A sword that cut fate would have been a huge help right about now. ¡°Observe. Identify.¡±
Clara Talon
LvL: ???
Strongest Stat: ?
HP: ?????
MP: ????
SP: ?????
Strongest Skill: ?
The Encasement
LvL: 1000
Requirements: 100 Strength, ???
Stats: 1x Blunt Damage Special: Repel, Attract, High Durability
I only had a moment to look over the screens as I got up and ran. The Encasement was a woman from her page and that was all the information I got. Apparently she named herself after her weapon. It was level freaking bull shit. That thing had to be made from the tears of a thousand players and the screams of unborn babies for a level that high. Also it had the special abilities attract and repel which meant that blocking was probably a bad idea. Finally there was no way to destroy it with what I had on me. I heard the whirring as she spun up the ball and chain and I began moving erratically hoping to avoid another attack. I slid down a small portion of rock as the ball shattered the stone ridge I had just passed over. The ball landed on the ground in front of me with a shattering of stone and I saw it freeze in place and the chain go taunt. That weapon was totally over powered nonsense. I kept running while I heard her body pulled to the ball. My single greatest advantage, my speed had been nullified. She probably dumped most of her stat points into strength. With that armor making her impossible to kill and the ball and chain for range as well as speed, she countered all her own weaknesses. The way the weapon was enchanted I was sure the sword and armor were as well. If she had mages make portals for her, she definitely had enchanters. My only hope was outlasting her or delivering a critical strike of some sort, but she was barely moving with a low SP consumption. Swinging that ball and chain quickly did not require high movement, and it also propelled her across the ground. The ball and chain flew into the air above me and froze in the air. The Encasement flew up into the sky, and I cursed to myself about the unfairness of it all. I kept running but also kept an eye on what she was doing. The moment before she would hit the ball it dropped and she kept soaring in the air above me maintaining her momentum. I reversed directions, not wanting to be below her. The ball hit the ground right in front of me. I scrambled off to the side as the Encasement hit the ground with a resounding crack of stone right behind me. ¡°You can¡¯t catch me!¡± I shouted, hoping to throw the warrior off her game. She didn¡¯t hesitate to begin swinging her ball and chain again. Things weren¡¯t looking good. I couldn¡¯t put distance between us to make an escape and all it took was one hit. ¡°Burst speed.¡± I cried out and drew my flame blade. It was time to take a chance while I still could. I rushed in and The Encasement threw the ball and chain. The attack grazed my stomach slightly as I twisted to my right around the attack. My HP only took a small hit from the almost blow. I ducked under the chain so she would have to reach across her body to strike me with her right hand. The Encasement drew her blade and surged forward, the chain wrapped around her left yanking her towards me. I watched her try and move her blade into position but her body was out of position. Her movements were slow but her body was being pulled quickly, which wasn¡¯t helping her. Her movement wasn¡¯t quick enough as my flame blade hit her helmet and the point skidded up towards the slit in her helmet. She twisted her head slightly and the blade became wedged into the slit. She was still being pulled forwards but I refused to give up easily as I felt my blade being pulled from my hands as her armored figured kept pushing me across the ground with my sword acting as the stick. I had been resting on the front of my feet with my knees bent to absorb the initial blow which had worked out well. Now I jumped into the air and twisted myself over the chain. With my entire body weight behind my flame blade and her lack of solid footing, The Encasement¡¯s entire head twisted to the side for a brief moment. If I could break her neck, which would be an instant win. There was a breaking sound and the handle of my flame blade broke off from the blade itself. The blade was left wedged into her helmet. The attack had thrown her sword out of position and she hurtled past me. I looked once at my broken hilt and threw it away. The Encasement came to a stop and turned back around. I pulled out the Slice of Life and readied myself for another charge into her. ¡°Repel.¡± The flame blade shuddered for a moment and then shot away from where it had been wedged into her helmet. It slammed against a rock and left a small impact crater where it had hit. The entire blade shattered to pieces from the force of the blow. Her helmet had a silver gash etched into the dark metal of the armor running down the left side of the helmet right in front of where the eye would be. I rushed forward and The Encasement started swinging the ball and chain again. This time she waited until the last possible opportunity to attack. It was at that moment I realized I couldn¡¯t twist out of the way in time and was going to be smeared across the rock as red paste. Everything went dark. Light hit me and I saw the black slime reforming in front of me as The Encasement advanced. ¡°Thanks.¡± I grabbed the Slice of Life next to me. I got up to keep running before I was splatted. ¡°Opponents should stay defeated.¡± I heard The Encasement rumble out before slamming her ball into something. I couldn¡¯t see anything as I kept running away as fast as I could. It was time to gamble and hope I could escape. I ran behind a boulder. ¡°Projection, run away from Encasement. Conceal Presence, five seconds.¡± I then stopped behind the boulder as an image of me kept running. I held my breath and thought out my next active skills so I didn¡¯t interrupt my hiding. ¡®Shield Mind, Burst Speed two times, Conceal Movement five seconds.¡¯ My MP was dropping fast from all the active skills being used and it would take a while to bring it back up. If I was going to survive I had to run and it was worth the expense. It galled me to run, but I had no idea how I could win. Even if I did start winning I was sure I hadn¡¯t seen whatever trump card The Encasement had. She was only using her weapon¡¯s abilities and not any skills herself. I ran towards the land ship. A resounding boom exploded in the direction my projection had run. I got to the land ship and unfurled the sails. I began pushing the Wish out from behind the boulder as quickly as I could. I was glad I had stopped it on top of a small incline as it began rolling down the hill that lead up to the glassed over rock. I hopped in and angled the sails to catch the full wind. I looked behind me and saw the scariest, brick shitting sight ever. The Encasement was behind me swinging her ball and chain. She then unleashed it into the air. The chain kept going until the ball stopped in the air a hundred feet in front of me. That chain was insanely long. It seemed to twist from her left hand and up her arm to her back. I swerved the land ship to the side. The Encasement flew overhead and then stopped mid-way, dropping down to the sand. I was already pulling away. ¡°I will see you again.¡± The words barely reached me but they sent a chill down my spine. That was one woman I wanted no part of. I let out a long sigh as I saw her disappear through a portal. I pulled the land ship around to pick up the rest of the black slime. The black slime inside of me jerked backwards away from the rock. I turned away and the black slime stilled. That was weird, but I wasn¡¯t going to argue. I cruised away from the glassed rock across the desert. I was going to travel in style to Yaxel and find Tor. Ten minutes later as the sun was dipping below the horizon there was a bright light that emanated from behind with the power of a thousand suns. The light quickly dimmed and I glanced backwards. I didn¡¯t see anything. No mush room cloud or pillar of debris. A minute later the ground began to shake and a blast of air sent the land ship hurtling forwards at incredible speeds. It was all I could do to keep control. That had been some kind of super weapon. The only thing that came to mind was anti-matter or the magical equivalent. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. The Encasement definitely didn¡¯t take loosing well. She should try losing an arm and see how that feels. I then got a really evil idea. I couldn¡¯t beat the Encasement in terms of direct combat, but there was one method of attack that would really piss her off. I traveled for another hour before pulling the land ship to stop to get some rest and plot my revenge. In my atrium, I got to work. It was humiliating and cruel, but she needed to back off. Apparently my torture videos just didn¡¯t excite her. Now she would witness the power of the Rain of Blood. I finished my editing and released the video of the fight with the title, Encasement a Woman, Engages in Courtship. I added commentary to the whole thing with innuendos and insults about the black armored woman. It was completely over the top and a lampooning of the entire way she had set herself up in FEAR. It was petty, but it made me feel a lot better after having run away. I also sent her public account a copy of the video with lots of smiley faces. After getting some sleep I woke up in the desert as the sun was just coming up. I set off again and let out a sigh. ¡°I¡¯m an idiot.¡± That video was just going to piss her off more and piss off women everywhere. It had been my first real loss in a heads up fight while I wasn¡¯t critically weak. I didn¡¯t even have a chance and would have died if I had kept fighting. I was weak, very weak. I had even lost my flame blade. I had one for so long it was like a part of me had died on that battlefield. I went to hold up both my hands and look at them, but realized I was missing one. ¡°AHHHH! Stupid Encasement.¡± I meant the ball and chain not the player. It was so insanely over powered. I honestly thought no one would be able to take on a dragon. After seeing her abilities and the final farewell attack, I was totally outclassed. ¡°Black slime, you there?¡± I asked. I felt it move inside of me. I poked a hole in the top of the barrel holding the watered down beer. I made a small cut on my stump. ¡°Can you come out?¡± The black slime came out and a quarter of my status bars disappeared. The black slime was about the size of my head and sat on my lap below the wind shear of the land ship. ¡°The barrel is back there. Sorry I wasn¡¯t able to save the rest of you.¡± The slime quivered for a second and then plunged into the barrel at the back of the land cart. ¡°Thanks for saving me. I would have been toast.¡± I set course to the south west. I was going to Yaxel and seeing Tor. I had learned that she had set herself up as a local healer in the city. It would be great to have her on hand when I replaced my blood out with slime juice. She also might know about how organs actually worked. I made another sandwich while I thought on the problem. The only thing replaceable was my blood and I didn¡¯t want to replace all of it. I probably wouldn¡¯t have a choice. I adjusted the sails a bit as I contemplated what I could do. I really needed an arm, but the slime wouldn¡¯t be strong enough to support the weight of one or survive the heat of the sun apparently. It left me dependent on something that was controlled by Tafe. Anything that had the phrase ¡®controlled by Tafe¡¯ as part of it was all around bad news. Despite that I was tempted, even more so after the last fight. I needed a power up if I was going to survive. Every single fight so far had been one of desperation. I had managed to pull through but each time, my end came closer and closer. This last fight I had to be saved by something else. My thoughts troubled me as I cruised past the end of the mountains where they sunk into plains and the desert ended. South and a bit west and I should arrive in Yaxel. ¡°Tafe, will you answer some questions?¡± I asked out loud. Nothing, but maybe she was just being coy. I sipped some water. The hardest part of riding a landship was taking a piss. The first rule is to never piss into the wind. Thankfully I remembered that. Traveling was already uncomfortable enough without adding piss pants to the equation. Then it hit me like a The Encasement¡¯s ball. The black slime could live in my digestive tract. There was enough space to house a large portion. I might be able to filter things from the black slime into my body. I began thinking through all the possibilities. The key thing would be if it could survive my stomach acid and release nutrients to me or however the food system worked. I knew I needed to eat, but I also knew that the molecules and the processes from consuming food did not exist. I did have to poop and people did have shit in their intestines. Maybe a portion of the food matter was converted to waste and the remainder processed. That would make sense and was the only conclusion that made sense. This meant that the black slime could exist in everything below my stomach. The black slime I swallowed had most likely dissolved in my stomach and then the nutrients or poison went into my body while the rest became waste. The idea was definitely one of my more brilliant ones. I couldn¡¯t wait to meet up with Tor and try it out. I noted a number of farm houses in the distance and pulled the Wish to a stop into a crescent of trees. I hated leaving the land ship, but it was incredibly conspicuous. Once it was parked, I was too excited to press on to Yaxel. I looked in the barrel and the black slime was everywhere inside of it. It appeared it enjoyed beer. ¡°Can you come out?¡± I asked. The black slime flowed out and landed on the ground next to the land ship. ¡°Alright I have an idea. You can travel in my gut.¡± The slime spread out and rippled inwards. It didn¡¯t like that idea. ¡°If I let you replace my blood, you could kill me. Tafe may make you kill me.¡± The slime swirled. ¡°If I let you replace my blood you could never leave me.¡± ¡°You sure you won¡¯t try my bowel tract?¡± The slime rippled inwards. I stripped and pointed to the rear entrance to my body. ¡°Up there.¡± The slime rippled inwards even harder. I pulled up my pants. ¡°Alright then, can I consume a portion of you to turn my blood into slime joo joo?¡± The slime swirled and then stilled. Suddenly it engulfed my face and I felt it forcing itself down my throat. I could only let out a gurgle. It kept pouring in until my stomach felt like it would burst if another bit entered me. The slime pulled back and I let out gasping breaths and collapsed on the ground. The sun slowly began to set and I couldn¡¯t move. The black slime collective, since it was composed of hundreds of drops of black slime, just stayed next to me while I rested. Then the notice finally came and I let out a long sigh at finally getting a result.
Black Slime Purrification-5 MAX
The power of the black slime has been purrifed in your body
+25% Physical Resistance +25% Magical Resistance
That was completely awesome since it brought up my physical resistance to fifty percent and magical resistance to thirty percent. I poked my body and it felt softer. I grabbed a finger and was able to bend it back so it was only forty five degrees from the back of my hand. My entire body felt looser and freer. It did nothing for the already present wounds. Regeneration would have been a nice touch to get as well. I looked at the black slime. ¡°Thanks, you want to come with me now that we are out of the desert?¡± It swirled and then rippled outwards. I had a pet. ¡°Alright, I had better think of a name. Maybe Slimey or Blacky.¡± The black slime swirled. I would definitely have to put some thought into it. ¡°Alright, I can travel a lot faster than you. So how do you want to travel?¡± I asked the monster. It swirled and then leapt up onto me. I felt it move under my shirt and begin to harden. A couple of seconds later I had what felt like a wet, tight jacket clinging to me. Despite the wet feeling my clothes remained dry. Maybe excreting liquid was its version of going to the bathroom. I packed up what supplies I could carry in satchels and made sure the Wish was secure. Once that was done I set off. Yaxel had no walls. Since it was so isolated it probably never bothered to put up any. I snuck into the sprawling city and made my way towards Tor¡¯s house and shop. The streets weren¡¯t empty but a figure in a cloak that had a sword on their side was not the most appetizing of targets. The key was in how one walked. Showing that you were confident and didn¡¯t care what other people thought meant they got out of my way. I reached the shop and knocked. ¡°What is it now?¡± Her voice was just the same as I remembered. ¡°I swear you better be dying or you will need me to heal you.¡± She swung open the door and I looked up at her. There was a baby in her arms. *** Clara was pissed. She entered her bath as the water swirled around her. ¡°Repel.¡± The water was blasted away like her usual ritual with one difference. A slight reddish tint colored the water. The pain in her right eye was intense. Her armor¡¯s strength had managed to block the worst of the heat, but some still managed to penetrate. She kept up with the water to wash it out and cool the burning sensation down. She would have to wait before she was able to tell how much of her sight she had left. The bonus quest was still active, which meant that Blood Rain escaped the bomb that she had ordered deployed. A waste of thousands of man hours and a lot of materials. She exited the bath and went to sleep. The following morning she was woke up and proceeded to head out of her room. Standing there was a single mage assistant who looked ready to run away at any moment. ¡°I am reporting that Blood Rain posted a video of your fight with him.¡± ¡°Why are you nervous?¡± ¡°I think you should watch the video¡­it is not flattering.¡± I moved to my secure chamber and returned to my atrium. I noted a large number of junk messages but one was highlighted as being from Blood Rain and it contained a video. There were a large number of smiley faces as the heading of the message. I opened up the video. ¡°Hello my viewers. Today is a special video. I get into a fight with the legendary Encasement. This woman clearly has the hots for me and my smoking bod.¡± Then was a still shot of his groin, thankfully it was covered. ¡°Yes that is right, the Encasement is a woman. Despite the rumor that woman are angry once a month, this terminator of terror proves she is out for blood and outing blood at the same time, all the time.¡± The video kept getting more and more offensive after that. My fists tightened as I watched my carefully crafted reputation be torn to shreds. It was a mockery of all my hard work. Everything I had done to reach this point was casually dismissed as the over compensation for giant balls. I never took pleasure in extracting information or killing people, but I was going to make an exception just this once. I watched the video to the very end. ¡°Now we see when she blows her top. I guess I forgot to turn off the stove and burnt the pig roast, which is a metaphor for her face. I just wanted you to know. Love and kisses Miss Encasement, your man crush Blood Rain sends his regards.¡± *** UltimataSecret: The Encasement got trolled, since she is a troll 6996: Ummm, that was a really mean video TheWinzKid: She really pissed him off, I hereby declare them rivals TrollMaster911: I give it a 7/10 for trolling GODHAXLOL: ENCASEYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!! OtherSide: What woman would love him? SmokingHot: Have my babies! UltimataSecret: Will he throw them like his gold, to throw or not to throw babies, that is the question SRUP: Women unite against Blood Rain TheDarkness: Your sparkles blind me to the horror of others *** Author¡¯s Note: So there we have it. The Encasement is wounded, but Blood Rain is forced to run/sail away after losing his flame blade. This chapter was troublesome in many ways from a writing perspective but I think I managed it. Chapter 46: The Baby ¡°Is that a baby?¡± The moment I asked that question, I wanted to smack myself for its sheer stupidity. ¡°Blood Rain, a pleasure as always. Come in before you cause a calamity.¡± Tor¡¯s voice was cold and she was giving me a glare. I entered her house. The click on the stone floor from my pronged foot sounded exceptionally loud in the silence between us. I followed Tor into the kitchen and we both took a seat at the table. I looked at the baby but all I could tell was that it was a baby. ¡°Why are you here?¡± Tor asked. ¡°Um¡­I kind of wanted to see you again. You were fun to have along with me. We kicked ass.¡± I said with a smile. ¡°I left because you are incredibly reckless, and I didn¡¯t want to be caught up in that. Then¡­then you go and burn down a wedding, lose your arm, get a bonus quest centered on yourself, burn thousands of players, and now you are trolling the scariest player out there next to you.¡± She finished her rant and let out a huff. The smile at seeing her again had fallen off my face. ¡°Alright. Can we chat a bit?¡± I asked. ¡°You never responded to my messages from my atrium.¡± ¡°I have moved on. You may stay for a day, but I swear if something happens while you are here, I am going to take your horse sized dick and beat you to death with it. Understand?¡± I didn¡¯t doubt she would do that. ¡°Yeah. No trouble, got it. So a baby?¡± Something about a baby was making me say stupid questions. ¡°Yes a baby.¡± Well at least it wasn¡¯t a monster in disguise. ¡°Is it yours?¡± She gave me a glare. ¡°Oh, um. I didn¡¯t think players could have children in game. With the age rules and everything.¡± ¡°This is Freddrick.¡± He wiggled around a bit. I noted that she had avoided the last question and tried to change the topic to something safer. ¡°Hello Freddrick. So do you know who the father is?¡± I asked. Tor looked away. ¡°Wait, just wait a second. Am I the father of¡­that?¡± ¡°It is not a that, it is a baby named Freddrick.¡± This conversation was not going at all the way I had expected. ¡°Am I the father?¡± I asked. I didn¡¯t dare to breathe while I kept my eyes pinned on Tor. She turned to look at me. ¡°Yes.¡± I acted immediately not caring for the fall out. ¡°Observe.¡±
???
¡°If you use another skill, I am kicking you out.¡± Tor said with a growl. ¡°Shut up. You created a¡­child with me. How is that even possible?¡± ¡°Well when a man and woman love each other-¡° ¡°You know what I mean. Did you give birth to an NPC?¡± ¡°His name is Freddrick.¡± The baby was making her irrational. ¡°Tor, explain this to me right now. I never had sex with you in the first place. How is this even possible? Magic?¡± ¡°It was an option. I asked if I could have children in the game. It was the boon in exchange for monthly¡­penalties. Freddrick is my child and I will do anything to protect him. He is yours. We conceived the night you were drunk at the dungeon.¡± I thought back and it hit me. ¡°You¡­you raped me!¡± I shouted. ¡°Pffft, like you didn¡¯t enjoy my attentions.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t make it right.¡± ¡°Like you are one to talk. Also the game system didn¡¯t think so.¡± ¡°You had a child without asking me.¡± ¡°So, you don¡¯t care. Just leave and go do your own thing somewhere else.¡± ¡°I am not leaving my child. I won¡¯t be a shitty father.¡± I blinked after I had said that. I was so caught in the moment I had just spoken without thinking. ¡°The moment people know you have a child in game, they will all come after him. You can¡¯t protect a child from that.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care, I am staying.¡± ¡°You can stay for a day but after that you are leaving.¡± ¡°I am taking him with me.¡± ¡°How are you going to care for a baby? Feed it blood and throw him at enemies? You are a disaster waiting to happen. You can¡¯t even protect your arm, how will you protect a baby?¡± That last line was a low blow. ¡°You want to taste my full power Tor? You think I won¡¯t kill you out of some misguided notion of love?¡± ¡°No, but I will kill us all before I let you take Freddrick away.¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t that strong.¡± ¡°I have been studying quite a bit. Amazing what one can accomplish when they aren¡¯t running around killing people. Now will you behave?¡± I could tell she wasn¡¯t bluffing. She had a trump card to counter me. Probably a general purpose one in case of an attack, but there was a trump card nonetheless. ¡°So this is our child, Freddrick. What am I even going to tell my mother, that I had a child in game?¡± I looked at the baby and felt tired. Not physically or even mentally, but emotionally. ¡°This is pointless. The child is yours. I would like to stay in touch.¡± ¡°Very well, but you can¡¯t stay here long. You really know how to make a mess.¡± ¡°Making a mess is my specialty.¡± ¡°Not calamities?¡± ¡°That is a side effect. I did want to ask you a favor.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Can you heal my arm?¡± My hopes slightly rose because she might be able to do something. ¡°Do you have the arm, or what is left of it?¡± ¡°No, it was left behind in Breckley.¡± ¡°That is¡­not good.¡± ¡°What do you mean not good?¡± I was really worried at that. Why would my lost arm even matter? ¡°The darker aspects of the Church of Eight require body parts. They could forge a homunculus linked to you.¡± Tor looked very grim at this. ¡°A what?!¡± Just the term homunculus was concerning. ¡°It will be a being that is linked to you and will possess all your stats.¡± That didn¡¯t sound that bad. ¡°So evil twin? I can beat my evil twin.¡± ¡°Depends on what magics are used and what the rest of the body is forged out of. If I was going to do something like that and had an insane amount of MP I would compress the arm to a small sphere and embed it in an iron golem carved with runes to enhance it. It could draw your stats as part of you but at the same time have a different body.¡± That did not sound good. My imagination drifted to an evil me looking like the Encasement with nothing under the armor. ¡°Any way to prevent that from happening?¡± ¡°To regrow your arm would require pulling that flesh back to you from where ever it is.¡± ¡°What about my foot?¡± That was something completely different. ¡°We had the piece, and the ichor was mixed in when it healed. Your open wound was also plunged into the bug guts, so there is that.¡± ¡°Could you do it?¡± ¡°That is tier nine, the highest level of Onciontituts magic.¡± ¡°Tier nine?¡± ¡°The magic system is completely bonkers. There are no clear skills. It is all by intuition, chants, and knowledge. You can¡¯t just make up a god that easily and call upon its powers. There is a skill to sense out the cost of a spell without casting. I have been mapping quite a large number of spells. I divided them up into tiers, with each level being more costly. After you lost a limb I checked the cost and it is insane. I am talking a ten thousand MP cost minimum. I only have five thousand at max.¡± ¡°Is there any way to spread out the cost?¡± ¡°Yes, but then there is MP loss and probably increase the cost up to fifteen thousand. You are talking a month of constant Meditation in order to get that much MP.¡± I bowed my head at Tor. ¡°Would-¡° ¡°No. I run a healing business here. If I am not healing for a month people will ask questions. You will be discovered and then I will hunted down. I am lucky that no one has come after me for knowing you.¡± ¡°What about my MP, could I chip in?¡± ¡°You have only a couple hundred if I remember. That wouldn¡¯t dent the cost and even then MP can¡¯t be transferred without special skills, which I don¡¯t have.¡± I let out a sigh. I guess there was nothing that could be done. ¡°What about purification for the demonic and ichor corruption?¡± ¡°Blood corruption is viewed very darkly.¡± She gave me a look. ¡°You think making a homunculus is bad, that is nothing compared to blood corruption. The first time I asked, I was almost killed by the NPCs.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Yeah, oh, is right. Monsters are not viewed in a good light and human monster combos are deeply distrusted. If there is any way to remove blood corruption it would require at least a tenth tier spell across multiple disciplines. It is intertwined in your fate, which makes it near impossible to deal with.¡± ¡°There is fate magic?¡± ¡°No, but monsters are viewed as the magical incarnation of fate type magic. The fact that we saw Tafe is incredibly rare. She is like the boogey man. Parents tell their kids, behave or Tafe will send monsters after you. They don¡¯t like saying her name either. After seeing her I get that. Now you are her champion.¡± ¡°Yeah, I called on her in desperation. She didn¡¯t help of course. Then she wanted the cube and I made a deal that I kind of did some aggressive negotiations¡­¡± ¡°You tried to kill her?¡± ¡°I felt the answer to the question I asked was bull shit and told her off and kept the cube. She declared me her champion in response.¡± ¡°Only you could cause such a disaster.¡± ¡°There is one benefit, monsters ignore me and I can kind of communicate with them.¡± Tor¡¯s face tensed up and she clutched the baby tighter. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I looked into the local stories. A person ignored by monsters is considered this world¡¯s Antichrist.¡± ¡°How, I mean, monsters aren¡¯t that bad. Just like NPCs.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t get it. You look for all the exploits and loop holes but not the history of this place. The Church of Eight is the church. They empower people to protect them from fate and Tafe herself. This is done by creating a panel they can use like players.¡± ¡°What¡­really?¡± ¡°How do you not know this?¡± ¡°I kind of suspected but it never seemed that important and it never came up.¡± Tor shook her head and continued. ¡°Anyways, this is seen as a way to separate one¡¯s self from Tafe. Monsters have a very high fate. Now the Church believes that the hero of legend saved the world from Tafe and was the embodiment of the Eight. Their mythos speaks about a time when the final battle will occur with the hero re-born and Tafe for the fate of this world.¡± ¡°So where does this Antichrist thing come in?¡± ¡°Tafe will call upon all manner of monsters for the final battle including the Endolgon. There is mention of a person who fell to Tafe and will become the one to fight the hero and send the world into total destruction.¡± ¡°So I am this person? I don¡¯t even get along with Tafe. I tell her off all the time.¡± ¡°Have you completed a task for her or accepted gifts in her name?¡± My mind drifted to the sword on my hip and the old man. ¡°The passage from the Book of Tears reads as follows.¡± ¡°So in the end the champion of the people and the Church will stand against the forces arrayed against him. There opposing him stands his counterpart shrouded in darkness and despair. Having received gifts from the darkness, carried out the unmentionable deeds, and casting aside the future will be the champion of darkness.¡± That didn¡¯t sound good. ¡°So?¡± She asked. ¡°I did get a gift. This blade, the Endolgon gave it to me. It is called the Slice of Life and any wound cannot be healed.¡± ¡°A blade that counters the other powers of the world. It is most likely a blade forged using fate magic. I can¡¯t even begin to work out how that is possible¡­.¡± ¡°I also completed a task.¡± Tor stilled and looked at me intensely. ¡°What task?¡± ¡°The old man from Bug Island caught up with me. Tafe wanted him killed before he spoke her true name.¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°True name? I never heard about something like that.¡± ¡°I cut off his head with the blade and Tafe took his head with her.¡± ¡°She took the head, are you sure?¡± ¡°Yes, why?¡± ¡°She isn¡¯t supposed to be able to act on the world like that. Her powers of direct action should be cut off. That blade¡­.if I had to guess I would say it contains a link to her power. You got it from the Endolgon?¡± ¡°Yeah. I went deep into the cave. I didn¡¯t see it but the mental pressure was incredible. Apparently it can melt people¡¯s brains and then control them. It spoke in single words and then gave me this blade.¡± ¡°All that is left is to ¡®cast aside the future¡¯. Most have thought meant killing others, but there is the possibility it means killing your child.¡± Tor stared at me. ¡°Think very carefully what you say next.¡± I saw her free up a hand and have it poised to act. ¡°I will leave you two alone and not bring trouble.¡± ¡°I will accept that for now. No one is touching Freddrick.¡± She gave me a glare. I raised my hand. ¡°Got it. Really.¡± ¡°Good. My advice is to get your arm back. You won¡¯t be able to heal it normally. As Tafe¡¯s champion you are probably resistant to the magics of others.¡± ¡°I have a quest for the arm.¡± ¡°The temptations of evil is what the Church calls quests. A path to power other than slaying monsters.¡± ¡°What about killing humans?¡± ¡°Evil but as long as people don¡¯t make a point of it, the Church doesn¡¯t get involved.¡± She looked at me. ¡°They have methods of knowing when someone engages in wanton killing to stop an Antichrist or super monster from rising up. Congratulations you have fulfilled the dream of every cultist everywhere since the dawn of time.¡± Her sarcastic tone clearly showed how little she thought of this. ¡°We would have made a kick ass team and beaten this game.¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t heard?¡± ¡°Heard what?¡± ¡°The last level of quests. I thought you would have hit level one hundred by now.¡± ¡°You are level one hundred?¡± I asked surprised. ¡°No, but I did heal a player who had reached level one hundred recently. He was incredibly depressed and only said winning was impossible from the final quest.¡± ¡°I wonder what it is.¡± Killing Tafe or something insane. ¡°I wasn¡¯t able to find out. But if it is a quest that means Tafe is in charge of it.¡± That automatically made it a hundred times more miserable. We sat there in silence as we thought about what the quest could be. ¡°I guess I have an arm to get back.¡± ¡°It is a trap.¡± ¡°Has that ever stopped me?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be an idiot. Travel elsewhere and kill some monsters to level up.¡± ¡°Maybe, but the quests-¡° ¡°Just live your life!¡± She shouted. ¡°Like you are? Having a baby, giving up on winning?¡± ¡°Why care so much? There is enough pain and death, just enjoy things.¡± ¡°I have come too far to give up now.¡± ¡°That is bull shit. Just kill yourself and live a quiet life.¡± ¡°What happened to the Tor who lived life to the fullest and never gave up?¡± Tor looked to the side. ¡°How old do you think I am?¡± ¡°Um, in your twenties or thirties?¡± I replied hesitantly. ¡°I am hundred and seven. I was never able to have a child and now my life is coming to a close. I never thought I would have a chance like this. I won¡¯t give it up for anything.¡± ¡°But why travel and fight? Why not just settle down?¡± ¡°Galmore hunted players to start off with and I was looking for a city when I ran into you. Growing up I always liked the bad boys but was too shy. This time I decided to take a chance.¡± She looked at the baby still quietly resting in her arms. ¡°I just went with the flow and the excitement. When I realized I was pregnant and the desert disaster happened, that was it. I want a chance to live my life and raise my child.¡± I took a couple of breaths to calm down before replying. ¡°You were always the best Tor. I will miss you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I am sure you will find the right woman for you. I heard The Encasement is in need of a man to teach her how to use really use balls.¡± I let out a small cough. ¡°Um, that was just me trolling.¡± ¡°Hmmm, well I think you really would make a cute couple.¡± I just stared at her and she grinned back. ¡°Don¡¯t make me call you granny.¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t dare.¡± ¡°You do realize who you are talking to.¡± ¡°Point.¡± We had been chatting for a while and I would need to leave if I was getting out of the city undetected. ¡°Time for me to go. It has been fun Tor. Stay safe and Freddrick better be able to kick his old man¡¯s ass when he grows up.¡± ¡°Take care yourself. Try and not to become the Antichrist that destroys the world and sends everyone to pits of eternal darkness, monsters, and suffering.¡± ¡°I will make sure to push that back past the tea party with Tafe.¡± I reached the front door. ¡°Good bye.¡± ¡°Bye, Blood Rain.¡± I exited the house and began making my way make to the land ship. My thoughts were troubled. Tor was staying here in Yaxel and all the other stuff we had talked about. I was troubled, what was the quest at level one hundred? I had not even had a feeler from any of the info brokers either. ¡°So what do you think of all that¡­I need to name you. How about Slimey? Um, squeeze my left shoulder for no and my right for yes.¡± My left shoulder was squeezed slightly. ¡°Guess it was too generic. What about Godhaxlol as a name?¡± My left shoulder was squeezed three times in rapid succession. ¡°I was only joking, go easy.¡± ¡°Well I did some research. I think Kek the Egyptian god of darkness.¡± The black slime squeezed my right shoulder. ¡°Kek it is. So, am I really going to destroy the world on behalf of Tafe?¡± Both shoulders were squeezed. ¡°So unclear. Well better than a yes. Well time to get my arm back. What do you say?¡± Kek squeezed my right shoulder. ¡°I guess we will cruise north and then find a boat to sail across the Sea of Storms. We can then land and walk to Angal. Simple.¡± Kek did not respond. ¡°You need to learn how to speak.¡± My left shoulder was squeezed. ¡°I am guessing you can¡¯t?¡± My right shoulder this time. I was exhausted by the time I got back to the Wish. I slept for almost an entire day, waking up the following morning. I had a fair amount of food. I refilled the barrel with water and my canteens. With that taken care of I set off north. It would take all day to reach the north end of the Durrunian Desert and the Wild Lands. I could probably coast along the edge of the desert for a while. I had looked over my map again and decided I would head east and find a ship east of the Roaring Strait and depart directly from the edge of the Sea of Storms. I could try and go most of the way on the land ship and I was seriously considering it. The thing was insanely fast and cut down travel time massively. Especially with the plains and the desert being flat enough to cruise along. I needed a real plan to get my arm back from a horde of fanatical priests who thought I was their version of the Antichrist, Just Han with his powerful charisma attacks, and finally whatever homunculus they had built my arm into, to make a super evil twin. Would it be the good twin, since I was now considered the abomination on the face of the world? ¡°What do you think Kek? Do I have a shot with you at my side?¡± Both shoulders were squeezed. ¡°Yeah, everything is probably going to go to shit. So you can understand me, can you read or write?¡± My left shoulder was squeezed. ¡°Alright then, I need to teach you.¡± I took off my arm guard. ¡°Can you form a thin layer on my skin. I will write the letters onto you with my¡­ and I don¡¯t have another hand to use. I guess I can use my nose and you can listen to my instructions.¡± Part of Kek spread out on top of my arm in a thin layer. ¡°This is ¡®A¡¯.¡± I etched the letter onto my arm with my nose. I had thought about using other ways of communication, but my sense of touch wasn¡¯t that good. If I used something like Morse code it would take a lot more work to interpret what Kek was saying rather than just teaching him how to write out what he wanted to say. I had mentally classified Kek as a boy. He was dark, broody, and got his fluids everywhere. Girl slimes were pink and boy ones were black. I was not going to think about The Encasement, she was the exception that proved the rule. ¡°¡¯A¡¯ is shaped like a triangle with two sides and a line in the middle. Just make the lines thinner so they are easier to read.¡± I kept giving instructions as the Wish cruised into the desert on its way north. I had no clue how I was going to defeat an army of priests still. My resistances were high, but they wouldn¡¯t hold up to a serious blow. Damage reduction on a percentage wasn¡¯t damage negation. I could still get my head cut off or a critical injury that would deal so much damage, that percentage resistance wouldn¡¯t be able to counter it. I was a man with an incredibly kick ass blade, black slime, and that was about it. I had no super weapons or a way to recharge myself. I wasn¡¯t worried about fighting but it would be the battle after battle that would end me. The sheer attrition would wear me down. I had no doubt that the church was preparing for my attack. With the way things usually went, Tafe was probably giving them a warning. I needed more levels and stat points. I needed a lot of stat points. There was a small bump that shook the land ship and broke my concentration. A resounding roar came from behind me. I looked back and immediately cursed myself for asking for lots of stat points. A massive yellow dragon burst out of the sand and began floating in the air behind me. It was the same dragon that had taken out the tower and the worms. ¡°Observe.¡± I said before I got too far away.
The Yellow Dragon Ralothani
LvL: 2375
Strongest Stat: ?
HP: 789232
MP: 98123
SP: 1987033
Strongest Skill: Fire Beam
It was following me in that weird frozen way it had moved before without moving its wings. ¡°Really Tafe! Really!¡± There was no response. ¡°Go away dragon.¡± I shouted. ¡°I don¡¯t want to fight you.¡± Its face didn¡¯t even flinch or make any sign of recognition. It began to open its mouth. ¡°Kek, any ideas?¡± It just squeezed my left shoulder and that was it. I swerved the land ship to the side the moment the dragon stopped moving and a glow began emitting from its mouth. A combination of factors saved me. First the dragon had not gained that much altitude. The second was that I had been on top of a hill when it froze to aim. As the Wish coasted off to the side it received a massive blast of hot air as a beam of fire and light lanced where the land ship had been before and hit the next hill. The hill immediately erupted into a ball of fire and debris, turning into a molten crater. I kept heading away and let out my breath since the dragon was not pursuing. That was good. It was either dumb, or not really trying. I was going with the second since it wasn¡¯t even chasing after me. I had probably hit it with the land ship and it was just annoyed. That power level was totally insane, killing one would be a challenge, the work of a lifetime. *** Author¡¯s Note: I tried not to make this chapter an info dump. Some long time questions are answered and Blood Rain sets off again to retrieve his lost arm. A Dragon put in an appearance, but that was just a yawn. So the next few chapter will be the journey to Angal and then the next arc will be Arm Retrieval. I am currently in the process of moving so don¡¯t be alarmed if there is a gap of a day between chapters. Things should go back to daily posting by next weekend. Chapter 47: Slime Hackz After escaping a fiery death by flying lizard, I curved the land ship towards the north east. I would follow the desert around its circumference to swing east along its edge and back to the point where I was buried alive. I would then head north. I would pass near Str but hopefully I could get by without problems. What I was focusing on now was how I would be able to kill a dragon or even wipe out a nation. Thinking back on it, I probably would have survived the initial dragon blast to then be killed by molten earth. Boiling water had an impact on me since it was primarily water. Molten earth would probably be mostly earth and have an impact as well. Also the attack probably had a magical component. While I had thirty percent resistance to magic, I didn¡¯t think I would hold up to a dragon blast which was a thousand percent magic. This made me focus on myself. Training up more active skills would just put more of a burden onto my MP. What I really needed to do was to stop holding back and go all out. I wasn¡¯t going to survive by not using every advantage I could. I considered Kek wrapped around my chest. Replacing out my blood was still an option, just one I was hesitant to make. It was tempting but it would be defeatist in the long run. Kek was now my teammate and we needed team work. I kept teaching him his letters as the Wish coasted through the desert. The night was uneventful and he spent it in the barrel rather than sleeping on the sand under the land ship. I had looked up at the stars during the night and realized I still had an easy quest to learn about the constellations. Maybe that was how Tafe sucked people in, she gave them easy quests to condition them and then they would do the harder quests. Temptations indeed. The next day we set out again and I curved a bit to the south as I saw the mountains start to rise up out of the ground. Cruising along the mountain side I spotted a cliff face surrounded by a number of boulders along with a small spring fed by a mountain stream. It was perfect. I parked the land ship out of the way. It was time to train Kek to fight with me as a teammate and not an add on. ¡°Kek, we are going to practice a bit. We need to learn how to fight together and this place of the desert should be deserted.¡± Kek squeezed my right shoulder. That was good, he was agreeable. ¡°Okay, from what I have seen you can burn through things, stick to surfaces, and solidify to a slightly tougher texture. You are also millions of little slimes that act independently as a collective. Did I miss anything?¡± A squeeze on my right shoulder. Things were going good so far. ¡°I want feedback on these ideas. The first is that I have a portion of you solidified in my mouth. At a command or a facial expression you can break down to liquid and I can spray you into an enemies face.¡± I got a squeeze on my right shoulder. Three for three, which was really good. ¡°You understand what eyes are?¡± I asked and got a squeeze on my left shoulder. ¡°Okay then. Most creatures have specialized body parts. I have legs to walk, a digestive track, a mouth, and so on. Again, most creatures have a number of sensing abilities located in their head. The portion of the body that is highest up. The head has ears, eyes, nose, and a mouth. The eyes allow a creature to see, ears allow one to hear words, nose allows a creature to take in smells, and a mouth allows a creature to take in food to dissolve inside themselves.¡± I got a squeeze on my right shoulder. ¡°The main thing is that most creatures depend on their eyes. Don¡¯t just attack anything, but go for the eyes. Come onto my hand and I will point out each of these on myself.¡± I went through each part of my head. ¡°The eyes should always be your main target. Then the nose or mouth. They lead to the brain of a creature inside them. Rather than consuming an entire creature, you just take out the eyes and go for the brain behind them.¡± Kek appeared to be picking this up really quickly. Which was either scary, brilliant, or a combination of the two. I then spent time taking a portion of Kek into my mouth. The signal was worked out to be my tongue clicking from the top of my mouth to the bottom. Kek rested back near my molars and gave my cheeks a slight puffy look. Spraying the black slime out was trickier. It was like oil and sticky. It took the rest of the day but Kek was finally able to figure out how to turn off his stickiness and I was able to get four sprays up to ten feet with good accuracy with how much I could hold in my mouth. The following day we worked on letters while I considered more ideas. Kek could only dissolve organic matter, which meant that having him coat my blade and melting other blades wasn¡¯t possible. That did give me an idea to use him with my throwing daggers. The next day I worked it out so with a command a small portion of Kek would coat a dagger. It was an on command poison and would make sure anyone hit would stay down. While Kek could separate and act independently, the collective was drawn together. I couldn¡¯t work out if it was instinct or a higher power, but I couldn¡¯t start a wave of black slimes consuming everything. The larger he became the slower he was able to react across all his body. Each drop got a vote on every single decision and the more there were the harder it was to reach a consensus. The next aspect was dodging. Kek was weak to sand, heat, and fire. I had him work on transforming quickly by dodging pebbles I threw and water I squirted at him from the leather canteens. It wasn¡¯t the greatest training but he was highly flexible and instantly adaptable. The training was about putting those skills to use in combat without hesitation. I also took time to learn how to handle myself with one arm. My entire fighting style had to change from a dual style and it was a slow and painful process. Foot work was much more important since I needed to dodge rather than deflect. It would also allow for my blade to move about my body more quickly Finally I had to work on keeping my blade close to cover my whole body rather than using sweeping attacks or extended jabs. There was no way I would work out an entirely new combat style in the two weeks I camped out with Kek, but it did help patch a number of holes in my technique and balance. I did practice with Kek on absorbing blows. I had him coat a rock while I worked on cutting and hitting it. The key thing for Kek was learning how to condense at the impact site quickly. That would disperse blunt attacks. For cutting attacks he needed to increase the stickiness as well as condense to slow the blade down. I did note that his volume ebbed and flowed, but was slowly increasing. Right now he could adequately cover my torso but that was it. The main concern were flame or heat based attacks. While I would be fine if Kek went up, it would catastrophic for him. The main issue were my demonic flames that puffed out from time to time. Apparently from consuming my blood Kek had developed some fire resistance. I kept feeding him my blood throughout our break so he could survive weak flame attacks. After learning about his weakness that I thought back to how I could have killed him when I had gone down into the tower the first time. That was a path better left forgotten as I continued to work on developing my skills. When I got back in the land ship I was feeling a lot more confident. ¡°How do you feel Kek?¡± I asked and looked at my arm as Kek spelled out a reply. ¡®Training. Good. Strong.¡¯ He seemed to prefer single words. It was possibly how the monsters all thought since the Endolgon was the same, or was it a limit of FEAR itself. I wasn¡¯t sure which, but it beat the hell out of shoulder squeezes. ¡°Well we are off.¡± The land ship began rolling out as it caught the wind. ¡®Battle. Hope.¡¯ Kek told me. ¡°Yeah, I hope the battle goes well and I get my arm back.¡± ¡®Hard. Many. Many.¡¯ ¡°Yeah there will be lots of opponents. We need more teammates.¡± ¡®Weak. Dissolve.¡¯ Despite his odd way of communicating I was getting the hang of Kek¡¯s responses. ¡°Yeah, hard to find someone not weak who we could team up with. Too bad The Encasement is after us.¡± ¡®Hated. Feared. Bad. Book.¡¯ ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We will get that book back someday. She is just insanely strong and that is the biggest problem. We are strong, but defeating her will not be easy. The arm first.¡± ¡®Arm. Book.¡¯ ¡°Too bad we can¡¯t get your big brother the Endolgon to help us out.¡± ¡®Powerful. Crush. Great.¡¯ ¡°Well, he is supposedly the strongest monster. So anything you can tell me on Tafe?¡± ¡®Creator. Beaowrqg.¡¯ The second word kept changing letters. Apparently the Kek collective couldn¡¯t agree on a word that encompassed Tafe. It was rare they became stuck like this, but it often happened on anything pertaining to Tafe and had become resigned to it. I had hoped it was a temporary thing, now it had become clear that it was somehow purposeful. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Tafe is a troll.¡± ¡®God. Powerful.¡¯ ¡°Yes she is also a goddess and powerful. Being a troll means you are being annoying.¡± Kek didn¡¯t understand genders really well. He was gender fluid in multiple ways. He produced by mitosis, the process of cell division. I wasn¡¯t going to call him an it all the time, which was a good way to dehumanize him. He was a monster though, so maybe it was demonsterize. There was one thing we needed to do. Kek could level, but the levels were centered on a single drop at a time. At his center He had shown me the core drop that represented the center of the collective.
The Drop of Black Slime
LvL: 104
Strongest Stat: Constitution
HP: 29812
MP: 120
SP: 4821
Strongest Skill: Dissolve
Its color had been darker than the rest and it could also harden to the density of a rock. It had taken some convincing but it was agreed that more of the drops needed to level up. I kept my eye out for a village as we pulled around the mountains and began heading north east. ¡°So Kek, where did the people in the tower go?¡± I asked. ¡®Projections. Guardians. Prison.¡¯ ¡°Wait? So they weren¡¯t real? But I saw them fight the worms.¡± ¡®Real. Guardians.¡¯ ¡°Another mystery. So they were somehow part of the tower and when it went down they disappeared?¡± ¡®Yes.¡¯ ¡°That is interesting to know. So what do you think of this?¡± I pulled out the cube of Etherion. Kek sent a small portion to roam over the cube. ¡®Power. Give. Tafe.¡¯ ¡°Maybe, if she stops being so difficult. Is there any way we can harness that power?¡± ¡®Power. Great. Barrier.¡¯ ¡°So it can call up a great barrier?¡± ¡®Yes.¡¯ ¡°Barrier activate!¡± I shouted out. There was no response. I muttered to myself, ¡°I don¡¯t think I ever tried this, never had MP to spare, Identification.¡±
Cube of Etherion
LvL: 9999
Requirements: 0 Fate
Stats: 100x Barrier Special: Shield of Etherion, Linked Enchantment (Unknown), Linked Enchantment (Unknown)
¡°Well that is interesting. Insanely high level, only requires zero fate to power an almighty shield. I guess I will need someone pure of heart to use it.¡± I tucked the cube back under my shirt. ¡°The two linked enchantments are probably the old man and the hell portal.¡± ¡®Power. Great.¡¯ ¡°Thanks Kek, I know I kick ass but no need to build me up like that.¡± ¡®No. Cube.¡¯ ¡°I was just teasing you a bit. I know what you meant, but it implied I am weak. I don¡¯t like being weak.¡± Kek didn¡¯t reply to that. We cruised on a bit more and I saw a village come into sight ahead. I sailed the land ship past the fields and stopped a couple hundred of feet away from the palisade surrounding the town. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°Kek, time for you to level up.¡± I clicked my tongue and a portion of Kek flowed into my mouth. I made sure the land ship wouldn¡¯t move and then raced towards the town. ¡°Sound the alarm!¡± A man at the gate cried out. I had already closed the distance and clicked my tongue. I then hit him with a spray of black slime in the face. I watched as the black drops surged into his eye sockets. He began to scream and reach for his eyes as they burst and then melted out of his skull. I raced into the town. Three players raced out, if there clearly different appearance from the villagers and their weapons were any indication. ¡°Oh shit its-¡° I unleashed black slime into each of their faces as they brought their weapons up at me. Two of them went down right away screaming while the third blocked the slime spray with a shield and backed up. I clicked my tongue again and more black slime flowed up into my mouth and condensed. I clicked my tongue and a portion became a fluid. I then raced in and darted around the shielded warrior. My speed was far greater and I hit him in the back of the head with a spray of black slime. It dissolved into the back of his neck dealing critical damage. After that I finished killing the entire village with Kek. I then walked back around and from each dissolved corpse I collected a single drop. Rather than focus on multiplying like they normally did, they would focus on pushing up the level of a single drop. I checked with an Observe.
Drop of Black Slime
LvL: 17
Strongest Stat: Constitution
HP: 3212
MP: 21
SP: 2
Strongest Skill: Dissolve
It was clearly exhausted but a lot stronger than before. I let the slime drop flow back into the main portion on my body. With fifty seven corpses, that meant fifty seven leveled up drops that should be able to take more damage and harden more. The fact they could self-consume was a huge part of it. Normally the top drop would consume any drop that started going up in levels. I didn¡¯t mind that, we reached an agreement that it would only consume drops that were within twenty levels. More than enough for the top drop to come out ahead and still build a stronger black slime rather than a single drop. With everyone in the village dead I looted it for food and supplies. I did find a small brewery and Kek consumed the beer and then self-consumed. It was a slime eat slime world out there. I packed up the supplies and left towards the north. I came on the Vlat river and began massacring the villages along side it one after another. After my forth village it was getting dark so I parked the Wish in a barn and slept on the roof. The next morning I set off again east along the south river bank dissolving everyone in my path. Sometimes I ran into players, but they were no match for me. I finally found a crossing where the river was only a half a foot deep and very wide. It was a simple matter of getting across. I then saw a large gathering of people in front of me. Their steel glinted in the mid-afternoon sun. I pulled the land ship to a stop and got out. I walked forward and a counterpart from the large force I was facing came out to greet me. ¡°Shield Mind.¡± It was a fair chunk of MP, but I didn¡¯t trust people who spoke. ¡°Kenji Shadowen.¡± ¡°Michael of Solid Steel. I did not expect to see you again.¡± ¡°Indeed, you are alive and reasonably well I see.¡± ¡°I try. A bit hard when everyone is out to kill you.¡± ¡°I am afraid that all land here is under our protection. Solid Steel has a vested interest in not seeing a calamity hit this area.¡± ¡°I suppose I am considered a calamity rather than a valued customer.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± That was incredibly blunt. ¡°Your very presence is disruptive.¡± ¡°I am the chosen of fate. So, we fighting?¡± ¡°Even if my side won it would be a pyrrhic victory.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°We would have lost so many people that victory is pointless. So I instead I am going to Command, surrender.¡± I felt the attack hit my mental shields like a sledge hammer. I considered playing along, but I was really pissed off now. I clicked my tongue and Kek formed into liquid. ¡°Lay down your weapons and come-¡° I sprayed a stream of black slime into his face. My aim had really improved and it hit his eye directly, dissolving straight into his brain. ¡°AHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhh!¡± Michael cried out and died thrashing on the ground. ¡°Fear Aura, ten minutes.¡± I then set off towards the hundred man force he had in tow and shouted out, ¡°Well time to start dissolving people to eat!¡± ¡°Empowerment Aura!¡± A woman called out from the front line. ¡°The only chance we have is to stick together.¡± I clicked my tongue and mentally commanded Burst Speed. I crossed the distance in two seconds to her. She had managed to bring up her shield and have a sword ready. I moved to her side with the sword and sprayed her in the face. She went down screaming. I clicked my tongue and pivoted on my tri-pronged foot to avoid a sword slash. I sprayed another soldier in the face and mentally issued the command Conceal Movement, one second. With that I prevented myself from being dog piled and landed a number of shallow cuts on the soldiers with Slice of Life. I scanned the battlefield and noted ten people hanging in the back and chanting. I thought Burst Speed and rushed past the soldiers who had lost all form of structure from my previous attacks allowing me to slip by to their casters. I ran by them landing shallow cuts on them, not focusing on landing a killing blow. When the casters fell the battlefield dissolved into chaos with people running around screaming their heads off. I then began killing them one by one since they had no more unit cohesion. They probably figured Michael would be able to charisma me to death and the soldiers were there to get some exercise and protect him. The woman I killed first had probably been their highest level player and with her loss, the failure of the noob swarm, and the injuries to the casters the battle had completely fallen into my favor. The Fear Aura wasn¡¯t doing them any favors either. Kek was having a field day as I sprayed him onto player after player. Over half of them had managed to run off, but the rest had been dissolved from the inside out. I picked out the nicest weapons and armor and replaced my own gear. An extra sword on my hip, new daggers, and high quality arm and leg guards. I also grabbed the spare arm guard and stored it for when I got my arm back. With all of that completed I gathered Kek back up. I didn¡¯t want to waste Observes on figuring out his average level. I figured with the villages and this expeditionary force defeated his average level of enhanced drops was around fifteen to twenty. He was composed of around a million and a half drops and the enhanced drops only numbered around a thousand. I hoped back into the Wish and cruised past the battlefield. It would be dark soon so I traveled another hour and then parked the land ship. I slept on a nice blanket one of the Solid Steel people had packed and went to sleep. I felt a tug and woke up suddenly. It was incredibly dark and I rolled out from under the land ship. I pulled Slice of Life free and looked around the area. I couldn¡¯t sense anything. I felt Kek give me a hard pull forward and followed through with the movement. I felt a slight breeze from behind me. I spun around but didn¡¯t see anything. Invisible opponents, the worst kind. I clicked my tongue and some of Kek flowed into my mouth. The MP cost would destroy them soon enough. ¡°Kek, lead me towards them, stop when they are in range.¡± I felt a pull towards my left and turned that way. The pull reoriented itself like a compass and I advanced quickly while maintaining a cautious approach. I clicked my tongue and readied myself. Kek stopped advancing and I sprayed out. A figure appeared in front of me clothed like a peasant NPC, screaming and rolling on the ground. A pull to the right. I brought up my blade, pivoted, and clicked my tongue. A blade suddenly appeared stuck in place at my left shoulder. I sprayed out and another assassin went down. The blade fell out, having been stuck to Kek and not penetrating my body. Kek stopped pulling me around, so the rest either retreated or there were only two. Kek had killed them off and I searched their corpses. There was just daggers, some coins, jerky, and nothing else. They looked very non-descript so they were either NPCs trained as assassins or players who actually had common sense and didn¡¯t dress up as ninjas. ¡°Good job Kek. Guess I am staying up the rest of the night.¡± I stayed up the rest of the starless night alert for any more attacks but nothing came. In the morning I discovered something terrible. The Wish¡¯s two axles had been shattered. I stood there in silence as a cool morning wind blew past me. This land ship, the Wish had saved me from walking everywhere and now they destroyed it. I needed a warm up before I went and killed all those priests. It was time to pay a visit to the Mystery Man and Solid Steel and kill them all. Taking a deep breath I realized their strategy. They were hoping to wear me out. I looked around and didn¡¯t see anyone. They couldn¡¯t beat me in a head on fight so they would use a death of a thousand cuts and night attacks. If they were willing to sacrifice a person every night they would probably win in a week. Also they were probably hoping I was burning through MP and that once I ran out I would be easy to kill. It was five days on foot to reach Str instead of five hours now. I began sorting through the ruined land ship packing up what I needed to take with me. Once I was packed up I set off. I was very near my weight limit carrying Kek, my supplies, and gear. Sure I had a pack filled with food, rope, canteens, and a striker to start fire, but all those items weighed me down. Kek wasn¡¯t light either and he couldn¡¯t move as fast as me which was annoying. Kek was also my primary means of attack and defense now. I needed him at peak condition otherwise I would be in trouble. I still didn¡¯t know how he saw, but from what he was able to explain it was a life sense. It made sense, since he was anti-life that he would be able to sense life. *** UltimataSecret: Blood Rain is on the move, Solid Steel wets their pants SolidSteel: All is under control. We shall finish off Blood Rain and end his threat 6996: I would say you and what army, but you have an army TheWinzKid: They are really good and well organized, sorry Blood Rain GambleMan: Place your bets, jack pot is now $567,342 Worm: If it gets high enough he might just kill himself TheWhiteWoman: He is probably running it, and pocketing all the monies BloodBank: Did you see that clip that leaked, spray of death OwlEyes: Probably poison of some kind based on the black color, he might have poison glands UltimataSecret: Poison glands....that isn''t as dumb as it sounds, he has a bug foot TheArm: I miss you Blood Rain, XOXOXOXO *** Author''s Note: Well that chapter took a bit of effort. So many little details to remember. Also no more land ship /cry. I loved the land ship more than you can realize. It cut down on travel so much. He could get to places in a day rather than a month. Oh well. Chapter 48: The Price of Power I slashed out removing the man¡¯s arm. He let out a scream and began swinging his bloody stump and good hand at me. These half dressed zombie people just didn''t stop appearing. All I could do was to keep killing them. This one clearly wasn''t storing its brains in its heads up top. ¡°AHHHH!¡± He yelled uselessly. I moved to the side and cut out removing his other head. The attack barely seemed to faze him as he kept trying to reach me. It was simple enough to stay out of his range as I cut him apart. The body collapsed and I let out a sigh. These constant attacks were annoying, really annoying. I didn¡¯t know how Solid Steel was doing it but they were constantly deploying zombie like attackers against me and assassins at night. I went around to the four corpses I had sprayed Kek at. I had wanted something to cut apart to make me feel better. Capturing and torturing them didn¡¯t seem to do anything except make them horny. It was incredibly disturbing how enraptured these things were with experiencing pain. They made for great cannon fodder, but this was just the beginning. If there was one thing I was sure about it was that. If Solid Steel didn¡¯t think they could beat me, they wouldn¡¯t be deploying all these resources to defeat me. I collected up Kek and continued my journey north. Two days of relentless attacks, just three more until I reached Str and would teach Solid Steel why you don¡¯t mess with Blood Rain. Another mindless thing appeared in front of me. I stepped to the side and decapitated it. The body kept running around mindlessly for another couple of seconds like a headless chicken before it tripped and spent the last few seconds of its existence. I kept moving. I could have let Kek take out the zombie like person but I needed the stress management. I had sent a call through my atrium, but Solid Steel was not responding. I was on their shit list for not dying apparently. A breeze blew across the grassy hills I was traversing and there was a moment of stillness afterwards. ¡°Whoooooooooo¡­.¡± A howl echoed in the distance. ¡°Whooo¡­.¡± ¡°Awhoooooooo¡­..¡± More howls followed the first one. I reached the top of the hill I was ascending and saw a horde arrayed against me. ¡®Run.¡¯ Kek told me. I looked at the forces standing on the opposite hill about a mile distant. It was a massive force, a true army. I saw cavalry, infantry, archers, and in front of the troops was a large group of half human half wolf hybrids. They had furry bodies, but stood on two feet. The way they stood on their toes showed they were runners. There was at least five thousand people on the hill opposite me. Killing a hundred people had cost me around 100 MP. I would stand no chance against this many people. I still had most of my SP left, but I had no clue where I could escape to. Starting a fire wasn¡¯t an option since I was sure they had mages who could put it out. ¡°Tafe my bacon is cooked. Any help?¡± I could run back south but I would never reach the Vlat River. To the west was just more plains. The army was to my north. To the east was a forest, but that seemed too obvious. I could see it five miles away. The cavalry began circle out to the west to force me towards the forest. That just confirmed it was bad news. The werewolves, since they couldn¡¯t be anything else began advancing at a slow run while the soldiers followed up behind them. I dropped my pack and mentally prepared myself. I was ready for this fight and had a chance of winning. ¡°Kek, full production. Burst Speed two times.¡± I then turned and went straight for the cavalry. I crossed for hundred feet in four seconds and leapt up into a flying kick. I hit one of the soldiers straight in the chest with my tri-pronged foot caving in and piercing his chest at the same time a moment before he was hurled off into the man behind me. The man¡¯s horse who I had just sent flying collapsed on the ground from the sudden change in weight. I landed on the ground and spun in a circle spraying Kek in a circle around me. The horses went down letting out screams as the black slime dug into their flesh. Their large mass would allow for Kek to create more slime drops. I clicked my tongue again and again as I kept taking him into my mouth and spraying him across the troops all around me. ¡°Kek, ground coat.¡± I whispered out. As Kek grew he would coat the ground and spread out for now. The werewolves had reached the fight and began to strafe around me at high speed. They began to throw axes at me. I reached down and grabbed a soldier and held him up to use as a shield. My skill with a blade wouldn¡¯t decide this fight. I felt impact after impact on the corpse as I spun it about me to intercept the axes. The cavalry was pulling back and the werewolves moved in. The sky grew slightly darker and I saw a massive swarm of arrows heading at me, blocking out the sunlight. The werewolves backed off but still kept a constantly moving perimeter around me. I could tell they were waiting to throw another barrage of axes the moment before the arrows struck. I looking at the angle of the arrows I threw the corpse into the air and grabbed up another one. The corpse hit the cluster heading for me and I spun the corpse I had just grabbed around me to intercept all the axes that were thrown at me. Kek blocked a couple of arrows that would have hit me, letting them fall off onto the ground. I mentally issued the command Fear Aura, ten minutes. My opponents didn¡¯t even flinch. They obviously knew about it and had found a counter. That would have been too easy. Another barrage of arrows went up. They were trying to wear me down as much as possible before the main fight. Kek was still working on the corpses and I needed to buy him another minute at least. I began grabbing up the shields the soldiers had dropped and managed to chuck two into the air creating a gap in the barrage. I grabbed up a third and cowered under it as the arrows struck. I felt two axes take me in the back and stumbled from the force of the attacks, but Kek managed to stop them before they penetrated me. The soldiers had come up were surrounding me with a shield wall while the werewolves fell back behind their lines. ¡°Mages!¡± I heard someone call out. I let out a breath and saw it hang in the air for a second. They were going to try and freeze me. I didn¡¯t think Kek would do well in the cold or to being frozen. The temperature was quickly dropping. ¡°Kek, are you under the soldiers?¡± A squeeze on my left shoulder. ¡°Will you make it soon?¡± Another left shoulder squeeze. Ok time to improvise. This would have been a great time for a flame blade but I would have to make do. ¡°Flame around me.¡± I whispered out. I poured out two canteens. ¡°Archers fire!¡± Really guys, couldn¡¯t you give me a break. I pulled out a knife and struck a piece of flint tied onto my belt. A shower of sparks rained off and one of them thankfully caused the oil to catch. With that done I managed to scramble under a horses when the arrows hit. Once they finished impacting I tossed the corpse off of me and saw the fire was going. The temperature was still dropping and the flames started to flicker out. I thought out Burst Speed and Conceal Movement. With that done I rushed through the smoke from the flames at the opposite line of soldiers. Their shield wall was unbroken. There were no spears extended which was a surprise. Suddenly one of the shields glowed and a blue wall appeared in front of me. I slammed into and then stumbled back. ¡°Hold fast!¡± I got to my feet shaking off the frost that was clinging to me. I felt a squeeze on my right shoulder. Now was the time to show them the fury. ¡°I call upon the powers of the Abyss! Aid me now!¡± I shouted out at the top of my voice. The front line of soldier¡¯s suddenly collapsed. They began screaming and grabbing for their feet. The corpses left in the killing field collapsed into black slime drops. ¡°Get another shield wall up, contain him.¡± Their commander began shouting as troops scrambled to form up another shield wall. This was hampered by one of them collapsing screaming every so often. ¡°Archers fire, stop his magic.¡± Arrows arced from behind the soldiers in all directions instead of just one. They probably had taken the time to spread out. ¡°Kek, shell.¡± Black slime rose up and formed a shell around me. The arrows hit and sunk in slightly and then fell off. He collapsed back to the ground, but I noted he was moving a lot slower as a layer of frost was now coating the entire killing field. ¡°Kek, we are moving.¡± I drew Slice of Life and rushed the line of soldiers that was still trying to reform. I unleashed a spray of black slime into three of their faces, the forth managed to get his shield up. I slashed down towards the ground and cut through his boot and into his foot. I clicked my tongue and kept spraying out more black slime forward and kept advancing. My Fear Aura was still up and the soldiers were quickly crumbling in panic. I took a deep breath and shouted out in my best imitation of their commander. ¡°Archers fire!¡± Only a third of the arrows were loosed, but it was enough. Kek protected me as soldiers all around me were hit with friendly fire. I had about a third of SP left and about half my MP. Kek was already reaching critical mass as he spread out in a sheet across the ground, taking out the feet of anyone approaching me. The killing zone had collapsed and the mages had probably pulled back since I broke the encirclement. MP was costly and a wide range freeze aura, boosting their troops to block out my Fear Aura was probably putting them under a tremendous amount of pressure. If they lost their mages, this would turn from a disaster to a catastrophic loss. I stood there, occasionally dodging a ranged attack as Kek slowly spread out across the ground. The army began to with draw back to the hill they were on previously. Most of them were retreating in good order even as their comrades¡¯ flesh disintegrated behind them. Others ran off screaming, or just running. That was when I heard a roar from the north. Looking in that direction I saw a green speck hovering in the air in the distance. ¡°Oh shit.¡± I muttered. ¡°Time to go Kek, any part of you that is running away with me, better come now.¡± The entire field bubbled as Kek self-consumed most of his current mass to power level. A large portion of slime climbed back up on me and I started moving south. I kept up my speed at 9.9 miles per hour. The green speck was growing larger and it had unmoving wings. ¡°Kek, why is a dragon after us?¡± I looked down at my arm. ¡®Power. Great. Pull.¡¯ So Kek became too powerful so a dragon was pulled. Well that was bad news all around. ¡°Is it coming after us or the battlefield?¡± ¡®Hidden. Destroy. Run.¡¯ That was confusing. ¡°What do you mean hidden? Are we hidden?¡± ¡®Yes. Small.¡¯ That was good. It was just going to lay waste to the general area and not me specifically. So that was my quest target. The main problem was how the dragon hovered in mid-air and had perfect control over its movement. If I could get on its back I might have a chance. With it hovering thousands of feet in the air, that was impossible. A beam of light lanced out and the battlefield went up in flaming column of molten rock. I kept running, feeling the intense heat at my back. I spared a glance behind me and the dragon burst through the smoke in all its green glory of pure power. Its head turned slightly so that an eye was focused on me. Conceal Movement, three seconds. I immediately changed directions and the dragon¡¯s head did not track me. When the time ran out it didn¡¯t move its head and I let out a sigh of relief. It was a moment too soon as the dragon rotated its entire body to face me. ¡°Kek, any ideas.¡± ¡®End. Weak.¡¯ I scanned around ignoring Kek who had become suddenly useless. I had a single chance of surviving and it was all or nothing. I spotted one of the soldiers from before running away. I ran up to them and pulled out the Cube of Etherion. ¡°If you want to live hold this and say, Shield of Etherion.¡± He looked at me and then back at the dragon. ¡°NOW!¡± I yelled out. He grabbed the cube out of my hand. ¡°Shield of Etherion.¡± He stuttered out. I turned and looked back at the dragon just as it fired. A glowing blue dome surrounded both of us. I was forced to shut my eyes from the blinding light. It was oddly peaceful in this protected area. Three more times the light increased in brightness after dimming. The dragon wasn¡¯t taking any chances. I looked back at the man who I had given the cube. He had pissed his pants, but kept holding on the cube. It was emitting a soft blue glow from the runes etched onto the surface. His body suddenly crumbled to dust and the cube fell to the ground. The shield disappeared to reveal a molten landscape before the ground began to fall away. Smoke washed over me as I fell through the air. I saw the cube flying nearby and I made to reach for it. My fingers just grazed it and sent it hurtling off into the smoke. The chunk of ground slammed into the molten ground and I landed on top of it. The fall hadn¡¯t been that great and Kek and moved to cushion the landing. The air was foul but breathable as the ground was cooling and the smoke dispersing. I looked around for the Cube of Etherion but couldn¡¯t see it anywhere. It had disappeared. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. I waited on the small platform for another two hours as the ground cooled enough for me to walk on. I couldn¡¯t use Kek like that again. I had barely survived and without the cube I wouldn¡¯t survive again. I kept looking about the wasteland for any clue of where it had disappeared to but there was nothing. I had asked Kek but he had no clue where it had gone either. At least from that battle I had leveled up Shield Mind and Burst Speed¡­yeah, go me. The loss of the cube was huge. It was my only leverage against Tafe. For a moment he expected she would appear now to gloat but nothing happened. I picked my way across the smoldering landscape out of the crater I was in. The blasts from the dragon must have carved out the ground beneath the shell created by the cube while it held our position. I reached the ridge of the crater and saw the entire area around was a raging inferno as fire swept across the plains. I could see in the distance that Solid Steel¡¯s army was digging ditches to create a firebreak at their position. They were definitely in trouble. I moved off the crater and began to advance on their camp making sure to keep smoke between us. I waited on the hill beneath their position as the sun set, leaving the orange glow of the fire and embers littered across the landscape. Once it was the middle of the night hit I made my way out and towards their camp. It was a simple matter to cut off the heads of the exhausted sentries to create a path into the camp. I went quietly through the camp cutting open throats one by one. The sweaty exhausted bodies were proof enough that the previous fight, dragon, and then the fire had worn them out. I lost count of how many throats I cut open and bodies I left bleeding out. I found a cloak and tossed it on to cover up my soot covered clothing. When the first hint of sunlight came up at the horizon I left the camp with two horses. I had probably killed over a thousand sleeping people. Riding from camp I headed north. It was time I pay their headquarters a visit. A couple of messages popped up and I glanced at them.
Experience
A maximum of 100,000 EXP has been applied for a calamity you caused.
***WORLD NOTIFICATION***
Due to in game events. All players'' bonus quest is upgraded to Legendary.
I just shook my head. Even with that experience I only went up to level 97. Another calamity would only push me up to level 99. The experience curve was incredibly brutal. I really wanted to reach level 100 and know what the final quest was. Killing the dragon would have netted me a million experience points, but I still had no idea how to beat it. I pushed the horses hard for Str. The sooner I reached the city the less prepared they would be. With all the people I had killed at their camp I didn¡¯t hold out much hope of them mustering up a return in time. ¡°Yah.¡± I said and snapped the reins. I heard howls echo across the wind. They must have found out how many corpses I left. Kill one person you are a murderer, kill a million people you are a hero, and kill a thousand for a calamity. The quest upgrade was surprising, but clearly Tafe was trolling me. ¡°Thanks Tafe.¡± I called out. Still no response. I guess this was my punishment or she was just trolling. ¡°Kek, how much of you is leveled?¡± ¡®Five. Ten. Ten. Ten.¡¯ That meant five thousand drops. ¡°Kek, no more doing anything that would call a dragon. No matter what.¡± ¡®Small. Weak.¡¯ It was unfortunate but I was not going to take a chance. Both horses eventually collapsed, frothing at the mouth as I rode them as hard as I could. Once they collapsed I set off towards Str Mountain which I could see in the distance. I turned to the east. I would cross the river slightly upstream and drift into the city. Solid Steel had quickly made a very long list of stuff to answer for. There were a couple of farms which I passed by. I reached the river and took a boat someone had tied up to the bank. They wouldn¡¯t be needing that anymore. I hopped in and set off down the river. I imagined if Kek grew to the length of the river. If all the dragons were dead, maybe he could consume the world. Now that would be awesome. I landed the boat at a sewer entrance that poured out from the city and into the river. The entrance was covered by a metal grate a couple of feet inside the sewer entrance. I kicked the boat off into the river and began using a dagger to loosen up the grate. It was slow going but I eventually managed to pull two bars loose and squeeze through the gap. I bent the bars back into place before I walked along the dark pathway with the rushing sewage off to my side. I took a seat just past where I entered and sat down. I munched on some bread and jerky I had stolen from the camp while I debated my next move. With the food I had, I could wait down here for a week. I was loathe to hide out that long, but I wanted Solid Steel to lower their guard. I would need to make my way out of the city and up the side of Str Mountain to the top. From there I could descend and take out the fortress. Once I was inside the walls it would a slaughter fest. I was tempted to set my auto-pilot to review my videos of the fortress, but that was just asking to be found. All I did was it in place and Meditate, eat, and then relieve myself in the stream of rushing sewage. I figured Kek needed the time to rest as well. He didn¡¯t say anything, but he was content to just wait with me. No one came down to the sewer entrance while I waited. After five days I took a chance to go to my atrium to check the news. The current word, was that I was an army killer and that Solid Steel had become molten metal. All their holdings around the area were under tremendous pressure after the disastrous loss of most of their main fighting force. There was also quite a bit of debate if the dragon was after me or helping me. It was assumed by everyone that I was still alive since the quest was still active. I logged back in and waited until the sun set. I climbed out of the sewer entrance and up mortared bricks and into Str. I quickly leapt down onto the street from the wall I had just climbed up and made my way through the city. There was enough back ground noise and it was dark enough that no one noticed my tri-pronged foot that sometimes poked out the edge of my cloak. I made my way through the city towards the mountain. ¡°Hey, hold up.¡± I kept walking. ¡°I meant you in the cloak.¡± I spared a quick glance and saw a soldier approaching with the Solid Steel emblem across his chest plate. ¡°What can I do for you?¡± I asked and turned around. I noted three other soldiers hanging back. ¡°Got to see your face. Hood off-¡° I jabbed forward with a dagger, plunging it into his throat. I left it in and called out to his companions. I grabbed him as he slumped over. ¡°He is sick, help.¡± I called out. Two of the soldiers approached while the last one drew his sword. ¡°What is the-¡° I dropped the now dead soldier and stabbed out with another dagger. I got the second in the throat. ¡°Blood-¡° I kicked him in the knee which shattered. His shout turned into a yell. I yanked the dagger free sending a spray of blood across the street and stabbed the third man in the eye. The forth soldier was just staring at me. He then threw his sword down. ¡°I surrender. Don¡¯t kill me, leveling up takes forever.¡± I pulled out the daggers and began cleaning them without saying anything. ¡°I can help you into the fortress, if that is where you are going or out of the city.¡± ¡°I am burning this city down.¡± I stared at him. ¡°Please no.¡± He went to his knees and bowed his head. ¡°I mean me and not the city.¡± ¡°You want to help?¡± I asked. ¡°I just don¡¯t want to die.¡± ¡°Why are you even in FEAR?¡± ¡°All my friends joined. Please, I signed up with Solid Steel for the benefits and easy guard duty.¡± ¡°If I spare you they will kill you, you know.¡± The man was silent. ¡°Dammit.¡± He cursed quietly. ¡°Alright, you will take me into the fortress. If I am discovered you will get to feel the wonderful feeling of dissolving from the inside out. The pain is so great you won¡¯t be able to focus on mental commands to log out.¡± The man noticeably paled. ¡°Fine, come on.¡± He walked just in front of me and led me through the city. We didn¡¯t say anything to each other and I was weary for traps. Something was definitely off. He should have logged out and come back in an hour to avoid pain and giving in to me since there as no chance of him surviving. ¡°Shield Mind.¡± I blinked and realized something was off. I stabbed the man in the side of the head repeatedly and looked around. The city was too quiet even for the dead of night. Kek pulled me to the side and I quickly moved. A man was standing next to the corpse wearing a silver mask with a grin on it. ¡°Hello Kenji Shadowen.¡± ¡°You have me at a disadvantage.¡± ¡°That is how it should be. I suspect this fight will be a challenge regardless.¡± ¡°You really think you can defeat me?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The voice was utterly confident. ¡°I am well aware of your abilities and my limitations. Coming to this city was a mistake. Solid Steel is powerful, more powerful than you can imagine.¡± ¡°I killed your assassins, zombies, and army. What makes you that much stronger.¡± ¡°One skill, one attack, one thought.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t make me afraid. There are things much scarier than you and they don¡¯t wear masks.¡± Something hit me from the front. I stumbled back from the force of the blow. Thankfully Kek had taken the attack. ¡°Impossible.¡± My opponent muttered out. I thought Burst Speed one time. I rushed forward and sprayed him with black slime. He was fast and almost managed to dodge the spray. Unfortunately for him I was fast as well and with Burst Speed it was over. Some of the spray went on his neck and he stumbled back. I was hit with another two attacks, one at my head and another at my arm. Kek managed to absorb both of the attacks but I was left stumbling. My opponent was not shaking about in pain. He was immune to Kek. I drew my sword and rushed forward. The man suddenly disappeared and my slashes met nothing but air. More invisible blows struck me, sending me stumbling about the street. Kek kept jerking in different directions but it was impossible to keep up. The attacks stopped and Kek stilled. ¡°Kek track your portion that landed on him.¡± I felt a pull and followed the direction I was given. I made my way through the streets and came upon ten soldiers. The man in the silver mask was standing behind them. ¡°Stop him.¡± ¡°I am Blood Rain. Out of my way or die.¡± The soldiers didn¡¯t moved, paralyzed with indecision. I charged forward and the soldiers scattered. The man in the silver mask met my blow with a dagger. I unleashed a spray of black slime in his face. He stumbled back and I moved forward. The Slice of Life pierced straight through his stomach. I pulled my blade free and backed up. ¡°Curse you.¡± He let out a cough of blood. ¡°Freaking bull shit strong.¡± I moved in and decapitated him. There wasn¡¯t enough blood in him to let up a spray as his headless body fell over. I got an experience screen showing he was eight levels above me. That was scarily impressive. The soldiers had already run away. I reached over and pulled the silver mask free. ¡°Identification.¡±
Silver Mask
LvL: 83
Requirements: Stealth Max LvL
Stats: N/A Special: Life Sight
Durability: 10/10
A decent item. I tried it on and the entire world faded away except glowing outlines which could only be people. I could barely see the street or the buildings as they were completely foggy. I took the mask off and my vision was back to normal. I held it up and looked through the eye sockets, nothing changed. It appeared I had to wear it. I kept it and moved on through the city towards the fortress. *** Author¡¯s Note: The cube is gone, so Kek can¡¯t go super slime any more. Kek is a massive force multiplier but isn¡¯t an instant win. I wanted to thank all my readers again. Your support really means a lot. Please take the time to leave a review if you have not done so. It helps me improve as a writer to get feedback. Also please up vote all the reviews you like. Please note that I will try and keep updating, but I am in the process of moving¡­urg. So much crap. I want to be like the MC and leave it all behind and steal some more at my destination. Chapter 49: Blood Rain v The Mystery Man ¡°My lord, I have news. A void in our sensing sphere approaches. This is confirmed by reports of a deaths in the southern villages.¡± ¡°The description?¡± ¡°It is Kenji Shadowen.¡± ¡°Michael.¡± ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± ¡°You will deploy to subdue the threat for our use.¡± ¡°His ability to hide from scans is concerning. Our knowledge of the top mental shields is limited.¡± ¡°You should be able force a command upon him. We shall bring him to heel once again and deploy him against Angal. If I am not mistaken they have his arm. It should be a simple redirect.¡± ¡°Understood my lord.¡± *** ¡°My lord, I have news. Michael has perished along with half his company. Reports indicate that he used a combination of death poison and Fear Aura. He has possibly developed poison glands. He is also traveling via a land ship.¡± ¡°Where is he headed?¡± ¡°Here, my lord.¡± ¡°Hmmm, deploy our long range scouts to provide intelligence and dispatch Special Operations units two, three, and four.¡± ¡°Yes, my lord. I shall handle this at once.¡± ¡°Anova are you sure this is wise?¡± ¡°Blood Rain is like any giant. We shall bleed him and then send our main force. He might win against small groups but I will be ordering our entire force here to mobilize.¡± ¡°Our First Battle Group? Isn¡¯t that excessive.¡± ¡°No, if Blood Rain reaches here all our hard work will be ruined.¡± ¡°I shall inform the commanders and then oversee the defense of the city.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate him.¡± *** ¡°My lord, I have urgent news. The First Battle Group has been defeated.¡± ¡°Defeated?!¡± ¡°Yes, they had managed to contain Kenji Shadowen but then he unleashed powerful magic. Blackness from the abyss reached up and killed hundreds of our men. We retreated in an attempt to reform, but a dragon attacked and vaporized the entire area. We lost at least three thousand.¡± ¡°That is over half the battle group.¡± ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± ¡°He was not killed?¡± ¡°It was observed that after the initial attack on the first battle sight the green dragon re-oriented and fired four more times in the same location. Afterwards it flew up. Our scouts were unable to see through the smoke and debris.¡± ¡°Summon Tazar, Eral, and Caral.¡± ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± *** ¡°You summoned us my lord?¡± ¡°Yes, Tazar you will take command of the city defenses. If Kenji moves on the city you will assassinate him. I trust you are up to the task?¡± ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± ¡°Increase patrols, install a curfew. Make sure all the soldiers know to question everyone. He has a monster shaped foot, bald, white skin, and red eyes. He should not be too hard to find.¡± ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± ¡°Eral, you will go out to the field and pull together what is left of the battle group and try to salvage something from this disaster. Bring up new troops and send out orders to move all garrisons to high alert. Another faction will try to take advantage of our weakness if given the chance. Once the battle group is reformed, advance south and secure the area and deal with the mess that has occurred.¡± ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± ¡°Caral, release word to our contract holders that all is well and that we are luring Kenji into a trap.¡± ¡°My lord? Are you sure that is wise?¡± ¡°Yes, we can lose everything but this city. If Str falls then it will be seen as Solid Steel failing. If that happens then our enemies will close in. We must force Kenji to not target the city. Releasing rumors of a trap will hopefully deter him.¡± ¡°He attacked Breckley knowing how dangerous it was.¡± ¡°True. That is why Tazar will be responsible for the city. I trust he will be able to take out Kenji in a single attack.¡± ¡°Of course, my skills are more than up to the task.¡± ¡°What about your safety?¡± ¡°If he reaches me then we shall fight on the knife¡¯s edge. I will not cower like an old woman of Angal or a whelping maid of Breckley. We shall stay at full alert for thirty days. He is patient, more patient than any one should reasonably be, but when he strikes it is brutal and without hesitation. If no sightings are made, we will stay at full alert. Do not drop your guard for even a second.¡± ¡°Yes my lord.¡± *** ¡°My lord, I have news. Kenji slaughtered over a thousand of our men during the night. The battle group is in full revolt and Caral is still three days out.¡± ¡°One man killed a thousand?¡± ¡°He slipped past the sentries and the men were exhausted from holding back the fire caused by the dragon. It appears he is headed here.¡± ¡°Leave, I must contemplate this.¡± *** ¡°My lord, I have urgent news. Kenji is in the city and he has slain Tazar. We lost sight of him, but he must be heading here. We must take you to safety.¡± ¡°Silence. There is no safety. I shall prepare to face him. All the men are to be informed that I am on the top of the mountain here. Don¡¯t try and stop him.¡± ¡°But-¡° ¡°Silence! Do as I command. Go.¡± ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± A silence stretched out before Anova turned and looked off into the distance. Speaking more to himself to settle his nerves he readied himself for the coming fight. His words carried off into the wind never to be heard. ¡°So it begins. A dance of death and power. I held out such hope for this place. To be ruined by one mad man, what is the folly of my design but my own hubris? For now in the end I stand here at the precipice of destruction looking upon all that I have carved out of this wretched world. While I may struggle, I shall not give up. I shall nor surrender. I shall not give in to the forces arrayed against me.¡± *** ¡°Kenji, we meet again.¡± ¡°Anova or Mystery Man, never a pleasure.¡± ¡°I thought you enjoyed the stay last time.¡± ¡°I am not as foolish or as weak willed as before.¡± ¡°True, you have changed much.¡± ¡°Some good some bad. You sent an army after me.¡± ¡°Yes. I wanted to aim you at Angal and away from here.¡± ¡°Yet you send people to mind control and kill me.¡± ¡°Insurance. Do you have the book?¡± ¡°I had it, but now it has fallen into other hands.¡± ¡°That is unfortunate. I very much wanted to read it.¡± ¡°Why? It speaks of Tafe and the great conflict between her and the world.¡± ¡°Ah, but that is one interpretation. You see the book was the goal of a quest.¡± ¡°What level?¡± ¡°Lifetime, but what does it matter now. For you stand here before me in all your overwhelming power. Are we to fight to the death like two barbarians?¡± ¡°Give me three good reasons to spare you and I might.¡± ¡°Three?¡± ¡°You destroyed my land ship, you mind controlled me, and you sent an army at me. Three things I am holding you accountable for.¡± ¡°I have only one. Join me and we shall win. I know the true victory conditions. Swear to never harm me on force of magic and I shall reveal this to you.¡± ¡°No. Even if I did believe you, I shall get information when I hit level one hundred.¡± ¡°This city¡¯s resources?¡± ¡°Have been arrayed against me, the same as Solid Steel.¡± ¡°I still can¡¯t believe you have survived this far. Your luck will run out.¡± ¡°Maybe I will just cut out your lying tongue and eyes.¡± ¡°That is a special blade. From the creature that lurks in the dark?¡± ¡°You mean the Endolgon?¡± ¡°Ah, so that is its name.¡± ¡°Any information you want to share.¡± ¡°Not really. Helping you seems fairly pointless. What about a flame blade?¡± ¡°An obvious trap.¡± ¡°Why are you talking to me now and not cutting me apart if you don¡¯t like my offers?¡± ¡°Look at the city.¡± ¡°What have you done?!¡± ¡°Nothing yet, but soon the candles will burn down and ignite barrels of oil and in turn this city you control.¡± ¡°You really are insane.¡± ¡°Most likely, but I want to make a point once again. I will keep making points until people get it. Don¡¯t mess with me.¡± ¡°I suspect you would make your own entertainment even then. Every time you escalate you just draw more attention to yourself.¡± ¡°Most likely but it is either win or die, look the first barrel has gone up.¡± ¡°Rebuilding will be a simple task.¡± ¡°Not if you are dead. You want to know something? I discovered your secret.¡± ¡°My secret?¡± ¡°Yes, you are an NPC.¡± ¡°What, no I am not.¡± ¡°You came to power incredibly quickly. Sure you could have taken on the appearance of the previous lord, but you were too secure here. The people and soldiers too willing to follow you. The Order waged a bloody campaign up north to bring cities under their control. Why lie?¡± ¡°Like you would understand. You travelers claim I am just a construct of your imaginations, but this is my home, my life! You think to come here and just take and take. I look to build a brighter future one where all people can work together.¡± ¡°That sounds¡­.hammy.¡± ¡°You are just a terrorist and a mad man. Look at your body, you are already a monster in human flesh. I never thought the Church of Eight was right until this very moment. You would doom this world just to laugh as it burns.¡± ¡°Yes, but I will win and you will be burnt.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t win! All you can do is live. Live for a better tomorrow. Live for a day when a person can farm safely and monsters are pushed back to the corners of the world. A land united against darkness and evil.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s evil? I see you standing there all self-righteous but I seek to secure my future.¡± ¡°One man, no matter how great is not worth the price you would seek to pay. The price of all our bodies heaped upon your mountain of ego.¡± ¡°What of you? You seek to control the world through lies and deceit. You who have attacked me without provocation.¡± ¡°You killed the villages under my rule. You started this war.¡± ¡°War¡­.this is merely a slaughter and they are NPCs. Tools for me to use.¡± ¡°Not tools, people! Already you fall into darkness. I will not let you leave here alive.¡± ¡°You think you can kill me when so many have failed, even dragons?¡± ¡°Maybe, maybe not, but I will not surrender to you or the darkness you harbor.¡± ¡°I see it clearly now, you wish to be the hero of legend. To stand against the darkness. I shall try to live up to the role you have given me.¡± ¡°It was foretold in a prophecy when I was but an infant. I shall slay the harbinger of darkness and save the world. You who is tied to fate must understand this.¡± ¡°I make my own destiny. Tafe is a whiney bitch.¡± ¡°You would anger even her. I can¡¯t tell if you are foolish, insanely lucky, or genius to get away with what you have.¡± ¡°I am all of the above, mostly genius. Consider the fact that you have tried four mental attacks just now and they have all failed, allowing me to push my skill to new heights.¡± There was nothing more to say and we both knew it. We stood staring at each other across the plateau at the top of the mountain. The sun was just beginning to rise. My hand rested on my sword hilt, ready to strike as I watched my opponent carefully. He was not an idiot and his ability in telekinesis was incredibly versatile. I clicked my tongue once and advanced forward slowly. I angled my head up and let loose a spray of black slime. While the accuracy was terrible, it would go about thirty feet. I mentally issued the commands, Burst Speed one time and Conceal Movement one second. I raced to the left and drew my sword. I then angled back in at Anova while the spray of black slime came at him. I cut out with the Slice of Life aiming to seriously wound him. He twitched his hands and slid to the side without moving his feet avoiding both attacks. I turned my head to spray him, but my clothes twisted me causing me to spray Kek in the wrong direction. Anova stood there calmly as I charged in again. A thin wire suddenly snapped into place at neck height and I hit it. Kek stopped me from decapitation and garroting but the sheer impact carried through to my neck causing my feet to fly out under me. I felt all of Kek move off my stomach to my back. I hit something far sooner than I should have as my body moved towards the ground. The impact went through Kek and up into my back. I rolled off to the side. I saw a thin, pointy, metal spike had risen up between the cracks of the flat stones used as a platform for this plateau. The giant metal needle quickly fell back in between the cracks and I didn¡¯t see the metal thread anywhere. I pulled myself up to my feet and began slowly advancing. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Anova strafed me slowly at a measured and casual pace. A needle shot out from between the stones at my face. I turned to the side to avoid it. I missed the second giant needle which shot out and plunged into my right leg just where the scales and skin came together. I stumbled in pain. That attack had been insanely fast to get through my reflexes. It was obvious he was attacking at the speed of thought or something equally similar to not make a difference. Kek was weak to these types of piercing attacks. While he could stop the worst damage, he wasn¡¯t capable of blocking the full strike unless he used most of his mass. I let go of my sword and yanked the needle out of my leg. I grabbed my sword before it hit the ground. Anova was still casually increasing the distance between us. If I charged in, he would clothesline me again. Advancing slowly would mean death by a hundred pricks. The problem was that his telekinesis was fast, as fast as I could move or close enough to it that there wasn¡¯t a real difference. His speed of thought countered my speed perfectly and he had honed his techniques to a fighting edge. ¡°Kek, go for him.¡± I felt Kek begin to move down me and onto the stones. I didn¡¯t let my eyes leave Anova or his hands. He didn¡¯t say anything to seeing the black slime. I felt an odd sensation for a fight and my mind began to haze over with thoughts of spending personal time with various people. Shield Mind was still up so I should have nothing to worry about. I shook my head and thought the command, Conceal Movement three seconds. I began moving straight for my opponent. I was careful to watch out for any more wires that might drop in front of me, but as soon as I vanished at least ten wires rose up from around the plateau and began cutting across the battlefield. I cut through one as I made my advance and three needles shot out from in between the stones in my general direction. Conceal Movement and Conceal Presence were incredible skills. They didn¡¯t make a person disappear but merely encouraged people to ignore the person and what they were touching. A person¡¯s brain would slide right over someone just standing there. The problem was with area attacks and the fact that you still knew a person was out there, just not where they were located. I moved out of the way, but more wires were closing in. I needed to just out last his MP reserves and I would win. I didn¡¯t have any clue what skills he was using but I figured there was a penalty per item he had to control or a time limit. I began cutting out to break apart the wires as fast as possible once I had reached that conclusion. I clicked my tongue and unleashed another spray of black slime at him. He slid to the side, avoiding the attack. Two needles leapt up at me. I twisted out of the way and a third one struck me in the side. There was definitely poison on these, a very familiar poison. It was from the Buzz Bird, the sex drive poison. Two more needles came in and pierced my left shoulder and right leg. I had never developed a resistance to this type of poison and the effects were very distracting as my pants went from comfortably loose to painfully tight. Kek leapt from the cracks in the stones at the Mystery Man. He slid backwards out of the attack before Kek could touch him. I put away my sword to leave my hand free. I then used the respite Kek had given me to remove the needles from my body, making sure to chuck them away behind me when I was done removing them. My HP was down a third and I still hadn¡¯t landed a single blow. I moved in again pulling out dagger after dagger to throw them at my opponent. A needle spun in the air intercepting each attack as it occurred. The metal wires rose up and began closing in again as I got closer. I quickly retreated and moved back in when the wires dropped. Kek lunged again and Anova moved out of the way with a frown on his face. My SP was only half way depleted and I was confident it would out last his magic. My clothes were suddenly yanked and I was pulled forward slightly above the ground so I couldn¡¯t get purchase to stop from being moved. Five needles rose up in front of me to skewer me. I ripped off my shirt and went tumbling along the ground. Landing on my front was incredibly painful in the nether regions. I rolled to the side and a needle impaled the stone where I had been laying. More needles came flying at me and I kept moving while shedding my clothes so I couldn¡¯t be yanked about. Kek had separated out in smaller portions and the attacks stopped as multiple portions closed in from all directions towards Anova. Anova collapsed as Kek engulfed him. ¡°AHHHHhhhhh¡­..¡± I heard him scream out before his head was covered. I advanced on his corpse. A tough battle, but nothing too difficult. I closed in on the trashing form of Kek and let out a sigh of relief. Kek suddenly rose up and grabbed onto me. There was a sudden blast of air and Kek was scattered all around. In front of me stood Anova with his hands already in place on my body. I felt a prick as a needle went into the back of my head and another over my heart. My entire body went limp and I collapsed naked onto the stones while Anova stepped back breathing heavily dropping a small metal needle from each hand. He had been faking his weakness to Kek the entire time. He had possessed the scythe and the cloak plus one of his minions was immune. I should have known better. Breathing was becoming harder and harder and I could barely move. It was like the time I had been stuck underground. The wires that lay strewn about began to move and make their way towards me. Anova didn¡¯t gloat or smile in the slightest. He kept twitching his hands and watching me very carefully. He clearly was not taking any chances with me. The wires slowly began to move around me. I needed to do something quickly. He was too far away to reach with a last second attack. I quickly issued the mental commands, Conceal Movement ten seconds, Projection avoid attacks. That used up most of my remaining MP, but it was the one shot I had. I would have preferred to use Conceal Presence but I only had so many silent skill slots to use. I disappeared and a copy of me appeared off to the side. My projection moved out of the way as a needle shot after him. I didn¡¯t dare move as Anova looked from where I was hidden in plain sight to my fleeing projection. He frowned and looked around carefully. He gestured and a needle rose up and drove straight through my stomach and into the ground. I still didn¡¯t make noise or break my skill. He turned and began walking after the projection as the wires rose after it to destroy it. I yanked the needle free out of my stomach and threw it with my remaining strength. The attack was poor, but it succeeded in piercing Anova¡¯s shoulder and drawing a small wound. ¡°Ah!¡± He let out a shout. Kek moved around his feet and solidified. When he tried to spin about he fell over on his face and his head snapped back with a crack. I began to drag and roll myself across the ground, leaving a trail of blood behind me. Anova was cutting away at Kek trying to free himself, but each attack failed. I reached him and grabbed his wrist with the dagger. I twisted and snapped his wrist forcing him to drop his weapon. I grabbed it and dragged myself on top of him. Despite his larger size I was stronger. I stared into his gray eyes. ¡°Do your-¡° I drove the dagger into the side of his head. I lay there on top of his corpse, in pain, sore, and incredibly weak. My HP was still dropping from all the holes poked in me and I needed relief. ¡°Kek, can you block my wounds.¡± A few seconds later the HP drain stopped and I worked on managing my breathing to keep myself calm. I had barely survived the last dose of this poison and my body didn¡¯t want to move while wanting release. ¡°Kek, I need you to send a small part of yourself into me to cut off my blood flow down below.¡± I felt movement inside my body and kept directing him to the right location. He cut off the blood flow and I was able to relax slightly. ¡°My lord, I have...¡± I glanced to the side and saw a young man. He looked at me and then at the corpse under me. His eyes traveled across my body and landed on my foot. ¡°Monster.¡± He hissed out and drew his blade. ¡°I shall avenge Lord Str.¡± He advanced on my helpless body. ¡°Kek, all yours.¡± When the young man was just about to reach striking distant, Kek rose up around his feet and into his boots. He fell to the ground screaming. That was quickly cut off as a portion of Kek entered his mouth. He trashed around for a second and then stilled as death took him. I needed to move before someone strong came. I just couldn¡¯t force my body to do anything. The two separate poisons and the damage I had taken made escaping from here an impossibility. The poison needed to leave my system before I would have a chance to escape. I should have just left and not come here. ¡°I always go a bit too far, right Kek?¡± I felt a squeeze on my left shoulder. ¡°At least you still like me.¡± All I could do was just lie there and hope no one else came up to the top of the mountain. The sun eventually set and the stars and the moon came out. Despite laying there all day, the poison remained in my system, a testament to its potency. In the dim light two figures came to the top of the plateau. ¡°Oh, what do we have here?¡± The voice was nasally and definitely a man¡¯s. ¡°It seems that Lord Str bit off more than he could chew. Hehehehe. What do you think Clarissa?¡± The figure next to merely shifted but didn¡¯t say anything. He pointed at the ground and snapped his fingers at the advancing Kek. There was a large burst of blue flames that coated the area around him burning Kek away. The flames raced over the stones and over me. Despite my fire immunity the flames hurt as they swept over everything. I saw Kek trying to escape but was consumed by the blue flames. ¡°So you felt pain, yes? Hehehehehehe.¡± The man darted forward and jabbed something into the back of my neck. All feeling below my neck cut off. ¡°Did you know there are pressure points? Maybe? Hmmm, Clarissa retrieve the corpse and my new test subject, pretty please.¡± The hulking figure didn¡¯t say anything and I was picked up and thrown over her shoulder. I saw the late Lord Str tossed over her other shoulder. Clarissa was a woman and human shaped, but I did not hear the beat of her heart or the warmth of her skin where my head rested against her back. We moved off the plateau but I wasn¡¯t in a position to see much of anything. My mind drifted in a haze as we moved to whatever our destination was. *** ¡°Oh, good. You are awake.¡± I opened my eyes to see a thin man with a goatee in front of me. His nasally voice was the same one as before. I tried to move but was tied securely down. Each finger had its own strap to secure it to the table I was on. ¡°A bit extreme, but I do enjoy living. Can¡¯t take any chances you know. Hehehehe.¡± The laugh was forced and creepy. ¡°What are you planning to do to me?¡± Might as well and try to get information so I can escape. ¡°Getting information so you can escape. I don¡¯t read minds, but you are so obvious Blood Rain. I am going to look at your blood. Blood Rain, blood, it all fits together.¡± This man was insane and I was in his hands. ¡°I am not insane, merely a genius. You are actually my inspiration. Demon blood, bug foot, and who knows what else. Don¡¯t look so worried the experiments should be mostly painless¡­well if they aren¡¯t then it is for science. Win, win, don¡¯t you agree?¡± I really wanted to escape, my mind rushed over my skills but I had nothing that would work if I was tied down. ¡°So what are you going to experiment on?¡± I said a lot more calmly than I was feeling. ¡°Oh simple things. Like taking your blood and trying to put it into someone else. Putting more monster blood into you. I must say that without proper needles this process can get messy. Don¡¯t worry Clarissa will clean things up. Hehehehehe.¡± This guy was completely off his rocker and I couldn¡¯t think of a way to escape. *** Author''s Notes: Moving is done...yeah! I will try on stay at one chapter a day, but it is tough to write this much and make sure it stays fresh. I did something a bit different with a dialogue focus. In Interlude 3, you may have noted that Anova was talking to the doctor and mentioned a video. Lies, since he was deceiving people that he actually was a player and not an NPC. Insane, yes, but he always was an NPC. He was a liar and a manipulator of the highest order. I don''t think I need to add this if you have read this far, but the next chapter will be brutal, more so than any other chapter. It will be hard to top myself but I am going to try. I had to have something special for chapter 50. Chapter 50: For Science After making sure I was secured the doctor disappeared from the room. He took Clarissa with him and I began trying to pull myself free. I had no leverage and was completely stuck to the table. I tried not to look around at the chamber of horrors I was in. There was a body hanging up to the side with entrails spilling out. In another corner a tentacle creature wiggled inside a cage. The walls were covered with what could only be blood stains. The smell was a mix of piss and fear etched into the stone walls with the screams of forgotten souls. Some of those very screams traveled from other chambers into this one, carrying the pain and agony of their originator. I was trapped in this mad house of horrors. Since I couldn¡¯t move, I began to Meditate in order to recover my MP. Without my status bars I would have lost all sense of time. It was five hours later that the doctor returned with Clarissa. His grin was creepy as he pulled out a metal rod and began to run it over my naked body. He began to speak in a sing song voice. ¡°The skull bone is connected to the neck bone. The neck bone is connected to the spine bone. The spine bone is connected to the pelvic bone. The pelvic bone is connected to the leg bone. The leg bone is connected to the¡­tri-prong bone? Hmm, this requires some consideration.¡± The doctor was prodding my body with a metal rod as he examined me. ¡°I never got your name.¡± I needed to create an opening, and asking him simple questions seemed like something that might work. It also was the only thing I could do. With leather straps holding down each part of my body and individual straps for each finger I was completely immobilized. ¡°You can call me Doctor Frankenstein.¡± I blinked at that answer in surprise. ¡°Well that is what all the other people call me. Not like I am going to give you my name in this fun world. You know names hold a certain power. Name magic, what a laugh. I do get to carry on the work of my ancestor so don¡¯t be afraid.¡± I did not know that, but it didn¡¯t seem like a pressing issue at the moment. ¡°You know I am an actual doctor, or was anyways.¡± He kept poking all over my body as he spoke. I had no idea what he was trying to figure out. ¡°Not much need any more with auto docs and nanites. Years of studying washed away with machines.¡± ¡°That seems unfortunate, so what are you doing now?¡± I asked. ¡°Combining things, it is quite fun actually. Except I am stuck with terrible equipment. No glass beakers either. It amazes me how many idiots out there think a VR world is the same as a regular world. I mean there are no twins here, no cell division, or anything regarding natural laws.¡± ¡°I know, I try to use that to my advantage.¡± ¡°Hmmm, yes clearly. There is no way to replicate molecules, atoms, and things at the cellular level so it is all an approximation. There are very few diseases here in FEAR. So there is no chance of rejection.¡± ¡°Really, what about corruption?¡± ¡°Ah, now we are getting into the interesting stuff. But that is my secret. Can¡¯t have you running off and spilling it all. So I am thinking about removing your other foot to try and graft on some tentacles. I haven¡¯t had much luck with tentacles, you got to get the interface just right.¡± ¡°I will share information about my bug foot if you let me go.¡± ¡°Deal.¡± I just looked at him. ¡°Hehehehehehehe. I already have that information. Inside a bug with an open wound and some constitution based healing magic.¡± There went any hope of talking my way out of this somehow. ¡°So grafting?¡± ¡°Yes, you killed a number of my wolf men. Take off a player¡¯s head and put on a wolf¡¯s head. Amazing how long one can keep a head alive here in FEAR. The human blood flows into the wolf brain from the body and you get a smarter wolf with human abilities. I call them¡­werewolves.¡± He whispered the last part like it was some big secret. ¡°You had to kill a lot of them just to be difficult. Oh well. I have to make more anyways. Hmmm. I finally have some idea what is going on with you. The hard part is going to be cutting you open without you bleeding out. I have just the thing.¡± He walked out of my line of sight and then came back with a slug monster in between two tongs. ¡°A mana leach. They suck out MP and SP and give back HP as a waste product. Clever little buggers. Also perfect to keeping test subjects alive. Now they are quite painful.¡± He gave the tongs a slight squeeze and out of the creature appeared thousands of tiny teeth. ¡°They really dig in to whatever they bite.¡± His eyes stopped at my mid-section. ¡°No-¡° ¡°Oh yes.¡± He cut me off and his grin grew even more. ¡°Can¡¯t have you trying anything. The pain alone should burn out most of your higher brain functions. I normally attach this to the forehead, but you already have a waiting shaft.¡± I struggled against the restraints uselessly. ¡°Here we go!¡± It placed the monster on me. I felt it wiggling against me but the teeth did not dig into me. ¡°Huh.¡± He gave it a squeeze but it still didn¡¯t latch on. I was mentally thinking, ¡®Thank you Tafe, thank you Tafe.¡¯ The teeth kept wiggling against me but none of them penetrated. ¡°That is interesting.¡± The doctor took the leech away and came back. ¡°You really are special. Well I will just have to resort to more barbaric methods.¡± The doctor let out a long sigh as if he was the one suffering. He put a tourniquet around my right leg just above the knee. ¡°Blood loss equates to HP loss. Simple but effective in most cases. There is also no chance of your leg necrotizing because there is no oxygen. With the blood flow cut off I can get to work. The weird thing is pain is not linked to blood flow or even your body really.¡± ¡°WhaaaAAHHHHHH!¡± I screamed as I felt him cut into my leg. It was like someone was taking raw glass and rubbing it into the wound. I trashed against the restraints to no avail. ¡°I coat all my tools with poison, an extract of a particularly vicious monster. Otherwise things might get boring. It also prevents blood flow by melting the flesh together, have to keep you alive you know.¡± He kept cutting and cutting. Each new slice brought another level of pain. I felt him finally reach my bone. I liked my leg, no, no, NO! ¡°Yes, yes, YES!¡± He shouted back in my face. ¡°Hehehehehehe. You know you can feel your whole body. Like this.¡± He reached into my cut open flesh and grabbed my leg bone. He began to squeeze it and run his hands along it. ¡°I can¡¯t even begin to work out how your brain is interpreting this.¡± I barely noticed pissing myself between my screams. ¡°Not what I was expecting, but good science. Hehehehehe. I was expecting the bone to be different this high up, but I was wrong. Oh well, time to try again below the knee.¡± He began cutting into me again. ¡°See why I wanted that leech, I could have just gone in quick like. Now I have to take all these extra steps. I wonder¡­if I remove your genitals and place them on a monster can it impregnate a human. Ooooh, so many fun ideas.¡± The smell of my flesh reached me. Like a decaying corpse, my flesh smelled just as bad. I heard a plop on the floor, part of it must have slid off my leg and the table. ¡°This is exciting. Look Clarissa, there is a merging of sorts. There is no clear interface which is how rejection was prevented. But look, the changeover is very quick rather than gradual. A clear sign of corruption. Amateur work.¡± ¡°A bug is quite a large jump. It uses ichor compared to blood¡­maybe a correlation between meta-magic functions. Hmmmm. You really are an interesting one. How is it remaining stable¡­the blood. You are part demon! Of course, now it all makes sense. So many options¡­¡± ¡°I will need to extract large amounts of your blood. You really are putting my research way ahead. Why just your blood alone will unlock new combinations. I can graft wings onto my werewolves and who knows what else. Well enough fun for today and you need to be patched up before I run more tests. Come Clarissa.¡± The doctor and his silent female companion left the room. I lay there panting, trying to work through the pain. An hour later five people entered the room. They began cleaning up my melted flesh and taking away the bloody instruments. They were all silent and moved with an efficiency speaking to many hours of practice. They finally stopped and gathered around me. ¡°Let me out of here. I will free you all and end this madness.¡± Their blank faces and dead eyes showed they had lost all hope. They reached out and placed their hands on me. The pain disappeared and I felt my leg regenerate and the puncture wounds on my body close up. ¡°Thanks.¡± They didn¡¯t say anything and left the room. I needed to escape now, waiting was incredibly dangerous. ¡°Kek, you still there?¡± I whispered. I felt a pull from inside my gut. Thank goodness the doctor never noticed the puncture wounds weren¡¯t bleeding out and that I had some of Kek inside of me. ¡°You need to come out and get me free.¡± My MP bar was only a quarter full, but my HP and SP were maxed out. With all my wounds healed, Kek began to slowly bleed out of my eyeballs. Each drop that forced its way out felt like a ball bearing being squeezed past my eyes. The pain was nothing compared to before. My MP dropped into the negative and all my HP and SP were reduced by a third. ¡°Can you break the restraints off my arm and fingers?¡± Kek moved over to my arm and got to work cutting through. Only a small portion of him was a high enough level to become hard enough to cut through the letter. It was slow but there was definite progress. One by one, my fingers were freed. A couple minutes later Kek had cut enough into the wrist strap for me to pull my hand free. With some effort I began unstrapping myself from the table. I still felt woozy from the drugs but they had started to fade from my system. I could move at least. I bit down on my cheek and Kek went back into my blood stream. No sense in revealing his presence if I was caught. I carefully made my way across the slick stones to the large wooden door. There were a number of small crystals providing light, but the gloom and the darkness only added to the horror of the chamber. I opened the door and peered out into a corridor with more doors and crystals. I was in some sort of catacombs, probably beneath Str Mountain itself. I left the room and closed the door behind me. Both directions looked the same and there was a slight curve to the tunnel. If I designed this place, it would lead in a circle and only one door would lead to the surface. Each of the lighting crystals was a slightly different color above each door which was probably how the doctor and his assistants told them apart. I began working my way down the passage opening each door as I passed. The first one I looked into had two people sewn together. Their hands and feet had been removed and sewn together with the person opposite them. There were cages on one side of the room where it was the darkest. I couldn¡¯t help myself and peered closely. I wish I hadn¡¯t looked. People were sewn together in all combinations. Two women were sewn together with their breasts. A man and a woman were sewn together at their sides. There was one cage with five children, I didn¡¯t know how they could still be alive. I shut the door and tried the room across the hall way. This one had parts of monsters sewn into and onto various people. The one that stuck in my mind as I shut the door was the man who had his dick removed and replaced with a spike that looked eerily reminiscent of the bulb spikes. The way it was leaking purple fluid was even more confirmation than I needed. I tried a third door. It was jam packed full of corpses stuffed into the room. A putrid smell of decay came from inside of it, making me gag. I closed the door and made my way to the next one. Behind the door was a boy strapped to a chair. A device kept sending a hammer to hit him on the head. His eyes were red and he was frothing at the mouth. Each time the hammer struck he shook slightly. His eyes flickered to me for a second and then kept staring straight ahead. I closed the door and move on. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. I took a deep breath to steady myself. There were lots of doors down here and I needed to find the right one to escape. The fifth room contained cages filled with wolves. There was a pile of discarded corpses off to the side. I heard the thwack of a meat cleaver and mumbling. Looking around the doorway I saw a large burly man cutting the heads off wolves and people and exchanging them. I snuck into the room and began opening up the cages for the wolves. They managed to wait until I got five of them open and then they rushed out snarling. The butcher turned and managed to kill two of the wolves before the other three began ripping chunks off his body in a bloody frenzy. I freed the rest of the wolves and the people cried out to be saved. I left them and exited the room with a pack of wolves, meat cleaver in hand. ¡°Tut, tut. The experiments aren¡¯t over. So much more science to do. Hehehehehe.¡± The wolves growled but backed slowly away. ¡°I guess I will have to remove a leg to make sure this doesn¡¯t happen again. Clarissa subdue the test subjects.¡± I looked at the mountain of a woman. Her plain clothes hid her bearish physique which became evident when she pulled a massive two handed sword from her back. With Kek back inside of me I had MP to use. I thought out the commands, Conceal Movement two seconds, Burst Speed. I darted forward to kill the doctor and end his sick experiments. He snapped his fingers and a wall of blue flames shot up between us. I didn¡¯t care and charged through. I drove the meat cleaver through his left arm and into his side. His arm fell to the floor and he let out a cry of pain. A glance behind me to check on the situation showed that the flames had gone out and Clarissa was moving incredibly fast right for me. I scrambled to the side as she grabbed the doctor and ran off. All the wolves were lying in various states of dismemberment as I came back up to my feet. I noted that Clarissa had also grabbed the doctor¡¯s chopped off arm. I followed his blood trail to a door way which was open and showed a stair case leading up. I followed the stairs and finally saw my first bit of real light. I was in the Str Fortress. I was sure the doctor would be back on his feet soon and I had no chance of beating him and Clarissa. My sword! I had lost the Slice of Life. I remembered where they had taken the other enchanted items I had brought them. I left the room and into a hallway. The blood trail had become much smaller and I stopped following it. I began making my way through the corridors staying alert for anyone that might be after me or even a patrol. Everything was surprisingly quiet. I made my way towards the center of the fortress. I peered around a corner and saw two guards. I had no weapons since the meat cleaver had been left in the doctor¡¯s side. I raced forward. They both had a look of shock on their faces as they tried to draw their swords. I did a flying kick into the chest of one of them with my tri-pronged foot. He crumpled against the floor as my prongs dug through his leather armor and into his chest. I reached down and pulled his sword out of his hand and the sheathe it was partially in still. The other soldier opened his mouth to shout something but I was already moving forward driving my new found blade through his face and out the back. Bits of brain matter mixed in with blood coated the side of the corridor. I pulled the sword free and turned on the soldier still lying on the ground. ¡°Where are the enchanted weapons kept?¡± I asked. ¡°Urggg¡­¡± Blood began to come out of his mouth. He was already dying and completely useless. I shoved the blade through his eye, ending his misery. I turned to the guard I had de-brained and looked him over. It would be a bit large, but his clothes should fit. I managed to get his clothes off without making too much of a mess and wouldn¡¯t pass a close inspection. I looked at my foot, probably not even a distant one at that. I turned to the wood door and pulled it open. More stairs leading up. I began climbing up the tower. I reached another door at the top which was locked and embedded into the stone itself so it could only swing outwards. Tapping it revealed that the door was solid. ¡°Kek, can you go into the lock and open the door.¡± I made a small cut on my arm and watched as my status bars dipped down. Kek went into the lock. There was grinding and clicking from inside. I kept a hand on the handle, pulling slightly while standing to the side. The door opened and I felt a slight tug. Three bolts hurtled through the door to hit the wall off to the side. I looked inside the room and found gold and weapons. I found the Slice of Life and grinned at my luck. I quickly strapped it to my side and grabbed another two blades. I had no idea what they were and didn¡¯t have the MP to spare for an Identification. I was hoping for something good. There was so much, it was tempting to take more, but it would only weigh me down. I grabbed a small bag of gold coins and left the room with Kek returning to me. I heard noises from the bottom of the stairway. ¡°He is up there. Go! Go!¡± Soldiers with shields and spears began to advance up the stairway. When they saw me a cry went up. I raced back up the stairs and shut the door. Since it opened outwards I couldn¡¯t pile up stuff behind it to brace it shut. I had Kek jam the lock as best as he could, but that wouldn¡¯t hold them out for too long. There were no windows in the room either. I looked up and the ceiling above was just the rafters and the roof. I stacked up the three tables in the room and then climbed up on top of them. It was frustrating only having one arm and I would already here the banging coming from the door along with the splintering of wood. I made it up to the rafters and then pushed the roof tiles off to the side. Looking out it was a huge drop down. I checked other portions of the roof to see if there was a walkway or something I could get down to. There was nothing I was trapped up on the tower. I looked down and saw a small hole being made in the door way. I went back down to the floor and began grabbing each weapon one by one and saying, ¡°Flame on.¡± Finally one of them lit up. I smiled, when it doubt light things up. I lit the tables on fire. The floor was also wood and I lit that on fire as well. I then turned to the doorway and lit that on fire. Turning the room into an inferno. The soldiers were already retreating and I went down the stairs. At the exit to the corridor two bolts flew through the doorway. I saw more soldiers lined up with crossbows. ¡°You can¡¯t escape!¡± One of them called out. ¡°I killed Lord Str, did you know he was an NPC?¡± I called back. There was silence. ¡°This whole place is going up and Solid Steel is done. Whomever is the last one left alive out there gets an enchanted sword.¡± ¡°You will just kill us all. No dice, stay strong.¡± I cursed to myself. Fire behind, soldiers in front. Four blades, two with unknown enchantments. ¡°What do we have here? Hehehehehehe.¡± That laugh could only be one person. ¡°A standoff, how interesting.¡± ¡°Doctor, you need to fall back, Blood Rain is cornered up ahead.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. I have a debt to repay, for science of course.¡± If there was one thing I was definitely good at, it was pissing off people. ¡°No chances. Claraissa remove limiters, code omega.¡± There was a feral roar from the hallway. I glanced around and saw the woman hulking out. Her clothes ripped as armor plating appeared along with spikes out of her skin. ¡°Hehehehe, no escape for you now.¡± The doctor¡¯s left arm was hidden inside of his clothes so I couldn¡¯t see if he had replaced it with anything. Clarissa let out a roar and all the soldiers retreated. I did the same back up the stair way into the inferno that the tower had become. My clothes began to turn crispy as she barreled up the stair case. I maneuvered around the burning floor to the far side of the room from the doorway. She came charging up. As her large bulk hit the floorboards, they gave way and she well down to a lower level with a roar. I made my way around the gaping hole and back down the stairs. It was time to get out of here, Burst Speed. I leapt out of the door way. The soldiers had relaxed since they had assumed Clarissa would rip me apart, their mistake. The bolts went wide as I darted forward. The doctor began to speak but I cut out with the flame blade across his chest. He fell back with a cry and I kept running and striking out when I could. I cleared the corridor and began making my way out of the fortress. I was glad I had been here before since this place was a maze. I reached the main wall and leapt over. I went tumbling on the ground but I was soon back up on my feet. I started running for the river. I needed to get away. I heard a rumble and turned around to see the tower caught in the inferno collapse into a pile of rubble. I kept my pace to 9.9 miles per hour to conserve my rapidly dwindling SP. Once I reached the river it would be simple enough to make an escape. I heard a roar from behind me and a glance revealed Clarissa with blacked armor plates and murder coming from her red eyes. I kept running hoping to wear her out since she was moving at incredible speeds. I really wanted to use an Observe but I only had 10 MP left, enough for a single skill. She was closing in fast and the way she was holding her massive sword in one hand indicated it wouldn¡¯t be a friendly meeting. The river was at least a mile away, which meant I had to fight. Clarissa charged, I moved out of the way of her jab and countered with a slash. She let the attack skid over her armored plating and turned to face me. She kept jabbing out again and again and it was all I could do to prevent being skewered. It was like The Encasement all over again. The only vulnerable part were her eyes. As I maneuvered around her I noted riders off in the distance coming from the direction of the fortress. More enemies and I needed to get away. ¡°Kek, cover the eyes.¡± Part of Kek left me and I maneuvered myself so he was thrown onto Clarissa¡¯s face. He quickly covered the opening in her armor around her eyes and I set off running again. I heard a roar behind me but a quick glance revealed she wasn¡¯t pursuing. I kept running and noted that the riders had stopped since Clarissa was randomly charging about and swinging her massive sword. I kept running away towards the river. *** UltimataSecret: Solid Steel is more like riddled steel 6996: Str is screwed, the Order will probably sweep the whole thing up GambleMan: Jackpot is now $1.3 millions dollars, place your bet now on time of death TheWinzKid: You are all winz Blood Rain TheWhiteWoman: I saw a clip go up of him running from Str OwlEyes: A burning city, a burning fortress, what more proof do you need GODHAXLOL: SOLID STEELYYYYYY!!!!! SolidSteel: Everything is under control, do not be alarmed. We are a minor situation which has been dealt with. Lord Str is in good health and is currently reorganizing the city UltimataSecret: You call losing an army, having your captital and fortress burned down minor? What is a major disaster then? Worm: Brunnnnnnnnn 6996: The diss or their city? I like to be clear on my insults TheArm: Sending my love to you Blood Rain, XOXOXOXO *** Author¡¯s Note: Kek saved the day once again and Blood Rain escapes. The doctor is struck down, but is still alive. Well this is 50 main chapters, and over 250k words. Yeah! Thank you all for the support.