《Final Hour》
Prologue: First Minute
As he lay on his bed, he snored obnoxiously, but remained blissfully oblivious to this as he slept. Pale skin clung tightly to his arms, revealing thin veins and frail bones through his gown. He had lived his entire life in that bed. He played a video game every once in a while, but sometimes was dragged off as his blood pressure got too high.
His eyes slowly cracked open, a blank expression becoming one of confusion, his eyes darting around as if to confirm where he was., then fatigue, then the normal grief and sadness. He was driven insane by the incessant beeping that just wouldn¡¯t stop, as the heart monitor¡¯s constant drone perpetually continued. He watched as a man dressed in a white coat came into his room, glasses glinting with the pale, almost sickening light of the ceiling bulb. He grumbled as the man took a long, almost unnoticeable needle from the boy''s arm, taking the bag from the stand and replacing it with a new one, one filled with a pale yellow fluid.
He winced as the stabbing pain shot through his system like an electric shock, firing pain from his elbow into the rest of his body, whiting out his senses for just a fraction of a second.
He didn¡¯t speak, nor did the doctor. They were used to this routine ¨C the man came in, replaced the piece of metal in his arm that perpetually injected a foreign chemical into his bloodstream, and walked out. The boy in the bed gave up on human interaction. He had something they could only describe as a ¡°weak constitution.¡± They said this, but he knew it was because they had no idea what it was that was eating away at his body by the minute.
It all started when he was just 8. He was eating the same old boring lunch that his parents packed for him every day ¨C it was a juice box in his ¡°favorite flavor¡± of apple, which he despised, but never complained about because it would be inconvenient. With that juice box was a plain half of a peanut butter and jelly ¨C extra crunchy peanut butter with raspberry jelly on half of a slice of processed, chemical-filled white bread. It all had the same consistency to him ¨C it was almost like a paste that was formed into the shape of something people dared to call a sandwich. All of a sudden, his face fell straight into it, catapulting jelly everywhere around him in a 2-foot radius. For a minute, the kids all laughed, thought it was a comical scene out of a cartoon. However, after he didn¡¯t sit up, everything went sour quickly, and he never darkened the door at that school again.
Nobody could figure out what happened. He didn¡¯t regain consciousness for several days, and when he did, his skin had lost all color, and had become a ghastly, translucent pale ¨C one that left him looking almost like a cadaver.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
He was born into an average family. His dad made a nice six figures, his mom loved him and doted on him every minute she was with him. Eventually, though, this much failed to sustain him. His father struggled to make the money required to continue the expensive and experimental treatment that he had hardly even been convinced to agree to. The stress got to him, and¡ he broke down. He had a stroke, was dead before paramedics ever reached the house. His family fell apart, as his mother struggled to find employment enough to sustain her son¡¯s treatment and her daughter¡¯s college education. Her end was different ¨C unable to cope with the family breaking apart, she was found dead in the one-room apartment she had after selling the house for treatment, it was ruled a suicide. Gunshot wound through the brain stem, death followed instantly. The scene was gruesome, and ever since he heard the news, the boy was never the same.
He refused food; it got to the point that his doctors put him on a nutrient injection to stop the atrophy of his muscles. He became unresponsive, to the point that doctors couldn¡¯t even ask him how he felt. When he was in a good mood, he might give a response ¨C an incredibly hostile listing of the events since his childhood that led to his entire life¡¯s collapse. The immense guilt that followed left the doctors only able to apologize profusely, as they had nothing to refute. Everything he stated was fact. They started bringing in shrinks from across the region to try to find out just what could be done to help the boy¡¯s emotional state. All of them said there was nothing left that they could do, and all that was left was for time to take its ruthless, fateful, deadly course. The boy¡¯s life expectancy was little more than 3 years, and it would be a miracle for him to live another 5 to reach the age of 20.
Empire was a VRMMORPG ¨C a game with a revolutionary system that simply had to have a needle directly injected into a nerve ending to create an immersive universe nothing like one people would find on a seemingly archaic system like a PlayStation 5. It was released on October 12, 2026, a date to celebrate the birthday of the company Utopia, Ltd. It was an ironic name, but one that would go down in history as one of the great innovators of the technology of virtual reality. Today, the boy¡¯s own system arrived in its needlessly large box filled with needlessly large amounts of packing peanuts. His doctors set it up without a word, and he booted the game himself.
The game gave a single line as it booted up.
"If you had the chance, would you turn to a new life?"
Chapter 1: The Adventure that He Chose
Author''s Notes
Spoiler : Hi! Call me blackwing. I''m new to this whole "writing" thing, so, yeah. Please, by all means, tell me what you want to see or how I should improve my writing. I plan on putting at least a hundred chapters into this, and I''ll go for 800-6000 words in a chapter. How consistent!
LOL, I have no idea how to format these BBCode tables.
Choose a name.
¡°Relictus.¡±
It was a simple name, but he liked it.
Choose a ra-
¡°Human.¡±
No need to debate that one.
Choose a starting city on the map.
He scrolled around, and chose a smaller city in southeast corner, one called Genaron.
Are you sure you wish to begin your journey in [Genaron]?
¡°Yes.¡±
Please edit your avatar.
He felt no need to change his pale white hair that had long since lost its color ¨C he liked the touch it added. However, he added some level of muscle tone, just enough to make him look average, like a normal human. He also colored his skin to a mild tan, anything with some sort of melanin. He didn¡¯t want to walk around looking like a pure white and gray alien.
Please choose a starting setup.
He scrolled through the wide range setups that existed. He could choose any setup from Warrior to Martial Artist, from Cleric to Mage, from Ranger to Assassin. However, he chose none of these. He wanted to mold himself into a person that he could be proud of, and he felt there was something wrong about using something invented by someone else as if it were his own.
For an overall class, in the choice between melee, ranged, and magical, he chose melee. There was some sort of appeal in choosing to use the body he had long lost use of. He had too much time to think. Now that he had this chance, there was nothing that could convince him to throw away the one thing he coveted most ¨C freedom to run, to move around, and escape from his own limitations. It was all he ever wanted in life. He didn¡¯t want the time to think that he had been given, and never in a million years would he accept another second in those conditions, bound by his own body. Nobody deserved such a fate, for the only thing worse than death was helplessness.
In terms of weapons, he thought a berserker-class, with a claymore and everything was overkill. It just wasn¡¯t his style. Daggers also weren¡¯t his cup of tea, but he liked the idea of being quick, cunning, and deadly.
He went for a compromise. He put his proficiency into sabre and rapier ¨C two high-speed, low-defense melee weapons. He could then choose five initial skills related to them. He chose:
Burst of Speed (Active) [Beginner 1/10] [0%]
An ability used by cunning, quick blade users to gain the
upper hand in battles against stronger opponents than themselves.
Gain a bonus of 5% SPD and DEX
Duration: 1 min
Cost: 50 energy
Body Strengthening (Passive) [Beginner 1/10] [0%]
Through intense training, you have hardened your body,
strengthening your muscles and thickening your skin.
+6 Defense
+3 Attack
Sabre Mastery (Passive) [Beginner 1/10] [0%]
By experiencing combat while wielding a sabre
as your primary weapon, you have gained skill with the weapon.
+10% damage with Sabres
+5% damage with Rapiers
+5 DEX
+2 SPD
Athletics (Passive/Active) [Beginner 1/10] [0%]
Through dedication, you have managed
to gain the ability to accomplish feats thought impossible.
This level: No active.
Next level: Basic acrobatic maneuvers.
All physical stats +2%
Jump height +3 cm
Force of Will (Passive/Active) [Beginner 1/10] [0%]
Your presence strikes fear into those with 10% of your level.
Fear, to a point, loses its effect on you.
Active: Double the effect and limit of the passive ability.
Duration: 10 minutes
Cost: 150 energy
Satisfied with his choices, Relictus entered the game. His senses were enveloped with a white light. It was a powerful light, but gentle. It did not hurt his eyes, though it blinded him completely. In front of him, his new character card showed up. After his distribution of the allotted 40 stat points, with a base of ten, this was his result:
Name: Relictus
Level: 1
Experience: 0/10
Race: Human
Class: None
Fame: 0
Title:
0p 0g 0s 0c
Health: 100/100
Energy: 150/150
Stamina: 50
ATT
20
INT
10
DEF
15
WIS
10
DEX
25
???
???
SPD
20
???
???
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With a sense of completion coming from taking his first step, Relictus entered the game, and contrary to the sensory overload he expected, he was in the wide dirt forum of a small city. However, despite its magnitude, it was quiet. The only noise was produced by the occasional group of adventurers taking glances towards him. Some were just indifferent looks, those he didn¡¯t mind. The looks that hurt him the most, the looks that felt like a thousand needles stabbing into his heart, were the looks of pity and sadness. In his time in that bed, he saw that same pitiful look in people¡¯s eyes every day, and it hurt. He didn¡¯t want pity; he wanted to be left alone. The pity felt like a cage, one in which people left him for dead as someone who deserved to be at the butt end of such an emotion. Maybe he did, but he was afraid of the day he found himself pitiable.
While he was lost in his own tangled emotions, he felt himself run into a surface that was cold and hard as stone. He stepped back, rubbing his head, and looked up.
Relictus considered himself to be tall. At 180 cm, that¡¯s how he felt. However, in the face of the man before him he must have been a dwarf, no, a mouse. He didn¡¯t have the stature to be a dwarf. This man, however, must have been the size of a giant. He was at least 220 cm, and his rippling muscles were shown even through the thick leather he war. His chiseled face showed an annoyed expression, as if he wished he could just disregard this brat¡¯s existence and run him over. His black eyes conveyed a look that could only be described as malice, but that was the look that was always in his eyes, just¡ slightly more exaggerated as he was confronted with this kid that just got into the game.
However, this feeling disintegrated immediately as he felt a tap on his shoulder, and immediately his face froze up in an expression that just screamed, ¡°The world is ending!¡± and he scurried away faster than I could question what was going on.
¡°Hi, I suppose you might be new here. Looking for a party?¡± The person said. He had shoulder-length brown hair, and a look in his eyes that couldn¡¯t be described. He was rather short, a few centimeters below Relictus¡¯ own stature.
As Relictus had no reason to decline, combined with the thought that this could be advantageous, he simply nodded and followed the man down the street. He heard some mumbling and whispers in hushed tones from the sides of the street, but brushed them off as vain people gossiping about who-knows-what. He never wanted to involve himself with that kind of person. Formulating lies just to damage another¡¯s reputation never had an appeal to him.
As they walked, the man introduced himself simply as Nix. Nix talked about how the town was run, and the monsters that took up residence nearby, until they reached a dimly lit inn. As the door squeaked open, he saw a group of unusual people that seemed to be waiting for them.
¡°Welcome, Relictus,¡± Nix spoke as he turned to him, ¡°to the Annihilus Party.¡±
Author''s Notes 2
Spoiler : That''s the introduction to Empire. How is it so far? I didn''t include the details on how the city is run because that''s all gonna be a pretty big thing later. Thanks so much for reading!
So, super short chapter. They''ll usually be a few times this length, but as I wanted to fit a moderate amount of info and introduction into this, it''s short so that I don''t overload you. Expect bigger things!
Chapter 2: The Party
Within the party there were 6 people, including Nix. The other 5 were called Ash, Hawk, Diablo, Sentinel, and Larry. Ash was the only girl in the group, and she was a mage. A fire mage, to be specific. Hawk and Larry were both ranged, but they differed completely in style ¨C Hawk preferred to be a scout and sniper, while Larry liked assassinating from any distance. Diablo was a fighter preferring dual longswords, and Sentinel was a fighter with a focus on defense ¨C a tank. Nix himself seemed to be an assassin; his only visible weapons were his daggers. What he said was cryptic, if not ridiculous: ¡°If you go only by what you see, you are correct. If you go only by what you think and what you see, you are incorrect.¡± He seemed to just be trying to look cool. The effect was completely ruined, however weak it was in the first place, by Ash bringing her hand down in a chopping motion on his forehead.
¡°So, who¡¯s the newbie?¡± Hawk asked, to which Relictus promptly introduced himself. ¡°I just started playing, my name is Relictus. It¡¯s nice to meet you,¡± he said, reaching out his hand. In response to this, Hawk promptly shook it, rather hard. A few seconds later, he was still shaking it. ¡°Ehm¡¡± Relictus mumbled, feeling rather awkward. ¡°Oh, right, right! Sorry about that, forgot to stop shaking your hand.¡± He mumbled a bit, feeling awkward at forgetting such an intrinsic part of shaking one''s hand, as Relictus wondered how he even got there.
Once introductions were over, all continued as was ¡®normal¡¯ for them: a shout-fest of people trying to get a word in, which evolved to the point of being completely unintelligible and similarly disruptive. As it got to this point, the bartender hit his very solid fist on the wooden countertop, causing a cracking sound and a loud bang powerful enough to shut the entire group up.
¡°So, I assume we¡¯re all on the same page. Dungeon crawling it is?¡± In response to this, the entire group sans Relictus shouted, ¡°Yeah!¡± quite cheerfully, except for Frank, who instead shouted, ¡°Money!¡± It was understandable just how excited they were, as they were highly enthusiastic about this game, but they seemed to still not know their limits, as they were only around level 20 each after 3 days of the game being out. Their growth rate was unprecedented, but not inconceivable, and they neglected social interaction due to their lust for power.
After they had another round or two of ale, they headed out for a place only they knew, according to Nix. As they walked, Relictus was especially excited. He ran circles around the group as they walked, he pranced around like a majestic, magical deer- no, that¡¯s a story for another time. He took in the fresh air and the untamed atmosphere as they walked through the plains of tall grass. He never got to experience this kind of freedom even before being locked up in that glorified prison.
Eventually, their surroundings dimmed. As they spent so much time, the golden disc that was the sun plummeted in the sky, reaching the horizon as its color transformed into a bright scarlet, a deep crimson, and finally faded from view as the spectacular light show of the sky¡¯s colors faded from red to finally settle at a dusk purple. As Relictus admired all of this with great awe, the rest of the group chuckled at just how childish his reactions were.
Hawk pulled a stick, one with a silhouette that looked exactly like a club, and pointed it at Ash. Ash took a moment to notice, then jumped a bit when she realized there was a wooden stick 3 inches from her face. Sighing as she saw the man behind it, she snapped her fingers and a spark jumped from the source of the sound and onto the stick. It was simply a single spark, but it was enough, as the stick quickly became a torch, largely due to the small inferno burning away at the end of it.
With the torch now illuminating the way, the group made it to their destination ¨C a stairwell. They were surrounded by titanic trees; the leaves of all hues collected on the ground in anticipation of the icy winter to come. The rest of the group stepped down on the cold, solid rock and disappeared into the dark earth. Behind them, Relictus followed suit, hoping not to be left behind in the dark, miles from town, at level 1, with beginner¡¯s equipment, alone. If he died, he would have to spend an entire week in game (a day in real time) on that hospital bed, and he would never let that happen to himself. The less time in that living hell, the better.
They descended for what seemed like hours, passing the same dull gray brick, but as they went further, its hue began to darken, and eventually, the bricks were an ominous pitch-black that was not quite dull, but seemed to suck the light from Hawk¡¯s torch. He didn¡¯t notice, but around the group, the tunnel began growing larger, wider. Before they knew it, the group had arrived at a fork ¨C they could choose left, right, or forward. In the end, they decided to split up. Each party was given a torch, and sent their own way. Hawk and Sentinel went left, while Ash and Diablo went right. The remaining Relictus, Nix, and Larry went straight. They all decided that they would meet up back at the fork whenever they came upon an obstacle they could not overcome by their own means. Surely, someone in the other parties could pick up their slack ¨C that was their idea, and it wasn¡¯t that bad.
Left Party
Sure enough, after only a few minutes of travel down the tunnels, they found themselves at a trap. They could see the pressure plate, it was quite obvious and right in front of them, but neither was small enough to bypass it in the small tunnel that encroached on them.
¡°Hey¡¡± Hawk pondered for a few moments.
¡°What?¡± Sentinel responded, curious.
¡°Step on it.¡± Hawk proposed ever so eloquently.
¡°No! You do it.¡± Sentinel politely declined.
¡°Dude, you got this.¡±
¡°No I don¡¯t.¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine, just step on the plate.¡±
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°Nothing¡¯s fine right now!¡±
The conversation evolved decayed into a scuffle, and the two pushed and pulled at each other as they tried to get the other one to push the button.
¡°¡Oh.¡± Hawk placed his regretful gaze upon the ground, and then his partner, on whose jacket collar he was yanking. Both of them had a foot on the plate.
¡°God dammit, Hawk.¡± Sentinel glared at his rather foolish counterpart. It occurred to neither of them that they could move out of the way of the singular dart that had flown out of the wall and straight towards them.
¡°Ow.¡± Hawk said, as the dart pierced his neck, just behind his jaw. Immediately, his HP bar appeared in the corner of his vision and dropped by 8%, and the status effect PARALYSIS was applied. He immediately saw why, and so did Sentinel.
¡°. . . Oh shi-¡± Hawk nearly completed his sentence as he watched the gigantic brick hurtling towards them at unnatural speed. As if in slow motion, the brick cast itself across Hawk¡¯s face, and the spinning momentum that created caused it to fly straight into Sentinel¡¯s face. Hawk lost 40% HP from that alone, but Sentinel hadn¡¯t even lost 10%.
¡°See? This is what happens. This is what happens.¡± Sentinel reprimanded Hawk for his antics. And, in that same position, they fell into the hole that opened below them, into the cold, dark unknown.
Right Party
Diablo ruthlessly slaughtered every enemy before him with his sturdily forged twin steel longswords. He boasted a nearly insane grin as his eyes, pupils shrunk to the size of a pin, witnessed the scene of carnage; the blades ripping the bodies of the goblins open, slicing their flesh, tearing their sinew, and forcefully ripping their souls from their bodies. Ash could only sigh as Diablo fell into his usual bloodlust, firing off the occasional firebolt towards the goblins that tried to flank him.
As they tore through hordes of enemies, they advanced slowly, and surely enough, they found a reward, fruits of their labor. Diablo immediately ran over to try to open it, and managed to do so, but immediately closed it once he realized nothing was inside it, and then realized he was hanging by just his grip over a deep, pitch-black pit. Ash attempted to grab his hand and save him from such a cruel fate, but being a mage, she had the physical strength of a child. She hardly made it ten seconds before being dragged down with Diablo into the pit of doom.
Front Party
Their journey was uneventful. One might say, ¡°too uneventful.¡± They took stairs downward, and that was it. They didn¡¯t find enemies, traps, anything. Larry tried to make some small talk.
¡°Um¡¡± Larry started, his eloquent speech bewildering his two companions, showing him to be truly peerless.
¡°What? Need a bathroom break?¡± Nix teased, but he was really quite nervous. The laugh that he let out was not a humorous one.
¡°It¡¯s not that, I can deal with that later, it¡¯s just-¡°Wait, you actually do?¡±¡± Larry couldn¡¯t finish his sentence as his incredulous leader questioned him.
¡°Yeah, so¡?¡± He proceeded cautiously, to avoid upsetting Nix. Nix was scary when he was mad.
However, Nix just shrugged it off as they proceeded, Relictus silently following behind. Their torch was almost half-burned out by this point. Before they new it, the tunnel widened into a dimly lit, but nevertheless lit, room. Within, there were 6 lit torches held by sconces, not nearly enough for the size of the room. The atmosphere within was oppressively cold, even more so than it was in the tight hallways of the dungeon. From the ceiling hung two large cages, almost like oversized hanging birdcages. As they stepped 5 paces into the room, more candles lit up around the room, illuminating the walls, and the friends inside the cages on the ceiling, and the large, ominous humanoid beast figure sitting upon the over-decorated throne that just screamed dark lord.
Wait, ominous humanoid beast figure? Friends in cages? Relictus did a double-take, and found that they were in a most disadvantageous condition, but next to him, Nix was absolutely fuming. His dark, yet discolored hair seemed like it would burst into flame at any minute and birth a demon nobody would cross. He pulled his daggers from their home at his hip, and he only now saw their designs. In his left hand was an ornate, silver-gold dagger inlaid with diamonds and sapphires, it seemed like a ceremonial weapon if anything. However, the aura it gave off was nothing to take lightly. In his left hand was a wicked, black blade that seemed to give off a cloud of crimson-black miasma. Relictus couldn¡¯t decide on whether its appearance was that of a dark, yet hot ember, or a bloodied piece of a dark energy almost like death itself.
The figure on the throne stood.
Suddenly, Relictus got a notification.
Your party has challenged a boss!
M¡¯arrzath the Wicked: Level 80 Boss
Author''s Notes
Spoiler : Here''s Chapter 2! This one took me a few hours to write, as it was just over 1.4k words, but it got done! I want to do another 3-5 chapters today (Independence Day wooo!) just because I want to make sure the story is comprehensible for anyone and everyone to read and ''enjoy.'' Everything will be explained in time. c:<
Chapter 3: You Wont Like Him When Hes Angry
Each of its thunderous footsteps marked it drawing nearer to the triumvirate. Relictus shook in his leather boots, despite his Force of Will passive. This was someone¡ something that shouldn¡¯t be messed with. Relictus looked around, and two people were missing from his side. He immediately saw Nix rushing M¡¯arrzath, daggers turned upside down in his hands. Did he plan on fighting that thing alone? Then, Relictus realized that he couldn¡¯t find Larry. However, as Larry was an Assassin, he was probably just in the shadows and building up for a big multiplier.
Nix was running at full speed, and as he rushed the boss, it swung downward with a massive, warped, pitch-black axe. Unfazed, Nix simply jumped, rotating in midair and kicking with all of the force his legs could gather. He jumped straight towards the face of the abomination, spinning himself, shifting his body¡¯s weight, and slashing with the daggers all within a single second. The ornamental dagger hit, and as it slashed the side of the boss¡¯s face it tore apart the flesh, and left behind a trail of luminescence.
However, even this victory was short-lived as the wound closed up instantly, without a trace. The giant spun around with speed unnatural for its size, and the axe slashed straight into Nix, who twisted his body to attempt to avoid it. However, this attempt was futile, as the axe swung straight into his hip, and sheared off his entire left leg. Nix screamed out in agony, but didn¡¯t stop, and he used the wall that force knocked him into as a platform, jumping straight back towards M¡¯arrzath.
Relictus could swear that M¡¯arrzath was grinning, though in the darkness, there was no way to tell the difference between its mouth and the rest of its face. It brought its axe back up and Relictus could only watch as the vile blade collided with Nix¡¯s neck. The blade carved his head off, and Relictus couldn¡¯t even hear a scream of pain, as Nix was already gone. Dead, decapitated. He could still see Nix¡¯s head as it flew through the air, the expression on his face not the normal cocky, defiant one, but almost confused.
Then, the beast turned to him. An immense pressure washed over Relictus, and it took Relictus¡¯ Force of Will active to even stand up in the presence of this massive, malevolent boss. However, Relictus was angry. Relictus faced the titanic beast, fury welling up within him, as his short, pure white hair rustled in the wind that should not have existed. In his sapphire eyes, the fire of determination was lit, and he drew the sabre by his side slowly, but with utmost confidence. One might say ¡®shivering in fear,¡¯ while others might say, ¡®utmost confidence.¡¯
He rushed towards the boss, his basic sword in front of him, ready to strike, as the wind whistled around him. However, that whistling wind came from the axe, one that Relictus wasn¡¯t ready to dodge ¨C but didn¡¯t need to. He was too close to M¡¯arrzath. He started fighting his way up the legs of the boss, slashing and stabbing into M¡¯arrzath¡¯s body, pitch-black energy filling the voids, but he opened wounds faster than it closed them. He worked his way up to the right arm, where the boss held its axe, and made a long slash down the arm, forcing M¡¯arrzath to drop its weapon.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Immediately as the titan¡¯s blade hit the floor, such a loud impact was created that one may think it was a full-blown shockwave. Relictus covered his ears for all of half a second, and that¡¯s all M¡¯arrzath needed as it swung its arm outward, bringing its other up to Falcon-Punch Relictus in the chest. Relictus was thrown across the room, finally stopping half a meter deep into the wall. His HP flashed, he had lost 99 HP from that, leaving him with just 1. He almost managed to get himself out of the hole, when a gigantic fist swung straight into his abdomen and beat him even deeper into the wall. Relictus was in excruciating pain: his ribs were crushed, his left arm practically disintegrated, his body was practically destroyed. Due to the pain threshold of the game, all he felt was the pain that came with a broken arm, but that was seriously high on the scale. He groaned, unable to let any other sound out with the wind left in his collapsed lungs, but his HP was still 1. M¡¯arrzath, seeing him not dead, punched again, and again, and again, and again. Each hit hurt more, each hit destroyed another part of his body, each hit left the boss¡¯s fist bloodier than the last. But even so, his HP remained at 1.
¡°Just end this torture,¡± Relictus thought, unable to put it into his voice. The pain grew and grew and Relictus could no longer stand it. Hit after hit, he kept being pummeled, sent deeper into the rock wall, and put into more pain.
Then, he looked into the background. Outside the crevice he had made in the wall, the other 5 party members, including Larry, were all sneaking out of the room. Apparently, Larry had left to release the other party members. Not a single one so much looked at me, until Ash did. She turned back and looked toward where the monster in front of me was beating, and as she found me at the end of it, my eyes still open, gave a look that crushed my already smashed heart. She looked at me with sadness, with pity, as if I was unable to be saved, irreparable, as if I belonged at the end of some sort of ¡®pity.¡¯ I didn¡¯t think they¡¯d still work, but apparently my tear ducts did, as the salty water freely flowed down my face, into the stone below me. M¡¯arrzath dealt a single final punch, and I finally had the sweet release of death.
A/N
Spoiler : Chapter 3! So I ended up sleeping all day, so the chapters for the 4th will likely remain short ones. However, short chapters mean more releases! :D
I never have actually written a battle sequence, so tell me how I did. With that, I''m done! I''ll go eat and then I''ll write some more. I''m hungry.
Chapter 4: Limitations
The boy lay on his bed, his forearm covering his eyes. Frustrated, he groaned, echoes of the pain still flowing through his body.
¡°Dead, huh?¡± He mumbled, under his breath. He was glad he was alone when he was in such a state. If he had to see eyes like that again¡
Putting that aside, he pulled the laptop he was so generously given by his parents¡¯ murderers and his wardens, pulling it open and typing in the password. Sitting up, he opened Google Chrome, and pounded on the keys. His hands shook, he could hardly type in this state. Not only was it difficult to sit up, but he also had the adrenaline pumping through his veins, and left his body shivering. He searched, scouring every single forum that so much had the word ¡°empire¡± in it, trying to find what he wanted.
Try as he might, he could never find a single article on M¡¯arrzath. It seemed those six really were the only ones who knew about that dungeon. He went on and on through all of the forums, and the only thing that pertained to him at all was a forum post on speed-type melee weapons.
Fantabulicious: lmao, I saw a dude running a rapier build with 35 speed spawn.
D1rge: AHAHAHAHAHA
Stoptakingmynames: It isn¡¯t that... bad... pffffffft
0JSimp: You HAVE to post a screenshot of that, OP.
¡°Were they talking about me? No, no, I used sabres, and my speed is 15 under that. So who was it?¡±
Realizing that it didn¡¯t pertain to him whatsoever, he just closed the forum, and lay on his side. He hadn¡¯t slept like he did then in years.
He woke up to a white ceiling and an uncomfortable white light. It was the same room he was always in. It was bland, torturously bland. He sat up, rubbing his tired eyes, and eyed his VR console. He already had it plugged in, since he didn¡¯t want to deal with taking it out again. So, he just started it up, and came back after his penalty ended, a couple hours of lying down and pretending to sleep later.
¡°Wait, why¡?¡±
The reason that Relictus was confused was because he was not back in town. He was instead lying on the cold, almost icy brick floor of the dungeon.
¡°You awaken, human?¡± Relictus jumped, absolutely terrified by the sudden speech. Realizing it was M¡¯arrzath, he scrambled on just his arms to get to the side of the room and out of the way. His body had sustained thousands upon thousands of fatal wounds, so why was he fine now, and why hadn¡¯t he respawned?
¡°Wh- Why am I here? What do you want with me?¡± Relictus demanded.
¡°You are right to doubt me, after my actions. I had to confirm my suspicions.¡±
¡°Suspicions?¡±
¡°I prevented myself from ending your life until I felt it.¡±
¡°It?¡±
¡°Your soul¡¯s power. Determination, hatred, motivation. An accumulation of your strongest emotions.¡±
¡°And? What does that have to do with anything?¡±
¡°You hold emotion stronger than that of anyone to challenge me in all of my millennia. If it¡¯s you¡¡± The intimidating, well, what can only be described as something, trailed off, as if losing itself in thought.
¡°If it¡¯s me, then what? What¡¯s going on? Who are you, really?¡± Relictus began firing off questions like a Gatling gun, only getting faster and faster in his interrogation as he panicked. He had no idea what was going on.
¡°QUIET!¡± M¡¯arrzath exclaimed, causing Relictus to jump a bit, afraid he would frustrate one many hundreds of times his own power level.
¡°I am M¡¯arrzath. M¡¯arrzath is myself. I, alongside many of the other Old Emperors, am an entity meant only to test the New Emperors, to find a champion with whom I must ally myself. There is much to teach you, young one.¡±
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.STUFF BELOW THIS LINE IS NSFL. THERE IS A SPOILER AT THE END OF THE BAD STUFF WITH A PARAPHRASE.
M¡¯arrzath fired something from his finger ¨C something that resembled only darkness. It was as if a blob of M¡¯arrzath was fired through the air. Within a single second, it had flown straight towards Relictus¡¯s head, and as it hit him, Relictus flew backwards into the wall, and intense pressure assaulted him. He could only attempt to keep his sanity as he felt darkness invade his mind, his body being crushed by the dark energy.
Finally, he gave up his resistance. This being was beyond anything that Relictus would ever become. As he let down his walls, knowledge assaulted his mind, overflowing his nerves ¨C he saw images of titanic beings clashing, destroying the land below them, death and destruction. Cities were razed, burned to the ground. Lives were disregarded completely as people¡¯s lives were extinguished left and right. People were losing their minds to the madness of the world, began lusting for blood and death. Relictus could hardly watch as people were gruesomely murdered and death filled his senses.
¡°MAKE IT STOP!¡± Relictus shouted, his voice that of a tortured man, made the victim and witness to heinous crimes against the world.
¡°Do not hide from this inevitable truth, human. This is our history. I stand before you just a fraction of that which I was, the Grand Emperor. Only two ever stood at the top of the world as I did.¡±
Spoiler : He is shown scenes of the wars of eras past that the Grand Emperor, now called M¡¯arrzath, fought in. They were wars of death, corruption, and the evil of man, and they tortured the heart of Relictus.
¡°I don¡¯t care, just get me out of here!¡± Relictus exclaimed as he held his hands against his head, feeling an excruciating pain not only physically at the overload of knowledge, but emotionally. He witnessed things no man should ever witness.
¡°DO YOU WISH TO SEE THE WORLD BURN AS I ONCE DID, HUMAN?¡± M¡¯arrzath shouted, infuriated not only at being ignored, but also at the foolishness of the child before him.
Relictus, already horrified beyond his own limits, looked up at the Emperor before him. His eyes were wide in disbelief and in fear, and tears welled up out of sadness. However, after hearing that he may have to experience such tragedy, his face hardened. He needed think only for a moment before anger overcame him. He was infuriated simply at the fact that people would overlook the needs of the few and many for the rulers¡¯ own good.
¡°Never.¡± It was a simple word, but it was all Relictus needed to say. Steam seemed to rise from the sides of his mouth.
¡°That is a good face, human.¡± M¡¯arrzath praised Relictus, his tone lightening to become something far more sinister and anticipating, rather than the fuming pitch he spoke in just seconds earlier.
¡°I hold now only a fraction of the strength I once held. With the treaties that ended the Wars of the Black Crown, I can no longer stand on the surface as I once did. My fortress is my prison.¡±
Relictus understood the forlorn, almost sad voice M¡¯arrzath used. After all, he, too, was held in a prison of a room for years, tortured by that which he had lost. Only due to that did he agree to M¡¯arrzath¡¯s next words.
¡°What will you do, human? Would you form a Pact with me, and gain strength beyond your wildest dreams, beyond all that I have ever been? Will you keep peace in my place? Would you throw away your humanity to save others''?¡±
¡°I will.¡±
The moment Relictus responded, a slight ache in his body grew, and it grew, and eventually he was in an unbearable agony comparable to hellfire. Even through the pain threshold, he had never felt such a tremendous pain. His senses went completely white, and beyond the pain, he felt nothing.
A/N
Spoiler : The plot thickens! That''s all for Chapter 4, I was attempted to make it "Google Ultron" just because I love that 4chan greentext. Hope you liked it, and thanks so much for reading!
Chapter 5: For His Own Freedom
You have gained a new Skill!
You have gained a new Skill!
You have gained a new Skill!
You have gained a new Skill!
You have gained a new Title!
You have discovered a Unique Class!
You have gained a new Stat!
Title: Heir to the Black Throne
You have survived the greatest pain, and in doing so,
contracted with the Old Emperor of Darkness.
Gain 2 Stat Points for every Stat Point gained
Gain 200% EXP
Evolve: 10%
Emperor of Fury (Passive/Active) [Beginner 1/10] [0%]
Through your powerful soul, you have
become able to control your power.
Passive: +10000 Energy, +15000 HP
You look perpetually unhappy at best, scaring off NPCs.
Active: ATK & DEF are multiplied by each other, and then by 2. Lasts 15 Minutes.
Active 2: ATK and DEF are cut in half. Permanent until cancelled. Stackable.
A1 Cost: 1000 Energy
A2 Cost: -100 Energy
Throne of Sabers (Passive) [Mastered] [100%]
Your skill and talent in use of sabers
has become unparalleled.
+500% Sabre damage.
+300% Rapier damage.
Dual Wielding is now possible.
+80 DEX
+50 SPD
Devolve 0%
This skill will Devolve if you lose to another wielder of the Sabre.
Throne of Sabers has consumed Sabre Mastery!
[table]
God-Slayer (Active) [Beginner 1/10] [0%]
Concentrate all of your power into one chained combo.
SPD, ATK, and DEX all multiply by 100 for the next 10 chained attacks. Chains can hit multiple enemies.
Should any one of the attacks fail, Recoil will occur, dividing all stats by 100.
All attacks must be chained into one combo. Failure to do this results in Recoil.
Cost: 6000 + all remaining Energy. If you activate this skill with less than 6,000 energy, it will consume Health at a ratio of 10:1. For every 1000 energy, multiplier increases by 10.
If the use of this skill causes death, this skill will lock for the duration of Death Penalty x10.
Darkness Pulse (Active) [Beginner 1/10] [0%]
Damage scales with (INT * 10 * WIS/3) * 10
Your Energy channels into pure darkness, firing 120 equally spaced projectiles outward in a full circle.
Range: 3m
Cost: 1000 Energy
Stat: ODRV
For every 100 points in Overdrive, add 1*(ODRV/100) Levels to every non-mastered skill. For every 1000 points in Overdrive, raise Level Cap on Skills by 1.
When health becomes 10% or lower, add total points in Overdrive to all other Stats.
Points cannot be allocated to this Stat.
[table]
You are the first player to unlock the Stat Overdrive!
+50 Fame
+10 ODRV
Class: Dark Emperor [Personalized: Sabre]
This class has been personally tailored by one of the Old Emperors to suit your needs.
Bonuses: 10% lower cap to Sabre Mastery per level
Double 2 Stats permanently (Can be used at any time, does not affect gains)
Gain EXP at 2x the normal rate. Stacks with other effects.
New Skill Tree.
NPCs and monsters will be intimidated by your presence.
¡°Oi¡ No matter how you look at it, isn¡¯t this too much?¡± Relictus, bewildered, asked M¡¯arrzath.
¡°This is all I can give you. With this, you may grow, but as you stand, there is no way you can even come close to ruling this world. Think of it as a ¡®jump start.¡¯¡± M¡¯arrzath, almost apologetic, explained to Relictus. ¡°You may be able to defeat a human, but you don¡¯t even come close to standing on the level of one of the Old Emperors.¡±
¡°But even then, aren¡¯t my enemies humans?¡±
The moment he said that, M¡¯arrzath put forth a rather harsh tone. ¡°That is exactly the mindset I have shown you to avoid. Thinking humans to be enemies is exactly what caused the first War. Humans are your friends. Certain ones will be your enemies as evil people, those who follow chaos and wish to cause pain for the sake of causing pain. Others will form contracts with other, less powerful Old Emperors, and may be doing so right now. You need to grow stronger as fast as you can. I gave you almost all of my strength so that you can do so.¡±
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Immediately, Relictus understood the implications of this. He knew that if he didn¡¯t start early and dedicate himself to the game, he would never defeat anyone. After all, all he got was a way to grow quickly, as M¡¯arrzath was too weak to give anything else. Even now, Relictus saw that he had gone down all the way to level 45 and was far shorter ¨C only about three times Relictus¡¯s own height.
He stood up from his spot in the corner of the room, rubbing the back of his head. He was quite sore from the experience of having his mind and body crushed and rebuilt, but he had no time to waste brooding over this. He ran through the rooms and corridors of the dungeon, and, after a few hours of running around without any knowledge of how the cavern worked, nor any torch or form of light, he saw light. He ran up the stairs, and finally had reached the outside world. He breathed deeply, grateful to be out of the dank dungeon and its cold, wet air and into the forest.
Leaves fell around him, gathering on the ground, colors from red to gold creating a breathtaking scene akin to a rain of leaves. Relictus walked slowly, leisurely, as he took in the tranquil, comforting atmosphere. All of these colors were there, for the first time in so long.
He then remembered his task. He needed to grow, for the sake of those around him, and his own freedom. PKing reaped few rewards, nothing that he could utilize. He rushed off at his top speed ¨C with his new abilities, it was incredibly fast. He felt as if he was splitting the wind with his own body.
Relictus stumbled upon something. He was currently awkwardly staring at the¡ thing that stood in his path.
Silver Snake
Level: 12
It was just that. It was a long, reptilian creature with no limbs ¨C a snake. Furthermore, it was a snake with glowing red eyes and scales colored as pristine silver. They stared at each other for a minute. It was rather uncomfortable, staring at a snake awkwardly as it stared back, doing absolutely nothing.
The snake made the first move. It rushed forward at speeds no human could comprehend, its fangs glinting in the sunlight as it unhinged its jaw. As if on instinct, although mainly out of panic, Relictus unsheathed his basic sabre, bringing it forward in a stabbing motion and sending it straight into the snake¡¯s open mouth. Its eyes widened as the sharp blade pierced its throat. The bright red eyes dimmed, becoming a deep, soulless black, and the snake exploded into dust.
+152 EXP
You have gained a level!
You have gained a level!
You have gained a level!
You have gained a level!
Due to your Title, you gain +60 Stat Points.
As if on instinct, Relictus placed his Stat Points into ATK, DEX, and SPD evenly, at 20 points each. He forgot that he was level 1 due to his own power, and so quickly he gained 4 levels. He whipped his sword to remove the blood of the snake, and returned it to his sheath in a single motion.
A/N
Spoiler : Lots of explanation in this chapter. Still laying the groundwork, I¡¯d like you to learn at the same pace as Relictus.
Character Card for Relictus
Spoiler :
Name: Relictus
Level: 5
EXP: 2/160
Race: Human
Class: Dark Emperor
Fame: 50
Title: Heir to the Black Throne
0p 0g 20s 4c
Health: 10300
Energy: 15350
Stamina: 150
ATT
40
DEF
15
DEX
125
SPD
90
INT
10
WIS
10
ODRV
20
An average Level 100 player (none exist yet) would have 600-700 Stat points. Right now, he has 330. And about double the HP of a lv.100.
Chapter 6: The World is No Small Goal
Relictus ran for hours through the seemingly endless forest. Never did the raining leaves stop, as they covered the ground perpetually more. The breeze seemed to pick up a bit, but he disregarded it as natural.
The wind continued to pick up, the leaves blowing and buffeting with fierce winds he had to battle to continue. Deeming this unnecessary, he stopped at a rather large tree, propping himself up on the side of the trunk, to rest and wait out the wind.
This plan was rapidly dismantled as the leaves gave away the intentions of the wind. The endless stream of rusty hues flowed into a circle, the column of leaves seeming to consume itself as it condensed, before growing outward once more.
The wind suddenly settled down, as if stopping in place, and the leaves disbanded, their force rocketing them in all different directions. As they fell to the ground and settled, what was left startled Relictus ¨C a humanoid figure, obviously that of a female. Its¡ her body floated inches above the ground, body composed completely of leaves, colors varying from a dead brown to vibrant red and yellow. A Spriggan.
Immediately, her arm raised, and Relictus felt an intense air pressure as leaves rose all around him, gathering themselves in a tight orb in front of his foe. It condensed itself, becoming almost completely a condensed energy sphere, and it expanded towards him rapidly, a beam of natural energy. Relictus hardly managed to process what was going on fast enough to draw his sabre, the blade cutting through the center of the beam and diverting its direction. Relictus was hardly able to hold the blade straight as the force constantly threatened to overwhelm him.
As the beam¡¯s power puttered out, its source spent, Relictus charged forward, slashing at the Spriggan with his blade pointed in front of him. It passed through the body of the Spriggan perfectly, a clean hit. The body of the Spriggan detached for just a moment as it took the hit. It was unable to parry or block the hit, but did not need to. Relictus looked at his enemy¡¯s health bar, and she had only lost 1% of her HP.
One thing came to Relictus¡¯ mind instantly. God Slayer. The ability had great risks, missing a single strike meant certain death. However, that was a risk he was willing to take. Taking a deep breath to prepare himself, he cast the skill, and just as he did so, the world around him slowed down. He could see everything moving around him, and he saw the attack coming towards him in slow motion. He rushed to avoid the attack, but found that he could move faster than the world around him. The roll that he committed to he molded perfectly into a stab towards the head of the Spriggan, and the leaves didn¡¯t have time to part to avoid too much damage, and the attack hit head on, taking down the enemy¡¯s HP by a far larger chunk. He turned the moment his feet hit the ground, this time slashing at the Spriggan¡¯s abdomen, and again landed a perfect hit. Overwhelmed by the ability he gained through the ability, he grinned ¨C it was a grin of malice, and one of bloodlust. He spun one attack into another, weaving a tapestry of death in the leaves of the body of the Spriggan. Its health reached 1%, and to end the combo, he slashed downward on her body, bifurcating the formations of the leaves and leaving the structure collapsing into just two piles. It was completely Relictus¡¯s victory, but he sat down, breathing quickly and raggedly.
This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
¡°So this is what it feels like to expend all of your energy at once?¡± Relictus wondered. However, he had little time to ponder this as more whirlwinds whipped around him, spawning the same enemy he had just fought ¨C with one difference. Twelve were before him. Each had a minor difference that identified it ¨C one was far taller than the others, another¡¯s arms ended in not hands but wicked spikes. How could he possibly face twelve of those at the same time? The same pressure assaulted him, and he prepared to take the hit with his blade ¨C but how could he take that from every direction?
As they charged, beams fired from every direction, threatening to end his life once more with their deadly beauty. Relictus lifted his blade, and slashed at one of the beams. With the force with which he slashed it, it diverted the energy of the beam for long enough to allow him to roll forward, aiming for the exact moment that the Spriggans¡¯ spell stopped. Just as they did, he thrust his blade forth in a piercing attack, and his unfortunate victim couldn¡¯t prepare for the attack as it took a full-blown pierce-slash attack. Its HP was reduced by a gargantuan amount ¨C 50%, a number higher than even what he hit for with God Slayer active. With this, perhaps he could defeat them ¨C had his Stamina and Energy not been running on empty.
He refused to admit it, but Relictus was exhausted, and gasping for breath. He spun and ducked again to avoid a concentration of ten Spriggans¡¯ energy, yet it shaved off a chunk of his own HP. If he didn¡¯t do something, he was screwed. He had finally dealt with a single Spriggan after tearing through its leaves. He thought he had reached a point at which he could breathe, but he was still in the middle of the fight, and was blasted in the side by a massive shot of mana. The air knocked out of his lungs, his face contorted as he coughed up blood and the last bit of air in his lungs. His HP bar was smashed, and he had gone down to just 2189/10400. He felt death breathing down his neck, as his reserves went dry. Death creeped in on his consciousness. Closer, closer.
Spoiler : That''s it for Ch. 6. Took me long enough to write just another 1k words. Geez.
If there''s somewhere you want the story to go, or anything I should improve, tell me in the comments, I just might notice and steal your ideas. Thanks for reading!
Chapter 7: A Fated Meeting
Relictus¡¯s stamina finally emptied completely. In the pile of leaves in front of him, he fell. Around him were several piles of leaves, results of the Spriggans¡¯ bodies. A light snoring could be heard, followed by a loud crash. Apparently, the leaves weren¡¯t enough of a cushion, and his head smacked into the solid ground, hardly blocked by the leaves. However, he was too tired for this to have an effect. He simply slept. He couldn¡¯t be bothered to notice the loud, annoying beeping that was so incessant.
¡°I¡¯ll have to turn that off, later,¡± he thought. Right now, Relictus had 3 HP. A few seconds prior, he made an incredibly stupid decision, and halved his stats 10 times, all so that he could use Darkness Pulse. Quite effective it was, despite being fired while he was being blasted in the face by beams of pure energy.
As he was finally getting up, brushing dirt off of his face, he looked around, a groggy look in his bloodshot eyes.
¡°Everything¡¯s¡ blurry?¡± He wondered. Had he been spirited away to some different dimension where everything was blurry? Surprised by this amazing development, he rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn¡¯t just dreaming. Nope, he just had blurry eyesight. No spiriting away was happening. However, as he had slept it became nighttime, and his stat bars had returned to their full state. Elongated shadows lingered as the dim, pale light of the moon washed down, giving the forest around him an eerie glow. Crickets could be heard, chirping away in the background. It could be called a grinding chirp ¨C a chirp that was grinding away at Relictus¡¯s sanity. He grunted, not entertained, and turned, walking. He felt an odd pull towards a certain direction. He had felt it after leaving the Dungeon, but it was just a mild feeling, so he had put it aside.
In no way was Relictus a morning person. He hated going to sleep, dreaming of grand adventures and beautiful scenery, only to wake up and find that nothing had changed. He was still in his own little torture chamber, trapped in those uncomfortable cotton sheets, listening to that heart monitor¡¯s beeping that still wouldn¡¯t end.
However, this was different. He got to sleep and wake up tired, uncomfortable, and irritable, just like always, but this time, he was free. Thus, he got up and ran as fast as he could towards the direction he was being pulled to. The wind stirred, and he just ran faster. In this game, he had no limits.
Those Spriggans had levels between 38 and 45. Somehow, despite his basic gear, he managed to outclass them with sheer power. The base damage for Darkness Pulse was somehow broken. He laughed at how lucky he was. As he contemplated how lucky he was, he remembered what that EXP screen said:
Notification from 01/12/01 of New Era
You have gained 48712318 EXP!
Due to your boosts, EXP gain has quadrupled! Gain increased to 194849272.
You have gained a level!
x71
You have: 1,065 Stat Points to spend.
Just like last time he tried it, the screen gave him a timestamp and the notification. It was quite convenient, all you had to do was think about it, and an old screen would show up in front of you. He made a note to himself not to do this while running as his surprise caused him to trip on air. He did a magnificent triple forward flip, before turning it into a quintuple somersault as he rolled over the ground, kicking up a trail of leaves and cold, damp dirt, finally sticking the landing as he grandly dragged his face along the ground for 20 bonus points.
¡°Muh? Mun houham mohuh hoih?¡± He exclaimed, dirt flying out of his mouth. ¡°Huh? 1,000 bonus points?!¡± He exclaimed, much more intelligibly. After all, most people didn¡¯t get that kind of point sum at twice his level. It was possible nobody would ever get that many at once except for himself, thanks to his ridiculously overpowered gains. He checked his status block, and surely enough; he had 1065 bonus points, and had even gone up to 36 points in Overdrive. No wonder he was able to defeat all of those monsters, despite how far out of his league they were ¨C Overdrive empowered abilities more the further he was pushed to his limits.
He zealously allocated points ¨C dropping a good 300 in DEX, and another 300 in ATK. 200 in SPD later, he realized just how pathetically low his other 3 abilities were, and dropped 55 points into each. It was surprisingly anticlimactic ¨C he didn¡¯t feel some ¡®great power¡¯ welling up inside of him despite the crazy sum of points he had just gotten.
After some time, he had run himself across the entire forest, and reached his destination. He was being pulled towards¡ the exact same dungeon?
¡°Maybe M¡¯arrzath has something for me,¡± Relictus thought. He wasn¡¯t wrong. As he got down to the deepest parts of the dungeon, he found his way to that same chamber, and found 6 people he remembered quite vividly. They had seemed quite confident, probably noticing is drop in height, and how much weaker the pressure he gave off was. Upon hearing the footsteps and seeing him walk in, their smiles fell instantly. If Relictus didn¡¯t know better, they seemed almost nervous. Rather angry, he looked their leader, Nix, straight in the eye.
¡°What¡ are you doing?¡± Relictus asked. A cloud of dust was kicked up by the force that he was exerting just in keeping himself calm, holding himself back. It looked almost like a cloud of darkness flowing freely behind him.
For a moment, Nix had a look of absolute horror on his face, but he straightened it out, attempting to gloss over the fact that his party had abandoned him, and completely forgotten about him after that. ¡°Oh, Relictus! It¡¯s nice to see you alive and kickin¡¯! We thought we¡¯d lost you, so we were¡ here¡ to take revenge¡¡± Nix began to trail off towards the end, the grin on his face slowly fading.
¡°No need,¡± Relictus said, his face now blocked by a shadow. All that could be seen was the small bit of light in the room reflecting off of his teeth as he grinned. It was a wide grin, but more than that, an insane one. He looked up, a piercing gaze crossing the room, straight into Nix¡¯s eyes. ¡°What I need is to send a message.¡± Relictus finished, and his hand reached to his sword. It was chipped, and had completely lost the end of the blade, but it still had a wicked edge, one that could mutilate a body as it tore apart flesh.
Nix took a step back, a look of terror in his eyes. M¡¯arrzath was grinning, but nobody saw it on his face as he directed his voice toward Relictus. ¡°That¡¯s a good face.¡± He said, simply. He wanted to say more, but stopped halfway through the last syllable as he felt the tension build. He simply sat back on his throne, waiting for the scene to unfold.
He didn¡¯t have to wait long. Diablo overzealously rushed at Relictus, shouting, ¡°Nobody threatens Boss and gets away with it!¡± And, as if dealing with a migraine, he lifted his hand to his forehead. He took his other hand to his hilt and dropped his waist. He pulled his blade from its scabbard, taking his sweet time. To the others, it was an otherworldly speed, but to him, it was a rather leisurely pace. Diablo was painstakingly slow to him, and Relictus even went so far as dropping him right there, just to save time. He brought his sabre up, and kicked the ground, aiming straight at Diablo¡¯s chest. In an instant, he had arrived, leaving Diablo completely run through. The blade ran straight through the sternum, all the way to the hilt. Diablo¡¯s body shattered into 0¡¯s and 1¡¯s, his fresh blood still remaining on the blade and hilt of Relictus¡¯s sword. Relictus flicked his wrist, leaving a line of drops of blood along the floor. All of this happened in under a second, and all that was left now of Diablo was a brown sack of coins and its iconic jingle as it hit the ground. Nix was angry.
Stolen story; please report.
Nix rushed forward, taking small, but quick steps. Relictus was surprised by how fast he went, it was practically in a different realm from Diablo ¨C but it was still nothing to Relictus. As the two daggers crossed, Nix looking ready to release a skill, Relictus just watched, curious at what was about to happen.
¡°Assassinate!¡± Nix shouted. It seemed like a dangerous skill, so Relictus stopped it right there ¨C he stepped forward and slashed his sword, and exactly as it swung, Nix teleported straight into the swing¡¯s area of effect.
¡°How¡ did you¡¡± Nix, a surprised look in his eyes, gasped as he looked down at the hemorrhaging cavity that had been carved in his abdomen.
¡°Intuition.¡± Relictus responded, though in actuality, he had just tried to reposition himself. Nix was just very, very unlucky. He collapsed backward, the wound immediately destroying his HP bar, and just like that, Nix disappeared. A single hit.
Next, he turned his sights on Sentinel. Sentinel was already charging him, shield standing like a great wall of steel, glinting off of the flickering fire that shone throughout the room. Relictus jumped forward, flipping in a far more elegant fashion than that which he had when he tripped on the way back, landing on top of the shield immediately. He grinned, and muttered two words, ¡°Game over.¡± Sentinel collapsed, a sabre piercing his shield and going straight into his neck, blood showering the ground to his left. Indifferently, Relictus moved to step off of the shield as it clattered to the ground, blasting the loud sound of a heavy block of metal hitting stone. As he was doing so, his HP fell to 13550/13800. He looked around, and his eyes locked on a semi-tall figure, their eyes full of fear, and of hatred. Larry.
¡°That hurt,¡± he spat, his mouth breaking into an even wider grin than before. His sabre was still in the shield, but he didn¡¯t need it. In a fraction of a second, he was standing just a foot from Larry, much to Larry¡¯s horror. He raised his hand, and balled it into a fist. Larry¡¯s dread grew by the second. In that moment, his fist flew forward, knocking Larry to the wall ¨C even making an indentation in the brick, as the black stones crumbled to the ground. Larry coughed, falling on his hands and knees, incapacitated by the impact. ¡°I was hit far harder than you.¡± He said, simply, as he stepped over, arriving over Larry. ¡°Say your prayers, God is dead anyway.¡± He spoke as he brought his hand down. In a fraction of a second, his hand was in the same position- but holding something ¨C Larry¡¯s heart, ripped out of his chest. Looking down, Larry¡¯s body was nowhere to be seen. Relictus snickered, dropping the organ to the ground. It exploded, splattering crimson and black ochre across the dark stones of the floor. He turned, facing now his two final opponents ¨C Hawk and Ash, holding each other and shivering out of pure terror. Back in Genaron, their party had been the top, even just days after release. However, in the face of this monster, they were executed in just seconds. One might argue that he was worse than the boss. Relictus laughed at the scene, and mercilessly executed the two.
¡°Well done, young one,¡± M¡¯arrzath started. Relictus turned to him, bored, but silent. He simply leaned against the wall and waited for his next words, ¡°But why didn¡¯t you use that skill? I¡¯m sure you could have dealt with them in a single second.¡±
Relictus had dealt with them in just about 20, but still responded in a cold, almost scathing tone. ¡°They weren¡¯t worthy of it.¡±
M¡¯arrzath laughed. It was as if it was the funniest thing he had heard in a millennium. ¡°True, human, but you definitely went for the impact, didn¡¯t you?¡±
Relictus, having been found out, just sighed. ¡°Got me on that one. Would you not do the same?¡±
Again, M¡¯arrzath laughed. However, his tone immediately darkened, becoming far more serious. ¡°Billions of those on such a level as them would not stand a chance on those you will face alone. However, you will not be alone like you were in this battle ¨C you will have these.¡± M¡¯arrzath spoke, and then mumbled a few words in a strange, deep, eerie rhythm. Upon the ground, purple light flowed freely, before it channeled itself into patterns, creating 7 circles, each intricate and unique in design. From the design, a body rose ¨C a suit of armor and two weapons. They glowed black ¨C it was as if they consumed the light, making the pieces more brilliant, darker, and more ominous simultaneously. The helm looked like an elegant knight¡¯s helm ¨C it was gilded with a deep, but light, purple color, and it was shaped like a regular knight¡¯s helmet ¨C however, the opening for the face was carved exactly in the shape of a skull. The full-body and leggings were elegantly forged, and made without a single structural flaw ¨C the limbs were even able to move, somehow. When he tried it on, it was as if he was bending the metal itself without any resistance.
The sword was a different beast. Unlike the armor tagged by the Identification system as [UNKNOWN], this sword was tagged as [Wicked Blade of Forgotten Kings] and had a bonus ATK of not a flat number, but a formula ¨C it was simply [2 ATK] ¨C it added a bonus equal to double his attack. Nothing surprised Relictus anymore. It was definitely a sabre, but its hilt was like his face¡¯s opening for the helm ¨C it had a skull engraved in it. The blade was not the same as the armor. This black was able to reflect light, and it had streaks redder than blood travelling from the guard all the way down the curved edge, and to the wicked tip of the blade. The back of the blade came up in wicked spikes, as if a still image of a flame was superimposed on the blade itself.
After Relictus put it all on, approving of the armor¡¯s fit, he gave the blade a few test swings. As he did so, the blade emitted a dark energy ¨C it decreased Relictus¡¯s own by a couple hundred, but it left behind a trail of pure black, and went an entire 2 meters further out than the 1 meter blade.
You have unlocked a new Skill!
Blade of Black (Active) [Beginner 1/10][0%]
With the use of a powerful dark weapon,
you are able to stretch its range and power to the limit.
Range: 3M
Damage at all ranges: 2/3 ATK
Cost: 100 Energy/sec
He grinned. This was definitely a useful skill. This gave him a good chance against ranged enemies.
¡°By the way, human, how many Stat Points did you acquire in your time gone?¡± M¡¯arrzath asked, with absolutely no effort to time the question well.
¡°Oh, just around 1050,¡± Relictus said. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t think it notable and had forgotten already, he wanted to seem pretty cool for getting so many and brushing that much off as child¡¯s play.
¡°Not a bad amount for your first attempt, young one, but far from good. With this, you can stand against most humans, but Contractors are a different thing altogether. Remember that, human ¨C you have a long way to go.¡±
Author¡¯s Notes
Spoiler : Gonna be making chapters closer to 3k-5k, which means less releases and more time writing and editing. One a day, probably, but they should be better!
So now MC is pretty badass. I¡¯m not a huge fan of that Deus Ex Machina I set up, but don¡¯t worry; he¡¯ll still be limited. Power doesn¡¯t come easily.
Tell me if I made a mistake in the comments. Thanks so much for reading! ''Til next time!
Chapter 8: Moving Forward
With this, Relictus felt as if he could conquer the world. As he thanked M¡¯arrzath, he was left with a simple key. No idea what its function was, it was just a black key. M¡¯arrzath called it a doot doot Skeleton Key, but it wasn¡¯t made to open any door.
Relictus shrugged at the mystery. For now, it had nothing to do with him, and if it was the future or the past, Relictus didn¡¯t care. He lived in the now. (In the was, in this case, because this is written in third person past tense. I¡¯ll shut up now and let you read.)
He again walked up the steps, and swore he could feel the smug emotion that M¡¯arrzath was giving off. What did he do? Anyway, he climbed the stairs, having completely memorized the way through the labyrinth of tunnels, stairs, and traps. He got himself to the top, and bolted off at top speed. Wind blew in his face, a few bugs got caught in his teeth, he stopped a few times to cough up said bugs. Eventually, however, he reached his destination.
The mountains had been a pristine, blue addition to the atmosphere from afar, a great part of the scenery. Up close, they were stormy, jagged rocks climbing into the sky in dangerous slopes, loose snow, and jagged rocks. At the top of the mountain, a figure was barely visible. Its silhouette was a deep gray, hardly contrasting against the stormy, electrified clouds above. However, it was still imposing, like a lion. Relictus had a notion to back away, even though he was already more than ten thousand feet away. He still continued, however, and reached for the first rock.
Sweat permeated his light clothing, exhaustion pressuring his joints, making him sore and tired. He looked down, and could hardly see the ground. A tempest assaulted him, the powerful winds nearly knocking away his handholds. His arms screamed for a break, but he had to hold on.
What came next shocked and horrified even him. Right next to him, flying just meters from the cliff face, a flying creature hovered. It had a fierce, muscular body separated from his head by a powerful, deep gray mane. Its teeth were like spikes, sharpened to the point that it could even break bones, extending at least 10 centimeters. Those teeth brought on the thought of but one word ¨C death. If those teeth sank into his flesh, they would rip into his sinew and crush his bones. Relictus wanted nothing to do with that.
Mountain King
Level 235
Trusting his entire weight in just one arm, Relictus used his right hand to draw his weapon, finally getting a chance to test it. However, this was no time for fun. He activated Emperor of Fury, just to feel how it worked.
Instantly, he regretted his decision. His ATK went up from 340 all the way to 47600, equaled only by his defense. Out of his own control, he jumped from the cliff at the beast, swinging the sword downward, lodging it in the Mountain King¡¯s head. He was the backseat audience in his own body as it was overtaken by an overwhelming fury that built up and concentrated, and built up once more. His sword flashed across the King, slashing open the flesh in dozens of places. Within moments, his enemy was down to just 41% HP. He used his sword to cut into the flesh, slicing apart muscles and skin to keep himself up, away from the fall. He slashed and slashed again, ripping more of its body bare.
As he lost himself, he didn¡¯t notice the timer under his HP bar. That is, until it reached 00:00. An intense exhaustion overcame him, as if he had just pulled 4 allnighters in a row. He had never done this, of course ¨C sleeping was one of his few escapes. He did his best to keep his sore limbs swinging, but they weren¡¯t at half of the blinding zeal that they had swung with before. Then, before the monster was ever able to strike back, he had finally run his Stamina dry. He cursed in his mind ¨C his Stamina always failed him in the end. His hand had cramped up from the lactic acid in it, and he could no longer hold onto the sword. It fell from his hand, and he fell from the cliff.
It was a long way down. As he fell, he accelerated towards imminent death. The wall was too far away, and the King simply watched, condescending. He was numb as he accepted his death. He closed his eyes, spread his limbs, and simply fell, wind flying past as he fell downward. The message he all but expected followed suit, the pain of smashing every limb in his body 2.7 meters into the ground was instantaneous, and lasted not a single second before the message:
Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
YOU ARE DEAD
~¨C?¨C~
The boy lay once again on not the cold, hard ground he fell into, but the stiff cotton bed he so much hated. He sighed, stretching his arms back, and sat up. He decided to look some things up ¨C that was what he always did when he had nothing better to do, and also why he had a library of expansive knowledge completely memorized, with absolutely nothing to do with it.
He clicked through page after page, taking only minutes to read each forum post and announcement. He even managed to find his way to a PK hit-list site.
Top Hit
50,000 P
White Demon
Description:
Moderately tall, uses starter armor. Do NOT underestimate his ability. Can take out a moderate sized top level party alone. TAKE EXTREME CAUTION. Mark has white hair, and an intimidating look. You¡¯ll know when you see him. Last seen in Genaron region.
He broke out into intense laughter, surprising the doctors. Nix was dropping 50m gold just to have a lesson taught to Relictus? To the boy, it was the pinnacle of stupidity. No player could beat him in a fight anyway.
He yawned, and stretched his arms, before sleeping for the rest of his cooldown time.
~¨C?¨C~
He expected to spawn back in M¡¯arrzath¡¯s chamber, but he never thought that he¡¯d be in the same city that he started in. There were far more people in the streets, running about and speaking hurriedly with each other. However, as people noticed him, time bean to stop. He garnered hostile, hateful glares, some grinned and walked towards him, thinking someone like him might be easy prey, and that the hit was wrong.
¡°Hey, kid. You lost?¡± One said, addressing Relictus. Relictus stared daggers at him, but didn¡¯t respond.
¡°You hear me, brat?¡± The guy¡¯s provocation got worse and worse, yet Relictus kept silent.
¡°Listen when you¡¯re addressed, you piece of-¡± The man tried to use his stature and musculature to his advantage and swung his fist as his frustration rose, but nobody expected the next moment.
The fist was blocked by just one of Relictus¡¯s fingers. His left index finger was enough to catch the punch. ¡°Lukewarm, at best.¡± Relictus muttered, as he grabbed the arm with his other hand, and, as if the man¡¯s weight was nothing, he threw the man down the street. He bounced, skidded, and flipped several times before his face ground to a halt in the dirt.
¡°Who¡¯s next? I¡¯m sure someone here has seen that hit on¡ pfft¡ ¡®White Demon,¡¯¡± Relictus spat at the wide-eyed audience he had, unable to keep a straight face as he mentioned that absolutely awful chuunibyou nickname he had gotten. It somehow ticked him off, thinking about his own body in real life, how that manifested in his nickname. The ghosts that followed him through his life would never disappear.
Several people started whispering at the mention of White Demon. As he wondered what they were on about, he noticed that in the top left, under his HP bar, there was a bull¡¯s eye icon. He focused on that, and it came up with a notification.
Player Killer
You are Marked.
While Marked, you cannot trade with NPCs, and Players know what you have done.
Duration remaining: 3hr36m
He sighed as he read. This was going to be troublesome.
Author¡¯s Note
Spoiler : Going on a trip. May not release for some time, maybe even a week! D: I¡¯ll be back, though, don¡¯t worry. Not dead. Yet. Hopefully. As always, tell me if I made any mistakes or you want to see something else in the story. Bye!
Chapter 9: Guild
Relictus walked through the town, his face calm. He had a blank expression ¨C it was not a thoughtless one, for his eyes burned with purpose. He was irritated ¨C all that was around him was the BGM of imprudent whispers. His timer had ran out hours earlier. Thus, he was walking directly to the Guild Hall. His black shoes pounded the well-trodden dirt ¨C it left indentations in it, as if it were a loose layer of brown topsoil, left over the top after a shower of rain. However, the dirt was well compacted ¨C simply the force he put into each step was enough to break the dirt.
He arrived at the guildhall¡¯s door, and stepped in, silent. This was the same dark, quiet inn he had entered just days ago. He received hostile, piercing looks ¨C the eyes of a group of adventurers with particularly notable muscles narrowed at him, they looked at him as if he were fresh meat, something to be pounded, grilled, and served medium-rare. Relictus exhaled sharply, a lightly concealed snicker ¨C
¡°They must not have gotten the news,¡± he thought. ¡°Ooh, those character-creation muscles are so intimidating!¡± He remarked in his head. He was mildly entertained by the almost guaranteed stupidity of the group.
As he got to the desk, he noticed that a beautiful lady occupied the booth. Her eyes shone a bright crimson, a deep contrast to her calm, bright blue hair that stopped at her neck. Glasses sat on her nose, black, elliptical frames holding in the thin glass. Evidently rather weary, likely after doing this all day, she asks, ¡°Commissions are that way.¡± Accident at Table 3 started snickering, grinning at Relictus.
Rather offended, he didn¡¯t let that show as he spoke. ¡°Actually, I¡¯m here to join.¡± The lady behind the counter gave an irked expression. ¡°Is this some kind of joke?¡± She questioned. Of course, he was still in beginner gear under his dark armor, so nobody would take him seriously. The assclowns off to the side, who were busy making remarks under their breath, put looks of mock-surprise on their face as they looked at him, before trundling over to him as a group.
¡°You think you can join that easily, ah?¡± The ¡®leader¡¯ said. By now, while he had a look he probably thought was intimidating, his subordinates were grinning and snickering at him.
¡°If third-rate adventurers like you can get in, I don¡¯t see why not.¡± Relictus responded. A vein bulged on the man¡¯s forehead. Obviously, this guy didn¡¯t like the chuckles that came from the crowd as the retort hit him so hard. Relictus didn¡¯t even see him as an opponent. It was mutual, but at least Relictus had a reason.
The conversation went on, in the pattern of an aggressive remark followed by a passive-aggressive retort from Relictus. People were outright laughing at the man by the time he pulled his sword. It was a claymore, at least 5 feet long, and 4 inches wide. It glinted off of the bright sunlight from outside. Relictus didn¡¯t care. People tried to stop the man, but he just bumped them out of the way with his¡ superior weight. It took just half a second for the blade to swing down on Relictus. This man was pretty powerful, despite being incredibly superficial and downright moronic in Relictus¡¯s eyes.
Not even bothering to strike back, Relictus just brought his hand up to block it. The man thought he had won as Relictus never had time to draw, but couldn¡¯t be more wrong, as the blade collided with Relictus¡¯s hand and sparks flew. People looked away, expecting a horrific and bloody scene, but all that was there was the blade, stopped by Relictus¡¯s left hand and nothing more. He closed his hand, putting all of his force into it, and completely broke off the second half of the blade. Fragments of the metal fell to the floor, and the sword disintegrated into zeros and ones. Relictus delivered a firm, but still ¡®light¡¯ slap to the stunned man¡¯s face, and he was knocked a foot into the air, spun around a couple of times, and hit the ground hard. He was completely knocked out.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
The two lackeys immediately ran, and Relictus sighed, tired. People gaped at him, he had just destroyed one of the top 5 strongest people in the guild in a single hit, and blocked a blade without any magic. Needless to say, the secretary was far more open with him after such a scene.
With that, the Guild Card was explained to him.
¡°The guild card is an enchanted piece of metal with the Pry system engraved in it. After your blood touches it, the card will permanently display your own status to anyone who gets their hands on your card. To keep transparency with nobles and kings, you cannot hide anything on your card. Thus, make sure to keep it from falling into the wrong hands ¨C nobody knows just how badly it could affect you. It will also hold your money, and function as a debit card for your convenience. Your border will color based on your clearance level for commissions in the Guild, and it will display your ranking relative to other Adventurers. The colors are as such:
Gray (F), Light blue (E), deep blue (D), Orange ?, Crimson (B), White (A), Bronze (S), Silver (SS), and finally Gold (SSS).¡±
He took his card, and pulled his sabre from its place on his belt. People were surprised to see the wicked look of the blade, and the fact that it was one of the weapons hailed as the worst melee class-builders ever. He poked the blade into his finger, and of course it didn¡¯t go that easily. He had to learn to recede the armor on a whim, and removed it from his ring finger. He again attempted to poke it, and a small amount of blood was drawn. He let it run down his finger and onto the card, and immediately it lit up, processing, and linking itself to him. The secretary picked it up to check on it once it settled down, and immediately it hit the floor. She had a look of utter disbelief and incredulity on her face ¨C her eyes were wide, her mouth half-open. It looked as if she had forgotten how to control her facial muscles.
A good half a minute later, she picked it up, and tried to quickly hand it to him, but it flew from her hands and to the floor. Someone picked it up, and shouted in surprise ¨C ¡°SSS, class Dark Emperor, level 76?!¡± The man shouted. People crowded around, attempting to snatch it and confirm what it said. Before that could be done, Relictus jumped into the middle of the crowd and activated Darkness Pulse. He hoped to simply incapacitate everyone and move them away from his card, so that he could go on his way, but it instead managed to destroy everyone in a 3-meter radius, annihilating even the corpses of all 27 of the people crowding around it.
¡°Oooh¡ shit.¡± He tersely muttered. He picked up his card and disappeared from the area faster than anyone could see him. His PK timer was at 324 in-game hours ¨C nearly 2 RL days. He decided that if he wanted to head for the next city to get commissions, he would take at least a couple of weeks on that. Thus, he set out on his journey, not taking the road for fear of others¡¯ lives.
Author''s Notes
Spoiler : I"M BACK! I can now get myself to a regular schedule. One chapter a day, length will depend on the content and range from 1000 to 6000 words. Yay! Anyway, tell me if you find any mistakes, and if you have any suggestions. Thanks so much for reading!
Chapter 10: On The Road, Offroad
Relictus walked for what seemed like ages. It didn¡¯t tire him out, but he was still bored. He hadn¡¯t had a single Monster encounter, despite not even being on the road. He was currently lying down in a clearing. It was a near perfect ring of bright green grass, kept in shadow by the tall trees, their leaves rustling in the wind. The blue sky was a clear one, the clear blue permeating the sky and falling down through the cracks between leaves in the light canopy above. Around him, the rustling sounds of animals could be heard, but they stopped instantly as Relictus started to get up.
He yawned as his eyes opened, and he dragged himself onto his feet, stretching his sore muscles. He checked his PK Mark. Just 24 hours were left on his penalties. He decided to continue at his own leisurely pace, so that he would get to use the compacted dirt road. That would increase his rate of travel, as he didn¡¯t have to jump through or cut down branches in order to get through the labyrinth of spiky branches. Luckily, he had his armor, so it didn¡¯t hurt, but it was still annoying and slowed him down considerably.
~¨C?¨C~
He watched as his time ticked down.
PKer Penalties
Intimacy lowers by 2 stages with all neutral or worse NPCs.
00:00:00:03
0:02
0:01
The following Debuffs have timed out:
PKer Penalties
He sighed in relief. ¡°Finally. It began to feel like that¡¯d never run out. Never making that kind of a mistake again.¡±
He was surprised when he heard a response. It was a high voice, almost like a bell, but not the squeaky kind of high pitch that was much to his distaste. ¡°Um¡ sir?¡±
Immediately, Relictus jumped in surprise, doing 2 rolls backward and climing all the way up a tree before calming down and seeing the innocent child in front of him, all in the span of a single second. His face immediately lost its apprehension as he looked at her. ¡°Yes? What do you need?¡±
She was hardly 3 feet tall, her pupils dilated with curiosity. Her black hair was smooth and shiny, clearly that of a child ¨C but quite dirty, clearly the work of a child. Her cheeks were naturally a small bit wide, and her nose was slightly high up on her face. She looked at Relictus with something between worry, curiosity, and fear. ¡°See, there is this, uh, village. We need help. Will you help us?¡±
Quest:
Mysterious Stranger
Prerequisites: Meet a refuge of the village.
Difficulty: C
Rewards: The village¡¯s favor, unknown
A village has sent a child to find help from outsiders. Follow her and see what they are in such dire need of help against.
He immediately started laughing. It was not out of spite, but just how frank the explanation was. Thinking there was nothing he was missing, he agreed, and followed her.
Just a few minutes into their journey to the village, Relictus caught a very faint rustling, and not long after it stopped, a gigantic quadruped, its fur black as night, pounced, Relictus barely had time to analyze it ¨C insane, wide eyes colored bright red, multiple sets of feral teeth sharp and long enough to slash through skin with ease. Even at a glance, Relictus could tell this was a dangerous beast.
Feral Direwolf
Level: 211
Relictus didn¡¯t have time to react to the status window as the wolf attacked, its jaw prepared to bite into his arm. He drew his sword, and activated Emperor of Fury, slashing his blade through the mouth and into the body of the Direwolf, but he immediately deactivated the ability as his sword reached the end of its body. His breathing was shallow, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. His idea of how to control Emperor of Fury worked, but it exhausted him.
You have leveled up!
x10
He got ten levels just from one fight. He opened his Stat window, and allocated his 150 new points in DEF. It was severely lacking before, but now it had passed 200. He sighed, knowing this was definitely not enough to help that village if there were so many as dangerous as that which he had just witnessed.
After a remark from the little girl about how strong he was, he stood himself back up and they continued to walk. A couple of times, they ran into similarly strong monsters, all of whom varied in shape and size, but never ferocity, but otherwise, the trip was quick, and they arrived at the girl¡¯s home in just over a few hours. It made Relictus wonder just how this child had made it away from the village without being killed by the beasts. However, he got himself 31 levels, so he didn¡¯t mind the fighting. Multiple times, he nearly had his ass handed to him, but through clever use of his long range, he was able to destroy most of his foes without trouble.
Immediately as they got back, Relictus knew something was wrong. Nobody was out. No torches were lit, despite the sky beginning to turn dark. This deep in the forest, Relictus had no doubt that nobody had discovered the small settlement ¨C there were miles of forest that was so deep in thick canopy that it was pitch-black at best. The sky¡¯s orange streaks flowed freely, providing a deep contrast to the bright green, unkempt foliage. Buildings were crushed ¨C wooden roofs collapsed in, warping the weakened wooden walls. The few were intact had no light within, but the child that he followed acted as if nothing was wrong, and ran towards a nondescript wooden house, only a single story, and just as dark as the others. As the golden and orange lights fell upon it, it seemed to glow, taking in the bright colors and adding them to its own hue.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
¡°Mama!¡± The child shouted, running towards the door giddily. ¡°I found a person!¡±
Immediately, torches across the village ignited. It gave off a great luminescence, and the scene was almost unbelievable, seeing the fires all sequentially light themselves. People stepped from their doors, including one woman, with jet-black hair matching the child¡¯s, who was tackled by the child as she greeted her.
A man approached Relictus. He had a short stature, and his hair had completely lost its color, giving it more or less the same color as Relictus¡¯s own pure white hair, if not a bit more worn. Wrinkles plagued the man¡¯s face, his brow wrinkled after all of the stress he had endured. His eyes were partially closed, but behind the hazel of his eyes was not despair, but hope and concern. Relictus finally concluded that this man was an elder who cared about his village.
¡°Might you help us, traveller? We are in dire need of your assistance.¡±
He followed the man into a large building that seemed to be a town hall. It was far from luxurious, but it had high halls and was well lit. A man with decently defined musculature, and the most epic mustache Relictus had ever seen, came out of the back with two wooden mugs. The man began to explain.
¡°Our village was not always so run down. It was a bustling, self-sufficient town full of great, charitable people who helped one another whenever possible. Now, we have become divided, and can hardly leave our own houses. A terror has descended upon us, and every night is another raid. Beasts beyond our best men¡¯s capabilities invade on us, raze another house, and take our people. Would you not stop them?¡±
Quest:
Legion of Death
Prerequisites: Meet a refuge of the village.
Difficulty: S
Rewards: The village¡¯s favor, unknown
A village is being terrorized by an army of monsters gathering in the northeast. Save the village from their plight, and stop the threat from spreading to the rest of the continent.
¡°If it means innocent blood will not be spilled, I will find the source of the army and stop them by force if I have to.¡±
You have accepted the quest!
Immediately, the man¡¯s face softened in relief. ¡°Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I am the town¡¯s elder and a former Royal Knight, Darius Finch.¡±
¡°And myself, Relictus,¡± Relictus responded. Sure enough, he checked Darius¡¯s level, and found it to be 150, a high enough NPC level to merit being granted such an important position. In his old age, he likely was unable to fight as well as he used to, and on top of that, level 200 was on the lower side of things.
¡°Before we send you off in that gear of yours, allow me to give you something, on my personal behalf.¡± Darius offered this, but Relictus had his armor, and no inclination to accept.
¡°Hm? Oh, I don¡¯t-¡° As such, he attempted to decline.
¡°You underestimate them.¡± Darius¡¯s voice darkened as he spoke. Perhaps he knew about Relictus¡¯s armor? His level was, after all, 47 above Relictus. Even with the stat boosts, some things came only with experience.
He guided Relictus behind him to a room without windows, lit only by torches. In the back, there existed only one large chest. Darius walked out, leaving Relictus to his devices.
Within the chest, there were several articles. The first thing Relictus retrieved was a hood. It was a pure white, something that matched his hair quite well. He tried it on, and looking at his menu, it showed that his face was covered completely, but it was labeled as cosmetic.
[table]
White Blood Hood of the Deathbringer
Level 520
The ancient hood of a leader of the extinct order of the Deathbringers. It was used to hide one¡¯s identity as they carried out executions, and increased their abilities greatly.
Stats:
+150 DEX
+100 SPD
+50 DEF
+10% Temperature Resistance
Unlocks Stealth Stat when equipped.
That explained a lot. Relictus was far too low in level for the set. Beyond the hood, there were the White Blood Cloak of the Deathbringer, Snow Cape of the Deathbringer, Silver Trousers of the Deathbringer (lol), and White Blood Shoes of the Deathbringer. They all belonged to the White Deathbringer set, and all of them had minimum levels above 500. He donned all of the clothing as vanity ¨C it would automatically move places after his level became high enough to wear it. On top of that, he didn¡¯t want to disappoint Darius with his low level.
Belts and pockets were fastened and threaded into the entire inside of the cloak, with every single tool of assassination Relictus could think of. There was a forearm-mounted crossbow with 5 [Steel Bolts x10], lock picks, eight-point shurikens, throwing knives, kunai, several different types of daggers, vials of medicine and poison, sheaths and scabbards that could hold a total of 12 weapons ranging from his own sabre to battleaxes. There were pockets just to be used for storage, throwing needles, and more. However, all of them were 400 levels away from me being able to use them, thanks to being part of the White Deathbringer set.
I opened the door, and found Darius waiting on me. ¡°You look absolutely smashing in that, young traveller.¡± Darius said. ¡°That¡¯s a family heirloom of mine, passed down for 700 years. You will better use it though, lad. Good luck.¡±
Before I could protest to him giving me something so valuable, he ushered me out of the back door. He definitely didn¡¯t want anyone to know about this outfit. Thus, I left to exterminate the thousands of EXP- No. Monsters. The thousands of monsters.
Spoiler : HAHA! TRICKED YOU! I have a double release today! This doesn¡¯t mean nothing tomorrow, but now Relictus is starting to look like an assassin. I wonder what he¡¯ll do to defeat all of those juicy EXP containers. Nope, same mistake again. I mean monsters. Deadly monsters. Thanks so much for reading! As always, leave anything you want happening or any mistakes I made in the comments. Constructive criticism is always welcomed.
Chapter 11: Post-Departure
Relictus was a smart person. He grew up preferring to do math over going outside. During his 2nd grade, he sat in the back and taught himself multiplication while his classmates learned addition and subtraction. He never quite caught on to long division though ¨C just how does it work? Relictus could never obtain the answer. After checking in to the hospital, he preferred to read dictionaries and research papers over novels, and what stories he did read were plays from Renaissance-era Europe. He was generally viewed as a clever and knowledgeable person wise beyond his years.
If he was so smart, why the hell was he dangling from a rope 4 meters in the air, surrounded by monsters? He had been walking, sabre drawn, prepared for any foe that he encountered, or so he thought. That quickly ended as he felt a pressure on his ankle and found himself hanging by one leg before he knew what was going on.
One of the beasts jumped up. It was completely different in every sense of the word from the beasts he had encountered earlier. It had long, but lean and muscular legs, and a back that continued into a tail. Most notably, it had a back of shining scales in a gradient from blue to turquoise. Its teeth glinted off of light that wasn¡¯t there, and its tongue was forked, and flickered as the reptile¡¯s mouth was opened. It shared a single common feature with the Direwolves ¨C its eyes glowed a bright shade of red.
Relictus grunted, stifling agonized shouts as he felt the serrated teeth of the monster tearing into his shoulder¡¯s flesh, and ripping out a chunk of his flesh. His HP immediately was crushed, and he was left with just 12%. His eyes narrowed, his teeth ground against each other as he kept his pain in check. Monsters surrounded him now, and he gave in as the monsters ripped apart his flesh and snapped his bones.
YOU HAVE DIED
He sat up with a start, his breathing ragged and shallow.
¡°Dammit, I can¡¯t get used to dying.¡± The boy spat the words from his mouth, bitter about the fact that he died so pathetically. He pulled out his computer like he always did to pass the time, and read through the guides and forums that were all over the internet.
Strangely enough, every single thing he could find was about ¡°The White Reaper.¡± He¡¯d been upgraded from White Demon, wow. It was like Godwin¡¯s law ¨C everything seemed to roll back to this mysterious character. He just scrolled through with a blank expression on his face, before he raised his palm to his forehead in a single, quick motion. It quite hurt, it always hurt to move his muscles, but that was a bit more painful than usual. What was going on?
Shrugging it off all he could, he continued to browse. People were posting information about Relictus and his Guild Card, and people deemed it fake until the same stories started popping up. Now, he had become a brutal, ruthless top player somehow.
¡°Well, at least now I have the White Deathbringer set, so I can¡¯t be identified so easily.¡± He grinned as he spoke. During his excursion to vanquish the foul beasts, he had easily gained over 100 more levels, and was yet to distribute his Stat points. He had something to look forward to when he got back and returned to hunting monsters.
~¨C?¨C~
¡°You WHAT?¡± Darius shouted at the Relictus that was in a kneeling position with a visible cringe on his face ¨C grinding his teeth, his eyes tightly shut, an expression somewhere between pain and embarrassment.
The reason for this was simple ¨C he had respawned in the town, on his hands and knees, still feeling the remnants of the pain. Darius had found out that Relictus had failed spectacularly, and was chewing him out.
¡°I¡ I failed, rather badly.¡± Relictus mumbled. Darius was furious. ¡°I got caught in a trap.¡±
Darius sighed, putting two fingers to each of his temples. ¡°How foolish of me, to believe a kid like you had the skill to stop them.
Stop by the training ground behind the hall in an hour. I¡¯ll show you what I mean.¡±
It was as such. Darius walked off, shoulders slightly slumped. For a few minutes, Relictus just sat there on his legs, contemplating life or something, until a suspicious pair of eye showed up from around the corner.
¡°At least go do something!¡± Darius shouted from around the corner. Relictus jumped a bit, and answered.
¡°YES SIR!¡± He exclaimed a bit too enthusiastically, jumped up, and darted off to do who-knows-what.
During the time, he just mumbled to himself and sat in a corner, distributing his points.
Relictus¡¯s Character Card
Spoiler :
Character Card
Name:
Relictus
11p 4g 21s 86c
Level:
221
Experience:
521 [1%]
Race:
Almost Human
Class:
Dark Emperor
Fame:
221
Title:
Heir to the Black Throne
Health:
26050/26050
Energy:
21100/150
Stamina:
11100
Attributes
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
ATT:
825+1900
INT:
200
DEF:
310
WIS:
150
DEX:
1625+450
ODRV:
410
SPD:
950+200
???:
---
Thanks for enlightening me on this, admira!
He grinned, admiring his Status. He had grown quite a bit in the few weeks he had played the game.
Before he realized it, nearly an hour had passed. He rushed out to the field behind the town hall and found Darius waiting, holding a sword by both hands, and holding it downward.
¡°You¡¯re late.¡± Darius spoke a quite terse sentence, and threw the weapon of Relictus¡¯s choice at him. Relictus ducked to the side, and reached his hand out to grab the hilt. He could have just grabbed the blade, but that held the risk of destroying it.
¡°So, why am I he-¡°Engarde.¡±¡± Relictus was instantly interrupted, and Darius dashed towards him. They exchanged just a few blows on their blades before Relictus found himself centimeters away from his neck being impaled.
Darius sighed, lowering his head and closing his eyes, exasperated. ¡°As I thought, you fight like a child that hardly knows a slash from a swing.¡±
Darius stepped back and commanded Relictus. ¡°From today on, you will learn swordsmanship from me, boy. The only compensation I ask is the safety of my village.¡±
Relictus was still in shock. This old man had beaten him, despite his massive power and speed advantage?
The answer was simple. Relictus didn¡¯t have the advantage of technique, skill, and experience that Darius had.
¡°To begin, you will build yourself a house.¡± Relictus finally came back from the far recesses of his mind, and heard Darius command this. ¡°Go to one of the ruined houses, take all of their intact boards, and use them to construct a new building.¡±
This was a very unusual task, not one that Relictus understood the meaning of. ¡°But why?¡± Relictus responded.
¡°Do not question my authority. You¡¯re going to need a place to stay while you are under my mentoring.¡±
Relictus immediately understood, and ran off to pick up boards.
On his first trip, he carried 8.
¡°Again.¡± Darius commanded, and Relictus ran off to get more.
He grabbed 8 more boards and carried them back over his shoulders.
¡°Again.¡± He ran back for more boards.
He could only pick up 7 now, running across the village had its taxes on him.
¡°Again.¡± He walked back to get more.
He ran back and picked up 6 more.
¡°Again.¡± Again he made his way there and back.
He could only pick up 4 now.
¡°Again.¡± He walked back over.
Slowly, but steadily, he lost the ability to carry so many. He could only pick up 3 now.
¡°Again.¡± He ran back, breathing slightly ragged.¡±
He only got 2.
¡°Again.¡± He had to lean on a wall to regain his strength.
This time, he could only carry one.
¡°Again.¡± He was hardly able to walk there.
He forced himself to carry one back.
¡°Again.¡± He could hardly carry himself to the ruin he was getting them from.
Again, he picked up a single one and carried it back.
¡°Again.¡± His breaths were shallow, and he felt as if he was dragging the air out of his lungs. His limbs burned, he could hardly bear walking, but did it anyway.
He took one, and dragged it back.
¡°Again.¡± His breath became calm, deep, as the agonizing pain was replaced by a torturous numbness.
He picked one up. He carried it back.
¡°Again.¡± He walked over, not even caring anymore how bad his deteriorating physical condition was.
He picked two up, and walked back.
¡°Again.¡± He felt nothing.
He carried 10 boards back. He couldn¡¯t think straight, but he still knew that the more he took, the less trips.
¡°Again.¡± His limbs were not in pain, but they were heavy. He fought to keep himself standing.
He carried another ten boards back, fighting hard to carry them.
¡°Again.¡± He simply walked to the slow beating of his heart. It was an unnaturally slow beating, but he didn¡¯t care. He was almost done.
He bent over to pick up the last 6 boards that were still intact. He bent over, hoisted them up, and carried them on his shoulder back to the training ground. He tried to bring words out of his mouth, but his muscles wouldn¡¯t obey him. He tried to put the boards down, but his arms were already down. He felt a soft impact, and he looked straight forward, failing to process what was in front of him. He could swear that he was looking at the massive pile of boards he had carried from the building that had been razed, so what was he looking at? Why was he staring at a foreground entirely made of blue? Why were his eyes closing? Was he going to die?
He heard a muffled voice in one ear, and saw Darius¡¯s face. Darius¡¯s jaw was moving, but he didn¡¯t hear words. Pitch black fell from the top of his vision down, to cover the entirety of his vision. He couldn¡¯t feel anything.
Then, in the distance, he saw a silhouette.
Author''s Notes
Spoiler : SO SORRY I couldn''t post earlier! Been stormy as hell up here for a while, power went out a few minutes before I was to post a chapter, and even though I saved, I only saved half of it and I didn''t get another chance to work on it until today. Anyway, I''m gonna start working really hard at consistent description - a large part of it is me being afraid of interpersonal interaction, because I suck at interpersonal interaction in real life and cannot depict it well. Also, I''ll try to give Relictus a personality (LOL). Thanks so much for the criticism, it''s always welcomed! Also, I may start working on a new ff, but that would mean less frequent chapters here (closer to every other day or every 2 days). Is that okay, or should I stick with this?
Thanks for reading! I''ll get some more out ASAP to make up for being dead.
Chapter 12: The Training Chapter!
¡°Who are you?¡± Relictus called out towards the figure in front of him.
The figure left the shadows. It was a girl. She stood tall, but not quite as tall as Relictus. She had long, platinum blonde hair that fell down over her shoulders. Her facial features were sharp, but not stern. Her face carried a friendly grin, as if she had known him for all of her life.
¡°I spend days trying to talk to you and yet you don¡¯t recognize me?¡± She said, a hurt tone in her voice.
¡°I¡¯m sorry about that, but¡¡± Relictus responded, really not quite sure what he was supposed to say.
She laughed, evidently quite entertained by his response. ¡°I was just kidding, relax. I¡¯m the original leader of the Deathbringers, and the one to bring it to its greatest point in history. Today, they are simply legend, forgotten. I was the wearer of that White Deathbringer cloak that¡¯s now in your possession. You aren¡¯t yet prepared to don it in its truest sense, but it¡¯d be best to¡ prepare you.¡±
¡°Prepare? Huh?¡± Relictus voiced his confusion. However, before he had even finished saying, ¡°prepare,¡± a blade was pressed against his throat. He stumbled backward, and fell on his backside.
A cheerful smile grew on the girl¡¯s face. ¡°Yup! Prepare.¡± And then, within moments, her brow furrowed, her eyes narrowed. ¡°I know I¡¯m missing something¡¡±
Then, a good 15 seconds later, her eyes widened and she jumped a bit. ¡°Oh, right! Name! I know yours, Relictus. I¡¯m Thalia Grace.¡±
¡°Yup, definitely an airhead, he mumbled under his breath, a thought that disappeared immediately as his eyes widened and he saw her once again pressing a blade to his throat. ¡°I¡¯MSOSORRYPLEASESPAREME!¡± He fumbled on his words, quite flustered, and the vein protruding from her forehead faded, followed by a ¡°Hmph!¡± for good measure.
¡°So, I guess you¡¯ll be here a while. Once you¡¯re ready, I¡¯ll send you back. Let¡¯s get along!¡± Thalia spoke lightheartedly, as if she didn¡¯t care about his prior circumstances.
Training went on for a seemingly endless amount of time, but Relictus never tired. They just sparred, and sparred, and sparred. For the first several hundred matches, Relictus was knocked to the ground within a second. Thalia was far too fast for him to even see her movement, despite his massive DEX and SPD.
Eventually, Relictus was able to at least see how she moved, but was too slow to react. Despite his best efforts, every single time he got up, he was just knocked down a few seconds later. Relictus felt no fatigue in whatever this place was, but he still felt the pain. His backside was pathetically sore from getting pushed down so many times, but he refused to give up. And so, he stood up again. He stood up again, and fell back down again. He fell back down and got back up too many times to count. It became more difficult for him to breathe as they went through it so many times.
However, Thalia just looked more and more perplexed every time she watched Relictus stand up again. ¡°What keeps you from just staying down? You know that you¡¯ll just fall down again. You can¡¯t even land a hit on me, or block one of mine.¡±
Finally understanding her motive behind this, Relictus laughed. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you already know this much, but if there¡¯s one thing I¡¯ve learned in my life, it¡¯s this: if you can stand, you stand. You never know what will happen when you can¡¯t anymore.¡±
Thalia tilted her head a bit, still far from understanding this enigma that was in front of her, before laughing. It was a contagious laugh, one as if she had just heard the funniest joke that had ever been told. ¡°You¡¯re an interesting person. Alright, I¡¯ll teach you; I like that mentality a lot.¡±
Relictus¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°All of that was a TEST?¡± He exclaimed.
¡°Yes, a test. Problem?¡± Thalia responded in kind, the most smug grin Relictus had ever seen wiping across her face.
¡°Okay, let¡¯s go!¡± Thalia interjected, and clapped her hands twice. Immediately, the surroundings disappeared. All that was there was a single plane, stretching infinitely. The land was a clear liquid, but was only a few centimeters deep. The liquid reflected the golden sky that was blemished only with a few pure white clouds.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
¡°First, I will teach you about Instant Movement.¡± She announced, as if she had seen an entire dimension transform a thousand times.
Relictus immediately voiced his confusion. ¡°Instant Movement?¡±
It was a technique he hadn¡¯t heard of before. In all his research of the game, he hadn¡¯t read a single thing that mentioned instant movement.
¡°It¡¯s exactly as it sounds. With certain discipline of the body, you can move any limb instantaneously. Those who practice the technique enough can even move short distances faster than a human can process. It goes a little like this.¡± Thalia explained, wearing her usual poker-face smile, and Relictus hardly noticed her moving her right leg before she appeared less than a centimeter from his face. Startled and supremely embarrassed, he lurched backwards and fell, causing the surface to splash. Thalia simply giggled, entertained by Relictus¡¯s awkwardness.
Then, she started to explain just what he needed to do before she taught him the technique. She did a simple action using her wrist ¨C she put one hand out in front of her, palm facing herself, and put her other hand perpendicular to that, twisting the wrist and pushing her thumb down on the back of her slender ring finger. ¡°Once you¡¯ve done this 100 times on each hand, talk to me.¡±
Just like that, like paint flowing down a wall, pure black flowed down from the sky, all around him, covering everything around him. He reached out, but there was nothing. Sighing, he realized there was no way out until he did as he was told. He sat down cross-legged, and started contorting his hands in the way that he was instructed.
~¨C?¨C~
Relictus¡¯s wrists felt like spaghetti, and his fingers were completely numb, and wouldn¡¯t move. His forearms were deathly sore, as if some invisible force had been crushing them. He groaned in pain as he did his 198th round ¨C his 98th on his left hand. He repeated the motion, wincing at the pain that shot through his arms, and then finished his final one. As if they were walls being demolished, the surrounding dimension fell outward, sinking into the ground. Within seconds, it was as if the dimension had never existed. All he saw was Thalia¡¯s expectant gaze.
¡°Finally done, slowpoke?¡± She beamed at him, and Relictus mumbled something about her teasing him too much. ¡°Try throwing a punch at that target,¡± Thalia ever so nonchalantly suggested, ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll enjoy the results.¡±
Thus, he followed her command, walked over to the straw humanoid figure that had been conjured form nothing, bent his knees, lowered his waist, and turned his hips into the target as he punched. To his surprise, he didn¡¯t even feel the target, and he looked up only to see his hand going completely through it in a perfect puncture. He shouldn¡¯t have gone that far, he held back quite a bit so that he didn¡¯t blow the target away completely.
¡°So? How is it?¡± Thalia asked, but Relictus never had a chance to respond. His surroundings were blurred, and he was looking at a clear blue sky, devoid of any clouds.
Author''s Notes
Spoiler : It''s the training arc! It''s here! The fact that Relictus isn''t OP at all! Anyway, this whole other dimension is gonna be a plot device I use a lot, just so that the story doesn''t always stay as monotonous guy-kills-monsters-wao-so-stronk all the time. Be sure to leave any constructive criticism, ideas, or mistakes/typos I made in the comments! Thanks so much for reading.
Chapter 13: Emperor of Rage
¡°Finally awake, asshole?¡± The man over Relictus sarcastically spoke, sighing in relief (he hoped). ¡°You scared me half to death, not that I¡¯m not getting there already. Never in a million years did I think you¡¯d get all of those boards in just one session.¡± The man that Relictus now confirmed to be Darius laughed as he spoke, but his face hardened just as quickly. Relictus suddenly had 2 windows in front of him: he had gained two new abilities.
There is no Talent (Passive) [Intermediate 10/25] [10%]
Your training in technique has given you
the ability to raise your skill faster than normal.
This skill can only be gained through the most rigorous
training by the most diligent pupils.
Speed of technique gain +60%
+20 INT
+45 WIS
+75 DEX
Beyond the Edge (Passive) [Beginner 9/10] [52%]
Notoriously hard to raise, this Skill passively
raises stamina while increasing performance
when stamina is low.
+1000 Stamina
+40 DEF
Relictus exclaimed his appreciation in the deep recesses of his mind.
¡°What¡¯s so entertaining?¡± Darius asked, a curious, almost suspicious expression crossing his face ¨C his eyes were narrowed, and his eyebrows rose.
¡®Even I can¡¯t do that. Why¡¯s this old man so sharp?¡¯ Relictus thought, and responded. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Ehehehe¡¡± He tried to push it aside, and luckily, Darius stopped pressing him, leaning back.
¡°Well, if you say so, it¡¯s not worth prying.¡± He dismissed it completely. ¡°So, when do you want to start? Resting won¡¯t do you any good. Those boards you fell asleep on would only build a dog house, so I¡¯ll drop that part.¡± He smirked, as if he was glossing over a mistake. ¡®Are you senile, old man?¡¯ Relictus thought, glaring at Darius. ¡°So, we start with technique.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s start now, then.¡± Relictus grinned, standing up and dusting everything off of his clothes, before realizing that they were drenched with sweat.
Darius blinked twice, surprised at that zealous reply. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you want to push yourself so much in such a short period, you were only out for a good 15 minutes. But if you say so, I¡¯ll start teaching now.¡±
And thus, they walked over to the training arena.
~6 months later
(A/N Sorry, I felt it was just far too tedious to do another 2-10 chapters on discipleship)
The training worked out quite well. Every day, Relictus went to train, and had a new move to use in combat against the forces that assaulted them every night. He had the stamina regen of a monster and twice the dexterity, so he never quite ran out of stamina, but he got down there enough to raise his Beyond the Edge skill into the Advanced levels. Every single skill he had was now Advanced, even God Slayer and Emperor of Fury. Through his rigorous training regime, he had become master of two styles ¨C that of the Deathbringer and that of the soldier. Through mixing and matching these styles, his movements became fluid to the point that one could not see where one attack ended and the other started. He even gained the title, ¡°Master of the Sword and Dagger,¡± a title without nearly the benefits of Dark Emperor. It was still pretty cool though, in Relictus¡¯s opinion. Compared to his pathetic real self, he was a serious force to be reckoned with. Message boards had been buzzing with thoughts and speculations and 4Chan trolling where the White Reaper had disappeared to, and why. Especially the 4Chan trolling.
The bright green grass rustled as Relictus stepped through it, slowly, slowly. He walked as if he had nothing to fear, even as he now walked through hordes of enemies of all shapes and sizes, growing in size as he went. The colossal beings had, at first, fought back. However, in an instant, hundreds had been brought down. None of them even knew what they had just witnessed, nor did they know that that was the beginning of their downfall. Relictus simply walked leisurely, not even bothering to keep his sabre out. When any of his foes- no, these were not foes. These were victims of his wrath. When any of his victims moved, there was a single flash of red, one that looked like a bolt of lightning coated in fresh crimson blood, the same blood that coated the edge of the weapon moments later. His eyes were covered by the shadow of his pure white hair that was blemished only by the blood of the fallen enemies before him.
He looked up. Relictus¡¯s eyes were devoid of all of the light they had held before, just as dim and soulless as they were on the day that he learned that he lost the last person in his family that cared about him. A single drop of water fell to the ground, with a sound almost like a thump. It was followed by another, and another, until the ground was bombarded with a million heavy drops of the clear liquid. The cold water covered the hard dirt, softened it, and left Relictus¡¯s footprints as he walked perpetually forward.
Relictus didn¡¯t even bother to pull his hood up. If he did, the rain wouldn¡¯t serve to hide the drops falling from his eyes. The scene played perpetually in his head.
¡°Relictus, I am both elated and sorry to say that this old man can teach you no more,¡± Darius spoke, a forlorn look of sincere happiness on his face. ¡°Today, we fight alongside each other to protect the village. Tomorrow, you will go forth and end the village¡¯s suffering. If it¡¯s you, lad, it can be done. I know it can. You¡¯re the most fitting guy for the job.¡± His look had softened, and tears fell down his face, creating trails of water. ¡°How terrible of me to display such weakness before my only pupil. I guess I¡¯m just overcome with the emotions of a geezer to see my first and last disciple ready to go out into the world.¡±
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
At that time, Relictus had embraced Darius, telling him that he¡¯d see him again, after that night they¡¯d be able to spend another drinking together as men. It was a promise he¡¯d never be able to make after that night.
Relictus looked on at his teacher who was slicing through monster after monster despite a massive difference in level. Darius¡¯s face was the picture of perfect composure, yet his swinging weapon told a different story altogether, as he hacked apart his enemies and left not a single one intact.
Then, a shadow appeared where it should never have appeared. It was midnight, and they were in an incredibly dark forest. However, a dark spot appeared on the ground, growing larger and darker, and its contours formed the shape of a wicked and nightmarish monster. It took the shape of an enemy Relictus had seen hundreds of times ¨C it was a four-legged feral wolf, but it had one difference. This beast was a gargantuan version of it. Before he even knew what was happening, Relictus saw Darius¡¯s body fighting to escape the impending doom of the jaws before him. However, he was unable to do so ¨C Relictus could only watch as the life left Darius¡¯s body along with his blood, as its bright red coloring was corrupted with a mysterious blackness. His body was impaled in several places on the cruel, jagged teeth of the beast, and Relictus could no longer keep control of himself as he saw Darius¡¯s face ¨C a face that was nearly confused, yet tinged with hopelessness and despair.
Relictus¡¯s eyes widened, his pupils shrinking to an unnatural size.
Emperor of Fury has activated automatically.
Relictus remembered nothing once he woke up, standing, using his sabre¡¯s blade for support. Before him, there was no forest. Rather than the green color of the vegetation that permeated the world around him before, there was a long crater, extending seemingly for miles, nothing but dirt soaked with red.
And so he walked. No monsters knew what had happened to them as hundreds of meters behind him, a single stroke of red appeared across each of their bodies. Monsters started to explode in a grand procession behind him, the upper halves of each of their bodies leaving nothing but red. Blood showered over him as they were destroyed, tainting his white teeth with the only remnants of those that dared cross him.
~¨C?¨C~
He walked seemingly for hours, his pace never hurrying or slowing. What awaited him at the end, he could never predict. In front of him now was his teacher ¨C Darius, his sabre pointed downward, eyes shut as his head pointed downward. It was Darius¡¯s favorite position to wait in before training begun, and now it seemed his teacher still had one final lesson. However, Darius opened his eyes, Relictus noticed one unusual thing ¨C his eyes were shining that same awful red that shone in the eyes of that which had taken Darius in the first place.
Relictus didn¡¯t speak, but the tears that fell from his eyes, cleansing a small area of the blood-dyed dirt in his path. The sabre he carried only let out a dull thump against the dark ground as it fell. Relictus was once again overcome with rage, but unwilling to let go of the control he had over himself. He simply wanted his teacher to rest in peace, since he wasn¡¯t coming back any time soon. He stepped slowly towards this copycat, and it took up a combat stance as it endured the pressure of the aura of bloodlust that flowed from Relictus. Without so much as a warning, Relictus lifted his back foot from the ground and twisted his hips as he delivered a perfect roundhouse kick to the monster¡¯s head.
With no time to react, it didn¡¯t block or mitigate the blow, and was sent flying into the dense forest directly to Relictus¡¯s right. Its body ran into dozens of different pieces of wood and dragged along the dirt before flying straight into a tree, knocking down the tree. It was killed in a single unarmed hit.
Right there, in his trail of blood and death, Relictus fell backwards, his eyes not to open again for some time. The forest was a picture of silence, but it was one that was far from serene. The forest had become a graveyard for millions.
Author''s Note
Spoiler : Off of my break! I''ll start trying to extend chapters again. In the meantime between now and chapter 14, have a skipped training and obvious kill-off! :D
Anyway, thanks for reading. If I made any mistakes, or you have criticism or ideas, please let me know in the comments! I''ll actually get a new chapter tomorrow.
Chapter 14: And So He Awoke
It was a dreamless, dark slumber. He saw, felt nothing. When he finally opened his eyes, they immediately closed, to be protected from the bombardment of intense sunlight. He mumbled, not refreshed at all by the freedom from the nothingness he was trapped in for countless seconds. He checked his clock.
7/17/2 of New Era
His face blank, he blinked. How could it be possible for him to sleep for 4 months? 1/0/2 had been halfway through his training, so why did such a long time feel like just a day? He checked his status, just to make sure he wasn¡¯t hallucinating.
Character Card
Name:
Relictus
17p 21g 4s 99c
Level:
3022
Experience:
2501422 (18%)
Race:
Post-human
Class:
Dark Emperor
Fame:
5028
Title:
Heir to the Black Throne
Health:
195000/195000
Energy:
225050/225050
Stamina:
151150
Attributes
ATT:
2050+1020
INT:
760
DEF:
850+900
WIS:
920
DEX:
8250+3100
ODRV:
2100
SPD:
6220+800
???:
---
Yup. He was hallucinating, no doubt about it. He rolled over on the soft dirt, and closed his eyes.
He woke up, now the sky was not intolerably bright, but had mellowed out and was dyed a spectrum of colors ranging from a bright golden hue to deep magenta, and the sun was nowhere to be seen behind the thick trees that had grown back in the time that he had hibernated. Rubbing his sore back and cracking his neck in a single swift motion, he got up, and started walking.
After losing their own leader, there was no way he could face the village again, so he made a point to avoid it. He had to find somewhere else to go. Slowly, slightly hunched over in his fatigue, he walked through the quiet, dark forest, below its thick canopy that blocked the colored sunset that flowed through the sky above him.
He walked, and he walked. Occasionally, he came across monsters in the dark, but he ignored them. He had to process the fact that he had lost a large amount of what little life he should have had left, and it was spent¡ sleeping? That¡¯s it? He kicked the ground, clenching his fist and gritting his teeth. Relictus had lost what little he had had left, and now he was yet again alone.
He had such a short life to live, so why was it that he was like a curse to those around him? People just die, disappear from his life forever if they get too close to him.
¡°If there¡¯s a god, I¡¯ll kill him. Screw bringing peace to the world, I owe nothing to those around me.¡± He spat the words out of his mouth, his eyes welling up with tears. ¡°God will take my payback for this.¡±
Standing in the dark forest, walking away from that village, Relictus made a promise to himself.
He no longer walked with a destination in mind. He wanted to leave that wretched forest, see an end to the gloom, the darkness, the memories. Somewhere along his journey, he had found himself on a road of dirt pounded into the ground by the soles of countless feet.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
~¨C?¨C~
Markus laughed maniacally as the whip cracked with the intensity of thunder. With every swing of his arm, ten troops fell in a flash of light. Its color varied in every strike, from blue to white to yellow. In front of him, men were crying out in agony as they were brutally brought down by his whip, the blood staining his white blond hair.
¡°Is nobody a match for the Lightning Emperor?¡± Markus shouted out at nobody in particular. Indeed, he was one of the players chosen as New Emperors, and had contracted with Nir¡¯richh, Old Emperor of Thunder. Trial after trial he had survived, and it paid off when he gained power millions of times that of any normal player. He believed himself above all man, and had the power to substantiate that claim.
¡®It¡¯s so boring to fight these weaklings. When will anyone show up to equal me?
Meh. In the meantime, I¡¯ll have my fun!¡¯ Markus grinned a murderous, insane grin, one of lust for blood and death, contempt for mortal man as he blazed a trail of warm blood.
~¨C?¨C~
At some point, Relictus had reached walls that towered over the surrounding landscape in their unvaried grey bricks. Around him was a massive crowd before the gates that stretched over five meters into the air. As people rushed in and out of the crowds, an incessant din of speech could be heard.
¡®The ramblings of ants,¡¯ Relictus thought to himself, entirely out of spite towards the others around him. He clicked his tongue before snapping back to reality.
¡°¡to me?¡± An unreasonably burly man was leaning down facing Relictus, apparently addressing him. ¡°Oi, are you listening to me, brat? Oh, is that a ¡®tsk¡¯ I heard? Ah?¡± His contorted face and its uneven stubble looked absolutely ridiculous to Relictus. The smallest ant of them all.
¡°Yes. What of it?¡± Relictus responded, a far-off look in his eyes, as if this didn¡¯t bother him in the least (because it didn¡¯t).
¡°Do you know who I am?¡± He responded. Relictus sighed, exasperated ¨C this was far too predictable.
¡°No, and I don¡¯t care in the least. Now, I¡¯m trying to walk, here, so would you mind buzzing off, fly?¡±
¡°HAH? FLY?¡±
At this point, people were backing off, whisperings of a fight in the works. Relictus caught one of the passed mumbles. ¡°That poor guy, messing with Dirge. Well, it¡¯ll be fun to watch him get beaten into the ground.¡±
Relictus shrugged, realizing this guy was of some renown. Of course, Relictus didn¡¯t care. He just wanted to get through.
That is, until this ¡®Dirge¡¯ character forcefully pulled back his hood. People stepped much farther back after seeing his hair and face.
¡°White Reaper, huh? I¡¯ve been looking for you for an entire year. Never did I think you would look like such a wimp. I thought you were a ruthless killer who wouldn¡¯t hesitate to massacre dozens for just looking at your Guild Card?¡±
At this point, he was pulling an axe from his back. It was a poleaxe, long enough for even someone as fa- bulky as him to wield with two hands. The blade was a very standard polished silvery metal ¨C likely steel. ¡®People are just this far along so far?¡¯ Relictus thought. ¡®Pathetic. I thought they¡¯d accomplish more in a year.¡¯
Relictus didn¡¯t have time to keep thinking as he noticed a blade swinging towards his neck. ¡°Pay attention, fuckhead!¡± The guy called. Relictus laughed as he dodged the blade and picked the man up by his neck.
¡°You aren¡¯t worth my attention,¡± Relictus spat, his face holding a look of complete contempt, if not hatred. ¡°I¡¯m trying to get into the city, so fuck away from where I¡¯m walking.¡±
And so the man tumbled. In fact, Relictus practically went bowling for people as he threw the man off to the side. He didn¡¯t care about those who neglected their own fortunate lives, and he most certainly did not care for those who went against him. Dirge bounced and rolled, his face dragging along the dirt and digging shallow ruts as he uprooted the grass his ragdoll body rolled along.
Relictus took two steps, and looked upon his work with deep, prejudiced condescension. ¡°Stay out of my way, or you¡¯ll dig your own grave again.¡± He pulled his hood over his head and mumbled, ¡°literally.¡± He chuckled at his joke, and walked towards the gates. The guards, not knowing how to handle this, just stepped out of his way. Either way, Relictus thought it best to pull out his guild card and demonstrate his legality. He heard several awed gasps, or so he interpreted them as, and walked on.
¡°Maybe I care a bit too much?¡± Relictus pondered to himself.
Author''s Note
Spoiler : Had tons of power outages, lost the 5k word chapter this was supposed to be, and I missed my deadline thanks to it. I''m pissed off so I can''t write well beyond this, this is all I could really recover. Sorry. Anyway, thanks for reading. If you have any criticism, ideas, or mistakes I made, make sure to tell me so I can blow you off and go to sleep. Bye!
Chapter 15: Vacation
Relictus strolled through the cobblestone streets lined with bustling traffic that endlessly barraged the stalls along the roads that were selling a rainbow of merchandise. The crowd parted like a certain sea that had a name contradicting its color. Relictus never quite understood that.
Putting that aside, he did seem to get a lot of attention. Relictus sighed as he realized he was still the ¡°heartless harbinger of doom¡± and kept walking. He decided to survey the stalls. Among them was a singular small stall that had a particular aroma that attracted him.
The smell was almost tangible as he stopped in his tracks and sniffed the air, raising his nose.
¡®Yup, that is definitely some sort of fried dough.¡¯ He processed the smell at a blinding speed and started to walk even faster, arriving in a solid 43.06 seconds, a surprisingly specific number for such a lazy author that can¡¯t even meet one due date. Seriously.
In front of him was a slightly shabby wooden shop stall, the person manning it being a man, probably in his 50s, with slightly discolored brown hair only around the sides of his head. In front of him was the most beautiful thing Relictus had ever seen. Over a steel grid that had been heated to the point of mild luminescence, there was a light dough doused in a mild amount of oil and then coated in several different spices Relictus had never even seen. It was visibly turning its coloration from its bright beige to a variable gold and brown, the crystals of sugar still reflecting light. Another layer was added in the same method, and the smell was enough to flood Relictus¡¯s mouth with drool. He couldn¡¯t be compared to the imposing figure that had thrown a notable barbarian as if it was nothing. His face was an image of bliss, a stupid smile crossing his face ear to ear, his face slightly red as he ordered two of the fried products.
He carried them as he walked, immediately biting into one. This gave birth to many regrets as the intense heat of the food incinerated his nerves. Steam could be seen emitting from his head, his eyes wide, as he took all of his power to control himself and not run around in circles out of agony.
Soon, however, taste returned to his mouth and the fried food was exploding with powerfully sweet, yet slightly salty¡ fruit? Yes, it was apparently a fruit fried in two layers of dough. Relictus, not familiar with this world¡¯s fauna, had no idea what fruit it was, but it still went incredibly well with the crispy layers covering it. Only then did he realize that the author was incredibly bad at these culinary descriptions, and that this chapter had practically taken a sledgehammer to the fourth wall. Within minutes he had devoured the two, and was on his way. Many were puzzled by the emotionless, heartless white reaper being so happy-go-lucky, because ¡®who can be that cheerful yet kill 2 dozen people without batting an eye?¡¯
The answer to that rhetorical question was simple ¨C Relictus didn¡¯t care about others. Frankly, he didn¡¯t know himself ¨C being trapped in a bed for 8 years left him with no time to find himself. However, that¡¯s beside the point. He continued to stroll around the city, exploring its many wonders and foods. Especially the foods.
Before he knew it, Relictus found himself in an alleyway devoid of people. Around him, stone, brick, marble, and glass towered around him in the sprawling classical cityscape, and the colorful and diverse blocks of buildings blocked out the sunlight, leaving him in a small pocket of refreshingly cool shade.
Refreshing was a word that could only be used for a few minutes as Relictus leaned against the wall, until he was disturbed.
He pulled his crossed arms to his sides, and opened his eyes. In front of him stood a small army. There were at least a hundred people surrounding him, weapons drawn, menacing looks on their faces. Some wore hateful grimaces, some grinned, confident that he couldn¡¯t defeat all of them.
¡°What do you guys want, disturbing my rest like this? You know it¡¯s poor form to awaken someone just like that.¡± Relictus said, his tone deriding and almost mocking them. When Relictus went full passive-aggressive, someone definitely had done something very, very wrong. His eyes were half-opened, his eyebrows lowered and his lips were forming the ghost of a frown.
¡°We heard you were causing trouble for Dirge,¡± a particularly thin one (with a distinct English accent) spoke. ¡°Now you can apologize, leave everything you have on the ground, and run away, or we can Caesar you right here.¡±
Of course, Relictus wasn¡¯t going to budge for ants like this. They weren¡¯t even worth his breath. ¡°Give me a few more hours, I¡¯m tired.¡± He spoke simply, closing his eyes and leaning back into the stone wall.
¡°You little-¡± A man in the front walked briskly towards Relictus, drawing his sword. Of course, Relictus didn¡¯t even have to open his eyes to deal with enemies of this level.
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. He hadn¡¯t tried his blade extension ability yet, so he did so. He activated it as he unsheathed his sword, feeling the power rush into the blade. The bright red lightning glowed across the blade of energy as it slashed through its enemy¡¯s body, cleanly bifurcating him horizontally. Relictus watched, in awe of his own power, doing all he could to keep from breaking out in a fit of mad laughter. The now lifeless body of the man flew through the air and hit the cobbles, his blood splattering the ground and dyeing it a sickening red color. Nobody even had time to process what had happened, and once they did, they all charged in at once.
Instantly, a dozen heads were sent flying. Relictus¡¯s blade danced in his hand as if he was drawing a mural, the darkness drawing a picture of bloody death in the otherwise empty piazza. Morale plummeted as every swing slew multiple people ruthlessly, leaving the entire band in disarray. Relictus made it a point not to hold back against even the most insignificant of insects among his enemies ¨C to do so would be the deepest insult anyone could instill. And so, within just a minute, he had torn through the entire group.
Little did any of them know, a pair of young eyes watched.
~¨C?¨C~
A room. Grand mahogany doors opened into a similarly excessive room, the red carpet trimmed with gold rolling down the room to the giant throne upon which a single man sat. His wrinkled face was locked in a pensive look, his eyes focusing on something far away, his long white-gray hair covering part of his face.
¡°Was it the right decision?¡± He mumbled to himself. Camiel Dreyfus had just sent off his granddaughter off on a highly important mission. He had doted on the girl since she was born, she had been a solace from the kingdom of death and corruption in his court, which he could do nothing about. Because of that, not only was he worried about what would happen when he suddenly thrust her out into the world, but he also wondered if she was able to complete the task assigned to her. At this point, however, he had run out of men and was running out of time, too.
~¨C?¨C~
Eleftherios leaned against the brick wall, his arms crossed and his eyes closed, as he ignored the strenuous lecture that he was getting from the ¡®old man¡¯ that was the Emperor of Obror. The fire of the sconces above shone on his bright blond hair, his luminescent blue eyes glowing in the slightly dim room.
¡°I understand that you wanted to test your power, but you went too far.¡± The old man said, his tone harsh. ¡°You killed upwards of 200 thousand soldiers, practically annihilating their forces in a ruthless slaughter, and you say you did it on a whim? You threw us straight into a war with a neighboring country we wanted to keep good relations with.
Ah, what will I do with you?¡±
¡°It¡¯s a war, old man. Consider yourself grateful so many of them are dead with no casualties. If an empire isn¡¯t growing, it¡¯s dying.¡± Eleftherios responded in kind, pushing the blame away with his ideals.
¡°A sovereign group can grow in other ways than war and death!¡± The emperor responded, his fingers going to his lowered forehead as if he was dealing with a splitting headache.
¡°Ugh, you don¡¯t get it, do you, old man?¡± He retorted, having nothing left to say as he stood and stormed out (lol), pushing the heavy door as if it were nothing.
~¨C?¨C~
Relictus lay in the bed of the room he had rented out for the night. He was in his usual position of having his forearm covering his eyes as he contemplated life.
¡®Why is it that everyone thinks it¡¯s so great to target me? They should know by now that they can¡¯t lay a hand on me, but is it that great to assault another person and force them to kill? I¡¯m lucky I didn¡¯t get PK marked and made infamous for defending myself.¡¯
He sighed, and rolled over on his side. He stared into the light of the tiny flame floating above the candle, and sighed. He rolled over, feeling a pair of eyes burning two holes into his back, but he looked around and saw nothing. Of course, he was far too tired from being awake for 5 days to look around, let alone care. His last-resort defense system could stop any attack in its tracks.
With that, he fell asleep. Relictus no longer saw dreams.
Author¡¯s Notes
Spoiler : Yay, I finally released a chapter! I can¡¯t hit a single deadline because crap always comes up, and I¡¯m not sure if this chapter is up to par. Tell me what you think in the comments. Lots of new characters to come in this arc. Also, I may start writing a different story. Release schedule will be more or less the same for Final Hour, but it won¡¯t get any faster. Should I?
Chapter 16: The Second Stage of Darkness
Relictus yawned as he woke up. He had apparently slept through the entire next day, and it was around 10 PM when he actually got up. He left his room and captured a table for himself. He ordered a steak and a mug of a rather popular stout, and scarfed it down as if he hadn¡¯t eaten in months. Frankly, Relictus wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he hadn¡¯t.
It was pretty far from quiet in the inn, there were many people that were obviously adventurers there, messing around and overall being belligerent. One table went beyond being obnoxious flies, but went to being straight up belligerent. Relictus found it quite easy to tune these ones out, as they were not affecting him in any way whatsoever, but the other diners near them were visibly uncomfortable. It seemed like a common case of players disregarding the fact that NPCs were self-aware. It endlessly infuriated Relictus when people thought this; it was like invalidating the only true human contact he had had in years. Relictus had been to the brink of insanity, and some might think he went very far over the edge, never to return.
At this point, their incessant, aggravating laughter assaulted everyone¡¯s ears as they tripped a waitress and guffawed.
¡°AHAHAHA! It must be hard to balance yourself with those chest-cannonballs.¡±
She had dropped a tray bearing food to the ground, spilling red wine and several dishes on herself. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m so sorry, I¡¯ll-¡°
She hadn¡¯t even noticed until there were 4 men surrounding and taunting her, and the torment went on, nobody doing anything. Relictus was too hungry to care. He had food, and he was hungry, so he was going to eat.
Of course, this didn¡¯t last long. The two waitresses had been stretched thin with orders, and with one down and nobody so much as paying attention to her, he didn¡¯t get his dessert for another 20 minutes or so. He didn¡¯t need to ask why.
At this point, they had released the waitress, and she had burst out the front door, her eyes pouring tears. Relictus was infuriated at the men for delaying his food, and he had a perfect chance to return that much tenfold when they started taunting everyone there.
¡°Oh, and look at the brat with the hood!¡±
¡°Wow, he¡¯s the most scrawny person I¡¯ve seen in this game.¡±
¡°What does he need a hood for? Is his face one that even a mother couldn¡¯t love?¡±
Within moments, there was a hooded man in front of them. He dropped his hood to reveal his face, that of a young teenager, but with one abnormality. His eyes provided a stark contrast with his pure white hair, and they glowed indescribably dark colors with an otherworldly aura of malice.
This aura seemed to multiply in power by tens of times. Relictus¡¯s face was unusually composed, but his eyes told an entirely different story, one of fury and painful death. A notification window then handily accosted him.
Gaze Into the Abyss (Active)
Beginner 1/10
Your eyes contain such foreboding power when you look others in the eyes that they are driven to fear so deep that it resembles insanity.
Affects enemies at 1/10 of your level.
0%
The men disappeared from the door, three words echoing through the hall as they escaped. ¡°PLEASE FORGIVE US!¡±
Relictus sighed, and looked down, only to notice his hand had gone to his sabre¡¯s hilt, and part of the blade was visible. Other patrons seemed to want to express gratitude for driving off the belligerent folks, but their shifting eyes and slightly shaking hands told Relictus that they were nervous. Who could blame them? He had just driven off 4 of the top 100 players in the game. Of course, Relictus didn¡¯t know them. He had no interest in the banter of fools and flies. Relictus also had no idea that he was number 11 in fight ranking, and had a paltry level of power in comparison to the top 10. Either way, he decided he was going to leave. This city wasn¡¯t boring, but absolutely infuriating and teeming with self-righteous people stuck on their high horses.
~¨C?¨C~
The valley ignited with power, lit with nothing but the wide canvas of the sky and the stars scattered across it. Relictus was deep in the center of the valley, surrounded by death and destruction caused by none other than himself. In few words, Relictus was angry. Infuriated, in fact, and he had no idea why. Relictus had been completely unaffected by his exchanges with others in the city, so why was it that all of this anger had built up?
¡®If I succumb to Emperor of Fury, there¡¯s no telling how much I¡¯ll destroy. It¡¯s far too inconvenient to deal with this close to a city.¡¯
He was teetering on the edge of the remains of his sanity and self-control. His weapon had cut several feet into the rock cliff several hundred meters from his position, and he just kept slashing, destroying more and more, the entire ground around him covered in the scars of the intense power unleashed from his blade. The sound of rocks being crushed resonated through the entire valley, attracted attention he didn¡¯t want. The more that watched him, the higher risk. More and more land around him was shredded by the blade that flashed across the valley hundreds of times in a second. The gauge showing how close he was to unleashing Emperor of Fury was going down slowly, but steadily. 89.9, 88.5, 86.2, 83.1, 78.8, it accelerated in its descent towards zero.
He kept going, kept obliterating what was around him, until he saw the message.
The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
You are no longer affected by Fury!
He looked at the bar, and it had reached¡ -0.1?
He decided he¡¯d look into it later. He had completed his task of saving the entire city from the horrible fate of complete obliteration.
You have learned a new Skill!
Shattered Heart (Passive)
Intermediate 4/25
Your heart and mind have eroded, destroying your emotion. You think more logically, and couldn''t care less about those you fell.
21%
What was this? It completely contradicted Emperor of Fury. He went to read through his skills, and found Emperor of Fury greyed out and labeled ¡®INACTIVE.¡¯ He sighed. It was a great weight off of his shoulders to know he was no longer a ticking time bomb, ready to annihilate everything in a radius of 2 miles. He had no idea resetting Fury to zero would actually get rid of the skill. Did this mean he was always angry, getting even more furious as time went on? What a revelation, Relictus was a super dangerous character.
He stepped away from the destruction, having to climb up a good 20 meters to get back to the surface he didn¡¯t destroy.
¡®Whoops.¡¯ That was all he thought. Everything within him was telling him that it was not his problem, and that it was just going to be a pain to deal with if he ever got involved. Thus, of course, his first action was to disassociate himself from the problem and go do Relictus things. It was the most comprehensive plan he could possibly come up with.
He yawned, and retired to an inn closer to the gates, so he could leave early tomorrow.
~¨C?¨C~
He woke up to a very slight tremor. It was too small for the average human to perceive, but Relictus was far from being an average human. Deciding he wouldn¡¯t go back to sleep anyway, Relictus stored everything he had set in the room, and set off. He tossed a gold coin over the inn counter, though the one night stay was only 20 copper coins. It was negligible to Relictus, however, in the face of time. The clock ticks rapidly, and Relictus had very little time to fulfill M¡¯arrzath¡¯s wishes.
He nodded to the guard stationed inside the gate, and he signaled up towards the top of the brick wall, and the door split before him. He stepped through, and walked off. He needed a new goal, somewhere monsters were on his level.
~¨C?¨C~
Relictus stood now before an army of tens of thousands, weapons at the ready. He had no idea why. The front line leveled large, yet mediocre pikes and glaives, prepared to charge him.
¡°Would you guys move? I have places to be,¡± Relictus spoke, his tone obviously not a request. There were murmurs of, ¡°who¡¯s this guy?¡± and ¡°Someone get the medics, this man hit his head!¡±
¡°Not going to move?¡± He asked, and he activated Gaze Into The Abyss, his face hardening. ¡°Must I ask again?¡±
Immediately, the front line fell into chaos. People were doing whatever they could to get as far away as possible from him. After sending the first few hundred soldiers into utter pandemonium, he disabled the ability, grinning. ¡°Ah, are you dealing in court jesters?¡± He asked mockingly, causing several of them to grumble and show their displeasure on their faces.
A horn sounded. It was a deep baritone sound that vibrated all around him, as if it was resonating with his own body. ¡®A retreat signal?¡¯ He wondered, rapidly finding this theory debunked by the charge of soldiers towards him. Still not bothered, and remaining in a leisurely stroll of a pace, he drew his sword. Thousands of soldiers fell before him. Crimson and black painted the battlefield as the red lightning cleaved through hundreds in each swing of the arm. He felt no need to use anything but his sabre. He was only halfway to the second level of mastery of Throne of Sabers.
For nearly an hour, this continued, Relictus slaughtering the NPCs, not caring who he killed. It was so fast, even for such a decisive battle, that Relictus didn¡¯t notice the person standing before him, his silver-blond hair swept by the wind of Relictus¡¯s own attacks.
Author¡¯s Note
Spoiler : It¡¯s here! Another thousand words! See, I have a life or something like that, so I can¡¯t update often. At least this one is a bit longer, at closer to 1600 than 1000. I promise eventually they¡¯ll be 4-10k. It takes time for my writing skill to get there. It also took a lot of thinking to come up with all that¡¯s going on at the unreasonably fast pace I¡¯ve set. Anyway, that¡¯s enough of me griping about myself. Thanks so much for reading! Tell me if you have any ideas, or I¡¯ve screwed anything up. ¡®Til next time!
(Next time may be Saturday or Sunday. Might be Wednesday. Might happen at any time, so BEWARE!)
On top of all this, once I hit my 25k word mark, I decided not to rewrite. I¡¯m not a skilled enough writer at this point to make significant and meaningful enough changes to what I have made to call any editing I do a ¡°rewrite.¡± So, the story progresses!
Chapter 17: Relictus vs. Eleftherios
The person in front of Relictus sighed. ¡°You¡¯re that darkness dude that Markus said to be cautious of, right? I wouldn¡¯t follow his orders, but we¡¯re kinda partners in crime, y¡¯know? So sorry, but I¡¯m gonna have to make sure you¡¯re silenced for good.
Oh, and while we¡¯re on the subject, you might want to remember the name. It¡¯s Eleftherios.¡±
Soldiers were gathering at a safe distance, waiting for the confrontation to evolve into a fight. Despite how eccentric he was, their commander would not stand for one thing ¨C the utter disregard for human life that the person before them had demonstrated so perfectly.
Relictus didn¡¯t even know when he ended up on the ground, but he did. Eleftherios stood above him, wielding a golden scimitar. His electric blue eyes were almost luminescent with their bright color; his hair not restricted by gravity and looking like it was discharging electricity.
Eleftherios was also holding Relictus¡¯s hood. He stood over Relictus, about to plunge his blade into his heart. As fast as he could, Relictus reached inside his jacket. He wasn¡¯t stopped, so he pulled out the key. Below him, a circle of pure black grew along the ground, and Eleftherios stepped back, not just surprised but also stunned. By the look of it, this was a dimensional spell ¨C the highest level of magic possible. ¡®How could someone so weak and slow have such a powerful trick up their sleeve? The weak should just stay insignificant.¡¯ Eleftherios thought as he watched Relictus melt into the darkness and the circle recede.
~¨C?¨C~
¡°Why did you call me here again, Thalia?¡± Relictus asked. He was not frustrated; no malice was in his voice. He simply was perplexed ¨C after she had taught him everything he needed to know, she had faded out, never summoned him, but she was there when he needed her to talk. Since the Second Stage of Darkness took over, he hadn¡¯t needed her. It was as if his emotions had been sealed, to a point. He had finally taken an entire night and just slept, not perturbed by the boiling emotions within him. They weren¡¯t even there anymore.
¡°I suppose you didn¡¯t know?¡± Thalia said. It wasn¡¯t a question. A tear rolled down her so mildly wrinkled face. The smile on her face was a smile of sadness, of defeat. She looked older than she did before. Relictus didn¡¯t know if this was because of the pained expression on her face or if she had actually aged.
¡°What are you talking about?¡± Relictus responded deadpan. He felt absolutely nothing.
Thalia sighed before continuing. ¡°Before I died, I infused my soul into that armor you we- you wore.¡±
¡°And?¡± Relictus responded. He just wanted to drag this out, he knew exactly what she was saying.
¡°What happens to a soul when it is damaged?¡± Thalia asked, as if it was a test question.
Relictus sighed. This part was inevitable. ¡°When a soul is damaged, it slowly consumes its own energy to sustain its existence until it is completely extinguished, unless it has a corporeal vessel.¡±
¡°Very good!¡± Thalia responded, her sad smile now replaced with the same happy, poker-face grin she always had on. Relictus looked down, not sure what to say. He saw the reflective water he stood on, looking down and perpetually up into the nothingness that lay upwards. Thalia¡¯s feet were nowhere to be seen. Relictus looked up, his eyes still harboring nothing.
¡°Thank you,¡± Thalia said. Her body was disappearing, and the longer this went on, the faster she disappeared. ¡°You gave me some of the most fun I¡¯ve ever lived through. I wish I could see how far you¡¯d make it in your life. With your potential, the world is practically yours already!¡± She said the last line enthusiastically, but she still couldn¡¯t hide her emotions. ¡°I think I¡¯ve lived enough now.¡±
¡°Wait.¡± Relictus commanded, still nothing showing on his face. He berated himself in his mind. ¡®I¡¯m losing one of the only people who has ever cared about my insignificant life, so why can¡¯t I feel anything?¡¯
¡°I can¡¯t stay any longer, Relictus. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Those were her last lines. Where she once stood, a single drop of water fell. Ripples echoed through the dimension of perpetual¡ nothing. Relictus found himself in a place he found all too familiar.
¡°You have returned?¡± A familiar baritone voice boomed through the hall to greet him. Before him was M¡¯arrzath. ¡°I assume this means you¡¡±
M¡¯arrzath looked down upon his link to the world. Relictus was upset. M¡¯arrzath felt something he hadn¡¯t for thousands of years ¨C he was intimidated. It only lasted for a moment, however, as he stood. Relictus still said nothing, but he got a notification as though it was a natural thing to happen.
Armor of the Tarnished Black Soul
Level [3000]
Only one whose heart has been damaged beyond repair can wear this armor.
All Stats +5000
¡°Go. I have not yet business with you. ¡° M¡¯arrzath said simply. The scenery around Relictus warped, and a blinding light flashed. When it faded, Relictus was in an unfamiliar forest.
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
¡°Where¡¡± Relictus wondered, until he realized just how peculiar this forest was. Relictus was wearing only his armor, and not the rest of the suit he had before he jumped. The foliage all held an aqua pigment rather than the common green, and tree trunks were pink. The night sky above him was dark blood red, and the air was stagnant. Nothing around him moved.
Where was Relictus?
~¨C?¨C~
Relictus had walked for hours, yet he still couldn¡¯t feel anything about his loss. He just kept walking. His feet sank into the soft grass, and he heard a sound. It was a rustling. On his left there was a bush growing purple fruits shaped somewhat like apples. It moved suspiciously, and as he stepped towards it, out jumped¡ a rabbit?
Its eyes were bright red, not the crimson that belonged to the army of monsters he dealt with in the east. Its fur was a pure white, as well. The rabbit was nothing unusual, until it opened its mouth. It had a wide mouth of wicked, serrated blades of teeth, and no sooner did Relictus see it than he had to dodge the pouncing body of the rabbit. He drew his sword, and with a single well-placed thrust, he had skewered the rabbit. His mouth was agape as he looked at the window that described what he had just slain.
Tusk-Rabbit
Level: 4995
You have leveled up!
x 221
[table][tr]
Character Card
Name:
Relictus
122p 21g 4s 99c
Level:
3651
Experience:
851402353
Race:
Monster
Class:
Dark Emperor
Fame:
0
Title:
Heir to the Black Throne
Health:
210000/210000
Energy:
282550/282550
Stamina:
200000
Attributes
ATT:
4000
INT:
1025
DEF:
2200
WIS:
1540
DEX:
13000
ODRV:
4000
SPD:
8500
???:
---
Why couldn¡¯t he feel anything?
Author''s Note
Spoiler : Still unable to conform to a single schedule! I guess I just write on a whim. School starts again soon for me. You know what that means! I get a regular schedule for sleep, school, homework, exercise, and, you guessed it, writing! I''ll have normalized releases! Anyway, tell me what you think or what I screwed up.
Chapter 18: Lost
Relictus fought monster after monster. He felt nothing as he extinguished lives, an act that stung his heart before. He could swear he felt his chest become colder, as if his blood had frozen. For days he fought, his power increasing dramatically. He only felt colder. He wanted to scream, but he knew it would impede his situation. He could not feel emotion ¨C especially not anger. The icy feeling extended from his chest outward. It stopped at his neck, as if it was fighting something to reach his head.
Relictus breathed heavily. He had not slept in days, just killed and killed. He didn¡¯t even know what he was massacring anymore, his blade just swung instinctively. There was nothing left of the Relictus that wanted to save the world from ruin. He, himself, may have been that ruin.
It became hard to breathe. His chest was constricted, his arms aching, but not from overuse. He had to force himself to walk. His eyes glazed over. He felt nothing. He read his fury gauge. It had gone down ridiculously fast. It had gone far past -1000, Relictus was afraid he could never revert the hole he had dug himself into through the merciless slaughter. His eyes glazed over, he couldn¡¯t move himself anymore. He didn¡¯t go limp ¨C it felt as if he had been petrified, paralyzed from the neck down. He still felt the pain.
Yet there was still no feeling.
~¨C?¨C~
He was in a bed. It was not the familiar run-down inn bed, or the despised bland too-soft hospital bed. This was a normal bed, in a normal room. He hadn¡¯t been in one in many years.
¡°Awake?¡± Relictus heard a voice. It was a soft, sweet voice ¨C one Relictus disliked. Beside the bed was a young lady, no older than him. Relictus immediately understood through her tone that she was tired. She was trying to hide that, and act happy.
¡°Tired?¡± He answered after a few moments.
¡°They say only a fool answers a question with a question.¡± She beamed back. Relictus immediately sat up. He didn¡¯t want to spend any time more than necessary in a bed.
¡°You are?¡± He asked, tersely, again. The girl next to her had a look on her face. Her eyebrows were lowered, her eyes half closed, her mouth ever so slightly frowning.
¡°You never answered the question.¡± She responded. ¡°¡¡± Relictus still said nothing. ¡°¡I thought it was rhetorical.¡± He finally answered.
¡°Okay, okay, you got me there. I¡¯m Inakara, daughter of the town¡¯s chief.¡±
Relictus thought in the back of his mind, ¡®wow. That¡¯s not clich¨¦ at all.¡¯ He stood up, and felt an unfamiliar feeling on his finger. On his right hand¡¯s index finger was an unusual band with a silver color, but it had a slightly blue undertone. He almost saw snow swirling around beneath the surface of the ring. He gave Inakara a quizzical look.
¡°Oh yes, with that, you should be able to control your power. At the very least, it won¡¯t escape your body faster than it is restored.¡±
This only left him more confused. Power escaping his body? Is that what was causing him to feel so cold? He really was just slowly dying? Questions flurried through his mind. He still felt nothing, but there wasn¡¯t some insatiable coldness inside him that was worrying him. He could deal with this for now.
¡°Be careful if you do wish to take it off, though, as the energy that has left your body still remains around you. Taking the restriction of flow off will cause the greater energy to flow to the smaller one, and this won¡¯t stop until the greater energy is completely depleted. This, I recommend greatly that you take care of that piece of equipment.¡±
Relictus, naturally, had no idea what this meant in the slightest. From what he could gather, taking off of the ring would cause a dangerous surge of power into or out of his body, depending on how long the ring was on him. Useful.
¡°Who are you, how do you know this much?¡± He asked, suspicious.
¡°All Spirits know this much about the flow of energy!¡± She spoke proudly. It looks as though Relictus unknowingly stroked her ego a bit.
¡°Spirits?¡± He returned.
She proceeded to explain what exactly a spirit was, after being incredulous for a small while with the fact that he had no idea what the dominant sentient race of this world was.
Before he could step out, he looked down. He had on him only his armor trousers. How on Earth did he sleep for so long in those uncomfortable things?
Well, it was a good time to evaluate himself. Through his journeys, he had improved his body¡¯s toning a lot. His biceps were notably defined, and he had a 6-pack some would kill to have. Relictus didn¡¯t care whatsoever. As he saw no new cuts or scars, he decided he was fine with these ¡®Spirits¡¯ for now.
This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
~¨C?¨C~
At some point, Relictus ended up standing in front of the chief himself. The chief was easily very old, and Relictus had no idea what the lifespan of one of these was. His hair was pure white, not far from Relictus¡¯s own. He had a long, straight beard extending down below his neck, and his face was wrinkled as if from stress, rather than from age. His deep green eyes conveyed warmth.
¡°Sit, we have much to discuss.¡± The spirit spoke tersely, ¡°I believe I already know your name¡ Relictus is it? I am Tagad¨¢s. A pleasure.¡± Tagad¨¢s extended a hand, presumably to shake.
Relictus sat down, but didn¡¯t return the gesture. The man in front of him was evidently not happy, but just assumed the human didn¡¯t know the gestures of this world. ¡°Where am I?¡± Relictus immediately asked. It was imprudent, but very relevant.
¡°Ah, yes, that was where I was going to start. You are the first human I have heard of who has wandered across the barrier.¡±
¡°Barrier?¡±
¡°Yes. The barrier between the dimension we are in now and the dimension you live in. In fact, due to what we are, we cannot harm the other creatures around us. It was a great service of you to have gone through most of the population of animals surrounding us, it makes the roads much safer to travel.¡±
¡°So you cannot hurt them, but they can hurt you? Why do you still exist, then?¡± Relictus was sincerely curious. He wondered how one could possibly survive against enemies that can hurt but not be hurt.
¡°A good question indeed!¡± He was smiling brightly, but that expression immediately dropped. ¡°Sometimes I wonder myself¡¡±
This exchange went on for a long time. Relictus gathered much information about this world, and in return, he was to guard their caravans for trading between villages. It was a great way to see the world.
¡°It¡¯s a small village, but still, it¡¯s home. Come with me. Allow me to introduce you to them.¡±
They walked at a rather slow pace down the road. The people opened their doors to greet the chief, and he introduced Relictus to them. There was Odrekuvanjeto, Vidmova, Verweigerung, Merzhum, ¨¢rnisi, Jujue, Uari, and there were several more that I won¡¯t stall you by listing here.
¡°This is the human, Relictus.¡± They were talking to Vidmova.
¡°No, no, it¡¯s impossible for a human to cross the barrier. Absolutely impossible!¡± Vidmova laughed back, as if it was not just preposterous, but hilarious to hear. They moved on after an exasperated sigh from Relictus, and the exchanges continued.
Jujue: ¡°There¡¯s no way he¡¯s a human. He¡¯d be dead by now.¡±
Merzhum: ¡°Impossible.¡±
This continued on and on until Relictus was completely worn out from the interactions. He was still not used to talking to people. It was also rather frustrating to try and fail to prove his origins.
~¨C?¨C~
After just a few days of hanging around in the village, he was assigned a post as the sole guard of the convoy heading east to the next village over, to meet with Hasserea. She was notoriously hard to work with, but they still kept good relations in their trading. They only sent a single group of traders every year, since they had all the time in the world and it was hard to travel with all of the danger on the road, which nobody could do anything about. Relictus was brought in at a very convenient time, they were just about to send out the caravans.
Thus, the party of eight left.
Author''s Note
Spoiler : It''s here! He''s in another world for whatever reason!
Thanks for reading. This one was a bit quicker than usual because I just had a ton of ideas, and there are yet more to implement, so I''ll be uploading chapters quicker (one every 1-2 days) for this arc. Anyway, as I said, thanks for reading. Tell me what you think and what I screwed up and all that stuff. Should I start leaving random thoughts in the author''s notes? Add a meta character sheet? Maybe start developing the background so that you guys know what the hell is going on? These questions and more tonight on a new episode of Chapter or New Chapter!
Chapter 19: Seal
The travels were mostly uneventful. He asked how long it would take, and he learned that to travel between the villages took at least a month by foot. A few times each day, Relictus would have to fend off a few dozen monsters. The villagers asked how a normal Spirit like him could possibly do that, and decided to attribute it to the pure black armor he wore. They say he looked like a shadow as he flew from monster to monster, breaking entire groups of enemies with levels he never knew. Little did he know, their levels were all above 15,000, and multiple times that in their Stats. In fact, Relictus hadn¡¯t checked his own Character Sheet in over a week. They weren¡¯t even halfway to their destination, though. With his rapid improvement, he refined each movement as he went through with it, he learned at the rate of the monster the game was intent on calling him.
If only he could have improved fast enough.
Relictus woke to the sound of explosions, or so he thought. He stood and jumped outside of the carriage he was sleeping in. Surrounding the carriage were hundreds, no, thousands of monsters, all closing in on the carriage. If they were all small fry like the enemy army he had faced back in his own dimension, then he wouldn¡¯t sweat it, but he examined the enemies around him, and saw virtually nothing.
There was a humanoid warrior, or some existence like it, wearing shiny armor that didn¡¯t lose its hue even after dirt was kicked into its direction by the others around it.
Silver Marauder
Level: ???
A simple hooded character that wielded a wicked scythe, its blade¡¯s swing cutting even the air. It was either the weakest, or the easiest to discern, among them.
Harbinger
Level: 50281
He didn¡¯t even know how to describe one of them. It looked exactly like what the Spirits described him as ¨C a shadow with a humanoid shape, a blur as it moved.
???
Level: ???
There was a titanic character that looked as if it was prepared to destroy him in an instant if he got too close. Its scales were dark green, and its mandibles shone red in the constantly crimson ambient light, if it wasn¡¯t the permanent stain of blood.
Eater of Worlds
Level: ???
A simple foot soldier sat upon a horse that looked as if it were a skeleton.
Pestilence
Level: ???
There was a giant humanoid body, comparable in size to the Eater of Worlds, wielding a massive two-handed hammer.
Corrupt God
Level: ???
Legions of others that could be confused with the Harbingers stood near the back, but they all held staffs as black as night, the red light giving them an ominous hue, as if they were formed of embers. The shadows beneath them were dark.
Shadowmancer
Level: ???
Those were just a few of the high-ranked enemies among them. He felt emotion for the first time since Emperor of Fury was locked ¨C it was fear. Pure, unadulterated fear for his own life. He knew he couldn¡¯t escape here. This would mean making this whole scary world his enemy.
He ran straight into the enemy forces. He had confidence in his stamina. If nothing else, he could delay the enemies so that the convoy could get through. He didn¡¯t care what they thought. After making sure he had their attention, he motioned towards the road and dashed into the hordes of enemies surrounding them. He found the place with the most familiar enemies ¨C largely the Shadow Panthers he had defeated so many of. He immediately activated Darkness Pulse, an ability he rarely used, and hadn¡¯t even tried since before reaching the city he had stayed in. The monsters were already staying a fair distance from him, but once he activated it, they¡ inched backwards a little? It was incredibly weak, and didn¡¯t affect his enemies in the slightest. Despite his power, it was too weak, somehow.
He dismissed it rather quickly ¨C in battle, there is no time for this. He hacked and slashed and stabbed at his enemies, crushing them completely, their blood decorating his armor spectacularly. He made it through hundreds until he realized it wouldn¡¯t work. Gathering around him now were Silver Marauders. He could hardly even defeat one of them with his level now, and they made him feel incredibly weak. They overpowered him easily. He did the only thing he had left.
He sheathed his sabre and pulled at the ring. It would not come off. It caused excruciating pain, trying to pull it with all his might. It wasn¡¯t caught on his finger. It hurt his chest to pull at it. It was a burning sensation, one he hadn¡¯t felt in a very long time.
While trying to avoid the barrage of the attacks, suddenly, something clicked. Immediately, as it did, the ring slid off of his finger as if there had been no struggle whatsoever, and he felt as if every inch of his body was being incinerated in the concentrated core of a star. He felt as though his blood boiled, then¡ nothing. The last thing he saw was his fury meter. It read, [100000/???]. All he heard as everything around him disappeared, shrouded in perfect black, was his own voice.
Must¡ kill¡
Blood¡
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.WILL BE SPILLED
KILL
DESTROY
LEAVE NOTHING
ANNIHILATE ALL
REVENGE IS THE ONLY PURPOSE
BEYOND THAT¡
IS ONLY¡
DEATH
Even his own voice faded from his mind, the growling tone fading with the rest of the world.
Where am I?
He tried to move. It was surprisingly easy. He didn¡¯t walk, he didn¡¯t touch anything, he just¡ moved. It could be called floating, if there was anything to float on. He didn¡¯t even breathe. He just was. As he moved, his vision changed. He could see more around him. He saw himself. He saw himself, and around him were countless bodies. Beyond that, and encroaching on him were hundreds. There were pure shadows, spells of darkness cast towards him, but they had no effect. He himself was a being of shadow; a monster against many more. As Harbingers closed in, Relictus saw himself crushing their scythes and slashing their cloaks into strips of cloth. They were nothing before him when he was enraged.
Relictus tried to warn himself, but whatever was controlling his body couldn¡¯t hear him. A blade pierced his back. Behind him was a humanoid being Relictus hadn¡¯t noticed ¨C he couldn¡¯t examine it either.
All too suddenly, he was in his own body. His HP had gone down seriously far. He only had 300 left, and it was draining incredibly quickly. He had just one chance to do whatever he could. It couldn¡¯t get any worse, but he had exactly 6000 energy.
He went all-out, and activated God Slayer, squandering the rest of his energy. He kicked off of the ground, and arrived in front of the Corrupt God in a split-second. A single slash broke through its body like it was going through air, and in just one strike, it was dead. He kept going. Whatever hit him in the back was diced into hundreds of pieces. Pestilence was bifurcated vertically. Hundreds fell under his final strikes. After ten attacks, he fell to his knees, depleted of everything. The caravan, completely stunned by his actions, had sat still. Relictus felt his third emotion since that time.
Relictus despaired as his head hit the ground, he despaired as his health fell to zero, he despaired as he watched his companions stand unmoving. A single tear fell from his eye, onto the grass below. He lay in the single clean patch of grass in the bloody warzone, his hand gripping tightly to one thing ¨C a ring. In his final moments, he held it to his chest.
~¨C?¨C~
¡°This isn¡¯t happening, right?¡± Jujue spoke first.
¡°Of course. We¡¯re¡ just dreaming! That¡¯s it! It¡¯s just a¡ a dream.¡± Verweigerung spoke back, shaking. ¡°There¡¯s no way this is real.¡±
The others were either unconscious or mumbling to themselves, cold sweat and tears falling. They were practically broken, scared. They shook; they wanted to deny what was going on. That was all they could do. They were only there to deny.
~¨C?¨C~
He closed his eyes, waiting for the message that would convey to him the dreaded message. He was dead, wasn¡¯t he?
It never came. He forced his eyes to open; it burned to even move those muscles. He looked down at his chest, using all of his remaining strength to look down. Why, you ask? There was a suspicious light. His chest, right above his sternum, glowed. Right in the center of his chest was a circle. He could still see, he could still move. The pain faded, and he stood up. He was numb.
Congratulations! Through use of an artifact, you have gained the Power to Deny Death. With this, you can live after death for up to 1 hour. This will not be added to the Death Penalty. If you die while this is active, however, penalty is doubled. You will respawn where you originally died.
He sighed in relief. He felt numb, but he was now able to stand. With this, he stood up and prepared once again to fight. He didn¡¯t feel tired. He had been hot-headed earlier, and it gave him great relief, but he was still cold now.
He didn¡¯t run quickly, delivering thousands of slashes to end twice as many victims. He just stood there. His ODRV stat was rising just from standing. He unsheathed his blade. A single swing decimated everything in front of him. He kept walking, swinging. Hundreds died in each strike. The army of beasts had very little left, all due to the drowsy Relictus. He kept swinging, and more died. They were slow slashes, and had no form, but from them extended a massive wave of energy with enough concussive force to easily end the lives of those that he fought.
Within just minutes the army was almost entirely gone. Relictus finally discovered his power ¨C he was able to destroy those far above his own power.
Then, he discovered its weakness. He half-ran, half-hobbled over to the caravan, or what was left of it. The remains of those he traveled with were completely gone. He went through a range of emotions, including anger at himself for being the one to do this, sadness because it was his fault, hatred of the monsters who had him do this, the system for giving him that cheat-like power and letting this happen.
As he fell to the ground in the scraps of wood, all he felt was that he knew he had only one person to blame ¨C himself.
Author''s Note
Spoiler : 2 chapters in one day! It''s like a holiday or something. I guess I''m in a good mood after seeing the Deadpool trailer. Definitely gonna go see that with my friends when it comes out. Anyway, it''s a battle chapter. How did I do?
Slow releases - not a chapter! Sorry.
Releases have slowed down immensely, and for a while, they''ll stay that way. I''m getting back into classes, and there''s gonna be a ton of work to be done, and sadly, you guys come after that. Sorry!
Also, I''ll still write at a similar rate to what I used to, but I''ll be storing up chapters to release on a regular schedule in case I hit some rough patches, so that it doesn''t inconvenience you too much in the future. Expect 1-3 releases a week until the end of August.
Stolen novel; please report.
Sorry! Also, have a great day.
I''ll put in a rewrite before the year ends.