《Eternal Sky God》 01 *CLICK,CLICK,CLICK ¡­ ¡®¡¯ Oh wow! This build is kinda good chat¡¯¡¯ (400 viewers) [ OriginalChadArthur: told¡¯ya mate] [Busterbunny69: LOL, auto bomber OP!] [...] [Ishatmyself -donated 10 USD-: Do you think you can get in the top 10 boss rush with this build?] ¡®¡¯Nah, it has good aoe damage but it lacks in the single target department, besides most of the damage is thermal it would be hell to fight against dragons and that elf god¡­ it¡¯s possible since the explosions also do blunt and blast damage but the worst downside to this build is that there¡¯s basically no defense or evasion so even if I wanted to give it try it would be really hard since it would mean I needed to do a no hit run¡¯¡¯ [¡­] [FNXXX8341 -donated 3 USD- : Do it you coward] ¡®¡¯Can¡¯t, I¡¯ve school tomorrow¡¯¡¯ [ Ishatmyself: ¡®¡¯ Can¡¯t, I¡¯ve school tomorrow¡¯¡¯ implying that you could do if you hadn¡¯t LOLLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL] [FNXXX8341: @Ishatmyself Right?!?!?! This mf get two good runs and really think he¡¯s him] [Lustruriosbald: Can¡¯t you use flammable steps on this build?] [ OriginalChadArthur: @ Lustruriosbald you can¡¯t the boots is sprouting the mushrooms] [Lustruriosbald: @OriginalChadArthur what¡¯s the name of the item?] [ OriginalChadArthur: @ Lustruriosbald golden shoes] [¡­] [Lustruriosbald: WTF this is disgusting ¡­ the item looks like athletes foot infection! How can this abomination be an heroic item! And the stats are ¡­ well¡­] [Ishatmyself: @ Lustruriosbald gnomes...] [Lustruriosbald: Frick you¡¯re right don¡¯t know why this surprises me] [ Lustruriosbald -donated 7 USD-: HOW THIS BUILD WORK?111111] ¡®¡¯ Sooooo you just run around using stomp on the mushrooms on the ground that will explode and trigger a second explosion on the mushrooms on the character. As for the items well.. the core of this build is the golden shoes will sprout the mushrooms when the character walks, the Belt of Welhem will then make it scatter thru the screen, the Helmet of Chemical Delusions will allow to give them elemental property, the necklaces love and passion makes all effects of hero and above quality items equipped also apply to the character and the glove of Vulcanos that convert 1/5 of all attacks into fire damage. Now the armor and the two rings is the changeable parts I suppose ¡­¡¯¡¯ [Lustruriosbald: Wow that¡¯s messt up!!! it¡¯s probably really good on the real end game!] [ Ishatmyself: real end game by that you mean the calculator?] [ Lustruriosbald: @Ishatmyself Hell no I mean the temple] [ Ishatmyself: @Lustruriosbald you¡¯re weird bro ¡­] ¡®¡¯You¡¯re probably the only one in this stream who enjoy playing city builder in this game¡¯¡¯ [ Lustruriosbald: in this stream maybe but I know I¡¯m not alone in fact I¡¯m petty sure most players play this game for the story and the city builder not combat¡­]This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. [ Ishatmyself: @Lustruriosbald and yet you¡¯re here every stream lol] [ Lustruriosbald: I don¡¯t dislike combat in fact power has a great use in the political side of things] [Hiddin: @Lustruriosbald Why would I bother with politics if I can just kill everything and everyone on the screen] [ Lustruriosbald: @Hiddin that¡¯s the fun part¡­ killing everyone is also politics you dumass] [ Hiddin: @Lustruriosbald in my books it¡¯s only politics when there¡¯s a shit load of dialog before deleting everything on screen and I don¡¯t really appreciate this amount of reading in my dopamine inducing game. The only thing I care about is what color my monitor will glow next time¡­ and numbers popping can¡¯t forget those..] [...] [OriginalChadArthur -donated 2 USD- : It is but I didn¡¯t find any better option, since most of the good stuff is god quality or demigod, and the heroic items will mess up the core of the build because of the necklaces] ¡®¡¯ heeeee, let¡¯s see ¡­ have you tried heart of the beast?¡¯¡¯ [ OriginalChadArthur: I didn¡¯t ] [ I_8Yura$$: why don¡¯t you use demigod and god items to finish the build?] ¡®¡¯ Because this character is already max level with good base stats so with I use demigod or god items on him it will suffer apotheosis and brick the character¡¯¡¯ [ I_8Yura$$: why would it brick it?] [Mutthafhukka: @ I_8Yura$$ he doesn¡¯t like the campaign] ¡®¡¯It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t like the campaign but it¡¯s really time consuming to go thru it, especially if I need to do it every time I¡¯m trying a new build¡¯¡¯ [Mutthafhukka: I share the same opinion, it¡¯s even worse if you are not max level by the end of the main campaign¡­ the grind is brutal] [I_8Yura$$: LOL what!? It¡¯s the best part of the game!] [GreatYM: I¡¯m new to Tardia what¡¯s the problem with using god items? WTF is apotheosis?] ¡®¡¯ God and demigod items are character bonded the moment you equip them you cannot unequipped it and, if you try to do it the item will break and be forever lost, the character will also die, sooo you will end up losing about 30% exp on normal and in hardcore is permanent death¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯ As for apotheosis is an effect that the character get when you first equip a god or demigod item, you can think of it as the character ascending to divinity, it has a lot of mechanics but the important one is that all items you have equipped during this process will forever become character bonded and will go up one quality, so if you have a normal item equipped it will become rare, if rare,epic, if epic legendary, if legendary heroic, if heroic, demigod and if demigod, god.¡¯¡¯ [GreatYM: So you become a god but can¡¯t swap your equipment? LOL] ¡®¡¯Yeep ~ , but the thing is... god and demigod items are really strong in terms of stats and passives the big problem is that the current know builds for them are all hyper specific builds¡¯¡¯ [GreatYM: what¡¯s a hyper specific build?] [Mutthafhukka: It¡¯s a build that do only one thing really well, and it¡¯s mediocre at best in the other things for ex : terror archer build is good at killing dragons and heavy armor enemies but it¡¯s really bad against demons, gnomes fairies ¡­] ¡®¡¯Yeah that¡¯s a good example, Terror archer has a really good single target physical damage and has one of the highest defense penetration in the game, but the skills have long cool down and the basic attack speed is slow so it¡¯s very bad against enemies that do the swarm tactic¡¯¡¯ [ GreatYM: So what build would you recommend?] ¡®¡¯Just pick something online that you find it fun and roll with it, there are tons of fun builds and the possibilities are basically endless... besides the game is not as difficult as it was at lunch three years ago with the amount of information we have now.¡¯¡¯ [¡­] [¡­] Raided by BigBlackRok (750 viwers) ¡®¡¯Thank you for the raid rok but I think I¡¯m also ending the live here I need to sleep...¡¯¡¯ [BigSmalRok: broo¡­ we just arrived do at least a dungeon run, and¡­ WTF is this build!] [Fatgock: my glorious king if may I ask is this the new meta?] ¡®¡¯Nah, just having fun testing stuff¡¯¡¯ [FNXXX8341 -donated 3 USD- :Tsk,Tsk,Tsk ... Do it you coward] ¡®¡¯I won¡¯t ¡¯¡¯ [Fatgock: @FNXXX8341 do it what?] [FNXXX8341: @Fatgock hitless boss run with this wanky build] [Fatgock -donated 2 USD- : would you do it for 100 bucks??] ¡®¡¯ 100!? *sigh* If heart of the beast work and I swap the rings first I can try¡¯¡¯ [GreatYM: what heart of the beast do?] [ OriginalChadArthur: @GreatYM It doubles the attack speed, reduces the skill cd by 60% and adds +50 hp regen p/s +100 mp regen p/s +37 p. def and +10 move speed. Here¡¯s the link to the wiki [link] ] [GreatYM: @OriginalChadArthur THX!] [BigSmalRok: what¡¯s the play here? Why heart of the beast?] ¡®¡¯ This build is squishy so the move speed will help me survive and the stomp cooldown is 1 sec so... I¡¯m hoping that we get a negative cooldown to use stomp non stop. [BigSmalRok: just like the knight of the light build?] ¡®¡¯ Exactly like knight of the light build¡¯¡¯ [I_8Yura$$: What about the rings?] ¡®¡¯I¡¯m thinking of ring of minor circulation for mp regen and ring of aloof illusions to gain after image skill and more evasion status¡¯¡¯ [¡­] [¡­] -30 minutes later - ¡®¡¯ Oh ¡­ It works!!!!! This is so dumb!!!!! HAHAHAHAHA... ¡®¡¯ -*tap,tap,tap [Fatgock -donated 100 USD-] ¡®Fuck¡¯ ¡®¡¯Alright, alright. I¡¯ll do it¡¯¡¯ *CLICK,CLICK,CLICK ¡­ 02 - 8 hours later - ''''YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES, FFFFFFFFFFFFFFU- I''m finally free from this shit!!!!!!!'''' '''' You can suck on DEEZ Ravguar, and you too FNX !!!'''' [...] [FNXXX8341: Oh GOD! The bastard really did it] [...] [BigSmalRok: this is one of the wildest shit I''ve ever seen] [...] [Fatgock: Fuck that''s it, I already know what my next build will be] [...] [Busterbunny69: Today I''ve seen history, no I live it] [...] [ OriginalChadArthur: Bloody Hell man ¡­ My build did that ?] [...] [Ishatmyself: R.I.P Lustruriosbald who didn''t stay to witness peak] [...] [Mutthafhukka -donated 28 USD-: F in the chat for Lustruriosbald] [...] [I_8Yura$$: Hello 2tube, I was here ^^] [...] ''''That''s it for today''s stream guys see you the day after tomorrow at 8 p.m '''' Looking at the clock on the computer screen desperation starts to creep in. 6:35 am ''Fuck I''m late'' ''there''s no time to take a bath but I should at least wash my face it shouldn''t be too bad right ?'' -*step, step, step. As I looked into the bathroom mirror and got confronted with the consequences of my own actions a single thought got into my head. ''I''m screwed'' The eyes were swollen with huge black marks underneath it, the left eye sclera completely red, hair? Messy, Breath? Disgusting. *sigh ''At least I got 155 bucks, nooo... if I take the 5% of the platform will be 147.25'' -* Splash, splash -* gurgle, gurgle ''Where''s my phone?'' a characteristic sound came from the corner of the sink -vrrrr - ''there it is'' 6:45 '' five minutes for the bus'' ''''FUCK!'''' *huff huff huff As I ran past the living room I heard what I feared the most ¡®¡¯HEY!!!, young man why are you still here and not at the bus stop?¡¯¡¯ ¡®Shit! I got caught¡¯ ¡®¡¯ I¡¯m late, I know, I know, where¡¯s the breakfast?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯It¡¯s near the sink¡­ HEY don¡¯t try to change the subject! If your mom was still here she would-¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯ *mwah SLAM! *huff, huff, huff... ¡® - vrrrr - - vrrrr - ¡® (38 new messages) (BBR: hey take a look at this! [link]) ¡® A new build? ¡¯ ¡®¡¯ [DamnOne: Is this that build you were working on the past few months?]¡¯¡¯ *sent ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯ --------------- Character name : FilthyOne Ascension title: One with DeathThis tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Level: 99 (+1) Status: Hp: 2,590,310,23 MP/AURA: 500Mp/230(Aura) Precision: 67/100 Agility: 20(+5)/100 Rigor: 50(+20)/50 Charisma: -40/100 P.def 4.5 blunt: 15,000 sharp: Immune Thermal def. High: 362 Low: 164 Illusion res.: Immune Poison res.: Immune Spirit def. : 30(+10)/100 Critical res.: 70% Critical rate: 34% P. Attack: 5.0 blunt: 3,323 Sharp: 75,489 Blast: 0 Pierce: 100,564 Thermal dmg. High:0 Low: 200 Spirit attack: 60/100 Skills: acquired: Sword grand-master, chilling bone, Illusion grand master, death touch, drain touch, frostbite, charge, abyssal chain, soul stealing, soul eating, guided death, mind control, communication with the dead, abyssal flame: blade, death rite, summon undead, spirit wrath, tornado of souls, decapitation (Vorpal). Equipment Cape/Wing/Wheel : Cape of death¡¯s embrace (Demigod) --------------- ¡®Wtf is that name¡¯ ¡®it seems really strong¡­¡¯ ¡®WAIT A MINUTE,¡­, 2M HP!!¡¯ ¡®¡¯[DamnOne: Bruh¡­ how?! Why!?]¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯(BBR: LOL)¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯[DamnOne: how this even work?]¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯(BBR: It does LOL the only downside is that it doesn''t have aoe attacks)¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯ ¡® ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯(BBR: Don¡¯t worry it¡¯s more than worth it, the thing is, I discovered a new mechanic to apotheosis)¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯(BBR: Yes. Here¡¯s what I did -PDF-)¡¯¡¯ *tap ¡®WHAT!¡¯ 03 Attempt 1: fail ¨C reason: main character can not become a dullahan he will just die (details) Attempt 2: fail- reason: side characters Lucien, Crina, Kaiser, Lester, Katherine can not become a dullahan they will just die (details) Attempt 3: fail ¨C reason: side characters Felicia, Dundun, Irna, Helga, Ela can become a dullahan but they will change their moral alignment to lawful evil losing bonus stats from the boots as well as the ability to ride mount (details) Attempt 4: fail ¨C reason: created character, background mercenary, can become dullahan and stay neutral but he lacks skills before the completion of apotheosis (details) Attempt 5: partial success- by equipping the cape earlier (lvl 50) manage to learn intermediate sword mastery before apotheosis! (details) Attempt 6: partial success ¨C by equipping the cape at lvl 45 manage to learn advanced sword mastery before apotheosis (details) Attempt 7: success ? - by equipping the cape at lvl 30 manage to learn all skills but I earned 5 more status points?? (details) Attempt 8: massive success by equipping the cape at lvl 10 manage to get 40 more points???? probably a mechanic no one has discovered yet???? (details) attempt 9: ¡­ ... ¡­ CONCLUSION: apotheosis hidden mechanic ¨C WHAT YOU DO DURING THE PROCESSES OF APOTHEOSIS (BE IT QUEST OR SKILLS LEARNED/ ACQUIRED) WILL INFLUENCE THE AMOUNT OF STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION THAT YOU WILL GAIN DURING AND AFTER ASCENSION. --------- ¡®HOLLY!!!! IT¡¯S NOT PURE RNG!!!¡¯ ¡®¡¯[DamnOne: bruh ¡­ you¡¯re the goat]¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯(BBR: told you)¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯[DamnOne: did you test if this influence the buff on temple content?]¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯(BBR: it does but I don¡¯t know to what extent, the only thing I notice was that the more status points you get the stronger the buffs are)¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯[DamnOne: alright thx for sharing the info]¡¯¡¯If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡®¡¯(BBR: c¡¯mon little bro, it was a fair trade :) )¡¯¡¯ ¡®It was not, most streamers wouldn¡¯t share new info even if I paid them¡¯. ¡®¡¯(BBR: I need to work now talk to you later)¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯(BBR: Oh! and congrats on the no hit boss rush run bye bye) ¡®¡¯[DamnOne: thx again ,bye]¡¯¡¯ -Vrrr- ¡®Why there are so many messages today?¡¯ *Tap ¡®¡¯(Vincent: congrats on your new world record! XD)¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯[DamnOne: What are you talking about?]¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯(Vincent: Yesterday¡¯s no hit run? No I think it¡¯s today¡¯s no hit run kekekek)¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯[DamnOne: I didn¡¯t beat any of the top 10 in fact my time was almost 10 minutes below Fedora_the_explorer]¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯(Vincent: Yep, in the normal category yes, but in the new category you¡¯re first!)¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯[DamnOne: New category?]¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯(Vincent: Yes you created a new one kek)¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯[DamnOne: I didn¡¯t tho]¡¯¡¯ ¡®This guy has the gift of pissing me off¡¯ ¡®¡¯(Vincent: You did, normally the no hit run includes the 10 know gods, the 4 major beasts, the 24 new zodiacs and the 7 continental dungeons, and you my guy, also added the 5 mystical palaces to the list making you the word first)¡¯¡¯ ¡®FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK! THE PALACES WAS NOT INCLUDED! That means I could have slept at least 4 hours¡­ that damn chat!... well, that also explains the messages.¡¯ ¡®¡¯(Vincent: anyways I¡¯m just sending you my congrats for getting in the top again, but don¡¯t worry I¡¯ll soon make you company there)¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯[DamnOne: I¡¯m not worried you won¡¯t be able to lol]¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯(Vincent: we¡¯ll see)¡¯¡¯ (Vincent) -offline- -Vrrr- ¡®¡¯(LactoseTheIntolerant: congrats on your run! I¡¯ve made a compilation and posted on 2tube could you watch on stream? It would mean a lot to me)¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯(DamnOne: alright remind me on that when I start the stream tomorrow)¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯(LactoseTheIntolerant: You¡¯re the best, I¡¯ll send you a GGL key later S2)¡¯¡¯ -vrr- ¡®¡¯(Aunt: buy a gallon of milk on your way back)¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯(DamnOne: noted) ¡®¡¯(Aunt: you should use your name on the messenger when you¡¯re talking to me Ethan!!!!)¡¯¡¯ *tap,tap ¡®¡¯[Ethan: I¡¯m sorry, I was talking to my editor]¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯(Aunt: It¡¯s alright I understand this is your job and you are passionate about it but don¡¯t let it consume you, you still have a life)¡¯¡¯ ¡­ ¡®¡¯[Ethan: I¡¯m getting close to school gotta go bye]¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯(Aunt: bye sweetie)¡¯¡¯ -BUZZ!- 7: 22 am A tall imposing man stood at the gate of Westwood high ¡®¡¯TSK¡¯¡¯ ¡®The P.E teacher is in charge of closing the gate today¡¯ ¡®¡¯ Morning Mr. Spencer¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯You¡¯re late¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯But still in time to enter¡¯¡¯ Spencer took silent pause and looked at his watch ¡®¡¯You may enter¡¯¡¯ ¡®Gosh I though he you stop me¡¯ *yaawwwwn ¡®Thursday first class should be history right? Nice!¡¯ ¡®¡¯Dude ¡­ here have you been ? Boxing Tyson or something? You look terrible¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Oh! hello Mathew to answer your question I was indeed fighting ¡­¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Pfffff, you, fighting?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Yes, fighting my urge to sleep haha...¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯ Did you spend all of your night playing Tardia again?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Nooooo, I spend all my night playing Tardia and making money, huuuge difference¡¯¡¯. ¡®¡¯Suuureeee, anyways are you going to Pete¡¯s house this Saturday?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯No I¡¯ve already have a compromise.¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Is it playing Tardia?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Noooo¡­¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Ok, got it, playing Tardia and making money¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯ You really are my fourth best friend hun, knows me with the back of your hand¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯What do you mean forth?! I¡¯M your best friend¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Nah, first my aunt, second my editor third BigRok than you¡­¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯ Stop the cap, your aunt is family, your editor is your employee at best, and you don¡¯t even know the rok dude irl¡¯¡¯. ¡®¡¯Does it even matter? I mean he made me a lot of money¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯pff, hahahaha..., You fucking capitalist pig¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯hahaha... let¡¯s go to class you commie scum¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Heyyy!!! Not a communist, I¡¯m a true socialist advocator... hahaha ¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯It¡¯s the same thing in my books, and god bless America. Pfff ¡­ hahaha...¡¯¡¯. -RINNNNGGGG - ¡®¡¯Let¡¯s go to class before it¡¯s to late¡¯¡¯ 04 - 90 min later ¨C in the school corridors *YWAAAAN ¡® Shit, it¡¯s only the first class of today and I¡¯m already feeling like passing out¡¯ ¡®¡¯Hey, did you copy everything?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Seriously Mathew?! I should be the one asking you that, look at my state man ¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Yeah you¡¯re right, but I should at least ask right? Maybe you are just build different like that¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯You¡¯re in perfect conditions soo... why didn¡¯t you?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Got distracted by staring at Amanda¡¯s ass¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Typical, Why don¡¯t you just go and talk to her¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Really? Do you think I have a chance?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Suuuuure, the only thing you need to do is spontaneously become 1 feet taller, pull a reverse Michael Backingson and change your name to Tyrone, after you¡¯re done I guarantee you she will fall in love in no time.¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯That¡¯s my opinion too so... I¡¯ll just sit my ass here and stare at her ass while doing nothing¡¯¡¯. ¡®¡¯Pa-the-tic. Anyways what¡¯s the next class?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Math¡¯¡¯ ¡®Fffffff-¡¯ *sigh ¡®¡¯Heeey, look Pete is here¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Morning Ethan, Morning Mathew. What did I miss?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Apparently my fight against Tyson and Amanda''s ass¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯No, no... you came just in time to appreciate the beauty of Amanda''s ass... next class is math, only Ethan pays attention to that.¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯May god have mercy on your poor soul Mathew, and Ethan, I didn¡¯t even notice you looked different until you mention fighting Tyson¡¯¡¯This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡®Damn that was a good one¡¯ ¡®¡¯pfff, Fuck you Pete.¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯hahaha I fear I¡¯m already to far gone for God¡¯s grace Pete, but you can include me in your prayers if you want to¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯I saw the video of your stream yesterday what weapon was that?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Rotten wand, you get near the gnome territory by trading shit with a weird bug¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯How the fuck you know that?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Someone in my stream told me, I think this was added in the wiki a few days ago¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Got it, I want to try that build later when I have the time, looks fun¡­By the way, are you going to my house this Saturday? We¡¯ll be commemorating my gold metal with a barbecue party¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯But the tournament was like a month ago right?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Yes but my mom and my Sensei decided to wait until I got my black belt to do one single party with everyone¡¯¡¯. *YWAAAAAAAAAN ¡®¡¯Oooh... I¡¯m sorry but I can¡¯t, I need to stream¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯My mom will be sad to hear that¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯I bet she will, but don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll visit her on Sunday and take her out to eat and drink some wine, but until then, just tell her that her men is working hard to secure a better future to the family¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Dude you¡¯re underage you can¡¯t drink wine ¡­ besides I¡¯m sure she knows that Greg is a hard working man with a bright future ahead of him.¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Greg who¡¯s that? My name is Ethan! Ethan! Did perhaps you hit your head?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Greg is the CEO of fifth nineteen constructions, it¡¯s french company goodle it¡¯¡¯ *tap, tap, tap - cinquante dix neuf - ¡®damn I walk into it, he¡¯s really good¡¯ ¡®¡¯Fuck you¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯pff- hahahaha¡¯¡¯ - step step step - ¡®¡¯GOOD MORNING EVERYBODY EVERYONE ONE YOUR BOOKS ON PAGE 19 ¡­¡¯¡¯ ¡­ - 90 min later - *YYYYYWWWWWWAAAAAAAAANNNN - step, step, step ¡®¡¯dude why is she coming here, do you think she noticed?¡¯¡¯ Lifting my head up, I saw Amanda, a tall Latina with long black hair, thick legs and small waist walking our direction. ¡®¡¯ Dunno, don¡¯t care.¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Same, just want to sleep, if you will bitch about her every time she moves around the class you should move seats or we¡¯ll have a problem¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Oh yeah tough guy, and what will gonna do about it?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Tell her how creepy you are¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯You wouldn¡¯t dare¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Oh, I would¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯You two stop with the bullshit; Hey Ethan look at this cute cat video my sister sent me¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯OOOWN how precious, look at his little paws! Here did she find it? I want one soo baad...¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Riiight, me too, one day I¡¯ll definitely have one or two maaybe even three¡¯¡¯ step, step - ¡®¡¯ Hiii, did one of you guys copy what pages the homework is?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯ Hi Amanda, I did, here take a picture¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Thanks Ethan, do you perhaps also have last class chemistry notations? ¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Yep, take it.¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯ I know I¡¯m pushing a little bit but if it isn''t to much to ask do also have last class geography notation?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯I don¡¯t do geography, ask Pete¡¯¡¯ Amanda gave Pete a puppy look witch made Mathew curse at himself for not taking geography classes witch he actually hated. ¡®¡¯ I do have it, but not here today with me, so unless you wait until next week¡­¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯but next class we have to delivery the resume right¡¯¡¯ ¡®this bitch...¡¯ ¡®¡¯Yes, it¡¯s next week.¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯can¡¯t you deliver it to me?¡¯¡¯ ¡®Deliver it? Really? She really meant what I think she means? To PETE of all people?¡¯ ¡®¡¯Deliver what exactly?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Your notations, the resume¡­ I live near this school neighborhood so you can just send it to me or deliver it your self¡¯¡¯ ¡®OH WOW! The double down! I think I¡¯m even waking up now where¡¯s the popcorn when you need it¡¯ Looking at Mathew struggling face it was hard not to laugh, but what was even worse was Pete¡¯s poker face that I knew all to well, he was fighting his internal demons to respond her as a decent human being instead of a violent silver-back gorilla. ¡®WAIT what if¡­ Damn it what a genius idea! It¡¯s a shame I wont be able to participate¡¯ Giving a little touch on Pete¡¯s shoulders I whispered my devilish plan¡¯s in his ears and by the subtle smile he got on his face I knew he love it. ¡®¡¯ I can¡¯t deliver it to you, but, this Saturday I¡¯ll trow a party at my house, with you want to you can go then I¡¯ll give you the notes¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯There are people from our class going? I don¡¯t know to many people outside our year and I don¡¯t like to be in a room that a don¡¯t know anyone ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯ Yes there will be quite a good amount of people from our school, Jenifer and Stacy from Geography class will go as well¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Oh, okay then see you Saturday¡¯¡¯ - step, step, step ...- Both me and Pete and threw a very smug smile looking at Mathew who was trying hard to comprehend the situation he was in. ¡®¡¯Looks like someone got a huuge push in his love life, I would say destiny even¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Wh-wha-what!?¡¯¡¯ 05 ¡®¡¯You guys wouldn''t do it right? RIGHT????¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯WOW, I¡¯m feel even awake now, in fact my body feels incredibly light¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯That my friend is your consciousness getting lighter by performing a good deed¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯GUYS?!?!!,GUYS!?!?!¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯My dear friend Pete, I think you¡¯re into something, I may even start charity work, maybe my vocation is helping others¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯ HEEYY, STOP THE CAP¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯ What do you mean by that young man, the vocation of every human to help others, that is what aliments our soul¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Preach! Brother, preach!¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯We should always help a friend in need!¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Indeed by helping my friend to finally talk to his crush I feel, I feel liberat-¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯SHHHHH you asshole, she¡¯s gonna hear it, stop it¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯mmmmmmmm-¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯speaking of brother¡­ my sister is single Ethan and she knows you sooooo weeeell, even sent me cat videos to show you... why don¡¯t yo-¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯NO, absolutely not, I¡¯m into your mom not sister¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Think about it, she¡¯s a younger version of my m-¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯It doesn¡¯t work, I¡¯m into old and mature, not young and dumb¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯ Are you calling my sister dumb?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Yes¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Dammmn¡­ I can¡¯t denie that¡­ but dude both of you are still young besides she can become smart you just need to invest in it, the things people do for love!¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯It¡¯s not just about the intelligence, I need an older woman to pamper me! She needs to be at least in her earlier 30¡¯s!¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯ soooo in 15 years you will give her a chance?¡¯¡¯The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡®¡¯Maybe, but since we¡¯re the same age in 15 years I¡¯ll also have 30¡­ so I¡¯ll only know the answer when I get there¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯*sigh ¡­ I just can¡¯t with you... Mathew can you tell my sister that I tried doing something, I owe her for cleaning the house in my stead last week¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Why would I do that?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Because if you don¡¯t, she will nag on my ears for at least a month¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Hehehe, you should have thought of that before indulging in the bums ideas¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Hey that¡¯s not very nice, we were only TRYING TO HELP YOU TALK TO YOUR CRU-¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯MMMMMM-¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Alright, alright, shut up already, I¡¯ll do it¡¯¡¯ ¡­ - step step step - ¡®¡¯You both have chemistry now right?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Yep how about you ? Still doing literature?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯No, I swapped for philosophy this semester¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Alright then bye the Pete till next week¡¯¡¯ ¡® I said as a joke, but my body really feels lighter than before¡­ this definitely can¡¯t be good, I sincerely hope ms. Patinson is in good mood today¡¯ ¡®¡¯Today we¡¯ll be correcting last class homework and after that we¡¯ll do some exercises¡¯¡¯ ¡®Did I just walk into hell?!¡¯ - 90 minutes later- ¡®¡¯Hey did respond question 12?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Yep¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯And the answer is?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Ag2CrO4 ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯ Can you show me the solution?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Dude, are you alright?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯What do you mean?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Well normally you¡¯re the one with the answers, and I¡¯m the one asking to see your notations¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯I¡¯m fine¡­ just need some sleep¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Dude, like ¡­ you¡¯re awake since? ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯ Wednesday I think¡­ but I did sleep like 4 hours yesterday before starting the stream¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Bro¡­ just go home¡­¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯I¡¯m fine¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯*Tsk, alright but if you pass out, I¡¯m not gonna be the one caring your ass to the infirmary ¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Don¡¯t worry nothing is going to happen¡¯¡¯ ¡­ - step step step - *BA-DUM,BA-DUM,BA-DUM,BA-DUM ¡®weird... but I¡¯m not feeling sleepy anymore in fact my heart feels like a drum¡­ I feel like I can just run a fricking marathon and be just fine¡¯ ¡®¡¯Mathew¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Z¡¯up?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯did you take any AP classes?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Yep, physics. What classes did you took this semester?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Physics, chemistry, math¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Fucking nerd¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯ Nerds, together, strong!¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Yeah you¡¯re no convincing me to join like last semester.¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Nerds, alone, weak¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Nah, good luck surviving ape, this is my last class today¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Are you really leaving me alone? For the rest of the day? promise?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Don¡¯t worry I¡¯ll find a way to annoy you from home¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯If you message me about Amanda I¡¯m not responding¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯If I can¡¯t message you I¡¯ll ask you here, in person, while I still have the chance¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Please don¡¯t¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯It¡¯s on my mind for a while now but what should I dress?¡¯¡¯ ¡®Oh god! It¡¯s worse than I thought! he was not talking about her because he was thinking about her!¡¯ ¡®¡¯ Be a real man and go naked to assert dominance!¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Tsk, why did I asked you like you would know something about attracting a woman¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯ hey I might not know how to attract a woman, but I sure know that a man who¡¯s thinking what he¡¯s going to dress for a party is not very attractive in a woman¡¯s eye, but maybe to another m-¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Alright, quit yapping let¡¯s go class already ¡®¡¯ - 90 minutes later- ¡®¡¯It¡¯s over, I¡¯ve survived another day in the trenches, good luck to you soldier¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯*hump, I wish you good luck with your love life, since in your current situation the future looks bleak hahaha¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯I hope you collapse on the hallway after watching the whole PA class and the PE teacher is the one to carry your ass to the infirmary hahahaha ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯pfff- hahahaaha, Ouch! that¡¯s actually brutal man!¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Hahahahaha. I¡¯m get going then, goodbye¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Bye¡¯¡¯ Picking up the phone I started to look up the notifications again while waking to the PA physics class (new Irina side quest!? How does it affects the lore?!) (new discoveries on the main camping! How to save Irina!) ¡®Irina, Irina¡­ OOOOOOHH, its Irna sister! The one with trash stats¡­ maybe I should check out later with my chat with it¡¯s worth doing it, in the worst case it¡¯ll be content anyways¡¯ (World record Auto bomber fungus D.O & O.C.A build analysis) (Tardia: All end game bosses, no hit, world record! 3:46:39 [DamnOne run]) (Tardia: knight of the light build guide) (Fungus auto bomber Op in temple???) ... ¡®wow, the community is quick¡¯ after finding my seat I put the phone in pocked and waited the professor ¡®¡¯ GET INTO YOUR SEATS EVERYONE TODAY WE¡¯LL STUDY MAGNETISM¡¯¡¯ - 60 Minutes later - ¡®¡¯ That¡¯s it for today see you guys next week, have a good weekend everyone¡¯¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s over, I can finally go home and sleep¡¯ *BA-DUM,BA-DUM,BA-DUM,BA-DUM 06 After packig up my stuff, I put my in-ear phone and headed towards the bus stop (How to save Irina) -fast forward x2 ¡®¡¯By the end of act 4(...)¡¯¡¯ * PIIIIIIIING ¡®What the¡­ my ears are acting funny now is it deference in pressure or something?¡¯ ¡®I think I had to do something... what was it again? Oh, yeah the milk¡¯ ¡®There are a store near here right? A few blocks away maybe¡¯ -meowwww - ¡® A cute cat!¡¯ *beep breath ¡®alright stay calm you can do this¡¯ ¡®¡¯pspspspspspsps, here kitty kitty¡¯ - meww - ¡®¡¯Oh look at how cute you are! Are you friendly too?¡¯¡¯ - meow - ¡®I think he wants me to get closer, alright let¡¯s do this¡¯ ¡®¡¯Nooooooo! Don¡¯t run¡­¡¯¡¯ ¡®damn it, I blew it¡¯ - SSSSSRRKKKKK - ¡®WHAT THE ¨C A TRUCK!!¡¯ ¡® THE CAT WASN¡¯T FLEEING FROM ME! BUT FROM THE TRUCK!¡¯ ¡®WHY DIDN¡¯T I SEE IT COMING?! WHEN DID IT COME THIS CLOSE?! I NEED TO GET OUT OF TH-¡¯ -CRASH- ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Character name: Birthday: Origin: Specie: Appearance: Estimated initial level: Initial Location: Estimated difficulty: Estimated initial equipment: Estimated background:Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡­ what the¡­ where am I? Didn¡¯t I die? This makes no fucking sense what so ever what the hell is happening if I¡¯m dead I shouldn¡¯t be able to think! am I dreaming? Did I got hit by the truck and survive and now I¡¯m in coma or something? That would make more sense ¡­ alright I should go with that for now, I feel like if I ponder about this any longer I might go insane That is... if I¡¯m not insane already... But more importantly¡­ Isn¡¯t that the Tardia character creator screen in front of me? NO, it isn¡¯t! Tardia initial character creation don¡¯t have birthday, and also when you start a fresh playthrough you can not select origin since you play the campaign as the main character. ¡®¡¯Estimated¡¯¡¯ and specie also appear only on the ¡®hired mercenary¡¯ character creation screen which is only possible to access from act 5 onward. Well it is a cool dream but I should awake already¡­ ¡­ ¡­ (¡­) WHY? why can¡¯t I wake up?! MOVE! STUPID BODY! MOVE! I can¡¯t feel my body! alright new approach is there something that I can do here? NOP, shear darkness and the bizarre character creation screen. (...) ¡­ how much time has been? Why nothing happens? Why I¡¯m not awaking up This is weird if this was a dream I would probably be awoken by now ¡­ what is even more weird is that the creation screen is still here unmovable¡­ should I just try to interact with if? There¡¯s no way it works right? Character name: DamnOne w-w-wha-what ¡­ Character name: Ethan ... It works¡­ alright I¡¯ll pay with it until I wake up! Character name: How should I name the character¡­ maybe I should go with something funny? Nah ¡­ my own name would also be weird ¡­ Aha ¡­ Yeah... that would do... it sounds cool and holy. Astrael Yep! that¡¯s a cool name, now origin maybe? Origin: [mercenary/locked] [noble] [slave] [farmer] [miner] [priest/locked] ]bishop/locked] ¡­ Huuuum, I see¡­ that¡¯s why birthday is first, if I don¡¯t have enough age it¡¯s impossible to have some of the backgrounds here Birth day: Year of the wolf 1/1(MM/DD) ¨C year of the bird 12/30 (MM/DD) YEAR OF THE WOLF!!!!! that¡¯s like 4 years before the beginning of the campaign! Birth day: Year of the wolf 4/10(MM/DD) Let¡¯s go with this then, now let¡¯s go back to origins... Origin: [mercenary/locked] [noble] [slave] [farmer] [miner] [priest/locked] ]bishop/locked] ¡­ for mercenary I nee to be at least 17 years of age, meaning that my starting character will probably be very young, maybe a child¡­ miner will probably lock my species at dwarf and noble will lock my initial location, farmer and slave will not be very different from each other depending on my estimated background... so my best bet here will probably be slave since at least I¡¯ll start with +1 rigor point. Origin: Slave Specie: Human, goblin, orc, kobolt, spirit, half-elf(locked) half-dragon(locked)... As expected most of the species who have a strong god protecting them or are just strong in general, cannot be slaves. Specie: human Now the difficult part appearance¡­ this will influence the minimum amount of charisma status I can have, since from the 100 points of charisma someone can have 40 points is purely base on appearance alone. Since I¡¯m a Human and not a threatening looking species like goblin, orc or any type of undead, the minimum amount I should have is 0 or very close to it¡­ I can¡¯t fuck this up and risk getting negative charisma. Wait ¡­ If my minimum charisma status is too high I might have problems with spirits flocking around me and messing up with everything I try to do right? There are also the increase risk of getting take as a hostage or ending up as merchandise in the black market to appease the nobles¡­ That¡¯s rough¡­ depending on my initial location choices I might actually have to go back in re do the character¡­ alright let¡¯s do this. The north is the house of some spirit factions, as well as some elfs ¡­ all in all not that bad depending on luck it can be great or just an ok start¡­ The desert is rough as a starting point but can give an obscene amount of exp early on. I CAN CUSTOMIZE MY JOHNSON!!!!!!! what do I do what do I do ¡­ Let¡¯s just skip it right? It¡¯s not like it¡¯s going to affect me¡­ besides this is also weird I¡¯ve never seen this type of customization on Tardia before¡­ lets just make the body proportional and well balanced¡­ BUT I mean there¡¯s a saying 2 fists would have a hard time against 4 arms, so I suppose that having a third leg would suuurely be of help right? RIGHT?????? HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE slong! OK, alright, I¡¯m done with the appearance. 07 through the path anyway. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡­ ¡­ ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯ ¡®¡¯ ¡® ¡® ¡® ¡® ¡® ¡®I¡¯m clearly not dead, so, ¡­ It¡¯s either a hyper-realistic dream or... some type of technology, maybe? A prank? Humanity evolved... I dunno, 500 years in a few hours to create a virtual reality helmet like this and they put me on it while I was in a coma? That makes more sense, right?¡¯ ¡®The hell it does! Aw Shit!¡¯ - griiiit- ¡®Wait a sec¡­ this noise is¡­Damn it!¡¯ As I dove into the corpses near by in despair as my ears pick up the terrifying sound of the upcoming wind -VUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH- the wind blew with upmost violence as the giant bird passed, some of the small trees flew into the air and rampaged thru the dense forest, branches of the bigger trees banded and twisted, some even fell into the ground causing a ruckus among the blue leafs, and bushes, next was the sound of a plethora of different animals and beasts running for their lives in fear for the giant reaper in the sky. *BA-DUM, BA-DUM, BA-DUM, BA-DUM... ¡®Dammmmn! That bird really lives up to his name Hun, that was terrifying.¡¯ ¡®Oh no, I think I just shit myself¡¯ After checking my pants I came to the fortunate conclusion that it was not shit but blood from one of the corpses. *Deep breath *blaach ¡®the smell is absolutely disgusting.¡¯ - 10 min later- ¡®I think I can already get out now¡¯ After checking thru the cracks of my ¡°corpse pool¡± and making sure it was safe I emerge to surface again. ¡® Let¡¯s calm down for now, just in case this is not some type of lucid dream or some type of virtual reality... and getting hit really hard will actually mean stop existing for real this time.¡¯ *deep breath ¡®I can¡¯t scream, no to be exact, making any type of noise here could be fatal.¡¯ ¡®time to men up!¡¯ As I got up the pain came like a wave throughout from my like to the rest of my body. ¡®¡¯-¡¯¡¯ ¡®Good I manage to stand. Now let¡¯s see if I can find anything useful from this corpses.¡¯ ¡®¡¯ 08 ¡® Now, where would be a good hiding spot? Maybe one of the trees would do, as long as I don''t climb too high or don''t stay too close to the ground; it should be fine.'' Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡® ¡® ¡® ¡® ¡® ¡® ¡® ¡® ¡® ¡® climb was excruciating ¡® ¡® ¡® Contrary to my expectations, I couldn''t sleep, be it fear, adrenaline, or just my mind drifting while trying to make sense of the situation I was in¡­ I¡¯ve entered a vicious cycle of disrupted sleep-awake cycle. It was then ¡­ - ¡® ¡® ¡® ¡® ¡® ¡® -Kryyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaa- ¡®¡¯argh-.¡¯¡¯ ¡®FffffffffffffffffUCK, the spirit is a banshee! If it sees me I¡¯ll be cursed for everything I did to the bodies!¡¯ ¡®Damn it!¡¯ Trying to calm down and control my breathing, I couldn¡¯t help myself and grabbed the bug bottle in fear. My eyes were fixed on the dark abyss below ¡® If the banshee is above 10 it can create undead from the corpses ¡­ black razor and however is down there will stand no chance. If it¡¯s bellow level 10 the fight will be fierce but the razor can still pull it of.¡¯ Grotesques sounds kept coming from bellow, it was grueling and nerve racking and unfortunately for me this went on for a few hours. - Silence- ¡®Is it finally over?¡¯ *tremble ¡®Oh, no something is coming up!¡¯ As I focus my eyes on the tree trunk I manage to see a glimpse of what looked like a bunch of moving moss, but this was enough for to recognize it. ¡®A troll.¡¯ I opened the bottle and pick up the bug, then took my aim and threw out of panic were the moth should be. And of course I missed. 09 My mind went blank for a second, but, to my surprise, not only did the troll ignore me, it also jumped after the luminescent bug like a cat, but the survivors on the carnage down there were also delighted with their new glowing ¡°snack¡±, so much so that the fight over the resources resumed ¡®W-W-W what th-¡¯ ¡®They are after the bug? Why?¡¯ ¡®!!!!!!!!!!!!¡¯ ¡®The green bugs are only active during the day! The terror birds evolved to see them and avoid them like the plague; it¡¯s the same for almost all beasts during the day! Nighttime beasts, on the other hand, probably don''t have this evolutionary trait! ¡­ If they see something glowing at night, in their eyes it''s most likely to be "free food!" like some traveler campfire or small caravans and adventurer groups. Because the bug went down with his faint light, I could roughly see what had transpired there. A ginormous black creature that looked like the mixture of a scorpion and a bear was eating the remains of a green woman; a few sedan-sized dogs were eating the corpses of the slaves and bandits I put close to the rations, and a creature with a very rough stone-like skin with moss everywhere on his body as well as a few moving trees was fighting for the glowing bug. ¡®Phew! The banshee lost to the Black Razor and became its food.¡¯ ¡®I didn¡¯t hear the ents or the bush wolves coming; in fact, I couldn''t tell they were there at all. That''s scary!'' After a few minutes, the wolves and the black razor had their share and left, but the ents and the troll continued their struggle for the bug. ¡®It¡¯s almost over now. I wonder what will happen after one of them eats the bug and dies.¡¯ It didn¡¯t take long for me to have my answers; the troll killed most of the ents and died; one of the remaining ents ate the bug and died shortly after. The survivors ate the troll and avoided the now-poisoned ent dead body. - A few minutes later.- ¡®Gosh, that was something I never expected to see, especially up close like that.¡¯ ¡®Let¡¯s think more positively; I¡¯ve learned something new. The bug strategy works even better at night, since they will do the most difficult part by eating it themselves.¡¯ ¡­ *sigh Sitting down, I pick up the sack of rations and start eating. *munch, munch ¡®I can¡¯t sleep like that, not after what I just went through.¡¯ ¡®So, when the sun is up, I should go in the ancient God¡¯s temple direction immediately.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m not that far, two days at most.¡¯ ¡®The bandits will probably notice that something went wrong by tomorrow night, so hiding the gold to pick up later is a must since it¡¯s quite the sum.¡¯Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ''I should probably also break the food and ration barrels so the beast can take care of it because if the bandits notice that there are survivors, they will make sure to come after me¡­¡¯ ¡®Taking a sword to cut my path through the forest should be fine, I think?¡¯ ''What if the bandits notice the missing sword? Do I have what it takes to kill them?¡¯ ¡®One or two bottles of alcohol are also way too useful to pass up.¡¯ *sigh Without noticing, the fatigue finally took a toll on my body, and I was finally able to sleep. - a few hours later - *YAAWN ¡®Hun, did I sleep?¡¯ ''WOW, I did. Damn, the sun is already up; I should go to sch¡ª¡¯ ¡®DAMN IT, I¡¯m still here¡­ This is still happening... *sigh, that¡¯s my life now, hun¡­'' Going down the tree was much easier, but landing sucked. ¡®¡¯Arghh¡¯¡¯ What greeted me was a scene that could only be described by the word carnage. Human body parts were everywhere; some of the kids'' parts were entangled with beasts'' entrails, some of the beasts died while still holding pieces of flesh in their mouths, and the ground? Blood and some undistinguished blob. *Bleachh ¡®Men, up, men up¡­ Let¡¯s think positive¡­ Damn it...¡¯ ¡®Well, at least the rations and water are safe.¡¯ After restocking my supplies and hiding the money, I picked up one of the swords and a bottle of alcohol and headed northeast. I¡¯ve walked, trying to make the minimum amount of noise possible, and sometimes I would use the sword on top of my head to emulate the glowing green bug effect and avoid the bird eyes. The day was tense and nerve-racking, but I still managed to make a good amount of progress until the sun started to go down again. ¡® Half the way there. I should look for a tree nearby. I don¡¯t have any more bugs, but to my luck, I also don¡¯t have the stench of blood or a large amount of ration on me.¡¯ After a few minutes of looking for a good spot to spend the night, I opted for a tall tree again. The reason? Simple: I prefer to risk dying to an ape or an owl than to the horrors that crawl below at night. But before climbing up, I¡¯ve also decided to burn something a bit far away from me to lure the beast away from my resting spot. - A few minutes later. - ''I¡¯ve used half of the alcohol bottle to set this fire¡­ That tall tree is a few minutes away from here¡­ Should I get some embers with me? Nah, too risky.'' After coming back to the tree I saw earlier, I used the improvised rope and started climbing. And yet again the climb sucked. * HUFF, HUFF,HUFF ... ¡®I¡¯ve made it.¡¯ ¡®Tomorrow night I¡¯ll probably reach the temple. The problem is after that¡­ what should I do? The moment I hold onto the Keravnos¡¯s spear, I¡¯ll initiate the process of apotheosis since it¡¯s a god item.¡¯ ¡®Hell, the reason I decided to set this initial location was because of this.¡¯ ¡®According to Rok¡¯s tests, the earlier you start the apotheosis process, the more status points I¡¯ll gain by the end of it.¡¯ ¡® Keravnos¡¯s spear has an insane amount of status and effects, but I¡¯ll still be vulnerable for a while, at least until I fully absorb the spear or get other pieces of equipment.¡¯ ''There''s also the problem of the Lomogre empire. The moment I initiate the apotheosis, the human priest and bishops will know that a new human god appeared and will start to actively look for me, and once that happens¡­ the other species will probably congratulate the human in public, but they surely will send assassins after me in private.¡¯ ¡®Since god items can drop after death during the apotheosis process, the zodiacs will also try to find and kill me to take the spear.¡¯ ''In that case, my top priority after the spear should be healing my leg¡­'' ''!!!!! ¡­ I could go for the ring of minor and the ring of major circulation.¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s not very far from here¡­ and they are both heroic, so when I finish the apotheosis, they will be promoted to legendary.¡¯ ¡®This will grant me a good passive regeneration ability for health and divine power.¡¯ ¡®If I¡¯m going for the two rings and not just one¡­ what can I use for the rest? ¡­ The spear has the highest thermal damage in all Tardia, it will also grant me immunity to thermal attacks¡­ It doesn''t have good precision, but since the attacks cover everything in sight, it doesn¡¯t really matter¡­¡¯ ¡®This is difficult... the spear is way too good to just try to form a build on the spot; I should be more pragmatic about it.¡¯ ''What is the strongest build made with Keravnos¡¯s spear?¡¯ ¡®The Abaddon maybe? Very tanky, good attack, good aoe¡­ but the item in the core of the build is so difficult to get that ¡­ Yeah, Abaddon is out of the question.¡¯ ''There''s the modified version of the Dragon Slayer build...strong single target, but the defense is lacking; maybe if I change a little bit... NO! That won¡¯t do; I need the chest from Oberon in the dragon continent; he¡¯ll only be available in two years from now. ¡¯ ''Executor maybe? It¡¯s a very strong overhaul, but¡­ it has negative charisma, and being the target of half the world doesn''t sound like a good plan.¡¯ ''God of rain? ¡­ NO! It won¡¯t work; the glove is an item meant for the main character¡­'' ''Wait, do I really need the main character to succeed in the main campaign? I mean, my objective is to discover what the hell is happening and if there¡¯s a way back home and not to stop the zodiacs. Stopping the zodiacs is Sieg¡¯s problem, not mine.¡¯ ¡®But what if I can¡¯t go back and have to stay here?... The zodiacs will only destroy half the world if they succeed¡­do I really care?¡­!.¡¯ ¡®FUCK! I DO! Now that I think about it, only 200 or 300 humans stay alive; the rest are the other species! HELL nah, stay alive WITH THE FUCKING ELFS!?!?! OR EVEN WORSE, THE DRAGONS!?!?!?! I¡¯d rather kill all of them and be alone to the end of times! If it were the dwarfs, I¡¯d still be willing, but unfortunately, they¡¯re the first to be wiped out.'' ¡®SHIT! Fucking zodiacs¡­ God of rain is probably my best bet, but¡­¡¯ As I was racking my brain, I remembered a particular discussion on my last stream. [Lustruriosbald: Wow that¡¯s messt up!!! it¡¯s probably really good on the real end game!] [ Ishatmyself: real end game by that you mean the calculator?] [ Lustruriosbald: @Ishatmyself Hell no I mean the temple.] !... THAT¡­ THAT¡­ WHY DIDN¡¯T I THINK OF THAT FROM THE BEGINNING 10 ''I can¡¯t believe I almost forgot about that disgusting strong build! ¡­ Why didn¡¯t I think of that earlier?!¡¯ ¡®Oh yeah, shame on me! I was only thinking about the builds that went to the boss rush rankings!.¡¯ Without noticing, a smile appeared on my face, and the more I thought about it, the bigger the smile grew. ¡®Eternal Sky God, gosh, that build is sooo fucking broken!¡¯ ¡®It has only three real weaknesses, and I can cover one of them depending on my 4 empty slots.¡¯ ''Completely immune from thermal, 100% crit rate, 100% evasion, 100 agility, 90 perception ¡­¡¯ ¡®The only real problem is the low physical attack and poor defense against poisons and illusions in general. All in all, this build is pretty much invincible, I think?¡­ Sure, I can be trapped, tricked, or get in a stalemate, but in a direct confrontation, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a single known god or creature in Tardia that can pose a threat to this¡­ And the bonus point is the slot for pet/mount, belt, chest, and gloves is still open!¡¯ ''With this, I can still think of a way to cover one of the weaknesses¡­¡¯ ¡®The core items are not too difficult to get either... the wing song boots are around 20 miles from here¡­¡¯ ¡®But I should go for that after I heal my leg; trying to get it without being able to jump won¡¯t do.¡¯ ¡®The Crown of Eternity is in the Nuendo continent inside one of the mystical palaces; for my luck, it¡¯s the easiest to complete since it doesn''t involve fighting.¡¯ ¡®The Way of Havens Dharma Wheel is in the sky above central plains near Dunkrar¡­ If I have the boots and the crown, it¡¯ll be doable to locate, very boring, but not difficult.¡¯ ¡®The earrings of the Cosmic Child are north of Whehim ¡­ Getting the earrings isn¡¯t difficult, but dealing with the elves living in Whehim is.¡¯ ¡®Can¡¯t I just sneak by?¡­¡¯ ¡®Blaacch... the more I think about it, the worse it gets; I¡¯ll only be able to get it after I get the crown and the boots.¡¯ ¡®So I should go: spear, rings, boots, crown, earrings, wheel? Yeah, that seems right.¡¯The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. After I collected my thoughts, I felt like a huge weight left my shoulders, and to my surprise, I even managed to get some sleep. ------------------------ A few hours later, where the wrecked chariot stood, three horses stopped by. ¡®¡¯Hey, Nyle, look here, found it!¡¯¡¯ - step, step, step - ¡®¡¯Any survivors?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Apparently not.¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Are you sure?¡¯¡¯ ''''Almost, I don¡¯t think anyone would survive a beast attack like that¡­ not in this scale anyways.¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯And the gold?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯ Missing ¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Beasts don¡¯t have lust for gold. Look out for it; if you don¡¯t find it, there¡¯s the chance of a survivor.¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Jaden¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Sir? Go to the village nearby and ask if there are any survivors who happens to pass by.'''' ¡®¡¯The one all the way at the foot of the mountain?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Where else, you idiot!¡¯¡¯ ''''Hey, who¡¯s the idiot here? I told you it was a bad time to pillage around here; it''s the bird season!¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯If you say one more world I¡¯ll kill you! Stop wasting my damn time and go already! If the Lomogre¡¯s guards find us out, we won¡¯t have a place to escape like last time anymore.¡¯¡¯ Jaden fought off arguing back, but looking at Nyle''s face, he knew better. * Clipity, clipity, clopity, clopity... ''''Nyle found the gold.¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Finally some good news.¡¯¡¯ Nyle walked to Jesse and picked up the gold pouch. ¡®¡¯It''s torn! Where¡¯s the gold?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯There on the ground near the banshee corpse.¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯ARE YOU SHITTING ME!¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯SHHHH! The birds.¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯*sigh. This better be worth it.¡¯¡¯ Nyle walked to the banshee corpse and started to grab the coins on the ground. It was then -* screach *- ¡®¡¯I got fucking cursed! Fuck me.¡¯¡¯ Walking back, he picked up a flask from his horse: holy water. He drank it. The taste made him gag, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it. ¡®¡¯Well, that¡¯s 1.5 gold down the drain.¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯It¡¯s better than being fucking cursed with bad luck.¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Can¡¯t say I disagree.¡¯¡¯ ''''The coins are all dirty; give me a sack of water.¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Here it goes.¡¯¡¯ Tanner saw Nyle''s expression shift a few times before finally asking. ¡®¡¯What¡¯s the problem?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯It¡¯s missing.¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯What?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯It¡¯s missing two gold coins.¡¯¡¯ ''''Did you pick up all the coins on the ground there?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯I did.¡¯¡¯ ''''Maybe the third gold coin is under the banshee corpse.¡¯¡¯ ''''I don¡¯t have more holy water.¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯So¡­ did we just lose money picking up money?¡¯¡¯ ¡®¡¯Yes.¡¯¡¯ ''''Let''s get out of here and check on Jaden before I lose my mind or the damn birds come back.¡¯¡¯ - Neigh - * Clipity, clipity, clopity, clopity ¡­ -------------------------------------------------------- *sigh ¡®I should start to move again.¡¯ It was very early in the morning, and I could hear a plethora of different bugs, animals, and even beasts, but I couldn''t see any of them. Be it camouflage, augmented senses, or even the size, almost every single living thing on this mountain was adapted to avoid the bird¡¯s ear and sight, and because of that, everything that didn¡¯t follow this rule would for sure be perceived. ¡®Lucky me, today there¡¯s no mist.¡¯ There are two things that makes this place special, the first one is of course the ancient god¡¯s temple, the second is what the players called the hunting grounds. Hunting grounds is not exactly a place in specific but a general term the Tardia players used to describe locations with a high density of beasts, where you can hunt them to your heart''s content. Misty Mountain Peak is one of those places, but only when the mist descends. Normally everything is trying to hide from the apex in the sky, but what happens when the geography of the place provides everyone with natural protection? Well¡­ Even the beasts that normally would only hunt at night, the ones too big or too noisy to try their luck during the day, dare to show their faces during the mist period. Of course, there¡¯s no guarantee that the terror birds won¡¯t dive into the dense misty forest because of some noise¡­ But he won¡¯t be as accurate, and for most of the beasts in the forest, that¡¯s enough. As I walked through the dense forest, cutting my way with the bandit sword, I felt something very strange; it was like walking into a room you¡¯re not supposed to be in. ¡®?¡¯ I was confused about what was happening and tried to ignore it in the beginning, but soon, without noticing my own behavior, I sped up my pace. -Rustle- ¡®!? This sound¡­ It wasn¡¯t me¡­¡¯ And just like that, unconsciously, everything clicked; I¡¯ve finally understood what was wrong. ¡®I¡¯m being watched. NO, I''m being hunted.¡¯ 11 *BA-DUM,BA-DUM,BA-DUM,BA-DUM ¡®Damn it, what should I do¡­¡¯ I looked around frantically, hoping to find an escape route, but to my dismay, the only way out was going back or continuing to push forward. -Rustle, RUSTLE- ¡®It¡¯s getting closer!¡¯ Strengthening my grip on the sword, I started to push forward with all my might. -RUSTLE, RUSTLE- ¡®!. Damn it, I¡¯m getting distance fast enough.'' Listening to the proximity of the sound, I gave up on trying to cut through the vegetation with the sword in my hand, and I decided to just plunge forward instead, using my body to push aside the tangled vines and branches that obstructed my path. Scratches started to appear everywhere on my body, but probably due to my high adrenaline, I felt nothing. My clothes started to tear apart little by little until only rags remained on my body, but I continued pushing through regardless. And as I picked up my pace, more and more noises started to occur around me, but it didn¡¯t last long because *Thud ¡®¡®Argh¡¯¡¯ ¡®This damn broken leg.¡¯ It was then everything went completely still. A chill ran down my spine. This exact situation I experienced not long ago, on my first night here, on top of that tree¡­ But this time¡­ this time I was the food. ¡®I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m going out like this¡­ After all I went through.¡¯ ''NO, I can¡¯t end like this. Think, think¡­¡¯ I started looking around again, but this time I found a small hole in the wall on my left. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡®That¡¯s it.¡¯ I prepared to make my move; as soon as the first one shows up, I¡¯m making my run for it. *deep inhale holding my breath I waited for a few seconds¡­ At the corner of my vision, I saw something peculiar¡­ It was a tree with different patterns through its trunk. ¡®Oh, found one¡­ Chameleon ape, level 4, I guess? This is going to be tough, SHIT! SHIT!...¡¯ Locking my eyes on the beast, I waited a few more seconds and made my move, letting out a huge scream. ¡®¡¯AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!¡¯¡¯ As soon as I started running, the ape jumped at me, but before he could touch me, from the bushes, a huge blue panther came running in and got him by the neck. After getting its prey, the panther once again disappeared into the bushes. But I knew well this wasn¡¯t over yet, so I continued my path leading into the small hole. -Screaaacht- Abnormally large insects started crawling from the underground, reptile-like beasts and crustacean-like beasts fell from the top of the trees, and once again, the brutal and cruel competition of life started. The survival instinct kicked in as I navigated through the chaos. The eerie sounds of the jungle echoed in my ears, reminding me that I should move without looking back. In my desperate struggle, I would occasionally feel objects passing very close to my body at a dangerously high speed, and even without thinking too deeply about it, or knowing what it was, if that hit me, I knew I wouldn¡¯t survive for long. With each step, I pushed myself to move faster, knowing that hesitation could mean the difference between life and death in this unforgiving place. Finally, I burst through the dense foliage and found myself face to face with a crack in the rock walls of the Misty Mountains I saw earlier. *phew ¡®I¡¯ve made it. Now¡­ how far does this hole go?¡¯ Squeezing myself between the cracks, I dove deeper and deeper, and about 3 feet deep, I found the end. It was a cave, not that big, but not small either. It was enough room for two people (adults). ¡®I think I¡¯m safe here for now.¡¯ I fell to my knees and closed my eyes. *huff-huff-huff¡­ My breathing was all over the place; I felt like my lungs were burning, my heart was beating really fast and strong to the point that I could feel it going up and down in my chest, and I felt the heat of my body going in and out of my skin like it was radiating. A strong metallic taste entered my mouth. It was blood from the scratches I gained while running, and with this, I finally opened my eyes again while also trying to control my breathing. I felt like crying, but I didn¡¯t. ¡®Why¡­ why do I need to go through all of this¡­? FUCK¡­ Should I just give up and die¡­ Do dying here even mean this will end¡­ ¡¯ ¡®NO! I¡­ I need to survive¡­I can''t end like this.¡­¡¯ My mind was a complete mess; sometimes I wanted to give up, sometimes I wanted to survive, and sometimes I wanted to destroy this entire mountain. ¡®I¡¯ll kill every single damn beast on the fucking mountain¡­ No, I¡¯ll destroy this fucking place...¡¯ After five long minutes trying to digest what just happened, the cave started to rumble¡­ -Rumble, RUMBLE- ¡®¡¯DAMN IT!¡¯¡¯ I slowly got up, and for the first time, I noticed my state¡­ little cuts everywhere, clothes completely torn apart, dry and warm blood in various places, food? Gone; water? Gone; alcohol, improvised rope? Gone. The only thing I have left is the rags on my body and the bandit sword in my hand. -Rumble, RUMBLE, RUMBLE...- ¡®FUCK IT, I¡¯m not going down like this¡­ If I¡¯m going down, I¡¯ll at least go down swinging.¡¯ ¡®¡¯BRING IT ON!!!¡¯¡¯ I took a stance facing the only way in. - RUMBLE- crack, crack,crack,CRACK!- A huge hand burst in, unlike anything I had ever seen before, either inside or outside of Tardia. It had eight fingers that moved in unnatural ways as if it lacked joints. Parts of the hand were covered in dark blue fur with strange patterns, while the areas without fur had purple, wrinkled skin. I felt terror take control of my body; I froze on the spot. The horrifying hand approached the ground and started to touch it with the tips of its creepy fingers¡­ ¡®Wh-wh-what is this thing doing?¡¯ The more I looked into it, the weirder and weirder it got. ¡®FUCK IT! I DON¡¯T CARE ANYMORE!¡¯ ¡®¡¯AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!¡¯¡¯ I swung the sword with all my strength toward it -Clanck!- It bounced back¡­ One of the fingers turned on me and flicked me on the chest. *gasp All the air I had left me as I flew a few feet backward. *cough, cough ''''DAMN YOU! I WON''T GO DOWN THAT EASY!¡¯¡¯ My screams started to echo throughout the cave all the way back to the surface. ''''COME AT ME, YOU BASTARD!!!¡¯¡¯ The hand started to move around the cave, and it kept twisting into weird, unnatural angles just like the fingers ¡°searching¡± for the little bug who bumped into it a few moments ago. ¡®¡¯HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! TAKE THIS!¡¯¡¯ Again, I lunge myself into the nightmare-inducing beast''s hand in the hopes of at least hurting it a bit, but this time I completely missed! *vuush Before I could take another swing, one of the fingers smashed me on my right shoulder, dislocating it. ¡®¡¯ARGH!!!!¡¯¡¯ The sword in my hand fell into the ground. ¡®¡¯DAMN IT¡¯¡¯ I tried to reach the sword, but before I could, the hand grabbed me. 12 *AAARHHHH! The gigantic hand squeezed me like a hydraulic press, a slow, unrelenting force wrapping around me. My ribs compressed, and my chest tightened. *AAAAHH! I felt the bones in my body crack and move against my own will. My lungs struggled to expand fully, making each breath shallow and controlled. It can feel like a weight pressing down on your torso, forcing me to fight for air. The more I fought, the more exhausting it became. My arms were bided, making me feel claustrophobic, almost like the sensation of being trapped in a tight space. *AHHHHH! I feel my pulse pounding in your head. The restriction of circulation caused a numbing and tingling sensation in my limbs, and a growing sense of fatigue set in. *HHHHHH I felt my vision narrow, and soon after that, my consciousness started to fade. *Hhh- -grittt- - BOOOOOM!!!- A gust of wind entered the cave, followed by a loud, sharp sound. -GRIIIIITTTT- The beast''s hand fell limp into the ground, releasing me. *cough, cough, cough¡­ While I was still recovering, the giant hand started to move around like a fish that had just been thrown out of the water. I crawled to the corner of the cave and watched in horror as the hand spasmed. violently. *cough, cough, cough¡­ ''That was horrible¡­ I really don''t want to die¡­ I''ll never give up or even think of giving up again.'' ''In this place, giving up is not only death! But also everything before death.'' At this moment I truly understood the true meaning behind what the survival reality TV show I used to watch while bored on stream always said: This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Don''t let your morale get low; always think positively and cherish your small achievements. In the wild, your worst enemy is yourself. *huff, huff, puff¡­ A few minutes later the commotion died down¡­ But I was in a state of pure adrenaline mixed with a little bit of panic. ''I should get out of here¡­ Staying in the cave is a death sentence.'' ''The hand went limp when the gust of wind entered the cave¡­ That''s probably because the owner of the hand died by the terror bird claws¡­'' ''The terror bird must have heard of the commotion earlier, or maybe my struggle in the cave¡­ In any case, the chance of the bird being outside is low since it already got its meal.'' ''The problem is my scent and the remains of the beast left by the bird¡­ if there are any.'' As I got up, I felt pain all over my body, but it was specifically worse on my right shoulder, where the beast hit earlier. I tried to hold my scream of pain, but I failed. ''''AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHrrRGhgh''''. The sound echoed through the cave. ''Great! I really need to move now!¡­ DAMN IT!.'' Picking up the sword on the ground and using it as a support to get up, I resume my journey to the ancient god''s tomb. ''If I walk for the rest of the day, I may be at the tomb by tomorrow morning¡­ The problem is, I''m not in a condition to climb a tree to sleep at night.'' ''I also don''t have any more food or water¡­ The only river nearby is further north.'' ''Damn. Thinking about it, maybe it''s better to just go straight for the spear. After that, I should head for the river.'' After collecting my thoughts, I went out of the cave. The scenery was unexpected. The rest of the arm, that is, up to the shoulder, was completely cleaved. There was blood, but not too much blood, just enough to know that something was bleeding on that spot. There was also a good amount of trees and branches on the ground, so much in fact that the landscape of the area completely changed. There were no signs of the beasts from before; it was all gone. Looking around, I gathered some branches and improvised a crutch. Next, I dropped the sword. ''I think I probably made a huge mistake earlier by using the sword to cut the vegetation¡­ This place, this forest, probably functions like a spider web; once agitated, the spider will come for its prey¡­ and the sword makes a lot of commotion.'' ''Sure, the sword can be good for deceiving the bird, but one of the birds already got its meal, and meeting the other one is unlikely since they hunt in different areas. From now on, I won''t need to worry about it for a while¡­ at least a couple of hours.'' ''And if everything turns to shit again, I can just start screaming. I know the bird probably won''t come, but the irrational beasts? I''m not so sure.'' ''Yeah, everything is fine; everything is going to be alright.'' *deep breath After finishing collecting my thoughts, I resumed my journey. As I continued down the path, the sun beat down on my back, casting long shadows across the forest floor. The rustling of leaves and the distant calls of birds filled the air, creating a sense of peace and tranquility. I focused on putting one foot in front of the other, letting the rhythmic motion of walking soothe my mind. The events of the day replayed in my head, the adrenaline still coursing through my veins. But I pushed those thoughts aside, determined to keep moving forward, and just like that, the time passed without me even noticing. - A few hours later - *huff, huff, huff ¡­ ''My body feels heavy; it''s just like carrying those dead bodies when I first got here... But¡­ at the same time¡­ I don''t feel any pain anymore.'' '' I also feel like I''m moving on autopilot. This sensation is amazing.'' As I continued down my path, I noticed the humidity of the area increasing. ''The fog is about to descend.'' ''This can be good; maybe I can find a place to hide during the fog period.'' That''s what I thought, but unconsciously I just continued to walk. As the humidity grew, a white mist started to descend, and alongside it, noises started to grow louder and louder throughout the forest. - ~OohOoHoOo~ AaaaAaAa~- ''A dryad? That''s new¡­ I''ve farmed here hundreds of times on stream, but I''ve never seen a dryad here.'' ''That weird hand was also something new¡­ What the hell is happening here?'' ''¡­ Well, this place has ents, so dryads appearing is not that far off since dryads and ents have a symbiotic relationship.'' ''Dryads protect the ents from spirits and fairies, and in return, the ents protect the dryads from trolls and humans.'' ''!'' ''Wait! If she is singing, it means something happens to them, and they are calling the ents!'' As the mist got denser, the commotion grew. I could identify a few beasts from the noise alone, so I roughly knew what was transpiring. -huu, hu, hu, hu- -grrr- -Toc,toc,toc- -OoOo~ Ah~ Aaa~- ''A black razor showed up, huh? It won''t be interested in the ents, so probably the dryads? There are a few trolls either¡­'' - A couple of minutes later - -Griiiitt- ''Heh, the bird came.'' Lost in my thoughts without me even noticing, the noise of the fight became more and more distant; my path became more and more rocky and uneven, the mist turned denser, and the sun was no more. Despite all that, I walked, my thoughts drifting despite trying to keep a clear head; everything was all too surreal¡­ Being hit by a truck, the strange character creation screen, the dead bodies scattered on the ground around me, the sense of smell, taste, pain¡­ All of it blended together in a nightmare I couldn''t wake up from. 13 I was on the verge of breaking up again, but something unusual happened. ''!'' ''A squirrel! WOW! A normal animal.'' ''It''s my first time seeing one since I got here. Thinking about it, it''s quite funny.'' *chuckle ''My first time encountering an animal in the middle of the forest¡­'' ''''Pfff'''' ''''Hahahahaha'''' ''''If even someone small and fragile like you can do it, so can I, right, little buddy?.'''' The squirrel froze for a second, looked at me, and after that, continued to follow his path. For some reason, seeing the little creature bravely surviving in such an inhospitable place filled me with determination once again. *deep breath *step, limp, step, limp¡­ - A couple of hours later - As I walked through the dark night and dense mist using the terrain to guide me, I finally arrived at the end of the forest and saw the beginning of my climb. To my left was the rocky wall of the mountain; to my right, a cliff that seemed to stretch on forever and forward, the path that appeared to be constructed by a natural formation that disappeared into the clouds above. The path was made of rocks of all shapes and sizes, making it a difficult climb; in fact, that was the first challenge to enter the ancient god''s tomb. *sigh ''If my memory serves me right, this place was set up in an emergency¡­ The ancient lightning god was mortally wounded while fleeing from the great war during the immemorial era, so he set up this place to give his inheritance to his great-grandnephew, the demigod who possessed the wind sound boots.'' ''Unfortunately for him, his inheritor never came because he died not far from here. Well¡­ Sooner or later I''ll also get the Wing Song boots, so he will have his wish fulfilled in some twisted way.'' ''''heh'''' ''Now if I''m not wrong, this first challenge has something to do with the position of the sun and shadows¡­ Some parts of the path are false, and I could see which part of the path was true by the cast shadows. Well, I can''t at the moment.'' Looking around, I picked a small branch from the ground. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ''Yeah, this will do.'' I took two steps into the path and poked with the branch on the third. It went through the ground as if there was nothing there. ''Illusion, the same as I remember¡­ Since it was made in such a hurry, there are plenty of ways to cheat.'' ''''I''m sorry, Keravnos, you probably put a lot of thought and work into these so your spear didn''t fall into the wrong hands, but there''s no way I''m waiting until tomorrow morning just to solve your puzzles.'''' *deep breath ''All right, let''s do this.'' *step, limp, poke¡­ - Half an hour later - *huff,huff,huff¡­ ''This was rough. The illusions weren''t that bad, but the uneven steps, the cold wind, and the cliff below were horrible. '' The top of the Mist mountain was breathtaking, figuratively and literally. The oxygen was low on air, making me more exhausted than I already was. But on the other side, the view was nothing short of spectacular. First was the peak itself. It was flat, there was a white dry tree next to a pond, and the grass here was green, not blue, like on all other parts of the mountain. They grew in a way that seemed to be taken care of by a gardener and not the result of nature. There were also a few white rocks near the pond; they were arranged like a circle, and at the center of it, there were a bunch of different flowers. Although it was night, the moon was shining bright in the sky; I could see everything below: the river, the forest, the clouds, and even the place where the terror birds made a nest. ''''WOW!'''' *deep breath ''Now how should I proceed?'' I walked up to the lake, and unfortunately for me, the bright moon was making the lake have a good source of light. ''This is going to be a bit complicated¡­'' Crouching down and touching the lake felt like touching hands with someone, not water¡­ and that someone was my own reflection. ''Yeah, just as I thought, the mechanism is working tonight... Now¡­ how can I break the water mirror¡­ Maybe the rocks? '' Picking up some of the loose white rocks, I threw them into the pond. - Thud,Thud¡­ - The sound echoed for a while, but it didn''t give me the results I hoped for. ''Well, that was a bummer¡­ The reflections also worked on the rocks, and it was barred from entering.'' *sigh Looking around, I found my next attempt. ''The flowers¡­ If I release a couple of petals, maybe it will work? The mirror must have a limit on how much it can block.'' Picking up a bunch of flowers and taking off their petals, I threw them into the pond. It fell graciously and touched the water, but nothing in the pond sank. *sigh ''The normal way to do this is to wait for the wind to break the mirror and then jump in¡­ But tonight there''s no wind whatsoever.'' ''Think, think¡­'' *deep inhale *PUFFFFFFF The water in the pond shook a little, and some of the petals started to sink, but as soon as my air was gone, some of them floated back. ''Hum¡­!!!! ¡­¡­ The tree!'' I walked to the dead tree and inspected it, and after a few minutes, I found a crack in it; then I proceeded to grab it and use the weight of my body to break it. - Crack, crack¡­crash¡ª After a few attempts, a chunk of the tree fell off. ''Finally.'' Grabbing the chunk of the tree, I carried it back to the pond and used it as a fan, causing a ripple effect that pushed all of the rocks and pebbles to the bottom of the pond, but I didn''t stop it there; I continued to fan for a bit more until the entire pond was covered in ripples. ''Alright, that''s it. One, two¡­'' *Splash! Diving into the pond, I swam to the bottom, where a circular stone plate with intricate patterns stood. Using my hands, I searched for a small sphere at the center and pressed it. -RUMBLE- The entire mountain shook. The stone plate started to move; it went up. I was lifted up with it. It went up, and up until I was high enough to barely be able to see the ground below. By the time it stopped, the oxygen in the air was not enough to support life for long. Closing my eyes, I stood up from the plate stand and walked forward, taking a deep breath before stepping off the edge of the platform. I didn''t fall; I stood still like I was standing on firm ground. I didn''t open my eyes; that would be a fatal mistake. I knew that fear or panic here would lead to my death. I also remember this path "solution." It was a zigzag invisible path made to be almost exclusively completed by using the Wing Song boot. But there was another way of doing it; in Tartdia, it was done first by trial and error; later, the players discovered a coded text in one of the ancient god''s temple ruins with the correct steps. ''There are fifty-two weeks in a year, five weekdays, and two weekends. Five steps forward, two to the right.'' *Step, step, step, step, step. ''Right.'' *Step, step. ''Forward, One.'' *Step, step, step, step, step. ''Left.'' *Step, step. ''Forward, Two.'' ¡­ - Half an hour later - ''''Forward, fifty-two.'''' ''''I''ve made it! HAHAHAHAHAHA! I CAN''T BELIEVE I REALLY MADE IT!!'''' In front of me, there was¡­ absolutely nothing. 14 At least it seems that way, but I knew better. ''The moment I grab the spear, I''ll start the apotheosis.'' I opened my eyes and looked at the empty space. ''The priests, bishops, and nuns will know that a new god ''''has been born,'''' and they will come after me, be it to ask for blessings, seek protection, political interests, or even to straight up worship me.'' ''Since I''ll be the first and only human god to appear in seven thousand years, Lomogre''s empire will also try to get me¡­ Try to turn me into a puppet.'' ''The moment I complete my apotheosis, I''ll also establish a sacred land that will provide a variety of different buffs and effects for all the people living there, as long as I''m alive, that is.'' ''Although I don''t remember what the buffs of the Sky god build are¡­but they must be quite good since it never dropped from the top ten builds in the temple rankings.'' ''As for the blessings, I''ll be able to share part of my power with my most devoted priests, bishops, or nuns. The costs are a reduction of my overall divine power for a period of time for each blessed subject.'' ''For the humans, that''s probably it.'' ''As for the others, they will either try to kill me or test how far they can push me. Most of them are too afraid of having the status quo changed; for them, humans are at the bottom of the food chain; they are cheap, stupid, and weak slaves, disposable low lives¡­ Well, they''re not too far from the truth.'' ''With no god backing up a race, with no sacred land¡­ it''s almost impossible for a species to thrive since these are the prerequisites to form an environment where natural-born demigods or even gods appear... So without a god providing buffs and blessings, the species will be doomed.'' ''The problem starts when a species like the humans obtains a god¡­ Even with all the setbacks, even becoming a slave in most territories of the world, humanity still managed to form empires, kingdoms, and even something more impressive than that; humanity managed to survive and reproduce in all continents throughout Tardia. That may not seem like a big deal, but that''s something that even the mighty Dragons, for example, can''t do.'' ''They''ll definitely try to get rid of me. Well¡­ they can try.'' Putting my hands forward, I made a grabbing forward gesture, and sure enough, I felt it. The body of the spear. It slowly started to appear in my hands from thin air. The spear is approximately 8.5 ft in length, from which 18 inches is the wide, narrow, thin, and angular leaf-shaped lightning spearhead. The spearhead represented the power of lightning and changed color depending on how much power was being used¡­ At the moment, it was completely black. The shaft of the spear was crafted from the petrified spine of the primordial god of heaven, unyielding yet slightly flexible, absorbing and channeling energy like a living conductor. Silver veins spiral down the spear body, enchanted to glow in sync with the spearhead¡¯s color, acting like "veins" of electricity, pulsating faster as the weapon¡¯s power increases. At the very end of the spear, there was a cudgel carved with stormcloud patterns; the cudgel represented the power of thunder; it could unleash shockwaves to cause blunt and a bit of blast damage. It''s quite good against weak enemies, but it is really bad compared to the spearhead, so at first glance, there was no actual reason to use it. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ''I can do this¡­ I''ve been through worse¡­ I just need to assimilate it¡­'' *Deep breath I moved my right hand into my mouth; I bit my thumb until it bled, and then I proceeded to touch the spear shaft with it. -CRACK, CRACK, CRACK¡­- The air around me started to crack; all the hair on my body stood on end. The veins of lightning that spiraled along the spear''s body started to get darker and darker, and a few seconds later my entire body started to appear like an X-ray image. I could see my bones, organs, and veins with my naked eye as if my skin had disappeared. I could even see the faint outline of my beating heart. ''WOW, this is even more impressive in pers-.'' *AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH Pain, incredible pain. It came out of nowhere and shot through my entire body. It felt like a needle was introduced into one of my main arteries and circulated through my entire body before disappearing, and then all of my muscles had a rapid involuntary spasm. I couldn''t move, couldn''t think, could only feel the overwhelming agony pulsating through me. *AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH This went on for minutes, coming and going like waves, unpredictable when it would stop or start again. ''''Fucking hell'''' ''Is it over?'' I looked at the spearhead. ''''FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-'''' ''''ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!? THIS IS STILL BLACK?!?!?'''' I screamed in frustration, feeling the panic rising. ''?! What is this now?'' I felt a tingling sensation in my hands; it started very faint, and then it grew stronger and stronger until I felt like I was under a shower, bathing, but, instead of water, it was tiny needles pricking my skin. At first, it was just weird, but as time passed, it became painful, very painful. But this was still mild for what was about to come. Along with the needle bath, I felt my body suddenly starting to radiate heat, and just like the tingling sensation, it started to escalate. It became so unbearable that it made me feel like I was being burned alive. *AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHHH! ¡­ At some point, I didn''t know if I was screaming or not anymore. ''That''s so stupid; why did I even try to do this in the first place? Shit, I should have given up this stupid weapon the moment I realized this was getting too real. I could have gone for another weapon¡­ one that does not imply fusing my body and soul with.'' ''NO!!! Could I even survive long enough to get another weapon? I need to get a grip on myself.'' *huff, huff, huff ''Finally, it''s over.'' I thought as I looked up at the searhead. BLACK BLAC- BL- B ''DAMN IT!'' What I saw next made me want to cry. The spearhead slowly started to shift to purple. ''''ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!!!! THIS WAS ALL JUST BLACK!!!!!!'''' I screamed at the top of my lungs; honestly, I wanted to cry. ''''Alright, MEN UP!!! just purple, white, and blue to go¡­ FUCK!!!!'''' Although I screamed and tried to get my morale up, my body wasn''t very convinced, and I tried to let go of the spear. But it was of no use; the spear was making the muscles in my forearm contract as I had never experienced before. It was so strong, in fact, that it felt almost like I was suffering from a severe cramp. ''''!'''' ''''NO, NO, NO, NO¡­ CHILL OUT FUCKER!!! GIVE ME AT LEAST A GODDAMN MINUTE TO RECUPERATE!!!!'''' I scream looking at the spear. It is now purple. I felt all my hair getting up, followed by my entire body getting frozen in place. Next, a blinding light came alongside a deafening sound. -Clap- BOOOOOOOOOOOOM- The heat was so strong that it made the previous step look like a comfortable bath in a hot tub or a relaxing time in a sauna full of essences. My entire body went dry at once; my tongue felt like sandpaper inside my mouth, my eyes went completely red, and blinking felt like I was scraping it with a razor blade. I could see every fiber or muscle beneath my skin; it was highlighted similar to how a professional bodybuilder looks before putting in the paint and getting on stage. The sensation was so overwhelming that I couldn''t even scream. My mind went blank for a few minutes. In fact, I couldn''t even breathe. Well, lucky for me, I didn''t need to put in the effort since a few long seconds later, my entire body started to spasm, obligating my diaphragm to pull and push air. *huuuuuuuuuuu, hhhhhhhhhhhhhh, uhhhhhhhh¡­ Even with the violent muscle contractions, I didn''t feel pain, only the horrifying heat consuming my body. When I finally regained some semblance of consciousness, I tried to let go of the spear, but what I saw when I let go made me scream in fear. ''''AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA¡­'''' The spear''s body looked like it was ''melting''; it was glued to the palm of my right hand like a spider web, and the veins of the spear were connecting with the veins on my right arm, fusing, entering inside my body. A single thought crosses my mind before going blank again. ''There''s no going back.'' I didn''t notice when the spear started to shift colors again, but¡­ -crack,crack,crack,- -BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!- At this point, I didn''t care anymore. I didn''t even know if I was screaming or not from pain. I lost my sense of self for a while. By the time the color changed to blue, I wasn''t even capable of noticing that the spear was no more; I stood still holding empty air, completely naked since my clothes burned into ashes. My entire nervous system, including my brain, was visible to the naked eye, glowing white, and slowly changing to blue. As soon as it turned blue, I felt an electric shock-like sensation along nerve paths, and a stab of pain went into the jaw, cheek, and eye. The eye was especially bad; it was like a hot poker being driven into the eyes. AND THIS TIME IT REMAINED LIKE THAT FOR HOURS.