《Apocalypse Redux/Continuum Sidestories》 World Boss 1: Ziz There were a lot of [World Bosses] that could be summoned in the [System]. A lot of resources that could be harvested. But ultimately, the cost to get those resources was astronomical, so humanity hadn¡¯t really farmed them actively. Three times these things had been summoned, three times they had been killed at horrendous cost, three times there¡¯d been furious debate over if the next battle would be on purpose. The Leviathan had cleaned the oceans. Ymir¡¯s essence was terraforming Mars. And when the Earlking had been killed, he¡¯d granted them inner-system fast travel capability via the ¡°fae realm¡±. That last one had been especially annoying to fight, summoning the legions of the fae, phasing in and out of reality until they were eventually killed. At least that particular mess had taken place in Alpha Centauri, at a nice long distance from anything they needed to protect, and for the first time, the sentence for summoning a [World Boss] without permission had been carried out by someone other than the boss itself. It didn¡¯t matter if someone had had a ¡°secret technique¡± or a ¡°surefire way to win¡±, if someone else had to step in and clean up and there had been any possibility of innocents getting caught in the crossfire, summoning a [World Boss] was a capital crime. Anyway, when humanity had tried to expand the fast travel system to the asteroid belt, they¡¯d realized that [World Bosses] could only be summoned once a decade. But humanity had still whipped itself up into a frenzy and that energy had to go somewhere. Getting World Items always cost lives, but the mentality towards them had begun to shift during the planning phase for the Earlking battle. It was no longer about how the world would desperately fight a powerful beast, but about a potential sacrifice for the good of humanity. Anyone who dared step up was guaranteed a massive payday, support for their loved ones in case of disaster and whatever ¡°honored¡± status their home nation provided, be that knighthood, a medal, or something else. Germany in particular didn¡¯t have anything like that, it was a very young country and most of the historical knightly orders and other organizations had been tarred by association with the Nazis. Those fuckers had pulled on every even remotely interesting historical achievement for propaganda purposes, and anything involving them was dicey, to say the least. Some people had even pushed for Isaac to found a new ¡°knightly order¡± of some kind, using his knowledge and position as [Hildebrand¡¯s Heir], but he¡¯d declined. That was not only extremely self-congratulatory, it also sounded like a fuckton of paperwork. All in all, the ¡°I love me wall¡± in Isaac¡¯s office currently looked like a glitter nuke had gone off in front of it. And, of course truth-telling [Skills] would make sure that all those who fought the [World Boss] were volunteers, without being pressured or even just capitulating to general peer pressure. Another thing that had been utterly vital to properly hammer out had been a proper chain of command, which would begin with the military but have people like Isaac on hand and able to throw in their own opinions. Not override the person in charge, that would cause all sorts of issues, but give strong advice, leaving it up to the boss which advice was to be followed. Of course, the leader would be picked on two important traits: not being Ardouin and actually being the opposite of the man. In other words, willing to listen to advice and compromise. Obviously, this still left the issue of certain people being listened to despite not being in charge, their advice being taken as orders, but the situation was messy, no two ways about it. Steps were being taken to make it less messy, but they¡¯d never have a completely smooth run. It just wasn¡¯t in the cards. These battles would almost certainly not end humanity as a whole, and the spoils of war were incredible, however, they could be expensive. Ruinously so. But twenty-five years after the [System] had arrived, humanity summoned the first [World Boss] with the specific intention of killing it for its World Item. Ziz, the Primordial Beast of the Air, King of the Skies, He who blocks the Sun with his Wings. Should be ¡°fun¡±. *** This battle once again took place on Pluto, so that even should something go really wrong, they¡¯d have plenty of time to figure out a solution. Most of the people present without ships were S-Rankers, with the vast majority of those being Generation Zero like Isaac. Not Gen One, Gen Zero, because someone in the UN had gone very much overboard with the classifications. Gen Zero was anyone who¡¯d been an S-Ranker during the Leviathan incident. Gen One was anyone who¡¯d gained the [System] upon Initialization, but became an S-Ranker after the Leviathan had reared its ugly head. People who hadn¡¯t rushed towards the peak at quite such an insane pace as Isaac had, and those who¡¯d taken a longer path to power. For example, one Cameron Smith, nowadays known as Cameron the Calamity, the [Chimera] of Austin. That investment hadn¡¯t paid off in time for the Leviathan battle, but he had reached the heights Isaac had expected him to. In fact, he was currently floating in space a few kilometers from him, Void Dragon wings flapping gently as softly glowing blue eyes raked the surface of the planet. And Isaac knew that beneath his normal-looking skin, monstrous muscles coiled like starsteel cables, and the skin itself was almost as tough as Isaac¡¯s armor. Another example was Wyatt Reyes, whom Isaac hadn¡¯t personally encountered since Singapore. Instead of purely focusing on information gathering as he had in the first timeline, he¡¯d headed down to R¡¯lyeh and poked a whole lot of stuff that really shouldn¡¯t be poked and gained some kind of truly insane eldritch [Class]. Two Grimoires floated before him while some kind of beast floated in and out of reality around him, a constantly varying number of beaks, tentacles, and slavering mouths barely perceptible, only really becoming ¡°real¡± when Isaac wasn¡¯t really paying attention to them. But there were many, many people here with interesting and terrifying powers here. After Gen One, you obviously had Gen Two, which was comprised of people who¡¯d been alive during Initialization but not unlocked the [System], which was what the twins would hopefully become, in time. Gen Three was anyone born after the initization and in a sane world, that would have been the end of it, but there was more. The fourth Generation was comprised of people who¡¯d been born with bloodlines and gained boosts from their parents, while the fifth was basically the same as the fourth, except it was descended from other S-Rankers. Really, calling the S-ranked descendants of S-Rankers the second Generation would have made more sense, but in the end ¡­ bureaucracy. Speaking of bureaucracy, Isaac had gotten a fuckton of requests, ¡°orders¡±, bribes, and more besides, from people asking him to keep specific people safe or, as it were, not safe. For example, both of New Zeeland¡¯s S-Rankers would be here, and some people in its government were very concerned about the situation. With a population of five million, they were well ahead of the standard curve of one S-Ranker per 10 million inhabitants, something they were, understandably, very proud of. But with the nature of [World Boss] battles, that sort of thing could change in a single moment of tragedy. But that particular nation didn¡¯t really have to worry. Especially about the Undying Flame, the first of the pair to reach S-Rank. Rashid Boateng had started out as some type of spell blade based on the phoenix, before shifting his path into something involving celestial bodies and eventually, space itself. Even if Isaac hadn¡¯t known the man to be smart enough to not put himself in an unescapable situation, his build prevented him from falling victim to the trap of drawing aggro you couldn¡¯t survive. Isaac continued to look around the area, taking note of some of the interesting new faces, until things finally kicked off. Seriously, this wasn¡¯t going to be as bloodless as the usual resource-gathering battles. But it was going to happen, and Isaac was damn certain that things were going to be less bloody with him there. ***
Humanity beware, a World Boss has been summoned! Bear witness to his name and tremble: Ziz, Primordial Beast of the Air, King of the Skies, He who blocks the Sun with his Wings This is a monster meant to be an opponent for your entire species, and in your own words, ¡°hang together or hang separately¡±. Good luck!
The warning was the exact same as the last three times, just with a different set of titles. At least this time around, they were a little less dicey than ¡°Living Hellgate¡±. Beneath the summoning circle, the ground shattered and for a brief moment that was all that happened. Scary message, broken ice, and nada on the monster appearing. But then, the ice was vaporized into steam and something began happening to the surrounding space, but it took Isaac an embarrassing amount of time to figure it out. In fact, he wasn¡¯t even the one to first get what was happening. ¡°It¡¯s pulling in every stray bits of gas it can find to form an ¡®atmosphere¡¯,¡± one of the ship captains warned. Ah, that made a disturbing amount of sense. [World Bosses] could normally only be summoned in areas with a compatible environment, yet they hadn¡¯t had one lick of trouble summoning an air beast in an airless void. The process took around five minutes, during which everyone was forced to tensely wait and take the occasional potshot at the active summoning circle that wasn¡¯t actually, you know, summoning. And when it actually completed, it was so sudden that even Isaac jumped a little. Ziz surged out of the circle like water spewing from a Geysir, manifesting within the bounds of the runic drawing and expanding to its true size as he got further from the circle In hindsight, the first line of defenders had been way too close, and that damn bird was way too fast, wrapped in a bubble of gathered atmosphere almost ten kilometers across, barely able to contain the titanic eagle-thing with its eight-kilometer wingspan. Not to mention that the air bubble was a whirl of power and fury, making it almost as deadly as the ocean around Leviathan had been. A wall of lasers, railguns, particle beams and artillery spells washed out from the line of battleships and S-Rankers that had been sitting pretty at a mere hundred kilometers above the surface. Isaac scanned the monster, mentally revising his plan. As expected, Ziz was a massive bird, but he¡¯d thought it would fly in a similar way to the Void Dragon, where it could flap its wings and just go. Instead, it was moving through space by riding on its personal bubble of rending wind, tearing into anything and everything that got just a little too close. The real issue was that having a purely magical means of conveyance meant that the only way to immobilize that fucker was to kill it, there were no real weak points like the joints of the wings that could be targetted to slow it. Regardless, Isaac tried, accelerating using his flames while scanning the monster with [Knowledge Seeker], imbuing his massive Leviathan-tooth sword with [Logos Blade], and finally switched to [Challenger of the Apocalypse] for the final approach. [Speed of Hati] was the non plus ultra for speed, after all. [I Am The Sword] blasted him clean through the beast¡¯s wing joint just in case it had some small effect, making sure to position his actual weapon so that it carved straight through several important tendons. And as he passed through, he triggered his Leviathan armor¡¯s once a day abiltiy to wreath himself in the Leviathan¡¯s fire, scorching the inside of the bird¡¯s body with the wrath of one of its compatriots. It did damage, but not enough. Sure, damage was damage, but the monster was still going to smash straight through the frontlines and reach the artillery platforms and the ships carrying mages behind the frontlines. They didn¡¯t have anything close to the defenses of the ships of the line, or the people capable of easily standing besides these vessels. He¡¯d even used [I Am The Sword] in its ¡°shoving¡± mode, which prioritized imparting momentum over penetration, but the monster was so massive that it hardly do anything. However, what Isaac had failed to account for was that not only was this his fourth [World Boss] battle, it was humanity¡¯s fourth battle. There were people here who¡¯d grown up, or at the very least, grown in Levels, watching those fights and creating plans about what they¡¯d do if they¡¯d been present. For most of them, these were just daydreams, aspirations that would never be reached, but there were those who knuckled down and fought to reach the heights they aspired towards. And a trick whose story had grown to legendary proportions had been the various ¡°Colony Drops¡±. Isaac wasn¡¯t entirely sure where the name had come from, but the idea was solid. Summon a fortress or other large manifestation, and drop in on the bad guy¡¯s head. Not to mention that out in space, you could reach insane speeds before manifesting your shining citadel of light around yourself and bodyslamming the [World Boss] back into the ground. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Lau Kant was an S-Ranker from Argentinia and his regular, ¡°human¡±, form was one of the inhuman Isaac had encountered thus far, being some sort of celestial race that flat out doubled his size, with ashen white skin and deep black hair that shimmered with celestial light. However, none of that was visible at the moment, as he was currently transformed into an immense automaton that strongly resembled an angel, a power core burning in his chest, energy flowing off him in waves. Yet everything paled in comparison to the citadel, which hit with enough force to send the [World Boss] tumbling backwards, ass over appetite, until it hammered into the surface of pluto with enough force to send cracks radiating outwards for dozens of kilometers. And then, Kant began to burn, solar plasma erupting outwards and first scorching Ziz¡¯s feathers, then the flesh below as the area around Ziz took on properties akin to those of a star¡¯s heart. It was inflicting not insignificant amounts of damage, and holding the beast back for now, but it wouldn¡¯t last. It never did, not against a [World Boss]. Things were the same each and every time when a [World Boss] was knocked back on its ass. The first blow landed, the secondary effects came into play, the monster started paying attention to whoever had managed to land the blow and finally brought the full force of its power to bear against whoever had managed to land the attack. Ziz¡¯s wings beat, flexing against the surface of Pluto, ice and rock shattering for dozens of kilometers around, while Kant went flying as if he¡¯d jumped into the universe¡¯s biggest trampoline. ¡°Back!¡± Isaac snapped at anyone who wasn¡¯t already backing away. They had a window for a successful retreat, they needed to use it. A fighting retreat, granted, but they had an entire solar system¡¯s worth of space to play with. And both Earth and Mars were currently on the other side of the sun. They could play the keep away game for a very long time. With an indignant squawk that no one outside the creature¡¯s atmosphere bubble heard, Ziz launched himself back into space as he drew his atmosphere bubble back together. For a long moment, that was how the [World Boss] moved through space, wings spread out in a gliding position as an oblong bubble of gasses and water vapor pulled him along. It would be bad if it reached the ships, but they were already retreating, so it should be fine, right? It. Wasn¡¯t. Fine. The bubble shrank as parts of the bubble were siphoned off and compressed on its leading edge. They were immediately targetted, lasers and particle beams tearing into them and causing the matter packed together to tightly it had become liquid, superheating it and causing parts of it to erupt outwards, but it wasn¡¯t doing much. Nuclear strikes were more effective, missiles slipping into the bubbles and blasting them apart, but even so, they didn¡¯t exactly destroy anything. The projectiles were just compressed gasses that, when scattered, could just be re-compressed. Isaac blasted through Ziz from the side, going after another set of tendons, but that was mostly because he didn¡¯t have anything truly vulnerable to go after. As he flew through, he switched over to his Ymir armor set and unleashed both its fire and froststorm daily abilities, tearing through the monster¡¯s insides. For a brief moment, the [World Boss] stumbled, but it didn¡¯t do anything for more than a few seconds. He was a lot less suited to fighting that thing than he¡¯d been to combatting Leviathan. It was independent of a planetary surface, it couldn¡¯t be knocked about since it was anchoring itself to a bubble under its own control, and it was too massive for him to neatly strike it in multiple spots. Soundlessly, Ziz hurled the hundred-odd air bullets into the fleet, with the projectiles further compressing themselves mid-flight until they tore through the armor of the targetted ships. Once inside, they decompressed explosively and blew massive chunks out of the vessels. The explosions might not be powerful enough to destroy warships outright, but that didn¡¯t change the fact that these ships were primarily armored on the outside. By the time their exterior cracked open and vented the overpressure, vast swaths of the interior had already been obliterated. Having several dozen warships damaged and falling behind would have been bad enough already, but the real issue was what happened next. The air spread out to form massive dragnets that swept through space during their journey back towards the [World Boss], catching small craft and individuals and pulling them into the range of the monster. Mages, aerokinetics and others with the ability to remotely interact with the nets managed to rip open several, and many of those caught within were able to escape as well, but not everyone was able to get out. Claws flashed and the beak snapped, and a few seconds later, they¡¯d had another thousand-odd casualties. Nope, this wasn¡¯t going to work. Due to the limits of the compressed-air bombs, Ziz wound up switching to crescent blades to carve open anything that was too close. Fucking ¡­ whatever. The order to go FTL was given almost immediately. Whoever was in a position to do so jumped a full thirty light minutes towards the sun, but this still left behind a sizeable portion of the army. Currently, there was no such thing as a non-magical FTL drive, all manner of faster-than-light movement was either a ship commander¡¯s [Skill], spatial/teleportation magic channeled through some manner of amplifier built into the ship, or large portals, all of which were specific for a single ship. Nothing that could easily be applied to an entire fleet. Isaac could have easily joined those that successfully escaped, as could multiple others, but they could easily zip off at any point. Those stuck here couldn¡¯t. He was here, with with Boateng, Arthur, Elena, Reyes, and two more he wasn¡¯t too familiar with in his immediate vincinity. The demonic juggernaut, Lan Mercer was one of Australia¡¯s S-Rankers, who¡¯d made enough of an impression for his government to arrange for him to get a full set of Leviathan armor. That being said, he wasn¡¯t currently wearing his helmet, letting his long black hair stream down his back and drape over his black ram¡¯s horns. He was also heavily armed, with two khopeshes hanging from his belt and a greatsword strapped to his back. All in all, it didn¡¯t seem like he was going to do anything with his armament, instead, he was limbering up as though he were about to throw down with the [World Boss]. Which wasn¡¯t too unlikely, as he was the single physically strongest human in the world. Isaac didn¡¯t know which [Class] gave him the power, but he had a [Skill] that allowed to massively increase his physical strength at the cost of mounting strain on his body, to the point where he had a near constant one-third boost and he could whip out far greater blows at a moment¡¯s notice. The second unknown was the Norwegian Aiden Larsen, a dryad with supernaturally perfect features, albeit with a slightly green tinge, a whip-sword loosely held in one hand as he intensely studied the monster. ¡°We need to hold that thing back,¡± Isaac stated. Everyone already knew that, but it didn¡¯t hurt to repeat it. And then, he followed the statement up with a plan as they scattered, peppering the advancing calamity with lighter attacks. Half a minute or so after the big exodus, a single ship returned, appearing with a flash of light as an [Alcubierre Drive] collapsed and normal spacetime reasserted itself. ¡°Well, everyone, get on!¡± Isaac ordered as he turned and went right back for Ziz. He and anyone who cared to help would distract the monster, and the ship would survive the occasional near miss. The Scientia Quaesitor was something that in any even remotely sane world wouldn¡¯t have been in the hands of civilians, but the world had lost its mind a while ago. It was a three-hundred-meter long vessel built for what could be best described as ¡°armed exploration¡±, built by the best very finest engineers of both the university and Camelot, and ownership was shared by both. Thick but lightweight armor plating made from the finest alloys in existence, the best propulsion methods in existence, constantly updated whenever something new was discovered, and a thoroughly enchanted internal structure that could use [Portal], [Alcubierre Bubble] and a wide variety of squad-level movement [Skills] to take the entire vessel FTL made it both fast and survivable. On the offense front, there wasn¡¯t that much, just a massive railgun built into the vessel¡¯s spine, six particle beam turrets with settings for both anti-ship and point defense settings. However, the lacking armament was mostly because the main source of damage output was the crew. This was a vessel belonging to organizations with the planet¡¯s densest concentration of S-Rankers. A casting circle was located at both the bow and stern of the ship, with another dozen spread out across the hull, running down the length of the ship in three rows of four. Even so, they held back to avoid drawing the monster¡¯s ire. For now. Telekinetic magic and portals yanked the stragglers into the Scientia until it was bursting at the seams before it vanished, once again tearing through space at a pseudo-velocity well beyond light speed. At the same time, they¡¯d finally gotten everything into position to use one of the [System¡¯s] strongest creatures as a punching bag. Mostly, they¡¯d gotten people out of the way who¡¯d have otherwise been obliterated. Mercer was the first to make an overt move as he shifted into a massive demonic form, sixty meters tall, with deep crimson scales and a draconic tail whipping out behind him. He might not have had the multiple lives or the full nigh-immortality of a [Raid Boss], but in every other aspect, he might as well be one. He exploded forward using a sword he was telekinetically holding in place as a springboard, his immense demonic power slamming into the weapon to increase his forward momentum. Windblades and airbombs hammered into him one after another, but he always pushed himself back onto the proper trajectory while others began to intercept attacks. For a long moment, he was Ziz¡¯s sole focus, likely only surviving due to his being outside of the air bubble. Then, he reached the monster¡¯s domain, and ¡­ punched it. His muscles bulged and Isaac could feel the immense power being unshackled and poured into a singular attack, which hammered into the immense air domain and shattered it like glass. Isaac¡¯s jaw dropped, he¡¯d clearly underestimated the power of that strike, but his surprise didn¡¯t stop him from sticking to the plan and doing his part. First, Mercer had shattered the air bubble, so Boateng was able to close with the monster¡¯s rear and begin to unleash his power. Deep black armor began to be layered onto him as he drew on his [Void Armor] while dark energy wrapped his blade and space itself tore behind him like the maw of a primordial beast opening. Ziz wasn¡¯t going to go in there by himself, obviously, but Reyes was already at work, space shortening between the monster and the pocket dimension, while Larsen stepped up to the plate, literally. Phantasmal bark manifested briefly as he slipped into a separate world, specifically, the world tree, before he stepped back into the real world right in the monster¡¯s face, with a thick branch appearing underfoot. With a titanic burst of power, the world warped as more and more of Yggdrasil itself came into being, burning with power. Literally, in four spots. One which howled with a freezing wind, the other feeling like a grave, filled with despair and death, a third that rang like steel on steel and the impression of bloodshed, and a fourth that overflowed with life. Spectral armor rapidly flowed over Larsen as the energy began to be condensed into his body. He stood still for a long moment, before striking. Back on Earth, before the [System], ordinary humans had been able to breach the sound barrier on muscle power alone, using a whip. And Larsen was hardly ordinary. His whipsword tore through space almost faster than Isaac could follow, tearing a massive gash across Ziz¡¯s chest while the energy of the world tree followed into the wound, which had already been steaming with freezing and deathly energy before the full might of the attack landed. Ziz went flying, the air-bubble that kept the monster able to maneuver not yet reassembled, through countless slashes that Boateng had carved into space, which tore up the monster¡¯s back. But the real goal was getting the monster into the void space, whose entrance slammed shut behind it. Well, almost. Enough space remained for them to add insult to injury by throwing in a few more attacks. Elena grasped as much water as she could and hurled it away to ensure that Ziz couldn¡¯t gather the vapor again before unleashing [Moonbeam] after [Moonbeam] into the pocket dimension. And Arthur just hurled Excalibur into the hole, repeatedly, carving chunk after chunk out of the monster. After another two minutes, the Scientia Quaesitor came back, with every magic user on the team in the four frontmost casting circles, Karl on the bow circle next to the railgun¡¯s muzzle. Isaac could see the intricate spellwork of Patrick¡¯s, Raul¡¯s [Nature¡¯s Wrath] empowering it, Karl fusing the energy into the weapon and Amy¡¯s ability holding the whole thing together. And then, the ship fired, the entire vessel being flung backwards as a dart made from the single densest alloy currently in existence was hurled at the [World Boss]. Magic crackled across the projectiles for a long moment, until the moment of impact, where they detonated in a burst of tremendous energy. They got more three shots off before the mages were spent, and at that point, everyone was already aboard the Scientia. A damn good thing too, since that was the point when Ziz cracked open the pocket dimension, looking utterly furious. But before the [World Boss] was able to do anything, the ship warped away. *** ¡°¡­ And now we¡¯ve got a fucking [World Boss] loose in the solar system!¡± ¡°As far as we knew, our preparations should have worked, and we still have time to kill it.¡± ¡°But ¡­¡± That was basically how the last three hours had gone, on repeat. Accusation, reasonable response, whiny counterattack. They really should have done this in Alpha Centauri, but as tricky as intra-system FTL travel was, inter-system movement was a million times more difficult. After all, the whole thing was still fully [System]-dependent. There were currently three grades of technology. [System]-dependent, which was where most new developments began, things fully linked to [Skills] and the like. It worked, but was hard to improve upon and the underlying principles weren¡¯t always known. Magitech, which still drew upon mana and enchantments to work, but could theoretically be worked by anyone with a mana pool and the necessary expertise. And finally, the pinnacle of technology, the Null-tech, which functioned entirely on pre-[System] physics because ironically, that was where the magic lay. Because once you could achieve something entirely without magic and arcane materials, you could improve it however you wanted, replacing materials with magical equivalents, layering on enchantments, slapping on [Skills], and everything else one could imagine. In other words, humanity¡¯s FTL capability was currently in the ¡°technically, it works¡± stage, making an extra-solar [World Boss] battle a logistical nightmare. The argument continued, but they did have time. The solar system was vast, Ziz was stuck well below light and if humanity had actually had the chance to plan ahead, they could outmaneuver the beast. *** Attack after attack tore up the [World Boss], particle beams ripping large furrows into its skin while nuclear missiles detonated in the air bubble, sadly inflicting not very much damage. And then, the ships jumped away once more, leaving behind the shattered wrecks of a battleship and two cruisers, which the monster had managed to take out with pre-charged air bombs. There went the last of their expendable munitions. Isaac sighed. They¡¯d done quite a bit of damage, but even so, they¡¯d taken massive damage and were in desperate need of repair and resupply. Modern warships, be they ocean- or space-going, were damn powerful, capable of things well beyond what any ordinary person was capable of. In fact, they could replace anyone below the fourth Evolution when it came to fighting. But they were also expensive, ruinously so, and required fuel, munitions, and countless other supplies that individual fighters did not. Humanity¡¯s mighty spacegoing warfleets were out of this fight. Not destroyed, but still useless. While almost a decade¡¯s worth of space-based development was being systematically trashed, they¡¯d tried to lock up the [World Boss] three more times. It had worked twice, but the last time, Ziz had gone straight for Boateng. Thankfully, the man had had the good sense to not keep going with an already ruined plan, instead chopping up the monster to the fullest degree his powers allowed before skedaddling. *** One light hour. That was how far Ziz had travelled, how long a trail of debris the [World Boss] had drawn through the solar system. And at the end of that trail hung the shredded beast, both eyes finally destoyed for good, looking like a plucked thanksgiving turkey that had been killed by an extraordiarily incompetent butcher. Except this turkey was very much still alive. Alive and angry. However, it was only targeting the ships, anyone able to survive in space on their own was seemingly immune to attack. ¡°Do you think it might be sensing the air pockets?¡± Elena asked after a long moment, causing Isaac to facepalm. That should have been obvious. Leviathan hadn¡¯t been limited too much by loosing his eyesight, but he¡¯d been submerged in his element, capable of sensing disturbances within. Ziz was currently fighting in a hard vacuum and therefore, well, screwed. So they wound up venting the Scientia after securing all technical components and began playing submarine warfare. Shoot the monster, dodge, then shoot it again. They¡¯d hit the monster hard, and it had counterattacked even harder, but now, they had its number. It couldn¡¯t see and, if proper precautions were taken, sense anyone. At least anyone smart enough to stay out of the [World Boss¡¯] air envelope. The few remaining warships joined in, steel platforms were created for mages to use as a base, vacuum-breathing Aspects were handed out, and in time, Ziz would be dead. *** Isaac gazed into the smooth glass marble, its interior glowing blue and filled with clouds. It had been awarded to Amy, but she¡¯d handed it to him so he could inspect it.
Breath of the Sky (World Item) The Boon given to the slayer of Ziz is the gratitude of the sky itself, allowing its holder to reshape the atmosphere of an entire planet, restoring it from its damaged shape. The holder may choose what the atmosphere is restored to, how quickly this change occurs, what parts of the world are restored (up to and including all of them), and what, if any, is excluded from the effect. This is a single-use item, the user will need to set all parameters prior to activation, at which point the item will be destroyed. As a World Item, the Breath of the Sky cannot be stored in any manner of spatial device.
The moment she used this thing, all the crap humanity had managed to blast into the atmosphere would be scrubbed, and the argument about how ¡°restoring the planet¡± was worth any cost, even though the kinds of people who made those arguments were nowhere close the amount of power needed to meaningfully contribute to the fight. This fight had arguably been worth it, but the next one might not be. He sighed. Chances were that the political battles would be worse than the fight that had just been won. But no matter what other decisions were made, no more flying fuckwads in the solar system! World Boss 2: Cipactli Once more into the fucking breach. Isaac had long since decided that any [World Boss] battles would have to be planned as though he weren¡¯t involved, leaving him free to not attend. He would join, obviously, but he hardly felt like having to clean up after every bad decision humanity made. If it would lead to the end of the world, he would hardly sit idle, but otherwise, he liked his peace. Peace and home. In exchange for terraforming Mars using Ymir¡¯s World Item, Isaac had been granted Olympus Mons in perpetuity, along with a tax exemption and countless other exemptions. So a large chunk of the crater had become a training arena sitting underneath an academy built into the crater wall, while he¡¯d built a palatial home. But he had to admit, he was getting a bit bored by now, and he did want to see what Cipactli looked like. It was a dangerous kind of curiosity, the kind that led to children touching hot stoves and adults winning Darwin awards, but Isaac was one of the few people who could handle the consequences of sticking his nose where it didn¡¯t belong. ¡­ Famous last words. At least this time around, things were happening outside the solar system altogether. In Alpha Centauri, to be exact. A trinary star system, the closest one to Earth and utterly uninhabitable, no matter what you did. Or rather, almost impossible to permanently make habitable. It was a fairly simple issue, known by the equally simple name of ¡°The Three-Body Problem.¡± Simply put, the combination of three stars whirling around each other meant that any planet or other stellar body in that stellar system would have absurdly erratic orbits, flying way too close to stars, or going way too far for sufficient heat to reach them. Making any of the planets present life-bearing would have required a World Item, the Essence of Ymir, to be exact, to create a biosphere that could easily wind up destroyed in less than a decade. Between the proximity to the solar system and the complete absence of anything humanity wanted to avoid wrecking (Pluto had never been quite the same after Ymir and later Ziz), Alpha Centauri was perfect for this kind of shenanigans. And, best of all, the logistics were running completely without his input. Therefore, he had zero paperwork. Or at least as close to zero as was humanly possible. ***
Humanity beware, a World Boss has been summoned! Bear witness to his name and tremble: Cipactli, The First Beast, Monster of Endless Maws, The Hungering Earth This is a monster meant to be an opponent for your entire species, and in your own words, ¡°hang together or hang separately¡±. Good luck! Current location: Planet [name contested] (150 km straight down)
Isaac bit back a laugh at the unexpected sight of the planet¡¯s name. It seemed like the incessant arguing about what to call this world had gotten so bad that even the System had gotten confused. Or at the very least, there was nothing anywhere near definitive enough for it to lock onto. Yeesh. Some poor bureaucrat would get hit by a completely pointless shitstorm after this, but thankfully, that was very much a them problem. Based on the grimaces of the others around him, several people had noticed that too and were trying to keep a straight face and not doing a particularly good job. But most were like him, glaring down at the monster. Cipactli was huge, as immense as the various other [World Bosses] had been, but unique otherwise. The Leviathan had, to use his earlier description, an angry shoelace. Impossibly long yet thin, giving it the appearance of something akin to a weirdly blue spaghetti when viewed from far enough away. Ymir had been a giant, full stop. A big-ass human with grey-ish skin, fire and ice swirling around him. And Ziz had just been a big bird with horrifically effective aerokinesis. But this thing ¡­ Even after all these years of fighting monsters, Isaac wasn¡¯t quite sure how to describe it. Cipactli shared the size with its other [World Bosses], four kilometers long, five if one included the head, and nine if you added the tail. Overall, it resembled a massive crocodile, an enormously thick one, with skin covered in nobs that were halfway between a crocodile¡¯s ¡°humps¡± and the warts of a toad. A fat tail that reminded Isaac of a thresher shark, made for smashing, hung from its rear, a deadly weapon for anyone attempting to attack from that side. The monster had a grand total of six weirdly long, multi-jointed legs whose ends disappeared underground, leaving Isaac unable to see how long they were. All of that, however, was ignoring the biggest, most memorable and eye-catching bodypart of the beast. The mouths. Countless mouths, elliptical, black caverns filled with countless fangs, each completed with a lashing tongue, covered the beast, one on each joint, and a few more dotted around its body at any point that often moved, such as the neck and several spots along the tail. Isaac grimaced. He¡¯d read about those in the various mythological treatises, but it was an entirely different thing seeing them in person. And yet, even they were nothing compared to the beast¡¯s true maw, sitting in the ¡°normal¡± spot of Cipactli¡¯s crocodilian head. It hung open, fangs the size of destroyers ringing a black void that seemed to stretch into infinity, showing more space inside the beast than ever should have been possible, all the way down to a single crimson point miles and miles from the ¡°entrance¡±, yet even that seemed to be infinite, a sea of blood sitting at the heart of the likewise endless space within the primordial crocodile. Cipactli roared up at them, countless maws sending out waves of energy in place of sound, a red wave of force that would likely have been utterly lethal to anyone within a few dozen kilometers. At the distance the humans were hanging out at, it would likely be merely unpleasant, but the people with the relevant [Skills] nevertheless threw up multilayered shields while the offensive portion of the combined armies of humanity returned fire. Miniature meteors, hurled blades, complex curses and spellformations that had taken hours or even days to set up spat death itself, while an entire fleet of the most advanced starships ever built unleashed a technological arsenal never seen until this point. Lasers struck first, rays of coherent light as intense as the sun burning skin and boiling away the flesh beneath. Particle beams were the next to impact, slower by a fraction of time so short that even people with Isaac¡¯s Perception only knew they were slower by logic alone, ripping into the monster more directly, injecting energy deep into the monster. Missiles and railgun rounds were slower, but even more hard-hitting. Demon-blood catalyzed fusion warheads, enchanted Saggitarius-Steel penetrators that weighed almost as much as the ships that launched them, and more exotic and experimental weaponry that was ill-suited for standardization in some way. All the while, Isaac just watched. Observed. Planned. He was still using his [Assassin of the Logos Blade] [Class] for maximum analysis power, [Knowledge Seeker] vacuuming up every scrap of information that presented itself and folding it into the massive Leviathan-bone sword in his hands, which began glowing steadily brighter. He¡¯d already learned everything he could about fish, crocodiles and toads, the animals that comprised the [World Boss], and now, he was drawing on his target for that final push, to create the perfect weapon. Opposing sides of the battle unleashed twin waves of annihilation washed towards each other and for the most part, both were disappointed by the outcome. Cipactli¡¯s energy wave was about to crash into the wall of shields when it was brought up short, its center growing black and being sucked into a singular point, and the rest followed shortly, the massive but now-diffuse blastwave completely vanishing into a spatial pocket. Isaac wasn¡¯t entirely sure where it¡¯s creator was, but he knew who¡¯d done that. Rashid Boateng, the Undying Flame, one of the few space-aligned combat S-Rankers had sucked up the entirety of the initial attack but that wasn¡¯t the end of things. Then, the void began to boil, black nothingness becoming stained red before shifting into something in between, Cipactli¡¯s crimson energy first intermingling then merging with something wholly different, the power of the void itself. Utter. Nothingness. A red-black ray of power lanced back down at the planet, straight towards Cipactli ¡­ who was already in the process of burrowing underground, merging with the planet, having left any attack that wasn¡¯t functionally lightspeed to detonate futility against the surface. That was when the reflected attack struck, blasting apart the immense dust cloud that had been launched upwards by the initial impact, revealing Cipactli just beneath the new surface moments before it struck, leaving the [World Boss] to retreat into the planet with an angry red burn on its back, vanishing from view in short order. Isaac could still tell where it was with his Aura, but trying to reach it down there with his available weapons would do negligible damage. Their opening salvo had been fired and largely dodged, while the monster¡¯s initial attack had been fired straight back into its face. But that was all that had happened, and they were now reduced to this weird standoff. ¡°Now what?¡± Amy asked. ¡°Do we try cracking open the planet?¡± That question prompted a few hushed comments and shocked titters, but after a few minutes, the consensus was that it was a bad idea. It¡¯d waste a ton of energy, and Cipactli could doubtlessly burrow deeper. ¡°There has to be a way to hit that thing without breaking a planet,¡± Patrick finally said. ¡°Monsters can be weird and unique, but they never retreat and dig in completely. Not like that.¡± The planet down below was slowly changing as they spoke, the churned-up rock, beginning to bleed. ¡°Mr. Lerch is right,¡± Professor Kim threw in. ¡°Monsters have their quirks, but their core purpose of providing a challenge to their summoner or summoners is always present. That a beast would retreat until its autonomous summoning triggered or the like runs contrary to the very core of the System. ¡°Therefore, there has to be an end to this process. If not a time limit, then one we can bring about. Dr. Thoma, does your mythological knowledge give you any ideas?¡± It would seem like that statement made quite a few assumptions but she was one of the few people who knew the whole story concerning the System¡¯s origins and restrictions, making her explanation far more accurate than most people realized. ¡°A god sacrificed his foot to lure Cipactli to the surface of the primordial ocean, where the other gods killed it,¡± Isaac explained. ¡°Hey, does that thing prevent regeneration or something?¡± Isaac rotated himself to face the speaker, a strange proposition in zero-g. ¡°Not to my knowledge,¡± he said. ¡°Then I¡¯ll do it.¡± Lau Kant was an enormous celestial humanoid with ashen white skin and pitch-black hair that looked like strands of the void itself, blending in with the surroundings so perfectly it sometimes appeared as though pieces of his head weren¡¯t there. He¡¯d been floating in space up until now, somehow giving off the impression that he was lounging in a comfortable chair even though he was, well, floating in the middle of nowhere with the nearest solid surface several kilometers away. But now that he was taking action, he was starting to exude a dangerous air, of razor-sharp focus and deadly intent. Kant had already moved past Isaac when he stopped and turned around. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°Do you need some time to prepare, or should I do it right now?¡± Isaac sent that up the chain, then passed along the message he got in return. ¡°We need an hour.¡± *** In the end, it had taken a couple of hours to set things up fully, but this should be a truly wonderful one-two punch to get the damn murder-croc out of the blood ocean it was creating on the surface of the planet. Kant would lure the monster and try to keep it on the surface long enough for a concerted effort to catapult it into space. The man known as the Shining Guardian didn¡¯t hesitate in the slightest as he lowered himself towards the bloody ocean, moving with slow deliberateness as he came closer and closer ¡­ until Cipactli exploded from beneath the waves, jaws open to swallow him whole. And bit down. ¡­ It didn¡¯t get anywhere. Instead, its jaws were held open by a shining citadel that had appeared there, rings of teeth surrounding the radiant building, even unable to withdraw and let go. And then, Kant triggered his second [Skill], one that added some variety of hard-to-shift momentum to him, making the citadel yerk skywards, pulling the monster maybe a hundred meters upwards, exposing part of it. That alone was nowhere near enough to do much of anything, getting the monster to the surface was an entirely different achievement than truly exposing it to everyone else, something that had, of course, been planned for. Lan Mercer was an Australian S-Ranked Pugilist whose [Class] was based around demonic magic and power, though the things that were the most important at the moment were his fists. Where logic and common sense went to die. In an instant, Mercer transformed from his regular, slightly demonic humanoid form into a new shape that would have made Demon Lords green with envy. Eighty meters tall, two immense ram¡¯s horns crowning his head, heavy scales covering every inch of his body. Then, he punched the ground, and the ocean exploded, the force echoing into the surface of the water before bouncing back up, hammering into the [World Boss¡¯] stomach and catapulting it skywards, flinging Kant off into the void almost by accident. But even as the monster was hurled almost fifty meters upwards, Mercer collapsed down onto one knee, blood running from between his scales. The flip side of his ability. Isaac didn¡¯t know the specifics, but was aware of the fact that it wasn¡¯t a standard cooldown Skill. Instead, it was something akin to hysterical strength, but well beyond it, capable of letting him massively enhance his Strength Stat to dish out immense damage while putting similarly immense strain on his body, while letting him direct the force in ways that would otherwise have been impossible. And what he¡¯d just done had to be on the absolute top end of what his [Skill] allowed. He was in no position to keep fighting right this moment, but thankfully, he wasn¡¯t required to stare down the boss. Because that was when Aiden Larsen attacked. The tall Norweigian Dryad slipped into the tiny gap between the monster and the surface, triggering his biggest cooldown [Skill]. Yggdrasil manifested around him, the world tree itself projecting itself into reality and unleashing the power of all nine realms into the guts of the beast, launching it several kilometers higher but even as that was happening, Larsen¡¯s entire demeanor shifted, and so did the power washing off him. Another dual [Class] user? Larsen unsheathed his sword and launched himself at the monster, a spectral flood of water manifesting around him, wiping away the bloody ocean that Cipactli was trying to use to drag itself back down to the surface. The monster lashed out with its claws, the maws on the joints attempting to gobble the dryad up but failing utterly as the man dodged with perfect accuracy, betraying a Level of foresight that surpassed even Isaac in the supernatural cognition department. That was when he started cutting, a lash of water following every strike and carving the monsters stomach while imparting more and more energy skywards. Not much, but enough to get the process started. And that was when the next stage hit. Thalia Pathstrider was someone without a clear and defined powerset, someone who could borrow power subsets from countless paths. And in this situation, well, she¡¯d managed to whip up some brand-new orbital weapons systems boosted with more [Skills] than any single person should have been able to tack on. Her flexible path lacked the various threshold bonuses regular [Skills] got, and her experience with any given powerset was lesser than that of someone who specialized, but very few people would have been able to pull something like that off on the spot. Though the heart of her setup was her precognition, her having fine-tuned the entire thing to the point of utter perfection, one salvo following the next, hammering right into the monster in the location the previous salvo had flung it, each and every strike carrying the monster higher and higher. Cipactli briefly became the fourth Sun in the sky as it was lit up from every side and hurled too deeply into space to easily recover. Finally. A way to go after it properly. Isaac launched himself at the monster, half a dozen fireballs appearing above his palm while [Speed of Hati] carried him through space, then flung the energy orbs at the titanic monster. These weren¡¯t normal fireballs, though. This was the version of [Divine Fire] he¡¯d figured while fighting the Leviathan, the compressed fireballs he¡¯d created and registered with the [Skill] so he could whip them out at a moment¡¯s notice. The Promethean Nova. Each fireball flashed into an open mouth and detonated withing, banishing the darkness within and scorching its insides. As threatening as those mouths were to anyone who got too close, they were also gigantic targets. Then, Isaac triggered [I Am The Sword], finishing his charge with deadly intent, leading with the massively enchanted sword built specifically to annihilate the enemy before him. The largest weapon Old Reliable could transform into was a Leviathan-bone greatsword that carved through the hide of the monster as though it were less than even butter, flesh boiling away as energy that was fundamentally antithetical to the struck beast. But that had only been the opening salvo, hundreds of humanity¡¯s strongest followed suit, carving into the monster until it looked like it had gone three round with an alley cat and lost. Unfortunately, that was when something weird happened. Cipactli began to fall. Sure, obviously that was happening, they hadn¡¯t managed to get it anywhere close to escape velocity, but simple instinct told Isaac that it was falling too fast, not to mention all the knowledge [Skills] that confirmed it and the clamor of his allies that had noticed the same thing. Falling faster, no flight ability otherwise ¡­ ergo, gravity fuckery. Ymir had had the same ability, though to a greater degree. Yet neither of them had any mythological connection to that particular enemy. So ¡­ did all [World Bosses] that couldn¡¯t fly have this ability to somewhat be able to navigate. Did the Leviathan? If the Devil Snake had lived more than an hour after being launched into the sky, would it have fallen down onto the Earth as the meteor that had annihilated the dinosaurs had? Isaac shivered. That was a scary thought. The world of the System was like that. It loved to let slip how close you had come to utter, apocalyptic, disaster, after the fact, just to see you squirm. Though there was one man who came in out of nowhere, having clearly seen this as an opportunity. ?rden, just ?rden, the second Argentinian S-Ranker and one of the strongest skill-based fighters in the world. Perfected combat skills, elegant strikes, at least half a dozen absurdly powerful [Skills] boosting his blade as the man launched himself off the surface of the planet, straight at the beast, glowing sword meeting impossibly sharp skin and parting it with casual ease. And then, it was already over, the [World Boss] continuing its descent while blood sprayed from a long diagonal gash that ran across its side while ?rden kept going until he was in space with everyone else. But he¡¯d given Isaac an idea. Getting under the monster was simple enough, as was a weird balancing act that had him brace as many swords as possible against his body, and then, having come to a complete stop relative to the planet below right in the monster¡¯s path, activated [I Am The Sword]. The [World Boss], weighing hundreds of thousands of tons, landed on a free-floating ball of blades that was, for a split-second, utterly immovable. When he¡¯d been thirteen or fourteen, Isaac had once stepped on a particularly pointy piece of lego and screamed so loudly that he¡¯d woken up the entire house, completely unable to stop himself. What Cipactli had to be feeling right now was doubtlessly a million times worse. The only question that remained was whether or not the monster would tip to the side and fall off before his [Skill] ended. And it did. The initial impact had placed Isaac almost a hundred meters deep in its body and when the monster slid off him in less than a second, he carved a bloody path of destruction and fire through it. Then, he had to leg it, because it seemed like most people had taken this as their opportunity to get in the last few blows before the monster vanished beneath the waves again. The [World Boss¡¯] body was wreathed in explosions, flesh cratering and rippling away from the sight of railgun rounds impacting, further ripping apart a badly abused body until it reached the planet¡¯s surface. Cipactli hit the ground like a meteor, the bloody ocean that had dripped back down into the crater by now erupting back into the air, where the droplets transformed into crimson javelins that tore through, everything. Anything that was close enough to get hit got a nice big hole torn through it, starships included. ¡°I don¡¯t think it liked that,¡± Arthur commented. ¡°So we fish it back out again and keep wailing on it until it goes back to hiding?¡± ¡°I think that might have been how the fight is intended to go,¡± Dr. Han suggested. ¡°The monster attacks, retreats back into the ground to prepare the battlefield, then attacks again, over and over until it has either won or dies. I might be able to mess with its retreat somewhat, delay it, but can¡¯t stop it.¡± ¡°What if we worked together?¡± Raul asked. ¡°I can stabilize the surface, you weaken Cipactli¡¯s ability to meld into the planet, and Patrick can ward the ground.¡± That became the core of the plan, but it grew from there. Kant had returned by now, Mercer had recovered, and several mages took the place of the rest of those that had launched Cipactli the last time. Things went smoothly from there, launching the beast skywards while the ground below transformed in its entirety. Red waves became grey rock while the red aura that surrounded Cipactli began to die, and shining runes covered the surface of the planet like an arcane spiderweb. With a tremendous crash no one could hear due to an absence of air to carry the sound, the [World Boss] hammered into the ground, and the battle began in earnest. The beast¡¯s countless maws had chomped apart countless people and starships, energy waves had smashed even more, and the spears of crimson bloody water had done even more damage. But now, it was finally in a place where they could fight it, kill it, annihilate it. And annihilate they did. Down below, the combination of Dr. Han weakening the monster¡¯s effect upon the environment and Raul¡¯s domain of nature was preventing it form pulling any funny business while vines and shifting earth slowed the monster. And up above, immense combination spells were being woven. Amy was, as per usual, wreathed in energy that no normal mage would be willing to touch with a ten lightyear pole, an unstructured mess turned lethal implement under the force of her will, and there were dozens just like her. Though the currently largest and most eye-catching display was courtesy of the other S-ranked New Zeelander. Kofi Boakye, the Luminous Archmage, had taken charge of several hundred light based casters and was fusing the entirety of their power into a massive spinning drill-head formed from hardlight, charging it to the point where it glowed like the sun. And then, it was blasted at the planet, ripping clean through Cipactli¡¯s head, into the brain and continuing onwards into several kilometers of rock, the rotation of the projectile sending blood and brain matter flying. Cipactli roared, rearing up onto its hind legs while crimson energy swelled up from the bloody star that lay at the heart of its bottomless maw ¡­ only for it to start choking on the half a dozen nuclear warheads that General Ardouin had directed there, portals opening inside its wide-open throat to deposit the devastating bombs directly. They continued to pour on the attacks until eventually, the [World Boss] finally fell, ripped into a thousand pieces.
The Rewards Levels are listed below, however, there are some specifics that need to be shared ahead of time: 1. Body Pieces may be either a tooth, scale, tooth-sized piece of bone, 50 Cipactli steaks, 1 liter of any bodily fluid, or 50 m^2 of leather 2. World Boss Aspects must be stacked atop a compatible Aspect, but can override previous Skills if so desired, allowing their recipients to customize how they use their rewards. 3. Regardless of how many people hold each rank of reward, only a maximum of 15 Aspects will be handed out. 4. Level Boosts are not immediate, their recipients will receive them and trigger them whenever they choose to (they will trigger automatically if doing so would push their recipient to the maximum Level of 200).
Infinitesimal: Those who participated but failed to reach any reward higher tiers will receive 100,000 XP
Minor: Those who participated in the battle and contributed will receive 200,000 XP
Small: Those who participated in a way that would be noted as being above average in reports will receive 500,000 XP, half a body piece (own choice), and have a 0.1% chance at receiving an Aspect
Sufficient: Those who have done enough that a million like them together would have been able to beat the World Boss will receive 1,000,000 XP, 1 body piece, and have a 1% chance of receiving an Aspect
Significant: This tier requires one to single-handedly affect the battle in some way, be it by briefly restraining the foe so others may land a solid hit, or landing a significant hit on their own. As such, they will be boosted by 1 Level or 2,000,000 XP, whichever is more, gain 3 body pieces, and have a 10% chance of getting an Aspect.
Massive: Those who will go down in the history books as having helped slay Cipactli are going to be boosted by a full five Levels, receive an Aspect of Cipactli and 5 body pieces.
Decisive: This is a rank that can only be held by a single person per battle. In this battle, this person was one Raul Mina, who exposed the beast and prevented it from returning to the earth. As such, he will receive a boost of 10 Levels, an Aspect of Cipactli, 25 body pieces (24 by his choice, 1 Cipactli Heartblood), and the World Item [Cipactli¡¯s Distilled Fury]. This is an item that can affect the world as a whole, altering the entirety of the Earth¡¯s waterways, in ways that may be humanity¡¯s boon or bane.
Raul had gotten first place. Good on him, he¡¯d earned it, though Isaac just hoped he¡¯d get the chance to see the World Item before it was used. *** Isaac glared down at the crimson marble in his palm. Cipactli¡¯s World Item was a weird one, one that might even be enough to safeguard the planet from most casual attacks. But the method was ¡­ concerning.
Cipactli¡¯s Distilled Fury (World Item) The Boon given to the slayer of Cipactli, holding the undying fury of the primordial beast, a hate that destroyed even the gods¡¯ creations before the beast was bound. This anger and fighting spirit can be placed within a planetary body, which then gains the ability to defend itself from any external threat by warping its gravity/magnetic fields, hurling lighting, etc. In extreme cases, well, large threats might find themselves punched by a planet. (Stasis fields will protect the inhabitants and buildings, there will be no damage beyond what is caused by the attackers directly) By default, the collective consciousness of the planet¡¯s inhabitants are what guides the monster, destroying the enemies that threaten the world if so desired. (This desire needs to go beyond someone wanting potential targets to go away or die, true visceral hatred and a willingness to attack given half a chance are what is needed.) This is a set-and-forget item, the user will need to set all parameters prior to activation, at which point the item will be destroyed. As a World Item, Cipcatli¡¯s Distilled Fury cannot be stored in any manner of spatial device.
Well, well, well, this was ¡­ uh ¡­ ever so slightly nuts. Crazy, insane, batshit ¡­ oh, there were about a billion ways to describe that across the roughly five-thousand languages Isaac spoke. The risk of getting punched by a planet should at least deter quite a few potential alien invasions, assuming aliens existed, or if one of humanity¡¯s colonies decided to go mad with power. Though someone could still incessantly throw rocks until the planet was nothing but molten slag, and a World Boss summoned on the planet¡¯s surface would not automatically get yeeted into space by the now-living planet. This thing would get slapped onto Earth in all likelihood, to keep it safe for the rest of eternity, and if someone wanted to protect the rest of humanity¡¯s planets, well, they could damn well kill Cipacti again in ten years, without him. That fight had been insane. Sidestory 1: Der Schnitter 2052, Earth, Akashik Academy Auditorium It had been a long time. A very long time. Decades had passed since he¡¯d entered this room, decades spent in silence as he and those around him stared at the far wall, not speaking, barely blinking, and if they¡¯d had the required self control, they likely wouldn¡¯t even have moved ¡­ Yeah, okay, it hadn¡¯t even been five minutes, Leon could admit that. But his stomach was twisting into knots, and judging by the fact that no one else was talking, the same went for every other person in this hall. Just a bare handful of minutes before, outside, the crowd had been abuzz with nervousness and uncertainty, the chatter from a hundred teenagers and young adults building upon itself to reach an almost deafening volume even though no single person was being particularly loud ¡­ but the instant they¡¯d entered the hall, they¡¯d shut up. And the speech hadn¡¯t even started. It was that important for them all to make a good impression. And they were all ridiculously nervous to boot. Leon did his best to untangle that twisted knot of anxiety and nerves that had seemingly replaced his very heart, only for something to finally change. A portal flashed open behind the lectern on the podium, and a man strode out. Pale white skin, like someone who¡¯d never seen the sun, hair so black it seemed to swallow the light, green eyes that gleamed like emeralds. He was clad in sturdy grey cloth pants and a black polo shirt, with a heavily enchanted bracer clasping his left wrist while a jagged inverted teardrop of bone, fang, and blue scales dangled from a leather cord around his neck, letting anyone who saw it know just what its wearer had accomplished. There was only one person that could be. Dr. Isaac Thoma. The Sage. And possibly, hopefully, Leon¡¯s teacher. That was what they were all here for, after all. A chance to take part in one of Dr. Thoma¡¯s ¡°let¡¯s see what kind of [Class] you get if you do this specific crazy thing¡± experiments. The second one ever, with the first one having taken place decades ago and produced an S-Ranker, Cameron Smith the [Chimera], though more often referred to by his nickname, ¡°Cameron the Calamity.¡± If there was any chance of getting that kind of power, he at least had to try that. ¡°You¡¯re all here because you want to get a powerful [Class].¡± That wasn¡¯t a question, just a simple statement. Thoma stood at the lectern, gaze raking across the crowd. ¡°This is going to be the hardest thing you¡¯ve ever done, and once you start this training, you¡¯re going to be locked into a combat path. You¡¯ll have [Classes] for specialized combat, and you¡¯re going to wind up with even more combat [Classes] if you manage to succeed at what I intend to train you to do. ¡°So, who doesn¡¯t want to actually be here, and grow as a warrior, specifically?¡± No one dared respond. Not by raising their hand, not by saying something, not by doing literally anything else. They just stared silently at the man on the podium, as though he¡¯d committed some act of irredeemable sacrilege. ¡°And who doesn¡¯t care what I teach you, as long as I¡¯m the one teaching you?¡± That got a bigger response, feet shuffling and people glancing guiltily towards the stage before returning their gazes to the ground. No one actually ¡°fessed up,¡± as it were, but Leon could feel the energy in the crowd shifting. Not everyone actually wanted to fight for their power, let alone carry out whatever crazy ideas the S-Ranker had had. But there were those, like Leon, who continued to stare straight ahead, confident, ready for whatever was coming next. Thoma let the general murmuring and discussion continue for almost a minute before speaking for a third time. ¡°You¡¯re all here because you¡¯re driven, but that doesn¡¯t mean combat is where you will, or even want to, excel. If you leave through the door you entered through, you¡¯ll find a very different room than the one you left. I¡¯ve arranged for world-class teachers in smithing, general crafting, alchemy, engineering and magic to post out there, ready to accept trainees or find you a subject of study that fits you like a glove. ¡°So even if you don¡¯t wind up working with me, you¡¯ll still gain a lot from having come here today.¡± The first few people started to file out of the room at that, clearly having chosen to seek their fortune elsewhere. And others were clearly starting to waver too. But Leon knew where he wanted to go, which path he wanted to walk, and where he wanted to wind up when he finally hit the Level cap. If he lost this chance ¡­ he¡¯d go at it on his own and likely get himself killed. Thoma¡¯s gaze once again swept across the much-diminished crowd while his [Aura] faded into the visible spectrum, a grey and rust-red field of energy that looked like it could turn them all into meat paste if its wielder wished them ill. But he didn¡¯t. Instead, it gently reached out and touched half a dozen people in the crowd, tapping them on the shoulder as Thoma made what seemed like his final announcement. ¡°Follow me, please. Everyone else, thank you for coming. You¡¯re all invited to tomorrow¡¯s [Skill] teaching session if you have a [Class]. If you don¡¯t, you¡¯re welcome to join any future sessions once you do, but please do give some advanced warning so I can make sure I have enough uses of teaching [Skill] left.¡± And with that, Thoma swept out of the room through a newly opened portal. Silence reigned for a few seconds before the first of the ¡°chosen¡± stepped forward and marched through the portal. Then the second followed, the third, until finally, Leon stood there, staring at the portal, the place the [Aura] had touched him feeling icy cold yet burning hot at the same time. It was likely just a couple of seconds, but it felt like he¡¯d wasted yet another eternity simply staring, not even truly seeing, just ¡­ looking into the distance as he tried to grasp the enormity of his dreams starting to come true. Then, he took a deep breath, shook off the nerves, and started to march forward, straight through the portal and into an entirely different world. *** The corridors of Akashik Academy were, as far as Leon had seen, always fully decorated with appropriate display cases, artworks, and trophies. Monster parts and weapons near the training rooms, bits of gear in the crafting area, alchemical ingredients in countless small glass cubes formed the window outside the alchemy wing of the main building, and so on. Wherever they were now, they were in some part of the academy not visible to the public, or somewhere else entirely. Everything was of a starkly utilitarian design, smooth concrete wherever you looked, and judging by the utter lack of windows, they were also underground. ¡°Wellcome to Olympus Mons,¡± Dr. Thoma announced as he turned around, arms spread wide. ¡°We are currently half a kilometer underground, in a bunker rated for Tier 8 Raid Bosses. That¡¯s Level 120, for those of you who haven¡¯t memorized the Tiers. I have a special dispensation from both the United Nations and Mars Settlement Authority that says that I¡¯m enough of a safeguard when summoning anything this place can withstand. We won¡¯t be going that high, though.¡± Dr. Thoma waved his hand to his right and vast hologram appeared, showing an abandoned-looking city with a vast trail of destruction burned through it. ¡°This is a small city just north of Seoul, back when North Korea still existed. Some of you might remember it as having been the site of the World¡¯s first [Raid Boss].¡± Leon glanced over at the others who¡¯d been accepted as the excited whispering began. Though he stayed silent and fixed his eyes back on the hologram, which then changed to show three beings. A massive, flame-wreathed demon, then that same demon in a truly pitiful state, its eyes gouged out and entire body utterly covered in wounds and finally, a human so badly burned that it took Leon a couple of seconds to recognize that it was the same man as the person generating the holograms. ¡°The only demon I¡¯d fought up until that point was a Tier 1, Level 1 Imp that had been summoned as a prank in the first week of the System¡¯s existence. See, the cops didn¡¯t really know how to handle it, I offered to help with stuff like that, so I got to drive all the way across town for two seconds of work at three in the bloody morning,¡± Thoma said with nostalgic grin on his face. ¡°But I was offered an epic [Class] after doing, well, that to a single demon lord. I didn¡¯t even kill the damn thing, it kicked my ass. So, that brings me to the question I¡¯d like you to answer: what happens if you kill a [Raid Boss] before you ever reach the third Evolution? And in general, what are the rewards for killing something like that with a near-parity in Levels?¡± Again, Thoma paused to allow for the inevitable muttering and a couple of gasps. But Leon could feel his heart beat faster and a rictus grin work its way onto his face. Obviously, there¡¯d be some kind of safety net, most likely in the form of Dr. Thoma himself, ergo, he¡¯d be able to cut loose with whatever [Skills] he wound up getting. ¡°I¡¯m going to be training you using all [Skills] at my disposal, providing level-appropriate gear, and making sure you¡¯re as safe as you can be when you fight monsters to level up.¡± ¡°What about Aspects?¡± someone asked. Leon only realized it had been him who¡¯d spoken when everyone turned to look at him. ¡°I¡¯ll be helping you to earn your own,¡± Thoma said. ¡°Giving you Aspects you couldn¡¯t earn yourself, including [Raid Boss] items would probably put you out of the running for the [Class] I¡¯m convinced you can earn, and me giving you something that you could earn yourself would just be taking an opportunity for training away from you.¡± The corners of Thoma¡¯s lips quirked up in a slight smile. ¡°Anything you want to fight, I¡¯ll let you fight. Even if it¡¯s something you can¡¯t possibly beat, I¡¯ll let you try in as safe a way as possible.¡± Thoma then gave them a small tour. The elevator to the surface, where their rooms were located, overlooking a lake in the center of the Olympus Mons crater. The training rooms. The armory, the alchemy lab, the potions storage, the actual summoning rooms, and finally, the library. ¡°I know the books don¡¯t seem all that impressive compared to everything else, but I¡¯d like to remind you that many of the most feared S-Rankers are academics. Using knowledge as a weapon doesn¡¯t refer to bashing someone¡¯s skull in with an encyclopedia.¡± Leon sniggered. Thoma hadn¡¯t said ¡°why I am the most feared S-Ranker,¡± but it was clear that was what he¡¯d meant. No one really ranked S-Rankers by power in an official capacity, no publication really felt it was worth potentially attracting the wrath of one even though most of them weren¡¯t that petty or cruel. So they¡¯d turned to another form of ranking. Whom people would like to fight the least. Dr. Isaac Thoma topped those charts, alternating between first and second place for as long as Leon could remember, the enigmatic Sage with the unknowable [Classes] who¡¯d pulled the power to beat on a [World Boss] like a rented mule for several minutes out of nowhere in the battle against the Leviathan. No one knew how to fight him, yet everyone of worth knew that he either had a countermeasure prepared specifically for them, or could whip up in a matter of seconds. And the person he was eternally changing position with was the Ghost, an unknown and unknowable actor on the global stage with a seemingly limitless well of information. Amelia Shaw and Patrick Lerch were usually also up there, immensely powerful, intelligent, and adaptable mages who¡¯d, in fact, come up with Thoma. ¡°Jokes aside, all the information is on the internet too, but if you want a physical book to read, you know where to look.¡± And that basically concluded the tour. ¡°Now, everyone, good night, sleep tight, and if you find any bedbugs, I¡¯ll lend you a flamethrower,¡± Thoma waved them off before launching himself skywards, heading off somewhere. Leon was sorely tempted to gawk, but he knew he had to try and get some sleep before tomorrow. *** The next day ¡­ yeah, the whole ¡°sleep¡± thing didn¡¯t really work out. But Thoma had promised them that they could pick out their weapons in the morning, and excitement had kept Leon up for a frustratingly long amount of time. Still, coffee was a thing and he¡¯d have some Levels under his belt before chronic caffeine consumption would cause actual damage. So he got up, downed one of the energy drinks he¡¯d brought in his bag, got dressed in a sleek gambeson, the best light and flexible armor his family had been able to afford, and left his room. The lodgings Thoma had provided had clearly been designed as shared living space, with six identical rooms upstairs and a large living room-slash-kitchen downstairs, and a large deck stretching into the lake that lay behind it. There was also a front door that led out onto a single road that led off into the distance, likely towards the spaceport. But that wasn¡¯t where he was headed. Instead, he hopped onto the elevator right next to said door and felt it rumble to life. It seemed to be moving quite slowly from his perspective, but knew that was only due to the dampening enchantment, as it reaching the bunker, five hundred meters below, in under a second should have reduced a normal person to strawberry jam. Kinda worrying if you really thought about it, right? But honestly, Leon could have been told the sun would explode tomorrow and it would have only had a minimal impact on his mood. And after a short walk, he was outside the armory, almost half an hour early. ¡°Mr. Schmidt?¡± Thoma¡¯s voice rang out from behind him. Leon nodded. ¡°Would you like me to stick to a formal address, or should I call you something else?¡± ¡°Call me Leon, please,¡± Leon said. He might have been eighteen, but he¡¯d it was still weird to be called ¡°Mr. Anything,¡± let alone from someone like, well, The Sage. In German school, you had the option of asking the teacher to be referred to by one¡¯s family name from the 11th grade onward, but no one had wanted that, teacher or student. Well ¡­ there¡¯d been that one teacher. She¡¯d tried to ¡°prepare them for the real world¡± but then decided to cut it out after two lessons after her dozenth slip-up with several expletives. ¡°Alright, Leon,¡± Thoma nodded. ¡°You can call me whatever you want, Isaac, Dr. Thoma, whatever feels right as long as it isn¡¯t an insult.¡± ¡°Thank you, Dr. Thoma,¡± Leon replied. Adressing a teacher any other way felt deeply wrong. ¡°So, you¡¯re the first one here, would you like to get started, then?¡± Thoma asked, and Leon nodded so vigorously he was half afraid his head would fly off. Thoma just grinned and threw open the door before him with a sweeping gesture. ¡°These are all weapons that you could realistically have at the start of your journey. No magical artifacts that instantly let you beat a regular Tier 5 monster, no masterworks that¡¯ll sink into the ground up to the hilt if you drop them, but you¡¯ll get something like that if you manage to kill the Demon Lord,¡± Thoma offered. ¡°But for now, just pick a weapon. Or a couple. And a backup too, if you want.¡± Leon went straight for the rack of daggers and, after briefly reaching for a stilleto, grasped a Ka-bar. Thick, sharp, solid. A dependable combat weapon that could also be used as a tool in a pinch, and an overall great choice. Even Thoma still had one. Then, he needed to pick the weapon he¡¯d actually be using. Leon had a lot of thoughts about that, actually, he found everything about them fascinating. And there were a lot of weapons here, every single one he knew and many he didn¡¯t. An urumi, a whip sword from southern India, a pata, a gauntlet sword that was likewise from India, every variety of halbeard, countless sword ranging from ¡°short¡± to ¡°taller than he was,¡± regular katanas and the straight katanas wielded by Japanese policemen, then there were the many, many, spears, long ones, short ones, javelins, boar spears with wide and durable crossguards, he even had the goedendag, a Dutch spear club. Near as Leon could tell, there wasn¡¯t even so much as a single weapon he knew that wasn¡¯t also present. Had he been born twenty or so years earlier, he¡¯d likely have wound up as a historian, HEMA instructor, or similar profession that dealt with ancient weapons. Though eventually, he¡¯d come to the conclusion that he was partial to polearms. His ¡°favorite¡± in many ways was the Bec de Corbin, or Crow¡¯s Beak, a long-handled warhammer with a long slim blade akin to a typical spearhead attached above the hammerhead, and opposite the head was a stout spike that the wielder could use like a pickaxe and go through plate armor as though it were mere cardboard. But it wasn¡¯t a good weapon against monsters, it simply couldn¡¯t dig deep enough. The spearpoint would only go in until the hammer and spike hit the monster¡¯s exterior, acting like an impromptu crossguard, and the same went for the spike, once it was deep enough, the spike and pole of the Bec de Corbin would hit the hide and stop dead. A fifteen-centimeter spike punching into a human¡¯s chest would have gone through all sorts of vital organs. A fifteen-centimeter-deep wound on a large monster wouldn¡¯t necessarily even have gone through the skin. But Leon had a different weapon in mind now. A ¡°cousin¡± of sorts to the Bec de Corbin, the billhook. A polearm with a spearhead at the top, and a blade protruding slightly below that while the eponymous hook stuck out on the other side. It was meant to unseat cavalrymen as they rode past, but it could also be used to pull on opponents in general, while the blade could obviously cut, and both the blade and hook were small enough that the weapon could be used as a proper spear against a large enemy with more space between its ribs. Sure, he¡¯d have the devil¡¯s time getting it back out, but he could work on that until he found himself face-to-face with a [Raid Boss]. Or he could have the hook removed for that. Either way, that was the weapon for him. So he picked it up and put on the harness needed to carry it around. Leon was about to leave, but then thought back on what could happen with the weapon getting stuck, so he turned back and grabbed a short sword as well. With that done, he finally returned to the door. ¡°Good choice,¡± Thoma told him. ¡°Wanna try ¡®em out before the others show up?¡± Leon nodded vigorously. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± *** He hadn¡¯t even picked a [Class] yet, but here he was, already squaring off against a monster. Leon grinned, then did his best to wipe the smirk off his face as he drew the billhook, gaze fixed on the summoning circle. ¡°Ready?¡± Thoma called out. ¡°Ready,¡± Leon called back, and the magic circle blazed to life, spitting out an imp. It was only the size of your average monkey, gangly-limbed, red-skinned, and not particularly horrifying compared to anyone who¡¯d seen more than a couple of horror movies. Yet it was dangerous, Leon had known that even before it summoned a fireball into each hand, though that drove the point home rather brutally. Uh-oh. He flung himself to the side to avoid the first ball, but was barely able to bring the billhook up in time to block the second, almost leaping out of his hands from the impact. Shit, that thing hit hard! But Leon got to his feet and charged, hoping to preempt the next ranged attack. And he managed it, barely, the edge of the billhook¡¯s blade cracking into the imp¡¯s skull, but ¡­ bone was tough. The imp went careening away, landing in a tangle of limbs with blood gushing across its face, but it was already getting back onto its feet, with a fireball forming in its hand. Leon took one look at it and just chucked the billhook at the monster. It wasn¡¯t a particularly good throw or solid hit, but it¡¯s point did add another wound to it, disrupted the cast of the spell and bought him enough time to cross the intervening space and drive his sword clean through its gut. The entirety of the fight had barely taken ten seconds, but Leon found himself already sweaty and breathing heavily. ¡°Not bad,¡± Thoma commented. ¡°There are a lot of things you can improve, but you killed the monster, don¡¯t even have a scratch on it and didn¡¯t freeze up at any point. If you¡¯d gone for the throat instead, I¡¯d have given you full marks.¡± ¡°We¡¯re being graded?¡± Thoma laughed. ¡°Marks in the metaphorical sense.¡± Then, he sat down on the floor, crosslegged, and leaned against the wall, all the while fixing Leon with a piercing stare. ¡°Do you know why I walked into the auditorium and gave a speech to select my candidates?¡± he asked. ¡°You wanted to give everyone an alternative?¡± Leon suggested. ¡°You could have used your [Potential Sight] on us at any point.¡± ¡°So, that¡¯s what they think I use, ha,¡± Thoma let out a bark of laughter. ¡°I mean, you¡¯re right about why I gave a speech but no, I don¡¯t see talent. Or someone¡¯s future. Or their potential in general. But I can see who has the spirit to do something like kill a Demon Lord at Level parity. You can reach that point, I know that. But you also have to work hard at it.¡± ¡°Hard work beats talent when talent doesn¡¯t work hard,¡± Leon quoted. Thoma grinned. ¡°Exactly. So, the others are still getting up, wanna go again?¡± Leon just grinned. *** 1 week later
Greetings, Leon Schmidt. Welcome to the System. Would you like to select [Elite Squire] as your class?
Oh, hell yes. Sure, he could have accepted the first [Class] he was offered, but he¡¯d wanted to get something better, which would be easy enough to reach under Dr. Thoma¡¯s tutelage. In his time on Olympus Mons, he hadn¡¯t really interacted with the others, he¡¯d dedicated all his time to training and now, he was getting a rare starter [Class].
Elite Squire
Skills
Weapons Expertise Armor Expertise
Powerful Blow Armorbreaker
Pierce Dash
All-terrain Walk Situational Awareness
Adjust Weapon Summon Weapon
Extend Blade Combat Flow
A whole bunch of useful [Skills], though several of them, he¡¯d be taught by the Doctor the moment Leon told him about getting his [Class]. And then, on to fighting a ton more demons, gain XP, level, and then, finally, get a high rarity anti-demon [Class]. *** 1 month later
Congratulations! You¡¯ve managed to reach the first Evolution Threshold. Based on your current achievements, Skill Levels and Aspects, you have unlocked several new Classes. If these options do not satisfy you, you may choose to leave this screen and continue to rack up more prerequisites, but you cannot increase your Level beyond 10 until you evolve your Class. Here are your possible Class Evolutions:
Resourceful Militiaman (rare) The Resourceful Militiaman is, at his core, a man who sees war merely as a cruel necessity, not as his goal. A man who wields the implements of labor as terrifying weapons of war. This is a Class focused on turning anything into a weapon, armor, or tool, granting its user unparalleled flexibility and resourcefulness.
Demonbane Skirmisher (epic) An army of demons, slaughtered in the blink of an eye, washed away in a halo of light and run through with a holy lance. This is the signature combat style of the Demonbane Skirmisher, using speed and a polearm to rip their enemies apart. This Class offers speed, weapons Skills specialized to the user¡¯s favorite armament and a massive boost to combat against demons, both in the form of specialized anti-demon Skills and regular Skills altered to contain energy with a highly deleterious effect on demonic beings.
Juvenile Speed Demon (epic) All speed, all the time, never stopping, not even when the enemy is already dead, for the Speed Demon will already be dashing off elsewhere. This is a Class based around moving fast, controlling oneself while moving fast, and finally, hitting hard.
¡­
It was a simple choice, really. [Resourceful Militaman] was of a lower rarity and not what he wanted to do, [Juvenile Speed Demon] was epic and fit the speed-focussed fighting style Leon had started to develop but it lacked an anti-demon focus, and [Demonbane Skirmisher] offered not only the speed he wanted, but also the anti-demon power he needed. So, he picked it.
Demonbane Skirmisher
Central Skills
Anathema Holy Lancer
Skills
Inquisitor¡¯s Eye(requires Inspect) Shield of Faith (requires Privacy)
Demonbane Ward Pentagram Seal
Demon Physiology Meteor Throw
Sanctifying Sweep Holy Ground
Purifying Flash Step Angelic Launch
Whirlwind Spin Elite Spearmastery
General Skills
Privacy Inspect
¡­
And he even had enough [Skill] points to grab both Central Skills, which he promptly did.
Anathema (epic) A funny word, isn¡¯t it? A-na-the-ma. Sounds like a cough medicine, right? But it¡¯s a funny word with a dark history, stemming from the utter condemnation of someone by the religious rulers, annihilating their social standing, relationships, and everything else. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. However, this is not a tool used anymore these days, not by anyone save you. In your hands, it is a weapon, a power, an energy that is antithetical to the very existence of all things demonic, your very presence causing them to cower in fear. Your attacks will do vastly increased damage, partially bypass physical defenses, bypass magical defenses to an even greater degree, and any wounds you cause will take longer to heal and have a greater effect on the injured. In addition, attacks by demons or based on demonic magic will do less damage, and be easier to block, especially by pre-set spells. This effect is free but toggleable.
In other words, that Demon Lord would be in an inordinately worse position against him than literally anyone else.
Holy Lancer (epic) Unleash holy power, burn your foes by your very presence and create heavenly lances of pure fury to annihilate all those who stand in your way! Using this Skill, you will gain a 70% boost to Agility and Strength, and a 50% boost to Fortitude, while causing you to emmenate holy light, damaging demons and breaking down demonic magic, with the effect lasting for five minutes. In addition, you may conjure up to five holy lances each time this Skill is activated, in the form of any kind of spear, javeline or polearm. No one but you may use these weapons without your permission. Cost: 2,000 mana, two hour cooldown
And that was his second big power, a cooldown [Skill] that would let him tear his way clean through any lesser demon and most of big bastards too. The [Raid Boss] would still be tough, obviously, but with both [Anathema] and [Holy Lancer] in his arsenal, beating it felt a hell of a lot less impossible than it had even five minutes ago. *** The branding demon, a muscular, humanoid beast the size of a gorilla with white-hot palms, screeched and tried to retreat before Leon had even started to attack. It was Tier 4, had five Levels on him, and [Anathema] was enough to have it quaking in fear. There wasn¡¯t even anything visible, as far as he knew, simply a passive ability that made him do more damage. The demon lunged at him, the air before its hands shimmering with heat, but Leon [Dash]ed a couple of meters to the side and thrust his billhook at its side, briefly relaxing his grip on its shaft to let it glide forward and then holding it tight once more a split second before it would have slipped from his hands, increasing his reach enough that he could not just hit but skewer his foe. Golden light flared in the wound and the demon screeched as its boiling blood spilled onto the floor ¡­ and then it just keeled over. Dead. ¡°Good job,¡± Thoma announced. He¡¯d been in the room the entire time, watching whenever Leon caught sight of him, but Leon was pretty sure the man was reading, doing paperwork, or something similar while watching the fights through his [Aura], then looking up whenever he was in Leon¡¯s field of view. ¡°Thank you,¡± he grinned. Now, on to Tier 5 demons, and slotting some demonic Aspects. He hadn¡¯t done so before, slotting Aspects from a monster you were trying to get a Bane-[Class] against was a bad idea as it would prevent you from getting it unless you¡¯d already gotten that particular bane in a previous Evolution. But now, Leon needed hellfire powers and the accompanying hellfire resistance. Plus phasing, healing, blade control, various undead resiliencies ¡­ right now, Aspects where what he¡¯d be hunting, the needed XP would simply be a byproduct. *** One-and-a-half months later
Congratulations! You¡¯ve managed to reach the second Evolution Threshold. Based on your current achievements, Skill Levels and Aspects, you have unlocked several new Classes. If these options do not satisfy you, you may choose to leave this screen and continue to rack up more prerequisites, but you cannot increase your Level beyond 25 until you evolve your Class. Here are your possible Class Evolutions:
Billhook Savage (epic) Murder is a brutal act. But somehow, using a regular tool to rip and tear your way through your foes somehow makes it worse. This is a Class for those that are worse. The Billhook Savage gains a berserking Skill, the ability to harness spilled blood including all weapons gaining a power boost once covered in fleshly spilled crimson, and knowledge of where to cause maximum pain on your targets.
Unholy Speed Demon (legendary) I. Am. Speed. And you¡¯re dead. The Unholy Speed Demon is an absolute monster of a skirmisher, wielding stolen demonic power as they dash across the battlefield, leaving death and destruction in their wake using Skills meant for doing immense damage while controlling their movement at high velocities.
Demonbane Hellknight (epic) An indomitable dreadnought, a hulking giant clad in armor, annihilating the forces of hell using power stolen from them. The Demonbane Hellknight gains a significant bonus to fighting demons and subsequently gaining additional power from slaying such foes.
Only three [Class] options. Thoma had been right, the single-minded focus on on demon-slaying had massively reduced his pool of available choices, but he intended to take this all the way to the end. When he killed that monster, all of this would be worth it. Something focussed on his billhook would otherwise have been useful, but not under the current circumstances, while [Demonbane Knight] was unlikely to make him tough enough to survive a direct hit from a [Raid Boss] while definitely costing him enough speed to make him taking that hit more likely. Also, it was yet another epic option, while he had a near-perfect legendary option to go for.
Unholy Speed Demon
Central Skills
Bullet Time Hellfire Flash
Skills
Instant Reaction Sure Footing
Passing Slash Prepare Response
Momentum Conversion Absorb Momentum
Desecrate Out of Sight, out of Mind
Hellish Surprise Cripple
Hellfire Sweep Hellstrike Dash
¡­
So, it seemed like taking in all those undead and demon Aspects had practically inverted his ¡°morality¡± in the eyes of the System. Sure, the only ¡°holy¡± thing about him had been the fact that he went after demons, but it as still a very weird thing to see. Still, it didn¡¯t seem like there were any unuseable [Skills] or other incompatibilities, so who cared? Besides, [Anathema] ensured that even if demons had an innate resistance to hell-themed attacks, his would not count as such. Besides, he¡¯d once again managed to save enough [Skill] points to buy the most defining abilites of this [Class].
Hellfire Flash (epic) A flash, and everything before you is annihilated ¡­ as long as you¡¯re within a few meters and bothered to aim. Hellfire Flash allows its bearer to unleash powerful bursts of flame from your hands or feet, with the amount of recoil you experience being entirely under your control. In addition, this Skill is specialized towards mid-air maneuvering and pseudo-flight. This is a cooldown Skill that functions on a charge basis, allowing you to repeatedly use it while it being fundamentally less powerful than most Skills like it. Cost: 1,500 mana per fifteen uses (maximum), 1 hour cooldown for each use (separate)
Free and always available attacks that would also allow him to easily maneuver in midair, oh, it was gorgeous. Sure, Leon could theoretically borrow Dr. Thoma¡¯s ¡°reduce weight to nothing and use fire¡± trick, but that was not only a recipe for winding up kissing a wall (he¡¯d tried), it also cost far more mana than he could spare if he wanted to anything else in combat. But [Hellfire Flash] also had another massive, but more subtle, advantage over generic flame manipulation. Namely, he could use it completely safely in high-speed combat. If he used his control over the [Skill¡¯s] recoil to reduce said recoil to nothing, he could blast enemies at full power without breaking his stride. Unlike every other ability he had, it had absolutely zero chance of unbalancing him.
Bullet Time (epic) There are few feelings as intoxicating as seeing an attack approach and lazily dodging it while driving an attack into your foe¡¯s throat, taking your sweet time to enjoy watching them die. Activating Bullet Time will boost your mental celerity to surpass your physical speed by a significant margin for five seconds of subjective time. Cost: 2,000 mana per ten uses (maximum), 1 hour cooldown for each use (separate)
Once again, not overwhelmingly powerful at first glance, but a game-changing effect he could use repeatedly. Yeah ¡­ this would be fun. Sure, [Unholy Speed Demon] was a little light on the individually strong abilities, but being able to use both of his Central [Skills] several times, for free, would let him pull of some truly incredible stunts. And, of course, he also wound up picking an [Aura]. He had several to choose from, but wound up settling on a sensory one. Situational awareness plus the ability to easily spot weak spots even if they were underneath something ¡­ perfection. His specific version was called the [Aura of the Pinnacle Seeker], which also let him easily find important items and resources in its area of influence. It was the [Aura] option linked to his personality, to be precis, rather than something linked to a [Class], Aspect or achivement. Now if only he could control it so that it would stop showing him all the dirt in the corners of the room, or trying to get a look at Dr. Thoma and getting slapped back by his own [Aura] ¡­ *** 2 months later Two months of non-stop levelling had been brutal, but it had earned him twenty-five Levels, bringing Leon up to the 2nd Evolution cap of 50 and granting him two hundred and fifty Stat points to distribute, on top of the one hundred and fifty he¡¯d gained from various Aspects. Most of the available points went into Agility, with a secondary focus on Perception and Magic Regeneration. Legend had it Thoma used the same Stat spread, but in a less extreme form. Then again, the Sage had been the one to do nearly achieve what Leon was now attempting to replicate, with a far less focussed build. It certainly wasn¡¯t a wrong way to allocate Stats. Three of his fellows had dropped out by now, having decided that, ultimately, they would fail against the Demon Lord. Fighting a Tier 7 Demon for its Aspect had been ¡­ rough. Even with a specialized [Class], a twenty-five Level difference was rough, made all the worse by the fact that after Level 50, the per-Level Stat gains grew So yes, Leon understood their choices, and knew where they were coming from, but honestly, he¡¯d made his own choice the day he chose to accept this offer. He would kill a Demon Lord before his 3rd Evolution, or he would die trying. Though the battle he was about to embark on had no chance of ending in his death. After all, it would be in Dr. Thoma¡¯s training room, the legendary field of blades he¡¯d used to demonstrate just how devastating [Raid Bosses] were against the countless people who¡¯d underestimated them. Leon grinned. None of the many, many people who¡¯d stepped onto the stage of various reality TV shows had had his advantages ¡­ though wasn¡¯t that what they¡¯d all had to have thought either? Either way, he had as many tries as he needed, as long as he kept trying. ¡°Ready?¡± Thoma asked. Leon nodded, and the world was washed away, replaced by grey skies and an impossibly vast field of blades. And a titanic demon stood in the middle of this field, waiting, grinning, its hand already risinig to unleash a lance of hellfire at him. Leon [Angelic Launch]ed himself forward, bringing himself to his maximum speed while shooting beneath the swath of black flame that shot overhead. Even with all his demonic Aspects, a [Raid Boss¡¯] hellfire was still a [Raid Boss¡¯] hellfire. It would have hurt and without his resistance, even being blasted by the heat from the near miss would have injured him. After less than a second, he reached the monster¡¯s feet and began to run up its leg, almost reaching it¡¯s chest before his momentum ran out, but a second [Angelic Launch] threw him up towards its face. Ironically, despite a pair of etheral wings manifesting behind him when he used this [Skill], he could only use it when he had something to kick off of, so he couldn¡¯t use it in midair, but he could use it here. So he found himself in front of the Demon Lord¡¯s face and rammed his billhook into one humongous eye, then unleashed a [Hellfire Flash] into the other one, launching himself back even as the monster tried to crush him against its forehead with one massive palm. But all it achieved was breaking its own nose. Leon grinned as he fell, landing lightly on the ground and spriting straight back at the monster, billhook wreathed in red-gold power carving through its left Achilles tendon before a too-late pillar of hellfire exploded behind him. A kick from the monster¡¯s damaged leg swished past but that just gave him a shot at its intact tendon and severed that too. Oh, this was definitely going well. Keep crippling the monster, slashing through everything it needed to keep going until it was near death, then trigger [Holy Lancer] to finish it off before it could pull off any final, punitive, attacks. Leon grinned as he sprinted away from the collapsing demon ¡­ and then he felt the heat on his back, growing ever higher. Even triggering [Bullet Time] and watching the world around him slowing to a crawl did nothing to abate this, it just kept getting hotter and hotter. He made to turn his head, feeling as though he were stuck in glue, his brain thinking so much faster than his body could move, but before he could achieve anything, the wave of hellfire rolled across his body from behind him. For a split second, he could see the black flames wash over him, then, his eyeballs exploded as the fluid inside them began to boil. And then, he found himself back in the real world, frozen and unable to move for reasons that had absolutely nothing to do with any kind of supernatural effect. Thoma stood in front of him, having left his chair in the corner. ¡°Take as long as you need, that was a rough one,¡± he said. ¡°Eventually, you¡¯re going to figure out what works for you when you need to calm down, but right now, just try everything. Personally, I just find myself a challenging fight that¡¯s also doable, and do it a few times.¡± ¡°Why does that work?¡± Leon whispered, voice rough. Thoma shrugged. ¡°Let¡¯s me know that I¡¯m not useless, that I can win fights even if I just lost one badly.¡± Leon swallowed. ¡°And if I just want to take an hour to recover my cooldown [Skills], then go right back to fighting the Demon?¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll let you do it,¡± Thoma said. ¡°If you think you can do it, and you¡¯re in any shape to fight, I¡¯ll let you.¡± It took longer than usual for the grin to appear on Leon¡¯s face, but it did return. *** 1 week later Alright, he¡¯d spent a week getting his rear kicked by simulated monsters, and he¡¯d learned a lot. Tells before it would unleash big flame attacks he needed to get as much distance as possible from, the best places to attack, how long to wait before he started burning cooldowns or freely spending mana ¡­ yet what he hadn¡¯t gained were [Skill] Levels. Not really. Therefore, he¡¯d decided to get serious, and Dr. Thoma had agreed to let him. So now, a titanic summoning circle was blazing on the ground before him and for the first time ever Dr. Thoma was actually looking like he was paying full attention. It hadn¡¯t really been obvious before, he¡¯d always managed to intervene before anything bad happened, but now that he actually seemed to be ready, it was a difference between night and day. A [System] screen flashed in his face as the demon lord emerged but Leon instantly dismissed it, not requiring the information that a [Raid Boss] had, in fact, been summoned since he was looking at the damn thing. Then, he launched himself at his enemy. Regular run to close the distance to conserve mana, wall-run up its leg, [Angelic Launch] once momentum ran out, dual [Hellfire Flash] to burst the eyeballs while carrying him far beyond any response, be it a palm slap or wave hellish flame. In this case, it was fire, but it wasn¡¯t anywhere near long-ranged enough to reach him. He hit the ground literally running and charged at the demon, ramming his billhook into its leg, using [Adjust Weapon] to temporarily melt the hook into the main shaft of the weapon so he could yank it back out and flashed past, avoiding the next attack. Back and forth he ran, the near-endless stamina granted by his undead Aspects empowering him to keep going as black blood began to liberally cover the ground. Until one moment, just a single one, not even a single second in length, he zigged when he should have zagged and found himself face to face with a pillar of hellflame bearing down on him. [Bullet Time] triggered almost without his input and Leon unleashed every single remaining charge in [Hellfire Flash] to get him out of the direction of the attack ¡­ yet he could tell that it wouldn¡¯t be enough. Then, there was a single ¡°boom¡± that shook the entire room while the hellfire was pulled away to a spot behind Leon, revealing a Demon Lord that had been cored like an apple, with a massive hole through its chest. Leon turned around to see the Sage¡¯s right hand sink back to a resting position at his side while all the funnel of flame was covering the entirety of his left side. ¡°You can do this, you know,¡± Thoma commented, a roiling ball of black fire floating above his hand, constantly swirling in a circle around an unseen center and shrinking away until there was seemingly nothing left. ¡°You¡¯re fast enough that you could theoretically dodge everything, and strong enough to kill it. You just have keep playing a perfect game until the monster¡¯s dead.¡± Leon snorted. ¡°I¡¯m serious. As long as you¡¯re willing to keep trying, you¡¯ll have as many attempts as you want,¡± Thoma said. ¡°Sit down, read up on your gains, relax, and when you¡¯re ready, tell me.¡± Leon nodded and himself fall onto his ass, not particularly caring about how dirty he was getting as he looked at his [System] notifications. He¡¯d gained a lot of Level-ups across his various [Skill], but it was [Anathema] that truly became overpowered.
Anathema (epic, Level XX) ¡­ All flame attacks can be converted into holy fire. After countless fights where the user has obliterated demons as is their duty, this Skill has evolved cause lingering damage in all foes it injures, damage scales with severity of target¡¯s demonic nature.
So yeah, that had been terrifying and all, but he¡¯d lived, he¡¯d grown, and was more than willing to keep going. *** Blood spattered as the Demon Lord¡¯s chopped-off hand hit the ground but Leon could feel what seemed like every bone in his body break as its foot struck him. *** A curtain of hellfire was pulled away from his face, but by that time, his eyes had already been burned out of his skull. *** Leon lay on his stomach, trying to hold in his intestines as he saw the Demon Lord die with his own eyes for the first time as Dr. Thoma¡¯s glowing blade was hurled clean through its chest with raw strength alone. ***
Anathema (epic, Level max) ¡­ And now, it has reached the pinnacle of its power, granting a regenerating magic shield against demonic attacks powered by ambient mana.
Holy Lancer (epic, Level max) ¡­ Your Skill will now give you an 85% (previously 70%) boost to Agility in Strength, further increased to 95% when facing demons. After countless times when the user has stood their ground against demons vastly more powerful than they are, this Skill has evolved automatically launch small flechettes of holy light at all nearby demonic entities. And now, it has reached the pinnacle of its power, granting the user a set of holy armor specially forged for their fighting style, including wings for limited gliding ability.
Bullet Time (epic, Level max) ¡­ Bullet Time will now boost mental celerity for ten seconds of subjective time (previously five) After countless times when the user has activated this Skill to dodge a lethal attack, it has evolved to increase the user¡¯s Agility by 50% when Bullet Time is activated while avoiding something that would kill them, should it strike And now, it has reached the pinnacle of its power, gaining an additonal ten charges, for a total of twenty.
Hellfire Flash (epic, Level max) ¡­ You may also unleash Hellfire Flash as a deadly lance of compressed flame, capable of staying intact across a distance of up to 100 meters. After countless times when the user has used this Skill to cripple Raid Bosses, it has evolved to partially ignore armor, even incinerating the user¡¯s foes on the inside. And now, it has reached the pinnacle of its strength, becoming able to be chaneled through weapons to gain new forms and abilities based on the weapon used.
It had been incredibly painful to get here, but looking at what he had gained, Leon decided it had been worth it. Yet he doubted even that would be enough to let him finish this anytime soon. *** 1 year later Try one-hundred-and- ¡­ eight, he believed. No, nine. Either way, he¡¯d been at this for a long time. And yet, Leon did not hesitate for even a single second before stepping out onto the field of battle. He was the last one to keep attempting this, to keep going everyone else had given up. But he would continue, keep going until either the Demon killed him, or old age did. Dr. Thoma had continued to be careful about how much gear he handed Leon, but even so, the monsters he¡¯d killed had been given to some excellent craftsmen and he was now clad an elegant suit of dark red leather, wielding a gorgeous billbook make from white bone and black steel gained from a Hunting Ground (though Leon had only retrieved the ore, Thoma had been the one to actualy beat the summoned area). The summoning circle blazed on the floor and activated at Leon¡¯s shouted ¡°ready,¡± and the 109th Demon Lord manifested in the concrete box with the two humans. Leon launched himself forward, dodged the first attack, a kick this time, and went at the leg still planted on the floor, carving through it with a vicious [Sanctifying Sweep], the blade cleaving through the Achilles tendon while shining with holy light, parting the flesh with barely any resistance while sinking energy that annihilated the flesh of demons into the leg, and that was before [Anathema] scoured the beast¡¯s body. The monster started teetering while both hands took on a dark glow as it prepared itself to unleash a hellish blaze. Which it promptly did even as it fell, but Leon was already running away as quickly as his legs would carry him, which was significant. Yet it still felt like he was coming in slightly too fast, he¡¯d get scorched. He¡¯d made the mistake of believing he¡¯d get away a few too many times to repeat it now, so he burned the first charge of [Hellfire Flash] in this battle, carrying him out of the zone of danger. Then, when he¡¯d reached what he knew to be a safe distance, he wheeled around and ran straight back the instant the flames started to dissapate. A [Meteor Throw] burried his golden-glowing billhook in the already damaged leg¡¯s knee, interrupting the demon¡¯s attempt to rise and [Summon Weapon] would have it back in his hands by the time he was close enough to use it. A good start. Simple, clean, effective. Now he just had to keep that up for half an hour or so. He almost failed when an unexpected blast of hellfire was flung at his face the second he grabbed his weapon, but thankfully, he¡¯d prepared for that. [Prepare Response] let him ¡°programm¡± three responses for how he¡¯d react to specific stimuli, and the [Skill] functioned at far greater speeds than even his [Instant Reaction]. [Bullet Time] triggered before he could manually activate it and after a couple of seconds of thinking, he triggered [Holy Lancer]. He¡¯d found that he shouldn¡¯t save it until the very end, it worked better if he used it to get out of a jam and then got the most out of its duration, so he used it here, then hurled himself skywards using [Angelic Launch] while letting the projected armor¡¯s wings carry him onto the monster¡¯s face. Small, finger-length needles of holy energy began to manifest above his skin and hurl themselves at the enemy without requiring any input on his part, while he readied his next move. A [Hellfire Flash] boosted him forward, past grasping arms and right at the demon¡¯s face and then, Leon triggered [Bullet Time], feeling the familiar sensation of the world slowing to a crawl while his limbs seemed to be trying to move through sirup. Incredible, yet also surprisingly frustrating. Another [Meteor Throw] flung his billhook at the boss¡¯ other knee before a holy lance manifested in each hand. Trying to use two weapons simultaneously, let alone trying to drive them both home into separate targets was far from easy, but with his mind running at hypersonic speeds, he could easily line up each spear separately. Sure, [Bullet Time] ran out halfway through, but he managed to trigger it a second time before regular temporal progression continued, leaving Leon to belly-flop against the monster¡¯s nose, then dangle from a pair of lances, one stuck in each eye. Then, two [Hellfire Flashes] slammed the head back, lances still planted in empty eye sockets, while Leon went flying the other way ¡­ but not past the monster¡¯s attack. A giant palm clipped him and sent him into a tailspin, until he went sprawling across the floor with an aching side and a leg that seemed determined to sear itself into his memory as a prime example as to why landing properly was important. Nothing broken, at least nothing in his limbs, near as he could tell, but he was far from whole and the demon had already gotten back onto its feet and was radiating hellfire. Leon groaned, pushed himself to his feet and began to hobble away while his regeneration kicked in, sucking away even more of his already dwindling mana while the world exploded in black flame. And then, he waited, patiently searching for an opening with yet another pair of conjured lances, only the glare of the weapons planted in the demon¡¯s eye sockets visible. The very instant the fire faded, Leon launched himself forward once more, the first lance leaving his hand in the very same second, then he grabbed the second one and threw it after the first, both slamming home into the demon¡¯s chest, above the heart, [Meteor Throw] driving them so deep they¡¯d have been invisible without the light streaming off them. And he followed right behind then, of course, ramming the final holy lance into the more intact knee while retrieving his billhook, then spent the remaining duration of [Holy Lancer] tearing into his foe with reckless abandon while they burned teh monster from where they were planted. Yet the power went away as his time ran out, and it was right that second when the monster managed to backhand him into the far wall. And the only reason he was able to continue the fight after that was that the demon¡¯s blindness meant that Thoma did not intervene. Leon lay there, feeling the bones in his legs knit together as he glared at the towering demon in the distance. Initially, it had looked like something straight out of DOOM, a powerful musclebound brute, but the more damage he inflicted, the more it began to resemble some kind of body horror thing, a being that inflicted discomfort onto anyone who laid eyes on it as it as they imagined what it would be like to live life while that mutilated. Yet even as his mana dropped past the ten percent mark, his legs finished regenerating and he went straight back to attacking, a constant back and forth, though really, it was much more of a backbackback-and-FOURTH, since Leon landed a lot more hits that were infinitely weaker than what his foe could dish out, while his foe was like a drunken octagenarian trying to swat a fly. The demon usually missed, but not always. Yet eventually, the demon collapsed onto both knees and stayed there. Punches and fire continued to fly, but its mobility was already screwed to hell by that point. So Leon kept attacking, kept hacking and slashing and tearing until an arm fell off. Then he burrowed through its chest and carved apart its heart, his right arm being reduced by a glancing strike from a pillar of fire in the process. A [Meteor Throw] sent the billhook in one ear and saw it come out the other, trailing gore. And then, after several more minutes of concerted effort, the Demon¡¯s other arm went slack. Yet the damn thing still. Wasn¡¯t. Dead. Even as his lungs began to burn, his arms and legs feel like he¡¯d bathed them in the demon¡¯s flame from exertion alone, he continued to fight, to work his way towards victory, one cut at a time as the world around him began to turn black at the edges ¡­ Without the kill notification, Leon was sure he¡¯d have kept slashing away at the monster until he dropped dead from exhaustion.
Least Demon Lord (Lv. 45 Raid Boss) has been slain. 50,000 XP gained Legendary Achievement has been noted and will increase future Class quality
As it were, he still keeled over, unconcious. ***
Congratulations! You¡¯ve managed to reach the third Evolution Threshold. Based on your current achievements, Skill Levels and Aspects, you have unlocked several new Classes. If these options do not satisfy you, you may choose to leave this screen and continue to rack up more prerequisites, but you cannot increase your Level beyond 50 until you evolve your Class. Here are your possible Class Evolutions:
Reaper (legendary) The Reaper represents the pinnacle of death-dealing potential, a Class only given to those who have brought down the greatest of foes, beings that would normally require dozens, if not hundreds of people to bring down. And these are the very same attributes this Class will strengthen, massively enhancing your ability to take down enemies by targeting their weaknesses with clinical precision while also gaining a potentially massive boost in strength, should the foes you¡¯re facing be sufficiently more powerful than yourself. This Class exists in every Evolutionary Rank from the 3rd onwards, but must be earned separately for each one by slaying a Raid Boss that cannot be more than 20 Levels below you. Each new Reaper Class builds upon the previous, creating a lethal warrior practically defined by their ability to well punch above their weight class, earning rewards in the process that make them powerhouses even to those not subject to the Reaper¡¯s various anti-boss Skills. As you have unlocked this Class by specializing against a specific type of Raid Boss (demonic) and subsequently killing it, further iterations must be unlocked either against Raid Bosses of different type, or against demonic Raid Bosses that either match or exceed your Level. (Unlocks High Human racial option)
Hell¡¯s End (legendary) You have walked through hell, be it metaphorical or literal, and the only demons left in your wake have been corpses. You did not have to do this, you chose to. You made the choice to drag the monsters of hell from their home and grow strong beyond measure with the power harvested from their deaths. And you have no intention of ever stopping. You are. Hell¡¯s. End. ¡°End¡± type Classes are highly unusual and exceedingly rare Evolutions of bane-types, doubling the XP limit for the relevant monsters (demons), halving the cost of slotting their Aspects or buying Aspect slots as long as you simultaneously slot a relevant Aspect, slotting a relevant Aspect when you are already in possession of all its Skills, you will gain 30 points in the Stat the Aspect naturally enhances and finally, none of your natural advantages against your chosen target will count against your Skill growth. Of course, they also make you very, very good at killing your chosen targets. This Class represents the absolute pinnacle of what your previous Class path can achieve and as such, choosing Hell¡¯s End will reset your achievements while permanently locking out anti-demon options. Whatever your fourth Evolution choice may be, you will forge it purely from your actions and choices from here on out. (Unlocks High Human racial option)
Now, only two choices. But who cared? Leon certainly didn¡¯t, since one of them was the one he¡¯d been working towards for so long. Though the other ¡­ [Hell¡¯s End] certainly counted as a cheat-rank [Class]. A ridiculous potential for wringing Stat points out of Aspects, immense [Skill] growth from slaughtering demons like chickens while the [System] ignored the fact that he was ludicrously overpowered against them and generally, just reading the description made him fell like at absolute badass. Even so, Leon had made a promise to explore the [Class] gained by soloing a [Raid Boss], which was clearly the other one. Not to mention that, while [Reaper¡¯s] description might not have listed too many concrete benefits, he had a feeling that it was immensely strong in general and devastatingly powerful against anyone and anything that surpassed him in strength. So he made his decision.
Reaper
Central Skills
Disciple of David Limit Breaker
Skills
Repear¡¯s Cloak Sense Life Force
Psychopomp¡¯s Steed Lingering Cut
Otherworld Pocket Journey Beyond
Well, now he just had to earn enough Levels to buy everything, didn¡¯t he? Though he did notice that the way the [Class] was set up, he¡¯d be able to buy every single [Skill] offered by the time he hit Level 100, but not have a single point left over when he did so. Weird. But also interesting. ***
Limit Breaker (legendary) The human body is a miraculous biological machine, yet it has limits. The System upgrades the human body, but even at the maximum Level, there continue to be limits. There are certain foes that cannot be overcome even by the strongest of humans, yet you have slain just such a foe. That is why you have been awarded the Reaper Class and the ability to break said Limits. Anytime you face a superior enemy, or a group of enemies that collectively represent a significant threat, your stats will be increased. Depending on the degree of the power disparity, this boost can be anything from .001 percent to 50 percent. In addition, Limit Breaker uplifts the user¡¯s hyperspecific Privacy Skill, turning it into a generic, legendary-rarity version that grows slightly stronger against higher Level individuals.
Ergo, his next fight against a [Raid Boss] would be a hell of a lot closer, and he¡¯d be harder to scan to boot. He hadn¡¯t even known it was possible to upgrade [Privacy] like that. Very nice, though.
Disciple of David (legendary) The bigger they are, the harder they fall ¡­ but you actually have to kill them to make that happen. That¡¯s something this Skill makes infinitely easier. As the Disciple of David, you can recognize all weak points at a glance, determine the result of striking said weak points and the best way to go about targetting them, both in terms of weapons and Skills but also in timing. In addition, you gain an innate understanding of your opponents¡¯ elemental and magical weaknesses, including knowledge as to how to easily obtain a way of exploiting these weaknesses. In addition, Disciple of David uplifts the user¡¯s hyperspecific Inspect Skill, turning it into a generic, legendary-rarity version with an improved effect against higher Level targets.
Oh, this would make future fights so much easier. And the upgrade to his [Inspect] was more than welcome. As for the other [Skills], [Reaper¡¯s Cloak] was a great stealth ability, [Sense Life Force] let him identify an enemy¡¯s regenerative potential, [Psychopomp¡¯s Steed] was for traveling and flight, [Lingering Cut] made his wounds hard to heal, [Otherworld Pocket] was for storing stuff, and [Journey Beyond] was a damn long range teleportation ability. He might not have had any options as for what he picked, but what he did have available covered basically everything. Leon was still reading and marveling at his [Skills] when Dr. Thoma returned. He hadn¡¯t even noticed he¡¯d been gone at first, but now that he was suddenly standing there with a long, cloth-wrapped, bundle. ¡°So, now that you beat the record, I think I can start helping more without messing up your advancement,¡± Thoma said as he held it for Leon to take. ¡°I think you¡¯ll like it.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± Leon nodded and picked it up, carefully working one hand under the cloth so that he could pull off said cloth with the other. When he whipped it off, however, his jaw hit the floor. What had been revealed wasn¡¯t just a new weapon, a masterwork polearm, but it was the polearm, a dark billhook made from indescribeable materials likely work as much as a small town purely based on what it was made from, let alone all the work that had gone into making it. And in its core, in the head of the weapon, sat a dark gemstone that seemed to pulse with power.
Star¡¯s Demise (soulbound modified billhook) Stars. The biggest objects in the heavens, mighty furnaces of nuclear fury as they transform the primordial elements left behind by the Big Bang into ever more complex forms while illuminating the universe. Yet out there in the black, there exists something that eats stars. The black hole. And this weapon wields the aspects of such a phenomenon. A lethal edge, point and hook, surrounding a core of pure gravity magic, capable of reshaping local gravimetric conditions as well as scaling the weapon¡¯s mass up or down as its wielder desires. In addition, Star¡¯s Demise is soulbound, can be summoned into its wielder¡¯s hands every five seconds and be reshaped as they desire, growing certain parts of the weapon or shrinking others, becoming things such as an axe, a Bec de Corbin with an oversized spike or a standard spear as needed.
¡°It¡¯s perfect ¡­¡± Leon breathed out as his hands trailed across it, marvelling at the dark metal, jet-black wood, and even darker gemstone that seemed like a hole in reality itself. Oh, he¡¯d have a lot of fun with this. *** 2100 Leon sat down in his new office chair with a happy sigh. As a Level 200 quadruple legendary [Class] holder, every Evolution from the second onwards, he¡¯d easily slid into the venerable role of S-Ranker. But unlike what most people expected a person in his position to do, he¡¯d become an administrator. Of course, he¡¯d lacked all the relevant [Skills] for something like that, but some could be taught, and for the others, he could lean on assistants and secretaries. And now, he was in a perfect position to do for others what Isaac had done for him. A voice broke his daydreaming. ¡°Dean Schmidt, you¡¯re expected in the Audimax in five minutes.¡± Yep, shouldn¡¯t have sceduled this for an hour after he started moving his crap into his new office. Past Leon had clearly been a dunce, but present Leon wouldn¡¯t let that turn him into a cruel tease. Because he¡¯d made some promises to a bunch of young people that would change their lives. He walked through the corridors of the Akashik Academy, which looked almost exactly like they had fifty years ago, the only change being the new moto. After all, the academy hadn¡¯t had one before, and there was only a single phrase he deemed suitable. A quote, from the founder of lauded institution. ¡°¡®Knowledge is a weapon¡¯ doesn¡¯t refer to bashing someone¡¯s skull in with an encyclopedia.¡± Soon, he reached the main auditorium and stepped up to the lectern. ¡°Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. One of Akashik Academy¡¯s foundational goals is the exploration of exotic and hard to get paths of growth. And you¡¯re all here because you want to walk those paths. So, who¡¯s up for setting some new world records?¡± Sidestory 2: United Earth Navy (Commodore Ciara Hunt) 2073, Earth Orbit, Colonial Construction Facilities There were days when Commodore Ciara Hunt was ashamed to be an officer of the United Earth Navy. Not because of an ultimately inconsequential scandal, those that happened in any big organization and anyone who claimed differently was simply good at cleaning up after themselves, but from secondhand embarrassment as she watched the new recruits struggle to make their way around the under-construction O¡¯Neill Cylinder. Once it was finished, it would be shipped off to a new colony, which made use of its rotational pseudogravity since those lacked the spare enchanters to maintain magical artificial gravity. But for right now, it served as the perfect environment for cadets at the Luna Naval Academy to experiment with maneuvering in air-less zero-g environments. Badly. Hunt caught a cadet¡¯s leg before he could inadvertently kick her in the face and hurled him across the cylinder even as she warped space to make it so he landed lightly on the war wall, feet first. She really shouldn¡¯t have been here at all, she was supposed to have been in command of the 11th expeditionary fleet to check out a potential but unlikely alien contact ¡­ except the ships for that hadn¡¯t been finished yet even though she¡¯d already gotten the bump to Commodore in expectation of that deployment. So the 10th fleet had gone. And as for why the ships were delayed, well, it might be guaranteed to become an advantage in the long term, but right now, it was just frustrating. A simple advancement in power conduction had caused the brass to require a redesign of all future ships, as well as an overhaul of all hulls currently under construction, causing mass chaos in the shipyards, and putting several officers slated to command those ships currently unavailable in awkward positions. So she¡¯d grabbed the academy assignment to avoid winding up with some crap, potentially even make-work, job while waiting on her command to be, well, commandable. But this, she¡¯d enjoy. Oversee the next graduating class of officers, then command the UENS Exeter with its mix of old hands and newly minted officers on the vessel¡¯s shakedown cruise. She kinda felt for the heavy cruiser, having been stuck in a similar limbo to her. It had been finished the day the discovery had been made, and up until a week ago, discussions had raged about whether to deploy the ship as-is, or retrofit it, though since it had been finished, it would have been a ridiculous amount of work to do the latter. So she could ¡°use¡± it. *** One week later Sadly, there were regulations about the conveyance of senior officers, otherwise, Hunt would have flown over to her temporary command under her own power, but thankfully, modern shuttles had plenty of ways to see the surrounding universe. And by warping space, she could sit stoically in her chair and still view the universe as though she were sitting there with her nose pressed against the viewport. The Exeter looked much like every other heavy cruiser in humanity¡¯s arsenal, six hundred meters long, a broad, rounded, wedge with a blunt bow, wrapped in glittering reflective armor that was, in turn, covered in gun turrets, weapon ports, sensor blisters, maneuvering thrusters, and a handful of radiators in case the magical heat dispersion worked into the armor itself failed. It was a utilitarian design, unlike cruise liners, diplomatic vessels or luxury yachts, but there was beauty in that. A stark, lethal, beauty. If she didn¡¯t know how new it was, she wouldn¡¯t have been able to tell it apart from a ship so outdated it had to be decommissioned. That was how starships went. In order for them to work, they had to be kept in tip-top shape, so it did not take much beyond that to make them look nice. Even pirate ships, crewed and commanded by some of the worst scum humanity had ever produced, were still presentable. The Exeter was also heavily armed with particle beams, lasers, railguns, and a handful of missile launchers spread around the hull. All very standard, all across the fleet. It was simple, it was boring, and it worked. Yes, there were a million different ways you could get cute with magic, [Skills] or both, and every possible combination of either with the currently existing technology, and even restricting oneself to just tech one could make so much more, so many different weapons ... but there was something to be said about building stuff that actually worked in all situations, and with all gunners. There were some interesting anecdotes that got thrown in the face of anyone who tried to declare their new weapon types as the non-plus-ultra in armament. So while, even being extremely strict with what qualified as a ¡°type,¡± there were hundreds of types of weapons that could be used, you could count what was taken out into the field on one hand. They could always be used, it kept the number of replacement parts reasonable, and prevented unnecessary confusion. Of course, there were also drawbacks to this process, mainly, that these weapons could be countered. Namely, magnetic shields to disperse particle beams and reflective, magically cooled, armor to deflect lasers. That was the flip side of the argument. Unless one ship was significantly larger than what the other was meant to deal with, modern vessels started fights virtually immune to each other¡¯s guns and would slowly wear each other down unless a spell or [Skill] could turn the tide. Still, Hunt had spent the last two decades of her life playing devil¡¯s advocate in pitch meetings for more exotic stuff, and rarely had the designers had a response to her pointed questions beyond ¡°we don¡¯t think that¡¯ll be an issue.¡± A proper upgrade would be nice, one of these days. But until then, well, she¡¯d learned to be utterly lethal with the weapons she currently had. Besides, where the energy weapons fell short, you had railguns and the ship¡¯s crew. The former because there was no hard counter to kinetic weaponry other than not being where the projectile went, and the latter because there were so many different [Skills], spells and other human-created effects that no one could effectively prepare counters for even a fraction of them. Standardization, dependability, and power from technology, flexibility, growth, and fine control from magic. That was how modern combat worked. Hunt left her office and stepped onto the bridge, sitting down in the captain¡¯s chair on what would likely be her very last voyage as the commander of a single ship. Spatial magic was already sparking off her as she prepared to take the ship to FTL. For as creative as humanity had gotten with almost every other facet of technology, they only had one useable interstellar faster-than-light travel, even counting even remotely viable prototypes, for there were none. It was the three Aspect combination that allowed for the acquisition of the [Alcubierre Bubble] [Skill], or nothing. Granted, their FTL coms weren¡¯t much better, being an inherent point-to-point system based on a principle that essentially amounted to magical quantum entanglement, a process that was so complex that each ship only had a single communicator linked to the headquarters at Mercury, but there were other ideas. Nothing that was currently useable, but at least they were getting there. ¡°Take us out, fifty percent engine power,¡± Hunt ordered, addressing the helmsman. It would still be a bit before they reached the point where vessels could make the jump to superluminal speeds. Once they were out in the galaxy, she¡¯d let the other wielders of [Alcubierre Bubble] get some hours in, and learn to use the [Skill] to its greatest effect, but in the Sol system, care and control were needed, not to mention that she could jump out from significantly closer to the Sun than any of her subordinates. All ships had to have at least one percent of their crew, or ten people, whichever was more, capable of taking the ship into FTL by regulation, though very large ships, including battleships and even the currently-hypothetical planetary assault carriers, were allowed to go on with less. The issue was that if the ship did take damage, only one person on the crew could transport it between star systems, and that person was killed, it would doom everyone onboard to a slow and agonizing death. Admittedly, calling for a ¡°tow¡± via the FTL comms was possible, but considering that each vessel only had a single communicator useable at interstellar distances and that might easily be destroyed at the same time as the living FTL drive was killed ¡­ it was an important precaution to take. And while a multitude of commercial vessels had gotten away with only having one or two people capable of using [Alcubierre Bubble], the reason that regulation had been put in place was because of when it hadn¡¯t. And things had gone wrong several times after that, proving to anyone who bothered to look why things were the way they were. Soon, the Exeter passed the invisible line where Hunt was comfortable with initiating FTL and that was what she did, finally pumping the mana she had been collecting into her chair and through the enchantment that shot through the entire vessel, twisting reality around the ship, the effect spreading out and slowly wrapping the entirety of the vessel in a field of impossible energy. The universe around the ship vanished in a blur of multicolored light, shifting into a grand tapestry of warped images and space bending in ways it was never supposed to. And they were off, to explore a few nearby systems, do some training exercises, make sure everything worked in the field the way it was supposed to and then actually complete their mission. *** Two weeks later Their mission wound up being as simple as it was common: pirate hunting. In theory, piracy should have been utterly superfluous in the modern day. All it took was a little elbow grease, a willingness to kill something, and a list of easy monsters to beat and you could easily get all the resources you wanted in a reasonable amount of time. Sure, you¡¯d never reach the heights of Isaac Thoma or Arthur Wells unless you took risks aplenty and had some luck to boot, but you¡¯d be able to buy just about everything you could possibly want well before that point. Yet people still cheated, still stole, still murdered. Because it was easier. And because there was one thing money couldn¡¯t buy: people. Slaves, specifically. Admittedly, money could buy them, but someone still had to handle the capturing and that was where the pirates came in. Thankfully, the theoretical nightmare scenario of System-enforced slave ownership had never materialized, but there were still plenty of ways around that, and Hunt had sadly seen most of them in action during previous anti-pirate operations. Repeated checking of someone¡¯s status sheet, truth-telling abilities, the limited mind control the System did allow, on top of all sorts of manipulation tactics and some enchanted jewelry to shock or otherwise disable a slave when they ¡°acted up¡± ¡­ It was bad. Always. A lot of the time, the pirates didn¡¯t even try to justify what they did, but there were plenty who made the attempt anyway, occasionally even claiming to be on some kind of divine mission or having godly ¡°permission.¡± You see, the System had caused quite a lot of religious discussion and debate. Various established religions had caused shitstorms by claiming that their deities had created it, pointing at certain references to their religion in one [Class] or other but that was only the start of it. The smallest facet of a titanic issue. No, the largest issue was the various people who decided that the System was a divine revelation meant to show humanity the ¡°right way,¡± and depending on what shape that ¡°right way¡± took, things could be fairly okay, bad, or really bad. j It had started with the Children of the System, born days after the initialization and destroyed only a few months later after they¡¯d tried to assassinate various researchers on the grounds that uncovering the secrets of the System was ¡°heresy.¡± But things had only escalated from there. Some of the religions were based on ¡°good¡± ideas like perpetual self-improvement and the like. However, there were also a lot that were highly problematic. This started out as what was functionally worshipping Social Darwinism, but eventually escalated into worshipping any kind of improvement. Mainly the kind that came at the cost of people who failed to grasp power for themselves. Pirates, mercenaries, and other criminals might have always existed, justifying their actions with ideas such as ¡°well, it was easy,¡± or ¡°if it¡¯s so wrong, then stop me,¡± but now, they had an actual religion with actual ¡°signs¡± to follow. Those who followed various new System-inspired religions weren¡¯t necessarily worse or more cruel than those who didn¡¯t, but they certainly hesitated less before committing horrific acts of brutality. And pirates did exactly that. ¡°This is our mission,¡± Hunt announced, illusions flickering to life above the conference room table, showing seven passenger ships, two merchant vessels, and three cruisers. ¡°A pirate band has created a base somewhere between Earth, and the three furthest coreward colonized systems of Triumph, Ithica, and Terra Nova the Twenty-seventh.¡± That last name was about as ridiculous as system names got, but the only ones who laughed were the recent graduates in the room. Everyone else was used to stuff like that. Star systems got an alpha-numeric designation until they were colonized, and then, the colonizer could choose the name with very few restrictions. It couldn¡¯t be outright unprintable, and had to be unique, but beyond that? It could get very, very ridiculous. Though the thing that annoyed her the most was the endless list of worlds named after humanity¡¯s first colony, and the eponymous incident. ¡°To date, they¡¯ve taken nine ships, using at least three four-hundred-meter cruisers, or potentially light cruisers, unfortunately, the scanner data provided is rather lacking.¡± That was civilian scanners for you. They kept you from running into asteroids, and would usually tell you if you were about to fall into a star, but beyond that, you¡¯d probably be better off just crushing your nose against a viewport. As for the ships, well, despite how the term had been used in science fiction before space travel had become reality, ¡°light¡± cruisers weren¡¯t smaller cruisers, they just had less armor. Just like how it had worked on Earth¡¯s ocean. Of course, depending on the class, a cruiser could be anything from 150 to 500 meters in length, covering a whole lot of purposes, but all cruisers were designed for endurance, long-range travel, and having at least some degree of heavy firepower. As a heavy cruiser, Exeter was larger than any medium cruiser, had much heavier armor and weapons, though not quite to the point where fighting the known hostile vessels was going to be an easy affair. Where destroyers were used for short-range patrols and reconnaissance missions, and regular cruisers for anything that required a longer range, heavy cruisers were never dispatched unless combat was expected. Often accompanying true capital ships, but sometimes, like now, there were no battleships available, or even battlecruisers. ¡°I don¡¯t have to tell you that piracy is a perpetual problem on the frontier, and it takes far too long for a sufficiently strong force to be dispatched. The frontier bases might have their cruisers and destroyers, however, pirate pursuit needs to be done with a powerful force lest our ships are captured and used by the pirates.¡± Pirate ships were, normally at least, far weaker than navy vessels. It might have been literally impossible to keep the plans for working warships completely out of the public hands. With all the allowances made for civilian self-defense, some weapon blueprints had to be at least semi-public and it didn¡¯t take too much effort nowadays to cobble together a combat-capable vessel from those and general warship design principles. Then, all you needed was someone to build it, and it did not take much more to make a ship that could fight than one that could not. Navy vessels, in the meantime, were built using cutting-edge tech, by expert craftsmen who imbued all sorts of additional effects. All of them would start out at the lower levels, building non-critical components while gaining experience and XP, then eventually moving on to more complex and important parts until they eventually either reached the point where they could build a reactor with their bare hands in an afternoon, or left for the civilian sector. ¡°We will be dropping by Zheng He base on the way and picking up some additional vessels.¡± Hunt finally concluded. That had been a recent addition to her orders, when the third distinct cruiser had finally been identified. *** One month later It had taken them a long time, a lot of searching, a lot of scanning, but eventually, they¡¯d jumped into the correct system and at that point, it had been quite easy to spot their target. All their little fleet had had to do was get deep enough into this particular star system to see the star-facing side of one of its gas giants, where the pirate was located. ¡°Uh-oh ¡­¡± Hunt, very deliberately, did not take note of who¡¯d said that. She couldn¡¯t blame them, unfortunately. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Because what they were facing was a foundry. With how many parts had to be practically handmade, and with how many people had to be involved, making a warship was a complex, involved, lengthy, process. So even if the seemingly-impossible scenario of having enough high-Level crewmembers to crew more ships than the navy had were to come true, it would take a while to build those ships. However, it was also possible to go in the other direction. To automate the entire process of making a warship to the greatest degree possible, and then automating those warships to the point where a good ninety-nine percent of their strength came from their technology, rather than their crew or creators. Granted, the ships still needed someone with proper [Skills] to take them to another star system, or even another point in the same star system in any reasonable amount of time, and if the ship was bigger than a destroyer, it also needed to be enchanted, but other than that? You could build and build and build warships to create a massive force of mediocre vessels ¡­ that would eventually break down as automated maintenance systems slowly failed over the years. But for a while, you could create a force of incredible, nay, ridiculous power from asteroids alone, Which was why they were currently seeing not just three cruisers and a smattering of destroyers that had been expected, but a whopping twenty cruisers, four heavy cruisers that were still in the drydocks but could probably fight at least somewhat, and nearly fifty destroyers. Each of Hunt¡¯s thirteen ships, the Exeter and the reinforcements they¡¯d picked up, four cruisers and eight destroyers, was more than twice as strong as what they were facing, pound for pound. But as the old quote went, quantity had a quality of its own. Yeah ¡­ the UEN should have sent a battleship. But the United Earth Navy only had sixty of those, and that was counting the twenty-one currently still being built, and they were perpetually stuck guarding important systems, only dispatched in cases of extreme emergencies. Or at least a battlecruiser, but there were even fewer of those and they were all locked into long-range exploration missions despite the fact that they were designed to obliterate smaller ships ¡­ and run away from anything bigger. The correct choice would have been to retreat, inform fleet command, stop all traffic through the area until a force of appropriate size could be dispatched to clean this all up. But while Hunt doubted the pirates had enough Alcubierre Aspects to move all those ships between systems, there were certain [Skills] that could allow for shorter hops and those were a lot more common, sadly. ¡°All hands, battle stations,¡± she ordered, then began using the fleet¡¯s command party to shoot off the more complicated formation orders. If nothing appeared in the next few minutes, such as if the pirates lacked any detection abilities not limited to the speed of light, they¡¯d be able to retreat back out of the local star¡¯s gravity, jump to FTL from there and she¡¯d be happy having been wrong, but she doubted they¡¯d be that lucky. Warp-type [Skills], as they were known, were simply too common. Oh, sure, there were a million variations, some always put you behind an enemy vessel, others had a range based on the effective range of either your or the enemy¡¯s weapons, then there were those who effectively allowed its wielder to ¡°skip ahead,¡± teleporting to a point one could have reached in a given span of time ¡­ but they all had the same fundamental property of allowing for short-range teleportation. ¡°Short¡± for space, that was. Sure, any Warp-type [Skill] started out with a range greater than the diameter of many planets, that was nothing on the scale of a star system. Heck, you could fit every other planet in the solar system just between the Earth and its moon. And not every captain in the fleet could escape in an instant. In fact, only she could, and that would be dooming everyone else. This would be ugly, and it would almost certainly come down to tactics and the crews¡¯ [Skills]. ¡°Broadcast a demand to surrender,¡± Hunt belatedly ordered. It almost certainly wouldn¡¯t work, considering the penalty for the crimes the pirates had doubtlessly committed and the power difference, but it was worth the attempt. Give the pirates a couple of seconds to listen to the demand, and if they so much as pointed a laser pointer at Hunt¡¯s fleet, that was that. The first pirate ship to arrive was a cruiser, on a trajectory past Hunt¡¯s formation, but not in any way that denoted a plan. It¡¯d be close enough to bear the full brunt of their energy weapons but not so close to effectively use its kinetics, which would have at least made some degree of sense. Close in firing run, punch holes in everyone with railguns, and pray your defenses were good enough to handle the energy weapons. It was risky, and pointless considering the pirates¡¯ numbers advantage, but it would at least have been an explanation for why someone would do that. Other than incompetence, that was. Between the clearly aggressive trajectory, and the fact that all weapons were fully powered, no one would even complain they fired first. Energy poured out from their fusion reactors, metal prisons containing the full fury of a star sending power crackling through their ships¡¯ grids and into the countless weapons they were bristling with, and was finally hurled into space with lethal intent. Out into the void. But the beams of particles accelerated to near light speed and coherent photons traveling at that speed only spent a tiny fraction of a second in motion before hammering into their target, a pirate cruiser severely lacking in defenses. Magnetic fields tore apart particle beams, dispersion them into a scattered shotgun blast of ions that splattered fairly uselessly against the armor, while the first salvo of lasers bounced large harmlessly off the mirrored hull. The first one. And while the Exeter¡¯s heaviest beams were still recharging, all ships had weaker weapons with a much shorter cycling time. And when the ragged second salvo arrived, it melted straight through the cruiser¡¯s hull. Hunt grinned viciously as she saw the entire front side of the cruiser vanish in a burst of light and metallic slag. So ¡­ the pirates hadn¡¯t properly enchanted their hulls. Sure, mirrors were great against lasers ¡­ at first. But they heated up quickly and without the normally ubiquitous magical cooling systems, held up quite badly against sustained fire. ¡°Cease fire,¡± she ordered. ¡°If they move, put a railgun round through their reactor.¡± As per usual, complex maneuvers were ordered through her [Fleet Command] [Skill], however, and Hunt¡¯s little fleet swung around, maneuvering to ensure that, whether the enemy emerged from their warps with their old speed or at an orbiting velocity suitable for the celestial body they emerged above, they¡¯d only be in range of each other briefly. ¡°Prioritize laser fire against any new targets, use particle beams on any vessel that has lost its shielding. Target any ship with reduced maneuverability using railguns,¡± Hunt continued. With the lacking armor, taking down the generators for the magnetic fields that dispersed particle beams would be a piece of cake, making the usual tactic of ¡°use energy weapons against hull until something fails¡± rather unnecessary. And as for the railguns, they technically had infinite range, their projectiles simply kept going until they hit something, but at the same time, their effective range, outside of which an intact ship could easily dodge, was fairly short. Hence the focus on damaged vessels. Three more cruisers warped in at a greater distance, safe from getting obliterated like their fellow had, and a smattering of destroyers appeared as well, manifesting behind an incandescent field of magic meant to refract and reflect energy weapons. [Warp Blast]. The cooldown [Skill] was all but invisible as it flashed from the bow of the Exeter, only perceptible by those eagle eyes who noticed how the stars on its other side twinkled slightly, but no one did. No, instead, it flashed straight through whatever shield the pirates had erected and twisted space to yank all enemy ships towards it as it detonated, then sent them flying back in random directions, spinning, twisting rolling out of control. Not forever, but for long enough that they went careening out from under the shield and ripped apart concentrated fire. Lasers to rip through the insufficient armor and fry the defensive field generators, particle beams to finish the job. Hunt groaned internally. They were already starting to burn through their [Skills] and they¡¯d barely even made a dent in the enemy numbers. And that was when the enemy¡¯s entire mobile force warped as one, aiming to manifest before her flotilla. If she let it happen, that was. But she wouldn¡¯t. [Pernicious Pandemonium]. The [Skill] had its limits, she could not mess with their teleportation to the point where they leaped into a gas giant or the local star, nor could she scatter them all over the place, but what she could do was pull most of their enemies closer. Much closer. Past them, even, a few kilometers to the rear of Hunt¡¯s formation. Modern warships were built to fire forwards and to the side, not backwards. There was something of a ¡°skirt¡± built to curve around the stern, shielding the engines from attacks from most angles and creating a place for rear-facing armament to sit, but in the end, the only point a warship could bring all its guns to bear on was in front of it, and the area hardest to target was behind it. Then there was the fact that warships generally needed a brief amount of time to analyze their surroundings after a warp, separate friend from foe, and generate firing solutions. By the time they passed out of each other¡¯s range, the enemy would barely have fired a shot while the navy ships had had at least some forewarning, had guns already rotated into position, and since all allies present had known locations, any new contacts were automatically hostile and could be fired upon. But as the saying that had stood the test of time went, the enemy got a vote too. And they were in such close quarters that dodging railgun rounds was functionally impossible. The destroyer Thunderous suddenly went spinning as a railgun round slammed into its stern and sent it tumbling, engine down and bleeding atmosphere. The Mogador was outright shattered as it was struck by two kinetics near-simultaneously. And the Yukikaze was nearly ripped in half by a perfect shot that had gone right up its engine and into the reactor, only the quick reactions of one of her engineers in shutting down her fusion core, preventing her from turning into a short-lived star, though they¡¯d have to retrieve the crew sooner rather than later. And the damage didn¡¯t remain limited to the destroyers. A series of explosions wracked the Kirov, her rearmost cruiser, costing her enough engine power to make her fall back and completely taking down her rear-facing deflector fields. That cruiser was doomed. And her captain realized it, initiating his own warp to leave the local area in the hope that the pirates wouldn¡¯t hunt him and his crew down before they¡¯d beaten the rest of the navy¡¯s flotilla. Even so, their enemies hadn¡¯t got off scot-free either. Half a dozen destroyers had been battered into wrecks by energy weapons, while all of Hunt¡¯s railguns had concentrated their fire on the cruisers. None that dealt fatal damage, actually breaking the ship, but railguns simply could not be blocked by anything short of magic and left massive craters in the enemy armor, making its reflective properties even more terrible than they already were and shattering any magnetic field projectors that might have been beneath the point of impact. In the next exchange of fire, those would be annihilated. However, Hunt hadn¡¯t stopped there, because she¡¯d left some ships where they¡¯d originally intended to appear ¡­ all alone. At the mercy of every gun that could not fire at the fleet behind them. Four cruisers, quite literally, melted under the concentrated fire of the naval flotilla. Behind them, the pirate fleet dissolved into chaos as they attempted to turn around, and, well, things got chaotic. Then again, if they¡¯d been disciplined, they likely wouldn¡¯t have become pirates either. ¡°Fire missiles, empty the magazines,¡± Hunt ordered. Between the Exeter¡¯s twelve missile tubes, the remaining three cruisers¡¯ eight each, and the twenty found across all five destroyers, they could only fire fifty-six a salvo, every thirty seconds. That was nothing in the face of an equivalent flotilla, let alone the pirate fleet that still outnumbered them ¡­ but that was all assuming that the defenders properly coordinated defensive fire and were in a proper formation, precisely none of which applied to pirates in general and definitely didn¡¯t apply to these pirates. And by the time the pirates had managed to fully turn around, and bring their guns to bear ¡­ Hunt had her flotilla warp away, leaving them to face all the missiles they¡¯d already put into space. While the navy appeared right where Hunt had already spotted the heavy cruisers being readied for departure. Her [Stellar Sight], much like most FTL sensory [Skills], including the one wielded by the Exeter¡¯s operations officer, allowed her to see what the sensors would have shown, had they been able to display what was happening in real-time, rather than via whatever arrived with light-speed delays. The physicists might be constantly arguing about whether the effect should be qualified as precognition or scrying, but the actual classification actually didn¡¯t really matter. It worked, that was what was important. Now, half of Hunt¡¯s flotilla might be stuck there, the ships¡¯ captains out of warp [Skills], but the same had to go for many of the pirates. And while facing four heavy cruisers was a tall order for what she had left, these ships were hardly finished. Scratch that, most pirates were out of charges. Hunt saw several pirate ships at the sight of the previous battle rabbit, wildly zapping away to save themselves but massively weaken the defenses of those who were unable to escape. Three cruisers vanished under the hammer blows of the missiles¡¯ nuclear warheads, becoming visible again as twisted wrecks once the light had faded. And the destroyers, well, they were tiny, and unenchanted. A direct hit atomized them, and even a series of near misses could severely damage them as the radiation fried their systems, leaving them sitting ducks for any follow-up missiles. In the end, twelve cruisers and nineteen destroyers were left, scattered halfway across the star system. More than enough to win against what Hunt had left in a straight-up brawl, but the enemy advantage was currently melting away like ice on a hot day. Then, the cruiser Ajax lurched out of formation as an incredibly heavy beam smashed into her bow, followed by a couple more as the other two pirate heavy cruisers closed in. Spinal weaponry, shit. Hunt bit back a curse. A gun built into a vessel¡¯s spine was, by default, the biggest, heaviest, most powerful gun that could fit on a given warship, but that didn¡¯t necessarily make it a good idea to install one, and that went doubly so for any vessel bigger than a destroyer, since you had to turn your entire ship to aim and doing so with bigger vessels was hard, and doing so left you unable to accelerate in any direction save straight at the enemy. But if you managed to pull it off ¡­ spinally mounted guns could hit hard. And as though things weren¡¯t bad enough, two pinpricks of light were shooting towards them from the furthest-out heavy cruiser, on the far side of the foundry. Hyperians. Fourth Evolution warriors with space flight, FTL, and light manipulation powers, a build-type developed by the UEN and several System scholars to create humans that could go toe-to-toe with warships. Not well, not at the Levels she saw, but each of them was worth a destroyer in terms of raw firepower, easily, and the concentrated nature of their power meant that they could, rather easily, land on a ship and burn their way down into the reactor. And, on top of that, since their [Skill]set often contained a significant element of ¡°light,¡± they excelled at blocking or deflecting lasers. Yeah, time to break out the proverbial big guns and empty the equally proverbial clip. [Gravity Well] to the left of the three cruisers in front of them, yanking them off course and fucking with their aim, [Twist Reality] to ensure that any hostile teleport effects into the area would drop out their users far enough that the navy could react, oh, [Spatial Warp] to deflect a rather predictable attack by one of the Hyperians into the station, hand off command of the effort against the cruisers to Captain Renard of the Belfast, and finally, use the second charge of her warp [Skill]. [Not Here, There]. And suddenly, the Exeter was right in the path of the first Hyperian, the one who¡¯d unleashed the attack, less than five centimeters from the woman¡¯s nose. But considering that they were moving at nearly three kilometers a second, relatively, that distance did not remain for long ¡­ yeah, Hyperians might have little difficulty landing on ships, but they had to match velocities to do that. With this kind of head-on collision, it wasn¡¯t the question of whether the human participant would survive. It was which poor bastard drew the short straw and had to clean that up. The second Hyperian looked to be about to unleash his big attack, but Hunt warped again, using her third charge, and planting the Exeter side-on with the enemy cruiser, and with the Hyperian on the opposite side of the pirate. A broadside duel between similarly-sized cruisers, even if one clearly was a few sensors and point defense weapons short of being finished and severely lacking in the armor department, was not a short affair. Certainly not short enough that the Exeter could finish this before the Hyperian got a bead on it. Except it could. [Reality Fold]. And space twisted in a way that seemed capable of breaking the mind of anyone who saw it. The pirate heavy cruiser could only bring about half its guns to bear. The Exeter, on the other hand could target it with every single gun it had. Also, incoming fire was distributed across every part of the navy cruiser¡¯s hull, thoroughly spreading out the impacts and preventing anything more than cosmetic damage, while the navy vessel was able to concentrate its power and burn a path straight down into the reactor. And when that went, so did the vessel ¡­ just in time for the Hyperian to appear, flashing past the pirate with both hands wreathed in energy. [Not Here, There], penultimate charge. The Exeter appeared behind the Hyperian and unleashed its full firepower. As expected, the lasers were outright nothing, and the particle beams were dispersed almost as easily, but the railguns, well ¡­ Hyperians had to be fast, perceptive, and have a ton of magic, which failed to leave many Stat points for Fortitude, especially at the Fourth Evolution. The first round tore off an arm, the second slammed into the man¡¯s stomach and sent him flying amidst a cloud of blood, gore, and bone fragments, and the third tore blasted through that, leaving behind just a rapidly expanding cloud of offal. [Not Here, There], final charge. Even just during that incredibly short duel with the fourth heavy cruiser, Hunt¡¯s flotilla had lost more ships. The Ajax was breaking apart, the destroyer Glowworm was just gone, and the Fletcher was currently breaking up, but the pirates had lost a second heavy cruiser, a third was currently being battered into scrap, and the fourth, well, Hunt¡¯s ship had just appeared right behind it and sent over a dozen railgun darts up its tailpipe while its lasers had taken out any weapons that would have a good bead on the Exeter at the instant of arrival. Because if your warping [Skill] was precise enough, you could make those kinds of preparations ahead of time. The enemy cruiser lurched forward like a drunken pig, all power dying as the reactor went offline, either due to damage or as a precaution, it didn¡¯t matter. Because even while the Exeter turned to reinforce its allies, its point defense weapons burned off everything on the pirate ship that could be used as a weapon, systematically pounding it into scrap metal. And the last ¡°intact¡± enemy didn¡¯t last much longer either. Victory, for now. And as all this had been happening, Commodore Ciara Hunt, Level 150 [Conquerer of the Shattered Skies], had sat in her command chair and barely moved a muscle, not even turning her head or giving verbal commands. Now that this part of the engagement was over, she allowed herself to fall back into a more relaxed pose, and sighed internally. Yep, she desperately needed a fifth Evolution [Class] with more fleet-focused and large-scale [Skills]. Because a commodore couldn¡¯t normally rush off like that, and an admiral, if she ever reached that point, sure as fuck couldn¡¯t either. ¡°The remaining pirates are running, Commodore.¡± Hunt sighed. As expected. It meant they had won, but it also meant some poor bastard would be stuck having to chase them down. On the other hand, this left them free to conduct S&R and retrieve the crew of the Kirov. *** Three weeks later ¡°Well, that was ... something, Commodore Hunt,¡± Rear Admiral Sun commented. They were both in his office, aboard his flagship, the battlecruiser Yi Sun-shin. ¡°That¡¯s the polite way of phrasing that, admiral;¡± she replied. ¡°With all due respect, someone screwed the pooch, probably Navy intelligence. Setting up a foundry out here should have left a paper trail, and if there was even a hint of a possibility we¡¯d run into something like that out here, I should have been dispatched with either three times what I got, or a proper capital ship.¡± ¡°You know, some are going to say you should not have taken your entire command so close to the star you cannot use [Alcubierre Bubble] to get out,¡± Sun commented. ¡°Which would have flown in the face of established naval doctrine and sentenced whatever warships were sent in to certain death,¡± Hunt replied, flatly. ¡°And I¡¯ll tell the same to anyone who claims otherwise.¡± Sun grimaced. ¡°I agree, but you know these things shake out. You¡¯ll have to make that case, several times, most likely.¡± ¡°Can I count on your backing?¡± Hunt asked, certain that that was where this was leading. ¡°Of course, I¡¯ve also already made that opinion clear with our superiors,¡± Sun said. ¡°For all the good that will do. However, before anything like that can happen,you¡¯ll finish what you started.¡± ¡°Sir?¡± Hunt asked, not quite sure what he was getting at. She suspected, btu was nowhere near sure enough to voice her guess. ¡°Like you said, someone screwed the pooch, probably Rear Admiral Hayes at Zheng He, which is why he¡¯s being ordered back to Earth for ¡­ debrief. I¡¯m his replacement. Depending on this conversation, I can either take this place after the pirates have been hunted down, or right now, and you can take the reinforcements to bring the rest of the pirates to justice.¡± She didn¡¯t even have to think about it for very long. ¡°Thank you, admiral. I¡¯d like to finish this.¡± Four days later, a freshly reinforced and repaired fleet left Zheng He base, ready to go hunting. Sixteen cruisers, four heavy cruisers, thirty-two destroyers, and one battle cruiser. Even if the pirates had somehow gotten back to the foundry, repaired all the damage the navy had done before they left to prevent something like that, and had it running at full burn, they¡¯d still be so screwed it wasn¡¯t even funny. Actually, considering some of the shit the Marines had uncoverd on that station, it was very funny. And, one month later, the entire region was officially pronnounced pirate free once more. Sidestory 3: Legacy (Tanja Thoma) 2047, Mars, Olympus Mons Crater No one was quite sure how having a famous older brother and being trained in swordsmanship added up to ¡°Valkyrie,¡± but that was how it had played out. [Valkyrie Squire] as an epic starter [Class], with [Skills] for flying, aerial combat, combat in general, gear maintenance, and finally, racial healing abilities that ranged from sealing wounds to putting injured allies into what was effectively stasis. [Warrior Valkyrie] had been her first Evolution, likewise epic, with a similar focus, though it granted access to the [Lesser Ressurection] spell that could heal lethal damage even after the target had passed the point where a doctor would have declared a time of death, though it couldn¡¯t bring them back too much longer beyond that. The precise limit of resurrection abilities was currently unknown, but couldn¡¯t be any longer than twenty minutes. And the lesser version also required a mostly intact body. Then, the second Evolution had been yet another epic version, [Valkyrie Steelwing]. Still powerful, granting the complete [Ressurection] ability plus the ability to turn wings to metal and even launch razor-sharp feathers like the Stymphalian Birds of Ancient Greece. Yet, it was still epic. Maintaining an epic [Class] streak was impressive compared to the average, it still put her in the ninety-eighth percentile or higher, depending on who she asked, but it was simply lacking. It wasn¡¯t enough, not by a long shot compared to who she had standing behind her. And yes, Isaac was a world-class, paradigm-shattering talent, she¡¯d been warned about not putting herself in danger to match him numerous times, but she had advantages even he hadn¡¯t had. If all she managed to do was stay above the average, she knew that in the future, be it in ten years or ten thousand, she¡¯d hate herself for having wasted this opportunity. Because what on Earth was she doing with her life? Simply existing? Having her little house in the near-Germany-sized portion of Mars Isaac had claimed, redecorating the building and its grounds whenever she felt like it, or something had broken in training ¡­ it was a step in the right direction, yet somehow, also felt wrong. ¡°Everything that the light touches is yours¡± applied, after a certain fashion. Most of the crater wall had vanished below the horizon from her point of view, but there was not a single spot on the ground inside Olympus Mons from where one could see anything not also a part of Isaac¡¯s estate. There was more space up here than any single human being could ever possibly take up even if they spread out to the absolute maximum possible. And it was lonely up here. The terraforming had finished a couple of years ago, but it was still taking a while for people to settle here, to build, to create communities within easy flying distance. No real distractions from the ¡°training in solitude¡± she¡¯d imagined, yet at the same time, she wasn¡¯t really getting anything close to that done. It was easy to imagine her [Skill] Levels shooting through the roof as she spent her days practicing, but hard to make those dreams a reality. Yet what on Earth had she been doing before moving here? Spent half her time training in one way or another, the other half chasing meaningless ¡°fun,¡± whether it was holidays or a string of short-lived relationships. It didn¡¯t matter to her anymore what she¡¯d actually achieved, not when she compared it to even a fraction of what her brother had achieved. No one, not even his family, or Elena, as far as she knew, had a full overview of his [Classes], but information had spread that he¡¯d been legendary from the 2nd Evolution onwards, and even his 1st Evolution had been at the very peak of what an epic [Class] could be. Nothing she¡¯d achieved so far measured up even in the slightest. But what was she supposed to do, throw in the towel, and return to Earth? Where boyfriends ran out on her the instant Isaac was even in the most distant vicinity, as they seemingly remembered who she was related to only then? The girlfriends who somehow never seemed to stick around, and in one particularly mortifying incident, had hit on Isaac when he¡¯d dropped by Tanja¡¯s apartment? That was hardly going to end well ¡­ can¡¯t stay, can¡¯t go back ¡­ how about walking forward? How about going to a place not as steeped in Isaac¡¯s shadow as the entirety of Earth, or his literally country-sized backyard? *** 2051 Where was the best place to escape a famous relative¡¯s shadow? A world they¡¯d never even set foot on, of course. Colonizing new worlds was hardly a simple process, with the ability to travel between solar systems being limited to only a single known Aspect, and a handful of specialized [Classes]. Or rather, having been. Because Isaac, it was always Isaac, had figured out a way to create new [Skills] from combinations of Aspect [Skills]. It hadn¡¯t just been the first time anyone had managed that, it had also created the perfect [Skill] for large-scale interstellar exploration, which allowed entire ships to be carried through the void between stars. Larger-scale interstellar exploration had recently found a planet that was habitable, albeit barely, and the call for volunteer colonists had gone out. Being both a healer and a fighter, all at a low enough Level to be able to grow into specialized [Classes] perfect for the current situation, had made Tanja a prime candidate even in the anonymized selection process. And the same went for Viktoria who had, unknown to her, been in much the same state. Though you wouldn¡¯t know it, not with how how confidently she presented herself, with how she flew through the air on an owl¡¯s wings, covered in runes and other magical symbols, wreathed in a palpable aura of power whenever they were visible. ¡°Ready?¡± Viktoria asked as she landed lightly next to Tanja. Tanja grinned. ¡°Ready.¡± And together, they walked aboard the shuttle that would take them to the Earth¡¯s first and grandest space station, and then, the starship that would take them through the void, the New Horizon. *** Six months later Terra Nova was perhaps the laziest possible name anyone had ever come up with in the entirety of human history. And inaccurate, in all honesty, considering what the world was like. Massive axial tilt resulting in seasonal variations that were rough, to say the least. On Earth, environmental conditions were usually such that life could evolve to survive everything their location could throw at them. Barring natural disasters, of course. Terra Nova ¡­ not so much. With it being primarily covered in dirt, not water, it did not retain warmth well and as the seasons changed, the ground cooled rapidly, leaving a good seventy-five percent of the planet to cycle between scorching expanses of sand, and frosty plains of ice and snow as the year progressed, with the fact that a Terra Nova year was almost twice as long as Earth¡¯s only somewhat mitigating the issue. What plants did manage to survive were either alien cacti-equivalents, or titanic trees that combined the best traits of bamboo and succulents, growing swiftly in the fertile periods and slowly filling out their internals afterwards, relying on a whole host of interesting chemicals to withstand the temperature extremes. Animals, meanwhile, tended to be nomadic, following whatever environment they were adapted to. Though there were these fox-like scavengers the size of a large cat or small dog which followed the bigger herbivores just ahead of the worst of winter and were cute as sin. As a result, getting shelter and agriculture set up as fast as possible was vital, and getting at least some basic protective enchantments up and running was also important. Tanja and Viktoria often worked together on that, one to put up the house, the other to enchant them. Though they were also often tasked with fixing up small scrapes and bruises when they occurred nearby. Not that they minded, it took more effort to light a candle than it was to heal an injury that small and people were grateful. They were both still at Level 50, it would take a bit longer before the good colonist pioneer, or frontier-themed [Classes] started becoming available, but at that point in their advancement, they were already well into the realm of the superhuman. Until one day, a literal army of monsters arrived on their doorsteps. *** No one had known what had happened, what had caused things, but somehow, monsters, [System] monsters, had appeared on the surface of Terra Nova and started swarming. Honestly, it was something straight out of the worst-case ¡°rampant autonomous summoning¡± scenario that sometimes got discussed on the History Channel. They¡¯d already called for help, obviously, but it had been a deliberate choice to not have a bunch of S-Rankers hanging around. This colony was meant to be a human, triumph, not the result of a bunch of gods made flesh reshaping the new world with a wave of their hands. And now it was biting them in the ass. People were worried that their FTL communicator, still in an experimental phase, would fail, but both Tanja and Viktoria had emergency beacons as a part of their bloodline, and they¡¯d triggered those the instant things had started to go wrong. Several days ago. ¡­ The only reason they were still alive was that the monsters were all at Tier 7 and below. Either whoever had summoned their ¡°progenitors¡± didn¡¯t have the mana for anything stronger, or the weaker monsters had been chosen because anything bigger would have been immediately noticed, and they¡¯d have just evacuated to the orbiting colony vessel before anything reached them. There was a rather easy win condition here, killing the originally summoned monsters would cut off the flow of reinforcements, but they could not spare the manpower, or power in general, to do so. As it stood, the idea of using more standard people to colonize new worlds for the sake of ¡°symbolism¡± had proved to have been rather abysmal. Tanja¡¯s wings opened up with a thought, then flicked forward without making her move a single inch, because she was not trying to fly. No, she was trying to unleash another hail of feathers turned blades, a dozen long knives that could cut through concrete like butter ripping apart several of the nearest hydra¡¯s heads, then a blast of hellfire cauterized the injuries. She¡¯d been at this way too long, her wings were starting to look bald. The feathers did grow back, but not quickly enough to sustain this rate of fire. And when the beast¡¯s final head tried to bite her, she drove her blade through the bottom of its jaw and into its brain, then unleashed a blast of hellfire to obliterate the inside of its skull. No real kill notification flashed in her vision, she¡¯d turned them off days ago, but rather, she saw a small notification in the corner of her eye that basically boiled down to ¡°kill confirmed.¡± She did not need to know what the monster was called or how much XP she¡¯d gotten, but she did need to know her enemy was dead. Now that the hydra was dead, Tanja looked around the battlefield. Most humans were still alive, although the number of people who were ¡°alive again¡± instead was rather numerous. If it weren¡¯t for the support of the twin valkyries, they likely would have already all died. Yet most people were in rough shape. Near death. Unable to hold out for very long. Spellfire rained down as Viktoria flew by overhead, discharging everything she¡¯d spent the last five minutes imbuing her wings with. Both of them had recently advanced to the 3rd Evolution, and thrown all their stockpiled XP into levelling their new legendary [Classes]. Viktoria had her [Indomitable Spellwing], while Tanja had gone in the near-opposite direction. [Saintess of the Crimson Fields]. Healing and blood. Not what she¡¯d expected her 3rd Evolution to be, but it was what she¡¯d been offered, one of three legendary options. Still, plenty of fighters had one or two less combat-focused Evolutions under her belt, so it should be fine. Tanja waved her hands and exerted the force of her [Bloody Retribution] over the mess the hydra had left behind, unleashing spears made of the toxic soup that was its sorry excuse for blood and impaling half a dozen monsters that weren¡¯t quite as tolerant of excruciating poison. And then, she triggered her [Class¡¯] Core [Skill], the only big one she had. [Attack of the Dead Men]. A crimson mist washed out from her palm, spreading across the field, and sinking into any humans not at near-perfect health. Then, after a long moment, bloody tentacles lashed out and ripped pieces from the nearest corpses, removing anything their hosts were lacking, transplanting everything needed to restore them to perfect health while the physical manifestation of the [Skill] jumped to the nearby dead humans. And then, it fixed those bodies with parts from dead monsters, creating Frankensteinian abominations that often just lay there, still dead. But in many cases, they rose again, the spirits of the fallen not yet having left the earthly plane and taking the chance to avenge their deaths. It was a gruesome [Skill], with an even more gruesome effect, she¡¯d thrown up the first time she¡¯d used it, yet it was effective. And it was not one she¡¯d ever have unlocked through training in a million years. No, this was the ultimate culmination of the horror show this world had become. A mass-healing ability that compensated for insufficient mana by harvesting the available flesh carpeting the ground. A stitched-together abomination rose from the center of the enemy horde, made almost entirely from monster pieces, and roared ¡°Run! I¡¯ll hold them off!¡± The body was so badly ruined she had no idea who that had even been, but the intent was obvious. Whoever was piloting the abomination, they¡¯d be distracting the monsters, and if everyone else ran ¡­ they might be able to get enough distance to establish a proper fortification. Or abandoning the meager defenses of the village could get them all killed. They took the chance anyway. *** Tanja¡¯s wings beat slowly as she hung above the source of it all, a land of blood broken summoning circles and shattered containment runes. Though based on a ring of protective enchantments that surrounded a massive bloodstain, this had not been a trap. It had been some absolute fool lining up monsters to fight simultaneously, so they could likely get a better [Class], or something like that. She¡¯d been tempted to try that herself in the past, but she hadn¡¯t actually done it. For obvious reasons. And in the middle of all, all the carnage were the monsters she was here to kill. A Tier 5 Hydra, a Tier 7 Familiar of Iammax in the form of a crimson-clad demon knight, a True Terror Bird, Tier 6, and finally, a Manticore, also Tier 7. The origins of the beasts that had nearly spelled doom to the colony. So, what to do ¡­ a stealth attack could cripple the strongest target, but actually finish off the Hydra ¡­ yeah, that ball of snakes had to go. Tanja furled her wings and dropped like a stone, then triggered [Air Strike] at the moment of impact, her wings re-manifesting in a single smooth motion that tore their metallic edges clean through the monster, carving it into several pieces, while completely preventing any and all damage she might have taken. The follow-up blast of bloodline-fuelled hellfire ensured that even if the initial burst of destruction had not been enough, the hydra would not rise again. One down, three to go. The disturbingly humanoid face of the manticore loomed before her, a lion¡¯s mane falling around it while its bat wings seemed to blot out the sky and a spike-studded scorpion tail rose over the beast¡¯s back. [Blood Retribution]! A hail of bloody needles tore up the monster¡¯s face, obliterating its eyes and ripping apart everything else, though this was a Tier 7 monster, with at least 10 Levels on her. It survived. When it unleashed a salvo of venomous lances as long as her forearm with a flick of its tail, Tanja interposed her wings while she leaped backwards. With a terrible metallic screeching sound, the projectiles penetrated, wedging themselves between her metal feathers but missing the only part of her wings that was actually flesh. With a shrugging motion, she shed the toxin-dripping spikes from where they stuck, then launched herself back up into the skies ¡­ where she found herself having to let herself fall right back down to avoid a scything kick from the terror bird. A two-meter tall prehistoric apex predator with a beak that could snap bones in half and clawed feet that could disembowel a person with a single kick, empowered to new heights by the [System]. But even though it would have fucked her up if it had hit, it was weaker than her. A single salvo of steel-shod feathers turned it into a pincushion. Even if it had managed to land properly after the impact, it would have died soon anyway. Sadly, Tanja was now also rather exposed, and the demon had started unleashing bolts of solid, metallic, fire at her. Cursing, she dove back down to put the manticore between them, only for the damn beast to lash out with its tail, which she blocked with her wings, again ¡­ only for the spikes to get stuck and when the tail was yanked back, she came along with it. Biting back another avalanche of harsh language, Tanja let herself be hurled at the demon, which seemed to be just as surprised as she was. Or, at the very least, it wasn¡¯t reacting in a timely fashion. They both went down in a heap, and their close-range [Auras] clashed in a furious explosion of power, heat, and cursed energy meeting her wall of steel and cloud of floating shards even as their blades began to clash in a furious melee. Tanja burned. The demon was cut and cut again, until blood was leaking from every gap in its armor. In the end, it was pure luck that decided it. Tanja noticed the manticore pouncing and her from behind and flung herself to the side, wings too damaged to fly from the previous collision, and the big lion-monster bowled over her previous foe, who didn¡¯t get up. Apparently, it had already been so badly injured that getting knocked to the ground had left it unable to rise once more. Wings rising limply over her shoulders, forming a primitive shield, sword in hand, Tanja stared down the blinded manticore. Could she ¡­ yes she could. Enough blood had been spilled here, and some of it was hers. [Crimson Sanctification] triggered, a wave of power washing out from her to stain the dirt red even where it had not been directly covered in the lifeblood of the living and the dead. Vitality flowed up into her even as the manticore seemed to stagger, restrained by the now-holy ground. Once the already spilled blood was used up, the [Skill] would start draining her, but she should be able to finish this before then. Sidestep another tail strike, blade to the joint between the last and second-to-last segment of the tail, yank sword back to avoid it getting ripped out of her hand, get headbutted by the monster and scramble back, retrieve arm from its maw before it had bite back ¡­ then launch yourself back into the beast¡¯s face, and drive the sword into its eye up to the hilt. Tanja grimaced and winced as she stared down at the row of lacerations the manticore¡¯s teeth had left in her left forearm. That had been close. A series of tremendous explosions rocking the world disrupted her contemplation, causing her to stare at the cataclysm happening in the distance. Reinforcements. Judging by the distinct color of the flames, Isaac was here. ¡°You¡¯re late, big brother,¡± Tanja smiled sadly. ¡°We had to win this one ourselves.¡± She sighed, and glanced at her wings. They were already fully restored, no need for extra healing spells. Time to fly over to the others. *** In the end, the culprit was simultaneously identified and never found. And only in the world of the [System] did that statement make perfect sense. It had been a company who had tried to buy the planet but been shot down due to the political and ¡°image¡± implications of the first naturally inhabitable non-Earth planet being sold. So they had found some of the younger, more impressionable members of the expedition and dripped poison into their ears, convincing them that they had it in them to grow powerful, and all they had to do was start summoning. A few tips and tricks for doing it in the dumbest possible way and the disaster that had wound up unfolding had been near-unavoidable. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. The action hadn¡¯t even been illegal, despite the inherent immorality of indirectly getting people killed. In time, the culprit would have been found, and a while after that, there would have been consequences, considering just who had been embarrassed, hurt, or killed, but it had never gotten that far. Because the Ghost had stepped in, murdered everyone directly involved, and erased them from history using an unknown [Skill] of immeasurable power. Some people still knew the names, those who had personally known the ¡°victims,¡± but the information could not be shared in any way. Records were erased, words snatched away by the wind, and even memories slowly began to erode under the relentless march of time, leaving the perpetrators to disappear into the abyss of history, joining the handful of others who had managed to offend the Ghost so badly that even their name did not survive. Though, to be honest, Tanja didn¡¯t care all that much about it either way. She¡¯d found herself on Terra Nova, realized who she was, and decided where to go from here. *** 2077 Well, it had been five years since Isaac had gone off into outer space, and since then, she had hit Level 150 with her legendary 4th Evolution, and she was happy. Also busy, eternally pinging between medical work, training herself, and going Aspect hunting. Because that was what had, at least as far as she could tell, given her her [Skysundering Blade]. Steel, air, and winged monster Aspects, all having come together to form a [Class] as deadly as her previous one had been ¡­ sanctifying? Holy? Blessed? Anyway, that was the [Class] she¡¯d been using for the last fifty Levels, and while it had been good, she wanted something that truly fit her for her 5th Evolution. Something that combined everything she was and wanted to be, a warrior and healer, a magical being that crossed the stars and seemingly came straight out of myth and legend. A legendary [Class], of course, which she still had to earn. Because at the moment, she was still only being offered epic ones. But she¡¯d only hit Level 150 literally an hour ago, which was why she was lying on the sandy shores of one of Olympus Mons¡¯ massive lakes, looking like she¡¯d just run two marathons back to back, utterly exhausted. Wings of brown, amber, and gold were splayed out to either side, having dug vast trenches through the beach when she¡¯d unfurled them. Yes, Tanja decided, she¡¯d stay here for at least a week, only getting up for food, the bathroom, and to jump into the water. Though to be entirely honest with herself, she¡¯d probably swear off the beach in a day or two, when enough sand had found itself into unfortunate places over time, and she¡¯d eventually flee until she¡¯d managed to scrub those memories from her brain, like she¡¯d always done so far. Wings had way too many spots grains of sand could eventually wind up in and start itching something fierce, but until things got that far, she¡¯d stay right here. It was funny. If this had still been the world of her childhood, she¡¯d have either already long since had children, or had to get used to the idea that she¡¯d never have any of her own. Yet in the world she lived in, some would barely even consider her an adult, someone who¡¯d only lived for a tiny fraction of her lifespan, who still had enough time to do, well, anything and everything she wanted. The people who¡¯d been adults when the [System] had initialized had struggled to adapt, but they¡¯d adapted. The children born after the initialization were doing just fine. But to people like her, for whom their entire world had been transformed as they were learning what the world was like ¡­ the situation had been fucking weird. Still was, to be honest. Tanja sighed and laid her head in the sand. With how philosophical she was getting, you¡¯d have thought she was dru- ¡­ Her phone rang. If it was another person trying to congratulate her for reaching the peak of the 4th Evolution ¡­ well, she wouldn¡¯t blow up at them, she¡¯d be polite, but she¡¯d have still been happier with peace, just peace. With a sigh, Tanja rolled over and grabbed her phone from the drinks table. It was the SDC, the Summoning Disaster Commission, whose job it was to evaluate the safety of summoning practices and fix things if shit hit the fan. She, and most other people striving to reach the peak, had that number saved, but that was to get help. There was no reason for them to be calling. She certainly couldn¡¯t remember having done anything even remotely worthy of their attention. But it was vanishingly unlikely to be a butt dial or the like, and anything more general would have been sent out as a part of the newsletter. This had to be important. ¡°Tanja Thoma,¡± she picked up, not even bothering to hide the alarm and annoyance she was currently feeling in equal measure. ¡°Ms. Thoma, have you ever heard of the ¡®Crucible¡¯ Dungeon?¡± a generic, flat, voice that could just as likely been a machine as a human, asked. ¡°Urban legend, monstrous Dungeon that offers over-the-top threats and guarantees legendary [Classes]?¡± ¡°Well, someone built it, things predictably went wrong, and we can¡¯t get in because the idiots who made it decided locking out anyone under or over Level 150 would increase the danger and make it easier to obtain high-rarity [Classes].¡± ¡°And you¡¯re asking me to help ¡­ why exactly?¡± Tanja asked. Granted, most people who hit Level 150 didn¡¯t run out of the summoning room and fly across the grounds of Akashik Academy whooping with joy, the final threshold had the smallest number of people stuck at it, and those with her quality of [Classes] were still uncommon, even at those Levels, but how did that trail of logic end with ¡°Tanja, go deal with that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s complicated, but suffice it to say, we need someone capable of using resurrection magic who can defend themselves. Are you willing to help?¡± Tanja didn¡¯t bother to keep her sigh internal as she said ¡°yes¡± and got directions to a point basically on the other side of Mars. Well, there went her holiday. *** Even from the air, Tanja could recognize half a dozen different S-Rankers, expert mages, and ten extremely distraught people who looked to be in their thirties or forties, paired up. The parents of those inside, most likely. She landed next to Patrick, whom she had met only on occasion, but at least she knew him. ¡°Schei?e,¡± he muttered. Magic sparked against his fingers, though he ignored that in favor of turning to look up at her. ¡°Look, you¡¯re going to get a whole spiel but basically, a guy bonded with a Dungeon Class, created one that is Level-locked to 150, and I can¡¯t crack it before everyone currently alive is also dead. Also, only five people can be inside at any one moment, only one person¡¯s died so far, and you can¡¯t backtrack, so you have to clear it with whatever you have inside.¡± ¡°The healer¡¯s the one who died?¡± Tanja guessed. Patrick grimaced. ¡°They literally forged a hundred-thousand layers of runic wards inside the dungeon stone. It¡¯s all brute force, no finesse, and while I have a workaround, I have to break them one at a time.¡± ¡°When those wards go down, we¡¯re destroying the Dungeon. That¡¯s what we¡¯re here for.¡± Tanja turned to see an Asian man wrapped in heavy plate armor approach. Seon Yoo-jin, former Guildmaster of the Hunter¡¯s Guild. ¡°I¡¯ll understand if you don¡¯t want to risk your life for the kinds of fools who are trapped in there. You¡¯ve been called in because certain individuals have more pull than they should.¡± He flashed a dirty look at the presumed parents, who only then seemed to notice her. ¡°I¡¯ll offer you ¡­¡± was all the closest man managed to get out before he found himself trying to talk around a chunk of ice that seemed to have manifested in his mouth of its own accord. ¡°How about this:¡± Tanja suggested. ¡°Each and every single one gives a full explanation of every law you broke to make this Dungeon happen.¡± And with that, she pulled out her phone and plopped herself down in the red dirt right then and there. What she was actually doing was getting a rundown on what she¡¯d face inside from Patrick via a Party. She wasn¡¯t entirely sure if she¡¯d be going in just yet, though she was pretty close to falling on the side of ¡°screw it, let¡¯s save them.¡± Especially if it prevented a repeat performance. Having everyone involved publically dragged through the mud would hopefully make that happen. So she continued to sit there, studiously ignoring the pleas, bribes, and threats being hurled her way. Honestly, she didn¡¯t care about anyone¡¯s influence. While she didn¡¯t have any of her own, Isaac¡¯s legacy largely insulated her from anyone who tried to go after her through extra-legal means. Of course, if Isaac had been in her place, he¡¯d likely already have run in and beaten the Dungeon in five seconds flat. But she wasn¡¯t Isaac. She¡¯d be in serious danger if she tried this, and wouldn¡¯t march in there for the benefit of a bunch of idiots who¡¯d risked the lives of everyone in the area with a Dungeon that was functionally impossible to swiftly destroy if it went crazy. That was when Guildmaster Seon walked back over. ¡°They accepted the deal. But you still don¡¯t have to do this,¡± he advised her. ¡°But I¡¯m going to,¡± Tanja replied after a long pause. Part of her continued to remind her how dangerous this was, and who she was risking it for, but another was reminding her just how bad she¡¯d feel if she didn¡¯t try. Wasn¡¯t that what had made Isaac who he was, marching into whatever hell the world threw up to rip apart whatever fresh horror threatened lives? He might have played it off as ¡°I¡¯m just selfish, I gotta live on this planet too, you know¡± but he nevertheless had gone above and beyond numerous times. ¡°This¡¯d better not turn into me becoming some kind of default rescue part,¡± she grumbled as she jumped to her feet. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about that,¡± Patrick stated flatly. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure that every single thing they ever offered you, they¡¯ll actually have to produce.¡± She snorted. ¡°It¡¯ll be interesting to see you pull that off.¡± And with that, she marched up to the entrance of the dungeon and stopped just short of entering. Did she really want to do something so monumentally self-destruc- ¡­ before she could talk herself out of it, Tanja took another step, going beyond the point of no return, her full regalia manifesting around her. Black cloth covered in silver plates wrapped her, a helmet with black flames burning deep within its eyesockets took its place atop her head, and at her side, a Kriegsmesser appeared. Legacy. Isaac¡¯s old sword, the one he¡¯d eventually replaced with a literally legendary weapon, Balmung, from the old Germanic myths. Behind her, the door slammed shut, closing itself with such violence she was sure she¡¯d have been cut in half, had she not already been fully inside ¡­ though that was obviously why it had closed. Wind magic swirled around Tanja, plucking feathers from her wings that turned into lethal blades the instant they lost contact with her skin, rapidly covering her in a layer of flashing blades seamlessly interwoven with her [Aura]. So, let¡¯s see what this ¡°Crucible¡± was like. Slowly, she advanced through the corridor, directing metallic feathers to clear the area before her, bouncing off the floor to ensure there were no triggers there, and carving through the air to hack apart potential tripwires. There were a few places where traps had already been triggered, but that was all. She certainly didn¡¯t trigger anything. Nothing really came of it, but she kept at it anyway ¡­ until she reached the first staircase and her feathers went straight through the first few stairs. As in, even though she could see them, they weren¡¯t actually there. A normal fall wouldn¡¯t endanger her, hitting the floor at terminal velocity would still leave her perfectly fine, but there could be anything down there. Well, that was going to be a problem. Tanja sighed, and started looking around for the actual path forward, except that didn¡¯t exist, because of course it didn¡¯t. It was a straight shot from the entrance to the staircase that led deeper, no branching tunnels, no other paths to go. Tanja hurled a few feathers deeper into the corridor to check if there were solid stairs deeper in, not until the staircase turned. And there wasn¡¯t enough space for her to fly. Someone with a different means of flight would be able to still fly along, but she doubted the dungeon would have been designed so that it could only be solved with a very specific kind of [Skill]. Though if it had been, the only way to do this was going to end was with her waiting until the S-Rankers outside busted down the walls. Which would be a rather pathetic end to this whole affair, wouldn¡¯t it? No, there had to be a trick here, a solution, something she¡¯d missed. So ¡­ when in doubt, try everything. A single beat of her wings unleashed a barrage of blade-feathers into the stairway¡¯s entry. Most just went through the floor, bounced off the ceiling, or struck the bend found a hundred meters down the stairs. But some, well, they went through the wall. Well, that had been easy. If it wasn¡¯t a trap, that was. A thorough round of prodding with a long stick she¡¯d taken from her inventory hit a hidden switch and deactivated the illusion cloaking the wall. Tanja went down the newly revealed staircase, though she never let up the prodding, until after what felt like thousands of steps, she emerged into a large cavern. Big enough for her to fly, too big for trap-triggers to have been strung throughout the open air. Her wings unfurled fully with a satisfying ¡°crack¡± of displaced air, then launched herself toward the stony sky. Beneath Tanja, a vast expanse of stone fell away, dotted with small rock houses and a single, massive ziggurat filling the space. There were a few bloodstains, some damage to the city, sure. But other than that, it was empty. Quiet like a tomb. ¡­ until a freaking dragon detached from the ceiling and launched itself at her, red-black scales covering it from snout to tail, baleful energy streaming off it in waves. It didn¡¯t look particularly agile, more of a heavy bomber than a fighter jet, but she¡¯d treat it with respect and caution all the same. Dark flames, akin to hellfire but somehow even more malevolent, boiled from the beast¡¯s maw as it hurled itself at her, creating a massive streak of flame through the air, almost as though it was a meteor raining down onto an unsuspecting Earth. A single flap of her wings took Tanja out of the monster¡¯s path but not its wake, a massive shockwave that covered a full quarter of the cave¡¯s width and slammed into her like a battering ram, sending her tumbling ass over teakettle until she managed to stabilize herself, almost a hundred meters back. So, not a pushover. In fact, between its size and powers, she¡¯d compare it more to a [Raid Boss] than a regular dungeon monster. She just hoped it didn¡¯t have the same kind of raw durability they did. Tanja followed the monster with her eyes, tightening her grip on Legacy¡¯s hilt. It drew a loooooong circle as it turned back around, its sheer momentum apparently rather hard to bleed off. It was powerful but slow, which should have allowed her to dance around it with ease. In theory. Because that thing¡¯s wake would always be there, ready to knock her for a loop, with the best way through likely being a head-on collision that would still hit her like a truck and slow her momentum, leaving her right in front of the beast¡¯s open snout. But it wouldn¡¯t throw her to the side ¡­ as long as she survived. Yeah, that wouldn¡¯t fly. Tanja flew backwards as the monster came in for another attack run, trying to make sure she¡¯d have as much time as possible to spot a weakness. Yet as she watched, it seemed to be gathering momentum, steadily growing faster and while she was still more than able to dodge, the wake slammed into her with so much force it came within mere meters of actually slamming her into the nearby wall. And just like that, she had her in. If the shockwave got stronger at faster speeds, that would indicate that it got weaker at slower ones, right? So Tanja made the sane choice and started chasing the giant murder lizard. By the time she¡¯d managed to catch up, it was already done turning. A flap of her wings carried her over its gnashing jaws and into the ceiling. Which she immediately kicked off of and slammed into the monster¡¯s back, sword-first. Legacy¡¯s tip slammed into a gap between scales, but it penetrated only a couple of centimeters, barely enough to reach the flesh below. That was when the dragon¡¯s wings reached the apex of their motion and descended again, making its body jerk upwards and nearly slammed her sword¡¯s hilt into Tanja¡¯s gut as she staggered. Though hastily banishing the blade turned that into a mere stumble, rather than an embarrassing and painful injury. Instead, she just tumbled off its back and had to dive to avoid getting smacked by its tail. Wow. That thing was going to be a pain, wasn¡¯t it? Tanja started chasing the dragon, and managed to land a couple more blows, but none of them were any more successful. Even when heavily empowered with Strike-type [Skills], the monster was just way too tough, and going for weak points wasn¡¯t working either. The shockwave that traveled along with it made attacking from the side hard, going at it from behind was only possible by approaching straight on to avoid the wind created by its wings, leaving her open to the tail, and attacking it head-on risked encountering its teeth or flame. As she flashed past yet again, Tanja cast [Bloody Retribution] to command the blood pooling around its scales to rip and tear. The dragon¡¯s roar of pain shook the entire cavern as scales and the skin it was attached to went flying, bloody rain following soon after, painting the ground red. It had worked, but also cost far too much mana. And while the flesh below was obviously weaker, she wasn¡¯t sure if it was weaker enough to finish this in a reasonable amount of time, and if it would leave her with any mana in the tank later. So she resorted to the nuclear options, and walked straight into the lion¡¯s den. Or mouth, as it were. Tanja waited until the dragon¡¯s path had nearly reached the other wall before hurling herself after it, accelerating for all she was worth, and just as it was finished turning back to face her, triggered [Skypiercer] and the [The Rending Blade] simultaneously. The former was a cooldown [Skill] that hurled her forward while cloaking her in a near-indestructible forcefield amusingly similar to what was protecting the dragon,and the latter, she could use as often as she wanted, it just drunk her mana more quickly than a Bavarian downed beer at the Oktoberfest. Energy coiled around the tip of her sword, capable of ripping apart anything it struck, even if it would have traditionally been able to resist or ignore a blade¡¯s impact, such as spellwork or things without an even remotely physical form. Oh, and it also left behind a trail of energy that hung in the air, ensuring that even after Tanja was done blasting clean through her enemy, any further movement would cut up its insides. The dragon had opened its mouth and tried to spit fire at her, but it had been caught off-guard by her sudden increase in speed, and by the time she exploded out of its back a third of the way down its body, it was already falling out of the air, dying. Which meant that despite the beast¡¯s toughness, it wasn¡¯t an actual [Raid Boss]. Because those particular fuckers could keep with injuries that would have put down a slasher movie villain a hundred times over. As she watched the dragon¡¯s corpse hit the ground, Tanja tried to puzzle out what exactly was going on here. Why was the dragon the only monster here? Hadn¡¯t this area already been beaten? The damage to the city would have indicated so, yet the biggest threat, the creature this entire area seemed to have been designed around, it had still been alive, kicking, and a huge pain in the ass. So had the original delvers just straight-up run past it? Wasn¡¯t the entire fucking point of this to challenge yourself? Had they missed this thing, or just run from it? Either way, the fact that she¡¯d beaten it alone, albeit using a cooldown [Skill], told her that the people this Dungeon had been built for had absolutely no business being inside it. Actually, considering the large scorch marks she could see from up here, the dragon had fought at least one thing before she¡¯d shown up, and only one group had delved inside before now ¡­ Tanja swore under her breath. Typical. Though then again, these people had created, or at least benefited, from a Dungeon that had practically been designed to be a problem, locking out the vast majority of humanity, including those who normally cleaned up issues such as a Dungeon Core creating eldritch horrors or plague monsters. The ¡°Crucible¡± was interesting in theory, but in practice, there were way, way, waaaaaay too many issues that could arise, issues that could then easily spiral into near-apocalyptic disasters. But she wasn¡¯t here to fight, she was here to find the idiots who¡¯d tried to delve into this hellhole. Tanja went looking for the way forward, and found I after only thirty seconds or so. It was a literal hole in the wall, which led to a corridor filled with spent traps ¡­ and a human corpse, burnt beyond recognition. Though a crushed skull was most likely the cause of death. The healer, most likely. They hadn¡¯t even bothered to take their friend¡¯s body. Wow ¡­ yeah, they straight-up sucked. Why was she risking her life to save them again? Oh, right, because it had seemed like the right thing at the time. And because she¡¯d blackmailed the parents into confessing all the shit that had gone into this, ensuring that a repeat performance would be much less likely to come about. Using her feather-storm tactic for cleaning out the traps, Tanja advanced until she reached the end, then used her sword to open the door, wary of traps. Many Dungeons would have saferooms in places like this, but considering how dangerous this place was supposed to be, she doubted it would be anything close to that safe. Nothing blew up, not in the traditional sense of the word. ¡°Are you all they sent?¡± Tanja heard the man at the same time that she saw him. He was her age, white, had brown hair, blue eyes, and practically radiated ¡°I am better than you¡± energy. Instead of responding verbally, she just raised a questioning eyebrow. ¡°You think you¡¯re getting paid for having an attitude?¡± Oh God ¡­ between a slightly damp collar and the wet trails on the man¡¯s cheeks, it was obvious that he¡¯d been crying, yet the instant reinforcements arrived, the moment it looked like things would be fine and the danger had passed, this was how they acted? ¡°For one, I¡¯m not getting pa- ¡­¡± Tanja tried to explain, she really did, but was immediately faced with a barrage of questions. Some of them might even have been worth answering, but she didn¡¯t hear them over the constant yelling of the asshole getting right in her face. Deep breath in, deep breath out, think about it, really think, decide if you can live with the consequences ¡­ yeah, Tanja absolutely could. She balled her right hand into a half-fist, leaving her middle and index finger extended, activated [Magic Blade] and [The Rending Blade] to wrap them in a mana-formed blade, and drove it into the bottom of the man¡¯s jaw, up into his skull, a likely lethal attack even before she unleashed a short burst of hellfire that streamed from his mouth and nose. Even as he toppled over like a felled tree, Tanja intoned ¡°[Ressurection].¡± And by the time he hit the ground, he was already alive once more. Confused about why he was suddenly on the floor, but alive. Shocked silence greeted her action. Finally. Was that how Isaac would have done it? Probably not, but then again, she sincerely doubted Isaac would have found himself in a position like this either, he¡¯d have prevented it from happening in the first place. Or had some kind of leverage to get them to keep their pieholes shut. But it had worked, and had gotten her an opening. That was what mattered. ¡°Shut up, sit down, and listen. I¡¯m here because, for some reason, I don¡¯t want any of you to die, or at least not stay dead. That¡¯s the job I decided to do because I¡¯d like it that way, so don¡¯t act like assholes. I¡¯m here to replace the healer you got killed until the Dungeon gets busted open in a couple of days at the latest, and then, the S-Rankers waiting outside will come storming in and crush this place. ¡°Also, if keep being a pain in my ass until that happens, then I¡¯ll kill you, bring you back after fifteen minutes so you don¡¯t stay dead, and then kill you again. And I will keep that up until we¡¯re out of here, because some of you look like you¡¯d literally be less of a hassle if we have to drag your dead bodies along instead of having your quote-unquote ¡®help.¡¯ ¡°So, are you going to be that kind of problem?¡± Silence greeted her pronouncement, but it seemed to have landed nevertheless. Though it wouldn¡¯t last, she knew that. A while ago, Tanja had decided she was going to start reading the classics, or at least the ¡°classics¡± of leadership. She¡¯d read the Book of Five Rings before as part of learning swordsmanship, so she¡¯d started with The Art of War, then followed it up with The Prince and gotten halfway through the absolute monstrosity Clausewitz had creatively titled ¡°On War¡± before deciding that her time was better spent studying the sword. But there was a sentiment that had stuck with her. Fear and love were both ways to lead, and while love was strong but fragile, capable of easily being lost, fear was an iron shackle, not good at provoking true support however perfectly passable at maintaining command. The issue with ruling through fear lay elsewhere. Because when people feared you more than what you might do to them if they stepped out of line, when fear became true hatred from the bottom of their hearts, then you were fucked. And that was exactly where her current actions would lead, they¡¯d turn on her once they recovered their wits. However, this was not a situation where she needed true support, she just needed to run out the clock. If this was an actual saferoom, as some dungeons had them, that would be easy. But considering how difficult this Dungeon was supposed to be ¡­ and there was already an animated, draconic-looking, suit of armor kicking in the door. This would get ugly. ¡°Alright, heads up!¡± Tanja yelled. ¡°If you die in a stupid way, I¡¯ll bring you back just so I can kick your ass myself!¡± *** The end was extraordinarily anticlimactic. The entire Dungeon quaked, magical energy flickered and flared, and the very air seemed to scream as the S-Rankers outside tore their way in. There was a series of rending explosions next, getting ever closer, while the temperature in their now-devastated ¡°saferoom,¡± until finally, Guildmaster Seon poked his head into the door. ¡°You guys alright?¡± he asked, catching the looks the others were throwing Tanja and grinned. ¡°Good job, Ms. Thoma.¡± Then, he turned to the others, grinning wolfishly. ¡°Enjoy the next ten minutes, that¡¯s how long we¡¯ll take to clear this place. Then, we¡¯re going to figure out just how much of this is your fault.¡± Tanja could hear the savage glee in his voice. As angry as he¡¯d been outside, as happy he was to finally have the situation resolved. She stayed put in the trashed ¡°safe¡± room, covered in blood, guts, and armor fragments, enjoying the sheer discomfort of these brats. The Guildmaster and Patrick came back four minutes later, with the mage looking just as he had outside, while the tank was covered in soot but completely unharmed otherwise. The sheer ludicrous power of the fifth Evolution at work. Tanja hopped to her feet and practically skipped out of the Dungeon, while Patrick had to point out that the entire cavern system was soon going to cave in to get the idiot brigade to move. Once she was outside, though, it didn¡¯t take long for the last twenty hours to catch up to her, and Tanja just let herself flop down on a nearby camping chair.She¡¯d done it. Granted, she¡¯d made more than a few enemies, and she could feel the angry glares from both the idiot brigade and their parents, but she could live with that. *** To her great shame, it took Tanja almost a month to think of looking at her [Class] Evolution options, though when she did, seeing what she did more than wiped away her bad feelings.
Chooser of the Slain (legendary) Its name might be the literal translation of ¡°Valkyrie,¡± but this Class is the truest essence of the power wielded by those ancient warriors. The Choser of the Slain, quite literally, stands on the border between life and death, between this world and the next, and chooses who crosses it, who lives, who dies, and returns as an Einherjar to fight once more. Through lethal swordplay, blood manipulation, and the outright wielding of death itself as a weapon, the holder of this Class can put her foes in the grave. Through the very powers of life, through unparalleled knowledge of all things healing, the holder of this Class can deny the reaper not only for others but also herself. Through the power of pure human spirit, you may grant great strength to the worthy you rip from the cold embrace of the grave, allowing them to evolve into stronger versions of their current race, or simply turning them into the very embodiment of martial power that is the Einherjar. Whether it is taking lives on the battlefield, or saving them off it, this Class grants and/or enhances the Skills necessary for that.
A legendary [Class], not only in the sense of the [System¡¯s] literal classifications, but it also made her an actual legend. A direct rebirth of an ancient being seen as being a direct conduit to the very gods themselves. This was truly a [Class] she would be happy to carry into eternity. Sidestory 4: First Contact (Dr. Isaac Thoma) 2095, Milky Way, unexplored area Space really was beautiful, regardless of it you simply let yourself drift in it, or were viewing it through the twisted spatial folds of an [Alcubierre Bubble]. Right now, Isaac was doing the latter, hurtling himself across the universe at velocities that exceeded the speed of light by several orders of magnitude, technically. The math flew over his head anytime he wasn¡¯t fully immersing himself in his cognition and science-boosting [Skills], but apparently there was some weirdness that technically let you stay below the limit while still speeding through the universe far faster than a mere three-hundred-thousand kilometers a second by warping space around yourself. Elena was also in the general area, cosmically speaking, exploring another world. They¡¯d come out to explore the universe together, yes, but they¡¯d long since learned that just because they could spend every second of every day within an arms reach of each other, or even closer than that, that didn¡¯t mean that they should. They¡¯d had their day jobs (which they likewise only did because they wanted to, not because they had to), their own hobbies, and since they barely needed to sleep, they could spend all night doing whatever the hell they wanted to do with and to each other. And even light years away from the sun, free from the embrace of a planetary gravity well, they still made sure to do some stuff separately. That kind of ¡°ritualistic¡± separation might have sounded weird to most, and might have broken some couples up in a matter of days, but it was how their relationship worked. For over fifty years, and likely would for at least fifty more, hopefully longer. Of course, having a life expectancy that most pre-System civilizations would equate to outright immortality meant that there was no real urgency for ¡°advancing¡± their relationship. Marriage, possibly even kids ¡­ not something they were opposed to in the slightest, in fact, they¡¯d even talked about it a few times positively, but ultimately, it hadn¡¯t gone anywhere. Actually, the one thing that was certain was that they¡¯d be waiting to do either until they were back in human space. Marrying without even someone to officiate, or bringing children into an alien world without even a proper doctor to make sure the environment didn¡¯t cause issues ¡­ some people might have gone through with it anyway. They hadn¡¯t. Isaac got up off his chair and walked around the small FTL pod he was currently occupying. It wasn¡¯t an actual spaceship, just a box the size of a pickup truck that could collapse to form a simple bracer up on command when not in use. But when deployed, it was just barely small enough to fit inside an [Alcubierre Bubble] without requiring extra energy on the part of the user and acted as a kind of mini-apartment so you weren¡¯t hanging inside a bubble of warped reality, staring into the blue-shifted universe ahead or reading a book while, well, hanging in space. It had been a gift from Arthur, sent via the [Round Table], along with a second one for Elena, and some gourmet food from their favorite restaurant back on Earth. Once he¡¯d retrieved a glass of cola from the fridge, Isaac returned to his chair, and flipped his book open once again, a sci-fi novel about humans getting themselves into trouble exploring the universe, but he felt his thoughts drift. Obviously, Isaac and Elena weren¡¯t the first to go exploring the universe, people had headed outside the solar system the moment the abilities of the Void Dragon Aspect had been discovered, but they¡¯d gone further than anyone else. Even though there were those who¡¯d used the [Alcubierre Bubble] ability as soon as Isaac had revealed the combination, and shot off using the fastest known means of FTL to go exploring a good fifteen years before they had, there was still a mile-wide gulf between them. Isaac and Elena were S-Rankers, unaging, near-immune to every natural hazard save black holes, and capable of beating any attacking enemy that wasn¡¯t on par with a [World Boss]. Plus, the [Round Table] could keep the lines of communication open to the end of the universe and beyond, and while distance did fuck with material transfer and personnel transport to a degree, they could receive supplies and even be recalled in an emergency, though the latter incurred one hell of a cooldown. In other words, they were free from virtually all factors that limited other expeditions. And they¡¯d taken full advantage of that, looking at every natural phenomenon and sight they wanted to see, finding new, spectacular sights, and running wild on previously unknown life-bearing planets. Nothing crazy, mind you, but still looking at tons of interesting sights, cute, or not so cute, alien animals, and the like. Something like one in five sun-like stars had rocky planets in the habitable zone, and of those, maybe a quarter had some amount of liquid water. And of those, a tiny fraction had life and an even tinier one boasted anything interesting to look at. .1 percent, maybe. But there were still a lot of star systems in the galaxy, let alone the universe. Even just the fifty-light-year sphere of Earth that had been thoroughly explored contained over two thousand. Which made it all the weirder that they hadn¡¯t found any intelligent aliens, didn¡¯t it? The Fermi paradox at its finest, a universe full not only of potentially life-bearing planets but actual life, yet not a single life form they¡¯d found could tie its proverbial shoelaces, let alone actually communicate beyond ¡°danger¡± and ¡°hungry.¡± Alien critters were cool and all, but ¡­ ¡­ he was hurled out of FTL space without warning. The thing about having been the single most well-informed person on the planet for the vast majority of the last half-century meant that it was easy to forget what he didn¡¯t know, at least when it came to System stuff. Specifically, he hadn¡¯t known it was possible to disrupt the [Alcubierre Bubble] [Skill] like that. Sure, it didn¡¯t like gravity wells, the larger the bubble, the easier it was to disrupt, but gravity wells were predictable and could be avoided with his [Skills]. And, either way, he hadn¡¯t hit a gravity well. He¡¯d still had a light minute or so to go, and he¡¯d have dropped the [Skill] himself by that point. This was ¡­ something else. The FTL-pod was sucked into a smooth, steely, gleaming bracer wrapping his right forearm while his sword Balmung manifested in his hand. He might not know what had knocked him into real space was hostile, but he also didn¡¯t know it wasn¡¯t, and he wasn¡¯t taking any chances. *** Anshou Tolosyne, the Tempest Blade, Worldbreaker of the Koinian people, was bored. Very bored. The [System] had changed a great deal of things, and for a while, things had been good. Then they¡¯d been exceedingly bad as greed and stupidity resulted in rampant destruction, caused by both the people themselves and the powerful monsters they recklessly summoned. This had been followed by a seemingly endless succession of calm times and crises, until eventually, they¡¯d managed to push a few people to the peak of power, the Level cap, and beyond. Not by breaking the cap, but by reaching it with such high-quality [Classes] that they stood head and shoulders above the rest, holding the power to save the world or, if they had no peers to stand against them, destroy it. The Worldbreakers. There had been many other terms in contention for people of his rank and power, but when the war had started, that had been the only option left anyone was willing to choose. The fact that most clashes had been in the void between Peran and Zelveg and neither planet had taken overly much damage had not taken away from the sheer terror the displays of combat had instilled. The fact that only thirty, well, twenty-five now, such beings existed hadn¡¯t made much of a difference either. Even one person capable of obliterating cities with a thought, destroying provinces in short order, and potentially living up their names with some creativity ¡­ if it hadn¡¯t been for the fact that there were enemies of equal strength that needed to be countered, Anshou might have found himself attacked by his own side out of fear of what he might do. But that had been then. Now, things were calm again, and the only battles being fought were against the wards that had ended the war, the enchanted mess of self-repairing, self-assembling swarm of ward stones that floated in the void like a second asteroid belt between the Koinian homeworld and the naturally habitable second planet in their star system. They blocked all kinds of faster-than-light travel on an interplanetary, let alone interstellar, scale. No portals, no usage of the already-discovered Aspects that allowed for personal interstellar travel, and certainly no workable research into anything that might allow for larger-scale, long-range, travel. Things that could take entire ships between stars. No one was even powering them anymore, the Skill [Light Speed Lockdown] had been spread far and wide once the Aspect combination that unlocked it had been uncovered, but the existing energy field would be maintained until ¡­ until either the system¡¯s star exploded, or someone actually managed to resolve the situation. That fight was not his to fight, while he could break wardstones and often did, this was a problem that would be solved by engineers and archmages, not warriors, no matter how heavily they might have been involved in efforts to understand the [System]. There were decades of experience and [Class] abilities he simply couldn¡¯t match, no matter how good he might have otherwise been at research and related fields. Ironically, once striking at each other had become too tedious due to the long travel times, not only had the war come to a screeching halt, the hostilities had also soon died down. It had all just seemed so stupid ¡­ to those who lived on Peran, at least. Zelveg had been the ones who got attacked, after all. Which left him in his current state. No problems he could fight, no enemies capable of reasonably challenging him other than his fellow Worldbreaker-ranked fighters whom he should not challenge until the promised deathless arena was finished, and no more mountains to climb. He had two planets worth of space to explore, and all the countless asteroid bases his people had built to visit ¡­ yet that was hardly interesting to him anymore either. If he¡¯d wanted to go to a place, he¡¯d already done it. Anshou had never been one for intoxicants, he¡¯d never liked losing control of his actions like that, yet ¡­ yet with every revolution of the planet below him, he felt himself getting more and more tempted to try something. Anything. It was bound to be novel, at the very least. He ¡­ His communicator exploded. Almost literally, with how many different people were attempting to contact him, his decision to allow for multiple simultaneous alerts to sound almost causing the poor device¡¯s speakers to fail. Anshou ignored them all in favor of the news alert that had likewise appeared, figuring it described the thing that had gotten everyone else so riled up. He just hoped it wasn¡¯t over nothing, that would just make an already disappointing day that much worse ¡­ aliens. An alien, to be exact, but the existence of one indicated the existence of an entire species. And thus, his day had just gotten interesting. Of the system¡¯s two habitable worlds, Zelveg not only had the outer orbit, but was also much closer to the newcomer. ¡°I¡¯ll contact the alien, and deal with the situation if it turns out to have been hostile. Prepare the Augury, we¡¯ll need as much information as we can get regardless of how this shakes out. And ¡­¡± Anshou had seen a lot of things, had liked to think of himself as being fairly unflappable. Even in the face of insurmountable danger or historical levels of stupidity. But when one of the planet¡¯s defensive satellites opened fire, even he found himself at a loss for words. Yes, the alien had drawn what appeared to be a sword, but the action was too belated to be part of an attack, and when firing at a clearly very high-level individual, shouldn¡¯t that have also been coordinated? *** So, they¡¯d opened fire. With one satellite. Obviously, an accident. Well, not ¡°accident¡± exactly, one would hope that an alien race sufficiently intelligent to travel between planets and create, at the bare minimum, peak information-age tech would design their orbital lasers well enough that no accidental discharges would occur. But it was almost certainly not a coordinated attack, and therefore, might not have been this alien race¡¯s intended reply to his appearance. Isaac¡¯s precognition in [The Meaning of the Name] had been burning at full blast since emergence, prediction being the only way to avoid light-speed attacks such as lasers, so dodging was as simple as leaning to the side while he retargeted [Wisdom of the Simurgh] to search for other defenses rather than the history of the world down below. There were a lot of others out there, all had been powered up but very few were aiming at him. In fact, there were only two that could shoot him, including the one that had already fired, most of the rest were ¡°just¡± aiming in his general direction, ready to engage if necessary. Alright, [Lessons of History], do you work on something that happened only three seconds ago? The answer turned out to be yes. Barely. With support from Isaac¡¯s other information-based [Skills]. A panic reaction by a controller who would get his or her ass beaten even without his input. Isaac decided that silently watching while eating potato chips when that came to pass was all the ¡°revenge¡± he needed. But that didn¡¯t mean he could just stay here and wait until another panic reaction removed peace as an option. So he transformed Blamung into a kabar and sheathed his blade, just to show his ¡°good intentions,¡± then slid the sheath around on his belt until it sat squarely in the small of his back. An ¡°anchor¡± of sorts, which he could hold in place using his ability to telekinetically control blades, a much less terrifying method of flight than his usual trick of moving through the skies atop a towering pillar of flame. And then, reluctantly, painfully aware of how badly this could backfire, lowered himself into the uppermost layers of the atmosphere. *** Apparently, the alien had managed to deduce the fact that the attack had been an accident. But now, it was getting dangerously close, and even having dismissed the sword did very little to assuage Anshou¡¯s worries. Why was the alien so low? Why was it in the atmosphere? Was it a threat, was it trying to release an airborne weapon of some kind, or was it trying to eavesdro- ¡­ that was it, wasn¡¯t it? The alien was attempting to make itself heard while listening to all the countless conversations going on below in an attempt to learn one of their languages. Or at least that was what he assumed. What he hoped. Because there was, quite literally, not a single way to share a language otherwise. Lip reading existed and let one easily communicate in the void when seeing another¡¯s face, true, and Anshou had learned it, but it worked the best when one both knew which language was being spoken and was familiar with it. Attempting to guess at the language in use was a recipe for misunderstandings. Learning a language via lip-reading alone was a feat worthy of a legendary [Class] even with [Omniglot]. Learning an unfamiliar language, with unknown roots and a complete lack of knowledge of similar languages from the lips of an alien with entirely different physiology, and, well, alien translations of motions to sounds ¡­ well, ¡°impossible¡± was all that needed to be said on the matter, really. Which necessitated the descent into the upper layers of the atmosphere. And the alien had figured that out in a near-infinitesimal amount of time. Would Anshou have made that connection so quickly? He¡¯d like to think so, though if he was entirely honest with himself, he put the chances of that having happened only at one chance in two. He lifted his communicator to his lips. ¡°I believe it wants to learn our language, can someone use the public broadcast to read the basic communications guide for [Omniglot] users that was made for the interstellar probes? I¡¯ll be heading in to make in a few moments. And where is the damn Augury? I don¡¯t need to know everything, I just need to know that he doesn¡¯t have a war criminal or serial killer [Class].¡± As the protector of this planet, he could thankfully bypass the chain of command as long as he did not overrule any specialists. And while the communications package began to play, teaching the basics of the artificially created language known simply as ¡°Standard,¡± Anshou began to slowly ascend, the wind carrying him higher in a manner that should be too slow to trigger any innate biological reactions to threats the alien might have. What was the correct pose to strike here, the correct image to project? There were many, many ways he could carry himself, yet this was not a question of what common sense or protocol dictated. It was of what the alien would see. Anshou was already half again as tall as the newcomer, which was already the kind of thing that tended to lead to fear, and fear swiftly led to outbursts. So, how could he carry himself that would convey peacefulness? Approaching with his arms spread wide as though about to embrace the stranger might have worked on another Koinian, but would it look like that to a complete stranger? What if that was the predation method of some lethal animal from the alien homework? There was only a single creature like that on either of the known life-bearing planets, but the alien¡¯s home was, by its very definition, alien. Who knew what crawled in its shadows? And speaking of animals, there were certain crawling little beasts that somehow sparked a primal fear in Koinians, causing even Level 200 warriors dozens of cycles old to act like terrified children. What if he accidentally reminded the newcomer of their version of a bug? To be honest, while those questions had answers, he was highly unlikely to get any of these bits of information in time for it to actually matter. Because quite frankly, anything could accidentally set off the alien, and he entirely lacked the information needed to avoid it beyond common sense. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. As far as he knew, just the sight of him would be a problem, the pale blue of his skin might have been the warning colors of an alien apex predator. Now, it would be a tremendous stroke of bad luck if that turned out to be what was going on, but Anshou would also not find out until the entire situation had already erupted into his face. Ultimately, while there were a lot of concerns, he could do very little with them. So he settled on what would have been considered a relaxed and neutral pose, with his arms hanging down by his side, and no weapons visible. Though calling his soulbound bladed whip into his hand could be done in an instant if needed. As he rose higher, the wind of the world falling away below him slackened, dying down to a mere whisper while raging energies emitted by the star at the center of this system began to coalesce around him ¡­ at least until he violently rejected them. The way his [Stormrider] had adapted to function in a vacuum might have been the only way to efficiently fight outside an atmosphere, but it also lit him on fire and resembled the activation sequence of many a combat [Skill]. This could still end peacefully ¡­ but a lot of things would have to go right for that to happen, and only a single mistake could derail everything. He¡¯d been slowly getting closer, having crossed nearly two-thirds of the distance between his home and the alien, when the planetary defense party was finally established, allowing him to communicate with the others using only his mind. ¡°Augury report?¡± Anshou snapped immediately. The Augury was a collection of individuals with exotic evolutions of [Inspect], allowing its members to, collectively, identify almost anyone, regardless of what shape their [Privacy] upgrade did. ¡°Complicated.¡± Gods damn them. Could that have been phrased any more unhelpfully? Because that could have meant anything, from ¡°something embarrassing is keeping up one or more members¡± to ¡°the alien has a nasty defense and now everyone is bleeding from all four eyeballs¡± and everything in between. ¡°What¡¯s the most specific answer you can give me?¡± Anshou sighed, only bothering to temper his irritation, rather than hiding it entirely. ¡°We can read his [Class¡¯] names, but there are cultural implications and multiple languages involved, and we don¡¯t know enough to make [Omniglot] work, or when we even need it. Idioms don¡¯t translate well, and some names are simply words that have been used as names for so long that no one really maintains awareness of the fact that they are, in fact, words, and we don¡¯t know if we have to translate the parts that are either foreign words or just names or ¡­¡± ¡°First sentence would have been enough,¡± Anshou cut off the speaker once it had become clear that nothing even remotely useful would follow. ¡°What can you tell me.¡± ¡°Like I said, we know the names of his [Classes]. Started out as a [Rouge], then [Undying Wraith], which is epic, legendary [Bladewrath], Heir [Class], Incarnation of some kind of ¡­ We¡¯re really not sure, and he has two separate 5th Evolution [Classes]. One is some kind of assassin, the other is called [Challenger of the Apocalypse].¡± ¡°Next time, just tell me that.¡± This time, Anshou replied evenly, even though he wanted to reach out and shake the Augur until the moron threw up from dizziness. Because that had actually been really useful information he could have had quite a bit earlier. One, this was obviously a speed-based fighter he might wind up dealing with, much like Anshou himself. Two, this being was obviously at least a decent person, if they managed to gain a [Class] based around preventing the end of the world. Three, this was someone powerful and impactful, likely influential as well, on their home world, with both an Heir and Incarnation [Class]. And finally, fourthly, he now almost certainly knew what the newcomer¡¯s capstone was. Because unless their access to the [System] was vastly different, which was doubtful considering the Augurs could read them aside from a few issues that clearly stemmed from dealing with an entirely alien language, the only way to get two [Classes] in one Evolution was to make that one¡¯s capstone. Though for him, the most valuable piece of information was the being¡¯s obviously at least somewhat good nature, considering their protective [Class]. They couldn¡¯t be that bad. It was at this point that Anshou got close enough to more easily observe the alien, the lessened distance allowing him to easily pick out small details. Like he¡¯d already seen, the alien was shorter than him, with skin that was a pale pink while their hair was so dark it seamlessly blended in with the dark void of space around it. Two arms and legs, like a Koinian, but also only two eyes, which sparkled like many a precious gem. As for the clothing, it might have been an alien style, using alien materials, but it was far easier to decipher than everything else. Simple, one color for the torso covering, a different one for the legs, made of durable and almost certainly expensive materials that were not overly obvious as such without close examination or an expert¡¯s gaze. Another thing that pointed towards this being someone of means, even if the exact meaning of the clothing escaped Anshou at the moment. Incidentally, though, this was pretty much exactly how Anshou liked to dress. Not flashy or as if he had someone to impress, but still getting the best quality he could get. And then, Anshou noticed something peeking out of the alien¡¯s collar and froze. That was ¡­ well, he¡¯d seen many a relict in his time, both of the crafted or [Skill]-generated kind, and this was decidedly in the upper echelons of rarity and value.
Necklace for Humanity¡¯s Savior
The name was the only piece of written information he could detect at this range, but the feelings that swam along with it were undeniable. A being who¡¯d saved an entire ¡­ was humanity a world, or a species? ¡°His species is called ¡®Einherhar,¡¯ and he has a lot of Aspects, including those that belong to World Bosses,¡± a new member of the Augury confirmed. Well, that settled that. *** Someone down there had more of a brain than most of the politicians who¡¯d be in charge of a situation like that back on Earth. Or maybe, someone else had come up with the idea of playing what basically amounted to a primer to the local language when aliens showed up, and made the suggestion early enough for it to pass muster and become a part of the protocol. Or maybe the aliens had just streamlined things to the point where bureaucracy did not slow things in the slightest. If that was the case, then Isaac really hoped that they were peaceful, otherwise, humanity would be utterly fucked. Also, they¡¯d sent out an ¡°ambassador,¡± or at least someone fulfilling a similar role. Inspecting the alien let Isaac know he was dealing with a warrior with control over all sorts of weather phenomena, though the impression he got was that it was mostly focused on using storms and the like. Move fast, hit hard, leave only devastation behind. All that power, carefully leashed and restrained ¡­ in that moment, Isaac got the impression that the alien was approaching him more as though one would approach a skittish wild animal, than a warrior with enough firepower to lay waste to even a metropolis in a matter of minutes. Though despite all that was going on, Isaac¡¯s gaze was fixed on the alien that was slowly approaching. Tall, lanky, with decidedly inhuman features including, four eyes, a truly massive hook nose that had to have nostrils somewhere but they were hidden to him where he was standing, six fingers on each hand, and pale blue skin, all covered by clothing that Isaac could best compare to a short-sleeved shirt and shorts. Both arms were hanging limply by the alien¡¯s side, much like how Isaac was carrying himself, seemingly both desperately trying to avoid looking like they were about to attack ¡­ though when the alien flinched, the movement transcended species boundaries and came across very well. And then, the planetary defense network opened fire once again. *** ¡°The alien has twenty World Bo- ¡­¡± ¡°Five legendary [Cla- ¡­¡± ¡°There are at least three transformative cooldown [Sk- ¡­¡± Half a dozen different voices overlapped in an instant as more information was uncovered and flooded into the party¡¯s communications channel, but one stood out above all others. ¡°Open fire! We need to ¡­¡± And that was all Anshou had had to hear. Oh, those idiots! Though the alien reacted with alarming speed, evading the beam of coherent light with casual ease, simply being dragged out of the path of the beam by something pulling at the back of its clothing, a levitation artifact, obviously. Yet with how fast light was, the alien had to have been moving before the attack, which indicated a degree of precognition. And that meant ¡­ what exactly? Did a lack of a preemptive counterattack indicate peaceful intent, or was this more a matter of wanting to wait until the Koinian people had firmly established themselves as the aggressors? Either way, Anshou doubted that this would come down to orbital defenses meant to target troop transports, even the finest technology was hard-pressed to keep up with a being in the 5th Evolution, never mind someone at its peak. A thought, and a wave of his hand in the general direction of the offending machine, was all it took to crush the satellite like a child¡¯s toy. *** Now it was obvious, there were multiple minds guiding the efforts below, and only some of them seemed to be calm and rational about this. Because while Isaac would have understood if they acted to something he did, he hadn¡¯t moved in two bloody minutes until he¡¯d been forced to dodge. And while the pause in the firing could have been a trick, a lure, Isaac had kept sweeping the planet with [Lessons of History] and [Wisdom fo the Simurgh], and figured out a lot. Including the fact that Hanlon¡¯s Razor, ¡°never attribute to malice what can be attributed to stupidity,¡± was very much applicable to the alien society as well. Having the satellite destroyed immediately afterwards just confirmed things. Though being able to read the expression on the approaching being¡¯s face would have been exceedingly useful. Why wasn¡¯t there a ¡°read alien body language¡± [Ski- ¡­ Isaac. Was. A. Moron. [Skills] like that existed, and he had one. Sort of. [Blessing of Innovation] could allow him to borrow [Skills] from low Evolution and rarity scientific [Classes], including ones that ordinarily just tracked and allowed you to retain relevant knowledge which would, in his case, grant him said knowledge. So, go ahead and borrow the ability to read all body language on any alien race he might encounter ¡­ [Blessing of Innovation] refused, giving him the mental equivalent of a sad trombone noise. It either didn¡¯t exist, or was beyond the scope of what he could borrow. Deciding to go for more low-hanging fruits, Isaac chose to borrow specifically from the alien species he now knew were called Koinians because [Omniglot] was really picking up steam decoding the broadcasts down below. Now, he still had to be careful because if these people were anything like humans, then far too many of their psychologists had locked themselves into an ivory tower the instant they entered the realm of higher academia. And even when they didn¡¯t, far too many thought themselves infallible human polygraphs the likes of which you¡¯d see as a consultant for the police on many a TV show, and they were appropriately stubborn and unwilling to acknowledge when they¡¯d make a mistake. When borrowing this knowledge about humans, Isaac could temper it with his own knowledge and experiences. Here, however, he was using entirely academic knowledge entirely devoid of the context any kind of experience with this species would have given him. Even with the ability to read their body language near-perfectly dumped into his mind, misunderstandings were still all too easy. But he really, really hoped that his interpretation of the ¡°ambassador¡± being welcoming to him but irritated with whoever had control of the satellites proved true. The ¡°ambassador¡± was also well within hearing range now, and Isaac was finally comfortable with his pronunciation. As for what he said ¡­ was there ever any doubt? *** ¡°I come in peace.¡± Anshou had never heard something so beautiful, regardless of how utterly horrendous the pronunciation had been, the speaker¡¯s solemn tone carrying across species boundaries ¡­ unless the tone was yet another misunderstanding. ¡°If anyone attacks without a good reason, I will end you,¡± he whispered into the party. They¡¯d already gotten through two attacks without a major diplomatic incident, they just needed to avoid doing anything stupid just a little bit longer ... Anshou came to a stop far enough away that an entire house could have fit between them, close enough to easily talk but far enough to at least somewhat complicate an attack. ¡°In the name of the Koinian people, I greet you,¡± Anshou grimaced at the stilted phrasing even as he said it. That was going to be in all the history books, damnit. The alien met his gaze at this point and held it, no longer looking around for threats. ¡°But not in peace?¡± Anshou flinched. ¡°Would you have believed me if I had said so, after certain individuals panicked and attacked you?¡± The alien made a strange movement with its shoulders. ¡°I suppose not. But just to confirm, your government¡¯s official position is not to attack newcomers unless they strike first?¡± ¡°Correct ¡­¡± Anshou replied, praying fervently that the people on the ground would not make him a liar. The alien relaxed immediately, a tension that had not been apparent until it was gone melting away. ¡°There are no plague [Skills] in play, correct?¡± Anshou asked via the party. ¡°Or anything involving poisons?¡± ¡°We can still only see his [Class¡¯] names.¡± ¡°What about the assassin?¡± Anshou sighed. [Challenger of the Apocalypse] certainly sounded like it held a lot of raw power, didn¡¯t it? A secondary 5th Evolution [Class] seemed like it would be the perfect way to sneak in devastating fire-and-forget powers that continued to unleash devastation while using the primary [Class] for combat. Or ¡­ ¡°As far as we can tell, the assassin is based around research and understanding your enemy to better kill them.¡± ¡­ Or the assassin could be the exact kind of [Class] that you never ever ever wanted to let get anywhere near you. ¡°Was the alien telling the truth about coming in peace?¡± he asked. ¡°That¡¯s the truth, as far as we can tell.¡± A little voice in the back of his mind began to nag at him, warning that the alien¡¯s seemingly endless well of patience might merely have been a ruse to get close enough to do some spying and become a lethal predator for the people of this world ¡­ and he ruthlessly squashed it. The only aggression had originated from the idiots below and maybe him, when he¡¯d destroyed the satelites. ¡°How about we continue this conversation on the ground?¡± he finally suggested out loud, while sending another strongly worded warning through the party to warn them not to do anything hasty, not again. ¡°Let¡¯s.¡± They both dropped like stones as they cut whatever powers were holding them aloft, leaving them falling at speeds that would have made for a lethal impact if either of them had been even remotely normal. As it was, when they did catch themselves, it was more a matter of protecting the ground from them than anything else. ¡°My name is Isaac Thoma,¡± the alien finally introduced himself. ¡°I¡¯m a human, from a planet called Earth.¡± ¡°I thought you were an Einherjar?¡± Anshou immediately asked, guard instinctively raised. Sometimes, holes in stories indicated deceit, sometimes they only looked like holes due to insufficient information on his part. Or it could have been a trap, something to suss out how much of the alien¡¯s character sheet he could see ¡­ ¡°Human is my birth race, Einherjar is an evolution.¡± Yes, insufficient information leading to him believing he was being lied to. The sheer overwhelming force of the unknown pervaded this meeting between two entirely separate species, and it was feeding his paranoia to a never-before-seen degree. ¡°And humanity?¡± Anshou asked another question, one which seemed much less risky than the first one as the necklace had clearly been designed to be inspected and give the inspector information about it and its wearer. ¡°A term describing the sum of all humans, expanded to include those who evolved from it.¡± With every exchange, his mind was flooded with ever more questions, but before anything else happened, there was something else he needed to do. Introduce himself. ¡°My name is Anshou Tolosyne, I¡¯m a Worldbreaker-ranked warrior, and the guardian of the high orbitals.¡± ¡°Worldbreaker?¡± Yes ¡­ that title was a tad aggressive, wasn¡¯t it? ¡°A title given to those with the greatest offensive potential,¡± Anshou replied. ¡°Offensive in the ¡­¡± the alien suddenly stopped talking. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I almost made a stupid joke, that won¡¯t happen again. So, what do I call you? Do I use your entire name, or one part of your name alongside some kind of title or specific identifier ¡­¡± Somehow, Anshou got the feeling he and the newcomer were kindred spirits, in how they were so determined to ensure this went well that they completely overthought things. ¡°Call me Anshou.¡± ¡°Well, you can call me Isaac,¡± the alien, no, Isaac, replied. ¡°Do you have titles like ¡®Worldbreaker¡¯?¡± Anshou asked. ¡°Maybe, we have a category called ¡¯S-rank¡¯ that describes those who are so powerful compared to the average that they are given their own rank to avoid disrupting the averages,¡± Isaac explained. ¡°What about ¡®Worldbreakers,¡¯ how direct does the destructive power have to be?¡± ¡°It needs to be personal power, without a dependency on circumstance or environment.¡± Isaac pointed up at the sky. ¡°So being able to deorbit the moon won¡¯t count?¡± Anshou had to hold back a shiver. To think of that method so quickly ¡­ this was a being whose mind was entirely geared toward causing damage and devastation. A being that also came in peace and had a [Class] centered around preventing worlds from ending, granted, but someone with the ability to bring the big chunk of rock that orbited the planet down on everyone¡¯s heads was a persistent fear that had repeatedly been addressed in security conferences. ¡°No, it wouldn¡¯t.¡± So, things had worked out fine, Anshou had brought the alien down onto the planet¡¯s surface without anything happening or anyone panicking, not again, at least. He knew this would go well ¡­ until the first threads of several powerful [Auras] washed over him. *** You know what? Isaac was pretty sure he was figuring out what made these guys tick. For the most part. It had taken him half an hour and only worked while he was burning through some of [Aspects of the End¡¯s] precious time limit by keeping [Wisdom of the Simurgh] active, but with a lot of magic, and a little common sense, he¡¯d managed to understand a literally alien species, at least in broad strokes. The Koinians were highly hierarchical, fundamentally needing to know where they stood relative to each other. However, unlike humans, there was very little bickering about ranks outside of actual attempts to move up. Which should have made for a very orderly society ¡­ except it didn¡¯t. Because there were plenty of separate chains of command that could just as easily come into conflict as they did on Earth, oftentimes without someone like a president or other designated ¡°ball stops with that you¡± person. For example, it was Anshou¡¯s job to take care of stuff in the high orbits, which Isaac¡¯s approach had fallen into ¡­ yet the technological defenses were under someone else¡¯s command. And neither was seemingly in a position to tell the approaching individuals blasting their [Auras] to back off, implying yet another chain of command. Then, of course, there was the fact that Koinians weren¡¯t just a bunch of near-identical individuals in possession of one extra personality trait apiece. Under the umbrella of ¡°needing hierarchy,¡± a whole lot of different personalities could exist. Much the same way that most humans liked having a community and being told they were right, as well as having a near-suicidal impulse to pet anything even remotely fluffy, though the latter could be resisted by anyone with half a brain. However, ¡°most humans¡± covered everyone from Adolf Hitler to Mahatma Gandhi, from Nelson Mandela to Jack the freaking Ripper. Relying on his knowledge of a seemingly species-wide quirk for negotiations seemed a little risky. And so did letting anyone else do the same. Still, even as Anshou tensed up, Isaac could tell that the alien wasn¡¯t afraid of the newcomers, they were afraid of how Isaac might react. Actually ¡­ Isaac checked his knowledge of the local language and culture. Calling Anshou ¡°he¡± was actually correct, rather than the gender-neutral ¡°they.¡± But in this situation, Isaac knew what was about to happen, and how he could reply without causing a big kerfuffle. Or at least one that didn¡¯t get unnecessarily big. ¡°Those three are just coming because they want to know what I can do compared to them, right? They¡¯re not actually coming in to fight to the death, or anything like it? If I defeat them in an [Aura] duel, no major damage, that would be fine?¡± ¡°As long as you don¡¯t hurt them too badly,¡± Anshou replied after seeming to think about it for a couple of seconds, once again incredibly apprehensive. Perhaps he assumed that Isaac would overreact, or feared that ¡°no major damage¡± had very different connotations for humans and Koinians? Isaac just grinned and unleashed his own [Aura]. Well, [Auras], [Titanic Presence] allowed him to use not just the sensory [Aura] that was already blanketing the area, but also the [Aura of the Crimson Dawn], crimson energy fuelled by conflict and emanating the power of a new beginning, hope from despair, renewal from death ¡­ all in an overwhelming burst of energy that tore through all three incoming [Auras]. Half a century in, the one extra decade of experience in [Aura] usage Isaac held had much less of an impact compared to the beginning of it all, when he¡¯d had a literally insurmountable advantage. But it was still an advantage, one Isaac had compounded by diligent practice and supporting [Skills], such as [Burden of Command] and [Death¡¯s Embrace], which he was now flooding into his ¡°attack.¡± Anyone willing to ¡°test¡± an alien and potentially get in a tiff with Anshou was not going to be weak, however, so a purely auric attack was hardly a big threat to them. Injuries to one¡¯s pride, on the other hand? Isaac turned to glare at each of the approaching Koinians, concentrating his [Aura] each time until they ran. It didn¡¯t take long. ¡°Perhaps we should move this somewhere less likely to be interrupted? I have a home nearby,¡± Anshou made an offer, which Isaac gratefully accepted. And ten minutes later, he found himself in an incredibly bizarre room that nonetheless worked completely. The decor was, well, alien, but it fit together in, well, in that nothing inside was something some some set designer had thrown in there just for the sake of ¡°being quirky.¡± No, this was the real deal, completely. Isaac pulled a half-empty bottle of whiskey from his storage. ¡°In human culture, one of the ways we celebrate is by drinking together. I don¡¯t know if you have a similar tradition, or if you think it¡¯s too early to celebrate, but I think that went well, didn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°That¡¯s toxic to me,¡± Anshou replied, then narrowed his eyes at Isaac. ¡°To you too, isn¡¯t it?¡± Isaac had to suppress a laugh. It would not have been taken the way he¡¯d intended. ¡°I guess. Humans don¡¯t necessarily avoid everything that¡¯s bad for them, but I¡¯m actually immune to the poison.¡± Anshou made a motion that Isaac now knew to be analogous to a human shrug. ¡°If we always made the objectively correct choice, we¡¯d never have fought a civil war. What about your people? What did you do to earn that necklace of yours?¡± Isaac sighed. ¡°Can I sit down? This is going to be a long story. But basically, we didn¡¯t fight other people for the most part, we fought our own worst impulses ¡­ *** Isaac grinned as he began his return flight across the interstellar void towards the little planet he and Elena had most recently been using as their home. He could not wait to tell her about all of this, then return to the Koinian¡¯s star system together. Also, they¡¯d soon be using the [Round Table] to contact Earth, so Arthur could gather some people and make official first contact. Of course, Isaac was influential enough to make deals on humanity¡¯s behalf that wouldn¡¯t be dismissed out of hand, but that was a terrible basis for any kind of lasting relationship. This solar system would be fascinating to stay in for a while, until eventually, Wanderlust struck again and they went exploring again. Having found not just alien life but intelligent alien life ¡­ knowing it was out there just made him all the more eager to go shooting off into the vast beyond. Oh, the universe was a wonderous place, wasn¡¯t it? *** Anshou gazed up after Isaac as the alien left the star system. Certain parts of the government had had a little meltdown at that, however, sending three near-Worldbreaker fighters fleeing with his [Aura] alone had utterly terrified far too many people. But Isaac would be back, and by then, the morons would hopefully have had the time to work out why friendly relations with other intelligent species were preferable to a battle. Most people had taken minutes to figure that out, politicians, on the other hand ¡­ best to give them a few revolutions. Apocryphal: What counts? The [System] was finished. Finally. Odin slumped back onto his throne, head resting on the cold stone behind him. For centuries, no, millennia, the universe had been a boring place, with countless planets slowly breaking down as sophonts exploited the natural world at an unsustainable pace until things went past the point of no return. Even his favorite world, Earth, was well on the way to self-destruction. But humans were a clever bunch, eventually, someone would figure out how to convert mana to electricity. Or maybe someone would stumble across his runes. He¡¯d hung from the branches of Yggdrasil for nine days and nights to get them, but he¡¯d made sure that they were findable within the grand creation. It would be fascinating what humanity came up with using them, and sadly, they were hardly in a position to find them themselves. ¡°Finally done,¡± Thor grunted. He was currently lying down on one of the long benches that lined the feast tables of Asgard, looking like death warmed over. The only time Odin had ever seen his son so miserable had been the ¡°ocean mead incident¡±, in which he¡¯d drunk from a mead horn connected to the ocean and downed so much salt water to create the tides. Optimally, he wouldn¡¯t even have been involved, but this was a joint endeavor, which required everyone¡¯s powers. Divine skill and power downgraded into something a mortal could wield, then made accessible to those who proved themselves worthy. Two more days, then the [System] would arrive and the worlds would be forever changed. And their foes had not made a peep so far. The longer they waited to make their countermove, the better prepared the sophonts would be. ¡°Hey, Uncle Odin!¡± Oh ¡­ purgatory. This was the last thing he needed right now. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°What do you want, Loki?¡± Odin sighed as he lifted his head to stare at the irreverent deity. ¡°Oh, I just thought you might want to see the future champion of Earth.¡± ¡°The [System] hasn¡¯t even arrived yet,¡± Odin pointed out. One could try to predict who was going to wind up with the best [Classes] and so on, but that wasn¡¯t what was going to be overly accurate. ¡°A little smarts, a little effort, some more time, and I managed to find the single most capable individual in the universe. He¡¯s closed the gates of hell multiple times, colonized multiple archipelagos and built thriving civilizations in the span of an afternoon, and conquered most of the known world at the head of multiple different armies. He¡¯s going to get legendary [Classes] from the starter [Class] all the way to the fifth Evolution just based on his current achievements alone.¡± ¡°Is this one of your jokes?¡± Odin sighed as he returned to his previous relaxed position. Hell hadn¡¯t been open for almost nine thousand years, and there weren¡¯t any immortals on Earth anymore. Of course, he knew Loki didn¡¯t lie, but that was mostly because he felt that being an annoying little shit was too easy if he were able to outright state untruths, so he¡¯d sworn off lying to make it a challenge. But this sounded too fantastical to be true. ¡°Nope,¡± Loki said, blowing and popping a bubble of gum on the ¡°p¡±. ¡°Then show me this ¡®supreme warrior¡¯,¡± Odin ordered, not even bothering to stand up straight. Loki¡¯s nonsense wasn¡¯t really worth it. ¡°Sure,¡± Loki said, creating a holographic image of a young man sitting on a beanbag with a video game controller. He was only slightly overweight, but he still didn¡¯t look anything like an unparalleled warrior. And then Odin caught sight of the game on the screen. It wasn¡¯t one he was overly familiar with, but it looked to be about using heavy weaponry to tear apart the hordes of hell, though most of the demons had a strange array of cybernetic enhancements. ¡°Loki,¡± he sighed. ¡°Video game achievements are not going to count for the [System].¡± Loki raised an eyebrow. ¡°We made sure they don¡¯t count.¡± Loki¡¯s eyebrow crawled off his head to the point where it hovered a couple of centimeters above his head. ¡°Are you sure about that?¡± Odin stared at Loki. Loki stared right back. And after five seconds, Odin bolted for the door. He needed to fix this! Once the big guy was safely out of range, Loki started sniggering. The [System] would indeed count those things, but to such a minor degree that it wouldn¡¯t really make any difference. That being said, Loki had sufficiently muddled the [System¡¯s] waters to a sufficient degree that dear old Odin would be untangling that mess all the way until initialization. Non-Canon Interlude Christmas Isaac lay in the bed he¡¯d had since childhood, sleeping. He¡¯d been at it for quite a while, far longer than necessary, but staying asleep had been damn easy since he¡¯d passed one hundred points in Fortitude, which had returned a high degree of control over his sleep back to him. On December 23rd, he¡¯d had dinner with his family, gone to bed after reading his little sisters a bedtime story, and slept from eleven pm onwards. It was a waste of time, but one that eh considered worthwhile. If he couldn¡¯t ¡®sleep in¡¯ on Christmas, when else could he? Being wrapped in Hypnos¡¯ warm embrace was truly wonderful ¡­ ¡­ at least until his phone literally exploded. Well, it didn¡¯t physically blow up, but he¡¯d set an absurdly loud ringtone for whenever Bailey called because when the Professor felt that he couldn¡¯t wait on Isaac to answer a text, that he needed a response right the hell now, then that meant there was a massive problem. Yet Isaac didn¡¯t even have to pick up his phone to know what he was being called about.
Welcome, one and all, to the Christmas EVENT! (Also a belated Hanukkah Event, also also Yuletide, why don¡¯t you jackasses celebrate that anymore, also also also an early New Years Event!!!) ¡°Deck the halls with boughs of mystic snow¡± ¡°¡¯tis the season to be fighting snow golems¡± ¡°Literally troll this ancient Yuletide Carol¡± ¡­ and so much more. During this Event, you gain the power to ensure a white Christmas, grow fully decorated trees and even face off against the General that commands Winter. There¡¯s a jolly good time to be had by all, if only you dare to take advantage of all the things that have been generously provided for your summoning convenience.
What. The. Fuck. Isaac took two seconds to leap to a fair distance out off and away from the building before letting loose an inarticulate scream of range, then picked up the phone. ¡°Yep, saw the message, coming in now.¡± And then he hung up again, used [Fully Geared] to swap his pajamas for something a little more work-appropriate, and sped off towards the university. As he ran, he sent a message to his mother about where he¡¯d run off to. Soon enough, Isaac had reached the team¡¯s building and phase-jumped straight into the meeting room. Although it had taken mere minutes to get there, he was hardly the first one there. Amy was sitting there in one of those stereotypical Christmas sweaters, sweatpants, and there was a cup filled with eggnog in her hand as she glared at her [System] screen. Raul was also there, though he was wearing his pajamas. It took Isaac a moment to realize why they were here the first and dressed like that, but when he did, it made quite a bit of sense. They¡¯d both been out of town for Christmas, so they¡¯d returned via [Portal], wearing what they¡¯d been dressed in at the time. Meanwhile, those who lived nearby, like Isaac, had likely taken the couple of seconds needed to get dressed before jetting off. Patrick was the next to arrive, using a phasing [Skill] combined with a flight spell to drop straight into his set. It would have looked cool ¡­ if he¡¯d hit the chair properly. Instead, he¡¯d managed to plant half his ass on the armrest, the other half dangling over the seat, then promptly lost his balance and ended up sprawling over the chair in a heap. ¡°Professor Bailey will be here in a sec, until then, we¡¯re reading through the summoning list to get a solid overview of what we¡¯ll be dealing with.¡± Amy told him. Isaac nodded and went to work.
Summoning List (Christmas Event)
Name Material Cost Mana Cost
Snowball Cloud Tier 1 Circle, Shaved Ice, Mitten, Ice Cream Scoop 200
Snowcloud Tier 2 Circle, Shaved Ice, Wool, Candle 1,000
White Christmas Tier 3 Circle, Shaved Ice, Pine Needles 4,500 (3 person maximum)
Nicholas of Myra Tier 4 Circle, Shaved Ice, 1 kg of Chocolate, Red Velvet 1,000
The General that commands Winter Tier 5 Circle, Carrot, Shaved Ice, Coal Chunks, Top Hat 1,500
¡°Just five monsters?¡± Isaac asked, more out of surprise than anything else. ¡°Yep. It¡¯s weird, right?¡± Amy said ¡°Also, do those mana values look right to you? You said that the mana invested is what creates the monster, so you need a certain amount to summon high Tier monsters? But the fact that those low Tier monsters are that damn expensive would indicate that they¡¯re a hell of a lot stronger than their Tier would indicate.¡± If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Shit, I didn¡¯t even notice that yet.¡± Isaac muttered ¡°A thousand-five-hundred is a mid-range Tier 7, not a Tier 5. Four-thousand-five hundred? That¡¯s an upper end Tier 8. This is insane. Absolutely insane.¡± Bailey finally burst through the door, not even bothering to sit down before barking orders. His shirt was buttoned wrong, and his legs were still facing the wrong way, he¡¯d clearly transformed them into those of an animal better suited to quick movement. In other words, his travel here had been a mad dash and he was still very frazzled. ¡°I just got off the phone with the Bundeswehr, we¡¯ll be able to teleport to Grafenw?hr in a few hours. Until then, check out the weakest monsters and come up with some theories as to what the stronger ones will be able to do.¡± And then, he stepped back out as he started to dial another number on his phone. Normally, they¡¯d have teleported straight into Grafenw?hr during an Event, but that was a damn military base. With all previous Events except the first one, they¡¯d known ahead of time and everyone in the base had known not to freak out at a bunch of people suddenly appearing. So now, they were stuck waiting for some official approval. ¡°Monsters.¡± Patrick stated simply ¡°The General has to be a snowman, right?¡± ¡°Yep.¡± Isaac said ¡°Big ass golem, with what I¡¯m assuming is a bunch of minions due to the ¡®general¡¯ moniker. As for Nicholas, I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s a giant chocolate Santa. Nicholas of Myra is the patron saint of a whole bunch of stuff, including children and students, and the basis for the modern Santa Claus. And the clouds ¡­ nasty crap, but I don¡¯t know what exactly that¡¯s going to be. But ¡®White Christmas¡¯ with four and a half thousand mana behind it, that sounds like a localized apocalypse.¡± ¡°Is it really that bad?¡± Amy asked ¡°I don¡¯t know what kind of power that mana buys.¡± ¡°The Tier 8 kind of power. Tier 7 is where the mundane, ordinary, non-[System] stuff starts to stop working, at least unless you go nuclear. Tier 8 ¡­ you need a good matchup, or even an entire carrier group will be as useless as tits on a bull. The only thing other than a high Tier monster that would require that much mana compared to the normal amount for its Tier is a [Raid Boss], yet the maximum number of people who can contribute would indicate a lesser type of [Boss]. This is something entirely new, something I can¡¯t even properly categorize. And that is fucking terrifying.¡± ¡°I can always count on you to bring the nightmare fuel, can¡¯t I?¡± Raul said after muttering a few swear words in Spanish. Isaac just shrugged ¡°Summon the Snowball Cloud, see what happens?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± Isaac scraped some of the frozen condensation from the back of the drink fridge, then followed the others into a summoning room. Amy had meanwhile grabbed the ice cream scoop from the cutlery drawer from the small kitchenet across the hall and Raul had plundered the lost and found for a mitten. ¡°Any last predictions?¡± Isaac asked as he poured mana into the circle. ¡°You¡¯re going to end up with snow down your top.¡± Amy commented dryly. ¡°Very funny.¡± Isaac said, and then his eyes damn near jumped out of his skull as everything in the circle simply ¡­ vanished. ¡°The fuck?¡± Patrick gaped at the space the stuff had occupied, swearing for the first time since Isaac had known him ¡°Hold on, something¡¯s outside!¡± With that yell, he leaped out through the ceiling, with the others chasing after him. ¡°That cloud is awfully low, isn¡¯t it?¡± Amy asked, not even bothering to wait for an answer before she sent a lance of flame straight through its center. ¡°That thing is only a hundred meters above the ground and getting lower.¡± Isaac observed, only to blur into motion a moment later, his [Far Strike] obliterating the first snowball as the cloud reformed to remove the hole Amy had blown through it. ¡°Snowball Cloud. Just what it says on the tin.¡± Raul shrugged ¡°Aurelian, melt it.¡± The little solar dragon launched itself off his shoulder, expanding to his full size, comparable to a pony, and launched a dazzling beam of light that obliterated half the cloud. The response was immediate and violent. A massive swarm of snowballs began to hammer down like rain yet strangely enough, the attack was perfectly survivable even by an ordinary, unenhanced human. It would have been overwhelmingly powerful against anyone under Level 25, yet even a Level 0 child would have been fine if hit by the attack. What. The. Hell. Patrick just waved his hand and sent the orbs straight back through the cloud and surprisingly enough, large parts of it vanished. ¡°Did ¡­ did you just kill a cloud with snowballs?¡° Raul exclaimed in surprise. ¡°Seems like it. Should we try again?¡± Patrick asked. ¡°Yeah, but where are we getting another ice cream scoop?¡± Isaac asked. ¡°Break into the other faculties and steal theirs?¡± Amy suggested ¡°It¡¯s for science, hopefully, they¡¯ll understand.¡± As it turned out, they didn¡¯t have to go quite that far, though. Bailey got the military on the horn, and they teleported to the military base and were allowed to raid the dining hall for ice cream scoops. The whole affair was a massive mess, though. Almost all the people there were wearing incredibly furious expressions, annoyed at having been torn away from their families on Christmas. Sure, some of them had had to work anyway, so this mess wasn¡¯t that big of an inconvenience, but still ¡­ annoying. Super annoying. And things. Still. Made. No. Bloody. Sense. Snowball Clouds that died to snowball fights. A chocolate golem that collapsed into perfectly packaged squares of fine chocolate, each in a traditional Christmas shape. And a literal army of animated snowmen that worked hard to not kill anyone while falling apart as they were hit by snowballs. Awesome for a snowball fight, but as a monster? They didn¡¯t even give any XP, for fucks sake. Meanwhile, Isaac¡¯s family had headed over to his home at his request for safety. Better safe than sorry and all that crap. The sun rose in the sky, and began to fall, and they were still getting nowhere. Just summoning crap, completely destroying the remains as the lack of a kill notification was making everyone antsy, over and over again. Over and over, with no effect. ¡°The definition of madness is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. What are we doing different? What are we doing wrong?¡± Isaac muttered, collapsing into the snow onto his back, sighing deeply. ¡°What the fuck is all this?¡± ¡°What is this? I¡¯d call it a prank well played.¡± A disturbingly family voice rang out from behind him. Isaac leaped to his feet in fright, somehow not having noticed any sign of a person approaching him, Balmung already manifesting in his hand. ¡°Loki.¡± He sighed. ¡°Ah-yup.¡± The god grinned broadly ¡°Gotcha!¡± ¡°What do you mean, gotcha?¡± Isaac asked, a horrible suspicion already bubbling up from deep inside. Had all this really ¡­ ¡°Well, this is the world¡¯s safest Event. It¡¯s all in the spirit of Christmas!¡± Loki shouted the final word, throwing up his hands in mock celebration. ¡°We¡¯ve been chasing our tails because we were looking for danger where there was none.¡± Isaac¡¯s facepalm blew away all the snow around himself ¡°But why is it all so expensive?¡± ¡°Why, to prevent the snow from affecting the weather, of course.¡± Loki announced with a shit eating grin, clearly fully aware of the fact that the costs had massively contributed to everyone¡¯s paranoia. ¡°¡­ fuck.¡± Isaac sighed ¡°And now, fuck off.¡± With that muttered profanity, he headed over towards the others, shoulders slumped. *** ¡°Basically, all of this is just a temporary Christmas Event that gives us the option of summoning holiday appropriate stuff. It¡¯s not monsters we¡¯re dealing with ¡­ it¡¯s magical holiday decorations. And now I¡¯m leaving, heading home because I know my sisters are planning an ambush and if I take too long, that ambush might actually kill me. Goodbye, Sayonara, Arrivederci, Auf Wiedersehen. Can I get a portal?¡± Isaac finished his explanation and pretty soon, he was sitting in the bottom floor of his magical extradimensional apartment with his family, a gorgeous Christmas dinner on the table in front of them. With a massive grin on his face, Isaac re-read the description of the new summoning option that had popped up.
Apology Christmas Feast (only summonable by Isaac Thoma) A great big feast of traditional German, British and American Christmas foods, created by the power of the Norse god of trickery and mischief as an apology for a nasty prank. P.S. Someone¡¯s sleeping on the couch for the rest of the millennium. That was uncalled for. -Sigyn
It seemed that even a god was powerless against the fury of his enraged wife. And as his family began to dig in, snow gently fell outside, courtesy of the White Christmas that his colleagues had helped him summon before returning home to their families. Apocryphal: Research Team Bailey publishing guidelines The following are the (un)official guidelines for our research group¡¯s conduct when publishing: 1. The most important rule is proper citation. Mistakes and misinterpretations can be fixed, accidentally ripping someone off or making impactful statements without supporting evidence will have long term consequences. That includes any bombshells Dr. Thoma casually drops in the middle of a conversation. Make him provide a source, and if he hasn¡¯t written it down somewhere citable, either make him publish something to quote or provide an experiment that can prove his statement. Just because he said something does not mean you don¡¯t have to prove it. 2. There are no specific rules as to the formatting of publications. Choose a font and spacing that looks professional, suits the nature of the publication and does not have symbols that can be misread given the subject matter. Professor Chandler already got a complaint from someone who misread the chemical formula for chlorine as being the empirical chemical formula for hexaiodobenzene and burnt their eyebrows off because in Arial, a small L looks to a large I. Edit 1: Yes, that means that Comic sans is off the table. 3. Be reasonable when choosing whom to name as co-authors. You can name near-sapient familiars and enhanced pets as co-authors, but if you do so, make sure to make it possible for the reader to tell that they¡¯re not available for, say speaking at a conference. Edit 1: this came up because of F. D. C. Willard. In 1975, a physicist named Jack H. Hetherington wrote a solo paper that included the phrase ¡°we¡± a few times and was told that wasn¡¯t acceptable for a paper written by a single person. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Because changing that would have been a lot of work in those times, he decided to put down his cat Chester as a co-author. To avoid anyone who knew his cat from noticing, he used the scientific name (Felis domesticus) as part of a fictitious name and used the cat¡¯s father¡¯s name (Willard) as a false surname. The whole thing got exposed when F. D. C. Willard was invited to speak at a conference. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._D._C._Willard#cite_note-Zankl-1) Edit 2: If you put down a familiar, tell me. Someone just invited Brisa M. Mina to speak at a conference about the paper on ¡°Familiar Evolutions through Raid Boss Aspects¡±, which she co-authored. Apparently, they didn¡¯t read far enough to realize that the ¡°M.¡± stands for Microraptor and that she signed with a clawprint. I don¡¯t know the names of everyone¡¯s pets, so I won¡¯t always be able to immediately reply to such a message with ¡°that¡¯s someone¡¯s familiar¡±. 4. When giving scientific names to newly discovered species, please take that seriously, scientific names are almost impossible to change, even if they¡¯re racist or otherwise unprintable. If there¡¯s an appropriate joke to make, I won¡¯t stop you, but please keep the joke names to one in ten. Edit 1: Here¡¯s an example of a good joke name: The ¡°Mini¡± genus of frogs, whose scientific names are ¡°Mini mum¡±, ¡°Mini scule¡± and ¡°Mini ature¡±. (Schertz et al., 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mini_(frog)). Edit 2: Yes, that man¡¯s name is indeed the German word for ¡°prank¡±.