by Dakota Krout
A screech was her only answer, and the Fissure attempted to turn. To her benefit, the spell was fast only in straight lines, giving her a few extra seconds to make her attempt at Naming the creature. “Come on. Come on!”
The childish scribbles that made up a large portion of the spell started to twist. It stomped the ground in a fury, and Taylor was forced to dive to the side as a field of stone spikes shot up from the ground in an attempt to impale her. She maintained the mana connection, even though it was empowering the spell attacking her. Taylor returned her full attention to the Fissure as it charged at her… at the same moment as the scribbles formed into words.
“Crus clypeos et hastas saxa!” Taylor’s eyes slammed shut as the creature rammed her.
Health: 32/81.
“I’m gonna die!” was the only thing she could think as she hit the ground and blood welled up through her teeth. Her body went flying, but the follow-up attack she was expecting didn’t land. She watched as the Fissure unfolded, its ink splattering all over papers that seemed to come out of nowhere. The papers reached her Grimoire and were absorbed by the suddenly cheerful-and-active book.
Spell Named: Fissure. (T5): 0/100 to level 1! Mana cost: 30/second.
Effect 1: Perfect stability. No matter how much the ground moves or grooves, your balance is perfect.
Bonus, at range: So long as you are walking on dirt or stone, you will be able to walk normally, no matter the condition, movement, or angle.
Effect 2: Send a spike of stone at a target, dealing 10n damage, where n = spell level. This is maximized at the start of the next tier.
Bonus, Multitarget: Create a field of stone spikes that can be left on the ground as a hazard, or fired as projectiles. These deal 10n damage each, where n = spell level. This is maximized at the start of the next tier. 5 Second cooldown.
Effect 3: Earth shaping. Take direct control of the ground within ten feet of yourself. You can use mana to shake the ground, raise or lower slabs of dirt and stone, hollow out areas, or create stone spikes. Damage is limited to prior tier maximums. No cooldown.
Spell prerequisites: Body: 20. Mind: 30. Presence: 51. (Overridden, Named.)
“All right, this ‘being a Namer’ thing is pretty awesome. Fine... I will admit that not everything Master Don told me is absolute garbage. I will take the advice that works for me, and use it as I need to use it. I will be the best, I will be powerful, I will be perfect.” She sat up and looked at the Stone Spikers that were starting to emerge from the hole that the Fissure had left behind. Her eyes flashed dangerously, and a Flame Lance appeared in her hand.
“As for not finishing them all off the first time around…” The fire left her hand at high speed, slamming into the nearest rank of stone spikers and detonating. Another spell was already prepared and in the air before the first shrieks of pain were able to reach her.
“I will never make the same mistake twice.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
- Luke -
“Years.” Luke sighed as he gazed at all of the scars that criss-crossed his body. They were faint and silvery, but he had only ever healed perfectly when he had been able to fully submerge himself in a pool of water. “Cookie is waiting for me, but it's taken years… five? Eight? Ten? Just to get through another two. I’ll find people to help me rescue her.”
Alert: system clock registers time since Sigil application as Years: 29 Months: 11 Days: 12 Hours-
“Just stop already!” he shouted at the Sigil, trying again without success to tear the branded enchantment out of his flesh. However, just like every other time, he was only able to tear furrows into the area around the Sigil; if nothing else, the control aspects were still active. “It keeps track of time for me? At least I found a new function…”
One of the most annoying aspects of the magical thing was that he never knew when something he had done a thousand times before would make it speak up. Luke snarled and did one of the harder things he had to do nowadays: he tried to think back and make a plan instead of just being reactionary.
There were times where he wondered if the choices that he was making were the right ones, but he was always distracted by an enemy whenever he started planning. They always seemed to know when he wasn't fully focused, and used that time to launch a sneak attack on him.
In fact, the reason that Luke had been trapped in this spot for so long was exactly the creatures launching sneak attacks. This Zone had apparently been designed to prevent him from running straight through it, because there was some kind of energy barrier set up at the end of it. He still remembered the day that he had first arrived within this Zone, and had gained a quest from his Sigil.
You have entered Tutorial Zone, Zone five! This Zone is designed to test your reaction speed! There are a few enemies here that will hit you with a stick if you can’t take them down fast enough! Caution: the longer you go without defeating your enemies, the more devious and dangerous they will become. They might even get better weapons! Finally, more enemies may spawn, depending on how many you have left alive at the end of each day!
Quest received: Open the way. Defeat all the enemies in Zone Five! Reward: barrier vanishes, tutorial is completed, skill granted based on total accumulated unused skill pearls. Enemies remaining: 18,000/1,000
Since that moment, Luke had been doing everything he could to kill the enemies as fast as possible. At the start, he had been able to kill hundreds every day. They would swarm him with their katanas, spears, and rapiers, attempting to bring him down through sheer numbers. Luke would have been fine with this type of battle, except for the small fact that his opponents were intangible until they attacked. Luke had exactly one full second to take them down before they couldn’t be hurt again.
Now… years into fighting against them, the ‘Physical Phantoms’ had been reduced to under a hundred from their swollen population of eighteen thousand. With how fast more of them appeared, he had likely killed over twenty to twenty-five thousand. There was no way to tell for certain, since none of them dropped skill pearls. Luckily, their respawn rate seemed to be tied into how many existed in the area, meaning that as he killed more of them over time, fewer and fewer returned.
“Maybe that’s where they all go at night? To ‘repopulate’?” Luke chuckled even as he whipped around and slammed his fist into a semi-ghostly skull. The humanoid popped like a soap bubble, and a rush of Potentia filtered into Luke’s Sigil.
Damage: 210 (blunt damage). Exp gained: 1 (T3 Physical Phantom destroyed.)
“One Potentia?” Luke punched the ground where the being had stood and snarled. “This place is useless!”
To gain increased Potentia, please fight new types of monsters, or more powerful ones!
“Sigil!” Luke bellowed, spinning and backhanding another beast.
Damage: 280 (blunt damage). Exp gained: 1 (T3 Physical Phantom destroyed.)
Enemies remaining: 56/1,000
Alarm: you have requested to be alerted when you have gained enough Potentia to increase your skill ‘Fully Geared’. Would you like to do so now?
“I… what? When did I do that?” Luke narrowed his eyes at another popup that told him it had been roughly ten years since then. “Yes, increase the skill.”
Skill deactivated while increasing tier! Please use caution.
“Pure hate right now.” Luke turned and sprinted away from Zone five. By doing so, he only took light damage to his back instead of having his kidneys skewered. “Why would I get a warning ahead of time that my skill would turn off? That would be too well thought-out.”
Health: 214/234
His forehead started to burn slightly, and the air around him shivered as double the amount of Potentia needed to reach the ninth level of a skill - a total of eleven thousand - gradually drained away and was funneled into the skill. Every hostile entity that could sense the fluctuations of something attempting
to break through to a new tier took that opportunity to rush at Luke. He swatted a phantom, getting both an outgoing and incoming damage indicator upon impact.
Damage: 70 (physical damage).
Health: 212/234
“I took damage from hitting it? Wait, it didn’t die?” Luke’s brow furrowed, but he remembered a time in the past where punching things with his bare hand hurt, and rarely did enough damage to kill something outright. It had been… twelve? Eighteen years? Since he’d first gained ‘Fully Geared’. He had needed to use some of his Potentia in other ways to survive, but almost everything else had been saved to get this skill to the next tier. Luke spun in place and finished off the staggered Phantom. “My growth woulda been faster if anything else gave Potentia!”
Enemies remaining: 55/1,000
To gain increased Potentia, please fight new types-
“Quiet!” He crossed the Zone boundary and looked back. Zone five was eight miles wide at its widest point, and there were… he checked his quest, “only fifty-five monsters left in that whole area? Ugh… finding them is going to take forever.”
Luke decided that it might be time for a quick hunt. The goat meat that he had acquired a few weeks ago was starting to become rather… sparse. However, there were plenty of vegetables and herbs in the ‘safe Zone’ that was Zone four. Anything he found that could be considered food here was toxic to the extreme, which had been beneficial in increasing his Resistance sub-characteristic. “Makes things spicy, too. Now I’m hungry.”
Since he was in a ‘safe’ area, he decided to take a look at how he had developed in the last… “Thirty years. I’ll kill them all, if I ever get out of here.”
CAL Scan
Level: 8
Current Etheric Xenograft Potentia: 0/5,500 to level 9!
Body: 26.8
Fitness: 35.2
Resistance: 18.4
Mind: 17.75
Talent: 15.5
Capacity: 20
Presence: 14.6
Willpower: 22.2
Charisma: 7
Senses: 18.4
Physical reaction: 23.5
Mental energy: 13.3
Maximum Health: 234
Maximum Mana: 312
Mana regen: 5.16 100 per second (Overridden by local ambient levels.)
“Isolation and constant combat have been good for me.” Luke looked himself over, noting the powerful and bulging muscle hidden under layers of filth and blood. His pants were simple wraps of raw goat hide that were tied up with raw ligaments. No shirt. Luke’s head and face was now coated in a dense bush of hair. Since he hadn't been in a pool recently to take a bath, his hair hadn’t all fallen off in… a few years.
“You know, I never noticed, but my Charisma dropped by three points? I didn't even know that was possible… oh! It’s because I don't have Cookie with me anymore! That makes sense; I haven't tried to make myself presentable nor hold a decent conversation in… I don't even know how long.”
“I guess it doesn't really matter. I’ll clean up my act when I have Cookie back and safe with me.” Luke lapsed into silence as the area around him continued to thrum with power. Potentia continued filtering through his forehead and into an unknown location. Was it perhaps his… brain? Is that where skills were stored? Or was it going into some kind of different layer of reality that allowed him to-
*Chime*.
“I should go kill something!” Luke smiled as he turned around and started walking back toward Zone five. He blinked, remembering what he was doing thanks to the thrumming and shifting air surrounding him. “Right; I need to wait until my skill reaches the new tier.”
He sat down right at the edge of the Zone, eating a poisonous potato and snacking on the last of his rotting goat jerky. It was worth doing for Resistance training. Yes. An hour passed, then two, and night began to fall. Still, his skill was deactivated and upgrading. Out of sheer boredom, he decided to look at what had changed over the years. Pulling open his skill list, Luke started to mutter. “Bum Rush got up to level seven, Innate Balance up to level six, and obviously Fully Geared is getting to tier eight.”
A deep, shuddering inhalation while he closed his eyes was the only way that he was able to stop himself from devolving into cursing at the people that had put him here. Luke distracted himself by using his finger on the ground to start doing some basic math. No matter what else he had forgotten over the years, for some reason basic mathematics had stuck with him. Seven levels, six levels, I got to level eight… combine that with the final level in Fully Geared… nineteen thousand, two hundred Potentia? Okay… perhaps I should not be too upset with the outcome.”
“Wait, didn't I already kill almost eighteen thousand Phantoms? Doesn't that mean that I nearly exterminated an entire Zone just to get to this point?” Luke’s expression brightened immediately. “So, when I get past this, all I need to do is make sure to kill absolutely everything in every Zone! That will let me get strong enough to find Cookie the fastest!”
In that moment, he felt a sense of incredible satisfaction. Somehow, he knew that this was the best way forward. A manic smile grew on his face as he planned out the next few years.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Skill increase complete!
Luke waited for more, but it appeared that the system was done speaking to him for the moment. He sighed, and requested more information. “Skill page, changes only.”
Tier seven ‘Fully Geared’ has become Tier eight ‘Walking Arsenal’.
Walking Arsenal. (T8) Level 0. 0/100 to level 1!
Effect 1: You are able to absorb natural weapons and armor (Claws, fangs, scales) by touching them. By absorbing a certain amount of the same type of weapon or armor, you are able to ‘equip’ it on your body. Only one type of weapon can be created at a time, and only one type of armor per slot. Choosing a new type of weapon or armor will replace the previous type once it is complete. Weapons and armor cannot exceed current tier and level.
Bonus 1, at range: You are able to absorb a weapon or armor type within five feet of your body. No longer requires active attempts after the item is selected.
Effect 2: You are now able to absorb weapons or armor created via natural metals. Natural metal weapons and armor cannot exceed current tier and level. Natural weapons can exceed tier, so long as they are within three effective levels.
Bonus 2, Multitarget: You can now select to absorb all weapons or armor of the same type within the range of bonus 1.
Effect 3: You are now able to absorb weapons or armor created via unnatural metals (magical weapons/armor). Weapons and armor cannot exceed current tier and level. Natural metal weapons can exceed tier, so long as they are within three effective levels. Natural weapons can exceed tier, so long as they are within six effective levels.
Bonus 3, AoE: You can store the weapons and armor you create. You are able to select between all different versions you have previously created!
Effect 4: Each active weapon or armor slot now costs a flat percentage of your mana pool to maintain! To achieve the exact damage or protection potential, ten percent of your mana must be applied. Each percentage added or subtracted will change the potential by one percent.
[New!] Bonus 4, Multitarget AOE: All weapons and armor in your possession and within five feet of you grant you 1n% of their maximum damage or armor. This bonus is maximized at the tier limit.
Luke read over the information, excited about the idea of gaining more power. However, his face fell when he realized that he had no extra armor, no extra weapons, and no way to get or make them. “Maybe I should try remaking some tools? I'm sure that my leatherworking skills have degraded… I bet my father would be disappointed. Didn't I know someone who was a blacksmith once? Maybe I can convince them to give me every weapon that they made since I was locked up here!”
Now that his glowing blue armor - and he assumed his weapons as well - were back to full power, he sprinted into Zone five and started hunting for phantoms. There wa
s a good chance that they had been lured into the area from the power fluctuations coming off of his Sigil. Luke was going to take advantage of that, and he knew the best way to do it.
He got to the area he had been aiming for, and laid down. Closing his eyes, he pretended to be asleep. Luke waited, waited… waited. He was far too excited to actually fall asleep, but there was no way that his prey would know this. There was a light hissing sound as a spear was thrust in his direction, and Luke reactively rolled to his feet and activated Bum Rush.
Exactly as he had hoped, he was surrounded by easily a score of Phantoms. These creatures seemed intelligent; very rarely did they come after him one-on-one. Not after the massacre of the last few years. However, he had rarely seen so many of them all together and in one spot for months on end. Luke was going to use this opportunity to the fullest!
Devoting a full fifty percent of his mana to his Battering Ram Knuckles and essentially disregarding defense, Luke began attacking the surprised Zone training devices. They seemed surprised, but he knew better than to pretend that they had feelings or thoughts other than finding more sophisticated ways to ambush him. “Other things aren't real! Only I am real! All of you only exist to make me stronger!”
Damage: 391 (Blunt damage).
Damage: 286 (Blunt damage).
Damage: 322 (Blunt damage).
The battle was short. The only reason it lasted as long as it did was that Luke needed his opponents to attack first before he could damage them. He took some light damage, but a single sip of water was enough to heal the light scrapes and contusions.
Enemies remaining: 22/1,000
Exp gained: 33 (T3 Physical Phantom destroyed x33.)
“Twenty-two to go!” Luke's eyes were gleaming as he thought of finally, finally getting out of the Zone and the tutorial in general. He shouted into the night, “I'm coming for you! I'm coming for all of you!”