by Jez Cajiao
“And Tommy?” I asked, trying not to show my skepticism.
“He was given the same quest as you, so after nearly five years there, I would expect him to either be working on this quest or dead in the attempt. Either way, you have the chance to find him, as I promised.” He smiled at me sardonically and took another drink as I tried to stop myself from glaring at him. “You have questions, I expect; you may ask them now.”
I took a long breath. I already knew there was no chance I’d ever really be made a prince, and even if I was, this prick would be the Emperor, so he’d probably kill me even then. I just needed to get through this and find Tommy, so I was going to have to suck it up, buttercup. I had nothing left here anyway, besides my maids, and that was a very…physical relationship. I’d not miss this place.
“Okay…Baron...I was told that you came here to flee a cataclysm or something; what happened? What if nobody has managed to open the portal yet because the capital is a crater in the ground?”
“First, if the Capital was truly destroyed, we would know. We have made a form of contact with the Great Portal before, but it snapped closed before we could pass through, and has been sealed in some way, thus causing the randomness of the arrival point from this side. It does still exist, boy, I assure you of that. Secondly, the cataclysm…that is a sore point for myself and my fellow nobles. Suffice to say, the old Emperor, our sire, had grown intolerable. He had ruled for eons already and intended that state of affairs to continue indefinitely. We decided he should be removed. We struck a bargain with one of the Gods, Nimon, the God of Death and Destruction. He agreed to assist us, on the condition that we aided him against the rest of the Gods. We set a plan in place, and one night, we struck. Our assassins and soldiers attacked the priests and high priests of the other Gods, killing them and cutting the Gods off from the primary source of power, their worshippers. At the same time, when they were at their weakest, Nimon cast a spell that banished them for a thousand years or more, removing their blessings from the Emperor and allowing us to kill him.” The Baron grew red-faced as he spoke, obvious anger filling him.
“Then the traitorous swine showed his true colors, pulling the moon Ishtic from its orbit and sending it down into the south of the Empire. The devastation was horrific. Clouds of ash blocked out the sun and the land shook as earthquakes struck. Whole cities closest to the impact were obliterated, priceless treasures lost forever. My own summer palace at Yermont was destroyed! Hundreds of my concubines and servants, people I’d spent a fortune in time and gold to obtain, all gone! We used our magic to stabilize the local area, ensuring that the Great Portal and the center of Dai Amaranth was saved, but we soon got word that the creatures closest to the impact point had been driven mad. Plus dark creatures not seen in centuries had been freed to roam the land, and our armies were out of position, too far to protect us. We didn’t know where to go, where was safe. We opened the Great Portal to its furthest reach and fled through, taking our wealth and the choicest of our servants with us. We arrived here, in this drab and worthless realm, and released the Portal, trapping ourselves as far from our home as it was possible to go. Every five years since, we have gathered enough collective mana to open a fresh portal back. We’ve managed to carve out at least something related to a suitable life at last, and so we come to now, and your place in this. As I’ve said, you are to return us to our home, or die trying.”
I stood there open-mouthed, staring at him. This monumental cock had murdered the old Emperor, his own father or ancestor or whatever, done a deal with the God of Death and Destruction, banished the other Gods, and had personally helped to bring down a cataclysm that had practically destroyed his own realm. Now he expected me to help him get back there.
“I...uh…roughly how many people died, would you say…my lord?” I asked, struggling to get my head around the utter arrogance he displayed.
“People? Who knows. A few hundred thousand peasants at the impact, perhaps; a few times more that in the time that followed.” He shrugged as if it’d never crossed his mind. “Probably another few hundred thousand Dwarves and Elves as well. Oh, and the Naga Capital was somewhere around the impact point, so I’d imagine most of them died. Why?”
“Hundreds of thousands of people…probably millions…and they all died because you wanted to be the Emperor?” I whispered as I stared at him.
“Pay attention, boy! There weren’t that many people in the south lands. I already told you that; it was mostly just Elves, Dwarves, and Naga, lesser races and scum like that.”
I continued to stare at him in wonder. I’d never understood racists, and he was a new level of even that, a speciesist. I’d seen a few dark-skinned men and women around the citadel, but only in low positions, away from him. I didn’t know if that was a coincidence, and he was a racist too, but I shook my head and moved on, not willing to lose this chance to ask questions.
“Okay…you and I are related, I get that, but how come I don’t have any of your more…obvious differences? I mean you tower over me, claws, scales, the works. How does that happen?”
“Hah! A good question at last! This is the result of following the path of Augmentation. Your Pearl grants you many abilities, as well as awakening your latent magical abilities, but one that is possibly both the greatest and the least understood, is the ability to augment yourself. When you fight a particularly strong opponent, you may have the chance to absorb some of their life force or essence. It depends on your nodes, really. If your Pearl has leveled to the point that it is capable of granting you a further node, and you haven’t picked it, it will attempt to absorb this essence, including the creature’s genetic blueprints. This happens roughly every ten levels you advance. Once it has successfully absorbed what it can, it will offer you a choice. It can augment you physically, granting you an ability of the conquered creature, or it can be used as your first and second were, and improve your meridian nodes.”
“Okay, but doesn’t that make it hard to blend in, though? I’m gonna stand out as I go through the Empire, right? Plus, how does it work that you look down on other species, but you use bits of different creatures to strengthen yourself?”
“I am becoming greater, Jack, closer to the Ideal of the Gods! Why should I not augment myself with the greatest abilities from those I conquer? Make my skin harder to pierce, make my fingernails into my personal weapons, even grant myself the power of flight, if I so desire? Why should lesser creatures have these advantages? Besides…” He shifted himself in the seat as though trying to get comfortable, and he suddenly seemed to shrink, his massive form blurring as he grew smaller, his clothes suddenly seeming to dwarf him, until he finally stopped. He sat staring at me, as fully human as I was, or so he seemed.
He was around five feet tall now, with greasy skin, greasy hair, normal nails and teeth, and a chubby little pot belly. The immediate similarities that I found between him and a particular loudmouthed Lord that failed to defeat everyone’s favorite ogre made me bite back a laugh as he continued.
“I was going to make the change later on, but you might as well see the ease with which I change my form, even here, with the miniscule amount of mana of your world. The changes can be made at will… if you have the skill, anyway. We of the Great Houses often wear our full forms, but at the Great Tournament, it is agreed that we all wear our human skin. Prevents confusion, and all that.” He gestured languidly at West and went on.
“I think that’s enough questioning of your betters. Now ,Jack, get out, and I suggest you train hard; after all, it’s your last chance to improve your skills before the arena!”
With that, West grabbed my shoulder and half dragged, half led me from the room. When we reached the hallway, I stopped again, staring at him in shock over it all.
“Seriously, laddie, this whole place is a mindfuck, but one thing is right: you have very little time before the fight, so let’s get to it, eh?”
I spent the rest of the day getting knocked down repeatedly by
West and his cadre of trainers. Before turning in, I’d just gotten naked and was about to call for the maids to chase them around the room, when West popped his head back in.
“Christ, that’s unlucky for you…” he said with an evil grin. “I’ll have to start calling you ‘pencil dick’ from now on, rather than Jack!”
“Sod off, you old cock-goblin!” I retorted. “What do you want, or did you just want to come in and see a real man naked?”
“Bah, you know you’d love a moustache ride!” He laughed and took a seat, throwing a towel at me to cover up with. “Right, though; remember the levelling system I asked you to ignore? I want you to activate it again now, if you haven’t looked it over yet. Tell me what you’ve gained, and I’ll help you decide where to use the points.”
I brought back the notifications symbol, seeing it immediately start pulsing for my attention. A small ‘XI’ symbol showed in the upper right corner. Eleven notifications, I translated, and opened it with a smile.
Congratulations! Through hard work and perseverance, you have increased your Intelligence by 1 point. Continue to train and learn to increase this further.
Congratulations! You have reached Level 2. You have 5 points to invest in your stats. You are now at 10/600 exp towards Level Three.
Congratulations! Through hard work and perseverance, you have increased your Agility by three points. Continue to train and learn to increase this further…
Congratulations! You have reached Level Three. You have ten points to invest in your stats. you are now at 20/900 exp towards Level Four.
Congratulations! Through hard work and perseverance, you have increased your Dexterity by three points. Continue to train and learn to increase this further.
Congratulations! Through hard work and perseverance, you have increased your Charisma by one point. Continue to train and learn to increase this further.
Congratulations! Through hard work and perseverance, you have increased your Endurance by four points. Continue to train and learn to increase this further.
Congratulations! You have reached Level Four. You have fifteen points to invest in your stats. You are now at 50/2700 exp towards Level Five.
Congratulations! Through hard work and perseverance, you have increased your Perception by one point. Continue to train and learn to increase this further.
Congratulations! Through hard work and perseverance, you have increased your Strength by one point. Continue to train and learn to increase this further.
Congratulations! Through hard work and perseverance, you have increased your Wisdom by three points. Continue to train and learn to increase this further.
Name Jax
Class: Spellsword
Renown: Unknown
Level: 4
Progress: 435/2700
Patron:
Points to Distribute: 15
Meridian Points to Invest: 0
Stat
Current points
Description
Effect
Progress to next level
Agility
11
Governs dodge and movement.
Average speed + 10%
47/100
Charisma
10
Governs likely success to charm seduce or threaten
Success chance; average
12/100
Constitution
15
Governs Health and Health Regeneration
HP+50, Regen 5pts per 600s
31/100
Dexterity
12
Governs ability with weapons and crafting
+ 20%
71/100
Endurance
16
Governs Stamina and Stamina Regeneration
STM +60, Regen 6pts per 30s
52/100
Intelligence
15
Governs base Mana and number of Spells able to be learned
+50 Mana, Spell capacity: 7 spells
11/100
Luck
8
Governs overall chance of bonuses
-20%
17/100
Perception
13
Governs ranged damage and chance to spot traps/hidden items
+30% Ranged damage, +3% chance to spot traps/hidden items
20/100
Strength
18
Governs damage with melee weapons and carrying capacity
+8 Damage with melee weapons, +80% carrying capacity
89/100
Wisdom
11
Governs Mana Regeneration and memory
+10% Mana recovery 1.1pm, 10% more likely to remember things
43/100
I sat in stunned silence, not hearing West when he spoke again. I only realized he was waiting for an answer when he kicked me.
“What?” I muttered distractedly.
“How many points have you got, and what level, you pillock!” he growled out, annoyed at being ignored.
“I’m…I’m level four, with fifteen points to allocate, and except for my luck, I’m out of the negatives already!” I told him, catching him up on my new stats. He pulled out his phone and noted them all down, looking the notes over a few times, before turning back to me.
“Well, Tommy pumped everything into Strength, and grew like some kinda Olympic weightlifter. Here’s your chance to show me how much smarter you really are. What are you going to do with the points?” he asked.
“Well, I know you and Xiao were telling me to play to my strengths, but my biggest strength was always being a sneaky bastard, so I’m not gonna do the obvious. Besides, I’m already sodding huge. I don’t need more strength; I need to be faster, smarter!”
“True. Think about your weapons. Are you going to use heavy armor, magic? This is your best chance to survive the arena, Jack, so use it well.”
I sat and thought for a while, then grinned and thought ‘fuck it’. I’d go with my instincts. Either it’d work out, or I’d die, so there was no need to stress over it. I put four points into Luck, taking my last negative stat into the positive realm, and four into Wisdom, giving me a fifty percent faster mana regeneration than average. Another four points went into Agility for speed, and lastly three points into Dexterity, giving me a nice boost to my weapon handling skills. I confirmed it and told West what I’d done. I had wanted to go more ‘min-max’, and dump all fifteen points into something, just to see what I could do with it. I briefly imagined being able to do ‘bullet time’ with them all in Agility, but I needed to be more than a one-trick pony. Maybe next time.
Immediately, I could feel a difference as my body changed. It wasn’t like the first allocation of my points, when had I chosen my class and it felt like my brain and body nearly exploded. This was much more gradual, like a toothache as opposed to breaking bones, but it still really feckin hurt.
“Good all-rounder, eh? Well, hopefully it’ll work out for you, mate. One thing we didn’t tell you before: the tournament is limited to level Ten. So, on one hand, it’s a good thing. No level thirty mages or warriors. On the other…there’s no limiting the points gained through exercise or study.”
“Why the hell didn’t you tell me that before?” I asked, surprised.
“Because you might have gone easy on yourself! Means there won’t be anyone likely too much higher than you, as the noble houses all tend to give their kids their Pearl at the turn of the year. Anyway, I’ll leave you to ‘relax’ with the girls. Meet me in the training hall nice and early tomorrow, though.”
As he left and Jenny and Marie entered, I saw their admiring glances and chucked the towel aside, rising to my feet…and the occasion. Who said a Willycopter wasn’t the way to a girl’s heart, after all?
Early the next morning, I was down at the training hall as West had asked. I’d woken earlier than normal anyway, and I was excited to see the changes in my body now that I’d allocated the points. West and I started t
he normal training exercises, finding my body to be much more responsive, stronger, faster, all of it. I asked him about it, in between reps, and he grunted out that the changes were held back by the Pearl until I acknowledged them. He had no idea why or how, but they were.
I set to work with a passion, pounding the punchbag, then moving on to the Mu Ren Zhuang. West gave up, and simply followed along, shouting good natured abuse at me as I went. I hated this damn thing. More than half the bruises I had were from hitting it, but my trainers made me go at it again and again, and so I did. I hit it harder and harder, faster and faster, until I finally hit one arm hard enough that it shattered, breaking apart in a shower of splinters. I stepped back, shocked out of my training fugue. I realized my fists, knuckles, the outside of my forearms, my elbows, and my knees were all bleeding, and pain radiated from them in hot pulses. I jumped when I heard clapping from behind me, spinning around to find the Nigerian standing there. With him were my guards for the day, my Wing Chun Kung Fu instructor, and my edged weapons trainer. Others were filtering into the room as well. Everyone who had been in the room long enough to watch was clapping, smiles on each of their faces. West stood in the middle, grinning widely. The huge Nigerian man stepped forward and rested a hand on my shoulder.