Respawn: Blade of the Ancients (Respawn LitRPG series Book 5)

by Arthur Stone

  “That’s good,” his comrade said, still without interest. “Then we can get out of here, right?”

  Cheater was trying to read the massive victory message. It seemed that everyone who had died here today was chalked up to him, since he was the main culprit.

  Closing the system messages, Cheater nodded. “Yeah, then we can get out of here. But first there’s something we have to do.”

  “What’s that?”

  “We have to check out the Nold. Take his bracer. And maybe other things. There’s a lot of good stuff around here, too.”

  “Your pack, too,” Clown reminded, the indifference continuing. “It’s worth millions. We shouldn’t leave it.”

  “Of course not,” Cheater agreed. “We won’t leave anything. We’ll find it all. I still have some Mana and can use my sensor skill. Once we have it all, we need to burn the nuclear warheads.”

  “What?” Clown showed emotion for the first time since the battle.

  He was a little surprised.

  Cheater pointed a finger downward. “I’ve found the place. There’s a storehouse below us. Bullets. Grenades. Shells. All stored in a concrete bunker. There’s a separate compartment down there, full of nuclear weapons. I’ve counted them. And there’s a fuel truck over by the gate. They led us past it when they dragged us out into the yard. Flash of Omniscience told me it was full. It is losing fuel slowly, after taking a bullet hit. So we’ll drive it over there, to that hatch. It’s a service hatch which leads down into the bunker. We’ll pour all of the gas inside. Opening the rest of the hatches will provide the fire with the necessary fuel. The oxygen it needs.”

  “You’re planning to set an atomic bomb storehouse on fire?” Clown said, the emotion nearly gone from his voice again.

  Cheater nodded. “The System told me that heat or mechanical stress can destroy them. As I’m sure you’ll understand, I’m not about to hit nuclear warheads with a sledgehammer. So we’ll burn them.”

  “Why!?” Clown screamed. “These aren’t fireworks; they’re atomic bombs! Imagine what will become of this place if one goes off!”

  “They shouldn’t...” Cheater muttered, with little certainty in his voice.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Well... I’m not a specialist, actually. But this is nuclear weaponry we’re talking. It doesn’t just ‘go off.’ What does it matter, anyway? The System gave this to me as a quest. Plus, it needs to be done.” Cheater was growing more confident as he continued. “If the Devils return here, there’s no telling what they’ll do with those bombs. And don’t forget about Watershed. He can see the future. He knew in advance what I might achieve here. He was ready. I doubt he’ll wait until Bugle and the others wake up. He and his people will be close. In fact, he’ll see the message informing him that I’ve completed his quest. It will be like a signal. His NPCs are probably cutting through Devils the whole Cauldron over. Many players will join him. You know how much the Devils are hated by everyone who’s not them. Those who are left are now without a leader and without a fortress. For the next couple of days, they will be easy prey. After that, life will not get easier for them. Watershed might take this fortress for himself; in fact, the quest completion alert mentioned that very possibility. Do you really want an odd NPC to have control of atomic bombs? I don’t trust him enough to hand him the keys to a world-ending arsenal! Neither of us wants that. No one does. So gasoline it is. We’ll drown them it in and set them alight. No one will take them. The whole arsenal will burn today. You understand me now, don’t you?”

  “Shit,” Clown repeated his favorite word.

  “I agree,” Cheater nodded. “Alright, come on. We don’t have time to sit around—the System only gave us one hour. I think that’s a meaningful number: we have to complete this task before anyone shows up.”

  “Cheater, remember how I said I had seen everything?”

  “Yeah. Many times.”

  “I was wrong,” said Clown, and burst out laughing.

  Cheater spat out another tooth and smiled. For the first time in his memory, Clown was living up to his nickname. He knew how to laugh. Right now, he was laughing like he was the craziest man on the Continent.

  End of Book Five

  Our hero’s stats at the start of Book V:

  +20 to Life Counter

  40,000 universal progress points, which can be distributed to base or bonus stats.

  Unallocated +0.26 to any multiplier (or divided among several multipliers).

  Level 30 ability awaiting activation.

  Choice of 2 out of 26 new abilities.

  All existing abilities have received additional properties as a bonus for victory over the Unnamed One. These properties have been activated.

  With more than 10000 Humanity, our hero is a Class II Hero and has the right to select 2 rewards. He has 10 attempts to select his rewards. These rewards are orders of magnitude less limited than Class I Hero rewards.

  Base Stats

  1.33x Strength: 30 (+0 points, +310 needed to level up)

  1.30x Dexterity: 21 (+175 points, +220 needed to level up)

  1.16x Speed: 30 (+0 points)

  1.34x Endurance: 24 (+0 points)

  1.09x Willpower: 60 (+0 points)

  Level 33 (165/5). 33 distributable points.

  Bonus Stats

  1.07x Perception: 18 (+128 points)

  1.11x Stealth: 25 (+48 points)

  1.20 Reaction: 40 (+97 points)

  2.87x Accuracy: 37 (+288 points) (+30 bonus levels which do not count towards overall Bonus Level)

  2.15x Luck: 66 (+266 points)

  1.08x Ward of Styx: 60 (+0 points). Each 1 level of Ward of Styx gives +1 to the Spirit of Styx meter and +0.2 Spirit of Styx regeneration per hour.

  1.06x Talent Rank: 19 (+136 points). Increasing Talent Rank increases the complexity of existing abilities (for example, more damage dealt by combat abilities). Other abilities may also appear. Talent Rank can be increased by using trophies and by using magic to kill enemies.

  Bonus Level 37 (265/7). 266 distributable points.

  Proficiency: 26 (+52% base stat level experience)

  Meters

  Health: 138

  Stamina: 156

  Spore Balance: 154

  Hunger: 142

  Thirst: 130

  Spirit of Styx (“Mana”): 243

  Pleasure: 315

  Distributable Meter Points: 89

  Player Status

  Radiation: 0

  Humanity: 14497

  Injuries: The hero is severely burned and in pain. Physical and mental abilities are reduced.

  Diseases: N/A

  Bound Items: Bow

  Inventory

  Primary: 27 cells and 325 grams. These can contain any items, including loot from monsters. Each cell can only be occupied by one item. Items cannot stack in cells. For example, the System will not allow the hero to place a bottle of pills in a cell. However, one pill is allowed. The System is extremely difficult to trick in this matter, but it is rumored to occur.

  Secondary: 1420 grams. Any items can be placed here, except for loot from monsters.

  Cache: 11920 grams (base 1000 grams, plus Strength x 100 grams = 7920 bonus grams).

  The hero has activated a special cell in his personal cache. He can place any number of unbound items (with the exception of loot from monsters) in this cell with a total weight of 2300 grams or less.

  Hidden Stats

  Level 3 Monster Hunter: +20% reduced chance of detection by high-level monsters.

  Level 13 Cartography: +25% radius of territory around the character added to his map.

  Special Perks

  Treasure Hunter.

  +25% chance to discover a high-level cache within a distance of 75 meters or less. +40% chance for mid-level caches, +60% chance for low-level caches.

  Snakecharmer.

  Immunity to snake venom. Does not work against sea snakes.

  Minesweeper.

  The
character senses all mines and traps within a radius of eight meters.

  Darkvision.

  Black and white night vision, capable of turning the most impenetrable gloom into little more than deep twilight.

  Modifier.

  When modifying an item, the character can pick three properties he desires. The chance of the modification affecting one of these properties will be increased by 48%.

  Abilities

  Ability Name: Smile of Fortune.

  Description: This ability is activated when you clearly think or speak the code phrase “Smile of Fortune.” Whether you think or speak the phrase, you must firmly will that the ability be activated. You can always change the working name of your ability. This will also change the activation phrase.

  Note: Your command will not work if your ability is not included in your list of active abilities! You can view your active abilities in the Abilities tab.

  Ability Description: for 8 seconds, your current Luck stat is multiplied by 20. Ability cooldown: 24 hours.

  Note: These are the base stats of this ability. Real-world results may vary.

  Cost: 20 mana. Every 10 levels of Willpower you have add +20 Luck, +1 second to duration, and -10 minutes cooldown.

  Additional properties:

  1. When this ability is activated, the character receives immunity to all types of damage and harmful effects for 1.5 seconds.

  Resulting stats (60 Willpower)—cost: 26 Spirit of Styx, duration: 14 seconds, cooldown: 23 hours.

  Ability Name: Tranquility.

  This ability is activated when you clearly think or speak the phrase “Tranquility.” Whether you think or speak the phrase, you must firmly will that the ability be activated. You can always change the working name of your ability. This will also change the code phrase.

  Note: Your command will not work if your ability is not included in your list of active abilities! You can view your active abilities in the Abilities tab.

  Ability description: for 6 seconds, all movement stops at the point of your choice. The point you choose is the center of a sphere one-half meter in diameter. Within this sphere, all movement ceases. Note: Tranquility does not affect the Brownian motion of molecules. Ability cooldown: 24 hours. Ability range: 15 meters. Note: These are the base stats of this ability. Real-world results may vary.

  Cost: 50 mana. Every 10 levels of Willpower you have add +4 to Spirit of Styx cost, increase the radius of the sphere by +5 centimeters, increase the duration by +0.5 seconds, increase the range by +3 meters, and reduce the cooldown by -15 minutes.

  Additional properties:

  1. +50% chance that this ability will cool down immediately after use.

  Resulting stats (60 Willpower)—cost: 74 Spirit of Styx, radius of sphere of influence: 80 centimeters, duration: 9.0 seconds, range: 33 meters, cooldown: 22 hours 30 minutes.

  Ability Name: Chameleon.

  This ability is activated when you clearly think or speak the code phrase “Chameleon.” Whether you think or speak the phrase, you must firmly will that the ability be activated. You can always change the working name of your ability. This will also change the activation phrase.

  Note: Your command will not work if your ability is not included in your list of active abilities! You can view your active abilities in the Abilities tab.

  Skill Description: Your character melts into the environment. Your appearance becomes like the elements around you. In sand, you look like sand. In vegetation, you appear to have foliage and branches, and under water, you become like algae (but remember that, in this case, you will become obvious if you break the surface). Rain, snow, smoke, and other phenomena that can emphasize your outline, in whole or in part, can compromise your camouflage. Note: This ability is most effective when your character remains completely motionless. When you move, an observer can notice changes in the scenery and deduce your character’s location.

  Ability cooldown: 10 hours. Cost: 20 mana. Sustain cost: Upon activating this skill, your character uses 3 Spirit of Styx every minute.

  Duration: Limited by your remaining Spirit of Styx. Every 10 Willpower levels you have reduce the cooldown of Chameleon by 30 minutes. Every 30 levels of Willpower you have add 10 Spirit of Styx to this ability’s activation cost but reduce the per-minute cost to sustain Chameleon by 1 (down to a minimum of 1). Note: These are the base stats of this ability. Real-world results may vary.

  Additional properties:

  1. The disguise effect also works in ranges of the light spectrum normally inaccessible to human vision. This allows you to hide from creatures with other types of vision, and from technological devices which use infrared and other wavelengths besides visible light. Note: At these wavelengths, you can be easily discovered when moving.

  Resulting stats: (60 Willpower)—cost: 40 Spirit of Styx, sustain cost: 1/minute, cooldown: 7 hours.

  * * *

  Trophies won by defeating the Unnamed One.

  Trophy descriptions.

  Cache Expansion Sphere: increases your cache limit, including your special cell, if you have one. Cache capacity increases by +250-1000 grams, and special cache cell increases by +100-400 grams. Can be used a maximum of 1x every 120 hours.

  Inventory Expansion Sphere: increases the size of your inventory, both your primary and secondary inventories. Primary inventory receives +1-3 cells and +10-50 grams weight limit. Secondary receives +50-150 grams weight limit. Can be used a maximum of 1x every 120 hours.

  Shards of Invulnerability: 30 seconds of protection against any effects (full immunity). Cooldown: 100 hours.

  Needle of Great Strength: gives an excellent buff to base and bonus stats for 12 hours. Can make a beginner nearly equal to a level 20–30 character. If used again before 48 hours have passed, a similar effect but in a negative direction is obtained.

  Distributable Experience Drops, for base and bonus stats: give you the experience they contain (50–550 experience points). Can be used a maximum of 1x per hour.

  Random Experience Drops, for base and bonus stats: give you the experience they contain (100–800 experience points). Can be used a maximum of 1x per hour. The distribution of these points is unpredictable and cannot be controlled.

  Essences of Distributable Meter Boost: +1–6 distributable meter points. You can distribute these however you like. Can be used a maximum of 1x per hour.

  Essences of Random Meter Boost: +3–15 meter points. These are distributed unpredictably. Can be used a maximum of 1x per hour.

  Spheres of Distributable Multiplier Boost, for base and bonus stats: give your character +0.03x–0.09x multiplier points, which you can distribute how you like. Can be used a maximum of 1x per hour.

  Spheres of Random Multiplier Boost, for base and bonus stats: give your character +0.08x–0.22x multiplier points, which you can distribute how you like. Can be used a maximum of 1x per hour.

  Crystal: randomly replaces abilities—either all abilities or your character’s selected ability or abilities—with new ones. There is a 25% chance that a list of several abilities will be offered before the replacement is made, and you can select a new ability. In pure form, can be taken a maximum of 1x every 36 hours.

  Flawless Crystal: replaces abilities selected by the player. Half will be replaced randomly; others will be replaced by a choice you make from a presented list. For 1–3 skills, the Flawless Crystal can give 2 abilities for each 1 it replaces. In pure form, can be taken a maximum of 1x every 36 hours.

  Golden Pearl: heals quasis; removes a significant part of red Humanity (but cannot boost Humanity higher than 0), adds +1-4 to Life Counter; 40% chance to get 1 random ability, 20% to get 2 abilities, and 10% to get 3 abilities; separately calculated 25% chance to get a “preprogrammed ability” from a proposed random list; 20% chance to reveal new properties of an existing ability; +1500-5000 Talent Rank and Willpower progress points; makes any “digi” immune; +100% increase to stats for 100-200 hours; region change counter reset (region will not chance fo
r the next 20 deaths. Can be used to bind to a specific person 1 time, in which case you will always be resurrected in that person’s region, becoming attached to them, and not to a place).

  Note: Warning! As mentioned, all trophies have a minimum interval between uses. Using them more frequently is not allowed!

  Trophies obtained:

  22x Cache Expansion Sphere

  19x Inventory Expansion Sphere

  47x Shards of Invulnerability

  37x Needles of Great Strength

  122x Distributable Experience Drops (base and bonus stats)

  171x Random Experience Drops (base and bonus stats)

  33x Essences of Distributable Meter Boost

  38x Essences of Random Meter Boost

  9x Spheres of Distributable Multiplier Boost

  14x Spheres of Random Multiplier Boost

  10x Crystals

  7x Flawless Crystals

  5x Golden Pearls

  Remember: The hero can fit only 27 items in his personal inventory cells which allow loot from monsters. Other cells cannot be used for this purpose.

  Items in the Hero’s Inventory

  Bow (bound).

  8x arrows.

  1x High-Caliber Rifle.

  4x rifle ammo.

  1x Pistol. In disrepair, but should be easy to repair, with a part that the hero has in his possession. This is not the modified pistol taken from the machine gunner as loot. That pistol was lost when the hero died in the attack on the camp.