Janus and The Prince: A LitRPG Saga (The Nightmares of Alamir Book 2)
Page 12
One of the titles that I never used. The fights I’d been in so far were always quick, rapid affairs and in such environments, there was no time to slowly whittle down an enemy like this. Although, in a prolonged battle of attrition, this would be invaluable. Just as long as the enemy did not notice what I was doing, and smack me away like a mosquito.
Title: [David]
Details: An epic title. For every ten levels your opponent has greater than yours, you are granted +50% Damage Dealt, +25% Damage Reduction, and +20 Attack against your opponent. This effect is doubled for opponents more than twice your size. This effect stacks for multiple enemies. However, facing an enemy ten levels below you or more deducts –90% Experience Gain and –25% Damage Dealt.
The underdog title that helped me as a skink. I fondly remembered how fighting off the Silva Wolves that the Kadulja attacked me with was only made possible with this buffing my attacks to deliver more damage. The problem with this title was that the stronger I got, the more it would start to become a hindrance rather than a benefit. The biblical allegory would have been less impressive if David the shepherd boy towered over cities, and Goliath was his little brother “Shorty.”
Title: [Agkistrodon Slayer]
Details: A special title. You slayed Agkistrodon. Grants [Special Title] benefits.
The serpent that guarded the creek. Ilikbolg said it was an invincible foe. I defeated it from the inside and that simple feat made the goblin declare me some sort of prophesied champion. I could almost imagine my life progressing in that manner like a second-rate comedy of errors, with me constantly doing something normal and discovering the gravity of it afterward.
Title: [Genocidal]
Details: An epic title. Fighting against opponents of the same species of an enemy you have previously killed grants you +10% Attack, +10% Defense, +10% Damage Dealt and +10% Damage Reduction. For every opponent you slay that is of the same species of an enemy you have killed before, you gain a permanent +25 Points to allocate to either your HP, MP or Regen. Fighting and not killing an opponent of a species you have killed before deducts –50 HP Permanently. This effect stacks upon each consecutive kill for each species.
Species Kill Count:
[Common Rabbit] x 20 = +200% Attack, +200% Defense, +200% Damage Dealt, +200% Damage Reduction against [Common Rabbits]. You Gain: 525 Points on Next Kill.
[Common Bat] x 5 = +50% Attack, +50% Defense, +50% Damage Dealt, +50% Damage Reduction against [Common Bats]. You Gain: 150 Points on Next Kill.
[Common Elk] x 12 = +120% Attack, +120% Defense, +120% Damage Dealt, +120% Damage Reduction against [Common Elk]. You Gain: 325 Points on Next Kill.
[Common Deer] x 5 = +50% Attack, +50% Defense, +50% Damage Dealt, +50% Damage Reduction against [Common Deer]. You Gain: 150 Points on Next Kill.
[Mountain Goat] x 4 = +40% Attack, +40% Defense, +40% Damage Dealt, +40% Damage Reduction against [Mountain Goats]. You Gain: 125 Points on Next Kill.
[Silva Wolf] x 4 = +40% Attack, +40% Defense, +40% Damage Dealt, +40% Damage Reduction against [Silva Wolves]. You Gain: 125 Points on Next Kill.
[Chameleon Panther] x 2 = +20% Attack, +20% Defense, +20% Damage Dealt, +20% Damage Reduction against [Chameleon Panther].
You Gain: 75 Points on Next Kill.
[Yonder Bear] x 12 = +120% Attack, +120% Defense, +120% Damage Dealt, +120% Damage Reduction against [Yonder Bear]. You Gain: 325 Points on Next Kill.
[Armadillo Badger] x 2 = +20% Attack, +20% Defense, +20% Damage Dealt, +20% Damage Reduction against [Chameleon Panther].
You Gain: 75 Points on Next Kill.
[Druid] x 1 = +10% Attack, +10% Defense, +10% Damage Dealt, +10% Damage Reduction against [Druid]. You Gain: 50 Points on Next Kill.
This title was the complete record of how many living creatures had met their ends by my hands so far. As it stood, the list was filled up with animals rather than sapient, intelligent beings. I knew that it would not last long.
Title: [Retaliator]
Details: An uncommon title. Fighting against enemies that have wronged you grants +20% Damage Dealt and +20% Damage Reduction. +1% is added for every day that goes by without gaining retribution. There is no upper limit to the percentage possible.
The title brought me back to my memory of the Kadulja. The sage. The memory of killing her because she razed my domain to ashes and burnt me to nothingness. Looking back, that action was where it all began. I owed her for it. If she never killed me, I’d never have gotten this far. If I never died, I would probably still be some small forest creature, holding dominion over a creek and believing I’d accomplished something significant. Now, here I was – traveling the world, meeting people, and being killed by them. A far better fate.
Title: [Phoenix]
Details: A mythical title. Grants a 0.9% chance to revive from death with complete immunity to what killed you. Every brush with death you survive or near-death experience you have adds an additional +3% odds to the chance. The odds are reset upon each successful resurrection.
Current Chance of Resurrection: {15.9%]
Immunities: [Acid Immunity] [Fire Immunity] [Disintegration Immunity]
With each near-death experience the numbers went up by three. Considering it was at fifteen percent it meant I had survived five near-death encounters since I last encountered Apophis. That was not comforting.
Title: [Merciless]
Details: An uncommon title. All Damage dealt to opponents suffering from a negative status effect, trapped, prone, or wounded is doubled. Increases your odds of inflicting negative statuses and grants immunity to enemy Appeal Skills.
I remembered how effective this was against Kadulja. Doubling the damage to a wounded enemy was a valid tactic. Although I still disagreed with the reason I’d attained this title. Killing the wounded Yonder Bear Cub had been an act of mercy, not the inverse. So many believed that lacking hesitation to put a wounded creature out of its misery was a sign of callousness rather than empathy.
Title: [Demiurge]
Details: A special-mythic title. Grants [Special Title] benefits. Grants [Accursed One] benefits/disadvantages. 70% chance of inflicted [Horrified] on whoever witnesses you use the Antediluvian Hieroglyphs. 30% chance of inflicting [Curse of Insanity] on whoever witnesses you use the Antediluvian Hieroglyphs.
This was one of the three [Special Titles] I possessed. I did not know what it meant, but I assumed there was going to be something related to it in the future. Then there was the Antediluvian Hieroglyphs, or, the common earth language which possessed a thirty-percent chance of driving people who saw it insane.
There was only one title I had left.
Title: [Sage Slayer]
Details: A special-mythic title. You slayed the Kadulja of the Final Sanctuary Woodlands. Grants [Special Title] benefits. Doubles MP Regen rate when MP or HP drops below 10%.
It seemed the perfect way to euphemize murder was to use the word slay in place of kill. I slayed your mother. He went to prison for slaying his wife. He’s a notorious Serial Slayer. Gone was the instinctive discomfort from the idea of murder and instead, it sounded like a weekend activity.
I fancied that word. Slay.
I’m going to slay the nightmares of Fort Zyvar.
Daily Task:
Gain a minimum of 200,000 EXPGain at least two new Weapons/Armor/Skills/Minions
Gain at least 10 Levels in four different skills.
Rewards:
Triple EXP Gain for 48 Hours. (Stackable) [(1) Currently Active]
Summon Two Random Item Chests Once a Day. (Quality Increases with daily summon.)
All Skills Can be Used Twice a Day with Zero Mana Cost. (Does Not Stack)
Penalty:
–100% Experience Gain for 24 Hours. (Stackable)
Randomly Forfeit Two of Your Skills/Weapons/Armor.
Two of your Highest Leveled Skills are Reset to Lv. 1
Time Limit: 18h41m22s
The Daily Task had changed. It had been upg
raded. Doubled. The amount of experience I needed to gather was now double the original amount I gathered on the first day, along with the number of levels I needed to gain in skills, and the weapons and armor I needed to attain. The task had doubled, the rewards had doubled, and the punishments had doubled.
If I completed the task again today, then by tomorrow I would need to acquire 400,000 experience points, at least four new weapons and skills, and at least twenty levels in four different skills. In exchange, I would get quadruple EXP Gain, be able to summon four random item chests and use all of my skills four times a day without mana cost.
I could feel everything slowly coming together. My plan was a simple one, a plan that would work because of the abilities I had and the name I possessed, a combination of tactics, abilities, skills, knowledge of this world and the world I came from.
“Now, if my new Epithet Skill does what I think it does…”
Epithet Skill: [Gatekeeper] Lv. MAX
Details: A skill unique to the bearer of the name [Janus]. This skill enables the user to have absolute control over doors, gates, and any similar door-like entrances and exits. As the Gatekeeper, the User is immune to punishment from exclusion clauses, automatically granted guest privileges in locations where applicable and instinctively understands the history and workings of any door and gate the User encounters.
Passing through any door or gate will generate positive buffs depending on the nature of the entrance, and passing through a door or gate the User owns will fully restore the User’s health and magic.
It was as I thought. Janus was the Roman God of Doors and Gates. The real question I found myself asking, was whether or not I could create doors and gates from nothing.
“Create door.”
I suppose the answer to that was no.
“Open door.”
Nothing happened. Odd. I have complete control over doors and gates, but I can’t create a door?
“[Earth Control].”
Molding the earth into clay, and that clay into a large, rectangular shape, I stretched it, refined it, and allowed the clay to harden and desiccate. The solidified clay door I made was crude and unrefined, but it was unmistakable as a door by anyone who gazed upon it. Grabbing the clay knob, I felt a connection immediately, one that fed directly into my mind.
[Gatekeeper Activated]
Identified: Clay door, created by the Demiurge Stalker Skeleton Janus on the ninth day of the Month of the Sycophant, 2141AE in the Hlahan Forest of South-Eastern Alamir.
Door’s Structural Integrity: Low.
Door’s Special Ability: N/A
Memories Available: None.
Door Soul: N/A
No. of Times Door has been used: 0
Door Connections: None Assigned
You may edit, delete, replace, upgrade, assign, bless, or curse this door.
Knowledge unbidden rushed through my mind. The year was 2141, there were nine months to a year in the most commonly used calendar system, and the Month of the Sycophant was the last. The final month of the year.
I was born into this world in 2141AE two months ago, which would be… the month of the Visitor. The knowledge surprised me. More still, I was surprised at how much knowledge I got simply from touching a door that I created. What would happen if I touched a door that was hundreds of years old? A door that was thousands of years old?
“[Upgrade Door.]”
[Gatekeeper Activated]
Upgrade Commencing…
The clay door morphed from something crudely made into something that would not have been out of place in a Renaissance Era Castle. The rough edges smoothed themselves out. The door gained a polished, clean finish and gained equal proportions. The knob gained an elegant curl, the handle smoothening out, and a lock was now affixed in place whereas one did not exist previously.
[Gatekeeper Activated]
Upgrade Completed.
Identified: Ornate Clay Door
Details: Door created by the Demiurge Stalker Skeleton Janus on the ninth day of the Month of the Sycophant, 2141AE in the Hlahan Forest of South-Eastern Alamir.
Door’s Structural Integrity: High.
Door’s Special Ability: N/A
Door’s Applied Buffs: N/A
Memories Available: None.
Door’s Soul: N/A
No. of Times Door has been used: 0
Door Connections: None Assigned
You may edit, delete, replace, upgrade, assign, bless, or curse this door.
“[Upgrade Door.]”
Certain items are required to upgrade this door further:
Any Ore x10
Note: The Special Ability infused into a door is determined by the type of materials used to create and/or upgrade the door.
“What is this, a crafting game?” Muttering under my breath, I used my power. “[Earth Control].”
Morphing ten chunks of iron ore from the earth was an effortless task for someone who had mastered creating diamonds and firing them as bullets. Diamonds would have been my first choice to use, but the requirements specifically asked for ores, and diamonds were not ores.
“[Upgrade Door.]”
[Gatekeeper Activated]
Upgrade Commencing…
The clay door changed gain, the iron melding into it with despicable ease. The handles became smoothed iron, a keyhole appeared on the door along with hinges, and the clay color shifted to gain a slightly metallic tint.
[Gatekeeper Activated]
Upgrade Completed.
Identified: Ornate Iron-Melded Clay Door
Details: Door created by the Demiurge Stalker Skeleton Janus on the ninth day of the Month of the Sycophant, 2141AE in the Hlahan Forest of South-Eastern Alamir.
Door’s Structural Integrity: Very High.
Door’s Special Ability: N/A
Door’s Applied Buffs: [Defense Up]
Memories Available: None.
Door’s Soul: N/A
No. of Times Door has been used: 0
Door Connections: None Assigned
You may edit, delete, replace, upgrade, assign, bless, or curse this door.
Something told me that it would take several dozen more upgrades for the door to become something special. I was ready for each step.
“[Upgrade Door.]”
Certain items are required to upgrade this door further:
Any Ingot x100
“One hundred ingots?”
Could I mix and match?
“Let’s see… [Earth Control] and make twenty steel ingots, twenty copper ingots, twenty aluminum ingots, twenty silver ingots and twenty gold ingots.”
By the time I was finished, my MP had drained to the single-digit numbers. The task of creating ingots was slightly more draining than creating ores and firing diamonds, but it was still doable. The one-hundred gathered bars of different metals stood before me, and I felt something click. [Earth Control] enabled me to create and shape earthen ores into their finished industrial forms, bypassing the majority of processes that would require a smelter and an obscene amount of heat to gather.
I’ve been underutilizing this ability.
For the most part, all I did was use a diamond to create my [Diamond Bullet] attack, but I could also create different versions. A silver bullet, for instance, and although gold and copper were useless to fire as projectile weapons, they were both excellent conductors of a certain thing called electricity. Aluminum on the other hand was lightweight while being highly durable, and there was no shortage of uses for it.
“[Upgrade Door.]”
[Gatekeeper Activated]
Upgrade Commencing…
I fed the ingots into the door, stood back, and waited.
[Gatekeeper Activated]
Upgrade Completed.
Identified: Enchanted Hybrid Door
Details: Door created by the Demiurge Stalker Skeleton Janus on the ninth day of the Month of the Sycophant, 2141AE in the Hlahan Forest of South-Eastern Alamir.
>
Door’s Structural Integrity: Impeccably High.
Door’s Special Ability: [Metallurgy Master]
Door’s Applied Buffs: [Greater Defense Up x 3] [Superior Magic Defense Up x3] [Greater Attack Up x3] [Superior Magic Attack up x3][Greater Speed Up x3] [Boost Applied: Silver Damage] [Boost Applied: Gold Damage] [Boost Applied: Electricity Damage]
Memories Available: None.
Door’s Soul: N/A
No. of Times Door has been used: 0
Door Connections: None Assigned
You may edit, delete, replace, upgrade, assign, bless, or curse this door.
The door shimmered. The numerous metals were now applied to it breathtakingly. Enamored with gold and silver for the eye-catching parts such as the knob and knocker, adorned with the iron and copper for the bolts and internal mechanisms, and decorated with a soft aluminum coating for the lock.
With finger-trembling trepidation, I opened the door.
[Gatekeeper Activated.]
Unique Fast Travel Method Unlocked!
You may now instantly travel to any door or gate you have previously used.
Fast Travel Options Available:
(*) Fort Zyvar Gate – Fort Zyvar
(*) Enchanted Hybrid Door – Hlahan Forest
Fort Zyvar lay beyond the door. All I needed to do was focus on it, and I saw it, Fort Zyvar, the entrance, wide and open, unguarded and free.
They never bothered to have people guard the gates because to walk straight through it was considered suicide. So, no one would be anticipating a person suddenly strolling through the open gates.
[You have split Paths]
[You are now in Path A]
“[Golem Creation].”
It was time to introduce the nightmares of Alamir to the finer arts of modern warfare.
Chapter 9: The Second Coming
The earth thrummed softly with the sensation of a hundred marching feet. Left, right, left, right, left, right. Each impact against the soil reverberated the mechanical discipline and unity of a force that was not at all human. The trees had to be leveled to make room for enough of them to stand, side by side, fifteen in a row, fifteen in a column. Organized according to element, then, according to military type, it had taken me the better part of six full hours to complete them. I cheated, as I had to, sitting within a door had the effect of instantly refilling my mana and hp, and thus, in a sense, granted me infinite mana.