by Aleron Kong
Now that’s what I’m talking about, Richter thought! He was definitely going to need a wallet that says ‘Bad Mother Fucker’ on it to hold all his war points from then on out! Even more prompts appeared.
Know This! For personally killing a War Leader one rank above you, you are randomly assigned two Promotions the enemy War Leader possessed (if the War Leader possessed two promotions that you do not already have). You will be given the lowest level of the gained promotions.
Congratulations! For slaying the War Leader, Si-nak, you have been awarded the Promotion: Weakness Equals Death I. Champions in your War Party have +5% attack and defense vs lower level opponents.
Congratulations! For slaying the War Leader, Si-nak, you have been awarded the Promotion: Slaughter the Innocent I. Killing noncombatants will increase the Fighting Spirit of your War Party for one hour. +5 Fighting Spirit for each life claimed.
Richter was immediately disgusted by the last prompt. He didn’t even want to think about how many helpless people the Witch Doctor must have killed to earn the promotion. He considered having the mist worker drop the dead Mage’s body so he could kick it. Somehow, he knew that striking the carcass with his feet wouldn’t make him feel any better, so the chaos seed just shut the issue from his mind. He did promise himself never to level the disgusting promotion, though.
The Weakness Equals Death I promotion could be helpful, on the other hand. Not many opponents had reached level thirty-one like he had. Even better, his new subskill, Army of One, let him access the perks from promotions even when he was fighting alone. His attack and defense had just gotten 5% stronger! To his delight, Richter found that his war party had earned one more promotion.
Congratulations! For destroying another War Party, your War Party has been awarded the Promotion: Battle Lord I. Champions in your War Party enjoy +1 to all Base Characteristics when battling against an enemy war party.
Hell yeah, Richter thought! His earlier complaints about the low number of war points earned for fighting sentients had completely faded away. Between the promotions he had won and the 200% increase from having destroyed an enemy war party, it was clear that the best way to grow his own War Leader capabilities was to fight enemies that also had the skill.
That kind of planning could wait, though. He had over six hundred War Points to spend! Richter accessed the badges he could purchase with a broad grin on his face. It was time to go shopping!
CHAPTER 5 – Day 140 – Kuborn 30, 15,386 EBG
Since gaining the War Leader skill, Richter had learned much more about the badges that were available to him. The first thing he had grasped was that his War Leader skill made an invisible bubble around him, called his Sphere of Influence, or SoI. That information had been nearly useless at first, but soon after, several things had had become clear.
Some badges, like Skilled Positions, worked independently of the sphere. Whoever he assigned to the various positions of Tank, Healer and Scout were able to use those powers even if they were beyond his SoI. For convenience, he called badges that worked like that “independent.” All of the other “dependent” badges fell into subcategories.
Power Level, for instance, only affected someone that was both in his war party and also within his Sphere of Influence. Richter had decided to call badges like that “closed.” The Movement Speed badge, on the other hand, worked on any friendlies inside of his SoI, even if they weren’t officially part of his war party. The fact that his war party could move so much faster in the forest now had really illustrated the importance of his Sphere of Influence. This type of badge was by far the most versatile. He had started thinking of them as “open.” A fourth category only affected him, like Lead by Example, so he called those “personal.” It had only taken a small tweak to his personal interface to add these descriptors into his war badge interface.
Badge
Cost
Description (applies to entire party)
Melee Attack I (Closed)
25
+5% to melee attacks
Melee Defense I (Closed)
25
+5% to melee defense
Ranged Attack I (Closed)
25
+5% to ranged attacks
Ranged Defense I (Closed)
25
+5% to ranged defense
Magical Attack I (Closed)
25
+3% to magical attacks
*Must specify spell school upon acquisition. May only choose spell school used during battle leading a War Party.
Magical Attack II (Life) (Closed)
50
+6% to Life magical attacks
*Must specify spell school upon acquisition. May only choose spell school used during battle leading a War Party.
Magical Defense I (Closed)
25
+2% to magical defense
*Must specify spell school upon acquisition. May only choose spell school used during battle leading a War Party.
Skilled Positions (Independent)
400 to unlock each
Available Positions:
Tank III: LOCKED
Scout III: LOCKED
Healer III: LOCKED
Lead by Example II (Personal)
300
LOCKED
Movement Speed I (Open)
100
+10% Movement Speed
*Must specify terrain type upon acquisition. May only choose terrain type that the War party has traveled on.
Movement Speed V (Forest) (Open)
1100
+50% Movement Speed in Forests
Favored Enemy I (Open)
250
When fighting a favored enemy:
+10% Melee and Ranged Attack and Defense
+10% Magical Attack (all schools)
+2% Magical Defense (all schools)
*Must specify enemy upon badge acquisition. May only choose enemies which have been fought while leading a War Party. Only one favored enemy per War Party formation.
Trainer I (Closed)
250
+5% experience earned for War Party members
Power Level III (Closed)
500
30% of the experience earned by the entire war party can be channeled to a specific member. The third rank of this badge allows the recipient to be three times beyond the Sphere of Influence and still receive the experience.
*Experience recipient must be within Sphere of Influence
Sphere of Influence I (Personal)
250
Increase range of Sphere of Influence by 100%
If Richter had his wish, he would have invested in another Skilled Position, but he just didn’t have enough war points. Also, the third tier of the badges were locked until he advanced his skill rank in War Leader so his eyes scanned over the other options.
The Movement Speed badge was obviously useful. That was why he had almost exclusively devoted his War Points to increasing the badge. Purchasing it required him to specify what type of terrain he would get the bonus on, but the choice had been easy seeing as how he lived in a forest. Gaining four ranks in the badge had greatly increased his ability to range around his domain. Now for instance, his party was travelling fairly quickly, despite being slowed by injury. Even the mist workers moved faster as long as they were close to him. The only problem was that each new rank was prohibitively expensive.
That led him to consider another badge. He could also strengthen his existing movement bonus by allowing more people to benefit from it. His gaze was drawn to the Sphere of Influence badge. This one was a no brainer. There was a large battle approaching, and letting more allies benefit from his open badges would definitely be a good idea. He purchased the badge.
Total War Points Remaining: 351.
The interface shifted to Sphere of Influence II and the new rank cost five hundred points. He would have liked to have bought it, but again, too expensive. War Leader badges were awesome, but they sure as shit weren’t cheap! The only ones tha
t didn’t cost much were the bumps to melee, ranged or magical attack and defense. Those only caused a 1% change. It could definitely add up over time, but he needed something that could be a game changer for the upcoming battle.
He decided not to purchase anything else for the moment. Whatever recon intelligence Alma brought back might influence his decision. Who knew what the goblins’ defenses might be? Nope, better to spend his remaining points when he had more information. Thinking about his familiar, he reached out with his mind to check on her, but she was already beyond the range of their bond.
Richter quashed the worry that was starting to stir in his chest and instead focused on the rest of his prompts. The next one brought a surprised smile to his face.
Congratulations! A leader’s true strength stems from his followers. Two members of your War Party have distinguished themselves in battle and can now be promoted with Field Advancements! To activate these promotions, you must personally bestow them upon your party members.
For standing against a sea of countless foes and remaining strong, Caulder has earned the Field Advancement: Stem the Tide I. +1 Defense to each piece of Medium Armor worn by Sergeant Caulder.
For hand to hand combat against a dangerous and more powerful racial enemy, Sion has earned the Field Advancement: Bathe in Black Blood I. Sion will now have +1 damage when fighting goblins.
Congratulations! You have learned the subskill: Inspiring Leadership. Your leadership has led your war party members to perform superhuman feats! Continue to guide your people to increase both the chances of your war party earning a field advancement and the strength of field advancements when they do. This is a subskill of War Leader.
Congratulations! You have reached subskill level 2 in Inspiring Leadership. …
…
Congratulations! You have reached subskill level 4 in Inspiring Leadership. +5% to chance of war party members earning Field Advancements. +5% to the power of Field Advancements of any party members under your command or the command of your subordinates.
Congratulations! Your familiar has reached level 35!
War Leader was quickly becoming Richter’s most versatile skill, and as an added bonus, Alma had leveled! The chaos seed jogged up to Sion, “I’ve got something for you.”
Sion’s face was immediately guarded, not trusting the grin on Richter’s face, “What is it?”
Richter chuckled slightly, then immediately felt bad as he caught sight of the bodies of his dead guards. He had successfully distracted himself from that reality for a moment, but seeing the mist workers carrying the remains of his fallen soldiers sobered him. Sion’s face became inquisitive. Richter shook his head, “I’m fine, my friend.” He forced a weak smile back onto his face. “You have earned this. Thank you for fighting by my side.”
The chaos seed wasn’t sure exactly how to give the field advancement so he just reached out a hand and laid it on the sprite’s shoulder, hoping for the best. He wasn’t disappointed.
Greetings War Leader! Do you wish to bestow the Field Advancement: Bathe in Black Blood I on your Companion Sion? Yes or No?
Pleased that it was so easy, Richter mentally selected, “Yes.”
Sion’s eyes widened in surprise, then his old, vicious smile came on his face. “Thank you my friend. I will put this to good use very soon.”
Richter looked at the bodies again, “I think you will get a chance soon enough.” He started walking towards Caulder to hand out the other promotion, but one of the party’s forward scouts started screaming.
CHAPTER 6 – Day 140 – Kuborn 30, 15,386 EBG
The entire war party surged forward. Luckily, Caulder had had the presence of mind to order three of the fighters to guard their rear. Richter took a moment and silently thanked his lucky stars for being blessed with such a competent sergeant, and then he focused on sprinting towards the screams. They had been traveling through a small dell that ended in a steep hill. The forward scout had already climbed out and so Richter had no idea what was happening. The screams continued though, so he pushed himself to move as fast as possible. When the chaos seed finally crested the slope of the hill, what he saw made him cry out in anger.
A grey thing had caught ahold of his guard. It was five and a half feet tall and roughly humanoid in shape. The creature was skinless and was comprised of grey muscle that stood out like tightly wound wire. Each elongated arm ended in three six-inch claws. Two of those claws were currently embedded in the shoulder of his screaming elf guard.
The man had been forced to his knees by the monster. While being impaled by the claws must have been horribly painful, that was not what causing the elf to scream in agony and horror. The creature lacked a head. Instead, a vertical mouth was in the center of its abdomen. Long, sharp teeth lined both sides of the orifice, and it was in the process of feeding the guard’s non-impaled arm into its maw. The orifice closed and Richter heard the crunch of shattering bone.
The chaos seed’s shout did nothing to distract the monster from its meal, but the guard looked over pleadingly at his liege. The elf’s screams didn’t stop. The pain and horror of being eaten alive competed to shatter the man’s mind, but enough of him remained that his eyes beseeched his lord for aid. Richter sped up and drew his blade, letting that be his answer. Help had come.
Still twenty feet away, he cocked one arm back and threw his Elementum Short Sword of Freezing overhand at the monster. As the blade flew end over end towards the grotesque thing, he used Analyze.
Name: LugashDisposition: Hatred
A Lugash is a fiendish undead known for its horrible hunger and massive strength. These creatures possess an all-consuming hatred for the living matched only by their insatiable need to consume. Its thick skin is resistant to damage from baser metals.
Level: 14
Health: 420Mana: 80Stamina: 360
Strength: 34
Agility: 24
Dexterity: 23
Constitution: 42
Endurance: 36
Intelligence: 8
Wisdom: 5
Charisma: 2
Luck: 11
Richter’s blade flew true. The edge of clear green elementum of the blade struck the lugash in the side, sinking in. Unfortunately, the enchantment didn’t trigger, but the creature was still wounded. The mouth in the monster’s abdomen opened in a blood curdling scream and it turned quickly towards its attacker. Yanking its arm free of the guard’s shoulder, the elf’s other arm fell out of its mouth. The elf fell to the ground weeping and cradling his mangled hand. The monster knocked the blade free of its side and a black ichor began to ooze from the wound. The undead gave a shrill screech of defiance and rushed at Richter, claws outstretched.
Richter drew his other blade, but didn’t rush to meet it. He heard more of the distinctive screeches behind him. Praying that his people’s enchanted weapons were up to the task of killing the creatures, he cast Weak Life Aura on himself and ordered his shale adder to attack one of the monsters behind him. A golden glow sprung into life around him. The battle was joined! The lugash swiped at him with one hand, its claws blurring in the air. The speed of the monster was frightening. Or it would have been, if Richter wasn’t faster still.
The chaos seed raised his Sonic Elementum Short Sword. With all of the attack speed afforded by his thirty-eight points of Dexterity, coupled with the 24% boost to attack speed from his twelve skill levels in Small Blades, Richter swung his green blade. The weapons whistled while it cut the air. His sword met the claws of the monster, stopping the attack cold. It shrieked when the green blade scored deeply against its talons. The reinforced nails were too strong for him to cut all the way through, but Richter was still able to push the claw back.
Without even seeing the monster’s second attack, Richter immediately swung his sword in a backhand to block the other claw he knew had to be coming. His daily training paid off. While he was blocking the first two strikes with his blade, his free hand twisted into a spell form, and he sho
uted, “IGNI!”
A gout of orange-yellow flame shot from his hand. Richter aimed it at the monster’s yawning maw. The damage from the low level spell was not enough to take off an appreciable amount of the creature’s health, but the lugash shared the near universal aversion that all undead had for fire. It reared back, screaming. Richter pressed his attack.
The chaos seed swung his sword at its left leg. The clear green metal sliced deep into its calf. Again, the wound was eerily dry. Only a small amount of black blood, if you could call it that, oozed from the wound. Bloodless or not, the monster shrieked even louder before. It turned its body away in an effort to protect its vulnerable mouth from Richter’s conjured flame. While its back was partially turned, the war leader shoved his sword completely into its body. This proved to be a mistake.
The lugash accelerated its simple turn into a spin, and caught Richter with a backhand that sent him crashing to the ground. His short sword remained embedded in the monster’s body. Before he could recover, it pounced on him, pinning his body beneath it. The brute’s claws descended and Richter grabbed the last weapon he had readily available, his Moonstone Dagger of +3. He awkwardly stabbed upward with the white blade while grabbing one of the creature’s wrists with his other hand. The remaining taloned hand scored a vicious cut along his brow before he could yank his head out of the way, but Richter ignored the pain. He focused instead on what seemed to the monster’s only vulnerable spot, its mouth. Forgetting how stupid the move probably was, he jammed the fourteen-inch blade past its teeth and into the flesh on the inside of the monster’s mouth.
The cream-colored weapon sank easily into the soft palate. Unlike the unnatural hardness of its external skin, the inside of the lugash proved more than vulnerable to damage. Richter quickly snatched his hand back, leaving the dagger buried inside of the monster. Its horribly sharp teeth slammed together milliseconds after he had removed his hand from danger. The chaos seed might be bold, but he had no intention of losing a limb to the beast!